Rachel nodded.

"He's treating her well," she said. "And Tina seems happy. So it could be a lot worse."

"Huh." Emma looked at them, clearly reassessing their relationship. Because as far as she knew, Gold wasn't nice or good to anyone. With one noted exception. Then she blinked a few times. "Well. I never would have guessed those two."

"I know what you mean," Rachel said. "But she's good for him, I think. He's a bit more... mellow, I guess. A little."

"Huh." Emma shook her head. "I guess people can change." She shrugged. "Well, if they're not bothering us, works for me."

"I guess," Rachel said. "I don't know what he's up to, usually. I don't live in the tower anymore."

"Good for you." Emma grinned. "Although I don't know that living on a pirate ship is much better."

"Ah, Emma, you wound me," Hook said, with only a trace of his normal humor, putting a hand over his heart.

"Actually, it is," Rachel said. "Surprisingly enough. Between a tower and a pirate ship, I would choose the ship every time."

"Well, that's good for you, at least," Emma said with a faint smile.

Hook glanced down at Rachel, a bit surprised, and tried not to show that he was actually pleased by that.

Rachel nodded.

"Enough about me," she said. "Anything interesting happening in the Charming household?"

"Not much at the moment," Emma said with a little shrug. "We're rebuilding, but we're almost done. Henry is still taking sword fighting lessons from Charming." She smiled faintly. "It's sort of normal for here."

"What about you?" Rachel asked. "How well are you settling in?"

Emma shrugged eloquently. "I'm... adjusting," she said. "So far." She did look over when Tina ventured over to them.

Rachel looked over and grinned at her friend.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey." Tina smiled a bit.

"You look about as uncomfortable as me," Emma observed with a little grin.

"Dresses aren't really my thing," Tina said, making a face.

"Mine either," Emma replied, still grinning. "Give me jeans any day."

Rachel quietly slipped out of the conversation, letting Tina and Emma talk.

"Or at least pants," Tina grumbled. "Seriously, I don't even know how to walk in this thing, you don't know how many times I nearly fell flat on my face."

Hook walked away with Rachel, letting her decide where they went. He didn't have any friends in the crowd, anyway.

"Trust me, I think I have some idea," Emma said. "I'm wearing one too."

Rachel stayed close to Hook, content. She didn't know very many people in the crowd, not personally, so she didn't go looking for conversations to join.

"We should just go change," Tina said with a little grin. "Everyone else can suck it up."

Hook ended up meandering out onto a little balcony with her, looking over the newly-built town.

Emma laughed.

"I wish," she said. "But I got bullied into it for the whole night."

Rachel walked with him, sighing softly at the cool air out on the balcony.

"If I had a change of clothes..." Tina sighed but grinned. It was mostly just wishful thinking.

"Alright, love?" Hook asked, looking over at her.

Emma laughed.

"Girl after my own heart," she said.

"Fine," Rachel said. "It was crowded in there. It's nice to be out of the crowd."

Tina grinned, relaxing bit by bit.

Hook nodded. "Indeed. Although you seem to get along fine with some of them, at least."

"I got to know some of them in Storybrooke," Rachel said. "I never knew them before. Only Red, really."

Hook nodded. He hadn't really known anyone, and he still didn't know many people.

"It's good that you're able to talk to them now, though," he said quietly.

"Yeah." Rachel looked at him. "Now what's bothering you?" Because it seemed to her like something was nagging at him.