"Not a soul," Tina agreed. "I'll see you in a few days, then."

Rachel nodded.

"Thanks," she said. "See you then."

Tina waved and then headed back towards the castle to go let Gold know.

A couple of days later, Rachel arrived at the castle for the lessons. She was a little apprehensive about them, but she was willing to keep working.

Hook had gone with her, figuring he'd hang out somewhere else while she had her actual lesson. He didn't mind going with, after all. Although he was getting a bit better about trusting Gold.

Rachel went into the castle, expecting to have to go find Gold. She wasn't expecting him to be waiting there right as she walked in.

"Ah, Rapunzel," he greeted. He gave her a knowing look. "It's been a long time. Welcome back."

Rachel just froze, paling slightly.

Hook noticed immediately and frowned, looking between the two quickly before focusing on Rachel again.

"Rachel?" he prompted gently.

"Oh," Gold said, smirking a bit. "She hasn't told you?"

Rachel looked over at Hook.

"I just wanted to be Rachel for a little while longer," she said quietly.

Hook was quiet for a few moments before he nodded to show he'd heard. He didn't understand it, not really, but then he also had never not known who he was. He wasn't quite sure what to do with this information yet though.

"My, my," Gold commented as Rachel went to give Hook a hug. "Is that any way to start a relationship? With deception?"

Hook returned the hug, though he did glare daggers at Gold.

"Shut up," he told the other man. "Before I make you." Because yes, he was unsettled without Gold making things worse.

"I'd like to see you try, pirate," Gold replied. He studied the two for a moment.

Rachel just cuddled closer to Hook.

"I didn't mean to keep it from you," she murmured to him. "I just... wasn't ready yet."

"I figured," Hook murmured to Rachel. Though, really, it was getting more and more tempting to punch Gold in the face, and that just wouldn't end well for anyone.

Rachel snuggled closer to Hook before reluctantly letting go. She turned to Gold.

"I think we should get on to the lesson now," she said. Gold studied her for a moment before nodding.

"Indeed," he said. "I think, today, it will be a gauge of your current skill level." He smirked a bit. "And, perhaps a lesson in trust, as well."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked warily. Gold just waved a hand towards Hook. Purple smoke rose around Hook and he shrank rapidly. When the smoke cleared, he was a rat.

"Your lesson," Gold said, "is to turn your pirate back into a pirate."

Hook squeaked angrily and hissed at Gold, scuttling away from all of them. He was Not Pleased.

Rachel shot Gold an outraged look, and turned to go after Hook.

"Killian!" she called, looking for him. "Don't disappear on me! Please!"

Gold just watched them go with a bit of a smug smirk.

Hook hadn't gone far, although he wasn't quite willing to come out into the open again.

"That was mean," Tina said, giving Gold a bit of a Look.

Gold just looked at Tina, raising an eyebrow.

"Dear, if I wanted to be truly mean, I would have been," he said.

Rachel followed in the direction she had seen Killian go, looking for him. She slowed down when she didn't find him.

Tina huffed, gave up on speaking sense to him, and headed back into the kitchen to make tea.

Hook waited until he couldn't hear Gold anymore before he came out again, rather reluctantly. Really, he hadn't even done anything this time.

Gold followed her into the kitchen, sitting down at the table.

"Give it time," he said. "I haven't done anything that isn't well within Rapunzel's ability to reverse."

"Killian, there you are," Rachel said, kneeling down near the rat. She held out a hand for him.

"But it was still kind of a dick move," Tina told him, keeping her back to him as she prepared tea.

Killian sneezed at her. Clearly he hated being a rat and he wasn't going to forget this. Ever.

But he did walk over to her gingerly.

"But necessary," Gold replied. He carefully stretched out his bad leg and leaned his cane against the table.

"I'll figure this out," Rachel said to Killian. Gently, she reached out with her magic to get a feel for the spell. It was tidy and efficient, as most things Gold did were, and she tugged experimentally on it for a moment before she paused. A possible answer came to her, and she considered it for a moment. "Hold still," she murmured to the rat. Leaning down, she gently kissed his head.

Hook shivered, stretched a bit, and was still a rat. He hissed briefly but didn't make a move other than that, instead settling in to be the grumpiest rat.

When that didn't work, Rachel huffed a bit.

"Alright," she said, settling in. "Let me pick through this and find the end of it. I'm sure I can reverse this." Reaching out with her magic again, she worked on delicately picking apart the spell.

It took a little while, but once she had it figured out, Hook sat on the floor again. He scowled.

"Thank you, love. I'm going to stab him."