Gold really was trying not to be overbearing, but it was hard. He remembered how difficult Milah's pregnancy with Baelfire was, and he wanted to make sure Tina was comfortable and relaxed.

It was late afternoon when Rachel finally got to the castle. Now that she was a bit more attuned to magic, she could feel the wards around the property ping against her as she went up to the door and knocked.

Since Tina was closer, she got there first. And then she grinned.

"Rachel! Finally back on solid ground for a few days?" She pushed the door open wider to let her in.

"Yeah," Rachel said, grinning when she saw her friend. "Time to resupply again." She could tell something was different about Tina, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. "Brought you some things back, too."

"Oh excellent." Tina grinned. "I've got plenty of fresh fruits and veggies here, so you can stock up and take some back with you. I can get a bag of oranges ready to go too, if you want, later on I mean."

"That would be great," Rachel said, grinning. "That sounds fantastic, you have no idea."

"Excellent. Help yourself." Tina grinned as she headed back to the kitchen to start tea so Rachel could get a snack.

"You're the best," Rachel said, following Tina into the kitchen. She paused for a moment when Tina started the tea. "New blend?" It definitely smelled different than the last ones, and it wasn't one Rachel was familiar with.

"Yeah. Added a few things from the garden. It's really good for an upset stomach." Tina shot her a brief grin. "I can package some of this up for you too if you like, I've got it in spades."

"Upset stomach?" That was a bit surprising. Rachel had never known Tina to get sick, and she highly doubted Gold suffered from any sort of stomach upset. It made Rachel a bit curious.

"Yeah." But Tina didn't elaborate just yet. "Could you grab the cookies for me? I just made a batch yesterday. I'm kind of missing Ziploc baggies now."

Rachel snorted.

"Of all the things to miss," she teased as she went rooting around for the cookies. "Although I would have done a lot for a bottle of SPF 50."

Tina laughed. "I've got aloe vera plants, I'll send some cuttings back with you too," she said, grinning. "Not a problem."

"Thank you so much," Rachel said gratefully. "I peeled for a week, you have no idea how bad that was."

"It's terrible, I know," Tina said. "I'll just give you a whole care package."

"Speaking of care packages," Rachel said, grinning. She reached down and picked up her bag, where it had been sitting by her feet. "I brought you things." Opening her pack, she started to pull things out. She ended up setting a few packets of seeds on the table alongside a chunk of faintly glowing red-orange moss and what seemed to be a lily inside a round glass bottle. The lily sparkled in the light, and seemed to subtly shift colors as its petals moved just lightly.

"Oh you spoil me," Tina said, immediately starting to poke around. "You realize I'm going to have to bug Gold for a pond now don't you?"

"Not my problem," Rachel teased as she handed everything over. "Careful with the moss, apparently it's called firemoss for a really good reason."

"Oh it sounds fantastic," Tina said, grinning hugely. "I love this, this is going to be great."

"I thought you would like it," Rachel said, grinning as well. "Speaking of Gold, how have things been around here since last time I dropped in?"

"Good," Tina said with a little smile. "Things have been going well. Gold's been giving lessons to Emma and Henry."

"Really?" Rachel asked, leaning forward a bit in interest. "I didn't expect that. Since when?"

"Oh, it's been a few months now. Three or four." Tina shrugged. "So far things are going as well as can be expected."

"I bet it makes things interesting, though," Rachel said. "And I'm guessing things are still going well for you and Gold?"

"Yes." Tina grinned. "Very well, actually." She set the tea on the table and sat down.

"Good," Rachel said. "I'm glad he's treating you well." Reaching over, she poured herself some tea.