"I nearly turned one of my hands into a flamethrower," Rachel said dryly, glancing at Hook. "If there's a suitable emotion for that, please, let me know." She grinned teasingly.

Gold nodded slightly.

"I'm sure your garden is starved for attention, in the meantime," he suggested.

Hook laughed quietly. "I will," he agreed, grinning briefly. "In the meantime, I'll just think of good uses for that."

Tina nodded. "I did some work this morning, but probably not enough. And I need to finish planting those vegetable seeds, too."

Rachel rolled her eyes a bit but grinned.

Gold nodded and kissed her forehead.

"You go and do that, then," he said.

Hook pulled her back below deck to sit and relax with her for a bit. "You need some time off after dealing with the crocodile," he said quietly, keeping one arm around her.

Tina smiled a bit and nodded, heading off up to her garden, still a bit giddy. He was still not frequent or open with his affection, so she was extremely pleased every time he showed her.

Rachel sighed a bit and relaxed with him, hesitantly cuddling a bit.

"He isn't that bad, you know," she commented softly after a minute or so.

"Love, you don't know the man," Hook said quietly. "Not the way I do. He's always had a vested interest in being fair to you, if not kind, in his own way." His arm tightened around her a bit before he forced himself to relax.

"And you won't let me know," Rachel pointed out softly. "So all I'm able to compare to is what little I remember."

Hook shook his head a little. "Even if you lived there, you wouldn't know him as I do," he said quietly. "He cares too much about keeping the little fairy happy."

"But is that really so bad?" Rachel asked. "That he cares?" She sighed a bit and shook her head.

Hook was quiet for a few moments. "No," he said quietly. "I am glad that he will never have cause to harm you or consider you an enemy."

"But not you," Rachel observed. She snuggled closer to him. "I care if he tries to hurt you."

Hook let her, keeping his arm around her. "He hasn't tried anything yet," he pointed out. "Then again, neither have I, beyond annoying him."

"I hope it doesn't come to anything worse than that," Rachel said softly. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

Hook couldn't help but smile a little at that. "I will do my best to keep from getting into any trouble, love, particularly with him."

"Thanks," Rachel said softly, cuddling a bit closer. "I appreciate it."

Hook just held her closer, relaxing with her there for the moment.

It went on like that for a while. Rachel would have magic lessons every few days, and she essentially had to learn everything from scratch. She was slowly improving, though, so she wasn't completely hopeless.

After nearly a month, though, Tina had itchy feet that wouldn't go away no matter what she did. She spent time in her garden, and her plants were growing wonderfully, but she needed to go travel.

Now she just had to convince Gold, and she wondered how to do so while sitting across from him at dinner.

Gold watched her fidget for a few moments before sighing.

"What's on your mind?" he asked her.

Tina smiled sheepishly, pushing her food around.

"I was thinking of going on a little trip. Itchy feet, and all that. Just for a few days."

"A trip?" Gold asked, raising an eyebrow. "And where, pray tell, would you be going?"

"I'm not sure. Go along the coast, maybe, or go visit the new town and see who's there in case we ever need the information." She shrugged.

"I see." Gold was quiet for a moment. "And would I be wrong in assuming that you want to venture out on your own?"

"No, you'd be correct." Tina was quiet for a moment. "Not that I want to time away from you, per se, but it's easier when I don't have to worry or think about another person and I can just hike and climb until I'm tired."

Gold considered that for a moment before he had to admit that yes, she'd been out and about by herself before, and he might just be the least bit overprotective of her.

"So long as you let me track you," he said after a minute or two.