Gold made a face.

"If it's all the same to you," he said, "you go first. I'll follow."

Hook shrugged and lowered the rowboat to the water, jumping down easily into it before he waited for Gold. He could at least manage to get them to shore.

Gold used a bit of magic to get himself into the rowboat, settling himself carefully. With his bad leg, he definitely didn't have sea legs.

Fortunately for him, Hook couldn't row too quickly anyway, and he kept the ride smooth before pushing the boat up onto shore as far as he could.

"Any way for you to shield the boat? The mermaids will get to it otherwise."

Gold nodded. He'd come prepared for the destructive tendencies of the mermaids, and he quickly created a physical shield around the rowboat.

Hook nodded. "Where are they?" he asked, looking at Gold. Because the island wasn't large, but it would be difficult to search on foot without at least an idea of where to go.

Gold gestured in one particular direction and began walking. He knew where Tina was, at least; he had no idea if Rachel was there or not.

Hook walked next to him, looking around. Yes, the island looked the same as he remembered. It was rather odd, actually.

Gold also remembered the island well, and idly made a mental note to collect some mermaid scales while he was there. He hoped one of the mermaids would give him a reason to.

Hook spotted the cave first and headed over to it. The instant he saw Rachel, he strode over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

Tina looked over when she saw Gold, smiling and bouncing over to him.

Rachel was barely half-way to her feet when she was swept up into his arms.

"I'm fine," she said, clinging to him.

Gold reached out and pulled Tina close to him.

"Are you hurt?" he asked quietly.

"You'd better be." Hook rubbed her back briefly. "You sure you're fine?"

Tina shook her head.

"I'm not," she said quietly. "I promise I'm not. A little tired, but nothing that a few hours of sleep can't cure."

"Just tired," Rachel said. She looked off to the side a bit. "And maybe a little bit useless."

"Then let's get you home again," Gold said. He glanced at the other two before ignoring them and walking Tina back to the rowboat.

"Well it's not like you expected mermaids," Hook said quietly. "Don't be too hard on yourself, alright?"

Tina walked next to him quietly, reaching over to take his hand after a few moments. She hadn't been scared, but it was nice to know there was a way off the island now.

"Still, I can't help but feel like I should have been able to do something," Rachel said. "I just... couldn't remember what."

Gold squeezed her hand gently.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked her.

Hook shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he said firmly. "We're going back to the ship and everything will be fine."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just... worried, for a while." Tina smiled tightly. "I'll be fine."

Rachel just nodded, albeit a little reluctantly, and followed him.

"You've no reason to be worried, dear," Gold said. "Everything is fine now. Unless, of course, the mermaids try to make trouble, but I need to replenish my stock of mermaid scales anyway."

Hook kept an arm around her as he led the way back to the row boat. "Try not to blame yourself," he murmured.

Tina shivered briefly at that and shuffled closer to Gold. She could see a few of the mermaids swimming lazily off shore. Clearly two or three had tried to smash the boat on shore.

"I can't help it," Rachel said softly. "I knew more magic than this, before. I was useful back then. But I can't remember any of it."

Gold glanced at the mermaids warningly, helping Tina into the boat.

Hook just shook his head. He didn't want her blaming herself, but he couldn't figure out how to make her not blame herself. He made sure she was settled in the boat before he pushed it off and started rowing. Most of the mermaids were smart enough to stay away.

Only one of them was dumb enough to go after the boat with passengers in it.

And Gold quickly took care of that one, making sure to get some scales off of her in the process. He put them into a small glass bottle and pocketed it for later.

Hook got up onto the ship first, helping the girls up (and yes, he did help Tina because he knew she hated ships) before hauling the rowboat back on board where it belonged.

"Ready when you are," he called to Gold. It was odd, they were being so civil.

Gold nodded, once Tina was squared away, and magicked the rigging again. He highly doubted either of the girls knew how to work a ship, so the magic was still necessary.

Rachel watched, fascinated. So it was possible to run a ship with magic. She needed to learn how.

Tina watched as well, rather awed.

This time, Hook wasn't freaked out. He just steered the ship back to where he'd been keeping it, making sure everything settled back to where they should go. He'd make sure everything was fine later.

Once they were back as close to home as it was possible to get, Gold promptly got off the ship. He hated sailing.