The concrete walls that surrounded him dulled his senses entirely, making him feel hardly human at all. Compared to the momentous force the wand gave him, the withdrawal was absolutely soul crushing. He had no idea how much time had passed since they threw him in that cell, only that the silence was deafening and his future had never felt so bleak. That's why, when the bell went off in the sheriff's office, Walsh practically jumped at the chance to see who was there. When he saw who it was, however, his grip tightened around the cell bars.

"You shouldn't have come here," he stated, unsure of whether he should be threatened or thrilled by the woman's appearance. "What're you going to do, gloat? I don't need-"

"I'm not going to do that," Zelena replied, cutting him off. She walked closer to the cell, eyes darkening with every step. "But don't think I'm here to forgive you for what you did to Caroline. If we weren't able to save her, your head would be on a spike for the entire town to see."

She could hear him gulp audibly, and was relieved to know she still had the ability to strike fear in others. After she let her threatening words sink in for a moment, however, she lessened her stance, her features softening. "I did want to say something to you- talking to you while you're locked in a cage seemed like the best time to do it."

He waited for her to continue, curious about what she had to say. After all of the years he knew her for, he never heard her say anything positive about anyone other than herself.

"I, uh- I know I shouldn't have taken you for granted like that," Zelena began, the confidence she thought she had slipping like sand between her fingers, "you were always there for me, even when things were… pretty bleak. I'm… I'm sorry, Walsh."

Seeing her so vulnerable kept him in a bubble of absolute shock- he couldn't comprehend how so many different emotions could reside within one person.

"It's not like you can go back in time and change things," he responded, coldness in his voice. "Why even bother coming here, why rub it in my face that you're a good person now and can do no wrong?"

"I'm not a good person," she quipped, folding her arms uncomfortably, "I just- I'm trying, I guess. I saw what life could look like without magic, and I sort of… want to go back."

"A life without magic?" Walsh questioned, "you?

Zelena gave him a look, her defensiveness resurfacing. "Not all together. There's just more out there that I never knew existed."

He thought how different she seemed to him after she met the girl, and knew there was some truth to what she was telling him. She was evolving right before his eyes, and she was going to leave him in the dust. What he wanted to say then was I can't imagine living my life without you- instead, all he could do was return her glance, praying to himself that he would be able to remember the good parts of her in the years to come.

"Magic or no magic, my home is Oz- is there any way you can send me back there?"

"I'll see what Emma has to say about it. Everyone is still pretty… torn up about what happened out there."

Knowing she was right, Walsh held back a witty response, soon thinking about what kind of life he could live. Before meeting Zelena, he was fascinated by the new land he had discovered, one far from the Kansas prairies. Everything was new and exciting, a canvas waiting to be painted. Maybe he could start practicing magic.

Every option, of course, was dependent on whether or not he would ever get out of that jail cell.

Once they were able to leave the blur of exhausted relief that came with Caroline narrowly escaping death, everything felt electric. It was a joy that hadn't been felt within their family since Robin was finally reunited with them, all those years ago. Boring evenings in were suddenly a treasured time that none of them would give up for anything. Regina hoped that the feeling would stay for a while longer.

"Will you show us how to play that game you grew up playing?" Caroline asked, after their seventh round of Egyptian rat screw. The question was asked so effortlessly, she didn't have time to think about how her mother might respond.

"I don't remember much," Regina replied, noticing how her daughter's excitement quickly faded. "But… I'm sure it'll come back to me if I try."

She dealt out the cards, accessing the memories from before things took a turn for the worse. She could faintly recall her father explaining the rules of different card games to her, a few of the servants joining in from time to time.

Although hesitant at first, Regina found herself easing into the game, realizing that she had remembered more than she expected herself to. The memories had been with her all along, waiting to be rediscovered.

They were well into their game when Regina's phone went off beside her. She looked confused when she saw the caller ID- her look quickly shifted to one of worry.

"Belle? What is it?"

Caroline could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but she could tell it wasn't good. Her mother's face paled significantly.

"Well?" Zelena questioned, the only one brave enough to break the unpleasant silence.

Regina fished for the right words. "Rumple… he isn't doing well. Belle says she doesn't know how much longer he has left."

Everyone's cards were abandoned, the game far from their minds. Sure Rumplestiltskin did plenty of awful things in the Enchanted Forest, but that was a long time ago. Did he deserve to die like that?

"We should go visit him," Zelena suggested, her tone insinuating that she was going to go with or without them. Giving the other woman a cautious look, Regina finally gave into the idea.

"You guys stay here- we shouldn't be long."

"I want to go too," Caroline objected, "if this is our last time seeing him, I'd like to say goodbye."

"Sweetheart, you don't know Rumple like I… we do. We have a lot of history."

"So do we," the girl continued, soon realizing that she never shared that piece of information with her family. "When I was looking for Zelena, I went to him. He… He told me that he was the one who brought the ruby slippers back in the past. He's the reason we got back."

Regina and Zelena exchanged wide eyed glances, unsure of how to respond. Her words were so simple, yet they provided the answers to questions that had kept them up at night for months on end.

"You knew this for how long, and you're just now telling me?"

"We were really busy with other things!" Caroline defended, scrambling to change the topic. "Shouldn't we get going?"

She still didn't love the idea of Caroline and Zelena accompanying her, but she reluctantly agreed, knowing her daughter would be too stubborn to let it go. The thought of sharing what could be the last conversation with one of the most influential people in her life hardly thrilled her. Like many other instances in her life, however, it was beyond her control.

Belle was as put together as she could be when they arrived, answering the door in a red pantsuit that looked strikingly familiar.

"I'm glad you guys could come on such short notice," was all she said, guiding them down the hallway. The last time Caroline was in their apartment, the circumstances were very different. Now that her mother and Zelena were both there with her, the only thing that worried her was something completely out of her control- whether or not Rumple would die. She didn't have much experience with death. Her stubbornness towards wanting to see him dissipated with every step forward.

"Maybe just you guys should go," she admitted, causing her mother to stop walking and turn towards her, her eyes gleaming with concern.

"Whatever you feel comfortable with," she told her, "you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Caroline studied the somberness in her mother's demeanor, wondering how many times in her life she had to do things that scared her. She wondered if she would ever be as brave as she was one day.

"I just made some bread in the kitchen if you want some," Belle suggested, something Caroline found herself quickly agreeing to. Regina watched her daughter head down the hallway until she was out of sight. Not wanting to seem weak in front of Zelena, she opened the door without hesitation.

Rumple was laying on his side of the bed, a book abandoned in his hands as he slept. As soon as the two women entered the room, he opened his eyes, smiling slightly when he saw who was there.

"I never thought I'd see the two of you together in the same room," he remarked, his voice faint.

Regina instantly felt her emotions simmer dangerously close to the surface- it was hard to see the person she looked up to all throughout her life look so withered down. As she searched for the right words to say, Zelena stepped forward.

"I never thought I'd see the Dark One bedridden," she responded quickly, pausing as she realized her words were more emotionless than she intended them to be. After collecting her thoughts, she tried again. "How… are you feeling?"

Rumple fixed his gaze on the redheaded woman, still astonished to see her appearing so venerable. "It comes and goes- Belle has been my savior during this whole ordeal. I… didn't want her to contact you both, but she insisted. I suppose I'm still not good at asking for help, even after all this time."

Regina fought the urge to argue with him, to remind him that multiple all nighters at the hospital were proper cause for worry. He was always a father figure to her, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

"Belle told me what happened with Walsh. I'm glad…" his sentence was interrupted by a harsh coughing fit, one that lasted far longer than any of them wanted. "I'm glad she's okay."

Quietness overtook the room once again. Zelena braced herself to break the silence, the words inside of her threatening to bubble over.

"I spent most of my life hating you," she began, looking him over, "for not believing in me. All I wanted to do was prove you wrong. But… this whole time… it was you that got us out of the Enchanted Forest."

Regina gave the other woman a watchful glance, impressed with her ability to get right into things. Rumple didn't seem too surprised at her statement- instead, he looked relieved.

"I did what I could," he replied, taking a breath. "It in no way makes up for all the things I did to the both of you, though. I did so many horrible things back then, and I don't deserve forgiveness for any-"

"Yes, you do. We've been over this, our past is in the past."

"I'd like an apology," Zelena continued, folding her arms, "you once said I wasn't good enough to be trained by you. I carried that with me for years."

Rumple waited until his eyes were locked with hers, feeling his energy fading rapidly. "I treated you terribly, Zelena. For that I am truly sorry. Magic… magic took over my life. I couldn't think about anything else except carrying out my curse."

Zelena hadn't expected such an easy apology from the man that had spurred so much hardship in her life. She was still coming to terms with the fact that he made the choice to save her specifically- no one had ever cared enough to do something like that before. She never gave anyone reason to care.

Not knowing how to respond, Zelena gave him a slight nod, slinking back towards the door. She soon disappeared through the door without a sound.

Regina stepped forward, taking Rumple's hand in hers. The firmness of her grip stopped the tremors in his hand, bringing a moment of calmness.

"Thank you for bringing my family back," she said, her voice soft. "You have no idea how much that meant to me."

They reveled in one another's silence, their shared history a lukewarm memory. She tried not to think about how much she would miss him, or whether or not this would be her last time talking with him- her mentor, her friend. Instead, she cherished the then and now.