2.

Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful?
Will you still love me when I got nothing but my ache and sorrow?
I know you will, I know you will, I know that you will
Will you still love me when I'm no longer beautiful?

[Young and beautiful – Lana del Rey]

A few days had been enough to carry away all her confidence and she had helplessly fallen into a state of blue funk. Maybe she had underestimated the situation or more likely, overestimated herself, but now the naked truth about her situation finally appeared to her eyes. Chemotherapy was nothing compared to any pain she had experienced in her life, not even the torture that Owen had inflicted her had been that terrible.

Because it had been sudden and quick, while that disease was going to destroy her in a different way.

Slowly. Completely.

She had spent all day half-lying in bed, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She could see the same herself there, the same Regina, only more tired than the usual. But how long would it have remained that way? Soon she would have lost that appearance, starting with her beautiful dark hair. It was something potentially destructive for someone who always based her strength upon beauty and magic was totally useless for that.

A knock o the door interrupted her deadly thoughts and soon after the pirate's figure appeared on the door.

"Why are you still here?" she asked in a whisper, slightly annoyed, perceiving his presence with the corner of the eye.

Hook didn't answer and instead took some steps toward the bed, placing a plate on bedside table.

"What is it?" she asked again, turning a bit her head to the unknown food.

"It's spaghetti" he explained "I took it from Grannys… I don't plan to poison you"

"I'm not hungry"

Her laconic repetitive answer wasn't going to be accepted this time, and so he just sat beside her and took the plate with his hand.

"I don't care if I have to feed you myself, my hot-headed Queen… I can be more stubborn than you"

Regina sighed and then slowly nodded, making him smile triumphantly. She knew that he was right after all, she had to eat before the therapy would have took away all of her appetite.

"I've met Emma, Baelfire and Henry, by the way" the pirate added falsely nonchalant, starting to twirl the pasta around the fork "They asked me about you, Henry was clearly worried…"

He stopped after that information, giving her some time to consider it, and she did. She closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears that were already threatening to fall, just at the mention of her son's name.

"What have you told him?" the woman finally asked, with a trembling voice.

"What we had planned to tell everybody" he replied with a heavy sigh "That you left town because you needed a break and time to think… He accepted your decision, but he misses you so much and he's waiting for you to return"

A single tear escaped her control at that, but a new strength seemed to take possess of her body. Unexpectedly, she grabbed the fork from the man and took a bite, as if she had remembered a reason to continue that fight.

And that reason was Henry, that reason was love, after all.

"What else did they say?"

Hook couldn't hold a playful smile hearing that question, as the memories of a few hours before reformed into his mind.

"Nothing more… Except for the fact that…"

"What?" she asked, looking up to him, showing a bit of curiosity.

"Of all of this situation, Emma understood that you and I have an affair" he revealed, with a hinted flirtatious tone.

She frowned and remained silent for a moment, not knowing how to react to that absurd theory.

And then she just smiled, sincerely, for the first time in a while.

It was a Friday morning when what she'd been most fearing became real. It all started some days before with some more hair than the usual trapped into the hairbrush and then that day she woke up into the room the pirate gave her on his ship, only to find the pillow covered with her dark hair. She immediately sit up and stared motionlessly at it for a while, then she gained her courage and turned her eyes to the mirror in the closet. A strong sense of disgust and compassion toward herself took possess of her and she ended up destroying it with an instinct angry twitch, throwing the high heels she wasn't able to wear well anymore at the exact point where her face was reflected.

Maybe it was the noise to call his attention, but just a few seconds later, the pirate was somehow at her side with a worried look, trying to understand the situation.

"What's happened, Regina?" he asked softly, moving his eyes to the fragments of glass on the floor to her apparent blank expression.

Maybe she realized only in that moment his presence and quickly raised her hands in a useless attempt to cover her face.

Too late.

He noticed her hair and guessed immediately the reason of her surprising behavior. He just sighed heavily, feeling a new sorrow came into him, and then instead of doing as she said, slowly took one of her trembling hand in his only one.

They just remained like that for some minutes, in silence, avoiding each others' look.

Finally, Hook stood up and started to search he room, apparently looking for something. The woman didn't ask anything, but followed confusedly his movements.

"Found it!" he exclaimed suddenly, closing a closet and showing her what seemed like a kerchief.

It was a piece of cloth black and white and there was an inevitable skull and crossbones on it. The captain with a bit of difficulty, caused by the lack of a hand, put it on her head and then a small smile crossed his lips seeing her with that new accessory.

"Now you are a true pirate" he joked, making a wink.

She found herself slightly smiling too. It was impossible for her to understand how he of al people was able to lighten her mood so easily, when nothing and nobody could made her feel any better. But that thought made reveal her strange condition of dependence from him and so the weak smile soon turned out into violent uncontrolled sobs.

And so she cried, cried hard, until he wrapped her into his arms, just holding her, trying to be what he hadn't been able to be for anyone in his life. A rock which upon to stand.

But tears were in his eyes as well.

Here it is the second chapter! I tried to write more about Regina's suffering and Hook's helping... Thank you for the reviews, I hope you will let me know what you think about this one too!

See you soon with the last part!