Kathleen was the first to wake up the following morning. The grains stuck to the sleeves of her tunic, making her remember where in Narnia she was. She tried to ignore the bright sun in the sky by snuggling her head into her make-shift pillow, but it only made it difficult to breathe.

She untucked her head, turned over, and opened her eyes. The sight beside her caused her to hold her breath, yet she was still able to feel someone else's.

Beside her was Edmund Pevensie, and he was fast asleep. His eyelashes had bits of sand in them and his body was slightly curled inward, making him look at peace. Kathleen could feel his breath tickle her lips. Their faces were so close that one small movement forward would make their noses touch.

She could feel her face burn up at the thought but she did not move. It shocked her to find herself this close to him, but she remained content all the same. Just to lay there next to him was the tiniest bliss, but the after effect of reality swung in. Imagining Edmund's reaction when he woke to find themselves so close to each other. Kathleen's blush when up to her ears.

Careful, Kathleen rolled over to her other side so her back would be facing the boy again. Then, she slowly sat up and shifted her weight to her right arm, opposite where Edmund was.

She brushed off the grains of her sleeves and looked around her. Everyone was asleep. Dragon Eustace was snoring softly while Reepicheep slept beside him. Caspian and Rhince were sleeping across from her, both oblivious to the morning sun which left Lucy and Gael to her far right. They laid by each other, one stirring more than the other.

Kathleen looked at Gael who had turned over her head to one side then to the other. A moment later the young girl sat up slowly. Kathleen let out a yawn as she did so. Gael hadn't seemed to notice her yet, but who could blame her. The older girl didn't even have enough energy to mumble a "good morning." Although, a small jolt went through her when she heard Gael let out a gasp.

Kathleen turned around as quickly as her groggily self could. She turned to the ocean to where Gael was staring at and then to the sky. A wide grin spread across her face as she could see why the little girl gasped. She sat frozen in delight. There is was.

The Blue Star.

Kathleen could hear Gael shaking Lucy to wake up. Kathleen turned to Edmund who was still sleeping on his side. She nudged him a few times, which seemed to do the trick in getting him up. He looked bewildered at first but his face relaxed as soon as he saw the smile on Kathleen's face. She turned back to the sky and Edmund followed her gaze. The Ballerina could hear the happy relief in the Queen's voice at the sight in front of them. Soon enough Lucy shouting everyone to get up and see what they have hoped for.

The Blue Star shined bright in the early morning sky. It was low and brighter than the ocean tides. Warm happiness filled Kathleen.

Finally, she thought, a sign for the right direction.

Quickly as they were able, the group packed up their supplies and rowed themselves back to the ship. There was still a question on how Eustace should follow the crew. Obviously, they knew he was going to have to fly above and around the Dawn Treader, but the main concern was what would happen if they would need to sail overnight, or if a storm would appear before they arrive at Ramandu's Island. Coriakin said that the Star would lead them to the island, but he did not say how long it would take. Lucy and Edmund held faith that the island would be found soon, but Kathleen was still concerned.

It was decided that if Eustace were the travel above them, he should not have to do so alone. Reepicheep was to ride with him as he is familiar with the ship's signals and wind patterns. Plus, it would be easier for him to jump off Eustace's head and onto the crow's-nest if needed. Kathleen wasn't too keen on not being with Eustace during this time, but she knew it made the most sense.

When they reached the ship and began to make sail, Kathleen couldn't help but wonder every few minutes if Eustace was all right. How were his wings? What would he need to eat when he got hungry? How much will he need to eat? Edmund and Caspian assured her that as long as Reepicheep was with Eustace, he was in great hands. Or paws, for his case. And seeing how they were short a sailor, Kathleen put on herself to take over Reepicheep's responsibilities.

With the approval of both Caspian and Drinian, she stationed herself in the kitchen with the other crewmen who were in charge of food. Wilter happened to be one of them. Claiming they didn't really need much help, due to the fact there wasn't much to ration, Kathleen noticed how morale hadn't changed much since the days before docking on the volcanic island.

"There's nothin' we can do. The island was a bust! What we gonna do? Eat a nut a day? The only good thing we got left is the porridge, and we're all sick of it." A short man with dark hair peeking out of his blue cap complained. The other two men around him seemed to agree.

Kathleen played with the hem of her tunic, "Well, we still have the fruit from before-"

"They're rotting, sweetheart," said Olmec, the sailor from before. "Apples, oranges, peaches, you name it! They're all startin' to go' bad."

"We got to eat them before they go to waste, but if we do that, then we got nothin' left," added Bernard, who was the Head Cook for the Dawn Treader. "And if we wait any longer, the fruit will be too far gone to stomach. And we can not start serving the crew nuts. It will have them think that it's all we have left," he sighed. "Patience has been dropping low enough as if is. Oh, don't give me that look, Olmec, you know it too!" Kathleen could see Olmec rolled his eyes from the corner of her own.

"Look, we can't throw the food away, but we can't necessarily save it either. If you have any ideas, we'd be happy to hear them, if not. I'm afraid Olmec might be right. There isn't much we can do. Unless we find land that's gifted with barrels of food."

Wilter snorted with a smile, "Don't tease with that, 'Nard. We wouldn't be able to keep ourselves away if that were to happen."

Kathleen stood silent for a moment. She walked to the baskets of food behind Bernard and taking quick mental notes on what was in them. From what she could see, most of the fruit was on the verge of going bad sooner rather than later. There was no way they could waste the food or else they might not make it to the next island, whenever that may be.

The fruits and vegetables stored were pomegranates, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, and squash, peaches, apples, oranges, and pears. Kathleen's mother was the one with the green thumb in her family. Her mother would do the planting while she did the storing. She was currently grateful that that was her only contribution when it came to growing fruit. All that time in the cabinets had begun to flow through her head.

She took notice of the items that would perish first, which would be the peaches, and order the rest of the food as best as her memory would serve her from fastest rot to slowest.

Olmec scoffed at her silence, "Whatever you're thinkin', I can bet ya we've already tried it, sweetheart,"

Kathleen turned to the men with crossed arms, "You tried giving different combinations in one serving to the crew instead of just one item each? Because if you have, I cannot seem to recall those days." She kept her voice leveled, trying not to sound hostile to the "nickname" given to her. "If we give a small variety to the crew, first by serving the more perishable fruits, then we won't have to rush in distributing just one item at a time. We can cut up the food and split them with other crew members and pair them with something else. With that, the crew wouldn't be sick of eating peaches, pears, or porridge for three days straight. They would have different flavors for each ration, so hopefully, that will help a little with the mood at sea."

Bernard looked to her in thought, "So, instead of a ration being an apple for lunch, you're proposing we do a mixture of some kind. Say, slices of apples and oranges with maybe something else?"

Kathleen sent a wide grin, "Exactly!"

The older man turned to the other crewman to see their thoughts. They believed that the idea was intriguing, but there were some questions to be asked.

"How would we know what is the right ration size from one crew member if we are mixing and matching the food?"

"What are we going to do if we end up with leftover slices? We cannot save them. If we did, they'll rot within the hour."

"What about your dragon friend? His ration would be thrice the minitours. What we gonna do about him?"

The young girl adjusted her vest and took a deep breath to think out loud, "Well, to make sure we continue with the same serving size, we must map out the inventory and each item's portion size. With that, we will be able to map out the correct ratio size for one person."

"We already have those numbers, sweetheart," Olmec said annoyed.

Kathleen pulled on her vest slightly, "So then that part is already done. What we would have to do next is put the numbers together and figure out the protein and calories for the number of slices in fruit and then we can figure out the proper combination for an equal serving size." She didn't realize how quickly she was speaking until she looked up at the men. She seemed to have lost them. "Was that too fast?"

They didn't say anything at first. The three men turned to each other as if mentally asking each other if they understood anything she just said.

Maybe I should stick with one-on-one tutoring sessions. Kathleen thought indirectly.

Bernard nodded aimlessly, "We will have to return to that one, but I think I understand. Real quick though," he pauses, "That word you said, 'Kalo-Ree.' Is that a term from Your World?"

"Yes, uh. In another term I suppose it can mean 'the energy in food,'" Kathleen explained sheepishly. That seemed to ring a bell with the men.

"Alright, what about extras. We can't save 'em and we can't eat 'em. What do you suppose we do?"

Kathleen turned to Olmec, "The answer goes with the first solution. If we know the, uh, energy level for each fruit and vegetable, then we can see what item is equal in energy, then see how many slices of each item we would need. That way, nothing will go to waste."

Olmec nodded, but he didn't seem convinced, "Okay, what about our latest addition. Your friend is a beast with ten times the stomach of us human folk. What's your idea to do about 'im?"

Kathleen gulped as she looked to the stairs that separated herself from her student in the sky. That was the question that swirled around her mind. Her first thought was the ocean, but then she realized that she hadn't seen any of the crew fishing while on the Dawn Treader.

"Is there anything wrong with the fish?" Kathleen asked as she tried to remember that last time she ate meat.

Olmec shrugged, "Not unless you want to risk an attack by the Eastern Sea People."

"I'm sure we aren't even close to their borders," Wilter countered playfully. The shorter man didn't seem to take it.

"We don't even know where we are! How far is this supposed island? That star in the sky is a hundred ways up. We prob'ly going to tip off the edge of the sea before we find this Ramandu's land. 'Nd I rather jump ship to the Sea People than sail another week on this bloody ship!"

The port was quiet except for the calls on the crewmen one wall over, who were rowing the ship onward.

Barnard lowered his voice and put his hand on Olmec's shoulder. "Now let's not lose our heads. That star in the sky is a good sign, Olmec. We all know that. I'm sure that the island isn't more than a few days away. We'll search there for anything edible. Until then, we'll keep our hands and minds busy with this mix and match idea," He looked to the baskets behind himself, "We'll start with the ones that are quicker to go bad than from there, the four of us will do a quick count of what we have. Then we'll go back to see the ration sizes for each item and see what will pair well with each other. Are we all in agreement?" Kathleen and Wilter nodded while Olmec mumbled a "Fine."

That is what they did for the next two days. It was easy to count the goods they had left. Between the four of them, it took fifteen minutes. What took the longest was figuring out what food combinations were equal to each other as they were served before. It was also a matter of which foods were going bad quicker and which foods went well together.

Bernard allowed Kathleen to work on the numbers of how many slices should be made of each product as well as how many there should be for each serving size. The Head Cook had a book of information on his person about all known benefits that each item had. He was telling Kathleen everything and anything that could be remotely helpful to her in figuring out the solution.

She committed to spending most of her time in the kitchen, hoping a solution will come to her while surrendering herself to the situation. She was in her element with all the numbers flying in her head. Each night she would go to her hammock only to write down everything she learned. It was as if her professors sent her an equation that required every formula she had ever learned to solve it. The possibilities seemed endless. There were so many variables to be considered. On the third day back into the kitchen, she didn't even realize Olmec was standing by her side, looking impatient.

He tried to get her attention, but it wasn't until he tapped on the wood by her ear that she flinched. Looking at him, she couldn't help but move away slightly. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Olmec crossed his arms, "As a ma'er of fact, I did. We need this stuff to figure out new food distribution and get approval before we land on this supposed island. So if you can figure this dilemma you created before we all die of scurvy, that would be great." His voice grew rough and almost seemed hostile. Kathleen didn't want to think about not finding a solution for the crew, and her gut was telling her it would be worse if she couldn't find one in the hour.

What was the punishment for hurting another sailor at sea in Narnia?

Kathleen turned to see if anyone was around, and sadly there wasn't. Wilter and Bernard were called for extra hands for the oars as seeing the wind has left them. The ship wasn't moving, and neither was Olmec. She gulped as she knew she was on her own, "I'm working on the equation as efficiently as I can. I need to make sure that the proper combinations of rotten food to preserved food is right and I have to make sure that there won't be any-"

"Shut it, sweetheart. I know what you're tryin' ta pull." he interrupted, "You may have everyone fooled, but I won't have it with ya. I know you're only here to making yaself look good in front of the High King." Kathleen's eyes went wide at his words. "Yea, don't think we haven't noticed. I bet all this talk is just that. Talk. In reali'y, you don't know what you're doing. That's why it's takin' you so long. You just going by whatever fantastical thought comes to your head. That's prob'ly why you read all those books of yours. None of these are your ideas, are they." Kathleen felt a breath get caught in her throat, not knowing what to say. She tightly clenched Bernard's notebook in her fist, knuckles now white.

"All these 'ideas' are just passing's in a story. Ones where the princess and the prince live 'appily ever after." Kathleen didn't notice she was being backed up until her back hit the shelves. She could see the facial hair on Olmec's face as he glared at her. "I have to break your heart, sweetheart, but there are more important things in life than your idea of 'romance'. 'Specially when out at sea. So do yourself a favor and-"

He didn't get to say the end of that sentence, and Kathleen was grateful for that. She was also grateful for that moment she was next to the shelves for she had something to hold on to as the ship lunged forward, sending Olmec and most likely half of the crew crashing to the floor.