A/N: Much yay. Such joy. Many follow. Wow. In all seriousness, everyone; thank you for reading, the faves, reviews, and follows - it means a lot!

Be warned: slight animal abuse shows up here. **

Now please enjoy this chapter!


Chapter 19: The Doctors Are In

**Countdown: Two Months, 19 days left**

The Pirates and their allies quickly boarded the ship thanks to Law, and with a Coup-de-burst, they took off into sky. Franky of course, was quite annoyed that they had lost some of their furniture to the ocean, and quickly went to work on building new pieces as soon as he had gotten the chance.

Katara was of no use at the moment, which was something that really bothered her. Although she was able to heal fractures and sprains, shattered bones was another matter. Chopper had taken one look at her arm and could immediately tell that he would need to operate. She was also bothered by the fact that she could not help Aang.

Both Law and Chopper went into the infirmary and went to work. Law carried Aang bridal style, while Katara and Sokka walked close behind Chopper who still was carrying a limp Usopp. Zuko, Toph and Sanji followed as well, as they had some pretty decent injuries themselves. Aang looked over at his friends with tired eyes and smiled.

"I'm glad you're all okay," Aang mumbled to his friends in a weak voice. He noticeably winced as his attempt to talk made his side hurt.

"I'm glad too," Katara said with a smile.

"Yeah, same here," Zuko nodded.

"Of course we're okay, Twinkle Toes!" Toph said. "We're Team Avatar!"

"Well, that entire ordeal was a little too close for my taste," Sokka replied. "You guys were almost sold into slavery, and a few of us were this close" he held up a hand and measured about less than an inch of space between his thumb and index finger, "to dying. This entire morning was made up of one too many close calls, and I for one, do not want any more calls that come that close."

When they reached the infirmary, the two Doctors had to take priority on who had to be treated first. So Chopper laid Usopp on one of the cots, and then gave both Katara and Sanji sedatives. While they waited for the drugs to kick in, Chopper quickly treated the others' minor wounds.

Sanji grinned at Katara, "Once my legs are back in working order, I'll make you and Toph-chan a meal that will help heal you up in no time."

Katara smiled, "I think we'd both like that very much."

As Law laid Aang down on the operating table, an eerie grin was evident on his face. It did not go unnoticed by the others, as none of them had ever seen Law grin. He had probably smirked or something while he was in their presence, but to see him have an actual emotion that was borderline psychotic joy was unnerving; and Aang was not at all comfortable that he was the reason for the Dark Doctor's sudden burst of twisted happiness.

"So, I've been curious about Air Nomad anatomy… is your body different simply because you're an Air Bender? Is the fact that you're the Avatar taken into account as well?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Aang gasped out, fear clearly starting to appear. He was in too much pain to even attempt any sort of struggle.

"I want to open you up and see what makes you work," Law replied bluntly.

"Wait!" Aang protested, but he couldn't even budge.

"Are you serious?" Katara demanded, forgetting about her arm. The drugs were already kicking in, and she could barely even sit up. She groaned and shut her eyes tight in an attempt to stop her swirling vision from making her sick.

Zuko stood, and glared at the Dark Doctor. "You can't do that!"

Zuko was ready to punch Law into next week if he had to, and although he was grateful to Law for helping him with his arm earlier, he was not about to stand by and let Law operate on anyone who was awake no matter who it was, much less one of his dear friends. But Law seemed to ignore Zuko, and Zuko had the impression that the reason Law ignored him was that he didn't view the young Fire Lord as any sort of threat.

"Law!" Chopper called out angrily. "At least give him some anesthetics before doing anything!"

"Oh? Anesthetics? We won't need any of that, now will we, Arrow-ya?"

Aang stared into a face that embodied dark and twisted sadistic joy. Aang felt that he was not a patient; he was prey for the Doctor to have fun with before he died. Aang fainted out of sheer fright, and out of exhaustion, as he could no longer stay awake, while the others shouted at Law for his words and intended actions. Toph of course, thought that the whole ordeal was quite funny. Katara looked over at Toph to scold her for not siding with them against Law and actually laughing at what was a serious situation.

"There we are," Law said with a nod. "He's passed out, and now we don't have to waste any of the ship's supplies."

"Law, you're insane!" Chopper shouted.

"Thank you. Now quit shouting and start working on Healer-ya, Tony-ya." Law said in a serious tone. He then turned his attention back to a foaming-at-the-mouth-passed-out Aang, and an ever wider grin appeared on his face. His eyes did nothing to hide the anticipation of what he was about to do. "This is going to be a fun operation."

It was here that the others got to see Law work. He had used his abilities to cut Aang up and was now working on a portion of Aang's lung that had been penetrated by a broken rib. He worked with such focus and precision that the others might as well have not been in the room. Katara stared at the ceiling groggily while Chopper worked on her arm, and Usopp lay on another bed and snored away. Sanji had insisted that Katara be treated first, and he was currently passed out unceremoniously with a bit of drool hanging from his mouth.

Zuko, Sokka, and Toph were not currently in need of serious medical attention at the moment, so they simply sat to the side and waited for their turn. Zuko and Sokka both looked at him and then at each other, suppressing their laughter, as they knew that Sanji always carried himself in a dignified matter in spite of his smoking, cursing, and insults that he threw at the other men. He most certainly wouldn't want any of the women in the crew to see him in such an unglorified state.

Both Sokka and Zuko admittedly watched the Doctors work with a bit of morbid curiosity, as there was nothing better for them to do. They didn't dare say anything to either of the Doctors in fear that they might somehow break their concentration.

"You know," Sokka whispered as he leaned in close to his friends. "The guy seriously gives me the creeps at times, but right now… you can tell he seriously wants to make sure Aang is going to be okay."

Zuko only nodded, while Toph laughed. "You seriously thought he was going to operate on Aang while he was awake, didn't you."

"Well, I wouldn't put it past him." Zuko added.

"You guys are ridiculous. It continues to surprise me that I can see better than you can sometimes."

After Katara had gotten her arm set, she simply could do nothing but wait for the sedatives to wear off. Chopper moved on to the others, after he had told Katara to rest. Katara only nodded, and she faced the wall. She felt hot tears of frustration in her eyes as she thought about the morning's events. They had gotten captured, they had gotten injured, and here she was, unable to fully heal herself or Aang. While she was a very skilled healer, Katara currently felt useless. She had overheard one of her friends say something about one of Aang's ribs penetrating his lung or something. What if Aang had been dying, or worse, what if he had been killed?

What if she hadn't been able to beat Ona? Katara wanted and needed her healing abilities to go far beyond what they were now. This World was dangerous, and seemed more so than their home World. That was it. I'm going to get stronger. Katara thought to herself. I'm going to make sure that I can heal anyone and anything if something else happens. I don't want to lose anyone...

Katara's weariness finally overtook her, and when she finally woke up again, she could see out the window that it was late afternoon.

Her head was still swimming somewhat, but the sensation only lasted for a minute or two. She looked around the infirmary, and smiled to see that Law was slumped in a chair by Aang's bed fast asleep, while Chopper was on his lap, a blanket covered them both, and Momo was curled around his shoulders. Aang was sleeping as well, while his breathing was deliberate, his face looked as it always did when he slept.

Toph was sprawled out on a cot, while Zuko was sitting in a chair but he was using the foot of Aang's bed as a makeshift pillow, and the blanket that had been covering him had fallen to the floor. Usopp was still asleep, and he shifted and mumbled, showing that the paralysis had worn off. Both Sanji and Sokka were gone, and before Katara could wonder where either of them had went, Sokka snuck quietly into the room.

Sokka didn't notice Katara was awake at first, as he was looking at the others. He covered Zuko with the blanket that had fallen to the floor, and made sure it was a little more secure this time, and Katara whispered,

"Hello, Sokka"

"Katara!" Sokka let out a loud whisper. "You okay?"

"Some water would be nice,"

Sokka retrieved the desired water, and helped Katara sit up to drink it.

Afterwards, Katara looked at the others. "I guess everything's okay now…"

"Yeah, Law said that Aang's gonna pull through just fine, and he used his ability on Usopp to remove the entire remaining paralyzing toxin. It's too bad you weren't awake for that, it was hilarious. Usopp was screaming the entire time until Law cut out his tongue and took out his voice box (he put them back of course). Chopper said that your arm should heal in a few weeks."

"You know, I was just thinking about how I want to get stronger." Katara said, and she closed her eyes. "I should be able to fully heal my arm and Aang in a little bit."

"Well that's good. But don't offer to heal Toph. Chopper tried to treat her shoulder, and she told him not to do anything that would take away her new scars. She's proud of 'em."

"Law's a great guy." Katara mumbled, although her comments were a dangerous combination of honesty and remaining sedatives talking. "I like him. Even though he seriously creeps me out, he reminds me a lot of Zuko, and maybe even a little bit of Jet."

"I guess," Sokka responded after a moment or two, not really seeing the comparison. "Well, Sanji's preparing a huge meal for everyone so do you want to get some more rest or do you want to eat?"

"I think I need some more sleep before I do anything else," Katara sighed quietly, and drifted back to sleep before her brother could say anything else.


Once Katara had awoken and her head was no longer swimming, she used some of her water to speed up the healing of her arm, and was very happy and thankful with how easily her arm healed. She had to thank the Spirits of good fortune that Chopper and Law were as skilled as they were, and she wondered what sort of unfortunate position that they would have been in if the two Doctors weren't there.

She then set to work on healing Aang, while both Chopper and Law observed with equal amounts of curiosity. Katara carefully focused her healing abilities; she could sense where all of the injuries were in Aang, and she could tell that Law had made sure that Aang would heal, even if she hadn't been able to use water for healing purposes. Katara pooled water all around Aang's chest, and the water began to glow softly as she sped up the healing process. Afterwards, she could tell that Aang's breathing had returned to normal. Momo chirped and settled down next to Aang's side, and he continued chirping quietly, almost as if he were talking to Aang.

Zuko and Sokka declined her healing, as they felt their injuries were not that big a deal. Toph appeared to brandish her injured shoulder with pride and pointed to the three burn-like scars that now graced it. She insisted that these were "scars of pride" and she would most likely show them off to their parents once she got home.


"Hello, Law," Katara greeted as she approached him. Law was sitting at the table in the infirmary drinking something that Katara had come to understand was called "coffee" and was somewhat similar to tea, but much stronger. She didn't like it, although Zuko and Sokka had grown to like it.

"Look, I'm sorry for anything that I might have said earlier… and thanks, for taking care of Aang."

"I'm a Doctor, it's what I do." Well, he certainly didn't sound bitter.

"I would like to thank you," Katara continued, "I know that your shoulder was injured. I'd like to heal it, it's the least I can do."

Law only nodded, he put down his coffee and removed his shirt and the bandages that Chopper had insisted on doing. The only reason Law was going along with this was so he could rid himself of the bandages, and not have the Healer girl concern herself too much over him. She seemed to go between acting like a mother hen and a mother bear depending on the situation.

She pooled the water around the injury on his shoulder, the water glowed, and Law felt what could be described as a light, cold, tingling sensation where his injury had taken place. Katara was focused on what she was doing, but she couldn't help but notice a number of faded scars that Law's tattoos did a pretty good job of covering. One would have to be as close as she was to actually notice them. Katara thought that the man must have had some interesting stories behind those scars and tattoos, but he never seemed to be the type to openly share anything, even if he were asked.

Putting aside her curiosity, Katara healed Law's shoulder in less than two minutes, and he admired her work when she was done. "That is a very impressive ability, Healer-ya,"

"Thanks, but…" Katara stared down at the waterskin in her hands. "I need to get better. I need to get faster, and I need to be able to heal wounds like Aang's, without someone doing the more difficult and delicate work first. We don't really have Doctors like you back home; they're more like Healers like I am. I need to be able to heal myself in the heat of battle…I guess is what I'm trying to say…"

"Then work on it and improve your skills," Law stated, as if it was the most practical and achievable thing, and he wrapped up and disposed of his bandages. He continued before Katara even had a chance to add anything or object. "You can practice on the seagulls that fly alongside the ship, and frogs sometimes find their way into a ship's hull as well. Perhaps Black Leg-ya won't mind letting us use a few fish if it means improving your abilities."

Law stood and motioned for her to follow him, which she did. They went out onto the deck, and everyone was busy going about their usual routines once again, and it was a welcome sight. A small number of seagulls flew high above them, and Law obviously had his eye on them. He approached Franky and asked for a few scraps of wood and metal, and then asked Toph to make a cage for him out of the metal. She complied, and when she was done, she added, "Here ya go, Doc Morbid."

Law made a face at the new nickname, but he quickly went about his business without a word. He looked back up at the seagulls, and said "Room" and he threw three scraps of wood at the unsuspecting seagulls. He then used "Shambles" and faster than the birds could react, they were now captives in the Dark Doctor's possession. He then looked at Katara, and said, "Get your rest and eat or whatever you have to do. Come and see me when you're done. I'm going to go keep an eye on Arrow-ya."

He left with the caged birds in hand, and Katara somewhat suspected that he was skulking back to the infirmary to be out of the ever increasing volume of the reenergized Straw Hats' presence, and he was using Aang as an excuse. No matter, Katara shook her head and went to get something to eat, as her stomach had growled loudly at her to do something about it.

When she was done, she went back to the infirmary and found Law reading a book of some sort, Aang was still fast asleep, and the caged birds were huddled together in their makeshift prison. Law didn't take his eyes from the book, and he asked, "So, shall we get started?"

"Started on what?" Katara asked dumbly. She wasn't exactly sure what Law had in mind.

"Your training, of course," Law put down the book. "You kept going on about how you wanted to become stronger, so you might as well start now."

He now looked directly at her, as if he was trying to figure something out. "Unless of course you were only complaining about the limit of your abilities and never had the intention of improving."

"What? No, no, no…yeah, I want to improve. But you mean now?" Katara faltered over her words, and tried to figure out what Law's intentions were in helping her improve her skills. She then found out when he reached into the cage, grabbed one of the birds and Katara almost gagged as a sickening *pop* sounded from Law twisting the poor bird's wing, and the bird screeched in pain. "What are you doing?!" Katara was horrified by this point, but Law continued in his practical manner. "It's a simple fracture, get to work. If you're unable to heal it, we'll just have to put it out of its misery. Otherwise, it will fly again. You have five minutes."

Katara did just that, mostly because she felt sorry for the poor bird. She focused on the bird's wing, and imagined the injury. She focused on the stray bits of bone, and tried piecing them back together. She could feel the wound mending itself, but her concentration was interrupted by Law's voice saying, "You have three minutes left, Healer-ya."

"You're not helping," Katara was trying to keep up the concentration.

"Oh? So you think that just because you're trying to concentrate your enemies will sit back and wait until you're finished?"

"I'm working on it." Katara insisted.

The wing was healed, and Katara smiled in relief. But it seemed Law wasn't done, as he now suddenly stabbed the bird, with an ignored "Hey!" from Katara, and as it lay slowly dying Law just glanced at Katara and said, "Get to work. You have eight minutes."

Okay, maybe I shouldn't've told the creepiest guy on the ship that I wanted to improve my healing skills… Katara scolded herself. But she was quick and she focused on the wound. As carefully as she could, she was mending the internal damage first, and working her way out.

Almost done…

Katara could still feel the life that the bird was desperately clinging to. She sensed some of the muscles mend back together. Yes! She was doing it! But then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Law was saying, "Time's up."

Katara stopped what she was doing and looked at Law, somewhat annoyed that her focus had been broken, but she immediately switched to horror when Law swiftly killed the bird in one swift motion by breaking its neck. Before Katara could protest once again, Law simply explained, "We had to put it out of its misery."

He inspected the seagull, and continued, "Perhaps that chef will find a use for this, Straw Hat-ya will eat just about anything anyway."

He turned away to head to the kitchen and stopped just before he exited the infirmary. "Good job, Healer-ya. You can practice again tomorrow…and you actually did a better job than I expected."

Katara hated the fact that an innocent seagull had suffered the consequences of her not being able to heal such advanced injuries in not enough time. She was curious as to why Law was helping her so willingly. Perhaps it was because she was a Healer, and a Doctor was sort of the same thing? But he certainly had some twisted methods of going about it.

It was then Aang stirred, bring Katara out of her thoughts. He slowly opened his eyes, and smiled at Katara. "Hey…"

Katara smiled at Aang with tears in her eyes. She kissed him, and he more than happily returned it.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Katara whispered, and she hugged Aang as if he was going to disappear if she let go. It was almost like the time Azula had struck Aang with her lightning, but Aang had been in more danger at the time than he had been in this situation. That did it. Katara might not have agreed with Law's methods, but he was offering to help her improve. She would step up to the challenge and make sure that she could heal her friends and allies no matter what, and she would be sure that she could heal someone on the brink of death, with or without water that had been blessed by the Spirits.


More A/N: **No animals were harmed in the writing of this chapter**

Next time: Kapri shows up to seduce the men and to steal the beauty of the women, but she has never encountered Humans like the samurai and his son, or the Straw Hats and the Heart Captain. Plus, Team Avatar and the pirates learn some very vital information concerning the Spirits and their powers.