Katrina stayed where she was as Bepo, Shachi, and eventually Nikkicha and Penguin, who had dragged the unwilling mechanic back, ate their food. She listened to them as they told her of some of their adventures so far into the Grand Line and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't impressed. She could tell Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi all easily warmed up to her, but Nikkicha kept sending her hateful glares the entire time she and the others ate before finally being pulled out of the room by Penguin and Shachi who wanted to ask her about the engine and how much fuel they had left. This left Katrina in the galley of the Heart Pirate's ship with the first member of the crew she'd met.
"Did you enjoy the meal hun?"
She asked her furry companion as she got to her feet and gathered up the dishes. She'd cooked, so she'd clean. That, and her inner neat-freak was going crazy at the mess that these pirates called a kitchen.
"Very much so, thank you Katrina."
Bepo said as he followed her into the kitchen and watched as she cleaned the sink out and set the dirty dishes on the counter before scrapping bits of food into the trash bag and setting it to the side.
"I'm glad."
She said as she pulled a hair tie from her wrist and pulled her hair up into a high ponytail to get it out of the way as she ran some water to do dishes.
"Katrina, why are you cleaning up? You didn't make this mess."
Bepo asked as Katrina moved one stack of dishes into the water and started to clean them.
"Two reasons really hun. One, because I made a mess while cooking and two, because my inner neat-freak would drive me insane if I left this kitchen the way it is."
She said simply as she rinsed and dried the dishes she finished washing and put them away in the cupboards where she thought it'd be easier to get to.
"Do you need any help?"
Bepo asked as she started on the second stack. Katrina simply smiled and shook her head.
"No, that's quite alright. Though you could do somethin about that trash if you really wanted to help."
She said and saw Bepo walk over to the trash, pick it up off the floor and stuff it all in the bag before taking it and walking off somewhere.
Katrina had just finished putting up the last of the dishes and was wiping down the stove and counter when Bepo came back into the room and put a clean bag into the trashcan Katrina had moved to the right side of the sink.
"Wow Katrina, you're fast."
Bepo said, looking around at the now clean kitchen in awe. He couldn't remember the last time he could actually see the countertop and not smell a horrible stench from the trash.
"You can call me Kat if you want hun."
Katrina said with a smile as she dried her hands and walked over to the big polar bear and without a word, reached up and pet the top of his head.
"Thank you for the help."
She said before turning and walking down the hall towards the stairs. From the conversation with Shachi about the ship she was on, she had learned there were three levels. The bottom was mainly storage and the engine room. The second floor was the navigation room, more storage, and the crew's rooms. The top floor, which they were on now, included the galley, a small storage room, the infirmary, and Law's bedroom as well as office, which was where Katrina was headed now. She needed to talk to the Heart Pirates' captain about what happened once she passed out and say thank you for tending to her wounds when he didn't have to. After that, she wasn't really sure what she'd do, but she'd cross that bridge when she got there.
Plucking up the courage to knock on the wooden door that lead to her destination, Katrina waited until she heard the slightly muffled sound of Law's voice telling her to come in. Stepping quietly inside, the brunette took a moment to take in the room once fully inside. The first thing she noticed upon stepping inside was how dark it was. There was no other light on inside except for a lamp on the desk Law was sitting behind. It was strong enough that Katrina could look around and clearly see to the walls, but she couldn't help but wonder how Law got any kind of work done in such an environment. The large mahogany desk that sat in the back of the room was completely covered in maps, scrolls, books, loose papers full of writing, and a very tired looking Law looking over all of it. There were bookshelves along both the left and right walls that Katrina couldn't help wonder if they were bolted to the floor like things had been in the infirmary. The two portholes on either side of Law's work desk showed they were still deep underwater. The small amount of light the windows let in added a calming ambiance to the room that Katrina wouldn't have thought of. The dark red carpet laid out on the floor of the room went surprisingly well with the black leather couch she saw pushed along the far wall. There was a table set before it and she could see Law reclined back on the couch, paper in hand, still working himself to the bone. She didn't know the tanned captain, but she was pretty good at getting a good read on people after having met them. She could tell Law was a hard working man who probably neglected his own health once he got into his work.
A smile found its way across Katrina's face at the thought of the dark doctor. Usually she tried keeping her distance from people after what happened with her last crew so she wasn't very often in a situation where she found herself impressed or respecting another individual. So when Katrina found herself feeling both in regards to the tanned man sitting a few feet away from her, she couldn't help but smile slightly.
"Miss Katrina."
Law said, breaking the comfortable silence that had been in the room. She could tell from his voice that he was tired. There wasn't much to go on from the bags under his eyes since that seemed to be a constant factor in his appearance. She briefly wondered what he looked like before he had them, before her attention refocused back on the conversation upon realizing Law was speaking again.
"-form of an explanation Miss Katrina."
Resisting the urge to sigh once realizing what Law was talking about, Katrina walked further into the room until she was standing before his desk.
"I don't really have a choice do I?"
She asked, knowing even as the smirk appeared on the dark doctor's face what the answer would be.
"What do you think?"
Law asked, folding his hands in his lap and sitting back in his seat. Now realizing she had his complete attention, Katrina signed before walking past his desk, ignoring his questioning gaze, and walking to the porthole in the back wall. Gazing out at the blue-black darkness, Katrina closed her eyes as she tried steeling her nerves for the memories that were sure to focus during their conversation.
"I had a troublin' childhood and still have nightmares and certain things trigger memories."
Katrina said then stopped. Chancing a glance towards Law she could feel the frown on his face more than she could see it.
"Miss Katrina."
He said and Katrina shivered at the sound of disapproval in his voice. Apparently he didn't appreciate her trying to skirt around the gritty details of her past.
"I'm the eldest daughter in a Marine family. For generations the family occupation has been Marine. My mother and father weren't present in the lives of my brothers, sister, and I. My brothers found ways to entertain themselves while our parents were away, they loved playin' games. Their favorite being Pirates and Marines. The thing with that is, if they were the Marines then someone had to be the Pirates."
She said, digging her nails into the palm of her hands.
"My sister and I were volunteered by our brothers to play. Didn't matter what we were doin' at the time they wanted to play. We didn't get to say no."
"You mean they forced you to play a game with them?"
Law asked and Katrina could hear the unamused disappointment in his voice as he waited for an answer.
"Why do you care about this anyway? I'm not a member of your crew, so what's it to you what my deal is?"
Katrina asked, turning to look at Law. She was far from comfortable with their current topic of conversation, but she couldn't ignore the raw power exuding from the slender man sitting only a few feet from her. He had a presence that demanded attention and his aura was one that made it hard to ignore an order once spoken. Katrina didn't like that she couldn't choose whether to tell him or not. Truthfully, it wasn't a big deal if he knew or not, it's not like she kept it a secret because of shame or anything. It was just ...reliving those memories in order to tell him about her past just to satiate his curiosity. To be quite frank it pissed her off.
"Why are you so opposed?"
Law questioned back and Katrina glared at him. He was enjoying her discomfort, she could tell. Even in the dim lighting there was a bit of a sparkle to his eyes. A bit of dark mischief that almost screamed that he was amused.
"I don't know you. I don't owe you anythin'."
"Ah, that's where you're wrong Miss Katrina."
Law said and Katrina resisted the urge to take a step back as he got to his feet and closed the distance between them.
"You owe me quite a bit actually. It was me and my crew that prevented Mister Jericho from doing some rather vulgar and distasteful things to your unconscious body. Surely you don't think I did that for nothing. I didn't take you for one of such a low intelligence Miss Katrina."
He said and Katrina glared so hard at him that had looks been able to kill, Law would have been a dead man the second he had the balls to ask about her past.
"I appreciate your assistance more than you know Captain Law, however, I don't remember ever askin' you to help me."
The brunette argued and noticed with a smirk of her own that his smirk had been replaced with a frown.
"I suggest you indulge my curiosity Miss Katrina before you need yet another trip to the infirmary."
Law said calmly, but the look in his eyes told her she had gotten under his skin with her comment.
"And I suggest you remove yourself from my personal space."
Katrina said, noticing with a frown that Law had gotten uncomfortably close during their conversation. He had backed her completely up against the wall of his office and blocked her exit. If she tried moving past him he could stop her easily with just a stretch of his arm. If she reached out, she could touch the front of his hoodie. The smiling Jolly Roger seemed to mock her and Katrina just wished he could at least respect a bit of her personal space.
"As you wish."
He suddenly said and Katrina looked at his retreating figure in surprise. He silently retook his seat at his desk and went back to writing on some paper.
'What the...The fuck is he gettin' at?'
Katrina wondered as she tried to understand what the hell was going on with the pirate she was currently trapped talking to.
"If I tell you can I leave?"
She asked after a few moments of silence to which Law's hand stilled and he glanced her way before returning to his work.
'Guess I'll take that as a yes.'
Katrina thought to herself before resigning herself to what she needed to do to get out of here.
"My brothers took their game a little too far. They started truly believin they were Marines punishin Pirates. Nothin they did wrong was too bad so long as it was done to a Pirate. They loved torturin their captives."
She said, picking up from where she stopped. Katrina didn't miss the fact Law's hand had still once again.
"I left the island I grew up on as soon as I could. Joined a pirate crew and sprent a good number of years with them. Thought they were my family. We made it to the Archipelago and celebrated at the brothel run by Jericho. The Swift Pirates know how to rack up a tab at any bar they go to. Some time durin' the night I guess my ex Captain and crew decided to bail, leaving me as way of payment for their tab. I was essentially sold by my Captain and abandoned in the span of a single night."
Katrina said, choosing to attempt to distract her emotions by walking over to one of Law's bookshelves and skimming the spines. She knew to expect the heavy medical tomes and encyclopedias. The atlases, map reading guides, and navigation books were a bit of a surprise to her. Katrina would have thought he would leave such a thing to his crew. Apparently Law wanted to be a well-learned man. She did love a man with an actual brain.
'What the hell am I thinking?'
Katrina mentally berated herself and realized she now needed a distraction from her distraction now that it had taken such a disturbing turn. She didn't want to think of anyone that way, let alone a pirate like Law. That being said, Katrina couldn't deny that said pirate was quite attractive and under different circumstances the brunette probably wouldn't mind entertaining such ideas.
"So that is why Mister Jericho said he owned you."
Law's voice pulled Katrina from her thoughts and the brunette was starting to wonder if perhaps she needed a second opinion. A concussion would explain her runaway thoughts perfectly. Yeah, that was it. A concussion, she wasn't attracted to Law, she simply had a concussion.
"Basically. He gave me a few options upon wakin' me for an explanation I didn't have. I could pay him back by workin' as one of his girls, somethin' he seemed too keen on happenin' if you ask me. Or I could get it back any other way I could."
Katrina explained, picking up a book about heart surgeries and starting to skim through it. If she kept part of her mind distracted then she could keep her emotions in check. She was still raw about the whole being abandoned by her captain and crew thing.
"Why not seek employment? Why choose to pickpocket?"
Law asked and Katrina couldn't help but laugh at his questions.
"I told you, Jericho really wanted me to be one of his girls."
She answered as she took a seat on the leather couch before continuing her little story.
"He purposefully sabotaged any job I got. Told the people who hired me I was a thief or that I was a wanted woman. Didn't take long after for me to be let go before my first day even truly started. And before you ask, I may have been a pirate, but I refuse to be anybody's whore. So that left me with only one option. In the years since I woke up to Jericho demandin' an answer as to where my Captain was and who was goin' to pay the bill to now I've managed to cut my debt down to 150,000,000 Beli. Three years I've been trapped as Jericho's slave basically attemptin' to pay back a debt that was only partially mine for my freedom. So for that, Trafalgar Law, you have my gratitude."
Katrina said, wrapping up her explanation to his question as she placed the book she'd been looking through on the table in front of her.
Silence followed her words and not for the first time Katrina wondered just what Law could be thinking as he stared at her from behind his desk. She tried her best not to react once he finally moved and started coming towards her. Still silent, Law stopped a few inches from where she sat on his couch. Deciding it would be better if she stood, Katrina nervously shifted her weight from one leg to the other as she waited for Law to say something. Hopefully to dismiss her so she could leave his office and get off his submarine. She'd gotten the answers she needed and had properly given her thanks to the man responsible for her newly gained freedom. Now if only she had any idea what to do with it.
"How about joining my crew Miss Katrina?"
Law asked, his voice breaking the silence that had settled over them and for a moment Katrina wasn't sure she had heard him right. Though a quick glance at his face told her he was expecting an answer.
"Can I have some time to think about that? A lot has happened to me recently."
She asked, hoping to be able to stall his curiosity until she herself knew the answer to the sudden question.
"You have twenty-four hours."
Law answered before turning and walking back to his desk.
Taking that as her dismissal, Katrina showed herself out of Law's office and headed back towards the kitchen. She planned on making one last meal for Law and his crew as a thank you for what they did, but even as she prepared and cooked the meal her mind wasn't on the task at hand. Her mind was focused on the question Law had suddenly sprung on her. Did she want to be a pirate again? To get close to people again? Just what did she want to do now that she had her freedom?