Somewhere in Grove 5 Bepo was standing in front of a signpost, trying to figure out which way to go. Somehow, after having given Katrina his captain's sword, he had gotten lost...again. He had tried to pick up on either one of their scents, but all he was getting was the perfume from this shop, or the food from that restaurant, or even the smell of the animals in the cages in the back of a live entertainment building. He was completely and utterly lost...again.

"I need to find captain and Kat..."

Bepo said aloud to himself as he continued to study the signs hanging above his head.

"...but where do I look?"

He wondered as he pondered going back to the sub to see if they had gone there. He was sure by now both had finished off the marines that had been foolish enough to try and ambush his captain. However, there was something in the back of the polar bear's mind that was telling him they weren't there, and thus was the source of his current dilemma. He didn't know if he should head back to the sub and wait or set out to search for his captain and Katrina.

After a few more minutes of contemplation, Bepo decided to head back towards Grove 1 and see if he could pick up on either his captain's or Katrina's scent. Maybe if he was lucky, he'd run into the rest of the crew along the way.

Nikkicha frowned as she looked around. She was trying her best to ignore the yells coming from behind her as Penguin and Shachi fought about which way they should go. Penguin said they should look around Groves 1 through 3 for their captain while Shachi said they should go back to the sub and wait for Law to return on his own. All their yelling was managing to do was give the blonde mechanic a headache while she tried to figure out where they had wound up. After Katrina had taken off towards Grove 1 and Bepo ran ahead to give the brunette haired girl their captain's sword they had managed to get lost amongst the mangrove trees that made up the Archipelago.

"We should keep going!"

Penguin yelled.

"No, we should go back to the sub!"

Shachi yelled and Nikkicha could hear both boys trying to outshout the other and could feel her headache started to get worse. She lifted a hand to her temple and tried to rub it away, but with the constant yelling of her crewmates behind her, it wasn't really doing much good. After a couple more minutes of yelling, the blonde couldn't take it anymore.

"Will you two just shut up already!?"

She snapped and both boys instantly shut their mouths and stared wide-eyed at her.

"What we're going to do is find the captain and see what he wants us to do next. If either of you have a problem with that, then you can go back to the sub and deal with the captain when he asks why you didn't look for him and wait for his orders before going back."

Nikkicha said, knowing just what would happen if the boys did that. It was an unspoken rule among the Heart Pirates, but they never left a crew member behind. From the looks on both Penguin and Shachi's now pale faces she knew they weren't going to be going back to the sub anytime soon.

"Alright then, let's get going."

She said before leading the way through whatever Grove they were on, hoping to find a bridge leading to another one so they could figure out just where they were and hopefully, find out which way they needed to be going.

The sounds of crickets and other nighttime creatures was what Katrina heard as she came to. Blinking a few times in still semi-unconscious confusion when all she saw was darkness the brunette relaxed upon remembering she and Law had gotten somewhere safe before her adrenaline wore off and her exhaustion caught up to her. Slowly getting to her feet, using the wall to make sure she was stable enough to stay on her feet, Katrina waited as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the room. She looked around and could make out a few things in the dark; a stack of three wooden crates she knew were full of dried goods from her search for medical supplies earlier. There was a small table knocked over in the center of the room, papers, books, and glass strewn across the wooden floor. The papers looked like inventory records from what she could tell, confirming that this was a storage building as she had thought. She saw the first aid kit she'd used on Law earlier while the sun was still out sitting on the floor beside the bed before she lifted her gaze to the pirate currently occupying the only bed in the room.

Katrina slowly and quietly made her way over to the bed, being careful not to run into anything in the dark as she went, and stopped right beside Law's unconscious form. She could hear his deep, steady breathing and signed in relief that he didn't seem to have a fever from his wound like she was worried he would. That meant there was less chance of an infection, but she knew the wound would need proper care and that they couldn't stay here forever. That being said, she couldn't exactly drag him all over the archipelago in an attempt to find his crew or get back to his sub.

Noticing a small window above the bed she'd missed before, Katrina stretched over Law's head to try to open it. She got it halfway open before it got stuck and she had to jimmy it a little, almost losing her balance in the process, but she managed to get it fully open to allow some fresh air into the room. A ray of moonlight spilled out into the room from the now open window, making it easier to see, if only by a small margin. Katrina frowned upon seeing the blood-soaked bandages around Law's abdomen and grabbed one of her daggers as she removed her shirt, leaving her in the light blue tank top she had underneath. Surprisingly, only parts of the tank top were splattered with blood and Katrina looked back at Law to make sure he was still unconscious before stripping out of her tank top and setting it to the side. Slipping back into her once yellow shirt, Katrina set about cutting her tank top into long strips of fabric, being sure to cut out the soiled parts and discarding them for now. Re-sheathing her dagger, Katrina removed the soiled bandages from around Law's abdomen before replacing them with the new ones she'd made. She didn't know much, but from the amount of times she would have to tend to both her and her sister's wounds thanks to her brothers she knew enough to keep a person alive if they had the will to live. Once finished and she was sure his wounds had been dressed to the best of her abilities, Katrina gathered up the old, soiled bandages as well as the remnants of her tank top before making her way to the sink across the little room. Depositing her load into one side of the sink, Katrina used the other to try to clean herself up a bit. She was sure she was a sight to be seen caked in the blood of her enemies and now Law. She found a rag that didn't seem to be too dirty and did her best to clean it and wring it out before walking back over to the bed. Pulling the chair from the knocked over table to the side of the bed, Katrina sat down and slowly got to work trying to clean the blood, sweat, and dirt off of Law's body. She got almost all the blood off him before the rag hit the top of his pants and Katrina paused, a crimson blush taking over her face as she realized she'd gotten carried away.

'Please wake up soon.'

She thought to herself as she laid the rag to the side and leaned back in the chair. She felt a little better being closer to her new captain in case something went wrong, but a part of her was still worried over the extent of his injury.

After a few minutes of sitting in the relatively dark room, Katrina's eyes started to droop again and it wasn't long before they closed completely and she was out again. The fight with the marines had taken more out of her than she had thought since it had been about three years since she'd last been in an actual fight. Besides, she had no idea how long it would take for Law to wake up, so what was the harm in getting some rest before then?

Law groaned as he opened his eyes. Immediately he noticed he wasn't where he had been when he'd lost consciousness. The softness of the bed beneath him and the ceiling he could make out in the moonlight was enough to tell him that. The question on the dark doctor's mind though, was where exactly had he just woken up?

The North Blue native slowly sat up and didn't miss the pain that shot through his body, emanating from his abdomen when he did so. He looked down, expecting to see a gaping, bleeding wound he'd have to tend to only to blink in surprise when he saw the bandage wrapped around his shirtless form. Alarm bells were going off in Law's head and he was about to get to his feet when he saw a figure sitting in a chair beside the bed. He tensed, ready for a fight only to regret it instantly seconds later as his body screamed in protest. As his eyes adjusted Law could make out the familiar figure slumped ever so slightly in the chair as his newest crew member. With the moonlight spilling into the room from the window above the bed he could just make out Katrina's sleeping form. Her light brown hair had fallen to shield half of her face and her arms were crossed under her breast, briefly drawing Law's attention to them before he shifted his gaze to look at the rest of her. Dried blood was the main thing he saw first and for a moment he worried she might have been injured, but relaxed after closer inspection revealed that to be untrue. As he looked closer, the dark doctor noticed the slight dark circles forming around Katrina's eyes, the fact she seemed a little too thin to be considered healthy, and the way that, even in her sleep, she seemed to look sad. Law had noticed it before when he had seen her first walk into the galley of his sub, but something in Katrina's eyes told Law that she was sad despite her trying her best to hide it. It was just another thing about her that Law wanted to know about. What was the cause behind the circles under her eyes? Why couldn't she sleep? Why, despite her knowing how to cook, was she underweight and underfed? She'd spoken about a troubled childhood and Law could guess that probably had something to do with her lack of sleep if nightmares were a thing, but he had more pressing matters to attend to aside from unraveling the mystery that was his newest crew member.

Law got to his feet and scanned the dark room for his hat. Seeing the spotted hat hanging on his nodachi that had been leaned against the wall closest to the bed, Law walked over and picked it up before turning it upside down in his hand. Reaching inside until his hands found what they were looking for, Law placed the hat on his head after pulling a needle and spool of medical thread from the inner rim of the hat. The spool of medical thread was no bigger than three or four inches and only had about a foot or two of thread left, but it was more than enough to do the job. If Law had learned anything in his years as a pirate it was always best to try to be prepared as possible. That being said, Law frowned at the lack of disinfectant available to him before setting his jaw and resigning himself to what he had to do. Removing the bandages wrapped around his stomach, Law was surprised to find they were nothing more than strips of some form of cloth. Glancing back towards Katrina Law frowned, head now full of more questions than before. Once they were out of here he and Katrina would have quite a bit to talk about.

Law set about the task of stitching his wound closed without any anesthetic or disinfectant. The doctor inside him screamed in protest about the unsanitariness of his situation, but the practical side to his brain knew it was this or risk bleeding out. Given his options, he'd rather deal with a possible infection to a healing wound than death. He managed to stitch the wound in his abdomen pretty quickly, it was trying to stitch the on on his lower back that was a little tricky, but he still managed before too long and finished with just enough thread to pull it closed. Had the wound been any bigger Law would have had to improvise.

Slipping the needle back under the inner rim of his hat, Law walked over to the sink he'd seen in the room and went to clean himself up only to realize he was no longer covered in blood, sweat, and grime.

'Did she...?'

Law asked before dismissing the unspoken question. The answer was glaringly obvious, she had been the only other person who could have. It was then that Law saw the soiled bandages in the other side of the sink. He threw both sets of soiled bandages away and washed his hands. From what he could tell, wherever they were was some kind of storage building. It wasn't ideal, but it was at least safe for now and there were no signs or sounds of the marines from earlier. Though it did beg the question of how the two of them got here.

The dark doctor walked back over to the bed he'd previously occupied and sat down before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees and running his fingers through his hair, spotted hat in one hand. He wondered how Bepo and the others were fairing and guessed his sudden disappearance wouldn't set well with them. Law was pulled from his musings by the sound of Katrina saying something in her sleep, drawing his attention to the sleeping girl.

"Captain..."

She mumbled softly, a troubled look on her face as she continued dreaming. Law frowned at the fact she seemed to be dreaming of her old crew. He was about to get up to see if the coast was clear when Katrina said something else.

"Why'd you leave me?"

She asked and Law saw something slide down her cheek, glistening in the moonlight and his frown deepened as he pulled his hat down over his eyes as he placed it back on his head.

Katrina opened her eyes and could feel the tears sliding down her face because of her dream. She had dreamed of the night she spent with her captain before her and her old crew landed on the Archipelago. He had been so loving and caring, and even though they hadn't slept together because Katrina didn't want to go that far, he had been kind to her. Then she remembered going to the brothel with her crew, then waking up to find them gone.

"Dammit."

She mumbled to herself as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hands. She took a deep breath and schooled her expression before turning to check on her new captain, only to jump and fall out of the chair with a surprised squeal when she saw him sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees, fingers crossed, and hat on his head, casting a shadow over his eyes.

"What the hell Law!? Do you enjoy giving people heart attacks!?"

She yelled at him when she got back to her feet. She saw him lift his head so she could see his eyes and expected him to say something smart with an amused smirk on his face. So when he said what he did, she wasn't prepared for it.

"What happened between you and your old crew Miss Katrina?"

Katrina blinked in surprise at his sudden question. She was going to ignore him and not answer, but then remembered she'd decided to join his crew and call him her captain. If she was going to be a part of his crew, he deserved to know about her past. Even if she disagreed with the timing.

"They left me on this Archipelago with a debt I've had to work off. I've been here for three years and was halfway done payin back the debt when Jericho tried what he did in the storage room and you killed him."

She said with a sigh before sitting down on the floor with her legs crossed Indian style and her hands in her lap.

"How did you pay off your debt?"

Law asked and Katrina looked up at him like he was an idiot for asking. Hadn't she already covered this back in his office? Why was he asking her these things again.

"Jericho tried to make me one of his whores, but I told him I'd die before bein a whore. The way I got the money I needed was pickpocketing and stealing valuable items and sellin them."

She said, her eyes staring into Law's and waiting for whatever other questions he had. She supposed if he was going to interrogate her, she might as well prepare herself for whatever other questions he might throw at her.

"Why did you help Bepo find us again?"

He asked and Katrina frowned at his question, but answered none-the-less.

"I had already finished my rounds for the day and didn't want to go back to the brothel just yet. I saw him standin' under the signs lookin' lost and just couldn't leave him there."

She said and saw Law nod. Silence fell between them and Katrina started to wonder what was going through Law's mind now. She couldn't read anything in his eyes and was starting to feel a little uncomfortable under his gaze until he spoke again and broke the silence.

"Who was the captain of your old crew and how long had you been with them?"

Katrina froze at his question. She knew he would ask, but that didn't mean she wanted to answer it, but she would.

"My old captain's name was Loki Collingham an-"

She said and Law cut her off before she could say anything else.

"Of the Swift Pirates?"

He asked and now it was Katrina who had some questions.

"You've heard of them?"

She asked and didn't miss the way Law's frown seemed to deepen at her interrupting with a question.

"It pays to be well informed Miss Katrina. Now continue."

He said, the underlying order not missed by the brunette.

"He was my captain and I had been with them for two years ever since Loki had offered me a way to leave my home. I took his offer without a second thought."

She said and looked away from Law's eyes, not wanting to see the judgmental look in them as she told him of her old crew. The emotions were too raw, it was hard enough talking about it, but she owed Law at least that much.

"At first I stayed away from the crew, but stayed by Loki's side since he took me away from my own personal hell. We had docked at an island and I wound up surrounded by the enemy and wouldn't have been able to fight them all and survive. The crew risked their lives to get me out of there and after that didn't give me the option of stayin' away from them. They had become my friends, my crew, my family and for two years it was great. I had become Loki's first mate and I thought I'd never have to worry about things again."

Katrina said before clenching her hands together and digging her nails into the palms of her hands and fighting back her tears.

"Then we docked here at the Archipelago and Loki said we were goin' to celebrate before enterin' the New World. We all drank and partied and I was the last to pass out, or at least that's what I thought. Truth was my entire crew was actin' and once I was out they all left and went back to the ship. My captain, the one man I trusted after everythin' I had gone through back home, the one person I trusted the most and thought cared about me left me simply because he didn't think I could handle those we'd face in the New World. He left me behind without so much as an explanation or even a goodbye. My family, who I had laughed with, fought with, and cared for, left me without a second thought simply because the captain told them to."

Katrina said and could feel her eyes stinging with tears again and hung her head so her bangs hid her eyes.

"Where is your home?"

Law asked and Katrina resisted the urge to say she had no home.

"I was born on an island in the East Blue. It's a trade town nestled among the Barter Islands. I lived there with my two brothers and my little sister until I was seventeen. Then, once the opportunity was offered, I left and haven't looked back."

She answered, refusing to look at her new captain as tears streamed down her face from talking about her ex lover and captain.

"Is that all you had to ask hun?"

Katrina asked as she fought to keep her emotions in check, her voice staying steady much to her surprise.

"I have just one more."

Law said and the brunette had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Of course he did.

"What's your answer Miss Katrina?"

He asked and Katrina looked up at him, confusion swimming in her tear-filled eyes. Hadn't she just answered his questions? Had he asked one and she not heard him? She was about to ask him to elaborate when she saw his frown break into an amused smile as he leaned forward, closing the gap between them until only a few inches of space were between them and he looked her in the eyes.

"Join my crew?"

He asked, though it sounded more like an order. It still sent shivers down her spine regardless, but she refused to let this man affect her as he pleased.

"If that's what you want, Captain."

She said with a smile of her own.