"Ere er you haking mee..?" You burned holes into Katakuri's back as he led you through the soundless wasteland.

The grasslands were motionless save for the two of you, the only thing to witness your journey were the rising stars gathering up every speck of light lost by the sunset.

Your fellow ghoul warbled nonsensically as if trying to root through his own thoughts, "dunno yet.. I just thoke up a thew days ago.. ev'rythin's still kinda fuzzzy"

A few days? He was already walking and talking to a certain point, certainly a lot more progress than you've ever made in a few days.

As the silence fluttered between the two of you, small echoes would travel on the winds, not enough to actually discern what they once were, but enough to catch the afterglow of their peaks, like the smoke trails of a dying flame.

Sometimes you caught the groans of scavengers, other times it was the phantom of gunfire- whether it was from the remnants of the massacre you've left behind or somewhere far ahead of you, only the passing breeze knew.

Despite the chill of nightfall burning your skin, you could still feel your body running hot in the presence of such a formidable threat- nearly to the point where you might lose your nerve and panic.

Maybe, if it was in any other situation, you wouldn't think twice of running off on your own to make it back to your crew- there was no way Katakuri rescued you just out of the goodwill in his undead heart.

However, the hollow throbbing of your wrists made you hesitate every time the thought crossed your mind.

Your hands felt numb, two great weights against the thinned out wrists with gigantic holes in them, with every accidental swing of your arms, it felt like they'd snag against something and rip off with a disturbing ease.

Being in a state such as this, you were vulnerable, if you had to fight for your life against some rabid zombie or trigger happy survivor like this- you'd probably still win, but the result would not be pleasant at all.

Most likely you'd be having to permanently sacrifice an arm just to make another day..

And even before all of that, Katakuri would be able to hunt you down in a snap, he was already difficult to wrangle in before, but with his new undead strength and you handicapped like this, the victor would be obvious.

For now, all you could do was stick with him until you were fully functional again, he hasn't done you any harm yet, and if push came to shove, he'd probably defend you for the good of whatever intentions he held.

"Ryyy.. dit yuu saveh me?"

For the first time in your aimless march, Katakuri paused and turned to face you, eyes bright with contemplation.

"I.... wanded to.. cod'nt stop thiking ov you when I awooke"

You blinked hesitantly at the unexpected answer, and a moment later, stepped a bit closer into the space of your companion.

"Ishh.. that ahll..?"

The Charlotte leveled you a challenging glare, rumbling defensively as if he was mocked, "do I need hore ov a reazon?"

Lowering your head back to the seemingly endless field, you shook your head gently, angling yourself in the best way that avoided the forming drool from dribbling down your chin, "n'oh.."

Katakuri continued to watch you and you allowed it as it brought in a well needed break.

The moment he snapped you free of your chains, the two of you have been in constant movement, be it from pushing through hordes of zombies, eluding the people of Doflamingo's nuthouse, and gaining distance from the calamity, until now you couldn't even let the change settle in.

Here you were, god knows where with a man you killed a little over a week ago, the two of you alone, both completely estranged and potentially hostile, with no known ally in sight.

Of course, with such a reality opened up to you, what other option did you have, but to cry?

"Uuuaawwhh!" Burying your face in your hands, you began to howl and wail with every fiber in your being, completely uncaring of your company.

'Why does this shit keep happening to me?! Can't I just live?! What's the point in being undead if it keeps dragging me in situations like this?!'

At the feeling of having your wrists tenderly grasped, you jolted upwards to come face to face with Katakuri, crouched over and firmly staring you down.

"Don't cry... I don't know what I'n zupposed to do ith you do"

For some reason, you just cried harder.

"Iah- iah- iumh sowwy!" The tears continued to roll down your cheeks and into the dirt, however, as you screeched and cried louder and louder, with the fatigue slowly making itself known in the outer reaches of your mind, you became aware of the presence surrounding you.

Somewhere in the throes of your fit, Katakuri engulfed you in a hug.

The realization had you sobering up at an impressive speed, leaving you tense and confused in the hold of a perceived enemy.

Not only was it strange for him to try and comfort you in the first place, but in this position his neck was wide open to you, with the flex of your jaw you could rip it out in moments and catch him off guard.

And there'd be nothing he could do about it at that point.

Disturbed by the mental image, you meekly pulled yourself away and scowled at the wet splotches glistening over the leather and his exposed skin.

Wiping off the last traces of your outburst, you groaned apologetically as Katakuri took that as his cue to back off again.

"I understand that the hast few days must'v been.. less than great, 'ut we gotta-" Katakuri's steady voice was cut off by the roar of an engine, and soon afterwards a familiar vehicle tore its way out of the far off woodland.

It wasn't long before the two of you were blinded by its high beams in it's chaotic approach, "Katakuri..!" The driver shouted long and hard, sounding relieved.

As the vehicle made a rushed stop in front of the two of you, Katakuri stepped in front, hiding you in his shadow with the silent order to remain quiet, "Nont-d'er.."

"Where have you been?! Everybody's been freaking the hell out when you disappeared! You can't just run off without a word like this!" The man who you assumed as part of Katakuri's family sounded freaked out himself, huffing and puffing as if he ran all the way here instead of driving like a maniac.

Katakuri remained silent, nonspeaking in the face of his aggression.

"Agh! Enough of this! Let's get back home yeah? Pudding made a meat pie that everyone's been going on about- you'll love it!" Something in the tone sounded placating, as if he was talking to something that couldn't register human speech.

Now that you thought about it, how did his family accept his new situation? From what you were hearing, they weren't dealing so well with it.. and that made you feel a short lasting tug of guilt.

The thought of your actions causing a wedge between him and his friends was a bitter one- luckily you didn't have to wallow in it for long.

"I'n not coming alone.."

The guy in the jeep made a nervous sound of confusion, "eh..? What's that mean?"

Slowly and precisely, the ghoul reached behind him and ghosted his hand down your arm, soon settling upon your tender wrist and softly tugging you forwards, and you, being taken off guard by such considerate movements, let it happen.

You couldn't see the guy in the driver's seat with the headlights still in the way, but you could still hear the brisk jerk as you were brought to light, "tha- that's..! Katakuri she's..!"

"She needs 'edical treament.."

There was a bang from the vehicle and the headlights momentarily bounced, "she's with that traitor! A member of the Strawhats!" the shout was accusatory, and had you tense in place, caught in between going on the offense or defense.

"Nont-d'er.." for the first time since escaping, all of the adrenaline in your body came screeching to halt from that vicious sound, so deep and primal that it felt as if it was unnaturally torn from the deepest cavities within his chest and delivered through the ether.

The grip on your wrist tightened so slightly, causing panic to jump into your throat in worry of him crushing the very delicate bones that still remained after Doflamingo's crude handiwork.

Luckily, he was quick to catch himself and softly fondle the abused flesh between his fingers and palm.

Peering back at you for a stray moment, your eyes met briefly, and Katakuri took a deep breath as to recenter himself before turning back to his brother.

"She's coming eth us.."

There was no room for argument.. for either his brother or you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was tense as you had your wounds addressed.

One of Katakuri's sisters- Brulee you think her name was, refused to look you in the eye as she carefully looped layers of bandages over your arms.

Despite the silence, you could tell she was bottling a lot of things up, and the only reason she didn't explode upon your arrival was the withering glare your rescuer had plastered on the entire trip here.

Outside the room you could hear the scuttling of various shoes, and you imagined that the whole family was probably hovering out there in fearful curiosity as to what brought this strange situation into reality.

To your surprise, Brulee eventually cracked, "what the hell is this, Katakuri?" Jerking upwards within her seat, all in one motion she both rose to the full of her height and leveled a glare of her own to the glowering ghoul hovering by the corner.

Katakuri grimaced at her audacity before shying away guiltily, "I don't know what you nean..."

"I mean why the hell is this woman here?! And she's just like you-! Did you bite her?!"

Once the woman absentmindedly finished up her work on your wounds, you leaned back and patiently watched the confrontation unfold.

"No.. shhe vit mee.."

Brulee then whirled upon you with a curl of rage upon her lips, "you! You did this to my brother! I should-!" Brulee made a move to cup her hands around your neck when Katakuri jerked up in anticipation.

"Prulee" you both stopped at the unspoken command.

"B- But-!" The poor woman looked between you and Katakuri with a desperate look, "she's an enemy! She's the one who did this to you?! Why are we helping her?!"

The room held its breath, the question you wanted the answer to the most was pushed forth, and your ears were practically ringing in suspense for what he would say in response.

"No... shhe was Mama's enaee, not aurs"

It took a moment for the implications of those words to reach you, but when they did, it felt as if your guts were unknowingly yanked out of you by a freight train.

'His-? Mama's-? Then that means she's-?'

Katakuri faced you then, staring blankly into your shocked expression without anything to betray how he felt, "you were the one who gafe me thiz power.. you were the one who finally enaveled me to kill her, so you should take responsibility"

You took a step back with a weak warble, "uhhah doee hatt eaan..?"

Katakuri made a face at the guttural sounds you made, "Prulee, get her soething to write with"

Shortly you were handed a sketchbook already half used up with childish scribbles and two different coloured crayons.

'What does that mean?'

Katakuri paused, before seemingly settling on a decision, "ith neans that when you return to your crew, please convince them to not attack us anynore.."

You nearly jolted out of your seat.

'You're letting me go?'

Katakuri pursed his lips- or would have if he had any, and huffed to himself, "yeah.. nothing good is gonna come from keeping you here.."

Well.. this.. this might've been building up to be one of the most pleasant kidnappings to date?

'So I can just go?'

Katakuri's brows furrowed, and Brulee looked just at the point of shoving herself into the conversation, "I'd prefer you'd stick around for a bit, I'd like to write a letter to your leader fore an exlamation and afology for fast coflict tha you can deliver"

You really shouldn't be trusting him, for all you knew he could be lying about Big Mom being dead in the first place.. but, maybe it was some subliminal instinct to trust your own kind, some subconscious kinship planted within you, but you nodded.

Maybe.. instead of the return of an old foe, this could be the introduction of a new friend..?