Katarina left the Monastery a few hours after breakfast, which didn't raise any questions from her friends. Every now and then, when they were free from training, they would head out and hang out with their friends.

But what piqued Lloyd's interest was his sister carrying a backpack with her. He gets up from his seat and catches up with her at the gates. "Sis, what are you doing with your backpack?"

She turns around, a bit of uneasiness coming on. She rubs the back of her neck nervously. "Oh, I'm going on a camping trip with Neuro, Bolobo and Turner. I'll be back the next day or two." She says.

He nods. "Okay, stay safe out there for me." He hugs her. "And say hi to them for me."

"Will do."

Katarina came back to the Monastery a couple days later. She felt tired, her chest hurt and she had to ask Nya to pick her up from the 'camp site' that morning. She went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and took a couple of pain meds.

She was going to go to sleep for a long while.

On her way to the bedroom, she heard the Cole's, Jay's and Kai's voices in the relaxation room.

"Hey Kat!" Jay says a bit loudly, making her cringe at how loud he normally was. She bears it, nonetheless.

"Hey guys." She says, trying not to sound so tired. She enters the relaxation room, not bothering to sit down. They were playing a video game, a new one that they must've gotten while she was gone, and it seemed a bit violent for her taste. "New game, huh?"

"Yeah, it's really cool," Jay replies. He offers her a controller. "Wanna play?"

She shakes her head. "No thanks. Not my style." He shrugs understanably, and goes back to the game.

"How was the camping trip?" Cole asks. "Have a good time?"

"Yeah, we did. Did you miss me too much while I was gone?" Katarina says with a playful smile, twinging slightly at the chest pain.

"We sure did," Kai replies. "You should've seen Cole beat Jay's ass yesterday. It was hilarious."

"I hope you filmed the whole thing." She smirks, noticing Jay slowly turn his head around with his jaw slowly dropping open.

"Don't you dare." He says lowly when he sees Kai take out his phone.

"Sure did, wanna see?" Just when the video started playing, Jay stands up and reaches for Kai's phone. Kai immediately stands up from his seat and moves his arm out of Jay's reach, taunting him every now and then.

Until Jay finally had enough and pushes Kai a little, causing him to chuckle and drop his phone on the floor. The push causes Katarina to hit the wall, which she didn't notice she was near until now, and winces in pain.

Jay and Kai stop their tussle. "Shit, Kat, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. You okay?" She nods, ignoring the increased back on her back and chest now. Great.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just surprised me, that's all." She assures Jay. She sees Kai's phone on the floor and logs into his phone, sending the video to her phone. She tosses the phone back to Kai. "Here."

Kai catches the phone. Zane, Lloyd and Nya join in. "What's going on?" Lloyd asks.

"Nothing, just a tussle between me and Jay because he got a little worked up over a video." Kai explains.

"Oh, sis, I didn't hear you come back. Had fun on the trip?" Lloyd asks Katarina, who nods.

"Yeah, super fun. Makes me want to go again." She replies. She pats Kai's back and walks to Lloyd and Zane, while Nya gives her a concerned look.

"You okay there, KitKat?" She asks.

"Don't worry about me, Water Lily, I'm fine." Katarina assures her. "Now, if you guys need me, I'll be in my room."

As she heads to her room, the others give her a shared worried glance.

Almost a week later, when Katarina was asleep late one night, the others talk quietly about her current state.

"Is it just me or has Katarina been acting a bit off?" Lloyd asks the others, who nod in agreement.

"Yeah, she has. She's been avoiding training for almost a week now, and every time she looks like she's in pain, she just shrugs it off and says she's fine." Cole points out. "She's the only person in the entire Monastery who trains more than the rest of us, this is so unlike her."

"Not to mention she has been taking pain meds recently. Wonder why..." Jay wonders aloud.

"Maybe something happened to her on that camping trip?" Kai offers.

Lloyd shakes his head. "I ran into Turner yesterday, and asked him about the trip they went on. He said he had never planned a camping trip with Neuro, Bolobo and Katarina."

"So she lied to us." Jay states. "But why?"

"I don't know." Lloyd shrugs.

"I may have an explanation," Zane offers. "I have been examining her in her sleep yesterday. My examination has shown reduced breast tissue at her top chest area, and her sleep positions have changed from her side to her back. Since her blanket wasn't covering the top of her chest last night, she had drains, dressings and a compression binder on."

"She got top surgery." Jay puts simply. Zane nods.

"How do you know that?" Kai asks Jay.

"Don't you remember? I got my top surgery after Lloyd defeated the Overlord. Zane even helped me with the recovery." Jay explains.

"Oh yeah."

"But why would she lie to us about something like that?" Cole wonders aloud.

Nya clears her throat. The others look at her, wondering if she had something to say. "I may have an idea."

"Which is...?" Kai says, waiting for her to continue.

"Katarina was the first to tell me about her binding. She had been planning her top surgery for a few months. She probably didn't tell you, because she thought you would judge her badly about it." She explains.

"But we wouldn't." Jay argues.

"She knows, but I think there's this part deep down inside her that thinks otherwise."

The next day, during the late afternoon, Lloyd joins Katarina outside and sits down next to her. He looks up at the sky, which was slowly transforming into a beautiful night sky.

"Hey sis."

"Hey."

"How are you doing?" He asks her.

"Good."

"How are you feeling?"

She hums. She glances down at her chest, which was removed of her bindings and drains, before returning her gaze back up to the sky.

"Better than ever."