Katarina takes a deep breath, and exhales. She kept telling herself it's okay, he still remembers her, it's fine, she just needs to stop overthinking it. 

She takes another breath, and walks over to Scott, who was leaning against a counter of Prime Empire's version of a bar inside the party room for the League. "Hey Scott."

He turns his attention towards her. "Hello...erm..." He tilts his head, not really knowing her name. 

"It's me, Katarina...do you remember me, Scott?" She asks nervously. She could feel the sweat forming in her palms, and the anxiety rising in her chest as she studies his face carefully and chuckles anxiously. 

His face turns from confusion to realization. His mouth slowly drops open, and his eyes widen in shock. "Holy...I didn't recognize you. You look...different than when I last saw you."

She chuckles. "Yeah, no kidding."

"No, really. You grew your hair out, and...." He squints his eyes at her pointy ears and her purple eye. "Is that cosplay or something you wear for fun...?"

She notices what he was referring to and shakes her head. "Nope. This is all me. The real me. The purple eye is a new thing. You look the same as you did the last time I saw you, minus the blue skin and those triangle markings."

"Thanks..."

Awkward silence comes between the two for a seemingly long period of time, before Scott decided to break the silence by asking her, "What have you been up to since...?"

"You went to Milton Dyer to test out a game, and he came to my apartment telling me he doesn't know how to explain that you suddenly disappeared?" 

He nods slowly. "Yep."

"Well...I went to a Tournament of Elements on a secluded island, found out I didn't kill my adoptive dad and uncle and that I have a brother, fought an army of snakes and defeated a power-hungry tyrant, joined a team of ninja, was forced to fight my brother who was possessed by a dead Master of Wind, drowned the living embodiment of the Curesd Realm, then I fought an army of Vermillion snake warriors and the Time Twins, found out Harumi was a leader of a crazy biker gang and resurrected my evil dad, had to defeat her and take my dad to prison, take dad out of said prison and let him help us defeat the Oni, then we fought an evil snake sorceress who wanted revenge against my uncle, went to the Never Realm and saved our friend Zane, and....that's about it."

Scott blinks at her, silent while trying to process all that information she said to him in one sentence without running out of breath. "Huh...is that all you did?"

"Oh, no. I also got top surgery and a cool back tattoo." Katarina adds. 

"You got a back tattoo? I asked you to get one thirty years ago and you didn't want it because you thought it wasn't your style." He chuckles. 

"Well...I changed. A lot," She exhales. "After you left, I couldn't bring myself to make any more friends. I was afraid of losing them, and I stayed away from video games because it reminded me of you. And I'm trying to be a better person, be more emotionally vulnerable to my friends instead of bottling up my emotions. I've been growing more and more as a person, and I'm proud of the person I am now."

Scott smiles. "I'm glad you're growing as a person. Honestly, once I get out of here, if I ever get out of here, I'll get to see the things you've been doing. I wanna see the new you out there."

"And you will. I promise me and my friends," She steals a glance from Jay, who was rocking his new look. She smiles. "And Superstar Rockin' Jay will get you out of this game, so you can indulge in Ninjago City as much as you like."

"Really? You mean it?" He asks, not quite believing her promise.

"Of course. I always keep my word, don't I?" She says with a wink. He chuckles at the wink. 

"Okay, I believe you. But if you're...I'm mean, we're gonna get outta here, you first need to play the game, and get the three Keytanas." He explains. 

"Got it. So...how do we play the game?"

"I've been in the game the longest. With Jay's help, I'll gladly teach you and your friends how to play Prime Empire, so you can beat the game."

"Great! Where do we start?"

"Probably by upgrading your stamina first. Then get you some fighting skills, then a cool weapon or two." Scott explains. "After training four a good few hours or so, it should be enough to get you on your first step to getting the first Keytana. It's a bit dangerous, so you need to level up quite a bit before then."

"Lucky for you, I thrive through danger," Katarina smirks. 

"You won't be saying that once you get to the arcade cabinet that leads to Terra Karana." Scott chuckles. 

"Bet on that." She says confidently. His chuckles slowly turn in a laugh. 

"Okay then," After laughing for a bit, he exhales. "So, what's top surgery?"

"Erm...from what my surgeon told me a few months ago, he said that it removes breast tissue and reshapes their breasts. It creates a more flatter chest." She gestures to hers. 

"Oh, I see," He says with a nod of his head. "Are you trans?"

"Nope. I'm nonbinary. And bisexual. I go by she/they pronouns, but my friends use she/her pronouns around me. Lloyd sometimes uses they/them pronouns on me, and so does Nya," She leans her head back a little. "You would not believe the kind of crisis I had over that."

"Over the pronouns?"

"My sexuality."

"I kind of went through that, too. Right before I got trapped in this hellhole," Scott says. She brings her head back up, a bit surprised. 

"Really?"

He nods. "Really."

She chuckles softly. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, I'm gay," He says, looking up at the ceiling. "I didn't tell my parents, though, because I was worried they might be..."

"Homophobic assholes towards you?" She finishes for him. He turns his head towards her slowly. 

"I was just going to say homophobic and leave the asshole part out."

"...Oh, right. Sorry." She apologizes. 

"It's fine. I'm not sure if I should ever come out to them once I get out of here." Scott says. 

"To be honest, I never came out to Misako and Wu. Mainly because I'm not as close with Wu as I was before, and as for Misako, she doesn't give two shits, seven fucks and a rat's ass about me and Lloyd. She pretends to care and love us, and be there for us, but really, she loves her job more than she loves us. She doesn't deserve to know my sexuality."

"Damn, talk about child neglect."

"Tell me about it." Katarina says. "I think Lloyd came out to her about being trans and pansexual because one minute, he was happily talking to her, then the next minute he was down in the dumps. Something tells me it didn't go well, but then again, it's not my business to ask about it. The kid's been through enough as is, he didn't need whatever Misako said to him. I'm scared I'll upset him if I ask about it, because I'll end up having her face meet the wall."

"Well, you never know unless you ask." 

"And you'll never know if your parents are homophobic unless you decide to come out and tell them," She retorts. "If you want my advice in coming out to someone, then just ease them into the subject. Don't hit 'em with it right away, it'll overwhelm them and it'll be unpredictable. Just go slow and see how they react. If they love you for who you are in the end, they'll be supportive."

He smiles. "Wow...that sounds really easy, but so hard to actually do."

"Who ever said anything about it being easy, Scott?"

"I was hoping coming out would be easy, but whenever I'm about to do it, it gives me so much anxiety because  you have no idea how someone will react, you know?"

She nods understandingly. "Yeah, I know.  Just take it slow for me, please? You don't have to tell them if it makes you that anxious and uncomfortable, but if you ever feel like you want to, then remember my advice. I can't tell you if they'll react well, but I can tell you that they love you and they really care about you a lot. That's enough reassurance to last you a lifetime, hopefully. At least until you decide to come out. If they do react well, that's all the more reason to love every part of you."

He smiles sadly. "Thanks...fuck, if we weren't in a video game, I would've been crying right now."

"Want a hug?" She asks gently. 

He sighs softly. He stretches one arm out with a smile on his face. "Okay." They side-hug each other as he asks, "I missed you, Kat."

She smiles softly, and leans into the embrace. "Me too, Scott."

A/N: I extended the chapter a bit more today so the chapter wouldn't be so short and there'd be more of an interaction between Katarina and Scott. Happy reading! :D