The escape from Marineford had been stressful beyond belief. They were fired at the entire time, and Law was performing surgery as they did so. Katya's ribs hurt but she insisted on donating blood to help with the transfusions. Being a universal donor had some benefits, and from what Shakky had said, Straw Hat Luffy was someone important to Shanks. She couldn't sit back and do nothing.

"They're both stable for now." Bepo told Katya, who had eventually collapsed into a chair from exhaustion like the rest of the crew.

"It's so hot..." Bepo whined. "It's too much!"

"Knock it off, Bepo! You're making us feel sweaty too!" Penguin complained.

Katya had to agree that the heat of the sub was far too much. She settled down next to Bepo and took off her top. Her bra and shorts would have to do for now.

"K-Katya-chan!" Shachi and Penguin cried, their noses trickling with blood.

"Knock it off or I'll use my fruit on you." Katya muttered, although she was mostly joking. The tiredness from the blood loss combined with the heat of the submarine was making her feel quite awful.

"I hate riding the submarine." Bepo moaned. "Especially with these scruffy guys."

"You're the scruffiest one here!" The two men loudly objected.

"I guess the only solution is...to make you share my pain!" Bepo grabbed Shachi and Penguin and began to hug them to his chest until the two relented and went to take the sub to the surface. Bepo and Katya rushed outside and sighed happily.

"Ah, that's better." She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of the cool air. She was definitely with Bepo on this. The submarine wasn't the best way to travel.

"I can finally relax..." Bepo said happily.

"What the hell?!" Katya noticed a shape on the deck suddenly and Bepo and the young woman screamed "SNAAAAKE!"

"What?" Shachi and Penguin ran out. "Why is there a snake here?!"

"More importantly..." Katya's eyes went upwards in dread. "Why is there a Navy ship here?"

"We have to tell Captain!" Shachi rushed back inside.

"There's someone up there! And it's one of the Shichibukai: Boa Hancock!" Bepo cried in alarm.

"Don't worry, I turned all the marines to stone." The woman on top of the ship remarked without an ounce of regret or worry in her voice. Katya was on her guard immediately as the Warlord jumped down to the deck.

"How is Luffy's condition? Is it bad? Will he recover?" The woman said urgently.

"You're friends with Luffy?" Katya arched an eyebrow. Luffy certainly had some interesting friends.

"Yes! I'm his fiancée!"

"Uh, what?" Katya looked gobsmacked.

"I'm impressed that you figured out where we'd emerge. I thought that the Navy had tracked us down, and all hope was gone..."

"Geez, Bepo."

"I had Salome keep an eye on you underwater." Boa Hancock gestured to her snake.

"I see."

"Don't try to change the subject, you beast!" Hancock said sharply, to which Bepo apologised.

"Don't be rude to him." Katya scowled angrily.

"Tell me how Luffy is doing, right now!" The woman demanded. The door to the sub opened and Shachi came back with Law.

"I've done all I can." Law said. He looked even more tired than normal. "Surgically speaking, his condition has been stabilised, but he suffered an unbelievable amount of damage. I can't guarantee he'll survive it." Law wiped his hands with a towel and squared off against the Warlord.

As the talks went on, Katya observed carefully the Warlord, the purple haired drag queen and the injured Jinbei, before deciding to go back inside the submarine.

Katya found her way to the medical room and took a chair next to Luffy. The young man was strapped up to a ventilator, covered in bandages and a blanket. Katya decided to sit at his bedside for a while. She spoke to him in a gentle voice about her encounter with Shanks. She kept the Straw Hat safe on her lap as they travelled on.

She saw him twitch once or twice and hoped that his dreams weren't as strange as hers. She was still seeing the fuzzy black shapes just before she woke up every time. Each time he moved or grimaced in pain, she sang him something soothing and quiet. She didn't know why she felt protective of him. He was younger than her. Or maybe it was just that he was ill and vulnerable.

She hummed gently and wiped his brow with a cool washcloth as Law came in.

"You're still here?"

"Yeah, just didn't want him to be alone."

"We're about to reach the island of women." Law said. "The crew keep insisting that they want to be on the deck when we get there."

"Those idiots will get themselves killed one day."

"Probably."

"How are you doing, Law?" Katya stood up and made her way over to him.

"I'll be fine. How is your dizziness?"

"I'm good, I promise." Katya glanced back over at Luffy. "Will he be alright?"

"It's hard to say. It'll be clearer when he wakes up."

Katya smiled at him. "He has the best doctor possible looking after him."

Law sighed and she sidled up next to him and sang a lyric from her song, Fever. "There ain't a surgeon like you in any place in all the world~" she placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned.

Law cracked a smile. "Doesn't the next line of that go 'so now shall I remove my clothes?'"

"Not gonna happen."

"You already took them off because it was hot in the sub."

"That was different and you know it!"