You woke with a pained groan. Your stomach and shoulder were on fire, pain radiating throughout your body from the wounds.

"(Y/n), take it easy." Katakuri sat by your bed with an intense look of concern in his eyes, Jasper fast asleep in his lap.

"I feel like shit." You tilted your head to the side to look at him through bleary eyes.

"You should after all that, you came back in such a state....." He swept your hair out of your face and adjusted the sheets, making sure you were as comfortable as possible despite the pain.

"Yeah." You let out a pained laugh. "When I got to Brûlèe's house, Titus was there. I think if I had waited any longer he would have gotten a hold of Jasper. I don't know what I would've done if that happened." Your voice softened as you spoke. At the time, you didn't think about the consequences of failure. Now it was hitting hard.

"There was no chance that would've happened. I know it." He cradled Jasper in his arms carefully and got up. "The doctor said you can be up and moving tomorrow as long as you take it easy. In the mean time, you're stuck here."

You nodded. It was lucky that'd you'd be able to move so soon. You weren't going to push your luck and complain about being bedridden for one day.

"He left some medicine for the pain." He handed you a couple pills and a glass of water, balancing them and the baby expertly.

You took the pills quickly, washing them down with the water while trying not to wince from the pain. "Maybe I'll be able to sleep through the day then."

Jasper stirred slightly in Katakuri's arms but stayed asleep. You were glad Titus was gone and hopefully, dead.

"Mama thought it was funny that you went out of your way to find him." It was like he read your mind. "It seems he wasn't worth all that much to her like we thought, She'd agreed that you and Jasper being the only Druids of the family was fine anyway."

"Isn't that just lucky, she's not particular." You joked while holding out your arms for Jasper. It felt like forever since you last held him and your current state wasn't going to stop you from seeking time with him.

Katakuri carefully placed the sleeping boy by your side, making sure he didn't lean against your wounds. You were hoping to hold him but you'd take what you could get. 

"You're better anyway. You kicked his ass and got away in decent shape all things considered. He wouldn't have been worth our time."

"You could say that again." You ran your fingers through the boys soft crimson hair, happy that no harm had come to him.

"Also, the Vinsmokes have arrived since you've been sleeping. Mama needs me and Smoothie to keep close so I can't stay here with you for much longer, but I'll leave a transponder snail for you in case something comes up."

You didn't miss that he only mentioned two of the commanders, Cracker wasn't brought up.

"How long have I been out?" You asked curiously.

"It's been a bit over a day. You lost quite a bit of blood even though the wounds weren't terrible."

"Well I'm feeling a lot better now." You still hurt but the medicine was kicking in rather fast, dulling it to tolerable levels.

"Good." Katakuri set a scarf wearing snail on the table by the bed and it blinked at you before lazily scanning the room. "That'll connect straight to my snail. Jasper is going to stay with Oven for the day, he'll be safe with him. I'll come see you first thing in the morning."

He gave you a chaste kiss and as he pulled away, you tugged him back down by his vest for another. "Tell me what's going on." You weren't going to take no for an answer.

He pressed his lips together in a thin line. "Nothing gets past you." He took Jasper back but you didn't let go of his vest.

"Tell me." You demanded again, a little more sternly.

He sighed. "Don't do anything stupid, I promise it'll all be fine." You let him go and he straightened back out. "The Strawhat pirates are here as well. They want to take back Sanji and managed to beat Cracker in a fight, among some others. But they won't be trouble for long. Everything will be taken care of by the end of the 'wedding'."

"If you say so.....just stay safe Kata." You weren't sure if you believed him entirely.

Though rather new to the pirating world, the Strawhats had already gained quite the reputation as a formidable crew. Their captain held an insane amount of ever growing strength and much of the crew had proven to be just about as much of a threat to their past enemies. While you'd met and heard of stronger pirates, you still felt uneasy at the mention of their arrival to Whole Cake Island. Just getting here was a feat in and of itself for outsiders.

"Don't worry, it'll all be fine. Now get some rest, Jasper and I will see you tomorrow."

It hurt watching them leave, he tried to reassure you but it was hard to believe everything was going to work out when it seemed like Big Mom's plans were slowly starting to fall apart at the seams.

The next few hours were boring enough to drive you crazy. You tried to fall asleep but the ever building stress of recent events kept you awake. Staying in bed for a day was proving to be more difficult than you thought. You were lost in thought about Titus and the Strawhats, biting away at your lip, worrying away at the skin between your teeth when there was a knock at the infirmary door.

"(Y/n), are you here? I heard you were recovering from a fight." Chiffon entered the room with an infant in her arms.

"Chiffon!" You smiled widely. "It's been forever since I've seen you. Is that little Pez you've told me so much about?" You'd kept in touch with her over transponder snail, both of you staying up to date on each other's lives. And you couldn't lie to yourself, you were beyond happy to have someone around finally to get you out of your head.

She quickly approached your bedside, showing you the infant in her arms proudly. "Yes he is! I was hoping to have him meet Jasper but it seems he's not with you."

"No unfortunately not." You frowned, missing the boy's company. "I'm not really in shape to watch him so he's with Oven today since Katakuri is off doing some work with Big Mom and Smoothie."

"Well I think Pez and I can wait then. You must be bored out of your mind here with nothing to do!"

"That's for sure." You chuckled. "But it's only for today. I'll be able to make it to the wedding tomorrow."

A strange look flickered past Chiffon's eyes but it was fleeting. You must have imagined it.

"Are you and Bege going to be there?"

"Oh, of course we will! Bege will be helping with security." She gave you a wink, letting you know she was informed of what the wedding actually was.

"Good." You let loose the breath you didn't realize you were holding. It relaxed you knowing she was up to date on everything, it meant she'd be safe.

"Here, would you like to hold him?"

"Yessssss." You gladly reached for the baby, carefully holding him away from your most tender spots. "He....sure takes after his dad." The child eyed you suspiciously but didn't fuss over the meeting.

"Doesn't he?" She laughed, taking the seat Katakuri occupied hours ago. "Now tell me about that fight of yours and then everything else you have going on in life while you're at it!"

You missed this. It'd been a while since you had such a casual conversation with a friend and there was no better way to pass the time.

----

Chiffon left with Pez when it got late, leaving you to finally get some sleep. At some point you startled back awake, the aches from your wounds prominent once again as the medication had worn off. It wasn't as bad as before at least.

Further over in the infirmary, you could hear nurses scrambling over someone a few cots over. You tilted your head to the side, peering in their direction and seeing a beautiful woman with short pink hair laying down, a confused look on her face. She didn't look familiar, you could only assume she was probably one of the Vinsmokes.

You turned away, laying on your right side and closing your eyes. The claw marks on your belly burned from the effort but thankfully, calmed down after a short while. The nurses left after some more fussing with the woman and the room was quiet once again.

You were dozing off right as the infirmary door opened and someone else walked in. The footsteps paused for a second before walking with purpose to the other woman.

"Sanji, what are you doing here?" Her voice was soft, but rang clearly through the room, almost with a tone of concern.

"Do you remember what happened Reiju? No, of course you don't." The man, Sanji sighed after quickly coming to his conclusion. "I'll fill you in on what you've forgotten."

You tried to listen in, but your body wasn't having it. Sleep took over, drowning out their voices, taking away your chance to hear that the plan had been leaked without anyone's knowledge.