Chapter 1: The Girl
Disclaimer: Hello all! This is my first One Piece fic! Yay me! - - Anyhow, this is a Sanji fic. He needs more of them. I might do a Ussop/Kaya one-shot eventually…maybe, if ppl want it that is. Ok, well I don't technically OWN One Piece, but I have a TON of merchandise! I even have little Tony Chopper reindeer gloves from Anime Expo 2003! And all the manga, which only goes to about 6 or 7 here. O. evil distributors. Hope you like this, and please review! You may flame or give ideas if you so wish!
As the young girl approached the fish-shaped restaurant, she suddenly became meek and afraid. Would he remember her? It HAD been about 10 years since she'd seen him on off on his last voyage. Would her father be the same? She hoped so. Her sky blue eyes were full of hope as her long blonde hair wafted in the breeze. Her white sundress waved in the breeze as well, and she held up her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. The glare on the ocean was beautiful, yet blinding. Now she knew why her father was so attracted to the allure of the sea.
She meekly opened the door and looked inside to see many customers and waiters rushing around. She looked for a cook's hat in the crowd, but saw none. So she put on a solemn face and walked back to the kitchen. She burst through the door, much to the surprise to two cooks. One of them was large, had 5 o'clock shadow, and a bandanna tied around his head, along with an apron and flips flops on. He blinked and talked in an uneducated tone.
"Aye Miss! You're not allowed back here! Personnel only!" he said kindly, thinking she'd gotten lost. She just glared at him with her icy eyes and smirked.
"I'm not stupid ya know. I'm looking for someone. And he happens to work here! So could you boys please step aside, I'm looking for a blonde guy. Not the peanut gallery," she snapped. The other man had brown hair and a facial shadow as well as the first, but had on a white chef's outfit.
"Now wait a minute! The only guy like that is Sanji, but he left a while ago to join our friend Luffy's crew of pirates!" he said. The other nodded.
"Carne's right!" he said with a nod.
"Like I care? The man I'm looking for is NOT named Sanji, he's my dad, and his name is the Infamous Red Shoes Zeff!" she said with an air of pride in her voice. She loved telling people that her father was the feared pirate. She was the most feared girl in all of the Tasuki Islands. Their jaws dropped, then they started laughing.
"Chef Zeff doesn't even HAVE a daughter! He's never mentioned ANY kids, except acting like Sanji was one of his own, he's never wanted kids!" the one named Carne said between laughing. She stiffened.
"Daddy…never mentioned he missed me?" she thought, almost to tears. One slid down her face and her eyes closed tightly shut. She remembered what her stern mother had said before she died.
'Do you really think your father would have left if he wanted you? He's probally forgotten he even HAS you! Make a life for yourself outside of trying to follow in his footsteps! For all we know, he died at the Grand Line! The man you and I loved left a long time ago Jasmine…'
"I…I tried so hard…to be just like daddy…I learned how to fight with my feet…and how to cook…I even used to be part of a small time pirate crew…all for daddy…" she started to sob out, then her eyes snapped open in fury, "AND THIS IS HOW HE REPAYS ME! BY FORGETTING THAT HE HAD A DAUGHTER AND A WIFE WHO LOVED HIM SO MUCH, AND KEPT HOPING HE'D KEEP HIS PROMISE AND COME FOR THEM AFTER HE WENT TO THE GRAND LINE! MAYBE MOTHER GAVE UP ON HIM EASILY AFTER THE FIRST YEAR, BUT I WILL NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP ON HIM!"
Both were taken back at her devotion to the story, and her remarks about the Grand Line made them second think their first conclusion. Then, a man with blonde hair that was slightly dull from age and braided into two long masses that came from his mustache, a wooden leg, and an obscenely large chef hat came up behind her with his arms crossed.
"She'll get it now from Chef Zeff…huh Patty?" Carne whispered to his friend. Patty nodded.
"Poor thing…should have stopped while she was ahead…" he whispered back. But to their surprise, Chef Zeff's arms wrapped around her in a hug and his eyes softened.
"Jasmine…your papa has missed you so much…" Zeff said softly to the shuddering girl. She gasped. Her father's voice sounded just like it had when she was only 7. She remembered the day he left and she'd been running to the docks to say goodbye, but shook her head at the painful memory.
"But…they say you don't talk about me…" Jasmine said weakly, being turned around roughly and looked over. He mused to himself about how she'd changed. Then he shrugged.
"Not to them maybe. But Eggplant Head asked a long time ago when we started Baratie what I'd left behind when I'd become a pirate. I told him my wife, and my little girl that was a year younger than him. But I never told Carne and Patty. I am happy you've aspired to do so much…but I don't want you to follow MY dreams. I want you to follow YOUR dreams..." Zeff said in a stern, yet loving way. She nodded and wiped her eyes.
"Don't worry daddy, I HAVE been following my dreams. One of them was to find you…the other…well…I don't really know how real the stories you used to tell me were…but I want to find the All Blue. You got me infatuated with it, then I found out one day it was my dream too," she smiled, her chipper and carefree attitude once again returning to her. She immediately grabbed an apron and put her hair up in a long ponytail and turned to him again.
"So Papa, will you let me stay here and cook with you?" she smiled. He put on his normal stony face, hiding his joy at the simple question, and nodded. She laughed happily and got to work, making about seven meals at once. Patty and Carne were amazed at how good she was, and even snuck some of her cooking for their own pleasure. Zeff retired to his room to let his daughter get acquainted with the crew.
"This…is as good as Sanji's!" Carne said, and the other chefs were amazed at this remark, because no one had ever come close to Sanji, except for Chef Zeff himself. She blushed and smiled sheepishly.
"Aw…it's not that good Carne…and who is this Sanji guy that you all, dad included, talk about?" she asked quizzically. Patty smiled at how sweet and innocent she could be, but remembered the cold glare she gave earlier and reminded himself that she wasn't someone you wanted to mess with.
"Well, Sanji was a whelp that Chef Zeff saved from a sinking boat, and then through starvation. We still don't know why he did it, but after that, he and Sanji opened Baratie, and Patty and me came and applied first here for jobs! They've been like a father and son, even though they fought a lot of the time. Sanji's nickname for Zeff was 'Crap Geezer', and his nickname was 'Eggplant Head'," Carne explained. Jasmine was still very interested in the subject and wouldn't let it drop.
"But what about now? Where is Sanji now? If they were so close, why is he gone?" Jasmine ventured. She was slightly worried that someone had gotten all of her father's attention over the past 10 years, which was rightfully hers.
"He went and joined a pirate crew as the cook after Chef Zeff threw him out so he could pursue his dream to find the All Blue, just like you and the Chef. But that was after we went against Don Kreig and his pirates…" Patty said, his chest puffing out a bit in pride. But another chef burst his bubble.
"Yeah, Sanji and our friend Luffy, our old Chore Boy, beat Don Kreig and his first mate, Gin!" the chef said, only to be hit with a pan from Patty. Jasmine laughed and covered her mouth, then went back to sautéing something. As she watched the food simmer and cook, she continued.
"So…that cook…Sanji…took out Kreig, huh? Pretty good feat. That man's a monster…I saw him destroy a whole town once while he had a naval flag up on his masts…my crew and I were there, but got out in time. I wanted to stay and fight…but my crewmates were cowards and would have left me behind. I'm lucky they ventured this far out to drop me off here at Baratie!" she mused to herself, but they all heard her. Patty put a hand on her shoulder, as he had sensed the strain and self-anger in her voice.
"It's not your fault that Kreig got that village, if your crew leaves, you can't be the only one left behind to protect it, now can you?" he said sympathetically. She nodded, but stayed rigid.
"But why can't it be like that Patty? Why can't one person stand up for what they believe in, no matter HOW out-numbered, or out-skilled, or out anything they are? Why can't someone just stand up for what really matters?" she said angrily. They could tell she'd seen many cowards in her days, and she seemed to refuse to give up because of it.
"Chore Boy was like that…and Eggplant head became that way…so not everybody is a coward Flower…" Zeff said, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen as the voices of people in the restaurant milled in and created background noise. She nodded.
"I know…I'm not trying to belittle what they did daddy…it's just…why can't more people be fearless and charge into things with only their hopes, dreams, and belief to carry them through?" Jasmine asked with innocent and pleading blue eyes. He shrugged and turned to the rest of them, dropping the subject.
"Listen up! We're going into an island port! We need supervisions, and I have someone to visit here! By the way, tell the merchants on Tasuki Island that Zeff sent you, and he'll treat you right! Come on Flower…let's go visit your mother…" Zeff said, with a calm happiness in his eyes. Her face darkened, but she waited until they were docked and outside the door to their old house to tell him.
"Papa…"
"Yes Flower?" he said softly, using her old nickname. But when she was little it was Little Flower. It just seemed she'd grown up.
"Mama is…she's…dead. She died from a sickness…she was outside on a cold stormy night…the anniversary of your one-year trip. And she got sick because of being out there all night waiting for you…she died about five months ago…that's why I came to find you…" Jasmine said sadly. She hated the look of shock and pain in her father's eyes. But then again, how could he have known? So she didn't hold it against him.
"I'm…sorry I never came back Flower…I didn't mean to…I was just so ashamed that I hadn't done all the things I'd promised I'd do…" Zeff said. She shrugged.
"That's okay daddy. I don't blame you…but i…never thought I'd see the Great Red Shoes Zeff fall to the place of a Head Chef…but that's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong! I was just so used to hearing about how many guys you'd killed on your last voyage! I guess…I was kinda proud of you…" she said with a shy blush, surprised at how nervous she was of her own father. He put a steady hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"That means a lot to your old man Flower," he smiled. She nodded and led him inside to talk and reminisce about their life, and get to catch up on lost time.
An: so? How was it? I would like to pick 3 people as friends of Jasmine, but I will only take reviews of characters from the most detailed three! No shortcuts and making me determine the characters! So if you want to be in this story, detail your character! And please tell me if you like this! Next chapter will be with Luffy and the crew, and we'll follow Sanji as they get to Tasuki Island and stumble upon the Baratie crew! Emo reunion between Sanji/Zeff will ensue! And Sanji/Jasmine meet after hearing so much about each other! Fyi, this is a Sanji/Jasmine fic!