I haven't written anything on this site for a very long time but I just adore the development Oda is giving Sanji. I have a lot of love for Sanji and honestly if I didn't write at least one fic I'd regret it. I hope you enjoy, sorry my writing is a bit awkward.
Sanji often read the story books he took from their castle's library as a child. It was one pastime he found joy in other than cooking. Words swam before his eyes weaving tales of far away lands, magic powers, and freedom.
One type of book in particular always caught his eye, the fantastical adventures of princes ruling their kingdoms with power and kindness. Their parents always stood tall when next to the princes, always proud to let everyone know that this was their son. These royals who lived on only in a world of paper and ink, they always had a happy ending.
It happened every time, they'd slay the dragon, save the damsel in distress, bring honour to their family, repair their fallen kingdom, or maybe all four. They were all so strong, so brave, so everything he wasn't.
Sometimes, after his father spat his harsh words, or his brothers beat him with no mercy. He'd wonder why he couldn't be like that, why did he have to be born a failure.
Other times, he could convince himself after successfully completing a new recipe, or on nights when everything was so deceptively peaceful, that he'd have a happy ending too. He just had to wait.
It was harder sometimes, after a particularly brutal training session where he'd come in dead last. He'd find himself wondering if there was any happy ending in store for him.
Then he was placed in a cold prison cell, an iron mask covering most of his head, too heavy for his small frame. He was sure that this was where he would die, alone in the dark, without his father even caring. Still, he continued to practice cooking, continued to hope because maybe his chance at a happy ending was still there. He reshaped his dream, no longer did he wish to be like the princes in the story books. He wanted his own adventure. He wanted to find All Blue. He wanted to be a cook.
His chance came in the form of his older sister and a cruise ship in the East Blue.
He thought he had found his way now, it was so close, his happy ending. Just like the princes in his books.
Then the ship was attacked and he was drowning, and when he woke up he was alone with an old captain with no crew on a rock in the middle of the ocean. No land or ship to be seen and only a small bag of food, it barely lasted him a month. He had no time to think about fairy tales now, he had to focus on surviving.
The remaining time spent there was an agonizing blur, both moving too fast and so excruciatingly slow, but by the end of the journey he had gained a friend in the old man who shared his dream. Who convinced him not to give up on his hopes.
Together they opened a restaurant on the sea, the Baratie. They fed whoever came through their doors, and although he longed to find All Blue, Sanji thought staying here wasn't so bad.
Then one day a storm in the form of a boy wearing a straw hat found his way to the Baratie, he spoke of dreams, of adventure and freedom. Sanji was drawn to him in a way he could never explain and soon enough found himself carried away with the promise of his dream coming true. Sanji knew though, he had heard about men like this from books and his "family". They never had happy endings, they always faced the execution stand at the end of their stories.
Yet, for once in his life, as he gazed into a face that promised happiness and adventure, he couldn't seem to care.
That's when he knew, those books he read were wrong, not all princes had a happy ending.
Pirates, however, didn't worry about such things.