While the Whole Cake Island Arc has yet to end, unfortunately, so I'm still reluctant to portray Sanji as a Modified Human when I don't know what his ability and color would've been as much as what kind of Devil Fruit Reiju has been reported to have, I was inspired by the multiple one-shots collected as I Won't Let You Go by FFN's BlueThief to write a challenge of what Sanji's goals would've been if he still ran from the Germa Kingdom, but had much more to miss than in canon.
No unnecessary bashing: seeing characters grow up and show hidden strengths is all good until it looks like the writer is purposefully making the character in question look like an unlikable nuisance at best and a complete villain at worst. Trust me, it's best to show both the positives and negatives of those in a story. And since this is an AU, I'm working forward to some people growing up differently, especially in a positive manner.
No slash: I try not to judge people who have different "bonding" preferences compared to mine, but I really don't think that characters that weren't listed as canonically yaoi in nature should be depicted as such. Not that I like gender bending much either.
Keep the content at a controlled level: meaning that it's probably best to be mindful of which direction the story/stories will go. I like straight lemons as much as the next fellow, but given how things all are iffy on certain websites like FFN, it would probably be wise to just walk first before jumping.
Don't shy away from asking me for advice or beta reading: however, I won't dictate your execution as it should ultimately be your decision. I'm doing fine with it so far with digemsmack over his Fairy Tail story which I gave my patronage for, Ascension of the Second Apocalypse, even if he's silent right now.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Eiichiro Oda does.
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A Returning Prince
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Vinsmoke Sanji's first eight years of life weren't easy. While one would think that being a Prince of a technologically and militarily progressive nation like the Germa Kingdom would have some perks, Sanji's budding childhood under his father's heel wasn't happy. As soon his kindhearted mother passed away, King Judge took the effort of having Sanji and his four siblings put through strenuous training to hasten their potential as future Germa 66 Commanders with Superhuman abilities and obedience to his every command in order to fulfill his own dream of reviving the once glorious Germa Empire over the entire North Blue Sea. Unfortunately, unlike his three older siblings Reiju, Ichiji and Niji as well as his younger twin, Yonji, Sanji's Modified Human strengths never developed in spite of the training which led to Judge eventually locking him away out of embarrassment.
However, even behind bars, Sanji wasn't without allies. His siblings, in spite of the favoritism they received from Judge, hadn't lost their feelings of kindness and love and helped Sanji escape. By the time they were out of the castle, the seagoing Germa 66 forces were attacking an East Blue nation. It didn't take long for Reiju to point out a nearby cruise ship for Sanji to escape on.
"You all have to come with me!" Sanji cried out just when it was time for them to part ways. "I don't want to leave any of you with that monster! You deserve an escape as much as I do!"
Reiju was quick to hug Sanji with tears in her eyes with their brothers following suit. "We can't, Sanji! Father would never let us go if any of his testbed children left his clutches! You have to leave and never come back! Please!"
Ichiji then added his own solemn words. "We'll be fine, Sanji. You don't need to worry."
Yonji with tears said. "I'll probably grow up to be the tallest here."
"Just go, you stupid moron!" Niji snapped with sadness as much as anger.
Sanji finally nodded and when the hug broke up, he then made a vow before leaving. "I don't know how or when, but someday, when I'm all grown up and strong, I'll come back to free you and the Germa Kingdom from bad leaders like Father and the World Government! I promise you that!"
He then left for the Orbit as far as he can. And through the years from his work on the Orbit and Baratie, he would work hard on both being a better cook as well as a better fighter for his dream of finding the All Blue as well as to save those he truly considered his family.
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I know in Losers, or Winners?, I depicted Sanji's brothers keeping their different hair colors despite being "duds" like him, but that was before Oda said in his SBS that the reason they all had different hair colors was because of the Modifications. I know it doesn't look like much, and I'm sorry it's a bit short, but basically, this little divergence is supposed to have Sanji be a bit more proactive in becoming stronger as a fighter to one day kick Judge off his throne for the good of himself, his siblings, his kingdom, and his mother's memory whether he's a Pirate, Marine, or Revolutionary with his fellows from the Baratie to the Straw Hats willing to help him on that goal in anyway because in this challenge, Sanji's brothers didn't lose their empathy before birth and helped Reiju get him out of the Kingdom to the Orbit. Of course, depending on how time works in the story between sagas and arcs, I'd probably discourage any of them heading for the North Blue Sea straight away after the East Blue Saga, but you can do what you want with Sanji's first wanted poster, so long as any trouble that comes their way is eventually overcome. Anyway, just take your time in figuring this out if you desire to.
Now that I think about it, though, how does anyone think would happen if Reiju and Sanji went through the empathy loss as well? Obviously, that would be an incredible bad sign for everyone in total, but one of my future and hopefully probable challenges is to have Sanji grow up to be a Germa 66 Commander, so while I wouldn't want him and Reiju to turn out with sociopathic behavior, I'm honestly wondering how that would all work. Of course, the idea is in the long term, and I'm sure the obedience effect would work just as well, so I can work on it as I go. Just be on the lookout for Smoking Wine and Enterprising Rejects.
Also, while I am kind of dubious regarding original Devil Fruits, for some reason, I can't help but wonder what kind of effect it would have on the world of One Piece if someone like Luffy ate a Lifespan-Lifespan Fruit, or Jumyou Jumyou no Mi for Japanese fans, that would allow him to have the abilities of a Shinigami's eyes combined with a Death Note's. Of course, it would be downscaled to some degree to prevent insanely overpowered results and it's just a thought, regardless, but I think it would be pretty interesting whether the Luffy who ate such a Devil Fruit was either a more pragmatic pirate, or even a Marine who appreciates some aspects of Absolute Justice. Any thoughts? I actually would be honored if it was made into a good story.