Emi was overjoyed when she saw the mountains of chocolate that Pudding had brought in for her to eat. She had never seen so much before! Jii-jii would have never allowed her to eat all this chocolate. Her wide purple eyes gazed up at the woman giggling in front of her.
"We'll go and meet Big Mom soon. I'm sure she would be thrilled to meet you" Pudding said with a smile as Emi swallowed a particularly large chunk of chocolate.
Emi fidgeted with the edge of her shirt/dress as shyness took over. She was never really good at meeting new people.
"Emi? What's wrong" Pudding said.
"I...it's just meeting new people. I've never really been good at meeting new people" the five year old said, her eyes downcast.
The older woman gave the child a brief pat on the top of her head, causing Emi to look up.
"It's okay, Emi. I'll be there with you. You know me, right?" Pudding said with a smile, and Emi nodded slowly.
"Yeah...I guess" the child murmured, and a yawn interrupted her next sentence.
Pudding smiled and Emi sheepishly scratched the back of her head.
"Sorry Pudding, I guess I'm tired" she said.
"You should take a nap. It's been a hard day for you" the woman said, and Emi nodded.
The five year old didn't realize that her eyes were getting heavier, and her head was beginning to nod. Pudding got up to retrieve a blanket and pillow from somewhere, and placed it on the couch for the five year old. Emi smiled in thanks and snuggled in, her eyes closing in an instant.
As the five year old slept soundly, Pudding got an evil glint on her eyes. Her lips pulled up in a mean smirk as she regarding the sleeping child. This was working out wonderfully. A few choice words here and there, and this foolish child was in her clutches. Big Mom would indeed be proud.
Blinking multiple times to clear the sleep from her eyes, Emi pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her silver hair fell into her eyes as she sleepily looked around. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as Pudding walked up to her.
"I hope you had a good sleep" she said, and Emi nodded.
"Yes thank you" she answered with a shy smile.
"Come! Let's wash your hair before we go" Pudding said, and Emi nodded before getting off of the couch.
The salt from the sea had encrusted the child's hair into sticky strands that stuck up at odd angles. They walked to a small bath and as Pudding ran the water, Emi gazed out the window. What was her jii doing right now? Probably yelling at Patty and Carne.
An hour after, Emi was clean and dressed. Pudding had put Emi's hair up into pigtails and had some of her silver hair frame her face.
"There! You're all set" Pudding said with a smile, and Emi smiled back.
"Really?"
"Oh yes! Big Mom will love you" Pudding said, and took Emi's hand in her own.
"Okay..." Emi murmured as Pudding led her out of the cafe and down the road.
"We're going to Whole Cake Island. It's very important to me. You see, I'm getting married" Pudding said, and Emi gazed up at the woman with wide eyes.
"You are?! Woah! Is your dress big? Is it poofy? Is it white? I've never seen a wedding dress before" Emi gushed, smiling happily up at the older woman.
Pudding smiled back and said nothing as the child continued chattering. They reached a small harbour where they both got on a ship. It was not a long ride, and Emi gazed around anxiously. What was Big Mom like? Was she nice? Hopefully she was as nice as Pudding. As the ship came to Whole Cake Island, Emi found herself gripping Pudding's hand more fiercely. Pudding led the child down the harbour and they soon came to massive buildings made out of cake. Emi gasped as she laid eyes on the frosted architecture. It was even bigger then Cocoa Island!
The two walked down the road and Emi continued gazing with open wonder at the buildings.
"Here we are" Pudding said as she led Emi to the central building.
Emi's eyes widened even more. This building was huge!
Pudding led the girl up the steps and into the large building with a crown that outlined the door. The large Jolly Roger stood out against the frame of the building with its pink colour. Pudding led Emi up many flights of steps and to a large room. The door opened with a smile, and Emi hid behind Pudding. It was scary as Pudding closed the door.
"This is my room. You can stay here until Big Mom is ready to meet you" Pudding said with a smile.
Emi looked around, taking on the vast pictures of baked goods and pink. It was a vast difference to her bland room back at the Baratie. The five year old walked around as Pudding seemed to be deep in though.
"Oh!" Emi exclaimed when she saw the balcony.
She skipped over to the balcony and peaked over it. She let out a surprised noise when the balcony overlooked the entire island.
"Wow..." Emi breathed when she gazed at the sights below.
"Yes it's quite charming isn't it" Pudding said behind her.
Emi continued to gaze out at the island, mind wandering. She missed the chefs at the Baratie terribly. How was she going to get back to them?
After a couple minutes of daydreaming, a hand on Emi's shoulder broke her out of her thoughts. Pudding looked down and smiled at the girl.
"It's time. Big Mom wants to see you" she said, and Emi nodded.
The two walked out of Pudding's room, down and up numerous flights of stairs and to another room. This room was even bigger then Pudding's room!
There were books everywhere and a massive chair sat in the middle of the room. A monstrous woman sat in the chair, and Emi quickly hid behind Pudding as they walked towards the monstrous woman. There were other people in the room as well, and Emi peeked out to glance at them. Her purple gaze shifted to the monster woman: she wore a polka-dotted shirt with a tattoo on her large arm. Her beak nose jutted out at a prominent angle, and her pink hair framed an overly obese face. A large hat sat prominently on top of her head, and the woman gazed at a book.
Pudding stopped in front of the large woman and gestured for Emi to come out from behind her legs. Emi hesitantly took a couple steps from behind the womans legs, and as soon as the large woman's gaze snapped to her, Emi jumped right back behind Pudding's legs. The other people in the room began to talk amongst themselves as Emi peeked around the older woman's legs. One of the men looked familiar to her, but Emi couldn't figure out why.
A choked noise caught her attention, and Emi glanced around. Her eyes widened when she saw one very familiar person standing behind her and Pudding.
"P...papa?" Emi whispered in disbelief when she saw her papa standing there.
His hair was parted on the other side, but he still had the same cigarette hanging from his lips. Emi's eyes filled with tears and she let go of Puddings legs, running as fast as she could to Sanji.
"Papa! Papa! You're here! Papa!" Emi sobbed as Sanji picked up the sobbing child.
She has grown since he had visited her for her birthday a couple weeks ago. Sanji frowned as Emi clung to his neck. He patted her back as she snuggled into his white shirt. Her papa was here, she was safe now.
A gruff noise of disgust echoed in the room, and Emi peeked up from her papas shirt. The tall older man in the room stalked towards them, and Emi pressed her face into her papa's shirt. This man was scaring her. His blonde hair was crazy and all over his thick neck, and his moustache stuck out in sharp angles.
"Sanji, who is this insignificant whelp? You are here to marry Pudding!" the man snapped, and Emi blinked in surprise.
"Papa is going to get married to Pudding? Are you going to be my mama then?" Emi asked, looking at Pudding.
The young woman blushed as the older blonde haired man scoffed and reached a massive hand towards Emi. She squealed and hid her face in Sanji's shirt as he took a step back, body turning to shield the young child.
He would protect Emi with his life, especially from Judge Vinsmoke.