Ch.5- Sanji: Lessons of Family
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, but when I become rich I will.
- - - - -
It was once said that it was glamorous being a cook. Being a cook meant getting great compliments, having others to talk and laugh with, and being able to make friends with the other cooks.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for ten-year-old Sanji, who worked on the Baratie. He didn't mind having to do the dishes or cook in the kitchen, but one thing he didn't like was not having a friend around his age on the Baratie.
Sanji loved cooking and was especially grateful that the head chef of the Baratie had let him stay on the ship after both him and Sanji survived those many days on the deserted island with little food and Zeff lost his leg, but he didn't have a single friend his age. All the other cooks were adults in their mid-20s to late 30s and usually spoke of things that Sanji didn't understand.
In fact, the only cook that was even close to his age was eighteen-year-old Sasuke. Sasuke was the only cook that would be able to talk about topics that Sanji could understand and made jokes with the little boy. But he quit Baratie almost two months ago so he could move back to Orange Village and help take care of his younger siblings after his parents died. Sanji hadn't even heard from Sasuke after he left.
Zeff said it was better that way. He said that getting your hopes about hearing from somebody that left was pointless.
Sanji didn't really have any choice but to obey the man that saved his life, so he lost all hopes in hearing from Sasuke and used all his hops in to his dreams of finding the All Blue. It was the only thing he really could do especially since it was December, the month where wishes come true.
Although he did wish to find the All Blue, he also had another wish. He wished there was another cook, a female cook, that would keep him company at breaks and tell him stories at night unlike all the other male cooks who immediately fell asleep the second their heads met their pillows.
The Orbit had a female cook named Mikoto, who did all those, but she was either dead or missing. Sanji didn't know which.
Sanji didn't want to admit it, but he missed Mikoto even more than he missed Sasuke. Mikoto was like a second mother to him after his true mother died. Sanji could only vaguely remember his parents since they were both killed when he was only five-years-old. He remembered his father being a cook and teaching his son to cook since he was four-years-old.
Sanji remembered being picked up by the Orbit only days after his parents died. He remembered all those years of being on the Orbit with Mikoto telling him stories or singing to him and keeping him company during breaks. To Sanji, Mikoto and the other cooks on the Orbit was his family, but on the Baratie…the cooks were strangers.
Of course, to all the other cooks, Sanji was the stranger. He was just a little boy who didn't talk very much and didn't try to enter the conversations that they started. But, they also had to realize that he was only a child and might not know how to enter their conversations. They also knew that Sasuke was the only one that could talk to him, but that was only because his younger siblings were around Sanji's age.
Zeff didn't want to admit it, but he really felt sorry for Sanji. Although his dreams for finding the All Blue were sky-high, he also had dreams for being with the people he called his family, and his entire family was either dead or sailing the wide and open sea with someone else. It was also the time of the year for one to be with his or her family, so his second dream was going to be crushed.
It also didn't help when the customers that came to the Baratie were talking constantly about the upcoming holiday. The pirates were sitting at the tables chugging their alcohol down and talking loudly about being together and drinking a lot. Some of the Marines that came brought a few of their families along with them, some being with children around Sanji's age or possibly younger.
It really pained Sanji when he heard the kids talking about all the toys, food, and parties they were going to have on Christmas. When he was on the Orbit, the other cooks closed the restaurant for the day and had their own little celebration. But the Orbit was gone and the Baratie was different.
This new restaurant looked like it did everyday. There were no decorations, no unusually happy waiters, and no music being played in the background to cheer up the customers.
The Orbit had all those when the time came, but not the Baratie. Everything was so…different than it was on the Orbit and he just had to learn to live with it.
- - - - - -
Sanji dunked a dish covered with gravy stains, grease, and melted butter into the sink full of the hot soapy water. It was his turn to do the dishes, which also meant that he had to go to the customers' tables, pick up their dirty plates, and bring them back to the kitchen to be washed. It also gave him the chance to listen to people's conversations about Christmas, which he definitely did not want to do.
Once all the plates, cups, and silverware around the sink was completely washed and dried, Sanji had to walk to the occupied tables and take the dirty dishes to the kitchen. Fortunately for him, there were only a few a few customers, so there were fewer dishes to pick up and fewer conversations to listen to.
Most of the tables that had customers sitting in them were pirates with not many empty plates. There was one table that Sanji didn't like going to. The table had a family of Marines: a man, woman, and two boys around Sanji's age or possibly even a year younger.
The man and woman were talking amongst themselves while one of the boys spoke to his brother. The brother wasn't talking. The talking brother was talking non-stop about Christmas and all of the presants both him and his brother believed they were going to get. The talking brother smirked at Sanji as the young cook carried the dirty plates to the kitchen.
When Sanji finally got to the kitchen, he was feeling completely lonely. That talking Marine's son brought back all the saddened memories of him not being able to have a celebration or presants on Christmas. But, although the realization was extremely painful, the small boy refused to cry. He knew he was much too old to be doing that.
- - - - - -
For the next two weeks, Sanji had been acting much different than he normally had been. His work in the kitchen had been slower, he was acting very silently around all the other cooks while in the kitchen or on breaks, and for once, he was not fighting with Zeff after the man yelled at him for doing something wrong.
Fro the first week, the cooks shook off the thought of Sanji having something wrong with him. They all thought it was just a little phase he was going through because, well, they all went through phases when they were younger. But when it started heading towards the second week, then they definitely knew that something was wrong.
All the cooks tried talking to him like Sasuke used to, but it seemed that no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't communicate with him. It was like it was impossible to be able to speak with him…or make him smile. Even Zeff did his best to try and make the boy smile, but it didn't do any good. The boy just wouldn't smile.
Four days passed and now Sanji seemed completely devoted to all the work he had been doing in the kitchen. No matter how hard all the cooks tried to get him to stop all the constant working and take a break, he wouldn't stop. The little talking he originally did was now demoted down to a constant silence and it really started freaking the other cooks out.
The only one that wasn't freaked out was the head chef himself. He knew the reason for the little boy's weird behavior. He'd known about it since the beginning, but he hadn't done anything about it. And now with it being just a week before Christmas, Zeff realized that he really needed to do something. He walked into his room, picked up the snail-phone, and dialed a number he never thought he'd have to dial.
- - - - - -
Help had come for Sanji on Christmas Even, help he'd never thought he'd have while on the Baratie. While the restaurant was empty for some weird reason, a steamship docked right next to the Baratie. Five sets of footsteps walked off the ship and up to the front doors of the Baratie. A tall figure pushed open the door and the owners of the five sets of footsteps walked in.
Sanji looked up from the table he was currently scrubbing and literally dropped the washcloth he had in his hand, "S-sasuke?"
The tallest of the five smiled and looked around at the four others: a young woman, a boy his size, a small girl in a red dress, and an extremely small girl squeezing the girl in the red dress' hand.
Sasuke noticed that Sanji was staring at the woman, girls, and boy, so in introduced them as his brother and sisters. The woman was nineteen-year-old Varie, the boy was eleven-year-old Hayate, the red dress girl was seven-year-old Sakura, and the smallest was two-year-old Kiki. Sanji knew all about them because Sasuke used to talk so much about them.
"What are you doing here? I thought you moved back to Orange Village." Sanji asked Sasuke.
Sasuke nodded, "I did. But last week I got a call from the head chef asking me to come here for the holiday."
Sanji quickly turned towards Zeff, who was now standing in the doorway of the kitchen, "You did?" Zeff, who was not smiling, nodded. "Thanks." Sanji told the older man.
The man nodded and welcomed Sasuke back to the Baratie, even if it was for a short visit. Zeff and the rest of the cooks were introduced to Varie, Hayate, Sakura, and Kiki. Sasuke's brother and sisters smiled and said a joyful salutation, even though Kiki hid behind Hayate and Sakura while being introduced.
Sanji wasn't exactly sure what Zeff and the others cooks were planning on doing with Sasuke and his family being at the Baratie, but it must have been something big. Sakura, Hayate, Kiki, and Sanji were being kept out of the kitchen by both Sasuke and Varie. Both Sasuke and Varie must have known why they came because Hayate, Sakura, Sanji, and Kiki sure didn't.
- - - - - -
A few hours passed and still no customers came that day. Sasuke was still in the kitchen with the other cooks minus Sanji.
Sanji was talking and having a great time with Hayate and Sakura, who was pretty grown up for a seven-year-old. Varie was talking quietly with them while holding Kiki, who decided to take a nap in her oldest sister's arms.
Finally, the kitchen doors opened and all the cooks in the kitchen carried plates and plates of food to the largest table. Hayate and Sakura's eyes widened with surprise. They'd never seen so much food before. Sanji was surprised that the other cooks wouldn't allow him to help them cook all food they cooked.
Sasuke walked over to his baby sister and softly shook her. The small girl opened her eyes and sat up in Varie's lap.
"Time to eat." Sasuke announced with a grin on his face. Nobody moved. "Come on!" Sasuke urged the younger boys and girls. He lifted Kiki out of Varie's arms and placed her on a chair.
Varie led Sanji, Hayate, and Sakura to their chairs before both her and Sasuke took their seats. The rest of the cooks took their seats at the large table. Instantly, the entire room was filled with talking, laughing, and eating. In fact, in those few hours spent at the table, all of the people in that little room acted like one big family having a nice Christmas Eve dinner.
When everybody was done eating, Varie took Kiki up to the spare room made for Sasuke's family and put her to bed. Hayate and Sakura followed them. Only Sasuke and Sanji stayed downstairs to pack up all the untouched food and help scrub all the plates. As they scrubbed, Sanji heard a faint voice singing from the room above, the spare room.
The voice singing sounded like Mikoto before the Orbit broke up except much younger.
"She's got a great voice, huh?" Sasuke asked Sanji.
"Huh?" Sanji asked.
"Varie. She's got a nice voice, huh?" Sasuke asked.
"Like an angel." Sanji whispered.
Sasuke laughed, "That's what everyone back in Orange Village says, too."
Sanji nodded and kept scrubbing, imagining Mikoto singing Varie's songs from within the Baratie.
- - - - - -
All the cooks went to bed at 11pm, but Sanji was the only one that couldn't sleep. He quietly snuck by all the sleeping cooks and sat down at a table down in the restaurant.
"Couldn't sleep?" a voice from behind him asked. Sanji jumped and turned around to face Sasuke. He shook his head. Sasuke took a chair next to Sanji, "So, what's on your mind?"
"When are you going back to Orange Village?" Sanji asked.
"Varie, Hayate, Sakura, Kiki, and I will be going back the day after tomorrow." Sasuke answered.
Sanji frowned, "You're so lucky to have a family."
"Well, you do, too." Sasuke told him.
Sanji was confused, "What do you mean?"
"All the cooks here at the Baratie are your family." Sasuke answered.
Sanji shook his head, "No, they all hate me."
"They don't hate you. They're just getting used to you." Sasuke explained, "When I moved to Orange Village after my parents died, it was my job to watch over my brother and little sisters while Varie worked. I had to get used to watching over three kids at one time. The cooks here are your family and are just trying to get used to you."
"You understand now?" Sasuke asked.
Sanji thought for a moment and nodded his head, "Yeah, I guess so."
Sasuke smiled, "Good. That's what I wanted to hear. Now go to bed."
"Hey, what are you and the others planning on doing tomorrow?" Sanji asked.
Sasuke smirked, "That's a secret. Now get to bed." Sanji obeyed him.
- - - - - -
Morning came and all the cooks and Sasuke's family woke up and walked down to the restaurant. Varie placed Kiki in Hayate's arms and left for the ship outside. Sasuke went into the kitchen with the other cooks, blocking Hayate, Sakura, Sanji, and Kiki from entering. They wouldn't even give any clues to what they were doing.
Varie walked back inside carrying bags full of boxes and refused to let any of the four children touch them. Sasuke and the other cooks eventually walked out carrying more plates and plates of food. All of them placed the plates on the tables and motioned for Hayate, Sakura, Sanji, Kiki, and Varie to sit down. The five of them sat and the cooks joined them.
The meal lasted about an hour with even more talking and laughing than they did yesterday. Once the meal was finished, Varie handed out all the boxes in the bags. Inside all the boxes were toys, books, and clothes, Christmas presants for the four younger children from not only Sasuke and Varie, but from Zeff and the other cooks. From the corner of his eye, Sanji could see a smirk on the man's face. The cooks were smiling, too. Sanji placed a smile on his own face. My family…he said inside his head.
On that special Christmas Day all those years ago, Sanji had realized something important: even though all the other cooks were much much younger than him, they were just as scared of him as he was of them. And he learned that day that all the cooks truly were his family. And it was all thanks to Sasuke and the late night discussion.
- - - - - -
A/N: Okay, that was my latest chapter. I made up the thing about Sanji's parents and his life on the Orbit(because I don't know what really happened while he was on the Orbit). Oh, and I really could use ideas for my fanfics. If you have ANY ideas on what I should add in my stories, then do not hesitate to send me an e-mail or a review of ideas because I really could use ideas. R/R if you want, but don't flame me, please.
Next chapter: Tony Tony Chopper