A/N: Even if I hate cliffhangers too, I like to use them in my stories xD


Sanji felt cold. So cold that he almost felt numb. He felt as if a bucket of cold ice had just been thrown over him. He couldn't feel his legs or any other part of his body. He just stood there, trembling.

His mind was blank. He couldn't think. Zoro's voice was a distant sound now. He could not focus on anything apart from the man standing a few feet in front of him. His whole being, every cell in his body screamed at him to run and he did.

# flashbacks #

A younger Sanji watched his mother moving here and there in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

"Mama?"

"Hmm?" she hummed in response while continuing to cut and chop the ingredients needed for the curry broth.

"Why don't I have a Papa?" Sophia froze and her eyes widened ever so slightly at her son's question. She knew that this one day would come but she never expected it to be so soon.

"O-oh." She resumed her cutting but now more slowly. "You do…have…one, sweetie." Sophia tried to smile through her pained expression.

"Where is Papa then?"

Sophia put down her knife and approached her son sitting at the kitchen table drawing. She pulled out a chair and sat down. She wiped her hands on her apron and rummaged through her head to think about how to explain this to her son.

"Well, your Papa…" Sophia cleared her throat. "He's very very busy, okay?" Sophia made sure Sanji was following her. "You know, your papa is a very strong man and the strongest that I've ever met." She smiled at her own words.

"Really?" Sanji's smile widened slightly.

"Yes, he is. He is also an amazing cook! A high ranked chef even!"

"Papa's food is even more delicious than Mama's?" Sanji asked, surprised.

Sophia chuckled. "Yes, even more. Your Papa has a job, you see?" Sanji nodded for his mother to continue. "His job is to let the whole world know about his cooking."

"Wow~"

"For that, he is working in a hu~ge ship!"

"A super huge one?" Sanji spread open his arms.

"Yes! A super huge one! That ship constantly travels the ocean around the world. That's why your Papa can't come home."

"Never?" Sanji asked, shocked.

"Not really never. He will come back one day. And I'm sure he'll have a lot to talk about his adventures."

"Wow~ Adventures?!"

"Yeah! Do you hate your Papa because he's not here?"

"No, I don't," came the immediate reply. "Papa is cool and amazing, right?"

Sophia chuckled again. "Yeah, you are right, honey…But you won't feel lonely?"

"Are you, Mama?" Sanji asked his mother instead.

"A little bit." Sophia's expression saddened. "But I have you, cupcake."

"Me too. Let's wait for him to come back together!"

"You are such a sweetheart." Sophia kissed his cheek. "Now, let's get back to work, okay?"

"Yes Mama!"

"You are a liar!"

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"Nooo~ I'm not~"

Another of his classmate pointed his finger at him.

"Yes, you are!"

"You don't have a Papa. You are weird…"

"I have one!" Sanji cried out.

"Show us!"

"Yeah!"

"His picture at least. You must have it, right?"

Sanji bit his lips. He frowned. He did not recall to have seen his father's picture even once. Tears began rolling down his cheeks like rivulets.

"You don't have it, you see? So, you are a liar!"

"And your eyebrows are weird too!" commented a girl.

"Yeah, they are strange! Swirly, swirly~" a boy mocked him.

Sanji whimpered and covered his eyebrows with his hands.

"SANJI!"

The blond's heart leap on hearing his mother's voice. Looking up, he indeed saw her coming in his way, eyes flashed with anger at the other children.

On seeing an adult storming her way to them, Sanji's classmates fled.

"Mama~" Sanji burst into tears.

"Oh, honey!" Sophia picked him up.

"Did they hurt you?"

"No…sniff…they didn't…" Sanji sobbed.

"What did they say to you?"

"They said that I'm a liar and that I don't…have…a papa and my eyebrows are also weird."

"I'll make sure to tell your teacher about this."

"No… let them be…Mama."

"Aww I'm so sorry. This is my entire fault, okay?" She rubbed his back gently.

"Nooo~ this is all Papa's fault!"

Sophia jumped a little. Her heart clenched. Her own tears were threatening to flow down.

"Yes, this is all your stupid Papa's fault." She agreed and then embraced him tighter. "Do you hate him?" She asked softly.

"…No…I don't." Sanji muttered after a while.

"When he comes back, let's beat him up, okay?" Sophia suggested.

"Yes! I will personally beat him to a pulp!" Sanji pumped his fist in the air and giggled a little through his tears.

Aw, I so much want you to meet your son even once, my dear…Sophia sent her wish to the sky. Hoping that wherever her husband was, he would at least hear her words while looking at the same sky in another part of the world.

"Mama, I'm home!" Sanji shouted in the house. It was strange; his mother usually would be at the door on hearing him enter.

Sanji removed his shoes and put on his slippers.

Has mama gone out? Why is everything so messy? thought Sanji when he noticed a few things out of place and lying broken on the floor. Fear overtook his small body as he ran into the house in search of his mother.

"MAMA?!" he shouted. His mother was not in the kitchen. He proceeded to the bedroom and froze when he saw that his mother's bedroom door had been broken down.

Sanji feared for the worst but courageously ran inside.

"MAMA!" he exclaimed when he saw his mother lying on the floor. Her hair disheveled and her face injured. A trail of blood was also streaming down from the corner of her lips.

"Mama! What happened?!" Sanji shook his mother gently.

Sophia's eyes fluttered open and she looked around in a daze.

"Oh Sanji," she managed after a while and sat up while the boy was doing his best to hold himself back from bursting into tears. He needed to look strong.

"Was it a burglar, Mama?"

"No, it wasn't." Sophia pressed her hand against her throbbing head.

At that moment, they heard the door click opened and closed. Sophia inhaled a sharp breath and trembled.

"He's back again! Sanji! Quick! Hide under the bed! And don't come out no matter what!"

Sanji quickly scrambled away to do as his mother had told when he heard heavy footsteps coming in their way. From his hideout, he watched as his mother braced herself, teeth clenched and trying to look strong even if she was trembling.

Mama~, Sanji sobbed quietly and covered his mouth with his hands to stifle his cries.

"SOPHIA!" boomed a raucous voice, sending shivers down Sanji's spine.

"Why…d-did y-you come ba-ack?!" Sophia's voice trembled.

The man grabbed her by her hair and she cried out in pain. "Tell me where HE is, YOU BITCH!" he snarled and slapped her across the face. The poor woman fell down heavily on the floor.

Sanji could not just stay there and watched as his mother got beaten. He crawled out from under the bed, sprang to his feet and ran to his mother's side.

Spreading his arms to shield his mother from the brusque, grey haired and bearded man, dressed in a worn out shirt and jeans, Sanji stood his ground while he faced him. A hint of surprised glazed over the man's expression which then softened strangely at the sight of the small boy.

"Hahahaha," the adult suddenly burst out in laughter, eyes even tearing a bit. "You look just like HIM!" His smiling face abruptly changed into fury while his eyes held a look of murderous anger.

He approached Sanji and seized him by the neck, strangling him. Sophia screamed in horror while Sanji clawed at his hands with his useless stubby nails.

Sophia got up and grabbed hold of the man's arms to try to free her son. But he just flung her across the room. This time, Sophia landed ungracefully on the bed.

Sanji could not breathe and his lungs were screaming in agony. His vision blurred and his force seemed to be leaving him bit by bit. His hands fell down to his sides when he heard a crash. The grip around his neck loosened and he did not feel the impact of hitting the floor.

Someone pulled him up and Sanji felt himself being held on tight.

"Sanji? Sanji?!" Sophia cried desperately, shaking her son while she dashed out of the house and across the streets.

Sanji awoke in a coughing fit, sucking in deep for much needed air. Sophia let out a sigh in relief but cringed when she saw his injured neck.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart…" she cried.

"Who…was that…Ma..ma?" Sanji sobbed.

"I'm so sorry, this is all my fault!"

Looking over her shoulder, Sanji let out a cry when he saw the man come out of the house, looking around frantically until he spotted them running away. Sophia looked back and yelped in fear and begged her legs to run faster.

"Mama, he's catching up!" Sanji's heart beat furiously. He could tell that it was the same for his mother who held him tighter against her chest.

"TAXI!" she shouted and jumped in front of a car which screeched to a stop, a centimeter away from her knees. The driver shouted in anger at her reckless action but on seeing her injured state with a child in her arms, he quickly clicked the door open for them from the inside.

"Quick! Come in!" he shouted.

"Thank you! Thank you! Could you please drive us to the police station?"

"Of course, ma'am!" And the car drove off, leaving a huffing and puffing man trying to catch up with the car but without success.

Sanji woke up hours later, and found that he was in a room foreign to him. Panic started to seize him but he calmed down when he heard his mother's voice.

"It's ok, Sanji. No need to be afraid now." Sophia stroke his head soothingly.

Sanji blinked a few times and glanced up at her mother's face. He noticed that her wounds had been taken care of and sat up in his mother's lap.

"Mama?"

"Hmm?"

"Where are we?"

"In the Police Station, dear. Everything will be fine now," she tried to reassure him with a smile.

"Where is that-that man?"

"He will be caught soon by the capable policemen here. Don't worry."

"Excuse me, madam?" a policeman suddenly appeared at the door, a woman at his side.

"Yes, sir?"

The young-looking policeman glanced at Sanji and Sophia understood what he meant.

"Sanji? Be a good boy and go with that nice lady over there, okay?"

"No~" he whined.

"Come on, be a good boy."

Sanji reluctantly complied but glanced back one last time at his mother before leaving the room.

He silently followed the woman until he was brought into another room and the lady introduced herself to be, "Miss Marie."

Though she was talking, Sanji could not hear her as he was lost in his own thoughts, more like his mind could not process anything anymore and he just sat there, blankly staring in front of him.

The next few days, they stayed at home with the first two days consisting of cleaning the house. Both of them felt rather uncomfortable in their once cosy home, on the thought of that man had being here and had caused them harm.

Sanji was not allowed to go out, not even to school. He could tell that his mother was scared as she would jump at even the smallest sound and would shiver slightly.

She told him that that man was a very dangerous person. A nine year old Sanji was confused at her words and she explained further in simple words for him to understand.

"He hates your Papa, Sanji. And he wants to harm us very much. The Police will catch him soon. So, we just have to stay here, okay?"

"Okay," Sanji replied in a small voice.

The next thing he remembered was the arrival of a tall, lean but muscular man with a ridiculous hat.

His mother's face had brightened up a little on seeing him at their doorstep and had quickly made him come inside, serving him tea.

"Sanji, this Mister Dracule Mihawk."

"Hello," Sanji greeted shyly.

"I see…this is his son." The man said while his eyes bored into Sanji's small form and the latter shifted uncomfortably under his intense stare.

"Yes. He is back, Mihawk, I don't know what to do anymore…" Sophia said in a brittle voice.

"I have heard, Sophia. The police have not yet been able to catch him. You will be in danger if you continue to stay here. As I've promised to your husband, I will give you my help."

"Thank you!" Tears of relief welled up in her eyes.

Sanji did not quite well follow the rest of the conversation.

However, he recalled seeing his mother packing their things while crying.

"Mama why are you crying?" asked Sanji as he approached his mother.

"Oh, my sweetheart," she said as she pulled him in a tight embrace. "We need to leave this place."

"Why Mama?"

"This is all because of my fault," she sobbed.

"Why?" Sanji asked, confused. "Don't cry Mama. I'll protect you!" he added as he puffed out his chest, trying to look strong. This succeeded in making his mother chuckled in between her sobs.

"Yes. My little Sanji is just as strong as his father," she wiped away her tears.

#End of Flashbacks#

...

Sanji ran as fast as his legs would let him. Sanji was simply terrified on seeing that man again. The latter was looking so full of murderous intent again.

It's impossible! It can't be him! He followed us all the way here?!

Sanji turned round another corner, he did not want to go home for fear that the man who had caused his mother and him harm would know where he lived. Zoro could also be endangered because of him.

Thinking about Zoro, it was only now that he realized that Zoro had been pulled along rather unceremoniously with him. He looked back over his shoulders and saw that the coast was clear. He was not behind them anymore. His eyes then wandered to Zoro while his pace slowed down.

"huff…what…huff…was that?... NO! WHO WAS THAT?!" the green haired shouted after panting to regain his breath.

"Zoro, I'm sorry. He's back! I'm sorry! This is all because of me. You will be in danger because of me. I'm sorry-"

"Okay okay!" Zoro caught Sanji's face in his hands, stopping him from going into a fit of hysterics. He stared at him until he finally calmed down and would meet his eyes.

"Okay, now breathe in deep…and out…" Zoro commanded and he obeyed.

"Explain now."

"That…man…He wants to kill me…" Zoro's eyes widened at his words.