A/N: Headcanon time! Okay so Sanji grew up in a village which was inhabited by only chefs. His dad set out to find All Blue when Sanji was around 3 years old and never really returned. A few years after that, the village was attacked by a huge group of bandits and they burned everything, including the people. But most of the children were rescued by the Marines and that's how Sanji ended up on that Marine ship.
Sanji
The deed had already been done. He had woken up that morning before anyone else, walked into the kitchen and baked a cake. And it wasn't just any cake, it was the first recipe he had ever learned, it was the first thing he had ever cooked, with the help of his mother. Well there was no going back now, he thought. The ship was still silent but Sanji knew that in a few hours everyone will be up and about. And they'd all come looking for food. Then he would serve them this cake and tell them that they were lucky that he woke up in such a good mood today. He'd watch them enjoy the cake, and he'd enjoy it himself, and that would be it.
He wouldn't tell them that this strawberry cake recipe belonged to his mother.
He wouldn't tell them how happy she had been when he had cooked this for her for the first time. Even though it had tasted shitty, she had eaten all of it with a warm smile on his face.
He wouldn't tell them how beautiful she looked every time she smiled at him.
He wouldn't tell them that he had just sat there helpless as the bandits dragged her out of their hut. No, he wouldn't tell them that the last time he saw his mother, she was burning.
He would just eat the cake and wish her a Happy Mother's Day in his head, because even now, even after how far he had come, that was all he could do for her.
-x-