Angel of Death Fruit

Book One: Deadline

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Eleven – March 1, Twelve Years Ago

"Uncle Kenji. . . I don't like this place. Why's your friend here anyways?"

"She's a bit eccentric," said Kenji. He jerked Sanji's arm forward, and the child cried out – it hurt quite a lot, and his young body wasn't used to that kind of punishment. "Grow up – you're going to be what, nine or something? Grow up and be a man like your father and Akito, all right? Sheesh. What a baby."

"Eight," Sanji corrected through gritted teeth. He glared up at his uncle, who was knocking on the door of the abandoned ticket office. Something was very, very wrong about this whole situation. Didn't he say he didn't forget? If he remembered tomorrow was my birthday, then why doesn't he know how old I'm going to be?

"Come in."

Kenji opened the door and nudged his nephew inside, slamming the door behind him. Sanji swallowed hard, looking ahead of him to see a woman wearing a pretty pink dress with wild turquoise hair – she kind of looked like a model or someone really rich with fancy taste, so what did he want with a little kid like him? Sanji didn't even like it when his mom made him wear suits!

Still, seeing her in that old place was weird. She was such a fancy looking lady, but the old ticket office was in terrible disarray – lots of cobwebs, some broken beams, and lots and lots of dust. There was a table with a few chairs that didn't look too bad. A tea kettle sat in the middle, as well as a plate of cookies.

"Ah, what a LOVELY child!" the woman said, standing up and walking over to Sanji, giving him a hug. She stepped back, looked at his face, and traced his eyebrows. She looked at his uncle in slight confusion as she traced over Sanji's eyebrows. "Kenji dear, is this young man related to you?"

Kenji cleared his throat. "He's my nephew – his thinks his parents forgot about his birthday, so I took him out for some ice cream before bringing him here," he said. He placed his hand on the doorknob and gestured to it with his head. "Should I leave now, or do you need more time?"

Sanji's eyes widened. "What do you mean I 'think' they forgot!?"

Kenji snickered. "Well you certainly don't take after your brother."

The boy's jaw dropped. "You. . . you lied to me! You know something I don't to bring me here!" he said. He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you doing this to me?! I thought I could trust you and now. . . I don't even know what to think of you!" Inwardly, Sanji was crying – things definitely felt very, very wrong now.

"Sit down and shut up until you're spoken to," said Kenji, glaring at his nephew with very violent eyes. Sanji whimpered, sliding into one of the chairs. He was starting to get very scared and wanted to go back home as soon as he could and get AWAY from him uncle. Something bad's going to happen. . .

"What's your name?" the woman asked, sitting across from him.

"Sanji," he said. "You?"

The woman clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'll be the one to ask the questions, okay?" she said. Sanji turned around to give his uncle a cold glare, to which his uncle responded with a much scarier look – the boy did an immediate about face and was, once again, facing the very scary lady.

"Now, tell me, Sanji dear. . . tell me some of the things you've never done before."

"Why?"

"I already told you I'm the one who's asking the questions!"

Sanji swallowed. "I've never, um, cooked a meal."

The woman sighed. "Keep going."

"Uh. . . read a big novel all by myself?"

"Oh boy, this is going to take a while," she said, putting an elbow on the table and resting her head in hands. "C'mon, kid, I need something I can work with. Cooking a meal and reading a book are too easy, and I can't help you with those – I can barely cook myself and reading something by yourself is a very solitary act."

Sanji narrowed his eyes. "I'm a kid! There's lots of stuff I've never done before, lady!"

"Fine. I've got one – ever kissed a girl who wasn't family?" she said sarcastically.

"WHAT THE – EWW!" Sanji said, sticking his tongue out. "That's dumb!"

The woman grinned. "So you haven't?"

"No – kissing's gross! Girls are okay when they aren't lame but ICK!"

The lady stood up and walked towards Sanji, a very frightening look on her face. She turned briefly to Kenji and produced a small bag. His uncle opened it, and Sanji saw glints of gold. His eyes widened as Kenji gave him one last look before silently exiting the ticket office, leaving Sanji alone with the strange lady.

"You don't like kissing girls now, but you will," she said. She knelt down to face him, batting her eyelashes at him. Sanji wanted to bolt out of that shack and head straight home to hide in his bed and not come out for a week. "Think about it. Your mother is a girl and your father is a boy, and they kiss, don't they?"

"That's different – they're adults."

"And you'll be an adult someday as well, and then you'll want to kiss girls." Then, her eyes started to glow, as did the palm of her hand. Sanji felt a scream die in the back of his throat, and he was too petrified to move. "But when you finally want to be kissed by a woman, they won't want to kiss you!"

And then she slammed her palm over his left eye.

Sanji screamed as he fell to the floor after being pushed by the woman, clutching his eye in pain. Not only did the impact of the lady's hit hurt, but it felt like the skin around his eye was burning and he could almost hear an acid-like hissing noise – even the skin around his eye was starting to FEEL a little different. He began to sob uncontrollably – it hurt so bad!"Mommy! DADDY! MOMMY!" he cried out, choking back even more sobs.

Through his tears, he looked at the woman towering over him. "You have until the clock strikes midnight on March 2, twelve years from now to have a girl willingly kiss you on the lips. During that time you will not be able to see anyone you've met before you met me, nor will you be able to tell anyone you meet over the next twelve years about what happened here, or else something quite terrible will happen to you – I would strongly advise you take that advice to heart because lots of other naughty little boys and girls didn't listen and ended up dead."

Still sobbing and huddled on the floor, Sanji looked up at the woman. He was hurt, scared, and terribly confused. He shook with fear, wanting to run to his family but too afraid to go in case what this crazy lady said was true. "Why? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU!? I'M JUST A KID! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Because I am Elizabeth Stoker, and I need your life energy to life forever," she said. Sanji's eyes widened – he'd heard terrible stories about that woman, and now he was finding out she was real!? That means I'm gonna die in twenty years if I don't. . . oh NO! NO, NO, NO! "Get a girl to kiss you and you'll be free. Fail, and you'll be mine."

Sanji scrambled to his feet and started to run.

And he didn't stop running for a very, very long time. . .

The next twelve years. . .

My eye. . . it still works but I can't walk around with this thing showing! Then people might figure out what happened and. . . I've heard the stories about her and I know bad stuff might happen if people find out. At least my hair's long enough to cover it up – maybe that'll work.

Actually, my hair kinda looks okay like this. . . now I need to . . . leave. . .

"HEY! What are you doing on my ship?! STOWAWAY! STOWAWAY!"

I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice! Don't throw me into the ocean, please! I can swim but I can't swim that good! I'm barely eight years old and I need to kiss a girl as soon as I can so I can go back home to Mommy and Daddy and Akito and Sanae, but I can't go home right now!

"Huh. A married couple in North Blue died looking for their son."

MOMMY!? DADDY!? NO! NO, YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!

"A job? You're just a kid – why don't you run along and find your mom, okay?"

But. . . my mom's dead. . .

"Filthy orphans running all over the streets. . . digusting."

What's your problem, lady? I didn't do anything to you!

"An apprenticeship? We don't have much. . . I guess the cooks could use someone. . ."

Cooking? I've never cooked before. . . Mommy never let me near the stove or anything, and I always thought cooking was for girls anyways. But. . . it looks like most of the chefs here on The Orbit are. . . men. So does that mean that boys can cook just as good as girls? At least it smells kinda good in here!

"Ne, Sanji, have you ever heard of All Blue?"

Oh wow! That must be like a chef's dream! I wanna go there someday!

"Ah, it's too bad All Blue doesn't exist – c'mon, let's eat dinner."

Doesn't. . . exist? There's no proof it exists. . . but no proof it DOESN'T exist. . . so I'll go find it some day when I'm bigger! That would be awesome! A place with all sorts of fish to cook with. . . I guess I'm going to have to be a really good chef some day, too! But if it exists, I wanna find it!

"It's the ship of Red Leg Zeff!"

A. . . a pirate ship?! I can't die here! I have to find All Blue!

"I. . . gave you. . . all the food that washed up here. . ."

WHAT!? That mean old pirate gave me all the food so I wouldn't go hungry and ATE HIS OWN LEG!? And all because he believes in All Blue, too!? I can't kill this guy now! I just can't! Oh, this is bad! He's not doing so well! A ship needs to get here right now or else he's going to die! SOMEBODY HELP US!

"Sanji, this is our restaurant on the sea – the Baratie!"

Oh wow, this ship is so cool! Am I really your business partner, Shit Geezer? I must be one of the youngest sous chefs ever! Wait until I tell Akito and Sanae about this! Akito's gonna be so jealous. . . genius you may be, but I'VE already got myself a nice job as a business partner.

Now I just need to be able to get back to them someday. . .

"Let's rob this place!"

Zeff can't fight so well anymore now that his leg is gone – it's a good thing Patty and Carne were here, but I was no help. Then again, Zeff keeps telling me he thinks I've got a lot of strength in my legs, and didn't he used to fight with his legs? Even if he can't fight anymore, maybe he can still teach me how to do it!

"Sanji, where the hell did you get those cigarettes?"

Well excuse me, but I need to prove to the other chefs that I'm a man somehow!

"Little boy, could you please get me another glass?"

Man, this lady is annoying – she's had like, three of four glasses already! And yet I guess she's okay. And so is she. And her. Her friend, too. That one's not half-bad either. Or her. Wait a second. . . GIRLS CAN BE REALLY, REALLY PRETTY! MELLORINE, MELLORINE!

"Ugh, go away! You're just a waiter – I'm not going to waste my time on you!"

Why is it that as soon as I figure out girls are hot that they seem to hate me?

"Happy Birthday, Baby Eggplant! How old are you now, nineteen?"

. . . yeah. Happy fucking fantastic birthday to me, all right. Thank you, Shit Geezer. Thank you so much for reminding me that I'm a nineteen year old virgin who's never been kissed by a girl – and my mother didn't count this time – and is going to die in a year's time unless I do something about it.

"I've found you! My chef!"

What the hell is this. . . Monkey D. Luffy. . . talking about? I can't leave Zeff here!

"I'm sorry, I seem to be a little short on money. . ."

Who IS this girl? Her hair, her eyes. . . she's amazing! Her voice is angelic and her body is amazing! Too bad she's with that annoying busboy and the guy with the nose and that green-haired swordsman. . . but this. . . Nami-san. . . how in the world did she end up with idiots like these guys?

I think I'm in love! It's on the house!

"He defeated Don Krieg? The Baratie is saved!"

I. . . can't believe it. . . But I think I can believe the pain. . . ow. . .

"It's his dream to find All Blue. He's a good chef – take good care of him."

Damn it, Zeff's right – if I'm ever going to find All Blue for the two of us I can't stay at the restaurant. And besides, Luffy needs to go after Nami, and maybe. . . maybe if I get to know her and treat her like a queen. . . maybe she'll give me a kiss as a thank you one time. . . and save my life. . .

All right. I'll go with this kid!

"ARLONG! I HATE YOU!"

How could that repulsive fish man do this to Nami-san? Killed her mother and enslaved her for how long!? This is disgusting! I can't let him get away with it! Even if I do have to work with Zoro.

"This is it! Loguetown! This is where Gold Roger was born and died!"

. . . what the hell is that clown doing with Luffy up on that scaffolding?

"This whale here's been waiting for fifty years to see his friends."

Fifty years? That's an awful long time. It's only been about eleven and a half for me, but I think I know how you feel, missing people that mean that much to you. You must wonder where they are and if they're all right. I can't say I don't think that way about Akito and Sanae myself. . . I wonder where they are right now, anyways?

"I'm sorry – please, take me to Arabasta!"

Oh, Vivi-chan is so cute and innocent! Of course we'll take you to Arabasta!

"Mr. 3, this is no time to be fooling around! Report. NOW!"

Mr. 0. Sir Crocodile. Hmm. I wonder if I can take advantage of this. . .

"It's okay guys, I'll be all right! We have to get to Arabasta!"

Even Vivi-chan thinks we need to get you to a doctor right away – you're sick, Nami-san. I want to help the princess, too, but I think I love you too much to watch you get sick and die. You're really important to us, Nami. You're important to me. But I can't control myself around you or any other beautiful girl so I don't think you'll ever know it.

"WAH! DON'T EAT ME!"

What IS this thing?! I've never seen a creature like it! A reindeer that ate the Human Human Fruit? I still say it looks like it'll make good venison, but if he's going to help Nami-san get better then how can I possibly hurt him? He's one of her doctors – and at that, he scares me a lot less than the old woman.

"Sanji-san is the only one that Baroque Works hasn't seen yet. . ."

So what? Whoop-dee-friggin- do.

"Sanji. . . did you have to pick out those outfits for Vivi and Nami?"

Yes.

"Mr. 0 and Ms. All Sunday have captured Straw Hat and everyone but the crew's pet."

"Pet?" Do they mean Chopper? And what am I!? I'm in this crew, too! But, then again, if they don't know about me. . . they won't see me coming. . . all right, Chopper, we've got our work cut out for us! I have absolutely no idea if this is going to work or not, but we don't have much choice:

Just call me. . . Mr. Prince!

"Do I remind you too much of your crewmate? Hmm?"

After what he did in my kitchen last week I don't mind kicking Usopp's ass and he know its but you can't expect me to hit Nami-san! Even if I KNOW what you really are, Mr. 2 Bon Kurei. . . I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T HURT NAMI-SWAN! I LOVE HER TOO MUCH! I have to get him to stop doing that so I can bring him down and get Usopp's goggle-things back!

"Where to now, Captain-san?"

STOWAWAY – wait, she's hot.

"Sanji, I didn't know you were from North Blue!"

Heh, there's a LOT of things you don't know about me. . . like my expiration date. . .

"WE'RE GOING UP THE KNOCK-UP STREAM!"

. . . I'm following a fucking moron. Why are you following a fucking moron again, Sanji? Oh. Right. Because you need to find All Blue and you're in love with Nami. Living with the rest of the idiots – well, sans the lovely Robin-chan – is just the downside. That and nearly getting killed at almost every single stop on the way.

"I'm sorry! It's my duty to turn you in!"

How dare this Enel bastard call himself a god and do this to poor Conis-chan? And, uh, everyone else here. But this is really bad! He has over half our crew and the ship – though I don't MIND if he keeps Marimo-head, Luffy might – so we're going to need to go to Upper Yard and kick his ass.

KA-ZAAP!

. . . why does everything hurt and why am I lying this close to Usopp? Huh? Where's Nami-san? Last thing I remember is seeing that Enel guy and then. . . did he ELECTROCUTE me?! We're dealing with a THUNDER logia fruit? And he's kidnapped Nami-san?!

. . . the things I do for love.

"Guys. . . I think we should avoid this Davy Back Fight – LUFFY, YOU IDIOT!"

Oh joy – Zeff warned me about Davy Back Fights. Let's not screw this up.

"Every organization Nico Robin has joined has fallen apart, with her the only survivor."

I don't care who this Ao Koji guy is but – FUCK COLD!

"Usopp's been beaten up! Let's go kick some ass!"

Well, that was easy. Let's just hope this 'Franky' guy is on the same level as his family.

What the hell is going on with Robin-chan?

"The Puffing Tom is now headed for Enies Lobby."

Bingo.

"Who am I? I'm the king of snipers – SOGEKING!"

Usopp. . . I really, really want to kick you in the face but unfortunately we don't have time for that at the moment – just go find Robin and we'll figure out this whole "leaving the crew thing" later. At least we've got this weird Franky guy helping us out, right? That's. . . kind of a plus. . .

"I WANT TO LIVE!"

We're coming for you, Robin-chwan! Just hang on!

Why am I having tea at a time like this!? Sure Kalifa's hot but still. . .

"You can look for the key here. . . or here. . ."

I CAN'T FIGHT HER LIKE THIS! She's tough. . . I'm down – wait? Is she. . . feeling me up? Does she get OFF on kicking guys' asses? Does that mean she's going to kiss me?! ALL RIGHT! MY MERCY TASK WILL BE COMPLETED! But what's with all this bubbly stuff. . . and why do I feel so weird. . .

Oh fuck. I'm going to die looking like a soap bubble AND I'm still a virgin.

"Sanji-kun? You're an idiot. . . but I respect you."

DOES THIS MEAN YOU LOVE ME, NAMI-SWAN!? No? Oh. Well, at least you want me to rest up. . . even if I do look like this, I guess. . . that's better than nothing. Maybe you can kiss me to make it all better? Or. . . you could go fight Kalifa. And it looks like you're going to fight Kalifa and leave me here. . . all alone. . . covered in soap. . .

"I've come to pick you all up!"

Good-bye. . . Merry. . .

"You've all got bounties!"

SCORE! Now Akito and Sanae are going to know I'm alive AND I can shove it down the Marimo's – WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!? THAT'S NOT ME! THAT'S SOME UGLY SON OF A BITCH! NO, NO, NO THIS SUCKS! OH THIS SUCKS THIS SUCKS THIS SUCKS THIS SUCKS!

". . . Ero-cook, you have any idea what's in Chopper's mouth?"

It looks like a . . . Speedo. . . OH GOD FRANKY'S NOT WEARING ANY PANTS!

"Sanji's birthday is in two days! He's going to be twenty soon and the rest of us are going to miss it – he'll have you two, but the rest of us are going to be in the middle of the woods when he turns the big two-zero."

. . . I'm. . . almost out of time. . .

"Sanji-kun, if you love me as much as you say you do then tell me what's wrong!"

Nami-san. . . I wish I could tell you everything. . .

But I can't. I understand that you probably don't see me the way I see you and I guess that's all right as long as you're all right. I just. . . I don't know if I want you and Robin-chan to see me like this. I'm a dying man. . . Nami-san!? What are you. . . is this. . . are you about to kiss me!?

"Sanji-kun! SANJI-KUN!"

NAMI-SAN! HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!

March 4, 6:03 pm

So. . . is this how it's going to end? After everything I've been through. . .

Sanji looked up at the metal cuffs now binding his hands above his head – there's be no breaking these. Even Luffy or Marimo head would have trouble with the position they'd have to break them from. Besides – despite all the strength in his arms and especially his legs. . . he didn't think he could weaken these chains.

He stared at the door in determination. No. It wasn't over yet. There was still a chance Nami and Robin would find him in time, and a chance (although he admitted that he wasn't very confident in it) that his somewhat simplistic "Plan B" might buy him enough time for. . . something.

What, he wasn't sure, but it was THERE.

Tick-tock, Sanji, tick-tock.

And even if he did survive this. . . well, what then? Certainly he would go back to the Straw Hats – they were his family now. But knowing that his uncle had killed his big brother and baby sister in cold blood? Sure he'd seen his crew mates move past painful deaths in their past – he couldn't even begin to imagine loosing his entire home island like Robin had – but he'd just found out about this. He'd need time. Even if it was two years ago. . . it might as well have been yesterday.

Akito and Sanae, his older brother and baby sister. . . had been murdered.

Sanji shook his head. If he got out of this alive. . . his shit uncle wouldn't.

Then again. . . what about Elizabeth Stoker?

Now there was a puzzle. Even if she was a terrible, self-centered witch of a woman who preyed on children. . . she was still a woman, and the idea of even HER getting struck made Sanji sick to his stomach. But he didn't like the idea of her continuing to hunt children, or find God knew how many others that had been Garnished after him and were just waiting for their own deadlines.

Damn it! There's no easy way around this! Sanji hung his head – his throughts were running around in circles. Killing Stoker meant saving many, many lives and avenging countless others. Saving those lives meant betraying his promise to never again strike a woman that he'd made so many years ago. And he couldn't decide which was more important to him.

That was when he started to cry – uncontrollably.

Old Zeff was going to be let down because he couldn't find All Blue – even if Luffy and the others found it, it just wouldn't be the same. Besides, he would never get the chance to see it himself. Never would he get a chance to cook them a meal with fresh fish from all of the world's oceans. He'd never get to go the Baratie to tell Zeff himself that their dream was complete.

He wouldn't be there when Luffy found One Piece and became the pirate king, or watch Marimo Head battle it out with Mihawk. He wouldn't see Usopp become a brave warrior, or celebrate when Chopper found his panacea or Robin-chan found the True History or the Thousand Sunny reached the end of the Grand Line.

Nami-san would never show him her map of the world. . .

And there was nothing he could do to stop Elizabeth Stoker from hurting other people.

Nothing to stop his uncle.

Nothing he could do to ever read books with his father and talk about him growing up and becoming, or share recipes with his mother and introduce him to a girl he wanted to marry – though that he had come to terms with years ago. But now he'd never be able to sit and talk with Akito about brotherly things or protect Sanae-chan from, well, men like him.

And that hurt in ways he didn't think possible. He was stick in a terrible situation and for once he had no idea how he could solve it. He was going to die so young, and he was going to be letting a lot of people down. This wasn't just failing to complete a Mercy Task – he felt like he had failed at. . . everything.

No. . . I won't give up. . .

Nami-san. . .

Author's Notes

I decided to throw in some irony into Sanji's childhood, not that there wasn't any before (the picky eater starvation thing). Thing One – Sanji didn't like being made to wear suits. Thing Two – Little Sanji thought girls were gross And Thing Three – Sanji thought cooking was for girls.

The "twelve years" part was actually kind of tough. Since I've been writing flashback stuff pretty consistently in italics (save the prologue), I needed to do something else to format Sanji's thoughts (as the bold faced stuff would be an interpretation of what's going on inside his head). I didn't look up any of the other character quotes (at least stuff that would have appeared in the manga – not things from this fic like Sanji being a stowaway or Nami calling to him as he's kidnapped), so if I got any direct hits on the exact quotes or was completely off, that's why. But I think I have everything in the order they would have happened in.

EDIT: Minor edit on 7.30.2007 - removal of some content.

Dixxy