.:Chapter 3 - Memories:.
Little Sanji — about 8 years old — donned little brown boots over white pants, and a yellow shirt with a black number '3' printed on the front. A matching yellow scarf was tied at the base of his neck. His blonde hairstyle clearly hadn't changed much over the years, but little Sanji wore it swept to the opposite side than that of his older counterpart. Signature curly eyebrows curved happily above baby fat cheeks and round, toddler-esque eyes as his tiny hands placed his panned batter into an oven that was bigger than he was. The boy pulled over a crate and plopped down on it, chin resting on his palms and elbows on his knees. Wide, ocean eyes gleamed with excitement as they watched the cake rise in the heat. They were round and happy and a toothy grin appeared beneath them.
The Straw Hats were screaming.
"HE'S SOOOOO CUUUUTE!" Nami, Usopp, Franky, Brook, and Chopper cried in unison, tears streaming their faces.
"He's already cooking," Chopper sniffled. Luffy laughed.
"That's our Sanji!"
"Look at the little man go! He's super into it!"
Robin's cheeks were tinted red, her eyes wider than usual. "He's… so. soft." He must be protected at all costs, she thought fervently.
Zoro didn't want to enjoy this. He really didn't. Not while present Curlybrow was shackled and suffering. Not while strangers invaded his memories against his will. But — damn — was he a cute kid.
The memory seemed to shift forward. Little Sanji was now using the crate to reach the countertop. He unwrapped the freshly baked cake with a cheesy grin. Full of pride. "That does it!" he giggled, after adding frosting and topping it off with a strawberry. It actually looked quite delicious from a chef his age. Not that anyone was surprised. The Straw Hats were all smiling despite themselves at the young cook's obvious joy, so much the same as the Sanji they knew today.
Suddenly, three additional colorful heads peered around the counter, sporting mischievous smirks.
"Ah," Hollowell hummed from the shadow of his desk. "Some familiar faces — huh, Ashvin? ~Teeshishishi."
Nami groaned. "Sanji's brothers." If she never saw those jerks again it would be too soon.
"Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji," Brook remembered, pointing out their respective hair colors to those who hadn't met them on Whole Cake Island. The smaller versions onscreen were dressed similarly as little Sanji, except in their own signature colors. Each also wore their own unique accessory.
Usopp cleared his throat with a quirked eyebrow. "So… Child 1, Child 2, and Child 4?"
"That explains the meaning behind Sanji's name," Franky said with a frown. Naming your children after the order they were born seemed a bit too cold to the cyborg.
Of course, what they witnessed next was colder.
In another memory shift, the numbered brothers went running out of the kitchen with Sanji's cake in their hands. Little Sanji was right behind them, yelling.
"Heyyyy!"
When they stopped, Sanji held his fists at his sides and glowered at them. "Give me that," he demanded with a pout.
Out of nowhere, the ball of Yonji's foot collided with Sanji's stomach, sending the blonde flying back.
Several Straw Hats gasped at the violent turn the memory took, seemingly out of nowhere. They watched as little Sanji smacked into the castle wall, stone cracking at impact. He slid to the ground and landed on his side. His three brothers already surrounded him again.
"They're strong for children," Chopper said.
"Yep. He was in the kitchen," laughed Niji.
Yonji sneered. "Sanji was makin' some of that rat food again."
Sanji sat up with a huff. Ichiji approached his brother, holding up the cake he had been so excited about. "Royalty doesn't cook."
At those words, Sanji jumped angrily to his feet, scowling. "You shut up!"
Zoro almost smirked, but then he watched the little cook throw a punch at the red-haired kid. Never seen him use his hands. That must've come later.
Sanji's tiny fist clocked Ichiji's nose. Ichiji didn't even flinch. Sanji's hand cracked. It pulsed as he cradled it with a quiet moan. "…ouch."
"What are these kids made out of?" Franky started to question, but was cut off as Ichiji threw Sanji's cake to the floor — making Chopper offended on little Sanji's behalf — and launched at his blonde brother, strangling him until his back hit the floor.
"You piece of trash!" Ichiji yelled. He punched him with both fists. Sanji's head swung from side to side with each strike. "Don't ever touch me again!"
"Geez…" mumbled Usopp, flinching.
Luffy stared at the scene playing out, unblinking. When he spoke, there was a rare seriousness to his tone. "Why are they treating him differently? I thought they were brothers. Brothers don't do that."
Zoro was glaring at the screen, while Nami sighed at their captain. "Weren't you paying attention at all on Whole Cake Island?" She peeked up at the screen through her lashes with a strange sadness she'd never felt for Sanji before. Although those who had already headed for Wano knew very little about the Vinsmokes as a family, even those who had gone to bring him back to the crew hadn't asked questions. They only knew what they had witnessed with their own eyes. Which wasn't anything particularly good, Nami granted, but she never would have imagined the violence she was witnessing now. At such young ages, no less.
As little Sanji was beaten by one, the two other boys only laughed and pointed.
"Oh man, he's so weak!" Niji chortled.
Sanji's head continued to get knocked back and forth, face getting more and more swollen, and the Straw Hats becoming more and more sick.
"We were all born on the same day," said Ichiji, finally getting off his brother, who remained sprawled on his back, now with a missing tooth. "How are we related to such a loser?"
"You're a failure," Niji agreed as if it was funny.
"I don't care if he is a kid," Zoro grumbled with his eye closed. "I'd deck him."
At the same time, Chopper growled, "Sanji's not a failure. Or a loser!" The reindeer doctor's eyes started watering as he watched the little boy their Sanji used to be start spilling tears of his own. Sanji shouldn't cry.
As the brothers continued to cackle, footsteps sounded from the hallways behind them. Someone was coming, and Sanji opened his fearful eyes, hope seeping in. Hope that his pain was going to stop.
He just wanted it to stop.
As the man the footsteps belonged to appeared, Hollowell laughed. "Vinsmoke Judge ~Teeshishishi." He clicked his tongue and tapped his fingers against his desk. "There is no way to directly control what our guest remembers or in what order, and there is no way to speed up or slow down the process. However, maybe this Straw Hat's younger days will hold some information after all. ~Teeshishi."
The rest of the Straw Hats scowled at the mad man.
Onscreen, Vinsmoke Judge was followed by Sanji's pink-haired sister — Reiju, Nami noted.
"The one who sucked Luffy's poison from his lips," Chopper supplied, making Usopp and Franky sputter.
"Oh, righhhttt," chuckled Brook.
Luffy tilted his head, not remembering, while Robin laughed lightly. "Well, that sure sounds like a story for another time."
"Yeah. Like when the cook isn't getting turned into a bloody pulp by his own family," said Zoro, glooming the room again faster than he could slice a building in half.
The cackling brothers cut off and looked over at their father. Sanji lifted his own head as much as he could, moaning. Vinsmoke Judge glanced over at the boys with a frown.
"Picking on Sanji again?"
Clearly, it happened often. The Straw Hats frowned.
Little Sanji rolled off his back, onto his elbows. He reached out for help. "They hurt me, Father," he said, words slightly slurred from his swollen lips. Just that movement alone seemed to tire him out. He panted, falling onto his forearms. It took the child a moment to catch his breath.
Judge watched him with apathy.
Sanji pushed himself, slowly, back up to his knees. "Please help me," he said, shaking. "Can you tell them to stop?"
The giant of a man peered at his child with a cold, dark blue eye. "Why should I?"
Everyone's blood ran cold.
Fear erupted in little Sanji's eyes. Eyes that, thankfully, were a lighter blue than his father's. "Wah?… Father, why…"
"If you are not a fighter, and you are unable to stand up for yourself, I have no obligation to help you. I gain nothing by raising you."
Jaws dropped, and eyes narrowed.
"What a terrible thing to say to your child," Robin spat, protective of the little boy who would one day be her beloved cook.
On his hands and knees, Sanji shook, tears beginning to drip from his face to the stone floor, until they became long, endless streams down his swollen cheeks. "Why would you say that?" he asked, tender voice breaking.
Nami clutched at her heart. Chopper's sniffles intensified. Robin closed her eyes, unable to watch even though she was forced to listen. The men had shadows cast around their glares. And as they listened to Vinsmoke Judge tell the little cook that he was a disgrace to the family name, Zoro's gut clenched uneasily.
Something told him they had barely grazed the surface of Sanji's suffering past.
The King of Germa turned a blind eye to his son's abuse. Reiju's giggle lit up the dark hallway as she followed after her father.
Niji was the first of the brothers to turn back on Sanji. He pulled the blonde up by his yellow shirt. "I'll toughen you up," he grinned.
Sanji was scared.
Everyone in the room could see that, could feel that somehow from the way Sanji was remembering it. And why wouldn't he be frightened? He was a young child! Just beaten and called a disgrace, and then abandoned by the one person who was supposed to protect him no matter what.
Five other people in that family, Zoro thought darkly, and Sanji was alone.
Red-haired, scowling Ichiji approached and echoed their father's words. "You're such a disgrace." He grabbed one of Sanji's arms while Niji took hold of the other.
"Alright, Yonji, have at him."
The green-haired kid trotted backward. "This is gonna be fun."
The Straw Hats realized Yonji was setting himself up for a running start. They watched, horrified, as little Sanji — in his own state of shock — hung limp, petrified, as his older brothers propped him up like a target.
At top speed, Yonji head-butted Sanji's chest, ramming him into the wall again.
Sanji struggled to breathe as his three brothers laughed above him, and Vinsmoke Judge never looked back.
The memory melted, molding into something new. The brothers' wicked cackles faded into the background.
And the room remained dead silent.
And that's only the first memory lololol
Updates may take longer after this as I try to figure out the order of things, but as long as real life stays out of the way - I'm on it!
Also, does the bold help separate memories from the present? I kind of went back and forth with this chapter trying to decide.