Chapter Text
“Happy birthday ,” Chiffon whispered to Sanji as she handed him a small loosely wrapped package. The young boy beamed, he was sure everyone had forgotten his birthday. It's not like Mama would let them celebrate it or anything. Some of the older kids told him that she used to at first, especially since it was an excuse to throw a party and lots of yummy food. But as more and more kids ended up at the orphanage they couldn’t afford it anymore and Mama lost track of everyone’s birthdays. Sometimes she gives the littler kids an extra portion at dinner but Sanji was officially eight now and too old for any of the little kid stuff.
In just his short eight years he’s already lived through more than most adults have to face. From the moment he was born the world seemed to be against him. His father never really wanted children, and after his mother passed away when he was only 5 they were quickly gotten rid of. His father’s plan was to send the kids to military school, somewhere they could be useful and forgotten about. His three brothers and older sister were all accepted, despite how young they were the school said that they showed promise both physically and academically. But Sanji… he wasn’t cut from the same cloth as his siblings. He didn’t have the desire to fight or the almost inhuman physical strength as them. So with no other options, Judge dropped the boy off at an orphanage and never looked back. It was all so sudden but now it feels like his life is frozen.
He has spent the last two years in this orphanage and everyday seems to have been getting worse than the last. He is afraid he will never get adopted, older kids are never as popular as the cute new babies. He doesn’t know what he is doing wrong though, in the interviews he gets the couples seem to like him. He even gets a chance to make them treats sometimes and they seem to like them - except for that one guy with the peanut allergy. He enjoys cooking though, it's the only thing that seems to give him comfort, even on the worst days. His father abandoned him so fast he didn’t even get to grab anything from his home, the only thing he has are his memories. When he cooks he can sometimes close his eyes and remember his mother’s warm smile as she tasted his food. He can feel her arms around him as he stands at the counter. It's all he has and he hopes it's enough to last him a lifetime.
Even though cooking means the world to him he finds himself getting less and less opportunities to make things that he actually likes. When he first got here, Mama asked if he wanted to be a helper of course he said yes. He always wanted to help. She asked him what he would like to do and when cooking was offered he was practically overjoyed. He was still dealing with the emotions of his father leaving him and missing his siblings but he was allowed to cook here and that seemed to make the pain more tolerable. Unfortunately he didn’t know what he was signing up for at the time. It was his and the other kids’ responsibility to make food for all the other kids, and Mama of course. At first he was having fun, watching the other kids cook and sometimes he even got to help with some of the dishes. But now he was older and this was getting to be less fun, he still felt some joy in just being able to provide people with food but something didn’t feel the same.
With not much time before they had to start making dinner for all the other kids Sanji quickly opens his present from Chiffon. It's a light pink apron with a little panda on it.
“Sorry it’s pink, it’s all I could afford,” the older girl blushes but Sanji is just beaming. He can’t remember the last time he had a birthday present, it means the world to him.
“No no, it’s perfect. I love it,” he runs up and hugs her tightly. “Thank you Chiffon.”
She smiles back and helps him tie the strings around his back and neck. “Ok ok, time to get to work,” she gives a tired sigh as they head into the kitchen, but little Sanji can’t seem to stop smiling. The new accessory breathed some life back into his interest.
~~~
After dinner and once everything is cleaned and everyone is asleep Sanji sneaks back down to the kitchen. He doesn’t get much time anymore during the day to practice considering how many more kids there are to feed now. It’s not like he can sleep anyway, the other boys in his room are loud and he just can’t seem to relax. So now he finds himself in the kitchen at around midnight working on a dish he has been thinking about for days. It's a bit more advanced, with several components that require different cooking times and techniques he has only read about.
Though the sun is rising now and he is staring at the plate of food. He is not happy with it. It’s not what he had pictured at all and he ended up burning his hand on one of the pans. He knew it was a long shot to be able to make something as tasty as his mom used to make but he thought he was close at least. This was nothing like how she made it and he worries that maybe he is forgetting more of her. He already is having trouble picturing her face or the sound of her laugh and it’s only been two years.
The kitchen is suddenly starting to feel too cramped, he needs some air. He grabs the failure of a dish and heads out to the front porch. He should just throw the thing away but he can’t do it. He never likes wasting food considering how many people there are to feed here and how sometimes they can run out.
As he is sitting on the porch watching the sunrise he tries to eat it again but it's disgusting. The beef isn’t properly seasoned at all and he got distracted when he burned himself so the uneven sear is making it difficult to chew. He sits the plate beside him on the porch and just thinks about what he can do differently next time. But he doesn’t even know if there will be a next time. Surely Mama was going to be mad at him for using the beef she had saved for her dinner, he might get his kitchen privileges removed. Maybe his dad was right, that he was just a failure. Cooking was a waste of time and never actually had any talent.
He starts to cry a little, frustrated that he can’t remember his mother’s warm honey soft voice anymore, but can remember the way his father used to berate him. The way his words stung like poison and the way he felt them chip his spirit away like old paint.
“Hey… you gonna eat that ?” a voice calls out, making the small boy jump.
“H-hello ?” he asks out into the street not seeing anyone around.
“Hi, are you gonna eat that ?” suddenly a guy in a straw hat jumped in front of Sanji, pointing to the plate at his side.
“What ?” The boy is understandably confused and more than a little scared at this stranger being so close.
“The meat, are you gonna eat it ?” the straw hat guy asks again but from his tone Sanji can tell he is losing his patience. Suddenly feeling unable to speak with the fear creeping into him, he just shakes his head as a response.
“Shi Shi Shi, thanks,” the guy laughs before snatching the plate up. Strawhat gets about two bites in before Sanji comes to his senses, “wait stop, that was not good…you won’t like it.”
But Sanji’s protests go unheard as the stranger continues to eat the food, smiling the whole time.
The sun continues to rise, illuminating the sidewalk and this man as well. Sanji is able to get a better look now and can see that in addition to the notable straw hat he has a scar under his left eye. His black hair pokes out from under the cap and around his dark eyes. He doesn’t look too old though, probably only 16 or so.
In almost no time at all the dish is devoured and Sanji doesn’t know what to say or even think. He’s still a bit dumbfounded that this total stranger has come up and taken his food, maybe he was just homeless ? There were quite a bit of homeless people downtown and some did walk around here but this just seemed like something else.
“Mmmm, that was so good,” Straw Hat said with a big smile as he held the empty plate.
“Do you have any more ?” A few seconds went by before Sanji realized the question was for him.
“No, that was it.” he says softly, taking the empty plate to bring back inside.
“Well you should make some more, I’m soooo hungry,” the teenager whines and Sanji is even more confused. Why is a teenager begging for food in front of an orphanage to a child ? He was getting a weird vibe but something was telling him to stay. There was something about this straw hat guy.
“I’m not making anymore, I’m done.” he wasn't sure he knew what he meant himself.
Was he done for the day, heading back inside to quickly clean up before hiding in his room ? Or was he done for good, handing Chiffon the apron back and renouncing his dream of being a world class chef.
A calm “why ?” was the response he got back and it made Sanji upset. His face heated up with emotions and his small hands balled into fists.
“Because ! Because I’m just a failure, all of my recipes are disgusting and now …” the little boy was crying. Tears streamed down his face and this straw hat guy just kept watching.
“I’m not good enough to be a chef,” he yelled out. His heart breaking at his own words, his fathers ringing in his head, and a feeling of shame shadowing inside his heart.
“That’s dumb.”
“Huh ?? Who are you to say that !? You don’t even know me !” Sanji was overwhelmed with emotions, this guy just came out of nowhere and is trying to convince him he is a good cook, it didn’t make any sense.
“Yeah, but you are really good at cooking.” Straw Hat smiled and nodded to the empty plate. “Your food was good, why would you want to stop ?”
Sanji didn’t know what to say, he didn’t really understand it for himself. His feelings seemed so overwhelming and he didn’t know what was the right choice anymore. He wanted to keep cooking, it was the only good thing he had left.
“Look..” the little boy tried to take a deep breath, an attempt to calm his overflowing feelings, “I’m not saying I’ll never cook again… just…my own recipes…trying to be special is a waste of time.”
The sun had risen more, casting the teenager in an intimidating shadow as he loomed over Sanji. “A waste of time ?” he repeated back, confused as if the concept was foreign.
“Yeah, a waste of time.” Sanji reiterated, suddenly losing confidence in his own words.
“How do you know if you aren’t good at something if you don’t give it your all ?” Straw Hat asked him.
Sanji, turning his head away from the bright sun or just to avoid the judgment of the teenager, “I have … I’ve done the best I can. I’m stuck here,” he motioned to the door behind him with a large sign of ‘Big Mom’s Whole Cake Orphanage’ .
“Hmmm, that’s a dumb name,” Straw Hat laughed before looking back at Sanji.
“So you need a better teacher ?”
“I mean… that would be a start but where am I supposed to get that? Not many people are lining up to give out free lessons to orphans.” Sanji had learned through his countless rejected interviews that people are not as charitable as they seem. He sees the ads on TV and people talking about helping orphans, but they haven’t seen any of it.
“Hmmm,” Straw Hat was visibly thinking, trying to come up with a solution to a problem Sanji never thought was surmountable.
“Oh yeah,” he reached into the pocket of his overly baggy jean shorts, an interesting fashion choice considering it was barely spring and the morning air was still cold.
“Have you seen this ?” he pulled out a flyer, folded and crumpled up. Sanji took it into his own hands to examine and when he opened it he revealed something he did indeed already know about.
“The All Blue Academy Cooking Competition… yeah I know about it,” he said softly, attempting to hide the disappointment in his voice. It was an answer to his problems but Sanji had already tried that route.
“Great ! Then you should compete ! I’m sure you would win with that dish !” The teenager was hopelessly ignorant, he clearly didn’t know anything about food if he thought that abomination would win him a cooking contest.
“Idiot,” Sanji crumples up the flyer again and tosses it in the trash can on the street.
“Hey ! Whatcha do that for ?” Straw Hat whined and headed to the trash in an attempt to fish it out.
“Of course I heard about it,” his words stopped the other guy in his tracks, “that food you ate - that failure…was going to be my submission.”
“What ? That’s great ! I’m sure you’ll win then !” Straw Hat beamed.
“Are you even listening to a word I have said ?!” his face heating up again and tears welling up in frustration. But the teenager was unperturbed and just shrugged as Sanji ranted on.
“That dish was BAD, I can’t enter it! I don’t want to be a chef anymore ! Even if I did , I need to get the dish fixed but I can’t use the kitchen here anymore,” Sanji sat back on the stoop, exhausted.
“Oh so you need a new kitchen ? Why didn’t you just say so ?” Straw Hat smiled wide again and despite how irate the guy was making him, that smile felt like it was the answer to everything.
“I know an awesome kitchen ! I can take you there and you can make your dish and win the contest and make me more yummy food !” it seemed like it was decided before Sanji even had a chance to counter.
Of course he wanted to say no, going anywhere with a stranger was clearly a bad idea but something was telling him to trust him. He couldn’t explain it, but despite how absolutely outrageous this whole interaction had been he felt like he could trust this guy.
“Y-you have a kitchen ?” Sanji spoke up and Straw Hat just nodded excitedly.
“And you’ll take me there ?” Sanji asks, sounding unsure but he can feel something like excitement bubbling up in his chest.
“Yup.”
And that was that, Sanji couldn’t think of any argument against going with Straw Hat. A likely mix of his exhaustion and frustration and the bits of hope he still clung to for wanting to get out of this place.
He was led down the street and through an alley, lucky the shining morning sun made it not as scary as it would have been at night. Alone in an otherwise empty parking lot is a small car, it looks plain enough from the outside. Sanji takes a brave breath and gets in the car, maybe if he had been raised by actually attentive adults he would know to never get in a random car with a stranger but alas here we are.
The interior of the car is a little less normal. From the back seat he can see that the steering wheel is not like anything he ever saw before, the dashboard looks like one big computer screen with a bunch of things Sanji absolutely doesn’t understand. There is a small charm of a sheep’s head hanging from the rear mirror. The seats are light blue, with a soft velvet material and Sanji finds them rather comfortable.
He knows he should stay awake, that this might be a bad idea and he should stay alert. But he is so tired, and he can’t help but sit back and fall asleep as the car heads off on an adventure Sanji could never even dream about.