Little Fish

Part 1

Pots and pans clanging together drifted through the air as the small toddler slept. Strands of silver hair drifted across the small face as she turned over in the small bed, a stuffed transponder snail clutched in her hand. One purple eye groggily opened as chefs called out orders. The Baratie was always busy and people loved the food the cooks made. The other purple eye opened and Emi let out a yawn.

The three year old grumbled under her breath as Patty let out a yell. That man was always yelling. The three year old rolled over until her feet touched the cool floor boards.

She clutched the stuffed snail in her one hand as she shuffled out of the tussled sheets. Her blue and purple pyjama shirt hung off her frame as she padded out of her bedroom. Customers walked past the three year old, some giving her a glance as she reached down to pull at her blue capri-length pyjama pants. The pyjamas were a present for her third birthday from her jii-chan, better known as Chef Zeff to everyone else. The older man was a giant to the toddler, but she loved him dearly. Not as much as her papa, but pretty close.

She pushed past the swinging doors and expertly walked past the chefs running around. Emi clambered up on one of the numerous chairs and grabbed a piece of apple that littered the table. Her eyes followed each chef as they scurried back and forth. Different smells bombarded her small nose, and she wondered who had ordered what.

Maybe they were rich people from far away?

Her legs swung back and forth as her mind drifted. A blonde head caught her eye, and her lips pulled into a wide smile. Her papa! Maybe he'd tell her a story or play with her.

"Papa!" Emi giggled and hopped down from the chair and raced after the blonde head as it walked out to the restaurant down the circular stairs.

She raced after him with a smile on her face, little feet slapping against the floor and stuffed snail clutched in her hand. She stopped to catch her breath as her papa walked out of sight. She could never keep up with his longer legs. She clutched her snail to her chest as she walked past the tables, eyes searching.

"Papa..." Emi murmured as she continued searching.

People talked and enjoyed their food, not noticing a three year old with a stuffed transponder snail walking past. Her little shoulders set determinedly as she continued searching. He had to be here somewhere! She sighed and clutched her snail to her chest, a frown tugging on her lips. Her purple eyes gazed down at her stuffed snail; her papa had given it to her when she was an infant, and it was very dear to her.

A crash suddenly sounded near the three year old, and her head snapped up. Emi ran as fast as her little legs could go towards the sound, and skidded to a stop when she saw her beloved papa kneeling down by a puddle. Broken dishes and glass littered the floor. A pretty lady in a dress stood with her hands to her mouth, shocked that the man with the purple hair had smashed the table.

Emi hesitantly walked towards the three people, clutching her snail to her chest. The man with the purple hair was beginning to scare her, and Emi felt tears prick at the corner of her eyes. She sniffled and opened her mouth, but cried out when the man with purple hair stomped on her papa's hand.

"Papa! You get off him you mean bully!" Emi shouted in her high-pitched voice and ran at the man, wacking him in the head and face with her stuffed snail.

All three blinked at the small fury that was Emi, but the purple haired man recovered. He growled as the toddler continued wacking him and yelling. The woman tried to placate her date, but could see it was ending very badly. The purple haired man suddenly shoved his date to the side, causing her to fall to the ground.

He was just about to smack the insolent child away when he cried out in pain.

Blood gushed from his face as the blonde haired waiter held him up off the ground. Emi blinked in confusion; she was being held under her papa's one arm. When did that happen? He must have grabbed her when that bully was going to hit her.

Well serves him right!

Emi stuck her tongue out at him as he hung almost lifelessly from her papa's other hand. She gazed up at her beloved papa as he continued smoking, an angry look in his one visible eye. Her papa hated when anyone hit or was mean to girls, Emi included. A thought suddenly came to the three year olds mind: where was her stuffed snail?

"Snail? Where's my snail?" Emi murmured as she hung like a bag of rice under her papa's arm, eyes searching desperately for her cherished companion.

There! It was on its side on the ground and she squirmed to get to her snail. Her papa tightened his arm against her, effectively keeping Emi secured. She struggled some more, but gave up.

Blinking, she then noticed the mess that was on the ground. Food, broken plates and table parts were strewn everywhere.

"Uh oh...jii-chan won't like this" Emi said as blood continued dropping from the purple haired man.

"Sanji! The hell do you think you're doing to our customer?!" a loud voice exploded, and Emi blinked when Patty nearly blew up.

"Papa gave the bully a boo-boo" Emi stated, and Patty's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Sanji blinked and released the man, getting ready to argue with the other cook. The bully slumped to the ground in a bloody heap as Emi still hung from beneath her papa's arm. She could feel her papa tensing as he neared the bully, and all the other cooks rushed at the blonde haired man.

Emi squeaked and-in a moment of surprise-was released from her papa. She scrambled out of the frey and scurried over to her snail. She clutched it securely to her chest after a brief hug and looked around.

Before she could blink, two figures fell from the ceiling. Her purple eyes widened when her jii-chan landed on top of a boy with a hat.

"Jii-chan!" she squeaked in delight and scrambled to the older man.

"Emi what are you doing here. You should be upstairs" her jii-chan groused, but the toddler only clung to his coat like a monkey.

With a heavy sigh Head Chef Zeff stood up and gazed around at the other chefs holding Sanji back. Emi giggled as Zeff placed an arm under her legs. She pressed her face to his coat as his moustache tickled her cheek, and peaked out from the coat when Zeff reprimanded her papa.

Even her papa got in trouble sometimes like she did if she was caught playing with her papa's knives. Emi tugged on her jii-chan's coat.

"Is papa going to get a time out?" Emi asked, purple eyes wide.

Chef Zeff gazed at the small child holding onto his coat. He sighed and put her down on the ground before wiping his peg leg around, catching Sanji's face in it. Emi winced as she saw her papa hit the ground.

Her mind began drifting to her snail that still laid on the ground, and bent down to reach for it when the purple haired bully sailed by, suffering the same fate as her papa. She walked over to her papa and tugged on his pant leg. He reached down and lifted the toddler up without blinking, beginning to argue with Patty.

Emi pressed her face against his black suit, the smell of food and cigarette smoke wafting from the fabric. This smell was as distinct as her papa was and she loved it. Her body began to relax, and her snail companion fell to the floor, bouncing off to somewhere unknown as she clutched the fabric with both hands.