Little Fish

Part 3

"Jii-chan?" Emi asked as he put the little girl down on the ground.

The two had walked into the kitchen, and the three year old looked up at the older man.

"What?"

"Where my mama?" she asked, purple eyes wide.

Chef Zeff let out a sigh as he gazed down at the toddler. Her eyes continued to gaze up at him, seemingly searching his own for an answer. The man wished he had answers for Emi, but he had none. The truth was, no one knew where the toddler came from.

"Emi, go play somewhere" he rumbled, and the toddler seemed a little crestfallen.

"Okay" she murmured before scampering off.

Zeff watched the girl as she disappeared behind some tables, effortlessly avoiding chefs who were running back and forth. Who was her mother? He stroked his moustache idly as the child was lifted onto Patty's shoulder, her giggles loud in the air. His mind wandered back to when they had found her.

Bits of ship floated past the Baratie as smoke from cannon fire floated in the air. The chefs were silent as they observed the bits of defeated ship that drifted past. No one knew what happened, but the loud booms of cannon fire had attested to a battle. Maybe it was pirates? Marines? No one knew. A loud squalling cry caught the ears of the chefs, and they looked around for the source of the noise.

"What's that" Patty said as the cry got louder.

Boxes floated by, and Chef Zeff reached down to stop one. He eyed it for a second before reaching in. Some chefs cried out in alarm at the lack of caution their head chef had, but that alarm turned into surprise when he lifted an infant out of the box. A tattered dress fitted over the infants small body and its face was bright red. A wisp of silver hair graced its head, and some of the chefs spluttered in shock as its tiny fits clenched.

"What's a baby doing out here?" one of the chefs said as they all gathered around the crying infant.

"Who knows where she came from" Zeff said, and thrust the baby into Sanji's arms.

"She?!" everyone cried out.

Despite the boy's protests, he held onto the infant. The baby girl-who was screaming at the top of her lungs-immediately quieted when she was placed in Sanji's arms. Her teary eyes gazed up at his in wonder and reached two chubby arms up to his face.

"If this runt is staying with us, she needs some food and clothes. Patty, see to it" Zeff said and walked back to the restaurant, not paying attention to the other mans protests.

The infant paid no attention to the commotion around her as her purple eyes were locked on the strands of blonde hair above her. He captivated the infant, and she couldn't tear her eyes away.

As the months and years went on, the Baratie crew named the infant 'Emi'. They got her clothes and she was only content to be in Chef Zeff's arms or Sanji's.

No one still knew where she had come from, or what happened to her to be abandoned in a box in the ocean. Emi had begun to talk, and as soon as she did she had begun calling Sanji 'papa', and Zeff was 'jii-chan'.

Ruckus caused the older man to raise his head. The errand-boy was breaking dishes, and the cooks were getting disheveled. He watched as Patty kicked the errand-boy out of the kitchen and into the restaurant, where he would hopefully not break anything.

Zeff sighed and felt his rugged cheeks turn up in a grin when he saw the three year old stirring something, one of the chefs holding her above the boiling pot. Her face was split in two from her wide smile as the chef put her back down on the ground. Emi then ran around the kitchen, bare feet slapping against the floor.

"Come on, you squirt. Let's go see what trouble our errand-boy is getting into" Zeff said, and Emi nodded eagerly, running ahead of the older man.

The two walked out to the restaurant and Emi immediately ran to Sanji, chanting 'papa!' in her high pitched voice. He gave the three year old a smile, but immediately began to swoon over a woman with orange hair.

"Silly papa" Emi giggled as her papa started sprouting more romantic sayings.

She stopped giggling when she felt her jii-chan stand behind her. She blinked when the mood turned tense, and let out a squeak when her papa got in her jii-chans face. She hid her face in her hands when Zeff slammed Sanji into a table, causing three strangers at the next table to blink in surprise. She hated when her two favourite people fought. She sat on the ground in a small ball, shivering as she heard crashes and bangs.

She felt tears dripping down her cheeks, and hurriedly tried to wipe them away. All the chefs here were tough, and didn't cry. She was tough like the chefs here.

She felt hands pick her up and blinked past tears to see her beloved papa's suit jacket. Emi pressed her nose to the jacket and felt her tears drying slowly. She could feel the vibration of her papas voice through her skin and it lulled her into a sense of calm. Her fingers played along the seams of the jacket.

Emi let out a yawn as her papa left the group with the errand-boy, but not before sending a kick his way. Sleep tugged that the three year olds body, and her head lolled against her papa. It had been a long day for the toddler, and she was almost dead on her feet. Through her sleep-filled mind, she felt her papa place her in her small bed and tuck her in. Her eyes opened slowly as her papa turned to leave.

"Papa?" Emi asked, voice heavy with sleep.

Her papa hesitated in the doorway, looking over his shoulder.

"Where's my snail?" Emi asked, eyes struggling to stay open.

"We'll look for it tomorrow" her papa said before leaving the doorway.

The toddler murmured something unintelligible before falling asleep. Sanji stood on the other side of the doorway, cigarette smoking. He would find the snail for the toddler. Emi loved that snail. He puffed away at his cigarette before walking away.

When he walked through the empty restaurant, he noticed something in the corner. Sanji knelt down and retrieved the stuffed snail, and a smile tugged on his lips. It was a present he gave Emi, and she had loved it ever since.

He walked back to the three year olds room, and quietly put the stuffed snail in her arms. He watched the small child clutch at the snail in her sleep, and then relax. As Sanji turned around, Emi let out a whimper. He sighed and sat on the ground beside the twitching three year old. Her little brow furrowed, and Sanji gently laid a hand on her head. Instantly the toddler stilled, and Sanji felt his lips quirk in a small smile.

Emi always fell asleep when he was sitting with her. Some things never changed.