By Your Side

Chapter 18

I was walking around aimlessly through the halls of Big Mom's place, unsure of what my next move would be. As I was walking I thought back to what I learned in just a short amount of time.

I knew that I was an orphan, but I never would've expected to be a Charlotte... I gnawed on my lip, grimacing at the thought.

...

"Now, get out of my sight, I have a tea party to plan." Big Mom waved me off, apparently done with the conversation. "Don't even think about leaving either, I have eyes all over this place."

'I kind of figured from all the dancing cakes...' I thought to myself, turning to the door to leave. "Not like I could, there's literally a bomb around my neck at the moment."

As I opened the door and took a step out, I froze in my tracks. "Tell me something... If I was your daughter, why did you leave me?" I asked, curious as to why, why was I different from all the other children she had.

"Oh, you want to know why, do you?" She tapped her chin, as if pondering why herself. "Because I needed strong children to do as I command and you showed no abilities whatsoever."

I frowned at her explanation of her basically saying I wasn't good enough to be considered her child, not that it bothered me.

"What was strange was that when I fed you a devil fruit, nothing happened." Her voice cut through the silence. "You showed no signs of gaining its power."

...

In the end, all I found out was that I wasn't able to gain powers from a devil fruit, but not why. Finding out that Big Mom was my mother was a shock, but that was all... nothing else. In fact, I will never see her as a mother. But it still hurt, knowing my real mother left me behind willingly.

I was cut from my thoughts as I bumped into someone, falling to the ground. "Ow..." I groaned from the sudden impact.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking at where I was going... here, let me help you up."

I snapped my head up, almost breaking my neck. "Sanji?!"

"Uah-! (Y/N), is that you?!" Sanji snapped his gaze to lock with mine, mouth gaping open in shock.

I quickly stood up, hugging him with a smile. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Wha- What are you doing here?" Sanji stuttered, processing what was going on.

I pulled back, widening my eyes. "Don't you know? Luffy, Nami, Chopper, Brook, and I came to get you."

There was a moment of silence, a shadow cast over his eyes. "I know."

"You know...?" I blinked a few times, unsure if I heard right.

"Yeah, I ran into Luffy and Nami a little bit ago..." Sanji replied, stuffing a hand into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighter. "Like I told Luffy, I don't want anything to do with you guys."

I clenched my hands at my sides as he said this, "You don't mean that..." He's lying, he has to be... I bowed my head down slightly, my bottom lip quivering slightly.

"Believe what you want but I'm not coming back." He lit his cigarette, taking a puff and blowing out the smoke. "You should head back, I left Luffy in pretty bad shape."

I snapped my head up, glancing at him in confusion. "W-what do you mean, what did you do?"

"The only thing I could do, the idiot is so stubborn that he wouldn't listen to reason, so I had to beat it into him." Sanji replied bluntly, closing his eyes with an unreadable expression on his face.

They fought...! I felt anger rise in my chest at the thought. Why?! Why go through so much lengths to push us away? I gritted my teeth as I tried to figure it out. I just don't get why-

I stopped my thought as I caught sight of cuffs around his wrists. I stared at them for a good minute, unconsciously running my fingertips over the collar around my neck.

It all made sense now... he's being forced. Sanji had no other choice, he- I glanced up at Sanji, calming down from my anger, sadness washing over me. "Sanji... you're being forced to do this..."

I saw his body stiffen as I spoke my thoughts out loud, before immediately going back to his stoic expression. "What are you talking about?"

"They threatened you didn't they?" I looked at his face, locking my gaze with his.

I saw something flash in his eyes as he glanced down to the ground, as if contemplating. He let out a sigh before meeting my gaze once more. "It's that obvious, huh?"

I shook my head slightly, "I wouldn't say that, just that I know you wouldn't do this willingly, none of us do." I told him as I frowned slightly.

Sanji blew out more cigarette smoke as he glanced up into the air. "If I don't go through with it, the old geezer at the restaurant I used to work at will be targeted, plus, it's not like I can run either." He glanced down to one of his wrists, holding it up. "If I do, my hands will be blown off."

I let out a sigh, placing my hand over the collar. "Yeah, I get it... you have no other choice. I don't either apparently."

"Is that a collar...?" Sanji trailed off, staring at the collar, with a concerned and shocked expression.

I nodded my head, opening my eyes. "Yep, so if I try to leave too... well, ya know."

"Why did they put a collar on you- Now that I think about it, why are you here and not with the others?" Sanji asked.

"I was but was taken by a woman named Brûlée we were fighting. Big Mom knew we'd come for you and sent someone to get rid of us, and it turns out I'm a Charlotte." I bitterly laughed, sneering at the name. "And I thought finding out you were a Vinsmoke was shocking."

Sanji let out a sigh, pulling out another cigarette, lighting it, and taking a puff before letting the smoke out. "Looks like we're both stuck here."

"No, we're not..." I mumbled, looking up to him in determination. "We both will be leaving here."

"What makes you say that? Last I checked, one wrong move and boom." He asked, raising one of his arms up, showing the cuff to make his point.

"Because we still have Luffy." I gave him a smile, "There's no way he'd let his friends go that easily without a fight."

"Ha... you're right about that." Sanji chuckled, taking another puff, blowing it out. "That stubborn jackass doesn't know when to give up."

I nodded my head, "I know you two had your issues, but I know he won't abandon you, he will come." I gave him a small smile.

We heard footsteps approaching as Sanji put his cigarette out. "You should probably get going. I'm worried something happened to the others, when I left a huge army was headed their way."

I felt my heart plummet and immediately began asking Sanji where he last saw Nami and Luffy, before making my way there.

As I reached the end of the hall, I quickly stopped and turned my head to look over my shoulder at Sanji. "Oh, and Sanji? When we get you back, we can all go on more adventures together." I gave him a reassuring smile then ran off.

Everyone, please be okay.

———
Published: 08/22/2022
Updated: 04/09/2024