A/N: This story was inspired from "These Forgotten Times" by RedKetchup, which is a really heartwarming collection of stories about the childhoods of the Strawhat Pirates. The Strawhats' outfits are based on the color spread for Chapter 604, the one where Luffy's wearing a crown.

The woman remembered that day clearly, so vividly. It began as a lazy Sunday. The rest of the girls had encouraged her to go enjoy the last of the good weather before winter came, perhaps go shopping to replace that ratty dress of hers. But she'd had a spontaneous urge to do some baking.

The pies were cooling on the windowsill: beef mince, onions, and her secret blend of spices. She sniffed appreciatively at the pastries before she twisted a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her pale blonde curls were slowly fading to gray, similar to how the depressing leaves of fall had already changed to brown.

She'd been preparing to wipe down the counters, having already washed the dishes as the pies were baking, when she heard an excited voice from her window. "Something smells amazing!"

She looked up and her mouth dropped silently. She recognized the boy in front of her who was staring down her pies, a small puddle of drool at the corners of his lips. She knew the face from one of the many bounty posters she had committed to heart. The trademark hat was partially obscured by a large, gold crown, but the sharply-defined scar under his eye and that boyish grin made it hard to mistake him for anyone else.

"You- You're…" she gulped, "Monkey D. Luffy."

He looked up from his inspection to laugh cheerfully. "That's me!"

"I-I thought so," she replied weakly. She lowered herself down to a seat, her head suddenly preoccupied with something far more important than baking. If Monkey D. Luffy was here, then so was Sanji. If Sanji was here, then…just what did that mean for her? "Where is the rest of your crew?"

"Dunno. We split up after lunch. Robin's probably at the town library. Nami's probably shopping for clothes. Zoro probably got lost again-"

"And Sanji? Is he also on this island?" Her voice rose slightly in volume.

He was momentarily surprised by her interruption. Before she could regret antagonizing a presumably dangerous pirate, he shrugged. "Probably in the market, buying food. We ran out again."

"Food? Then he is a chef." When they had parted, he wasn't even an apprentice. He'd been just a naïve little child, holding onto the false promise that he would see his mother again very soon.

"Not just a chef! MY chef! Sanji's the best in the world, shishishi!" And with a proud smile, this boy was ruining any semblance of caution she had harbored.

It became obvious that she needed to keep this boy here. If not for the possibility that Sanji would be searching for his captain, then for the chance to learn second-hand about Sanji. And if not for that, then she wanted to at least show the boy some appreciation, because she had never heard before someone talk so brightly, so confidently about her son.

"Won't you come in?" She tried to smile. "I wouldn't mind if we ate together."

"Really?! Of course I will!"

She'd barely set down the pie tins and dug out some forks from the special-occasion silverware before he was wolfing down on the food. She sat down next to him cautiously, ducking from the errant bits of flying meat. "So, young man. What do you think of my pies?"

He stopped eating, with his nose wrinkling in distaste. "They're pies?"

"Is that a problem?"

He considered the question for a bit before taking another shovel at his pie. "Nah. These are fine. I just don't like cherry pies, is all."

Did this boy not like cherries? Or it was the tartness of the dessert? She couldn't help but giggle; it was so very childlike to avoid sour foods.

"Hm? What's so funny?" The boy smiled back cluelessly.

She was about to respond when she heard a raised voice coming from outside. "Oy Luffy! Is that you in there?"

"Huh?" The boy turned around in the chair to where the voice came from, crumbs flying off his face. "Sanji?"

A blonde head popped into her window.

The woman didn't even have the time to be surprised.

"What are you doing in there?" the man asked, focused on Luffy.

"Yo Sanji! You got any food on you?"

"Yeah, I'm doing fine, thanks for asking." The blonde disappeared for a moment before he opened the front door. "So where the hell have you been? We were supposed to meet up at the Sunny before lunch."

It was like the air had stilled and time was refusing to flow correctly, the past and present colliding in front of her. He hadn't changed, and yet he was completely different. The slightly messy mop of curls was still there, as was his inquisitive eyes. But Sanji was a man now, with a goatee and a well-built body that was skinny, perhaps too skinny, was he eating well? There was a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and his hands were well-hidden in the pockets of his suit, which was tailored to give off the air of a professional.

His appearance was starting to blur. She furiously swiped at her eyes, needing to take in the sight of her son, all grown-up, while she had the rare opportunity…

When Sanji suddenly kicked his captain in the back of the head. "YOU SHITTY GOMU!"

Sanji's captain landed heavily against the table, which splintered and broke under his weight.

"Just what were you doing, eating this poor woman's lunch?!"

The captain held a hand over his furiously reddening nose. "But she let me!"

"Like hell she did! Just look at how distressed she is!"

She wiped off her remaining tears and tried to clear up the misunderstanding. "You're wrong, I-"

"I am so sorry, madam." He clasped her hands with his own. They were rough and callused from hard work, yet gentle in pressure. "Had I known that my brute of a captain was ravaging your home, I would have come sooner."

"I know what you mean." Luffy nodded wisely. "They were really tasty."

"I didn't mean I wanted to eat them!" Sanji jabbed viciously at his Captain's forehead, although the boy's flesh rebounded lightly each time. "Do you not remember what I have told you time and time again about ladies?"

"That they're scary when they get mad?"

"THAT THEY SHOULD BE TREATED WITH RESPECT!"

She tried again. "But he-"

Sanji continued without notice. He grabbed the open collar of his captain's shirt, raising the boy above the ground. "Which means you DO NOT break into someone's house and you DO NOT steal right their food right in front of them and you DO NOT break their furniture!"

"That was you," Sanji's captain complained.

"YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT!"

"SANJI!" She literally put her foot down. At the sound of the stomp, both men turned to face her.

"I'm sorry, madam. Do I know you?" Sanji asked.

Well, if that didn't break her heart, then nothing ever could. She let out a slow breath to gather her thoughts. "We haven't met." For a long time. "I've seen the bounty posters." It's framed on my wall. The marines' artists didn't do you much justice. "Sanji-kun, is that boy not your captain?"

"That he is." Sanji suddenly remembered to let his captain go.

"Then I don't understand. Has he hurt you?" she asked desperately.

Sanji looked utterly baffled. "No?"

"Is he mistreating you?"

"Well…no."

"Are you unhappy with him?"

"No!" He turned quickly to address his captain. "I swear I'm not!"

"Then why do you treat him so? You can't just throw a temper when you don't understand what's going on!"

What had happened to her soft-spoken boy?

"The seas are cruel, Sanji. You have to give due respect to your captain, or you won't survive."

Where had he learned to yell and to swear and to hurt others?

"I thought you had been taught better than that."

What was she trying to do, giving lectures after more than a decade of absence?

She could see why the girls had been so stubborn about going outside. It was a beautiful day, just cold enough for a jacket. She could vaguely hear the muted laughter of children up ahead. The magnolia trees rustled along the boulevard, and their sweet scent drifted and mingled with the salty breeze from the docks. She could observe this all because she was pointedly trying to ignore the two men walking in front of her, as she tried to figure out what to say.

After her fiery outburst, Sanji had stammered out an apology and offered to remake whatever his captain had eaten. Not that he was blaming his captain or anything, he'd hastily amended. Even after she explained that she'd been the one to invite the captain to eat with her, Sanji had still insisted. And so, the three were currently walking toward the marketplace to pick up the ingredients.

She dared to glance at her son again. Their eyes met, and he nervously looked away.

"Argh, you guys are so serious!" Sanji's captain turned around with an aggravated air. "Sanji, say something interesting!"

"Don't order me around," Sanji said halfheartedly. "Besides, I don't have anything to talk about."

"Yeah you do! Tell us about what happened with Ivamnphmmph!"

"Don't worry. I won't ask." She tried to ignore the hurt when Sanji looked back at her with a panicked expression, his hand clamped over his captain's mouth. It was just another thing she didn't know about Sanji, that was all.

Not that she was giving him any reason to be forthcoming. She sighed as she pushed her bandana further past her hair. Even now, she wasn't sure how to feel about this…well, this man in front of her.

Sanji's captain made a small noise of impatience. "Well, Sanji's boring cuz you only talk about cooking."

"I'm a chef, you dumba-" Sanji clenched his teeth, after another quick glance in her direction. "What am I supposed to talk about, how to splint broken legs?"

Somehow, Sanji's sarcasm had managed to sail over his captain's head. "Nah. Cuz that's Chopper's job." Were they talking about the pet from the bounty posters? "Oh! The deep sea fish bentos! Tell her about those!"

"Those?" Sanji looked toward her, silently trying to gauge her reaction.

"…Deep sea fish bento?" she asked, confused by the string of seemingly unrelated words.

"Yeah. See, when we were coming back from Fishman Island, there was a fish that looked like it would taste great with mayo, then it got eaten by another! And another! And then it got sucked down this white swirly thing and Nami was like, cut the line, and we were like, NOOOOOOOOOO! And then we ended up in a sea of fire, so it kinda got burnt up, but Sanji still made bentoes and they were REALLY good, even better than your pies! Which are also pretty good but, no offense lady, Sanji's food is always gonna be better."

"Um." She glanced at Sanji, who was trembling with suppressed laughter.

"I'm sorry madam, my captain's not the greatest storyteller." He began filling in the gaps, painting a picture of bubble-coated ships and underwater islands with mermaids. She grew more than a bit concerned when blood started trickling down his nose, but he quickly wiped it off and began to describe the sea creatures that lurked in waters where no ship was supposed to go. And for the first time that day, she saw a hint of a grin grace his lips. The bright young boy she used to know brightened before her eyes.

As soon as they reached the market, Sanji grabbed the back of his captain's collar before he could go off shouting about food. The boy's appetite didn't even surprise her, considering how he'd managed to eat an afternoon's worth of baking in the space of minutes. But as they were visiting the butcher's shop, she again became concerned when Sanji let go of his captain and became excessively lovestruck over the butcher's daughter. Then a passing tourist. Then the flower girl.

Oh dear, she thought with a grimace; my son has become a womanizer. She wondered if she should be mildly offended for being ignored. But at the same time, she admitted that it would probably be even more horrifying for her own son to be flirting with her. To distract her thoughts, her eyes followed the wayward captain as he practically flew from stall to stall. "Shouldn't your captain be a bit more cautious? I don't know if you're aware, but there's a marine base stationed about twenty miles from the island."

"It's fine." Sanji's attention had been diverted toward a vegetable stall. "One: our captain's pretty experienced in dealing with the marines. Two: that's assuming he gets recognized, because most people only ever see a kid who's gotten loose from his guardians. And three: his hat's not very obvious today."

"Even so," she remarked, "you worry about him."

Sanji laughed nervously, apparently embarrassed that he had been caught caring. "It can't be helped, when I've got such a foolhardy captain."

She could understand that now. "Then I would like to apologize."

"What for?"

"For being mistaken. When I first met you two, I was under the impression that you hated him."

She might as well have slapped him, judging from the look on his face. He looked down at the cobblestones of the street in silence.

"…I get it. I don't treat guys half as well as I do the ladies. It's something ingrained in me since my childhood."

She couldn't help but wonder: was she the one who had created such a slanted perspective, or was it just another story she would never know?

"But Luffy…he…him and our crew. No, our nakama. It's not a matter of gender or appearance or stupid things like that, no matter how I make it seem."

He turned to her with a deceptively calm face, but she could tell he was desperate. He didn't have the words to explain the strength of his emotions, but he wanted her to understand, he had to know she understood.

"They're your crew…" She tried again. "They're your family."

He sighed a bit in relief. "They are. But Luffy's even more than that. See, I don't like taking orders. I don't like people telling me how to do my job. My kitchen is my battlefield, so to speak, and I have the right to throw people out of my kitchen. Er…" he tensed, expecting another tongue-lashing.

But she smiled encouragingly, her worries being replaced by something warmer. "Go on."

He kept his hands busy by expertly picking out several pounds of leeks, potatoes, and onions. "So yeah. I'd always thought I'd find my own path in life to walk on. Except…now I'm walking his. And I should probably mind more about walking behind someone. Except that my dream – no, everybody's dream – is probably going to be a destination along his path." He became more and more talkative as he waxed poetic about his captain. "He'll see us to the end and beyond. And I can't even consider walking a different path, because he's the one who made it possible to even begin to dream again. And even if I did find…" He shook his head, clearing away whatever his previous thought was. "Even if my dream did come true…if my captain wasn't there when I looked over my shoulder, if I can't proudly show him where I'm standing… then my dream would be absolutely meaningless."

He turned to her with a light blush, six grocery bags having magically made their way onto his elbows. "Sorry. I swear I'm usually more tight-lipped than this. I don't even know why I'm spilling all this embarrassing stuff at you. You must think I'm some crazy idiot."

Better than a lovesick idiot, she thought with a smile. "It sounds wonderful, finding someone that important to you."

"Yeah," Sanji agreed, blushing even harder. "What about you, madam?"

"Me? I have…people who are practically my sisters. I owe them my life."

Sanji nodded with a gravity that didn't seem to stop at mere sympathy.

"I also have a son," she added with some hesitance. "But I hadn't seen him in a long time."

"Tch. What kind of a son would leave a wonderful woman like you all alone?"

"It's fine. He's done well for himself." She grinned at the irony of the moment, before she stared Sanji straight in the eye. "I'm proud to be his mother."

And it was okay that he didn't completely understand what she was saying. That relieved smile was enough.

The way back was less quiet and much less awkward. The three were walking side-by-side along the boulevard, with Sanji in the middle and carrying all the groceries, despite her offers to help. She was already starting to mentally call Sanji's captain by his name, 'Luffy', abandoning any attempts at formality. It would have been rude to say that she couldn't take such a young captain seriously. But there was something about the short, skinny boy that made him seem even less prepared for the life of a pirate than her own son.

Meanwhile, Luffy was talking cheerfully about something he'd seen in the window of a toy shop. His cheeks were smeared with some kind of blue jam, and her maternal instincts were itching for the washcloth back at home. It was when the boy swore that he'd seen the toy before in his dreams, and Sanji was trying patiently to explain what déjà vu was, that the ideas of dreams and Sanji somehow drew a haphazard line of thought in her head, and she remembered something that she had forgotten to ask earlier.

"Sanji-kun. May I ask you a question?"

"Of course, madam."

Now that Sanji had stopped avoiding her, she had to crane her head up to meet his eyes. "What is your dream?"

He didn't answer at first, biting down on his cancer stick. Luffy jutted his head out from Sanji's side, and for once he wasn't talking rapidly. He just stared intensely at Sanji, looking more and more excited.

Sanji, resigned to his captain's silent urgings, cleared his throat. "To find the All Blue."

She crushed the folds of her blouse within her fingers, as a rush of warmth from past memories spread through her. "You still believe in that?" Upon catching Sanji's confused look, she realized she'd almost revealed her identity. She stammered out an excuse. "I mean, it's a popular legend within the island, especially for the children. But they lose their sense of…imagination, perhaps, as they get older. They eventually stop believing in the All Blue."

Sanji was just starting to frown when his captain chirped, "Not Sanji! Cuz he's gonna find it!"

Sanji puffed at his cigarette, his smile returned tenfold. "If anyone's going to find the All Blue, it's you, Captain."

"Me?"

"You're the one at the front of the ship, after all."

Luffy frowns in thought. "Nah. It's still gonna be Sanji."

"Really? Why would you say that?"

"Cuz Sanji's been searching the hardest. That's why you're always looking out the window when you're in the kitchen, or why you're always coming out with snacks."

"Obviously, it's for the ladies," Sanji nervously fired back.

"Yeah, but you always look at the sea when you don't think anyone notices. You know, you could probably get a better view of everything from the crow's nest."

"I'd rather eat spiders," Sanji gritted out, and she wondered if a newfound fear of heights was overruling his old arachnophobia.

"Then you can borrow my special seat. But you hafta be careful not to fall off."

"I think you're warning the wrong person…but thanks, Captain," Sanji quietly accepted the offer as they approached her front door.

She'd prepared an entire list full of questions, waiting for the opportunity to ask them. Why was he so exaggeratedly obsessed with women? Why did his treatment of men contrast so? Why had he taken to combing his hair over his left eye? Just where had he picked up smoking? How dangerous was it being a pirate? Was he safe? Was he happy? Did he remember his mother? Did he despise her?

Yet her questions were never realized. From the very beginning, her jaw had almost fallen in a very ungracious manner when she saw the way Sanji carried himself through her kitchen, as if he'd sprouted sixteen more pairs of arms: chopping, pounding, spicing, sauteeing with graceful flips, and kicking his captain atop the head for trying to pilfer a piece of raw meat.

The only time he turned his gaze away was in looking abashed when she shouted about said violence, but even she didn't have the heart to pry his eyes away from his cooking for long.

Eventually she grew tired of being the bystander and rolled up her sleeves, offering to be his temporary sous chef. After multiple flattering remarks about not letting her dainty hands be sullied, she just decided to elbow her way into chopping leeks. He gave her his rapt attention, asking about the way she folded her pie crust and about her spice mixtures. She had a feeling he was humoring an old women by allowing her to cook, because when the final products had come out of the oven, and Sanji had pulled his captain away long enough to let her sample a taste, she was certain that Sanji had long since become the better chef.

Before she could even put her fork down, Sanji was cursing at how the sun had begun to set, and he quickly dragged his captain away from licking the pie tin clean. It was just as Sanji was putting his coat on that she figured out how to speak again.

"Wait."

Sanji turned to face her. She wondered what words it would take to make him stay. It was precisely this kind of thought that made her step back and force a smile onto her face. "Have a safe voyage."

Sanji grinned wryly. "Madam, the Strawhat Pirates don't even know the meaning of the word 'safe'. But don't worry. We'll be fine."

Luffy took off his crown and dumped it into her hands. She almost fell over from the weight. This boy had been jumping around all day with this on his head?

"Thanks for the pies! They were great! We're coming back for more, after Sanji's found the All Blue!" Luffy stuck out a pinky with a twinkle in his eye, forcefully tugging at Sanji's arm with his other hand. "It's a promise!"

"Like I said, it's not gonna be me…" Sanji's protest died away. He offered his own pinky with a small grin. "Promise."

She could feel the tears welling up as she put down the crown and their fingers crossed. She wondered if Luffy had figured out who she was, or if this promise was another one of his capricious whims. But either way, she had begun to understand that somehow, there was no better pirate to entrust with her son.

She waved at them from the door, watching their retreating figures. Eventually they stopped waving back and turned to each other.

"Nami-san's going to kill you for giving away her treasure."

"…CRAP! I forgot!"

Sanji laughed. It was the laugh of an adult, but it sang of innocent mischief, of being caught with his best friend in the same cookie jar. "Well, it's my fault for not stopping you anyway."

Then they rounded the corner, and were finally gone.

But only for the moment, she thought with a hopeful smile.

Epilogue:

In that busy seaport, rumors flew about the mysterious woman.

On a certain day, she marched into the local bank with the crown of the late Leonguffer the Third, from the once prosperous kingdom of some long-forgotten name.

Using her new landfall, she bought a generous plot of land within sight of the largest pier, and she made herself a meat pie shop.

She proceeded to call it "Mellorine", the name of a lower-cost alternative to ice cream.

Furthermore, she advertised that her meat pies were a favorite of the Pirate King. When it was pointed out that that Gold Roger had never set foot on this island, she smiled mysteriously, if not a bit smugly.

Everything fell into place several years later, on the day the second Pirate King landed on the docks.

When the Strawhats made their way to the restaurant, some begged the woman to abandon her store and flee, while others backed against the nearest wall. It was the logical conclusion at the time that the woman was about to be publically executed for speaking blasphemy about the Pirate King's appetite. But instead, when Monkey D. Luffy approached the front of the shop, he yelled out a greeting loud enough to scare the pigeons off the rooftops, before shaking the woman's hands enthusiastically.

The blond gentleman by his side, who had been reading the shop's sign, approached the woman. Switching off with his captain, he clasped his hands around hers and they exchanged a few words. A careful listener might have caught the word 'mama' being uttered.

Then the blond man fell to his knees and cried like a child.