Chapter Text
Two of their crewmates have been turned into toddlers by some stupid devil fruit user.
— I think they’re both around 4 to 6 years old — Chopper announced at the table, everyone (except the said 2 crewmates) sitting in the kitchen.
— Really?? I mean Sanji maybe - but Zoro looks younger than that! — Usopp responds. All of them have been avoiding one obvious thing that little Zoro showed so far.
Zoro is a girl. No, WAS a girl.we He’s not a girl, Chopper reminds himself, feeling guilty he even thought otherwise. No matter the long green hair that reminded him of seaweed or the torn pastel pink dress he was wearing, Zoro will always be a man. And nothing will ever change that for him. The reindeer faintly hopes the others think the same.
— Man overboard!! No, men overboard! — Usopp yelled across the Sunny. Some other pirate ship attacked them and they've also had a devil fruit user on board. Sanji didn't catch the fruit name, but the guy could… turn back time.
Sanji could be on the left side of the ship, stride on the other side, and the guy would do his thing and Sanji would be back on the left side, where he was seconds ago. It was annoying to say the least.
And then, both Sanji and Zoro fell over the railings when he hit them. Well, it was the mosshead who seemingly got hit, but Sanji had a scratch on his suit as well.
Zoro stumbled back and fell over the railing - Sanji being close, ran to catch him. They can’t have him catching hypothermia. The sea is awfully cold this season from what Jinbe said. He tried to reach the stupid moss head, and almost caught him by his haramaki, but he slipped from his grip, and so did he slip from as the waves hit and tilted Sunny.
— Shit! — Nami cursed and ran to see where the two men were. Zoro knows how to swim. He's actually a pretty good swimmer, Nami may say himself (she would never SAY it aloud of course) and Sanji is an even better swimmer with his strong legs.
But Nami didn't see the bodies of the two men. Swimming upright, struggling or drifting.
Instead she saw a small boy with bright blonde hair and…a little girl curled nearby. With extremely long green hair and a bloody face.
— They're both still in shock… Zoro the most, I think. — Chopper concluded after saying everything he thought the crew should know.
Everyone hummed, some lost in thoughts. Luffy seemed the most serious about this. Which was uncommon and weird to see, in all honesty. His wide and bright grin wasn't there to light the atmosphere in the room up, and he seemed lost in thoughts as well.
Robin noticed two pairs of eyes peeking through the infirmary door. Little Zoro hid behind Sanji, who looked both curious and terrified.
— How are you feeling? — The woman asked the two children with a calm and controlled voice.
Sanji looked like he was buzzed awake as he glanced behind at Zoro and then back at Robin.
— A-alright… — He murmured quietly, slowly walking more into view. Zoro stayed where he was. Robin looked at Zoro but didn’t force the child to come closer. Just like his older self, little Zoro wasn’t too talkative. So far, the only thing he said was a hum to all of Chopper's questions about his well-being. Not much has changed in that regard.
Speaking of which, the child didn’t even let them clean their face yet! Still… stained with blood and dirt. Getting an answer as to why he’s like that is closer to impossible, but Robin still has some trust in their doctor.
— What about you, Zoro? — Chopper asked, noticing Luffy’s definitely not discreet glance at the child.
— …
— …
— … Ok. — He answered, fiddling with the torn sleeve of his dress under everyone’s gazes.
Little Sanji looked at the child before turning to the doctor.
— Uh.. — Chopper immediately looked up. The awkward atmosphere they’ve created is insufferable. He asked the boy what’s up.
— We’re hungry. — He murmured with a slight rosy blush on his cheeks.
Oh. Their cook turned into a child, so they can’t have him cooking. Before Sanji joined, Zoro cooked. But he’s a child as well. So… who will be responsible for cooking now? Luffy can’t cook for shit, Nami can do some things that are more for survival than taste and enjoyment, Usopp can (somewhat) cook, maybe his cooking skills are a bit below average but not THAT bad, Robin sucks at cooking and so does Chopper with his hooves. Franky can cook, but only the grill stuff. And Chopper is not letting two malnourished and exhausted children eat something so heavy! Brook and Jinbei can cook too!
— What would you like? — The fishman asks, his voice soft and comforting. Sanji turns around to look at Zoro still in the doorway.
— Uh… sandwiches maybe.. — He murmurs, looking back at Zoro with a very pointed glance.
The seaweed now looks at all of them and gulps.
— ‘erries… str’erries… いちご — The child mumbled, which got confusion flooding the entire kitchen. Zoro is BAD with speaking the common language. And worse than that, they don’t know what hecking language he’s speaking.
— Berries? Strawberries? — Sanji asked aloud, his little face scrunched with confusion. Zoro glanced back at him and nodded shyly. Chopper looked at their captain, who stared at Zoro for 5 more seconds before grinning brightly.
— Strawberries?! I love strawberries!! — He said, stretching both his hands to grab Zoro over to the table, to them. Of course not hastily, surprisingly so. His palms stop on Zoro’s shoulder and arm and he flashes an even bigger smile before convincing the seaweed hair to come over. In the meantime the fishman stands up, which reasonably scares the children. But with Robin’s motherly voice and Luffy’s positivity and energy, neither of them start..crying or something. Honestly Chopper has no idea what to expect.
Soon, Jinbei puts a plate with a few simple sandwiches down. As well as a bowl of strawberries. Luffy giggles and moves the bowl closer to Zoro, getting the child to not be too scared and eat. Chopper intervenes first.
— Luffy! Zoro hasn’t washed h...her hands yet! You can’t eat with dirty hands! It’s totally unsanitary! — He scolds their captain with half a shriek. He’s NOT letting both of their idiot swordsman and cook get hurt or ill when they’re so vulnerable. Not like Chopper wants them injured and ill when they’re adults, but it’s just different with children.
Sanji looks up from the plate of sandwiches and Robin’s hand holding a napkin under his small hands so no crumbs get flied around. He scrunchies his face and nods to himself. Robin can’t help but chuckle quietly.
Luffy sighed loudly and got up, taking Zoro by his smaller hand and guiding both of them to the sink.
— Hold uppp — Luffy murmurs and picks Zoro up so the child could wash their hands as well. Zoro’s really small.
— Okay! — Nami sighs as she and Usopp dump a big pile of children’s clothing on the clean table. After all, Sanji was wearing some torn button up shirt, and Zoro’s dress is torn and dirty as well.
— You can pick whatever you want — She says and smiles when Sanji looks up at her. He’s the first to actually look at all the stuff. Touch, inspect in curiosity and judge the colors. Zoro on the other hand clings to Luffy’s side.
— Do ya want a dress or a shirt and some pants? Or skirts — The captain hums as he (softly) shoves little Zoro forward, closer to the pile.
Zoro looks up at him and shrugs his shoulders before hesitantly showing three fingers up. So a shirt and skirt it is! With a bit more convincing from everyone, both children find something to their liking. Sanji is holding up a blue sweater and some simple black shorts with white flowers patterned on them. Zoro is holding a white t-shirt with some cats and a deep blue skirt with bloody red buttons. Luffy looks pretty proud of him.