Bonney, in her child form (her actual 12-year-old self), arrives on one of the islands near Whole Cake Island. Bonney is minding her own business on some random peripheral island. She is tiny. Like, absurdly tiny. Bonney stands at her true age of twelve, barely reaching the knees of most of the inhabitants, her signature pink hair a mess of cotton-candy curls that she cannot control in this humidity. She's just trying to find a barβany barβwhere someone might know something useful. Instead, she's being circled by a teacup with legs and a talking croissant that keeps asking her if she's "lost, little one.".
And then the Homies notice her. Homies see pink hair + small size + monstruos apettitd= must be one of Mama's kids, obviously. Homies panic: "A Charlotte child! ALONE! So far from home!"
The local citizens panic. "A Charlotte child! So far from the castle! All alone!"Bonney, being literally the size of a fruit compared to everyone: "I AM NOT Aβ"
Bonney: (out loud, trying to sound threatening) "Look, I don't know what you think I am, but I'm notβ"
Teacup Homie: "Oh, poor dear! So small! So pink! Must be one of Mama's!"
Croissant Homie: "But we're not on the main island! How did you get so far from the Chateau, little one?"
Bonney: (eye twitching) "I. Am. Not. A. Child."
The Homies don't listen. They never listen. Within thirty minutes, Bonney has been:
1. Wrapped in a too-small blanket.
2. Given a lollipop the size of her head.
3. Escorted by a literal living gingerbread man toward a ship bound for Whole Cake Island.
Because apparently, lost Charlotte children are a known phenomenon.
Bonney stares at the approaching Chateau with the expression of someone who has made several poor life choices in rapid succession.
Bonney's protests are ignored because she is the size of a grapefruit and no one listens to children. Bonney is livid but can't do much because she's literally palm-sized to these people.
(All she wanted was information about Kuma. Now she's being delivered to a yonko like takeout)
Bonney is presented to the Charlotte siblings.
Big Mom is on her throne. She is 8.8 meters tall. Bonney comes up below her ankle.
Bonney looks like a grape. A very angry grape.
Big Mom: (squinting down at the tiny pink figure) "Hmm."
Big Mom: "Who are you, little one?"
Perospero: "She has pink hair, Mama. Looks like you."
Big Mom squints. Counts. Gets to 85 and stops. "Did I have 86?"
Big Mom leans down and almost crushes Bonney by accident because she literally cannot see her. A servant pulls Bonney out of the danger zone.
"I've had so many. A child this small would've been like a grape. I probably wouldn't have felt it."
[Bonney is so small (comparing with Big Mom) that no one is sure she was even "noticeable" as a pregnancy. A sneeze could've been a birth.]
Big Mom: "I don't remember you coming out of me. But you're so small... maybe I sneezed and didn't notice?"
Perospero, sweating: "Mama, you would remember giving birth."
Big Mom: "WOULD I THOUGH???"
(Big Mom nearly stepping on Bonney, Homies lifting her like a doll, Katakuri looking down at her like she's a pigeon that just landed on his windowsill).
The family is spiraling. She looks like Mama. She has pink hair. She has similar features. But none of them remember her as a sibling.
Big Mom: (sudden realization) "Wait. What if she's not MY child? What if she's one of yours?"
Pause. The siblings exchange horrified looks.
Perospero: "Mama, that's... I don't have children."
BrΓ»lΓ©e: "Neither do I!"
Daifuku: (defensively) "I've never even MARRIED!"
Big Mom: (not helping) "You could have had an affair. I have many children. You are all adult enough. Someone must have produced another Charlotte."
Bonney: (quietly) "I have parents. They are NOT here."
The siblings ignore her completely. The panic is beginning to spread.
Perospero: (pointing at Oven) "IT COULD BE YOU. You had that fling withβ"
Oven: "That was two decades ago! She'd be older!"
Daifuku: "Maybe it's Compote? She's the eldestβ"
BrΓ»lΓ©e: "COMPOTE HAS NEVER HAD CHILDREN. I think. Have you, Compote?"
Compote: (who just walked in) "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
The room is in chaos. Theories are flying. Accusations are being thrown. Bonney has given up trying to speak and is eating the lollipop she was given earlier out of pure spite.
At one momement, somewhat. Everyone turns to look at the one person who hasn't spoken yet
Perospero: "Nii-sama, you've been on missions. Alliances. Diplomatic parties."
Oven: "You've been drunk."
Daifuku: "You've been tired."
Brulee: "You've been unconscious."
Katakuri, doing the math in his head: "I am 48. She is 12. That would mean... 12 years ago..."Katakuri, mentally reviewing the last 12 years of diplomatic events, alliances, parties, and one very unfortunate night where his brothers got him drunkβ
Katakuri: "I don't remember anyone."
Perospero: "What if she never told you?"
Katakuri, the man who is always composed, always perfect, starts to sweat. He's not the type for mistresses. He's not the type for one-night stands. He's almost 50 and has never shown interest in anyone.
There could have been a night. One night. An alliance sealed with drinks. A diplomatic party where he was exhausted. Maybe he was drugged. Maybe he was so tired he didn't even know what happened.
The family ignores that Bonney looks NOTHING like Katakuri. She's small, pink-haired, round-faced. Katakuri is 5 meters tall, has black hair, a scarred face, and spikes.
And Mama is Katakuri's mother.
ThereforeβKatakuri's internal crisis:
-He has been on diplomatic missions
-He's attended countless parties, alliances, and banquets
-He has no memory of ever fathering a child
-But he also has no memory of many individual nights.
What if someone got pregnant and never told him?
What if a brother set him up?
What if he was tired and just... woke up somewhere?
He is a man of control. He plans everything. He foresees everything. This is the one thing he never saw coming. He looks at Bonney.
They have nothing in common. She is small. He is huge. (But she can get her height from her mother). She has pink hair. He has not that shade but Big Mom has. Her nose is round. His is sharp.
Her eyes are wrong color but can be from her mother. But she resemble Big Mom.
He does not remember anything.
Katakuri lies awake at night doing mental math. 13 years ago. 18 diplomatic events. 4 events where I don't remember the end of the night. 3 events where I was definitely too drunk. Katakuri being the "perfect" man who suddenly has an existential crisis about something he genuinely cannot remember.
