thinking about an AU where the rest of the Vinsmoke sibs manages to escape after Sanji escaped
like, Judge says he's dead and suddenly, it's an eye-opener for the other boys. even if they were shitty to Sanji, they never really imagined to ever be somewhere where Sanji didn't exist and they hate it. so Ichiji's solution is to poison Judge and they all take their chance to escape into the night.
yes, they bring Reiju too. and yes, Ichiji pillaged the royal treasury, took money, Sora's old jewelries and photos of her (because otherwise they wouldn't be able to remember her).
they jump from ship to ship, getting new clothes and get rid of their old ones, and basically just sails around the East Blue and trying to deal with this whole freedom thing.
some time later, they stumble onto a big restaurant ship, Baratie, and reunites with Sanji. it doesn't really take Zeff long to figure out that all these baby eggplants escaped an abusive place and against his better judgement, he takes them in.
suddenly, he got five kids and it doesn't really hit him until night time.
it was one thing with his eggplant, but now he also got a tomato can, a blueberry, a cabbage and Reiju (she's a kid, but she is also a lady!)
but they fit surprisingly well at the Baratie and have different roles.
Ichiji learnt to cook, but elected to be a stand-in (in case a cook got sick/injured) and settles for being a waiter, passing up tables, he also manages the finances and book-keeping when he isn't on waiter duty. everyone knows that he'd rather go to the seas to explore the grand line, inspired of the stories Zeff tells them. and then, a young pirate named Ace came to the restaurant, their eyes met and they fell in love. and Ace whisked him away to the sea.
(Zeff is still annoyed at that)
Niji is a hard one to wrangle because he got electric powers and causes a mess when he wants to "simplify" the kitchen tools. so he's mostly on vegetable peeling duty. if he behaves, he gets to learn how to cook properly. let's say with his ability to cause mayhem, Niji stayed as a chore boy for a long time. once he learnt some manners (Zeff is a force to be reckoned with), Niji started to hang around Carne and watches when he makes desserts. he eventually learnt to become a pátissier and works under Carne.
Yonji is surprisingly easy to please and he loves sweets (he could eat cake for dinner, but he isn't allowed to), but he isn't much for cooking or baking. he does waiter duties, since he isn't interested in anything. he finds his fate when he was sent on a trip to fetch a bag of rice and never came back. instead, a poor seagull carried the sack of rice to the Baratie with a note where Yonji says that he's joined the Revolutionary Army to fight "the shitty celestial dragons and free the world from evil".
(Zeff started to suffer a bit of an empty nest here, since Ichiji and now Yonji has gone on their own adventures)
Reiju has to verbally argue with Zeff to let her do something, because of his policy to not have women in his kitchen (because he teaches by kicking people and he doesn't want to kick Reiju, she's a lady dammit), so she's a cashier and once she grows up, she becomes a bartender (it gets very popular because every man and woman want to see the beautiful bartender).
and as we all know, Sanji is a line cook and later, the infamous the sous chef of the Baratie. he still become the feisty, foul-mouthed and short-tempered pirate cook as we all know and adore. everyone knows that he will be forever loyal to Luffy, once he boarded the ship to Cocoyashi, and everyone suspect the green-haired swordsman might be his soulmate, given how he died and nearly bled out on their front porch
(Niji was made to clean that up and he muttered every profanity he learnt from Patty)
after Sanji leaves, it's a bit quiet onboard the Baratie and only Reiju and Niji remains now. the blueberry is just as argumentative as Sanji and butts heads with the older cooks frequently, while Reiju is just comfortable with her home and steady job.
really, Zeff should get a prize for adopting and raising five kids.
