Chapter Text
You didn't remember much about your life before Zou. Ok that was a lie. You remembered a lot of things. Things you wished you didn't.
You know you had a family, a mom, dad, brothers and a sister. That the island experienced seasons and that people hated winter. You know that your brothers were called Shawn and Cliff and your sister Tori. You always knew, even though you'll never admit it, that you never had a name. People just called you child, demon unwanted. You'd never admit it out loud though.
You also recalled that your eyes, the odd ice blue with spots of gold, like sunlight on a frozen lake and odd hair, a light peachy pink, were the reason they didn't name you. Who after all, who would want a frozen peach. That's what your brothers said and mom never contradicted them. But they were wrong, they had to be. Because if no one wanted a frozen peach, why did the pirate buy you from them.
Life with the pirate was ok. The ship was weird, the people always watching you or making comments. The name went from no name to Cutie. The pirate who bought you said the dragons would love you. (You'd never met a dragon but heard they only hoarded the best things.) But the best part was the food.
You’d never had food this good before. It was a rare thing before the pirates. leftover scraps long past expiration was the norm if anything was thrown your way. Once they realized this they offered you a fruit, it was odd looking, like if a pomegranate was struck by lightning. It tasted odd but not horrible. It also gave you powers. They stopped talking about dragons after. Instead you became pet.
Pet was cool. Pet got the best food so long as you stayed in the weird fox/human form. It was odd being Pet, the pirates were handsy and demanding but it was easier than being nobody. Easier until the pirates went to Zou.
To say Zuneisha didn't like the pirates was an understatement. The buying pirate decided to open fire after they almost stepped on the ship. Zuneisha responded and the ship didn't stand a chance. The last memory you had of the pirates was them slipping into the water below.
The next memory was you waking up in a room full of animals. They introduced themselves as minks and offered to take you home. So it was easier to forget. To pretend you didn't remember. Because if you remember then they might send you back. And you really didn't want to go back.
Life on Zou was easy and fun. Food was abundant and everyone was so nice. There was a large yellow cat called Nekomamushi. He was insanely friendly and welcoming. After some discussion you were given the name Momo, after your peachy hair.
After a few months you felt comfortable and safe. After a year you admitted to remembering. Tears fell as they reassured and comforted you. There was no need to leave. You stayed in Zou for years. Growing from a small marble fox kit into a grown vixen. The village didn't hesitate to teach you everything they knew. You weren't a true mink and couldn't use electro but they taught you other fighting styles as well as some medicine and sewing skills.
Cooking however was your favorite. You mastered a few savory dishes but baking was your forte. There weren't many sweet recipes you couldn't piece together after a few bites. As the time passed your dream developed, to travel and create a cookbook featuring all the recipes in the world. Sweet, savory, good or bad it didn't matter, you wanted them.
After talking with Nekomamushi and Inuarashi you set a course for Totto Land. They weren't happy but understood. Big Mom's territory was the best gathering ground for cooks of all kinds. Excited, you set out.
It took a few months to find someone willing to take you to Totto Land. It was a nice merchant family who was hoping to trade some spices from the calm belt islands. Their chef was more than happy to trade recipes and stories during the trip. He also gave you some decent information about the Charlotte family.
After a few weeks of traveling you finally reach the edge of the Mom Pirate territory. The cotton candy rain was weird but amazing. For the newcomers to the grand line such an odd phenomenon could be scary however. The small family was from North Blue and didn't believe the old pirate stories. Laughing you happily tell them stories of Zou and Zuneisha. The kids were mesmerized.
A few more weeks and hundreds of stories later the ship safely docks. You eagerly grab your bag and run up to the deck. There are two people waiting on the dock to greet the ship.
One was a tall broad blond man wearing some sort of fancy blue get up. He had a sort of intimidating build and his superiority complex was strong. No doubt he was one of Big Mom's many kids. A quick look over and you quickly decided he wasn't your type and you'd prefer to avoid him if possible.
Mind made up you shifted your attention to the other one. Saying he was tall was an understatement. The man was a giant. Long black legs led up to a studded belt and bare tattooed stomach and chest. Your eyes kept drifting up, absently noting the vest that covered nothing, a thick layered scarf that covered his shoulders and most of his face as well as muscled arms thicker than your head. What you could see of his face were eyes that noticed everything, thankfully focused on the captain and the merchants and short spiky red/pink hair. He has an almost lazy yet confident air about him. Not like the superiority complex of his brother, more like a content wild cat. Aware he was a top predator with no need to flaunt it. In short, he was stunning.
Shaking off your initial ‘oh no he's hot' moment you step down to join the others. His eyes shift in your direction and you freeze, praying he can't see how frazzled you were. A subtle shift in his posture lets you know he did and was stunned. Not that it was obvious but one advantage to an awakened Zoan fruit was animalistic senses and intuition. And you've had years to train.
He shifts again and goes to move closer to his brother by the newcomers. He walks with intent, the lazy yet confident prowl of a top predator. Granted it was no doubt toned down to avoid scaring the new arrivals. At peak show with nothing muted it probably sent potential challengers running. Your inner fox took notice. Damned Zoan fruits.
“Where are you from and what brings you to our territory?” He rumbled, cutting straight to the point. The group answered with the usual answers, safety, trade a new start. Each family gave a list of the skills they had to offer or resources they brought. At your turn you didn't hesitate.
“I'm from Zou and I was told that the best chefs from all the world reside here. My hope was to train under them and eventually gather up all the recipes from across the globe.” You answer honestly with some confidence. The brothers seem to evaluate you before coming to some silent conclusion.
“You're not the first to try and train here. However Mom has specific standards and the conditions can be…” the blonde started.
“Streusen can be a bit of a perfectionist and difficult to work under.” The pretty one continued and motioned for you to follow. “There are also situations involving our mother that can make working and living here difficult.”
You follow behind and listen as he tells you some things about his mother and her cravings. It's a walk full of information about the islands, their residents and some of his siblings. You're stuck admiring his stride from an ideal angle at a distance. Not that you were complaining but every step of his was three of yours and you were quickly falling behind.
Resigned you shift to stride point and use the foxes springy steps to propel you forward and catch up. Unfortunately for you he chose that exact moment to stop causing you to crash into him. You feel him steady you by a firm grip on your shoulders and become aware of three things.
The first is that you bumped face first into his front, he no doubt paused mid turn. Second is that you are technically eye level with a certain part of his anatomy that might not be a good thing. And third, he smelt so damned good. It was vaguely sweet smelling, like someone was making fresh caramel.
“Ah, my apologies. I tend to forget most people can't keep up easily.” He started.
“Noworriesimusedtoitwhydoyousmellsogood.” You let out in an embarrassed rush as you step back.
He just stares at you, head tilted and look a bit distant. He suddenly steps back and you can see a hint of pink above the scarf. You can tell by the subtle shifting of the scarf that he's trying to say something but can't get it out. Fuck, you might have messed up.
“I'm sorry.” You squeak out hastily, going to bow like Inuarashi told you was polite. “I didn't mean to offend. I just have above average senses is all.” That seems to pull him out of his loop.
“You're a Zoan user?” He asks, thankful for the change of topic.
“Ah yes. I was taken young by pirates and one of the crew thought I'd be cuter as a fox girl and gave me a fruit.” You half explain, leaving out the whole pet part that pissed your mink family off so much. They never truly explained but looking back with adult eyes it was definitely suspicious that they called a five year old pet. (Despite what some assumed it never got to THAT point buuuut, you couldn't honestly say it never would've.)
His eyes narrowed as if he knew you were leaving something out. If he pushed you'd explain but you'd rather not remember that part of your life. It wasn't anything worth remembering.
“The fun thing about awakening a Zoan fruit is it comes with a boost of extra. So I've got heightened senses which helps with picking apart recipes but can be problematic around people since I can pick up on things they'd rather I not.” You finish. “I really didn't mean to blurt that out, truly, it just surprised me a little.”
“It's not a big deal. You aren't the first Zoan to notice though your excitement was unusual. I ate the Mochi fruit and am technically a mochi man so it's not surprising.” He added. “Any other surprises I need to know?”
“I can technically use Haki but prefer not to fight and the awakening leaves me with odd instincts so I'll apologize in advance for any insult that might come from it.” You warn even as you try to be vague. The Haki comment earned you an interesting look. “You can't grow up in the new world without a little Haki and the minks didn't want me to leave unprepared.”
“So you're technically from the same place as Pekoms?” He asks, steps a little slower and shorter though you can tell it's taking effort.
“Wait!!! Pekoms is here!?!?” You exclaim excitedly, practically hugging his leg.
“Yes?” He seemed rather confused. “He works for Big Mom.”
“Why that cat, he could've given me a ride over.” You start pouting. “First he tells me about this place then leaves me to barter my way over.” Katakuri just gave you a mildly confused look but made no comment as he continued to lead you to the kitchen.
There he introduced you to the head chef Streusen and quickly left. The kitchens were large and the sheer number of new and exotic ingredients had you excited. A quick test was given that you passed and your new career as a Big Mom chef started.
It'd be several weeks before you saw Pekoms and gave them a stern talking to. Much to the confusion of several witnesses. It'd be even longer before you saw Katakuri for more than a few passing seconds.