Summary: Charlotte Linlin wasn't always an Emperor, and it was not so easy growing up or surviving as children of a neglectful pirate mother. Big Mom Pirates origin, from past to present.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13279053/1/As-a-Charlotte-Child
Word count:60k
Chapters:14
Chapter 1: Eggs
~ 48 years ago ~
Perospero (age 2), Compote (age 2)
The earliest memory Perospero could recall was when he was only two years old and hearing the sound of children's cry. He remembered the touch of his twin sister Compote's warm palm holding onto his own, and them sharing a nervous smile. A storm was raging outside the cabin and their mother's pirate ship shook violently as sea waves crashed into starboard.
A set of triplets were born that day, out at sea during a heavy storm with the howling wind as their first lullaby, their father nowhere to be seen. This was the moment Perospero officially became an older brother, and he was ecstatic.
.
The earliest memory Compote could recall was the sharp pain of a gunshot, right over her chest. She was only two years old at the time.
It was a sunny day on an autumn island. Mama's pirate ship had just docked after a monthlong journey, and there was a small kingdom someways off their location for the crew to have some fun. Compote and Perospero were not allowed to go of course, being too young and prone to get in the way as adults conducted their businesses. Whatever that meant. They were told to stay with their nanny, who was feeding Katakuri with a bottle out on deck while rocking a large portable crib their carpenter had built for the month-old baby triplets, because Oven would always cry when alone and Katakuri refused to sleep at night if his minutes-younger brothers were not within his immediate proximity.
Watching the ship was boring, so Compote and Perospero went to explore in the nearby woods. There were some oddly shaped fruits growing on the tall trees that caught Compote's attention, just out of her reach. It wasn't that hard to talk Perospero into climbing the trees for her though, because her twin brother just loved to show off whenever he got the chance. It was a lot of fun.
Then Katakuri suddenly started to wail, extremely uncharacteristic of the usually quiet child, like a warning. His unnaturally wide mouth splitting all the way to his ears as he emitted a loud shriek that shocked the dozing crew on guard duty into wakefulness. That was when the men came, all with absurdly long necks and dressed in the exotic armored robes of the local soldiers, to drove the unwanted pirates away.
There were gunshots and the clashing of swords as men and women engaged in battle. Compote pushed Perospero into a nearby bush to hide her older brother's slim figure from enemy sight, while knowing that it was too late to find another hiding spot for herself. Amid the chaos, Compote was shot. The pain was unlike anything she had ever experienced before in her too young life. The sensation of sharp agony spreading across her chest in the shape of an ugly bruise, carving a traumatic memory into her mind before unconsciousness claimed her thoughts. It was lucky Compote inherited some degree of her mother's iron skin.
When Compote recovered enough to finally leave the ship infirmary a few days later, she found Perospero out on deck with a wooden staff in his hands. Perospero was only two years old then as well, and having witnessed his twin sibling shot was a rather distressing life lesson learned too young. He understood then that he needed to get stronger, to protect all that he loved and cherished.
.
They ended up staying on that island for almost a year. Charlotte Linlin married the local king who was ensnared by her devastating beauty, and a set of half-snakeneck quadruplets were born in the extravagant royal bedroom of the kingdom castle. There was much celebration and cheer.
Linlin took her crew and her nine children, and left the very next day.
.
~ 47 to 45 years ago ~
Oven (age 1 to age 3)
Sister Compote was teaching them new words when Brother Perospero entered their shared room on the ship, tongue dangling as he waved a hand. Daifuku and Oven looked first at their eldest brother in curiosity, before turning as one to Katakuri. Katakuri tilted his head.
"What is it?" Compote asked.
"Come, come!" Perospero waved his hand again, impatient. "Don't you want to see our little sisters? They're adorable, perorin~"
Daifuku didn't appear to be that interested to be honest, but Oven's eyes lit up like fireworks. Their little sisters were of royalty blood, if not for their Mama deciding to steal them away, it was very possible that they would not have the chance to grow up together.
.
The father of Opera, Counter, Cadenza, Cabaletta, and Gala used to be a crew member on the pirate ship. Katakuri dutifully stayed by Mama's side after the quintuplets were born, so only Daifuku and Oven were there on deck to witness the soon-to-be-ex-father walk the plank. A grown man crying rivers of tear in between declarations of eternal love and devolution that ultimately went ignored, before plummeting into the sea.
"Do you ever wonder who was our biological father?" Oven suddenly asked, looking up as he finished his browned toast with jam. His tiny legs swinging on the railing.
Daifuku scoffed, mouth full of the glutinous rice cake he so enjoyed. "No. Why?"
"No reason." Oven shrugged, gazing out into the vast ocean and the silhouette of seakings in the horizon. "Probably dead anyway."
.
The triplets Cracker, Custard, and Angel were born too early into the Charlotte family, when Charlotte Linlin went into premature labor. They were underweight and tiny, especially compared to their Mama's gigantic size.
Oven, at age three, was old enough to hold such small babies by himself. He was so happy as he carefully held the newborn Cracker in his arms, ahhh-ing and cooing in delight. Daifuku chuckled, poking the baby lightly on the rosy cheeks. "He's so small and soft."
"No fair, Brother Oven! We want to see him, too!" Hachee cried, craning her long neck and stomping her foot. Her shorter two-year-old quadruplet sisters Mondee and Effiler tugged futilely at their taller brother's shirt.
"Be careful over there!" Perospero called out from the other side of the room, as he and Sister Compote were too busy changing the quintuplet brothers' diapers. "Mama would get very angry if you accidentally dropped Cracker!"
"Don't worry, Brother Peros! I'll be careful!" Oven reassured, sitting down on a pile of cushions so his younger sisters could gather around him as well.
There was a knock on the door. Katakuri and Amande entered the room. "Were we late? I was training with Brother Kata." Amande said as she walked inside. A wooden sword held in one hand, while the other held tightly onto Katakuri's free hand.
"Don't worry, you're just in time." Compote replied, finishing up with the quintuplets and went to clean her hands. "Put the toys away and wash your hands, boys and girls. Perospero, go tell head-chef Streusen to get our snacks."
"Yay!" called the younger siblings in uniformed chorus. Tea Party with Mama and Snack Time with each other were the Charlotte children's favorite entertainment out on the sea. Sister Compote pushed the triplet girls' shared crib to the recreational area and Brother Peros soon came back with a trolley full of all the sweetest confections. Whipped chocolate and cream, yogurt and sponge cakes and donuts and fruits, and different types of sugared tea.
Perospero, Compote, and Daifuku sat on the couch to watch over the baby girls Custard and Angel, while the younger siblings gathered on the floor cushions with Oven and Baby Cracker in the middle. They laughed and talked as they passed food around, but the moment Katakuri came near, Cracker bursted into tears.
Katakuri immediately shut his mouth.
"It's my fault. I scared him." Katakuri murmured, feeling guilty. "I always scare the babies."
"Did not!" Hachee pouted. "I was never scared!"
"Yes, you were!" Mondee said, "Brother Peros said so!" Effiler nodded, Amande frowned.
"Hey, don't drag me into this, perorin~!" Perospero licked his lips in denial. Compote smacked him on the head. Cadenza and Cabaletta on the ground started to get teary-eyed due to the escalating noise of their older siblings arguing, but it was Opera—the eldest of the one-year-old quintuplets—who began to cry first. Custard and Angel were roused from their nap, and started shrieking in their high-pitched tone.
"For the love of..." Daifuku moaned, burying his face into his hands. Oven just let out a patient sigh as he tried to soothe the distraught baby in his arms.
.
Two days later, Oven discovered to his horror that Katakuri had somehow managed to coerce the ship doctor into sewing his mouth down to average human width. There was much panicking amongst the Charlotte children, and Brother Peros ended up quite convinced it was his fault as the eldest child.
Katakuri was having none of that of course, and regretted nothing. Mama just found her second son's conviction amusing and her cheery laughter rang out throughout the ship.
A month later, Katakuri's condition was stable and everyone finally got used to the twin scars on his face. Katakuri became Cracker's favorite older brother, and in the many following years Katakuri gets to hold his baby siblings Zuccotto and Brulee and Broye as they were born, and watch them smile instead of cry. So all was well, and in Katakuri's opinion the temporary discomfort that resulted in his facial scars was totally worth it.
Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13279053/1/As-a-Charlotte-Child