The Anatomy of Cross-Dimensional Pirates (One-shot Collection)

Decisions, Decisions

Law glanced up at the brunette walking beside him through the market square, nose deep in one of her history books. It was a miracle she hadn't ran into someone already, seeing as she was so engrossed in her book. The only thing keeping her from doing so was Law himself, holding onto the sleeve of her shirt to pull her out of the way of oncoming people. Sighing, she shook his head and lead them through the square, list of needed items in hand.

The log pose for this island didn't take too long to set, only a few hours, and so Law had decided to stock up only lightly, seeing as the trip there hadn't taken very long to begin with. They were still mostly stocked up with supplies and food. Still, he had wanted to get out of the sub for awhile, feeling decidedly cramped in the metal walls.

Once again, he had to pull the brunette out of the way of another woman walking by in a hurry, carrying baskets of apples on her arms. To his surprise, Lexi deftly snatched one from the basket without looking up from her book, and to her credit the other woman didn't even seem to notice the theft, walking further away with purpose in her step.

"You should have told me if you were hungry. We could have stopped somewhere." Law commented, grinning at her petty criminal activity. He'd noticed an increase in Lexi's attempt to steal small things from the towns they visited.

"Hmm." She replied, holding the apple by the stem in her teeth so she could turn the page in her book. "It's just a snack."

"A snack you felt the need to steal?"

She shrugged, not really caring either way. "One apple's not gonna do much harm. She had, like, dozens more in that basket. Besides, it makes no difference whether I take it from her or steal it from the tree."

"My, how much you've changed since we first met." Law laughed under his breath, causing Lexi to look up from her book for the first time and give him that adorable head tilt of confusion.

"How so?"

Maneuvering them through another tight crowd, they were able to squeeze through to a less populated side of the market. Law looked pointedly at the apple she hadn't eaten yet. "I'd say you're beginning to embrace the fact that you're now a criminal in the eyes of the law."

Again, she gave a noncommittal shrug. "Well, if I'm already wanted, why not add a little more to my bounty, eh?"

Law laughed again, glad to see that she wasn't so opposed to the idea of having the title of 'pirate.' To say he was relieved was an understatement. At least she wouldn't get the idea of leaving the crew.

They walked in silence, Lexi eating her apple while still reading her book on this world's history, and Law paying for the remaining supplies they needed. The trip didn't take long, and by a little past lunchtime, they'd completed their chore, and were heading back to the submarine.

Having finished her first apple, tossing the core into a nearby garbage, (because littering was apparently listed higher than stealing in her idea of morals) Lexi deftly stole another from a fruit stand on their way back. The man was too busy helping customer to notice, and the crowd of people worked to her advantage, blocking the sight of most others who may have happened to be watching.

Holding the bag of supplies in one hand, Law shoved the other into the pocket of his pants, lazily scanning the crowd for any Marines that might happen to be there. Though, from the short log pose time this particular island had, perhaps the Marines felt it unnecessary to station any people here, seeing as travelers could pick up and sail off again in a matter of hours.

His eyes wandering around, he almost missed the way Lexi's apple began to change in her hand. The previously smooth, shiny red texture shifted into a matte, patterned blue color, and the stem lengthened, curling in on itself delicately. Fascinated by the sight, as he'd never before seen the rebirth process of a devil fruit, he could tear his eyes away.

Lexi, however, seemed completely oblivious to the fact that her apple had changed into something of a much more serious nature, as her attention was focused solely on her blasted book.

Law's eyes widened as she began to bring the fruit up to her mouth to take a bite from, not realizing the implications of eating it, now that it was no longer a normal apple.

Lexi was startled, dropping her book entirely, when Law's hand snatched up her wrist to stop her from eating her snack. "What the hell?" She asked, glaring at him in irritation.

"Think long and hard before you take a bite of that." He said cryptically, pointedly nodding towards her hand. Turning to see what he meant, she stared at the now-blue fruit with the strange patterning in her hands.

"What...is this? I swear I grabbed an apple."

Law stooped to pick up her forgotten book, placing it in the bag in his hands. He began walking again, glancing behind them in case anyone might have witnessed what Lexi now had. "That would be a devil fruit."

Her eyes widened in wonder, turning the fruit this way and that as she examined the famed item. "How'd I get it though? Wasn't that a normal fruit stand?"

Law shrugged, he himself examining it for any identifiable marks. "There can only be one of each devil fruit in the world." He saw her confused look, and the question on her lips, but rushed to stop that line of thinking. "No one knows why, or how, so there's no use asking."

She resolutely shut her mouth, now a little deflated. Law continued anyways.

"When a devil fruit user dies, their fruit is reborn into another one somewhere in the world. There's no telling where one will appear, or which one will become the new fruit. In this case, the apple you were about to eat."

"So...if I ate it, I would get the same powers as whoever had it last?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm...well which one is it?"

Law grinned. "That's the thing, there's no way to tell, really, unless you know what specific ones look like. I don't recognize that one, and it would be nearly impossible to determine which devil fruit user died in order for it to be reborn. Unless we found an archive of the known devil fruits and compared, there's no way to answer that."

Lexi pursed her lips, staring at the thing in her hands for several moments.

"If you choose to eat it, I won't stop you. Just keep in mind that there's no reversing your decision, you'll lose the ability to swim, and it'll draw a bigger target on your back from both marines and pirates alike." Law supplied, still keeping an eye out for other people around them. The road leading back to the harbor was practically empty, however, seeing as most were in the market square.

Lexi cocked her head to the side, thinking hard over her choices. A boost of power, granted, with no idea what it would be. The inability to swim. More people would be after her. A lot of things to weigh.

With a grimace, she shook her head and placed the fruit in the bag with the rest of the supplies. "Nah, I don't want that headache. Too many unknowns."

Law expected this outcome, and secured the fruit deeper into the bag, so no one would see as they made their way back to the sub. They were interrupted by Lexi's stomach grumbling loudly, and she pouted.

"I'm still hungry though..."

"Ask the chef to make you something when we get back."

She sighed, trudging on as they made their way closer to the harbor. Hopefully they had good stuff being prepared for lunch.