The Devil Fruit

Vivi didn't give much thought to fate for the most part. She'd actually go so far as to say that fate wasn't a common belief in Alabasta; when one was in the desert, all they had were their wits and their will, and their future was their's to determine. But there were times when Vivi thought about destiny, and how certain things seem to fall into place easier than one might've thought. The Straw Hats made a pretty convincing case in that regard.

The past few days or so had been something of a blur for Vivi. After the fiasco with the whale (privately, Vivi was glad they could leave the animal alone), and the encounter with the Straw Hats, Vivi had been thankful that they could maybe bring in a decent bounty to the bosses. It would've given her a chance to ascend the ranks further, and hopefully help her cause. Suffice to say, things didn't end up that simple.

One thing had lead to another, and now Vivi and the pirates were sitting squarely atop Baroque Works' hit list, really just for a slip of the tongue. They had something resembling a plan, even it was rather thrown together. And now, Igaram was dressed as her (not well, mind you, but the sentiment was what mattered), in an attempt to draw away any prying eyes while Vivi took the indirect route to Alabasta with the Straw Hats.

Were the circumstances different, Vivi would've laughed at the attempt, but alas, that wasn't the case; if anything, the prospect of her long time friend and protector risking his own life like this sat ill with her. She also wasn't sure what to make of the Straw Hats just yet; true, they seemed capable enough, and didn't have anything against Vivi or Alabasta (heck, the captain had fought the swordsman when he thought the swordsman was attacking them) but Igaram seemed to trust them, and Vivi supposed that was enough for her. Besides, it wasn't like she had much more options at this point. She was just about to leave with the others, when Igaram stopped her.

"One more thing, princess," Igaram said, stepping forward.

"What is it?"

"There's something you should have," Igaram answered, as he reached into his satchel, "I'll admit, your father doesn't know that I took this." Vivi watched as he pulled out an object wrapped in linen; upon unwrapping it, it revealed what looked like a blue fruit. It had two curly stems that almost resembled horns, and had skin that reminded Vivi of blue scales with spirals on them.

"Is that a... Devil Fruit?" Vivi asked, her eyes widening, to which her guardian nodded.

"I'm afraid we don't know what kind," Igaram explained, "We acquired it some years ago, when you were still young, but couldn't decide just what to do with it. Regardless of what the fruit actually does, the notion of Crocodile potentially getting a hold of it sat ill with me, so I absconded with it before we left. I think it's best that I give it to you." With that, he handed the fruit over to Vivi, who tentatively took it in her hands. As she stared down at it, a strange sensation rippled through her, as if the fruit itself was gazing up at her, waiting for her to eat it. As she looked at down at it, her head began to grow heavy...

"Princess?" she heard Igaram's voice suddenly say. Shaking her head clear, she looked back up.

"Why... Why are you giving this to me?" Vivi asked softly.

"For whatever you may decide to use it for," Igaram said, "Whether you want to sell it, give it away, or eat it yourself, it is your decision." Vivi looked down at the fruit again, before sighing.

"Thank you," she said with a nod, "I promise, whatever I end up doing, I'll make good use of it." After stowing the fruit in her own bag, she offered a hand, which Igaram took.

"See you soon," she said, to which her guardian just nodded firmly.

As Vivi watched the boat he was on sail into the night, she let herself smile. She knew that she was right; before she knew it, she would be back home in Alabasta, with her family and friends. Something in her told her that things would ultimately turn out alright….

(A short while later…)

That's how it should've been, anyway.

It had all happened so fast, Vivi almost felt like she was in a dream. She half-expected to wake up in short order back at the palace, with Carue next to her, and with everyone as it should've been. She'd go about her day, write to Khoza and Toto, and all would be right with the world. But reality was cruel just by nature, and that wasn't what happened. She was now standing at the railing, watching Whiskey Peak disappear into the horizon.

"So, what's this about Little Garden?" The hatted captain of the pirate crew Vivi now had for traveling companions asked.

"I don't know," Nami said, folding her arms, as she leaned on the railing beside Vivi, "We just got into the Grand Line. All we have to go off now is the Log Pose."

"I mean, 'Little Garden' sounds like a nice enough place," Usopp said, "How bad could it be?"

"The fact that you just said that means it'll probably be very bad," Sanji said, gesturing with his cigarette.

"And we wouldn't have to worry about any of this if our idiot captain didn't smash the Eternal Pose!" Nami said, glaring at Luffy.

"What?" Luffy said, with a shrug, "Isn't the whole point of an adventure to-" He didn't get to finish as he was sent careening across the deck by Nami's fist.

"You don't get to decide things unilaterally like that!" She said angrily, "What you do affects us too, ya' know!"

"Come on," Zoro said, as he opened one eye, "You're making a big deal out of nothing. We just go to a couple islands, deal with whoever's there, and-" Much like Luffy, he didn't get a chance to finish, as Nami put her shoe in his face.

"Don't you start talking!" She hissed, "If you hadn't…"

As they continued to bicker, Vivi wasn't really listening, as she lowered herself down to the deck, and curled her legs in. Carue was nestled next to her, his wing around her shoulders, but his attempts to comfort her proved to have little effect. All that time they spent on Whiskey Peak as Frontier Agents, and it all came crashing down in an instant. It was almost farcical, but Vivi didn't feel like laughing.

Her hand fell down to her satchel, where the Devil Fruit was stashed. She didn't know much about Devil Fruits herself, beside what she heard, but she knew how they could run the gauntlet in terms of powers. Heck, just today she encountered four different Devil Fruit users with radically different abilities. Vivi initially wasn't sure whether or not to tell the pirates about it, but she figured they'd probably find out on their own before long, and then it would look like Vivi was keeping a big secret from them. And they had still helped her at this point, and she supposed that warranted at least some measure of trust.

At any rate, it didn't matter, as she found herself staring at the fruit. She had taken it out without even realizing it, a thought that made her nervous. Like others, she had heard the stories of Devil Fruits having wills of their own, and how they'd try and entice people into eating them. Now Vivi wasn't superstitious or anything, but as she stared at the Devil Fruit, the noise around her began to fade away. A certain drowsiness began to overtake Vivi as she found her eyes going out of focus, as she leaned down towards the fruit…

"Wait a tick, that's a Devil Fruit!" Vivi was jolted out of her trance, and looked up to see Usopp leaning down next to her.

"Say what?" Zoro asked, as he sat up, "Someone has a Devil Fruit?"

"What's this about a Devil Fruit?" Nami asked, as she came down to join them. Looking around, Vivi saw just about the entire crew now standing around her, and with the Sea Cat out of the bag, she figured there was no point in hiding, so she sighed, and rose to her feet.

"I got this from Igaram," she explained, "Before…" She trailed off slightly, as she averted her gaze.

"Well, how about that? Just a couple days in the Grand Line, and I've already run into more Devil Fruits and Devil Fruit users in my entire life up until this point," Sanji said, as he folded his arms. Luffy walked over, and before Vivi even noticed him, he took the Devil Fruit from her hands.

"Hmm," he said, cocking his head, "Looks a lot different from the one I ate."

"Of course it would," Nami said, standing beside him, "Even I know that no two Devil Fruits are alike, after all."

"How long have you had that thing?" Usopp asked.

"Well, I only just got it from Igaram, but he said my father had it in storage for some years now until they figured out what to do with it," Vivi answered, as she took the fruit back from Luffy, "None of them seemed to know what kind it was, though."

"So, what do we do it with it then?" Luffy asked, putting his hands behind his head.

"Well, normally people eat Devil Fruits," Usopp said.

"I sure as hell ain't eating that," Zoro said, with a frown, "I like being able to swim."

"Same here," Sanji said, as he tossed his spent cigarette over his shoulder into the water, "I don't think we should start stacking the crew with Devil Fruit users." Eyes shifted over to Usopp, but he quickly held up his hands.

"I ain't a gambler," he said, "For all we know, that Devil Fruit could have the power to break reality."

"Hey, I already got one," Luffy said with a shrug, "So I don't care what we do with it."

"Screw eating it!" Everyone flinched at the sudden shouting, as Nami stood over Vivi, her eyes literally glowing.

"Devil Fruits can go for millions!" she said, "Strike that, hundreds of millions! Hell, they could go for billions! We could sell that and be set for years!"

"Who would we even sell it to?" Usopp asked.

"I'm sure we could find someone somewhere who can give us money for it!" Nami said, as she started to bounce slightly on her feet, practically salivating at the thought of what they could get for that. She kept talking after that, but Vivi stopped paying attention, as she stared down at the fruit. As she did, the experiences of the past few days came back to her.

Igaram had been lost trying to protect her; she didn't even know what had happened to Mr. 9 and Miss Monday (Vivi then realized she had never learned their actual names, and that made her feel bad), but she had to assume the worst knowing Baroque Works. And Vivi hadn't been able to stop any of it. Now, she knew how to fight with her peacock slashers, but that was the extent of her fighting prowess. She was currently just a simple princess, far away from her kingdom, with nothing but her peacock slashers, and her allies, consigned to island hopping to make it back to her homeland. It all lead itself to one particular observation: she was weak.

But she didn't have to be.

Vivi wasn't sure where those thoughts came from; they didn't feel natural to her, like something she would otherwise think of. Growing up, power, or the acquisition of it, was never something she thought too hard about. But the thoughts didn't stop there, as she looked down at the Devil Fruit. She could have all the power she could ever have wanted, and more; the power to protect Alabasta, to stop the civil war, and maybe even defeat Crocodile, and all she had to do was take a bite. Images started to flash in her head; images of a massive dragon bathing the forces of Baroque Works in fire, all the enemies of Alabasta being turned to ash, and even the desert itself being turned to glass. Clenching her teeth, Vivi felt tears well in her eyes, but she couldn't discern where they were coming from, or what they see about.

At this point, the Straw Hat's talking was nothing more than white noise. They might have been talking to her directly, but Vivi wasn't listening. Her mind then became fuzzy, as her body moved on its own, leaning down. With that, Vivi closed her eyes, opened her mouth, and sank her teeth into the fruit.

Note: So, Vivi's eaten the fruit. Things can only go from here.

I debated how much to show leading up to Vivi actually chomping into the fruit. I didn't think we had to do any retreads with the scene (such as Robin's first appearance, let alone Luffy and Zoro's brief brawl). So I just focused on one scene of Igaram giving the fruit to Vivi, and then another one of Vivi showing the fruit to the Straw Hats, before finally eating it.

Be sure to leave a comment. I want to also reiterate that I am writing this with Warmachine375's approval.