Where You Belong

You Have To Stay Awake

Lexi thought about that late night chat with Law for several days afterwards, finally giving up her whole plan to try to avoid him as much as possible. Look what that ended up with, a small makeup session against the wall in her room. Kind of counterintuitive.

She thought about his offer, how he wanted her to go with them to his world. It scared her, honestly. Which, she thought, is what any normal person would feel, considering some 'alien,' by all definitions, was asking her to leave everything she knew and loved behind to possibly live a better and more exciting life. What if it all ended up killing her in the end? What if she met some brutal demise?

Everything Law mentioned about his world sounded pretty dangerous.

...All the same...

Such adventures Penguin and Shachi spoke of. The fun they boasted about and the tales, which she was sure were exaggerated just a little, were all so full of laughter and pride. They truly loved their lives, of being pirates conquering the seas, of having nothing to hold them down.

Law, too, expressed this similar opinion, albeit a bit more subtly. When she'd asked him to describe his world, he admitted it was cruel, yes, but that there was a treasure to be found at the end of the...Grand Line, or whatever sea he'd called it. He recounted his dream of becoming pirate king, the one to rule over the seas and do whatever it was he'd like.

How she wished that could be a reality.

Doing whatever you wanted? With no boundaries? Nothing to hold you back? Now, that was something Lexi could get behind. Too bad in her world there was always a catch. Always someone or something in the way or attaining what it was you wanted most. Nothing came for free, after all.

So...

Maybe his offer wasn't that ridiculous? She shook her head. Who was she to even know if he was telling the truth? They were pirates. They probably lied and stole and killed for a living.

...But he'd said those things with such certainty, such passion. Shachi and Penguin too. If those were all lies, they were excellently crafted ones. And she didn't think Bepo, such an adorable bear, would lie to her. And he'd agreed, even supplying his own adventures in his search of a female partner.

Lexi sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the living room. Law must have heard this, as he glanced up from reading one of her textbooks.

"Something the matter?" He questioned. Lexi shook her head, but Brittany, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Penguin and Shachi as they played the game of Life, beat her to it.

"Psh, she's just grumpy. I would know. That's her grumpy face." The black-haired woman teased, sending Lexi her best winning smile. The brunette narrowed her eyes.

"I am not grumpy." She defended, crossing her arms in a pout.

"Sure you're not." She waved away Lexi's excuse, reaching over to spin the spinner in the middle of the board when it was her turn.

"What? 10 again?" Shachi cried in outrage, watching as Brittany jumped ahead of his green car on the pathway. "Isn't there a rule about that?" He demanded.

"Only if one of you is a police officer. And what careers do your cards say?" One eyebrow rose as she looked pointedly at their sides of the board.

"Hairdresser." Penguin muttered, glaring at the offending card. Shachi looked sullenly at his own, glaring at the man pictured with glasses in front of a computer.

"Accountant."

"That's right. And I'm a doctor. Which means I can spin as high of a number as I want." She concluded triumphantly, picking a life tile from the pile of unclaimed ones. "So no complaining."