Here's a LuNa fanfic for you guys! Might be a bit OOC. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Ch.1. It all started with ice cream.

Nami hated it. She hated all of it but at the same time she didn't. She hated those puppy dog eyes of his and that look of absolute sadness- complete with a frown and sunken shoulders that made her want to hug him and tell him everything would be fine. And she hated the fact that she could not say no to them.
That's what got her into this mess in the first place. She really needed to learn to say no to him.

At least for this one time.

It all started when Luffy asked her to come and get ice cream with him. Not like a date- she doubted he even knew what the word meant, much less ask her- but because he was not allowed in the store. Apparently, he had instigated an 'ice cream fight' in the store (more like it was dare by his older brother Ace, knowing Luffy would do anything if it came by the promise of an 'adventure') and since then, he was absolutely not welcome there.

"Luffy, I told you... I have an important assignment- hell, even you have that! It's due tomorrow! Are you done with it?" Nami asked him on the phone while pacing around in her room.

"No, but..." Luffy started as Nami cut him off.

"No buts, Luffy. I am not going anywhere with you unless you complete it. Ask someone else to go with you".

"But they're all busy! Zoro is out with Robin and Sanji has work at the restaurant, Franky is at the garage. Ussop is helping Chopper with something and Brook is off on a tour"

"No is no, Luffy" Nami said, sternly.

"But Namiii... I really want ice cream... It's a really hot day today..." Luffy said in a sad tone and she could imagine his sad face and even though he wasn't there, she knew she was going to say yes.

"Ugh! Fine but promise me that you'll complete it when we get back". Nami said, shaking her head at her own weakness.

"Okay I will, but could you bring your assignment? I don't really know what we're supposed to do" Luffy asked, oblivious to Nami banging her head on the table.

"Fine. I will. Meet you there in half an hour" she replied.

"Thanks, Nami! You're the best!" Luffy said, no doubt flashing his huge smile.
She sighed and said her goodbyes.

At the store

"Nami! Over here!" Luffy yelled from a table arranged outside the store, waving at her. She waved back. "Hey Luffy. So which flavour do you want?" She asked him, already knowing the answer. "A scoop of each!"

"Okay... Be right back. We can discuss the assignment while eating" Nami said although she doubted he would pay her any attention while eating.
"Okay!" Luffy replied with way more enthusiasm than needed.

She sighed again. It was going to be a long hot day but she supposed having ice cream on a day like this one would be nice. Maybe Luffy's ideas weren't all so bad. She wouldn't admit this to anyone but she did enjoy her time with him. There was something about him that drew her to him. His simple mindedness and sunny nature was what most people liked about him.

Also the fact that one could easily see through his lies, made it easy to trust him. But that didn't mean you were out of danger. He loved doing childish things that most would find stupid but he most definitely was not. Well, not that stupid anyways. He had his moments which made you question the possibility of stuff happening if he actually started using his brain instead of going with his instincts.

He was okay looking but could do so much better if he tried putting a bit of an effort into it. He was skinny yet built and she had to admit that those abs were absolutely sex- whoa! Where did that come from?! She mentally slapped herself. She could not afford falling for him, especially when he (probably) did not know anything about 'love'- except for the friendship kind.

Her chain of thoughts was broken as she neared their table and Luffy already had stars in his eyes, saying, "that looks delicious!".
She set her own cup down and handed him his. "Okay then" Nami said, pulling a chair from the table "let's get started". She got into her chair and opened her notebook.

She had a spoonful and started "This assignment is fairly easy, mostly focusing on chapters 1 to 4. So make sure you go through all the reference books and get stuff right."
She looked up from her notebook and her suspicions were proven correct as Luffy wolfed down his ice cream and wasn't even pretending to listen to her. She sighed and flicked his forehead. "Ow! What was that for?" Luffy asked, not knowing his mistake.

"Pay attention, Luffy!" Nami replied, getting more and more annoyed at the moment. "But you said it was easy." "Yes, but it's also important. And you can't really write anything if you don't know what to write about" Nami replied. She was really close to punching him.

But she also knew that he wouldn't be able to pay attention unless he was done eating so she decided to wait and chose another topic which was related.

"Luffy, remember that this time, we're supposed to write this on paper and not on our laptops. It's our punishment, remember?"

Apparently, the teacher was fed up with the silly, repetitive and pathetic excuse for lies which were the answer to the question of not doing their homework. Most of the 'excuses' were related to the malfunctioning of their laptops, computers, printers, etc. So the teacher decided to let the students write it on paper, leaving no space for excuses (although she was sure that some people would still come up with them anyways).

Luffy nodded, as if he was really listening. Nami realised that he was staring at her ice cream and before she could do anything, his hand was already in her bowl and when she slapped his hand, the bowl was on her papers and so was the ice cream.

Luffy visibly gulped and was sure he was going to die that day. All Nami saw was red and could calm down only after beating the crap out of Luffy.
She sighed and picked up her now wet and stained papers, courtesy of her chocolate ice cream. Instead of anger, what Luffy saw in her eyes was sadness. And he hated it. He wanted her to smile again. And he would do anything to correct his mistake and make that sadness go away.

He went to her and said "Nami, I'm really sorry"

"It's okay...you obviously did not do that on purpose" she replied.

"But I still want to help you correct it" he said, eyes full of determination. She sighed "I've been working on that for days, Luffy".

"I'll write it all again for you." He said, not catching the surprise in her features.

She shook her head. "The teacher will know the difference in our handwriting. Besides, you have your own paper to work on". Nami replied.

Luffy's shoulders sunk as he realised Nami was right. But he really wanted to help her.
"But there is one thing we can do" Nami began. Luffy instantly perked up. "Do what?"

"We can write it together if you want. You work on yours, I'll work on mine and we can help each other too".

Luffy smiled. The idea didn't seem bad. "Okay then...when can we start?" He asked, excited.

"How about right now?" Nami suggested. They could not afford to waste time. It was a 10-15 page paper and Luffy hadn't even started yet.

"Awesome! We'll stop by my place and get my stuff" Luffy said, already in good spirits. Nami nodded and Luffy finished his ice cream even faster than before (apparently, it was possible).

At Nami's apartment

"So did you get the basic outline of what we're supposed to write?" Nami asked Luffy, hoping for a 'yes'. He really was paying attention this time and he nodded.
Nami smiled "Good. So lets get to work. You can start on your introduction but have a look at the text first. Ask me if you have any doubt".

He nodded again and began working on his paper, determined as ever. He did not want to let Nami down again. Nami watched in amazement as he read his text in full concentration. She had never seen him like this before.

She shook her head and got back to doing her own work. She had a lot to write too.

She was so into writing the paper that she did not realise that Luffy was staring at her. After some time, she realized that he was being way too quiet and glanced up to see what he was doing.

She found herself staring back at him. "Hey what's wrong? Why did you stop?" She asked him.
"Pretty" Luffy replied.

"Huh?" She asked.
"Your handwriting is pretty, just like you" Luffy murmured.

Nami could feel her face heat up as she realized what he said and the fact that he was very close to her right now. His eyes shifted from her paper to her and his dark eyes bore into her brown ones, beckoning her.

'Nami! What the hell are you doing?!' Nami mentally scolded herself but she could not stop leaning into him, closer and closer to his face.
She wanted to but at the same time, she didn't.

Fortunately (or unfortunately; take your pick) their moment was abrupted by Luffy's phone which had started ringing, pulling them out of their trance.

"Hey, Ace" Luffy spoke "I'm at Nami's right now...might be for the whole night". Suddenly, Luffy could feel his face heat up at what his brother said and promptly replied "it's not like that! We're just working on a paper!" Luffy yelled at his brother.

Nami had a blush growing on her cheeks as she realised what Ace had probably said.
Ace laughed and replied "yeah sure, Luffy"

"Bye, Ace." Luffy said, ending the call. But he was sure he heard "use protection!"
Luffy sighed and kept his phone away.

"Sorry about that" he said. "Let's continue". He seated himself at the table and began writing, not wanting to talk about what had happened.

"Uh...yeah...okay" Nami replied, still going through the conversation.

She had forgotten about what she was about to do before the call happened and instead her mind focused on the phone call. She began writing her paper and since she just had to copy it from the original, stained one, she had plenty of time to think.

'Luffy blushed...so he obviously caught what Ace was implying...but I never thought...a child like Luffy would know this...he never shows any interest...but then again, he has Ace as an older brother so he must've had the 'talk' with him...' Nami was lost in her thoughts but then she heard Luffy's stomach growl...and knew he could go no further without eating.

"Come on, Luffy. Let's get something to eat" she said, getting up and stretching. He instantly perked up at the mention of food and followed her into the kitchen.

"Sorry I don't have much. Just yesterday's lasagne but Nojiko's not here today so you can have her share." Nami said, heating the lasagne and setting the table. Luffy kept banging his spoon on his plate and stopped only when he was served.

Nami didn't realise that she was staring at Luffy until he looked up from his plate and asked her if everything was alright.
"Oh no...it's fine...I was just thinking..." Nami replied.

"It's about the phone call isn't it" Luffy stated "I'm sorry if you were offended...Ace can get carried away sometimes..."

"It's not about that..." Nami started "well, it is about that, just related. I never thought you knew about stuff like that" Nami mused.

Luffy nodded "I understand"

"You do?" Nami questioned, surprised. It wasn't everyday that Luffy was being serious and not stupid and was actually understanding stuff.

"I know I act childish but it's not like I'm completely clueless" He said, getting up and placing his dish in the sink. Nami too, got up and made her way towards the sink.

"It's not like that, Luffy...it's just that I never thought I'd get to see that side of you"

"I do think about it sometimes..." Luffy said, trailing off..."And you might be the only one who gets to see that side of me" he mused. He said it in such a low voice that she might not have caught that if she wasn't paying him attention. Nami was speechless and could only stare at him with her mouth open.

"Anyways!" Luffy said, shifting away from the counter. "Let's get back to work. We still have a lot to do". He flashed her his smile and made his way into her room, acting like nothing had happened.

Nami sighed and decided to follow his lead. He was right; they did have a lot to do and she could sort this out later."

After a few hours

Ah! Finally done!" Luffy said, getting up from his seat and stretching. Nami smiled, who was sitting beside him.

"Good work, Luffy" she glanced at the watch. "Done in 5 hours. Not bad"

" It's all thanks to you!" Luffy replied, smiling.
"Nah...you worked hard. So what do you want to do now? I'm not really sleepy...the coffee was way too effective"

Luffy laughed "yeah I know. I feel like I could run for miles."
"So how about a movie?" She asked, making her way into the kitchen with the now empty coffee cups.

"Okay. Sounds good" Luffy said, following her.
"go choose a movie. I'll get the pop corn" Nami said, smiling.

"So? What are we watching?" She asked, plopping down on the couch with Luffy right next to her and a bowl of pop corn in her lap.
"Transformers! They're cool" he replied, with stars in his eyes.

'Of course. What else would he choose?' Nami thought. She didn't really have a problem with it and had already seen it in the theater with their friends.

She found herself going through the day and was still thinking over the serious side of Luffy and the events that followed. She wondered what he really meant and decided to ask him then and there.

"Luffy..." she began, getting his attention.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning his head towards her.

"Are you...um...okay?" She asked, not finding a better way to put her question.

"Yeah I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You weren't really yourself today..." she trailed off.

"Oh...you noticed, huh?" He said, the cheerful Luffy gone.

"Of course I did. So tell me...what's wrong? What is it that you think about sometimes?" She asked, recalling their earlier conversation.

She couldn't really tell in the darkness, but she thought she saw Luffy's cheeks turn red.

"Luffy...do you like someone?" She asked "and I mean 'like' like, not the friend kind of like" she added.

"You mean like Zoro and Robin?" He asked.

"Yes exactly like that" Nami nodded.

"Yes..." he answered slowly.

"Then what's wrong? Just ask her out"

"But I'm afraid to ask her" Luffy frowned.

"That's all? Don't worry...just ask" she said, not asking who this person was. She'd gotten enough out of him in one night.

He nodded and got back to watching the movie.

Halfway through, Nami felt sleepy so she leaned on to Luffy with her head on his shoulder.

"Hey Nami?" Luffy started, nervousness evident in his voice.

"Hmm?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Um...would you...would you like to go and get ice cream with me sometime? You know...like a...a..." He asked and Nami looked up at him and smiled.

"Like a date?" She asked, eyebrow raised.

Too nervous to say anything, he just nodded.

"Sure" she replied, kissing him and went back to watching the movie with her head on his shoulder and their fingers entangled.

Maybe not being able to say 'no' to him wasn't that bad.

Review, maybe?