AN: I'm not really sure what this is... An inner dialog from Nami I guess, trying to figure out the Captain. A stream of thought about our favorite rubber maniac. Now, I was having trouble with the spacing so the OO is the break in her thoughts. /weird but the only thing FF would let me use. Sorry./

Disclaimer: I'm too poor to own anything. /sniff/ I don't even have any of the manga.

O.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.O

Innocent.

OO

That's what he is.

No matter what he's seen, what's happened, he is still innocent.

Something I haven't been since I was a child.

How does he do it? How does he remain so clean in a world where the rot is everywhere?

OO

I suppose, that's what I admire most about him.

Yes, he is strong.

Yes, he is determined.

Yes, his will is unbreakable.

But it's his innocence that draws me to him.

And it's what keeps me away.

OO

I'm tainted.

Stained by what I've seen, what I've done, what's been done to me.

I don't want to be the one to taint his innocence.

He's done so much for me I won't be the one to shatter his world.

So I stay away.

Keep my distance.

OO

And, yet, he calls to me.

Smiles like we have no cares, like I'm not tainted by life.

Like, maybe, there is still some part of me that's untouched.

No.

Like, even if I'm stained, he still sees me as worth something.

Not just something, everything.

OO

Laughing, he pulls me close.

And instead of me tainting him, he cleanses me.

With a smile he pulls back and places his treasure on my head.

My treasure, he whispers.

And I don't know if he means the hat… or me.

Another smile, a light caress, and he's gone.

But his presence lingers.

And I don't feel so tainted anymore.

OO

Innocent.

That's what Luffy is.

O.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.O.o.o.o.o.O

AN: Hope you liked it. Now, hit that sexy little button over there and let me know what you thought.