Leap of Faith

"We are afraid to care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all." – Eleanor Roosevelt

Rights go to their creators, blah blah blah. J.K... I love Oda-san for creating this series and taking me and other on a wonderful adventure.

This is my first ever fanfic so expect horrible things. Well… let's hope it isn't that bad. A few of my friends make these so I thought 'Meh. What the hell.' The first few chapters are T, the later chapter might get kinda lemony so I'm rating the whole story M, just in case. I'm gonna try to be close to the source material but ill edge out here and there, especially at the end since the series hasn't quite ended yet. Anyway, flames accepted and ignored, reviews loved and noticed.

Ch. 1 Of meetings and sighs

A few weeks earlier…

Sir Crocodile of the Seven Pirate Warlords had just been defeated in the desert kingdom Alabasta and the Strawhats and had begun their next voyage into the sea when a woman strolled on the deck.

"About time we set sail." She said stretching out in the sun.

"What the-""Intruder!" "A beautiful woman~!" "How did she get here?" "Huh?" The entire crew exclaimed.

Raising her hands she said. "Don't worry. I'm not here to fight. I need to talk to Strawhat Luffy."

Zoro spat on the deck putting a hand to his katana. "You were that baka-Crocodiles secondhand woman, what do you want with our captain?"

Luffy walked over waving down Zoro. "Oy, its fine. I remember her." He looked at her with a frown, "Whadaya want?"

She looked at him with her deep piercing blue eyes. "You better… take responsibility. You saved my life" She said to the young dumbstruck Captain and equally struck crew.

"You're weird, what do you want?" he said back looking peeved.

She looked straight into his eyes and said without blinking, "I want to join you crew."

Now…

Luffy and the others had just returned to the ocean after defeating the Lightning fruit user Enel and saving the sky island of Skypia. Basking in the sunlight, the pirates are relaxing, happy to be floating in real water.

Robin's POV

She hadn't learned what she had hoped in Skypia, but she was content. The rest of the crew trusted here much now and she began to feel the stirrings of happiness deep down inside. She'd cut herself off from such emotions so long ago, she'd forgotten how wonderful it felt. To be cared for and worried about.

The crew asked her for advice as well. Chopper and her had developed somewhat of a kinship when it came to knowledge, her as a historian and archeologist, he as a doctor. Nami, as the only other female on the ship, had a mutual bond over everything feminine and an equal distaste for some of the others antics. Zoro was still a bit brooding around her and untrusting but was slowly coming around. Usopp was always doing something odd and she liked to creep him out sometimes with her fascination with the macabre. Sanji…. Well between his constant flirting and his…. well… constant flirting. She got annoyed quickly, but he made up for it with beyond excellent cooking.

Then there was the Captain. Luffy… After he had saved her from the crumbling vault beneath Albasta, she did not know what to think about him. Even after being poisoned and on the verge of death by blood loss, he had saved her from being killed when she had lost all hope. Luffy with his broad shoulder and fierce determination had instantly attracted her to him. She had at times even entertained the notion of a relationship with her captain. But the gap in their ages almost instantly stopped any notion of attraction. Unlike Zoro who had similar characteristics, Luffy also had an infectious personality. Drawing everyone to him, making her laugh harder than she had in…. in….

She began to cry.

After so many years of running from the World Government, she felt she had a home once more. In the time since the Government condemned her homeland of Ohara into fiery oblivion when she was 8 years old. So many nights in the jungle and forests, stealing from people just to survive…

And now she need only ask for food, and Sanji would bring it to her. Her crew...her friends…. were there for her.

She lay down in her hammock and drank a cool glass of water. Sighing, taking in the heat and happiness, she fell asleep.

Luffy's POV

"Meat! Meat! Meat! Meat!" chanted Luffy, Usopp and Chopper. Banging their hands on the table.

"Oy oy! Stop being such idiots! Hitting the table won't make the food come out any quicker!" Sanji shouted at them. "Meat! Meat! Meat!" they replied in unison.

He was starved. He had been napping hard all day and figured he deserved a pile of food for his hard work. Then again, he had been having odd dreams lately. Some about being the King of the Pirates, and others about Robin… This confused him. He never had dreams about his other nakama, like Usopp or Nami. All of the dreams about her were calming and happy to, as if… The smell of cooked boar and fish wafted into his nose.

"Yaaaa! Food!" He exclaimed as Sanji put a huge pile of food onto the creaking table.

Before Usopp and Chopper could even grab one leg, Luffy opened his mouth and gulped down half of the tables' food. "Hey! Luffy! Save some for the rest of us!" Usopp shouted, smacking him on the head annoyed.

"Chopper! Grab the food and run!" Usopp yelled, grabbing Luffy by the arms and mouth.

Chopper grabbed what was left and ran, with Luffy stretching his arm for the food right behind him. When suddenly the food Luffy swallowed, finally entered his stomach. Snapping his arm back into place Luffy sighed, content.

"Oy! Usopp! What are you doing? Let me go." Luffy said annoyed. Usopp let him go cautiously. Ready to spring for him if he tried to eat the rest of the food.

"That was good Sanji!" he said happily patting his stomach. "Next time, more meat and less waiting!"

"Easy for you to say." Sanji said grumpily, lighting a cigarette. "You don't have to cook it all."

Usopp's stomach started to growl. "Hey Chopper, I guess now we can ea-… Chopper!" Usopp noticed at last that Chopper had eaten nearly all tht was left of the food. Chopper looked at him and said guiltily, "Ummm. Sorry. It was just so goooooood." Usopp's stomach rumbled unhappily, "Telling me it was delicious doesn't help…" he said sadly.

Luffy, now full for the moment walked back up the deck so he could sit at his favorite spot at the helm of the Merry Go. On his way he noticed Robin sleeping peacefully in a hammock. Her... ummm… ample bust heaving up and down with her breathing. He starred mesmerized as she slept.

Ever since he started dreaming about her, he had started noticing more and more things about her. How she acted around everyone, what she liked to do for fun. Every time his head wasn't thinking about food, it wandered to Nico Robin. It also made him happy when she was smiling and the tinkling of her laugh made him happy as well. Almost as wonderful as personality, was her body. With straight silky black hair draped around her neck and shoulders, a slim figure, and drool-worthy cleavage, she was easily the most beautiful and interesting woman he had ever met in his adventures. He even at times, wondered about the possibility of a bigger relationship, but he doubted she thought of him in that way. She probably thought he was a childish idiot. There was an age difference to, so she might think of him only as like a younger brother.

She began to stir. Luffy hurriedly tried to walk away but Robin saw him.

Robin's POV

"Hello there captain-san." She said rubbing her eyes.

"Uh, hi Robin-san." He said edging away slightly.

"What are you doing over here?" She asked quietly, noticing his blush.

"I was, uh, looking for the deck!" he stammered. She continued looking at him. "Umm, here it is. I found the deck." He said spluttered quickly.

"Yes, you found it." She said amused, noting his eyes darting away from her cleavage as he continued walking backwards.

"Well I have to go. Nami wanted to talk to me about where we're going next, so… bye!" Luffy turned around and walked speedily back into the galley.

She watched him disappear into the ship. He had been acting very oddly lately. She had noticed a few of his glances here and there for the past while, but this is the first time he ever watched her as she slept… well... that she knew about anyway.

She would have to keep an eye on her Luffy-cha-…san…

Well there it is. The first chapter of a hopefully good fanfic. Reviews yet again welcome! =3