The next morning Zoro was the first one to get up, which was very unusual.

He hadn't slept well, and he'd been awake since early hours thinking about what Luffy had asked him the night before. He was trying to figure out a reason for why the captain would have any interest at all in who he had feelings for, and why he was asking questions about it all of a sudden.

It also didn't help that he couldn't get a certain someone out of his mind. Every time he tried to relax or focus on doing something, his thoughts filled with her.

He decided to get a bath while everyone else was still asleep, so he grabbed his stuff and made his way to the unoccupied washroom.

He waited for the water to run warm and undressed, then once the bath was almost full he submerged himself in the body of water. The steamy air and hot bath helped to relax his tense muscles as he closed his eyes, letting himself drift into a feeling of calmness.

Just as he started to unwind, Robin's smiling face filled his mind again, jolting him out of his relaxation. He sighed loudly in annoyance. "Damn it Robin, leave me alone for 5 minutes." He muttered to himself as he ducked his head under the water, but a sudden voice startled him, making him surface.

"What has Robin done?" Brook asked as he came in, a towel wrapped around his nether regions. Zoro raised his eyebrow at the need for a towel on the skeleton, but he had learned at this point not to question anything about the logic behind Brook.

"Nothing, it's not important." Zoro replied, trying to brush it off. Brook Laughed in response.

"If you say so, though the two of you have both been acting strange lately."

"Strange?!" Zoro choked. "What do you mean?"

Brook laughed again, longer this time. "Maybe I'm just looking too much into things… Don't worry about it."

Before Zoro could press him any further, the door opened and Sanji, Franky, Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper all came in, making a whole lot of noise.

And with that, Zoro's short lived moment of peace was well and truly over. He sighed in annoyance and grabbed a towel from the pile beside him.

While the guys were all busy in the bathroom, Robin took the opportunity to tend to the flowers on the main deck. It was peaceful and quiet – a rare thing onboard the Thousand Sunny. She enjoyed the excitement of being part of the never-boring Strawhat crew, but sometimes a moment to herself was something she treasured.

Just as she finished the last row of flowers, she heard the door behind her open, and she looked over to see Zoro coming out of the room with a pair of shorts on and a towel around his neck. He had a look of irritation on his face.

"What's with the scowl?" Robin asked, setting down the watering can. He groaned and shook his head.

"So much for being able to have a peaceful bath. I swear they know the best times to annoy me." He muttered, sitting down on the bench.

She giggled and took a seat beside him. "I take it they didn't go in there to relax then?" She guessed, and he shook his head.

"I don't think Luffy knows the meaning of 'relax', or any of the others for that matter." He added and she nodded in agreement, chuckling.

"Yeah I've noticed that. Calm isn't exactly the first word I'd choose to describe any of them." She agreed. "Well, if you want to get away from the rowdy bunch, how about we spend some time together? You can help me organise some of my books in the library if you'd like? I need to clear out the old ones or I won't have room for any of the new books I really want." She offered, fully expecting him to say no. She knew that helping her tidy up wasn't exactly the most exciting activity he could be doing.

But to her surprise, he shrugged and then nodded.

"Yeah sure, it gives me something to do." He answered, getting up. "But they all look the same to me, so you'll have to tell me which ones are good, and which aren't. I can't tell one apart from the others."

She looked up and smiled at him, thankful for him wanting to help her out. "Of course, and you never know, there might be one you want to keep for yourself. If there is, you're free to take whatever one you'd like." She offered, the smile still on her face.

He blushed. "Yeah well, I doubt it… But let's go anyway. I'm just happy to get away from the guys for a bit." Zoro replied, trying not to seem too interested.

Robin chuckled at his sour demeanour as she got up out of her seat, and Zoro followed her as they made their way to the library.

Back in the bath room, the guys decided to bring up the elephant in the room.

"Anyone else here wondering what the hell is going on between Zoro and Robin?" Franky asked, and Brook nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I've noticed a change in the atmosphere around them too." Brook added. "It's like there's some unspoken thing going on between them. Maybe even some kind of romance."

Usopp looked at them and shook his head. "I'm sure it's nothing guys, really-" He began, but Luffy couldn't hold his tongue.

"Nami thinks they like each other!" He blurted out and Usopp sighed.

"Yeah but I'm sure she's exaggerating, you know what she's like."

Franky shrugged. "I don't know, the two have been pretty cosy recently, maybe there is something going on between them. And, I mean, I don't think it's that farfetched when you think about it, after all I think they'd make an interesting couple."

"Zoro and Robin like each other?!" Chopper beamed happily as he picked up on the conversation. He already saw them like parental figures anyway, so to him it was great news.

Everyone apart from Sanji and Usopp began speculating about who they thought would be the first one out of the two of them to confess their feelings, and Franky decided to turn it into a game.

"Hey! Let's all place our bets on who we think'll be the first to cave!" Franky suggested. "My money is on Zoro. Robin is pretty good at hiding her emotions, whereas Zoro just gets all defensive. It's a lot more obvious with him, so he'll probably just come out and say it to her."

"Well I think Robin will! She knows Zoro is stubborn, so she'll take the initiative!" Chopper claimed.

Luffy grinned. "Me too! I think Robin will!" He had changed his mind now and was all for getting the two together as long as it ended with him getting unlimited food.

Brook shook his head. "I agree with Franky – as soon as Zoro gets jealous or drunk he's sure to be the one to spill. I don't think he's good at hiding things, so I think he'll tell her by accident or something."

"Wait a minute. You're all guessing who will confess, but what if you're all wrong and nothing happens?" Sanji interrupted, teeth clenched in annoyance at the thought of Zoro getting a girlfriend before him. If Zoro got into a relationship, he'd never hear the end of it. And he was not getting shown up by him of all people.

Usopp nodded. "I'm with Sanji on this one. No point making a bet about something that isn't even going to happen."

Franky shrugged. "Then you two don't need to, it's completely up to you if you decide to take part or not." He noticed the annoyed expressions on both of their faces and snickered. "Come on guys, don't get so wound up about it, it's just a bit of harmless fun!"

Luffy and Chopper nodded in agreement, and Usopp sighed.

"Fine, do whatever you want, but me and Sanji refuse to take part in these silly games."

"Suit yourself." Luffy shrugged, before turning back to the others as they began talking among themselves about how much they'd put in the betting pool.

Zoro followed close behind as Robin entered the library. He never really had a reason to go in there before, so when he saw just how many books there were, and how many of them were actually Robin's, he was taken aback.

She gave a small smile as he looked at her collection of books, a smile that seemed to be part pride and part embarrassment. "This is the wall with all my books on…" She admitted, gesturing to one section of the room. There must have been at least a thousand volumes in total across the masses of shelves, maybe more.

"Wow, and you've read them all?" He asked, shocked that anyone could take in so much information.

"Most of them, there's still a few that I need to finish." She responded. "It's not all the same stuff either, some of them are fiction, and some of them are non-fiction."

He raised an eyebrow at the terminology he was not familiar with.

She realised that he probably didn't understand the difference in genres, so she clarified. "Some of them are made up, like fairy tales. I enjoy them because they show you a whole new world, like fantasy and drama stories. Others are factual and based on real life events, like history books and biographies – stories written by someone about their life." She explained, and he listened curiously.

She noticed that she was talking a lot and she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry if it's boring you, I know you're not really much into reading, and I do rant on about things sometimes. Here, I'll show you the books that I need to sort out."

Before Zoro could respond by telling her that he actually liked hearing about her hobbies, she had already brought out a huge stack of books from the shelf. He was amazed that she could carry so many of them with so little difficulty, but then again, he knew that she wasn't a weak woman. Nevertheless, he decided to help her anyway, and took a few of the books from her.

"So what ones are you getting rid of?" He asked, and she paused for a moment to think.

"Well, I think I should probably get rid of some of my older volumes; the ones I've read many times over… And Chopper asked if he could borrow some of my history books on ancient medical practices, so I'll probably just give them to him to keep if he wants them."

Zoro nodded, and as he listened to her he curiously began to flick through some of the books himself. He saw one about the history of the Wano Kingdom and picked it up.

Robin noticed his interest in the particular book and smiled. "I think you'd find that one interesting, I learnt a lot about the culture and practices of the Samurai through reading that…"

"I mean, I could give it a try I guess." He suggested, turning to face her. "If you don't mind that is…"

"Of course not." She said happily. "I'd be happy to give it to you."

"Thanks…" Zoro said, blushing slightly. "I'll be sure to let you know what I think of it."

After Zoro put aside the book for himself and the ones that Chopper had been wanting, the two began sorting through the rest of the books, putting them into piles that would either be kept or donated to a book store. After they had finished, there was a considerable amount of space on her shelf.

Robin gave a happy sigh. "Now I don't have to worry about buying new ones. There's a few I've been looking forward to getting but I didn't want to clutter up the place, so I've left it."

"What are the ones you've been looking forward to?" Zoro asked subtly.

Robin explained that there was a saga she had been reading, and the most recent book had come out not too long ago. However, she hadn't had the time to go pick it up, nor the space for more books.

He nodded, taking a mental note of the information regarding the name and appearance of the book, before asking if she needed help with anything else. She shook her head.

"That should be everything, thank you for helping me out with all of this, it was a lot easier with a second pair of hands…"

Zoro chuckled, unsure of whether or not to comment on the fact she could technically create as many pairs of hands as she desired, and that he probably wasn't all that much help, but in the end, he just took his book and smiled at her.

"No worries, hey if you need me to help out again I'd be happy to." He offered, and she gave a grateful nod.

"I'll be sure to call on you next time." She assured him as he made his way out of the room.