"My, you look tired swordman-san." Robin stated as he plopped down besides her.

Zoro wiped his sweat off from the intense workout he just had and was currently taking a break beside the archaeologist reading while sitting in the midst of Nami's tangerine trees. A blanket was laid out for her underneath with a couple plated sandwiches, most definitely made by Sanji that Zoro gladly took. "Yeah, it was my turn to watch last night," he said as stuffed the remaining food in his mouth and he leaned down on his back while resting his head on his arms.

"Hmm.." She closed her book and looked at Zoro with a hint of mischief gleaming in her eyes.

With his sharp senses, Zoro was immediately able to tell the sudden change of mood Robin had besides him. "Gah, what are you planning this time, woman?"

She chuckled at the fact he was able to catch she was going to tease him already. "You just look like you need some rest, why don't you take a nap?"

"I was going to?"

"On my lap."

Zoro almost choked on the sandwich he was chewing on, "What?!"

Robin giggled by his reaction and quickly used her devil fruit powers to drag his body in a position to make his head rest on her thighs. "I'll let you borrow it as a pillow."

"No way!" Zoro was about to get up when she pushed him back down and started to stroke his hair.

Though at first he felt his heart beating rapidly by Robin's sudden gesture, he soon found himself to be calming down and slowly relaxing. He had to admit, she definitely had a pair of skillful hands. Perhaps it was from the influence of how she gracefully handled her powers with such finesse techniques. From all their journey's together, he definitely had to acknowledge how powerful Robin is. As a woman that held so much wisdom and different skills, it is no surprise that she'd be good at even stroking one's hair.

"Chopper also falls asleep when I do this."

Zoro's eyes shot wide open. "You're just treating me as one of your cute playthings!"

"How can I not?" Robin hummed as he continued to caress the top of his head.

The blush he didn't even notice he had become even more red. Zoro turned his face to the side as staring at her face made him feel even more embarrassed. His hectic mind soon started to calm down from the relaxing view of Nami's trees, the scent of tangerines, Robin's touch, and her lap; which he regretfully admits. The peaceful setting he was in made him, no doubt, come to a tranquil slumber, in which Robin smiled upon.

She gazed at the swordsman's face with a pained expression when she suddenly remembered a memory with Crocodile that was so similar to this. Both usually stern men having such a peaceful expression when sleeping.

…

It was during one morning Robin had miraculously woken up before Crocodile. She figured he must have been greatly fatigued from killing all those crooks the other day. Lately, there have been a lot of people causing commotions because of the lack of water they had ever since he started using dance power to influence the weather to stop raining. From their deteriorating throats, the citizens of Alabasta have been constantly in desperate search for water causing many to go mental.

To make the people see Crocodile as a hero, it was his job to "offer" water to them as much as he could and try to stop these mishaps from happening. Whether it was from stopping thieves or giving money to the poor, he had to do whatever he could to gain a positive view from the citizens, even if it was damaging his ego. The many tiring tasks he had to do, including paperwork he needed to look over for his casino, always led him to immediately sleep just after falling on his bed.

Everyday Robin would always somehow find herself trapped in Crocodile's heavy arms and that morning was also one of them. When she awoke, she found herself in a comfortable distance away from the warlord as she faced sideways towards him. She slightly glanced up to see his sleeping calm face, an attribute she rarely got to see when he was awake. That was when she noticed his scar that horizontally led from one side of his face to the other.

She had always wondered where he got it from as it seemed to have been quite a deep cut. Though she never asked as it always had been some sort of common sense to not ask about one's scars. She slowly brought her hands towards his face and hovered it on top of the stitched wound, hesitant to touch it. Soon enough she did because whoever stopped her from her curiosity? Robin gently ran her fingers across the scar when her wrist was suddenly caught by his hand.

Quick to think what she did was wrong, she immediately mumbled an apology and started to pull her hand back. Robin was again prevented from this action and was instead pulled closer as he led her hand to once again touch his face, a gesture to show that he had given her permission to continue.

So she continued to do so, a bit reluctant at first as he calmly bore his eyes onto hers. She carefully traced each stitch and moved down to caress his cheek. She could tell he was a handsome man for his age. Even with the blemish that ran across his face, his chiselled facial features and smooth skin that held faint wrinkles made up for it. His sharp golden eyes had always been the center of attention when he introduced himself to others.

Robin smoothly went down to his neck and slightly grasped it which caused him to give a slight growl.

"Do you trust me?"

"I do."

She knew that wasn't true. One thing she had learned from her past is to never trust anyone, a lesson she had no choice but to value, to never repeat the mistakes that caused her many tragedies. It was nice to be with Crocodile like this, but she knew in the back of her mind that someday this would all disappear. Robin had to constantly keep check of her feelings, to never forget, to never forgive, but being with him… it was hard to remember.

She slid down to his chest and then to his hand that was stroking her cheek.

He asked her the same question. "Do you trust me?"

"..."

"Yes."

…

Robin looks down at Zoro as she gently plays with the three golden earrings dangling on his ear. She sighed at the peaceful atmosphere she miraculously was given by the gods. A caring captain, kind crewmates, a steady ship, what more could she ask for? No amount of gestures she can express to show the amount of gratitude she feels towards the people who had saved her life multiple times. She knew by now that she was safe on this crew and that she'd do anything to keep this peace. To protect their innocence and away from any sort of circumstance she had to endure.

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she bends down and kisses the sleeping Zoro's temple.

"Thank you, everyone."

A/N: Hi people. So i've been thinking of writing a new fanfic about robin and crocodile of course, but this time its about her inviting someone to join baroque works. im thinking of either Ace, Law, or Zoro cause lol. So then it'd be a love triangle between her, crocodile and whatever. Idk, who do you think she should invite, i will greatly read ur opinion on this so pls review. PLS CHOOSE lol