@shinpanman:
I'm pretty sure you missed the point actually, but yeah, we should be free to think whatever we want and enjoy the series in whatever way suits us I suppose. I still think it's pretty damn weird though when people ship couples that have never shown the slightest interest in each other or haven't even met. Ah hell, "only Oda knows" right?
…
And Oda KNOWS it's totally FrankyxRobin…
Yeah, but if you like a particular pairing you're going to read every single interaction between those two characters differently. For example, the Sanji vs. Absalom was a sort of big deal among the Sanji/Nami camp. Fans over other shippings might give it a shrug, but you can certainly see why people who like that pairing would get a little excited. Similarly, Luffy/Nami fans probably see potential when Nami asks Luffy for help in the Arlong arc and he gives her his hat. Also in the Arlong Arc, Nami's rescue of Zoro probably catches the attention of the Zoro/Nami fans.
But if you don't LIKE those pairings you're not going to see that. The two examples from Arlong Park could be read just as easily as friendship, and Nami wasn't conscious during Sanji vs. Absalom.
However, Franky/Robin has a higher concentration of these incidents. I think the thing with Robin and Franky is that for the amount of time they've been in the series - ESPECIALLY Franky - there's been an awful lot of "moments", including his role in rescuing her from Enies Lobby, Robin's role in Franky's recruitment, and even their running around Thriller Bark together. It's just been a lot of interaction between the two in a short amount of time, which I think is enough for any fan to raise an eyebrow to.