You know, it figures that I'd get sick after writing a chapter like Fever. *sigh* OK! So this one is more of a comedy, since we all know that Zoro is a little more sensitive to the Spirit Realm, I thought this might prove amusing.

Enjoy!

"Hey,"

Zoro clenched his good eye shut, gritting his teeth against the persistent poking of one particular finger "Go away," he growled under his breath.

"Then look at me,"

"No,"

"Why not?"

The swordsman sighed, "Because I'm not going to fall for that trick again" he whispered "besides, you already make life difficult enough I don't need to have it get worse all because I walked into an immature prank that you pulled out of boredom!"

"Wow…I think that's the most I've gotten you to say all day," The voice snickered.

Zoro ducked his head, shoulders shaking in fury "You of all people ought to understand that I'm busy,"

"Oh yeah," the voice moaned melodramatically "meditation was always my favorite training technique."

"You never did it," the green haired swordsman deadpanned.

"Didn't hurt me none, I still beat you."

"You don't have to remind me," was the answering snarl.

Once again silence reigned, and Zoro gave a small breath of relief as he settled back into his meditative stance. A little over a week ago they had landed on an island that was just as creepy as Thriller Bark, but it had ten times the amount of historical relics that were connected to the arcane and the occult. One particular item had caught Zoro's eye, and he had reached out to pick it up, turning with it to show Robin when a sudden bright light flashed from the artifact and knocked him flat on his butt. It was after this accident when he woke up that he realized the relic had given him certain…abilities.

His already heightened sense of Spiritual Awareness shot through the roof, and not only was he seeing ghosts, he was able to communicate with them and even touch them. Unfortunately that particular trick went both ways, and there were moments where he was being drug around by desperate spirits of the dearly departed, looking for all the rest of the world like a marionette in the hands of a two year old, the entire time screaming for them to shut up and let go. It both amused and mildly scared the rest of the crew, and they Straw Hats tried to help out when they could. Unfortunately though, they soon learned that it was, as it usually is, solely a battle meant for Zoro to fight.

"I bet I can make you scream,"

Zoro's shoulder's slumped as his most common specter continued her torment "You do, and you're dead," he hissed.

The girl paused, drawing a deep (unnecessary) breath before popping out "…Too late…!"

"Gah!" The swordsman heaved "Can you just be quiet and let me concentrate?!"

"I'm bored,"

"I KNOW you're bored," Zoro snapped "you've only been reminding me of this every five minutes for an entire week!"

"Then why won't you fight me?"

Ah, the question that has been burning inside the both of them since the day Zoro discovered that she in particular was among his new ghostly entourage. In truth, it wouldn't hurt his image, the crew was used to him running through phantom battles, though never on the ship as it was during these training sessions that he developed and perfected new sword techniques. However, it was mostly for the fact that the little ghost couldn't hold a sword. She could tug them off his hip, but as soon as his blades were removed from any physical contact with Zoro, they fell from her hands, or through them to be more accurate.

"You know why I can't fight you," he grumbled "we've already tried, and each time you can't keep your hold on the sword once it is no longer touching me."

An aggravated moan growled next to him, and a small head flopped onto his lap, childish fingers playing with the knotted end of his sash "Bet I can make you scream,"

"Don't even think about it,"

No sooner were the words spoken before those same ghostly fingers dug into a specific spot between his third and fourth rib, an area that anyone who knew the swordsman best had knowledge of being one of his few rare ticklish spots. Zoro jumped forward with a strangled yelp before rolling away, muscular hands gripping his ribs as an emerald eye popped open to assess his opponent.

"That was dirty," he spat.

"That was boredom," the girl mumbled from where she lay after having lost her pillow.

"What was dirty?"

The voice behind Zoro caused him to turn around and see his crew looking at him with confusion filled faces, Usopp having been the one who had spoken was gazing at the man he considered the most level headed of the crew with a bewildered glance.

"She…I mean… I just…UGH Never mind!"

Sanji smirked as the swordsman plopped down where he was standing, noting how the one green eye watched a particular corner with intense aggravation "The ghosts bugging you again?"

"Ghost, singular," Zoro retorted holding up one finger "and she's getting on my last nerve."

"What nerve?" the girl ghost scoffed "I seem to remember a cry baby kid, sure you trained hard, but you blubbered worse than a girl when you were upset."

"Shut up, that was a long time ago!" Zoro practically screamed in fury.

Robin smiled at the conversation she was only privy to half of "This is the ghost of your childhood friend that you told us about?"

The swordsman merely shrunk down, his pout giving evidence to the validity of her claim, and Luffy bellowed out a boisterous laugh "I want to meet her, she sounds interesting!"

"Yeah, why haven't you ever introduced us!" the girl shot up into a sitting position her face painted with indignant revelation "Talking to them would be tons more interesting than talking to you!"

"Because, I'm not going to be your translator, that's why, I have better things to do than play medium!"

"You're already playing medium!" The girl and Nami shouted back.

Zoro looked between the two of them, his jaw hanging comically before giving a frustrated snarl "I don't need this from both the living and the dead!"

"Thanks Zoro, remind me that I'm deceased," the girl said sticking her tongue out "you're the Prince of sensitivity."

"Oh like you haven't held it over my head as leverage to do what you want a hundred times before this?!"

"Yeah, because I'm the one that's dead, so I get the sole right of making dead jokes," The girl grinned smugly.

"Oh yeah, like that makes any sense!"

"It makes more sense than the time you tried to dye your hair with boot black, because you cried all the time from the other dojo boys teasing you!" the girl pouted.

Zoro grit his teeth making them creak from the sheer force of his powerful jaw muscles "Please, the boot black was an experiment, and I beat them up later so they never made fun of me for my hair again. But you were the one who caught a rat and put it in the larder so you could get out of cooking lessons!"

"You've got no proof, cry baby!" the girl screeched "At least I'm not the one who lost to a girl!"

"Yes you are," Zoro shouted his one good eye alight with emerald fire "you lose every single time you bring it up, because according to you being a girl is a weakness!"

The girl reeled back, eyes filling with ghostly tears as she gave an angry huff and turned her back on the man, a movement Zoro had already mirrored, but the crew watched in stunned amazement as the wood not too far from them was suddenly stained by strange drops of invisible tears. The swordsman directed his angry pout out to sea, doing his utmost to ignore the muffled sobs and drips on wooden boards echoing in his direction. His shoulders hunched as he heard a small sniffle, and the smallest trace of guilt flashed across his features.

"Well…?"

Zoro turned to face the cook, his frustrated features still firmly in place "Well, what?"

Sanji gave a longsuffering sigh "Are you going to apologize or what?"

The swordsman opened his mouth to retort before the anger died leaving him deflated and more than a little torn "I didn't do anything wrong," he mumbled looking more like a scolded child than the strong warrior they knew him to be.

"Maybe so," Robin smiled softly "but rifts between friends should never stay for long, because in the end, the separation causes more pain than the satisfaction of seemingly being right can bear."

By this time most of the crew had moved away, the tension causing them to scatter, but Sanji and Robin chuckled gently when they saw a piece of Zoro's shirt crumple up as a ghostly hand clenched it, and more tears stained the material of his coat and even darker green.

"I'm sorry for calling you a crybaby,"

Zoro sighed "I'm sorry for calling you weak,"

The girl chuckled as she hugged her closest friend "Even after you've grown up and become so much stronger, we still can't do anything but fight, can we?"

"That's what rivals do," the swordsman shrugged "but that doesn't mean that…you know, you're still….my closest friend and that's what a rival is…a friend who knows you better than anyone else does."

"Yeah," the ghost smiled gently "though I noticed that you have a whole lot more friends now. You didn't always have that many friends, even when we were kids."

"I didn't need friends back then, you were enough," Zoro smirked "but you're right, I do have a lot more friends now."

"I think they're more than that though," the girl whispered squeezing his neck a little tighter "I think you've found yourself a family, one that can fill the whole left by your parents."

"Yeah," Zoro nodded ruffling the shock of black hair near his ear "yeah I did."

"I'm glad"

The swordsman turned around to see the entire crew had given him his space, but he noted the secretive smiles on all of their faces, understanding the tender moment playing out on one side of the ship and equally knowing that Zoro had just admitted out loud that he cared about them. It was an odd mix of emotions. But as the man stood up, a phantom squeal of glee ringing out as the impression of childlike hands clutched his shoulders, Zoro decided that this was enough. This week had given him time to come to terms with Kuina, spending the days with her, and not once having to listen to a single condescending comment about how weak he was for taking so long had given him a feeling of a new lease on life.

He wasn't quite sure how all of it came about, but he was happy, and that was an emotion he had never truly had the opportunity to enjoy very often in his lifetime. This happiness was a gift bestowed upon him the shapes of a white katana and a raggedy straw hat, and the swordsman had no intention whatsoever of letting them slip away.

Not quite the way I planned, but still sweet.

What do you think?