Once Neo got over her shock at seeing the ghost, shade, memory?, and Roman got over laughing at her faces, he finally explained."It's my Semblance," he said, as if that explained everything…which it kind of did.

I thought you didn't have a Semblance, she signed.

Roman shrugged. "I thought I didn't either. Turns out I did, and just didn't recognize it as one this whole time."

Neo tilted her head in confusion.

"There was this time when I was a kid- I know" Neo put a hand over her mouth in mock shock. "It must have been prehistoric times, yes I rode dinosaurs in my youth, can we get on with it?" Neo waved him permission. Shaking his head, he continued, "Well I had a nasty fall while trying to get away from the police, thought I was dying, felt my soul leaving my body and everything. Well turns out that's my Semblance: I can move my soul around."

Neo dropped her jaw in shock.

"Yep. Remember that one time I got caught by Vale Secret Service? Got shot nine times in the chest and presumed dead? I remember you cried for your old man, eh Neo? Bawling and everything." Neo punched him and growled when her fist went through. Roman chuckled. "Okay, too soon, got it. Anyway, they threw me in the mortuary and everything, and after a few hours I just climbed out. Chalked it up to a near-death experience. But it was probably my Semblance. Always thought it was weird I was watching everything from the perspective of a shoe…" Roman mused. "So anyway, that's the mystery solved. Any questions?"

Neo didn't say anything and leapt up to give Roman a hug. When she phased through she settled for cuddling the hat, glaring balefully at the specter for the lack of tactile response.

"Hey, don't blame the dead man. Anyway, I was thinking I should get back to my body. Repossess the old Roman skin suit, eh? So, where'd you put it?"

Neo froze. Well, this was awkward. She gently set the hat down and touched her fingers together.

"Neo?"

It's not my fault. I uh, I didn't now you were still alive so…I may-have-gone-ahead-and-cremated-your-body. Andthenthrownitintothesea. She signed.

Roman, who despite having lived with Neo for years, was still not as fluent at sign language as the mute girl. So, it took him a few seconds to process. When he did though, the response was immediate.

"YOU WHAT?!" His voice caused Neo to wince. Geez, she was already mute, did he want her deaf too?

It's okay. We can just find you another body for you to inhabit.

Roman was apoplectic. The faint blue of his form was turning purple. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO FIND A BODY LIKE MINE?" He panted, which was weird. Did he need to breathe? Neo wondered. "My body was 6'4 of pure perfection, 10/10 looks. Where are you going to find a body with looks like mine? Hell, do you know how well-endowed I was? Where are you going to find dicks like mine?"

Ookay. Neo really didn't need to know that. Besides, what was the value of a hidden treasure if you never used it? Neo wisely kept that to herself.

Eventually Roman devolved into confused whimpers and resentful mutters about the unfairness of it all and no respect for the dead these days. There, there, Neo patted the hat.

Finally, Roman's specter reared up. Neo perked up in attention. "Neo," he intoned. "You are to find me a new body that I can approve of. All other matters are to be postponed until after this issue of utmost importance is resolved."

Neo ignored his weird mood and nodded happily. She was just happy her Roman was back.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It was 2 AM in the morning and Neo was window shopping with Roman at the nearest hospital's mortuary.

"No, no, no…oh? Oh, no. Hmm." Roman was strolling, (drifting, floating?) along the aisles of hospital beds, lifting each sheet to stare at the cold faces, and if they passed his cursory examination, he checked further down.

"Hm, good face, but his package doesn't do me justice. Neo, next."

Neo rolled her eyes and directed him to another batch of dead people.

"Oh ho! This one has a nice face. I mean, white's not my color, not nearly as flamboyant as orange, but white's dyeable, so." He shipped the covers off like a matador, and grinned. "And this one's packing! He is a man amongst men, like me, I-Wait a second." Roman paused, before a strange grin that made Neo uneasy appeared on his face. "Why am I limiting myself to men? I should broaden my horizons, let's go look at the woman's bodies, Neo!" And he sped off to the other side of the cordoned-off room.

Neo's eyes went wide. She quickly grabbed Roman's black hat and carried it to the very edge of the men's section of the room.

"Hurk!" Roman had frozen, as if straining against an invisible rope. "Neo! Let me just sate my curiosity. You are stepping on a man's romance!"

Neo just stared at him, until he relented and dejectedly went back to his previous choice. Neo breathed a silent sigh of relief. Was it just her, or did Roman seem a good deal more perverted than before?

Maybe not. She recalled the stash of Playtoy he hid under his bed. He was always a closet pervert. Maybe he was just more uninhibited in his ghost form. Neo smiled to herself. It hardly mattered, she thought, as she watched her mentor in his new body stretching and prancing about. Her Roman would always be hers, and she was just glad he was back.

XXXXXXX

A/N: Thank you for the encouragement in the reviews. It's done a lot to keep me writing, even when I wake up some days and don't feel like it. Shoutout to Avetho for guessing the Semblance almost entirely and the reasoning behind it. To me, faking your death is the most best example of lying and cheating your way to survival.