"Did you know you have a spirit following you around?" Brook asked, pausing in his playing to poke Zoro with the bow of his fiddle. The swordsman opened his eye.

"What? No. Since when? And why the Hell would they be haunting me?"

"Yohohoho! If he was going to say, I'd already have told you. But he won't even show me his face!" Brook seemed to find the idea amusing at first, but he sobered up quickly. "He's been on the ship ever since we got back together, but for the past month all he's done is float behind your head. The anger he's started exuding sends shivers down my spine! Yohohohohoho!"

Zoro sighed and looked around, not expecting to see anything. He didn't. Still, he wondered what sort of ghost would haunt the Thousand Sunny, and him in particular. Not a vengeful one; they didn't exactly have a record as pirates who did much killing. "Well, tell me if he says who he is or what he wants." Zoro closed his eyes and was about to fall back asleep when a cry echoed across the deck.

"Ship off the port bow!" It was Usopp's voice. Zoro sighed and stood. With Luffy still laid out from their last fight, the swordsman had to actually act as first mate for once.

"Colours?"

It took a moment for Usopp to answer- probably because he was used to Luffy rocketing up to see for himself. "Marines! It's Garp!" Across the ship, the entire crew paled. None of them liked tangling with Luffy's grandfather, and with their captain out...

"He's flying a flag of truce!"

Well, that's interesting, Zoro thought, eyeing the ship. When no threat presented itself as they drew closer, he allowed the marines to pull alongside. There was a tremendous thud as Monkey D. Garp leapt from his own ship onto the Thousand Sunny. The aging marine was immediately met by Chopper. Arms waving in panic, the little doctor tried to drive Garp back.

"I'm sorry sir, but now really isn't a good time for a visit. Luffy's still recovering from our fight yesterday; he really shouldn't be put under any stress!"

"Not here to see my idiot grandson," Garp grumbled, "Not this time. I'm here for the moss-ball swordsman." Every other member of the Straw Hat crew took several steps back. Zoro gulped. He refused to admit it, but Garp scared him. That was okay though; Garp scared everybody.

"Is it true?" the vice-admiral demanded. "What I've heard about you and my grandson, is it true?"

"I don't know." Zoro forced a smirk onto his face. "What did you hear, old man?"

"About a month ago, a little birdie came around and told me you'd proposed to Luffy? Is that true?" Garp picked Zoro up by the front of his clothes, effectively cutting off his air. The swordsman shook his head.

"No, that's not what happened." Zoro felt the aggression before him lessen, but couldn't keep his mouth shut. "He proposed to me."

"What?" Zoro tucked into a ball as he was thrown, rolling back to his feet to meet Garp's furious gaze. "And what makes you think a pirate like you is worthy of my grandson?"

"In case you've forgotten, your grandson is a pirate." Zoro replied, jumping out of the way of a punch. His leap would have carried him into another, had not a shadow stepped between the warring men.

"Hey, hey, calm down Garp. And he's right you know." Red hair flashed in the sunlight over a scarred face. On the opposite side of the Sunny from Garp's ship, a huge pirate vessel now floated.

"You!" If possible, Garp looked even more furious. "Just because Luffy chased you out to sea and became a pirate doesn't mean I'm gonna let him get married to the first scummy sailor who's sword work he fancies."

Shanks grinned. "Aww, come on Garp, they look so cute together!" A large hand suddenly descended to ruffle Zoro's hair. He growled, but didn't have the heart to push Shanks off. He was Luffy's idol, after all.

"Cute? Bah!" Garp snorted. "Luffy has enough cute on his own. My job is to make sure he married someone worthy of him."

"And what makes you qualified to decide that, hmm? Last time you two were in the same room for more than five minutes, you tried to arrest him."

The rage in Garp's face lessened and he looked off to the side. "I... I don't agree with Luffy's choices, but I do love him. If I can't make him change his ways, I at least want him to be happy."

Shanks nodded. "Good. That's what I want too. The little brat's practically a son to me, after all. Can't have him marrying some idiot."

"Can you please stop talking as if I'm not here?" Zoro ground out, removing Shanks' hand from his head. Two pairs of terrifying eyes turned to him, as if remembering he was the cause of their problems.

"How dare you seduce little Luffy-kun!" Shanks roared. The one armed man swung a sword at Zoro, forcing the younger pirate to duck away.

"Whoa, hang on! I didn't do anything!"

"Of course you did." Garp snarled. "You think my idiot grandson would even think about marriage on his own? Little brat barely understood the Talk!"

"That's because you're crap at explaining Jiji." Luffy's weak voice came from the cabin door. All fighting on deck ceased as everyone turned to look at the young captain. Bandages wrapped him from head to foot; some showed red where various wounds had reopened. Zoro rushed to Luffy's side to support him.

"You shouldn't be up yet captain." Luffy completely ignored him. Or at least, as much as you can ignore someone who's practically carrying you.

"And Shanks, Zoro didn't seduce me. I caught him!" Both older men stared incredulously at Luffy, but the rubber grin was totally honest. Shanks and Garp looked at each other, totally at loss. When they finally found their voices, they spoke in disbelieving unison.

"But... How?"

"Shishishishishi! Do you really wanna know?"

Face going red, Zoro clapped a hand over his captain's mouth. "No, I'm pretty sure they don't."

The next few minutes were relatively smooth sailing, so to speak. Once assured that Zoro had no insidious designs on Luffy (it was, in fact, the other way around, but Zoro didn't think he'd be believed), both Garp and Shanks were off on their way. Not, however, before demanding invitations to the wedding.

Zoro watched the larger ships sail away as Chopper took Luffy back to bed. Leaning on the rail, he felt a strange, warm presence beside him. When he turned his head to look, there was no one there.

"Still angry with me?" Zoro asked the air. "I'm pretty sure I know who you are, you know. You don't need to hide. He'd love having you on our ship, even if you're just a ghost."

The presence warmed a little, as if it were smiling. Zoro smiled back, then looked down at the water.

"I hope you weren't thinking I was gonna hurt him or anything. I would never... He's my captain, my best friend. Anywhere he goes, I'd always follow, married or not. I'm pretty sure I was in love with him a long time before I knew it."

The swordsman swore he felt a hand ruffle his hair, heard a low chuckle. Then something floating in the water caught his eye: a battered orange hat with beads wrapped around it, two faces strapped to the front. He immediately lowered a fishing line to pull the relic out.

"How'd this get here?" The presence seemed to pat him on the head again. Zoro smiled and put the hat on. "You don't have to worry, I'll look after him. But you've gotta stick around too. Even if he can't see or hear you, Luffy will always need his big brother."