Three's Company

Chapter 2

It was days before Zoro began to stir. Perona would tip his head back to help him drink some broth, but she got worried as the days passed and he showed no signs of waking. His wounds seemed to heal slowly, but with no actual medical knowledge, she could only guess. Every day she changed his bandages and dabbed at his forehead with a damp cloth. He looked almost cute while sleeping... Almost.

This big lug had better be worth all this.

She sat by him every night, in part to make sure he didn't choke on his tongue while asleep, and mostly because the sound of his ragged breathing reminded her that someone else was in this empty castle with her. He wasn't Kumashi, although his snores did sound similar, but he was someone. And she supposed that was good enough.

As helpless as he looked laying there, Perona wasn't so dumb as to give him access to weapons of any sort. His swords had been stowed safely in a bedroom on one of the upper floors, she'd even tucked them snuggly into the bed.

She stared at his sleeping face for a bit longer before letting herself get comfortable in her chair. Over time her soft snores began to mix with his.

-

Zoro was back on the Thousand Sunny drifting calmly along the open seas. He could hear the sizzling of bacon coming from the open kitchen door and he let himself breathe in deep the smoky scent as it mixed with the sea air. A quiet grinding of gears and distant mumbling could be heard somewhere below deck, Franky and Usopp were probably tinkering with some new contraption to add to the ships defenses.

He looked up and basked in the feeling of the warm sunlight on his face.

"Whatcha up to there Zoro?" Luffy's voice came from above him.

Zoro opened his eyes and grinned in the direction of the voice, but no, no it couldn't be-Instead of Luffy stood Bartholemew Kuma, wearing Luffy's straw hat and boring down on him with his white eyes.

"Come on marimo, stop goofing off," The voice of that shitty cook came from the kitchen door behind him.

He turned-But it was Kuma again, this time in that stupid suit Sanji insisted on wearing everywhere.

A heavy hand made contact with his shoulder and suddenly his body was racked with pain.

-

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH," Zoro's eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed.

"AAAHHHHHHHH," Perona fell off her chair in shock.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU WHERE AM I-" He sat straight up in bed and immediately coughed some blood onto his chest.

"Woah calm down, crazy! You'll reopen all your wounds if you move like that!" Perona shrieked back at him.

"Wait a minute you're that creepy ghost from thriller bark. No way I can't be back there, we destroyed that place..." He slowly attempted to get to his feet.

"No, you're not on thriller bark you idiot- WAIT DID YOU SAY DESTROYED?! NEGATIVE HOLLOW!" She yelled, setting her ghosts on him.

"I wish I was a slug," His small voice squeaked out from where he lay face down on the floor.

Well that's my cue to leave.

Perona scrambled to the door and dashed up the stairs. Her ghosts horo horoed up alongside as she ran as far away from the swordsman as she could, all the way to the very top of the castle. She ducked into a small hallway closet and slammed the thick wooden door shut behind her.

Whew, that's better.

Slowly, she peaked her ghostly head out through the door and looked around.