Only the best : Zosan One-shot collection

Echos

Author: ZoSanLaw
Website: AO3
Summary: Zoro grew up in a house with a kind spirit. Little did he know about the bond shared between them.

The first time it happened, he was three and his babysitter was asleep. Zoro considered it a perfect opportunity to sneak some spicy chips. It turned out to be difficult since they were stacked away on the top shelf. But Zoro was smart and he shifted a chair in front of the counter. He climbed up on the tiled top and then stretched onto his toes, his chubby fingers barely touching the lower shelf. So he jumped.

And he should have fallen and hurt himself badly but he didn't. Instead, he had felt someone hold him under the armpits, keeping him suspended in the air for a second before guiding him back to the counter. Shocked and seeing no one behind him, Zoro had stared at the empty space for a few seconds, even swung his arm in a sad mock of a punch, but he hit nothing but air.

Glee and curiosity had overtaken shock and he had jumped again, expecting whoever had held him to show up and do it again. But he landed on the floor, unharmed and safe, without any external help. Irritated, he was about to try again, but got distracted by the packet of chips laying on the counter from where he had jumped.

The next time, it happened when he was five and got his first pet. Shea was an English cocker Spaniel and he had taken her to the front lawn to play. But she had escaped from under the fence and had fallen in the gutter hole that the workmen left open in their break. Zoro was trying to control his racing heart and the feeling of dread, tears already making their way down his cheeks as he ran to her. But when he looked into the hole, she was suspended just a foot below, the fur on her neck bundled up like she was being held there.

Shocked, again, Zoro hadn't given it too much thought before pulling her out, and cuddling her close to him as she licked the tears on his face. A thank you had slipped through his lips without realizing it, and a small weight pressed on the crown of his head for half a second before disappearing.

It happened many more times, in many different ways. When he told his friends at school about it at age twelve, Luffy laughed and said that Zoro's house was haunted, and probably by a friendly ghost. Usopp disagreed and suggested Zoro lie better.

But the idea stuck, and one night, Zoro sat on his study table, looking down at the Ouija board he'd made himself. Numbers and letters, two circles with 'Yes' and 'No' written in them, and a coin. A candle for light. Switching off all the lights, he concentrated on the many times he had received help and called out softly, "Are you there?"

A flicker of the candle's light, but the coin remained stationary. Undeterred, he tried again, but was rewarded with nothing. Five times, the same result repeated. Irritated, he blew out the candle and went to sleep.

The next morning, the coin was ignored while it rested on the scrawled 'Yes'.

A few years passed and nothing similar happened. Zoro stayed outdoors more than he stayed indoors, training for baseball and working out in the gym. One night, he came home to an empty house, tired and hungry. Placing his bag on the counter, he opened the fridge, hoping to indulge in some leftovers. 

The fridge turned out to be empty. Sighing, and unsurprised at the ignorance of his parents, he simply took out his phone to search for the nearby pizza delivery. Calling the number, he waited for a few seconds before a girl responded and asked for his order.