AN: Yes guys this will be the last chapter for this story! I meant Zen to be the last of course, and I like the number of 7. Sorry for taking my time, I guess you could understand I felt quite the pressure, knowing that the Zen-chapter is one that a lot of you've been looking forward to. Oh well, I hope it doesn't disappoint. At least it is extra long. Thanks for reading, faving and reviewing to you all!

7. Zen's Playful Affection

"Ehehe! Oh come on, Obi! Stop that!" Shirayuki whined at her guardian who kept following her in and out of the herb garden.

"Sorry, fingers slipped," was the reply, but he tickled her side once more after that, making her squeal and drop the herbs she was holding.

"That's it, Obi, I can't work like this! I'm firing you as my guardian for now. It's not necessary anyway, I'm safe." Shirayuki stuck her tongue out at him, and Obi raised his eyebrows, grinning.

"Are you serious?" he laughed, and Shirayuki nodded, but only with fake anger.

"Fiiine," Obi sang, and he tickled her once again with both hands this time, making her laugh hysterically. He then dashed off to allow her some peace. Shirayuki sighed and she bent to pick up the herbs. That Obi... No, everyone actually. Ryuu, The Chief, Mitsuhide and even Kiki too. They all kept teasing her with tickles whenever they got the chance. She had probably never laughed so much in her life before, and it wasn't that she minded it a lot, but she was just so nervous for Zen to find out!

xxx

Mitsuhide watched how Zen was concentrated on his work, and he smiled. Things had been so busy after their return to the castle. The marriage interview, his own hypnosis drama, and a visit from Tanbarun's messenger. Not to mention the pile of office work Zen had to do.

"Yooo!" Obi entered the office casually, and Kiki and Mitsuhide closed their eyes in annoyance at his attitude.

"Shouldn't you be guarding Shirayuki?" Mitsuhide asked.

"What for? After all that I guess she's safe again, right Master? Besides, she fired me." Zen stopped writing and he looked up, and both Mitsuhide and Kiki watched him with surprised expressions.

"She what? Obi... what have you done." Zen's voice didn't sound amused, and Obi laughed carelessly.

"Nothing nothing, can I help it she's so cute when she's tickled?" Obi immediately gulped (bye, promise to Shirayuki), Mitsuhide's jaw dropped, Kiki shook her head with a sigh, and Zen was randomly blushing now.

"When she's what? Obi!" He stood up from his chair and he glared at his messenger.

"Come on, don't you know it? Everyone knows how ticklish she is," Obi said as if he didn't say that by mistake just now, and Mitsuhide was trembling in frustration. He had wanted to be the one to tell Zen, only he hadn't found a chance to do so with these past days being chaotic and busy. It was a matter he wanted to handle with care, because what if poor Zen misunderstood? And here Obi was, spilling it in the worst way possible.

"Shirayuki is? And you've been allowing yourself to - to.. just touch her?" Zen asked, blushing even more at this new information.

"Well, that's kind of the point with tickling," Obi said as he shrugged, but before Zen could react, Mitsuhide already walked up to Obi and chased him back out of the office. When a giggling Obi had finally left the room, he sighed and turned towards Zen.

"Sorry about that, Zen. I meant to tell you..."

"You knew? How?" Zen asked immediately, and Kiki chuckled because of how flustered Mitsuhide acted when he realized he blew it as well.

"E-eh, well..." Mitsuhide mumbled, trying to search for the right words.

"Point is, Zen, Shirayuki has a sweet laugh. You should try to tickle her. She's really ticklish," Kiki suddenly said with her usual pokerface, and both guys turned to look at her in shock.

"Kiki! You too? Why didn't you tell me?" Zen asked with an adorable childish expression.

"Because you never asked," Kiki said.

"How should I know when no one tells me!" Zen sat back down and began to write furiously. Obi said 'everyone knows', ack, he didn't want to know who had been playing around with Shirayuki while he was the only one who was oblivious.

He was the only guy who should tease her and play around with her, not Obi, not Mitsuhide. Not... Suddenly he remembered how Izana had mentioned something when they were having a drink at the balcony the other night. Something about... how he knew she had an interesting weakness... But that's all he said, and he wouldn't tell him what he meant with that. No way, his brother too?

"Nooo!" Zen suddenly roared, and Mitsuhide and Kiki couldn't help but chuckle at his despair.

"Shirayuki-kun, the sun has set. You can leave that for tomorrow," Chief Garrack said, and she nodded at the paper Shirayuki was writing.

"Oh okay, thanks!" Shirayuki said, and she smiled tiredly.

"The others already left. Oh, and before you leave, you have a visitor in the nap room!" The Chief winked at her, and she left the room while saying "I'm off!". Shirayuki cocked her head. A visitor? At this hour? She cleaned up the desk, put her documents in a binder and quickly left for the nap room. When she entered, she noticed a sleeping Zen on the bottom bunk bed.

"Z-Zen!" An instant blush covered her cheeks, and she bent over him and carefully reached out. Should she wake him?

"Zen? W-why are you - aah!" Everything was suddenly spinning, and the next moment she found herself pinned to the bed with Zen hovering over her.

"Hi, Shirayuki." He smiled brightly and she blushed and squirmed nervously. He was faking? No way!

"E-eh? Zen, I..." Shirayuki said, but suddenly she felt him dig into her sides, and her body spasmed at the ticklish sensation. He couldn't... Zen ran his fingers up her sides to her ribs, and she squealed before she quickly clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Come on Shirayuki. It is only fair that I get to tickle you too, how come you were hiding this from me, hm?" Zen teased, his fingers poking and prodding at her ticklish ribs. Shirayuki curled up into a ball, her hands still clamped over her mouth and muffled giggles spilling from her mouth. So embarrassing! Who told him?

"Why are you hiding your laugh from me? I won't stop until I hear it!" her mischievous boyfriend sang, and Shirayuki gasped when he squeezed her hips, making her stretch her body again and squeal softly. Zen was fast, very fast. He switched from tickling her hips, to her stomach and her sides with incredible speed, and she wasn't sure for how much longer she could keep her hands cover her mouth.

Zen leaned close to her ear, and even her ear was attacked with ticklish sensations when he whispered: "you can't hold it forever! Let me hear your laughter!" His hand was suddenly positioned under her leg, and he showered the back of her knee with light tickles using his fingertips. This made her finally remove hands, and she tried to catch his hands while she rolled and squirmed, her sweet giggles filling the room.

"Kyaahahaa Z-Zehehen no - ahaaha please!" Shirayuki laughed, but her lover was far more merciless than she had expected him to be. Zen blushed at the sweet sound of her voice, and somehow he didn't feel like stopping yet. Moving back to her torso, he repositioned himself so he could straddle her, and he used both his hands to scribble his fingers all over her sensitive tunmy.

"Nooooohahhaa i-it tihickles hehehe Zen, s-stop!" Zen's cheeks were getting just as much color as Shirayuki's, seeing her in such an adorable state. During the struggle, he managed to catch both her hands, and he pushed them over her head and stopped the tickling for a moment. Shirayuki panted and watched him with big eyes, and Zen grinned when they made eye contact.

"You have an adorable laugh, Shirayuki Why wouldn't you let me hear it?" he asked, and he softly poked her stomach, making her squeak.

"I-it's embarrassing! I d-didn't..." Zen suddenly leaned forward until their noses were touching, both their flushed faces now very close to each other.

"Don't be ashamed of such a cute laugh. You should be punished for hiding it from me!" Zen giggled, and Shirayuki tensed up when he ran his fingers down one of her stretched arms, until her armpit.

"Eehehehe I'm s-sorrehehe! Please don't!" she giggled, squirming and pulling her arms. For a moment Zen hesitated and she thought he would be merciful, but then his fingers dug into her exposed armpit, and she arched her back and giggled hysterically.

"Nyaaaaahahaa not there not therehehe staaaahahp!" Zen was amazed by the uncontrollable laughs and giggles that spilled from his red haired girlfriend's lips, and he couldn't help himself. He leaned in and captured her lips in a sweet kiss, her continuous giggles making the kiss feel even better.

"Mmmphph hmmph!" Shirayuki giggled into the kiss when he kept wiggling his fingers in her armpit before sneakily attacking her stomach with spider-tickles. Allowing her to catch her breath, Zen stopped the kiss, pulled back and he freed her arms from his grip. Shirayuki immediately covered her face in embarrassment, breathing heavily and still giggling softly.

"And there you go again! Don't hide from me," Zen laughed and he gently took her hands and moved them away from her face. She was blushing like crazy, and her eyes widened when their eyes locked.

"Z-Zen..." she panted, and she closed her eyes when she was kissed again. Woah, it sure was embarrassing, but she couldn't complain about how intimate he was. Her body was burning because of the tickling, and she would almost think it was yearning for more... She moved her hands out of Zen's loose grip, and she shyly wrapped her arms around his neck. Still kissing, Zen let his finger circle around on her stomach, making her squeak and giggle again.

"Not done with you yet," he whispered in her ear after breaking the kiss, and Shirayuki arched her back when he attacked her neck with feather kisses, sending chills down her spine. She whimpered at the feeling and squirmed, her arms tightening the grip around his neck.

"Ticklish here, too?" Zen asked teasingly while he lightly wiggled his fingers down her sides again, which was making her go crazy in combination with the neck-tickles.

"Y-yehess I c-can't take ehehet!" she giggled softly, but Zen only chuckled, making her squeak because of the vibrations against her neck.

"I'm sure you can!" He suddenly blew a raspberry on her neck, making her squeal loudly and arch her back again. He used this opportunity to slip one arm under her so she was caught in his embrace, and he used the hand under her to tickle her back.

"Zeeenn hahahaa s-stop it!" Shirayuki giggled breathlessly.

"Promise you won't hide from me?" Zen asked, still tickling her, and Shirayuki nodded and laughed uncontrollably.

"Yehehes now st-stahahp!" she laughed, and Zen finally decided to have mercy. Shirayuki threw back her head in relief, still panting and giggling.

"Y-you really are - hehe - evil..." she giggled, and Zen chuckled and planted a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"Am I now?" Zen's voice sounded so teasing that Shirayuki thought he would tickle her again, and she instantly curled her fingers. But since her arms were still around his neck with her hands close to his skin, this made her her touch him lightly by accident. Zen's response was a soft giggle, and he tensed up, scrunching up his shoulder.

"You're ticklish too!" Shirayuki cried triumphantically, and she proceeded to scribble the skin of his neck with her fingers.

"S-Shirayuki hehe, you wihill regret this!" Zen laughed, and his hand that was still resting on her stomach curled its fingers, and Shirayuki laughed when he tickled her again. And so the tickle fight continued, while meanwhile their guardians had gathered outside the room.

With sounds of the bed creaking and the playful voices that could be heard, it would sound wrong to anyone, but at least they knew what was going on.

"So Master finally got to join the fun, hm?" Obi said, and Mitsuhide and Kiki laughed softly.

"I never knew Zen was ticklish too, though." Mitsuhide said with a grin.

"Me neither, but it's good to know," Obi said, smirking and exchanging glances with Mitsuhide, who in turned looked like he was happy with this information.

"Should we go get them?" he asked, but Kiki shook her head.

"Let's give them another moment," she said with a smile, enjoying the sound of playful laughter and giggles coming from the room, as the two were probably still tangled in a lovey dovey tickle fight. Mitsuhide and Obi smiled and nodded in response. Even though it might be inappropriate for a prince, they would make sure to keep Zen's playful affection for Shirayuki a secret from everyone else!

End of Final Chapter

Thanks for reading!