Dragon Departs!

Olvia went to cook and Dragon grinned "You have a very nice wife!" Galan frowned, "She's not my wife." Dragon rolled his eyes, saying helplessly "Yeah, right… My bad." before changing the subject, asking with concern "That Newgate did a number on you, eh? I've never seen you take so much damage before."

Galan replied slowly "Only severe injuries. Unfortunately I couldn't kill Blackbeard." Dragon sighed and said "It's not a big deal, you did your best. Who knew that old man still had so much strength? But the result was good! You cleaned the Marineforce in one fell swoop! You can't do everything, that's why I'm here right?"

Galan nodded silently and Dragon smiled, drinking as he talked to Galan about various events while Galan wrote them all in his notebook.

A while later

Everyone ate lunch, Galan was silent and expressionless as he ate but everyone else was talking and laughing. Sabo and Ace laughed and danced as Sugar laughed with tears in her eyes, clapping and pointing at Ace and Sabo.

Olvia smiled warmly and Dragon chuckled.

Galan just ate in silence, ignoring them.

After eating, Dragon said farewell, Galan warned him to not let everyone know that Ace was alive. Especially not Robin. Dragon understood and told him not to worry, only he and Sabo would know.

Dragon took Ace away to the Revolutionary Base under Sabo's persuasion. Ace finally left and said goodbye to Olvia and Sugar, ignoring Galan. He turned and left with Sabo and Dragon, disappearing into the sky.

Galan turned around and walked back to the seastone block.

That night…

Galan was punching the seastone block when Olvia walked outside, saying gently "Love…" Galan paused and she came to him, waving a bottle of Whiskey. He stopped and they walked to the beach, sitting down on the chairs.

Galan drank in silence as Olvia hugged her knees, sitting on the chair with her feet on the edge of the seat. She rested her cheek on her knees and asked "Why did you lie to him?" Galan looked at the waves and replied slowly "Never show all your cards."

Olvia smiled and asked again "Even to me?" Galan was silent for a few moments before replying softly, "Yes." She didn't seem to be bothered and smiled warmly "I wish I could help you more, Galan."

He replied slowly "You've helped me a lot, Olvia. More than you know." She looked at him and retorted "You held back against Newgate and faked all these serious injuries even though you could've destroyed everyone who came including Blackbeard… Doesn't it hurt taking all these burdens?"

Galan frowned slightly and replied "To keep the suspicions off me, I have no choice… If it was just me and Newgate with no one else around, without anyone knowing… Then it would've been a much different story. He was dying during the fight… His punches were getting weaker and weaker, I had to lower my strength at the same time…"

Olvia nodded and turned to the sea, "I know." he looked at her and she smiled gently "If the World Government knew that you could kill the World's Strongest Man without difficulty and then go on to fight Blackbeard and Shanks at the same time without effort, we would all be in big trouble."

Galan turned back to the sea and said "You already know, why ask?" Olvia looked at him and replied softly with concern, "Because you keep acting like this all the time… I know you're carrying this huge burden, I just don't want to see it crush you. You're important to me, I just want to make sure you're okay…"

Galan was silent and she touched his hand gently, continuing "I know you won't share the burden with me. I'd be surprised if you did. You want to take everything on your own so that other people don't have to. You don't want anyone else to get hurt… I know you very well, Galan. Maybe better than you know yourself. And I'll say it as many times as I have to, I'm here for you. You don't have to carry it alone…"

She looked at him and sighed, "No matter how many times I say it. Even a hundred million times, maybe one time you'll listen. I know how much it hurt you to kill Newgate and I hate the fact that you had to do it… But I don't want you to destroy yourself over it." she intertwined her fingers with his, smiling gently "If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you… Anytime, anyplace, I will listen."

He held her small and delicate hand, feeling her long and slender fingers rubbing against his rough skin… His heart felt a strange peace. He let out a breath through his nose and Olvia smiled happily. After being with him for so long, even his breathing patterns could be deciphered.

She took his hand and kissed his fingers, smiling "Hopefully the day comes soon… I wonder what the sky looks like without evil." she sighed and whispered softly, "I bet it's beautiful…" as she fantasized about something else.

Galan looked at the waves and said slowly "Maybe that's what Heaven is." Olvia smiled tenderly, thinking about her own heaven, replying softly, her tone full of tender feelings, "I hope so…"