As he was writing, he picked up the snail and made a call, Kuzan answered "Fleet Admiral! I haven't found her yet! But I have a clue! Don't worry, I'll earn that vacati- I mean, I will complete this task!"
Galan hadn't even been able to speak before he heard this, if Olvia was here she would probably laugh… Galan paused and sighed to himself, why was this the first thing he thought of…
He shook his head and said "Kuzan, when you find her… I want you to tell her that I sent you to kill her." Kuzan was stunned and asked in utter confusion, "Wha- Why?!" Galan frowned to himself and said "Don't ask why… All you need to do is secretly let it slip that you were sent to kill her, let me be the villain… You can let her leave after scaring her a bit, and showing her how dangerous the sea really is… You are not to harm her, is that understood?"
Kuzan nearly fell off his bike and looked at the snail before getting emotional, saying to himself "Fleet Admiral is such an emotional man! I understand!" Galan was speechless, Kuzan continued "Don't worry, Fleet Admiral. I understand your Justice, you're truly my idol!"
Galan didn't know what to say, Kuzan was blowing this out of proportions, right… Kuzan hung up and biked away, sighing "Soft on innocents and Hard on evil, no matter if they're Pirates or Marines… I knew he was a good person!" he even wiped his eyes…
What a nut!
Kuzan remembered when he first enlisted in the Marines, Galan had brought a boat full of women who were cut open to be drug mules. He didn't kill them but helped them get new lives through the Marines, afterwards Kuzan found out that he slaughtered every one of the drug dealers involved!
That's when Kuzan found his idol.
Galan looked at the snail and sighed, muttering "Forget it…"
After a grueling day of optimizing plans, Galan left the office, walking back home.
There wasn't anyone in Marineford that wasn't dirty anymore, Galan mobilized the entire lot of Good Marines. The rest were scum so he didn't talk with anyone. Even the shop owners were given a vacation and the people around were basically collecting paychecks while laying down.
Nobody complained, they were all happy.
Galan walked down the street and passed by Zephyr's training compound. He looked at the empty training square and sighed before continuing down the road, drawing a long shadow behind him.
As he came to his house, he noticed someone waiting for him…
Olvia stood up in casual clothes, smiling at him. Galan let out a breath and she waved at him, saying happily as he walked towards her, "You're home!" Galan looked at her, dazed for a moment.
Home?
He looked into her eyes, seeing his reflection in them before seeing the scene from his nightmare. He closed his eyes before passing her by, but she grabbed his hand and smiled, looking up at him. He paused and looked at her, the nightmare wisping away like smoke as he let out a breath, saying softly "Yeah… Home."
Olvia grinned with closed eyes before dragging him inside, saying "I missed you today, you didn't even wake me up, what kind of boss are you? So irresponsible~!" Galan was dragged inside and Sugar pounced on him, clinging to his body cutely like a koala, "You're back! I want to play chess, dad!"
Galan was surrounded by all this warmth but his heart resisted. Everything he loved turned to ashes. Every time. Maybe he accepted Olvia in his heart but he resisted bitterly…
Last night she came to him, blowing the nightmare away. He would keep her next to him, but… Why did they insist on worming their way into his heart? Weren't they scared of getting hurt?
He was.
He was deathly afraid of it.
Olvia noticed that he wasn't right and leaned on him, saying "You know, Sugar even beat me! I think she's really good! You should play with her. Not to mention I even started cooking and I have to clean so, you might as well play with her, when you're done Dinner will be ready…"
Then she started talking about nonsense… "I went fishing off the coast and pulled up a shark! It was huge!" Sugar spread her arms out, shouting "HUGE!" on and on, the two played out this routine as Galan watched them silently, saying "I just want to rest…"
Olvia and Sugar paused before yawning "Ah, so tired…" Sugar climbed up on Galan and 'fell asleep' on his shoulders. Olvia jumped on Galan, who caught her instinctively, as she said "So sleepy." before pretending to sleep as well.
Galan stood there and sighed, bringing them to the bedroom. He put Olvia down and grabbed Sugar, putting her in the bed before he turned around.
Olvia pulled him suddenly, bringing him to the bed while yawning "Oh no sleepwalking…" Galan fell on the bed and Olvia rolled over on him, making snoring sounds. Sugar laid on top of her and did the same, mumbling "Grapes…"
Galan was expressionlessly staring at the ceiling as the two 'slept' on top of him, mumbling "Ah, I hope I don't move and wake up…" "I'll die if I wake up right now…" he exhaled from his nose and laid there, not moving.
Obviously, he wasn't stupid enough to believe their nonsense… He didn't know what to do. Why were they so insistent… the more he pushed them away, the closer they came back…
He wondered… if this was what a family was.
Maybe, a family was just a group of people who kept coming closer together, pushing through all difficulties in the way. If someone pushed them away, they would come back over and over again until that person stopped…
But why?
What did he do to deserve this?
Galan couldn't understand, he kept denying himself over and over again, every day. Every time Olvia inched closer to his heart he would push her away, no matter how much he wanted her to stay with him.
But she would always come back!
Every single time!
He knew that he had relaxed over time, warmed up to her. He knew that he was constantly taking one step forward, two steps back… he knew because he was doing it on purpose. He didn't want her to break down his walls, he didn't want to have something to live for.
He instinctively resisted it.
No matter how much he craved for this deep in his heart, he knew it would only bring pain and suffering. He didn't want to love!
Galan was gritting his teeth and crying without realizing it.
He didn't deserve love.
But is that what he really felt?
He didn't want this warm feeling in his heart. Why won't it go away?!
He stared at the ceiling and cried bitterly, why was he so happy in this moment?!
Olvia and Sugar looked at Galan before moving, hugging him gently.