South Blue, Sorbet Kingdom.
In this old church, faint light filtered through the stained glass, weaving colorful patterns on the floor.
Ginny lay collapsed on the wooden floorboards, surrounded by the musty scent of aged wood.
Her body grew weaker with each passing moment, every breath requiring immense effort.
A large cloak tightly wrapped around her emaciated frame, and on her arm clutching the Den Den Mushi, a cyan-blue gem emitted an eerie, chilling glow.
With trembling hands, she dialed the number.
...
"Ginny?! Is that you! Where are you!"
When the familiar voice came through the receiver, the emotions she had been suppressing finally broke through, her voice choked with sobs.
"Hey... Kuma dear..."
"I'm back, I've returned to the surface..."
Hearing her voice, Kuma—who had suffered for two years—let out a long sigh of relief: "Ginny, it's really great that you're okay!"
The next moment, this kind man would plunge into an even deeper hell.
...
"I got sick... they said they didn't need me anymore and abandoned me... so lucky..."
"I'm sorry, Kuma dear."
"I'm going to die."
...
...
She said it so calmly, but the one hearing it couldn't remain calm.
Kuma's voice trembled, his grief beyond words: "Don't talk nonsense, Ginny!"
"I'll come find you right now! You must wait for me! You must wait for me!!"
Ginny slowly shook her head, even though she knew her beloved couldn't see her: "No need, I really don't want you to see me in such a pathetic state."
"Being able to hear your voice before I go... it's really wonderful..."
"And..."
"Kuma dear, I've always... always..."
"Always..."
Ginny's voice grew softer, her breathing increasingly faint.
Thud—
"I love you the most..."
Her arm could no longer support the weight, and her final confession of love never reached its intended recipient.
BOOM!!
Kuma shoved aside anyone in his way, clutching the Den Den Mushi as he burst out of the base, soaring into the sky at the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life.
Wait for me...
Ginny!
You must wait for me!!!
...
In the dim church, Ginny slowly closed her eyes, her body weakly falling backward.
Tap.
A hand caught her falling form, deep blue energy seeping from its palm.
Another hand picked up the Den Den Mushi.
"Sorbet Church. I think you know where it is."
"Ten minutes. That's the limit of what I can do. Hurry faster, Kuma."
...
...
"You... who are you..."
Like a extinguished candle being relit, Ginny felt a warm current enter her body, allowing her heavy eyelids to open slightly.
Her vision was already too blurry to make out the features of the person behind her.
Griffin set down the Den Den Mushi, channeling Chakra into Ginny's body with both hands.
He didn't know Medical Ninjutsu, but Chakra—that miraculous energy combining spirit and body—could sustain Ginny's life force for a short time without problem.
He hadn't searched aimlessly across the seas, instead arriving directly at Sorbet Church one step ahead, waiting for Ginny to appear.
...
"Uchiha Griffin, a passing Marine."
"Why..."
Griffin gazed at the sunlight outside the window and spoke slowly, "Don't be so cruel, Ginny."
"Give him a chance to say goodbye properly."
...
In their childhood, Ginny and Kuma had escaped from God Valley together and lived in the Sorbet Kingdom.
Later, they joined Dragon's Revolutionary Army to change the world. No matter how difficult life became, as long as she remembered she was fighting alongside the one she loved, she felt happy.
Until...
Ginny was captured by the Celestial Dragons.
At that time, the Revolutionary Army lacked the strength to rescue anyone from the Holy Land, forced to endure the tragedy as it unfolded.
Forced... to let that man bear all the suffering.
Father, mother, lover...
A man who kept losing everything, running all his life, yet bound by chains throughout his existence.
——
BOOM!!!
The church doors were blown away. In just three minutes, that man had crossed the distance between heaven and sea to appear.
Bartholomew Kuma.
...
A fierce wind instantly rushed in, scattering the church's furnishings.
Kuma stood at the entrance, rainwater streaming down his massive frame, his chest heaving violently.
The moment he saw Ginny, tears welled up in the eyes of the man the world called a tyrant.
"Ginny..."
Ginny slowly turned her head, tears tracing paths down her pale cheeks. Her lips parted, voice hoarse and faint: "Kuma dear..."
Griffin quietly retreated, fading into the shadows.
...
Kuma knelt down, gently cradling the petite Ginny in his large hands as if trying to hold onto her fading life.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I came too late."
"I should have found you sooner, I should have stayed by your side, I should have..."
Ginny weakly shook her head, her thin hand lifting with effort to caress Kuma's face, gently wiping away the moisture—whether tears or rain—from his cheeks.
"I know..."
"You didn't accept my proposal because you were worried your Buccaneer bloodline would put me in danger..."
"I know, Kuma dear..."
...
Kuma's tears flowed uncontrollably as he pressed Ginny's hand against his face, choking out: "I'm sorry... I was too cowardly... I'm sorry..."
He kept apologizing.
Ginny looked at Kuma, her eyes filled with deep affection and reluctance.
"Kuma dear... you're the best person... don't... don't apologize anymore."
"I know this is selfish... but could you..."
"At the end... I really want to see Kuma dear's smiling face... I'm so cold..."
...
Kuma could endure countless pains, agree to countless unreasonable demands.
But now...
He truly couldn't comply, even for his beloved's final request.
He forced his lips apart, forming an expression so distorted it could hardly be called a smile.
Ginny's hand slowly slipped away, the light fading from her eyes.
...
"Hey... Kuma dear... could you hold my hand..."
"Don't leave me, okay..."
"Mhm..."
...
...
"Kuma dear, are you there..."
"I'm here."
...
...
"Kuma dear... still there..."
"I'm here."
"...always... here..."
"I'll always be here..."
"I won't... won't go anywhere... I'll stay with you forever..."
...
"Really..."
"Being with my most beloved Kuma dear... is truly wonderful..."
"So happy..."
...
...
...
...
Silence lingered for a long time.
Until the sorrowful roar echoed through the church for a long time.
As if vomiting out the soul in agony.