Next chapter as promised~! I hope you'll enjoy!

Chapter 2

From above the clouds, Izou kept an eye on Shells Town. Fortunately, everything seemed to have gone well, after he and Thatch left, and love had returned to the city. Right now, Izou was watching a particular man, who had just finished his meeting with Mayor Morgan, and was brought to an inn, where he would probably stay for the night. As the day passed, Izou kept following the actions of Smoker, as long as he wasn't needed anywhere else.

He had to leave for a bit because a woman prayed to him her fiancé would come back to her, but the guy had already fallen in love with another woman, who equally loved him back, so Izou couldn't really help her, unfortunately. Sometimes that was just part of what life was. She would find love again, in a few years, Izou would make sure of that.

When the night fell, he saw Smoker was sitting in the bar of the inn, drinking a beer, and being hit on by one of the waitresses – who obviously was more than just a waitress. However, he seemed to ignore her advances and when he finished his beer, he went up to his room alone.

Izou admired his faithfulness to his wife, and smiled. "Love is such a beautiful thing."

"Really? You obviously have never looked at fire, or you'd know real beauty."

Izou turned towards his brother and snorted. "Really Ace, you are gonna teach me about beauty?"

Ace sat down next to him. "Well, apparently you could still use a lesson or two. I mean the way fire dances in the air, reaches up to the sky, how it warms people, brings people together…"

"Love brings people together too, and nothing warms people like love," Izou brought up. Somehow, Whitebeard's sons never got tired of bragging about their field of expertise. They always wanted it to be better than the others.

"Oh, wanna bet which of the two can make people hotter?" Ace smirked.

"No, Ace, I don't. You'll set someone on fire. Because fire destroys people too, and that's not so beautiful now, is it?" Izou threw at him.

"Oh excuse me, if something destroys people, it's love." Ace threw back.

Izou smirked. "You'd better watch out it doesn't destroy you then." He winked at his brother.

Ace, who was obviously caught off guard by this comment, slowly turned red. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," Izou said amused. "Ace, you might be able to fool everyone, but not me. I'm Izou, god of beauty and love."

"What, I can't love my brother?"

"Didn't you mean that to be plural?"

"Brothers, yeah, that's what I said." Ace stood up and avoided eye contact with Izou.

"Hey, I'm not telling you you can't do anything. I'm just stating you can't fool me." Izou smiled. "And you really don't have to hide for me that you might have more than just brotherly love for one of your siblings."

"Just shut up." Ace mumbled, still not able to look his brother into his eyes. "Or I'll burn that pretty hair of yours."

Izou's eyes widened. "You wouldn't!"

Ace smirked and looked at him again. "Try me."

He waited outside the town's best known inn, or actually, he waited in the stables nearby it, petting the nose of a white horse, waiting for the animal's owner to return. Horses possessed such beauty, such elegance, sometimes it was hard to believe they were just animals.

Izou wasn't even sure why he'd gone down again, but he called it boredom for now. He loved his brothers, and they were a lot of fun, most of the time, but sometimes he needed to go down and be around the people for a bit. And this particular human had attracted his curiosity, which was why he was waiting beside this particular horse.

Stefan, Whitebeard's dog, had just started playing with the sun by pushing it ever slowly up to the sky. Rays of sunlight sneaked into the stables, giving it a peaceful atmosphere. Izou closed his eyes and smiled when he heard the door open and footsteps nearing him.

"You seem awfully interested in my horse." Smoker's voice sounded light and not in the slightest as if he was suffering from getting up so early in the morning. "She's not for sale, if you were thinking about it."

Izou turned towards the mare's owner and opened his eyes. "I have not much use for a horse, unfortunately. But she is very beautiful."

"So if you're not interested in taking my horse, then why are you here?" Smoker heaved his bag a bit better over his shoulder, flexing his arm muscles while doing so.

Izou licked his lips barely visibly. Those muscles certainly possessed a fair amount of beauty too. "I was just on my way out of town and thought I'd say hello before I left." Yeah, he certainly hadn't come to town for the sole purpose of saying hello.

"Yeah? Where are you headed to?" Smoker asked while stepping a little closer to Izou and his horse.

Izou thought really quickly. "East from here."

"Oh, that's a coincidence, I'm going home to Logue Town, so I need to go eastwards as well. We could start our way together, if you want." Smoker took another step closer to Izou, and almost invaded the god's personal space now.

"I would like that very much," Izou said. It was not much of a coincidence that they both went the same way, though, but he kept that to himself.

"Izou, your hair is beautiful…" Smoker said and reached out to take a strand of that hair into his hand.

However, before he could reach it, Izou had batted the hand away. "Don't touch me."

Smoker frowned as he backed off. "I'm sorry, I'm normally not like this at all."

"It's okay," said Izou smiling, "I have that effect on people."

Smoker snorted. "Well, shall we get going then?" he said as he saddled the white horse.

Izou agreed, and they left town, Smoker walking beside his horse for a while, since Izou had no horse to ride on, and Smoker didn't want to be on a higher level than him. They talked mainly about Smoker's life, about his village, his family, and how his meeting with Mayor Morgan had gone – well, it seemed, as he had agreed to send help in case the Blackbeards attacked with a bigger force, next time. The Blackbeard clan was apparently at war with Logue Town and some neighboring villages, but Smoker assured him that they had had a sweeping victory on them, the other day, and didn't suspect them to be back any time soon. Still, they'd better be safe than sorry.

Izou refrained from talking about himself much, since he didn't want to reveal his true identity and didn't want to lie either, if it could be avoided.

After a few miles, Smoker offered Izou to ride on his horse, saying she could hold the two of them easily, but Izou refused. He had been on earth for quite a long time now already and felt he was being called for help as well. So he said goodbye to Smoker at the next small settlement they reached, and after having watched the man and his horse for maybe a bit too long, he went towards the temple where someone was praying for his help.

That night, there was a big party up in heaven. Apparently, there had been some kind of sea battle, and both Namur and Curiel had gotten enough offerings for all the gods to feast from. They ate a lot and they drank a lot. And whoever thought gods couldn't get drunk, was wrong. Ironically, Thatch, as god of wine, usually got drunk first. Which never ceased to be entertaining.

However, soon the whole lot of them were at least a little tipsy, and that included Izou. He didn't want to let anyone know this, because he was proud to say he was one of the best at holding his liquor – or at least at pretending to do so – so he sought out a quiet spot on the clouds to clear his head.

As he sat down, he couldn't help but peek down for a bit, to watch how Smoker was doing. Well, since it was still very early in the morning, before the sun even came up, Izou wasn't all that surprised to find him sleeping. Yet, he wasn't disappointed either. He didn't mind watching Smoker sleep for a while. Looking at the man's chest rising and falling so easily, it was somehow calming, but at the same time it gave Izou a fluttering feeling in his chest. Izou smiled. It was a nice feeling. Watching Smoker like that made him feel happy. Or maybe that was the booze talking.

"Oi, Izou, don't be a party pooper!" Haruta let himself fall down next to his brother, while Namur sat down on the other side.

"Yeah, why'd ya leave?" the god of the seas asked. "Are you tired already?"

"I'm not tired!" Izou snorted. "I was just getting a bit of fresh air."

"Oh yeah, what were you watching just now?" Haruta looked down to see if he could find the answer himself.

"No one. Nothing." Izou felt a blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Oh, someone, huh?" Haruta said suggestively. He squinted his eyes. "There's too many people down there…. Oh wait! Is it the guy with the white hair? Thatch told me you met that guy in Shells Town yesterday, and you were so stunned you just told him your real name."

"I wasn't stunned," Izou mumbled. "It was like that, Thatch says a lot. He's drunk. Don't listen to him."

"So, eh, why were you watching him sleep?" Namur exchanged a look with Haruta.

Izou stood up. "I wasn't…"

"Were you thinking of giving him more beauty? Because he could use some…" Haruta said a little too nonchalant.

But Izou picked up on that a little too late. "Wow, you've got no taste whatsoever! Have you even looked at him? He's gorgeous!" He turned to get back to the party again, but he didn't miss the look his two brothers were once again exchanging.

Both began to smirk widely while following Izou towards the partying gods. "Are you," Namur began, but Haruta joined him at the ending of the question, "in love?"

"What? No!" Izou really didn't know why his face felt so hot. Of course he wasn't in love…

"I think you are~!" Haruta teased him, and increased his voice when they came into hearing distance of the others. "Izou is in love~!"

"What?" Several brothers gathered around them, and Whitebeard's roaring laughter could possibly even be heard on earth, though the humans would probably write it off as thunder.

"Is he?" Thatch asked, obviously amused by this news.

"No, I'm not." Izou tried to ignore all the other teasing comments and whistling that came his way.

"Yes, he is," Namur confirmed.

"No, I'm not!" Izou exclaimed. "I'm the god of love, I would know when I was in love! For heaven's sake, I know when people are in love! I could point out one of you who is in love!"

At that moment, Izou tripped over an outstretched leg that belonged to Ace, one of the few gods who were still sitting down. When Izou looked up at him, a shiver went down his spine. Ace's eyes almost literally shot fire. Izou had been about to tell Ace's secret to distract their brothers from himself, but the prospect of his hair catching fire stopped him from doing so. Smoker had said his hair was pretty, and Izou wanted to keep it that way.

The other gods had fallen silent, except for Thatch, who was still laughing because Izou had tripped.

Vista raised his eyebrows. "Well, enlighten us."

"Well… you wouldn't like it if I told that about you, would you?" Izou tried to avoid answering it. His hair was dear to him. "Besides, I can't imagine being the only one who noticed it, so figure it out on your own." Izou noticed a few eyes, including Marco's, barely visibly shifting towards Ace.

"That doesn't mean you're not in love though," Jozu commented. "You can probably recognize your own feelings just as well as Thatch recognizes when he has drunk too much."

Thatch snorted. "One can never have drunk too much!"

Several of them chuckled, and Izou decided to sit down next to Ace, hoping his brothers would let the topic rest. Fortunately, everyone continued partying again. Izou gave Ace a piece of meat as a peace offering, one the freckled god accepted gratefully.

"So… I take it you didn't seduce him yet?" Izou said quietly.

Ace choked on his meat. "No, of course not!" he said after he'd stopped coughing. "Seriously, Izou, stop spouting such nonsense."

"He was looking at you just now, you know."

"What?" Ace's eyes shifted to Marco for just a second. "I don't even know who you're talking about."

Izou chuckled. Ace was such a bad liar. "Here, have another drink," he said as he pushed a full glass into Ace's hands. "It'll give you some more courage." Izou looked at Marco, who was standing at the side of the group, laughing at some joke Blamenco told. "You can dance with him then, or at least go sit closer to him."

The sudden splash of wine that hit him, made Izou turn back to Ace. "What the fuck?! Why the hell did you – " Only then he noticed Ace's body lying flat on the clouds, producing a soft snoring. Izou shook his head. Damn narcoleptic brat. Even though Izou was the youngest of them all, it certainly didn't feel like it. Especially when he saw Ace sleeping like a child. At a certain moment he almost even expected Ace to start sucking his thumb, but he didn't go that far after all.

Izou stood up and walked over to Marco. "Will you check if he wakes up again?" he asked, nodding towards Ace. Then he pointed at the wine stain on his clothes. "I gotta change."

Smoker stood up the moment the first sunbeams reached him. He needed to be on his way as soon as possible. If he hurried, he could be home around lunchtime. Because even if he'd only been away for a few days, he missed his family and friends incredibly. He couldn't remember being homesick ever before, but he was now. He just couldn't wait to hold Hina and Tashigi in his arms again.

While he made his horse ready to go, Smoker thought about the previous morning. The only one who could distract his thoughts from his family was Izou. A peculiar person, that man was. Izou was a bit of a mystery, and seemed to want to keep it that way. Still, Smoker had enjoyed his company a lot. Aside from his pleasant inner person, Smoker had never before seen a man he'd call beautiful. Women were beautiful, men were handsome. To be beautiful one had to possess a certain elegance, and Izou had that. He was just breath taking. He had seen that the day they'd met, when Izou was wearing a large hood over his head, and yet he hadn't expected him to be so beautiful as he was yesterday morning, when he showed up without anything to cover his hair or part of his face.

Smoker climbed on his horse, and took off. The prospect of seeing Hina and Tashigi again made him spur the mare on to go a little faster. He wouldn't go on full speed, since he would feel his muscles for the rest of the week if he did that the whole way, but a little faster than normally wouldn't hurt. He had bought Tashigi a little souvenir in Shells Town that he was sure she'd like, and couldn't wait to give it to her.

Smoker was a few hours on his way, when he saw dark clouds building up at the horizon. Damn, he didn't like riding in the rain, though the crops could use some water, so it wasn't that bad, probably. He just hoped he would be home before it came down. However, that didn't seem likely, since those clouds came towards him from the direction of Logue Town.

It took him less than half an hour before he smelled it. Not the smell of rain coming his way, but the smell of something burning. He looked at the clouds again, this time with wide eyes. Those weren't rainclouds! Fuck, no. You gotta be kidding me!

As he spurted his horse on some more – this time going on full speed – his dread became worse and worse as the clouds of smoke became bigger and bigger. This wasn't some bush that was on fire. It could be the forest a few miles behind Logue Town, and though he really hoped that, he seriously doubted it. When he was close enough to see his hometown on the horizon, his heart sank.

Flames rose up from the village into the sky, longing to reach higher and higher. Although, Smoker was sure this wasn't the worst they could do, so either the worst had yet to come, or it had already past. If it had yet to come, Smoker hoped from the bottom of his heart that he would be in time to save people. If it had already passed, he prayed that his family and friends weren't on their way to Atmos yet, who ruled over the realm of the dead. And if that were the case, he prayed that Atmos would send them back.

The smoke that covered the whole area now didn't really bother Smoker, but the stank was almost unbearable. It wasn't only wood that was burning. It was the whole village with everything in it, and probably the animals too. He didn't even dare to think about the people.

When he got a clear view of the whole village, he let his horse slow down. The flames had mostly died out, and there was almost nothing of the village left.

TBC~!

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