Cover image by my dA friend, Daytha. Used with her permission.
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Fire and Life
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Of all the Valar and Valier unions, that of Yavanna and Aulë seems most puzzling. For the others always have something in common, like Manwë and Varda, who share the sky, which is their domain, while Yavanna and Aulë are not connected by anything like that. And it is said their story was different than those of the other Kings and Queens of the Valar.
At the beginning of days, when the Ainur sang the world into being, they did not have shape like we understand it, but they did recognise each other by their song. So after they came to live in our world and shaped themselves, they were sometimes amazed at seeing the others for the first time. Strange as it may seem now, Aulë was not to Yavanna's liking, dark like the halls he dwells in, and fierce like the fires of his forges. She remembered his song, which was weaved of fire and flames in a large part, and she was wary of him, for Melkor's song was weaved of fire, too, and him she feared. To Aulë, she too seemed strange, slim like a willow and bright as her flowers, and he took greater joy from crafting his gems and jewels than from the sight of her.
Then one day it happened that one of Yavanna's birds chanced upon the gate to Aulë's forges, and, curious, flew inside. Yavanna noticed the absence of her feathery companion, and followed the little bird into the underground halls. And she was amazed by their beauty, for they were anything but dark, gleaming with jewels and veins of mithril and even finer silver, and carved in simple and complicated patterns complimenting each other, and the fire there was not vicious, but soft and warm. Puzzled by the splendour of the stone halls, which were nothing short of a palace, deeper underground she went, following the bird's song, echoing across the stone.
And it the end she found herself in Aulë's forges, and those were simple, stone and fire, but the stone was not dark, and the fire was not frightening, for Aulë uses his fire to create, never to destroy. There was the lost bird, perched on Aulë's anvil, and for a moment Yavanna feared for her little companion, not because she thought Aulë would harm the creature, but because she was worried he might simply not notice.
"But Aulë stood calm and motionless like a stone statue, and suddenly the bird leaped into the air and flew over onto his hand, attracted by the gleam of a jewel Aulë was holding, and Aulë smiled. And when Yavanna approached him, he reached out slowly, so she could take the bird from his hand, and offered her the jewel, because his joy was in making beautiful things, not possessing them. That was when their eyes truly met for the first time, and in Aulë's eyes Yavanna saw flames, but was not afraid, because she understood his fire was that of creation, and in her eyes Aulë saw rain and laughter, and it became clear to him her eyes were wells of life. And they knew their shared dominion is creation, and that hers is life and his are things and craft did not matter to them, for creation still it is.
From that day on, Yavanna remains by Aulë's side in his halls, leaving in the morning to tend to the gardens and walk on grass and among the trees, and sing with the birds, but each evening she returns to Aulë. And from that day on, each evening Aulë leaves his anvil and forges, and his jewels and his crafts to welcome his spouse back into his home. And however they may differ, they do accept their differences, and bridge them, because they share life and fire.