The rest of their journey was uneventful, or nearly so. There were some elves who appeared at the ends of the halls and began to curse at Sauron, and probably would have caused a scene similar to that with Feanor. It was interesting to note, however, that it seemed as though they could not leave the halls they were in.

Of course, it did not stop their voices from traveling. Haldir tried to block out the vulgar language that reached his ears, but, with as much of it that was going on, that was rather hard. Until that day, he had thought it would have been impossible to have that many curse words together in one sentence. He reflected that one learns new things every day.

Sauron did not seem to mind what was being said at all. He looked at the elves whom were yelling at him and then turned away as though they were nothing but rocks. All the same, Haldir thought that he saw a very wicked light to his eyes, as though his appearance was a façade to his true feelings. Haldir didn't like the thought at all.

Finally, after what had seemed like hours, they came to the end of the hall. Before them a huge chamber opened up, so large that Haldir could not see the top or the sides. It was as though they had suddenly walked into the middle of a plane.

Unlike the halls where the lighting was done partly by torches positioned high on the walls and partly from the spirits of the elves, here there were hundreds of little blue lights hanging on silver chains from the ceiling. They were dull, just giving off a faint sphere of light that did not make the floor easy to see. Haldir made sure to stay near the group, knowing that if he paused too long the darkness would eat them up and he would be lost. And with his luck concerning directions, he would probably end up walking in circles there for the rest of eternity.

They walked on for a while more when suddenly Haldir began to see other little lights ahead. At first they were just dots in the dark, but then, after walking some more, they began to grow larger. They were faint and shifty, and as he watched them they would slowly dim and go out.

Haldir watched curiously the lights for a couple minutes, and then he hurried a little so that he was walking next to Namo. "Those lights," he began once he got the courage to speak, "what are they?"

Namo turned to him to answer. "They are the elves who are being released."

Haldir cocked an eyebrow. "They are? Then why are they fading?"

"Because they are getting a body. Their spirits seem to fade as their forms become more physical."

"Ah-huh."

Finally, they stopped. In front of them was a line of souls, all waiting patiently for their turn. Ahead of the line was the wall, into which eight tunnels were carved. Haldir only guessed this from the fact that at these points the darkness became even thicker.

He watched with interest as eight spirits were taken from the line and led to the tunnels. There would stand a maia blocking the way. Then Haldir assumed that some questions were asked, after which the maia moved aside and the elf would begin to walk down the tunnel, slowly disappearing into the gloom.

Cheery little way to get a body back, Haldir thought to himself, forgetting Namo for a moment.

Namo did look down at him in a reprimanding way, but it was Sauron who spoke, addressing Haldir for the first time. "You don't say. Looks like they're all being sent off to damnation, not that such a thought really bothers me much."

Haldir turned to him in horror. "You can read my thoughts too!" he cried.

Sauron looked at him and shrugged. "Trust me, I'm not trying to; it just happens."

Spinning back around to Namo, Haldir looked at him hopefully. "He won't always be able to do that, will he?"

"Mmm…" he started, frowning, "...I'm not sure."

Haldir shivered internally. The thought of having Sauron being able to tell what he was thinking at all times was not pleasant.

"Oh, that's not very nice," Sauron said.

"Stop doing that!" Haldir shouted, causing a couple of the people ahead of them to stare and whisper.

"I already told you I can't. It's an ainur thing; I can't stop it." He shook his head. "Do you have any idea how annoying it was when I was in Hollin with all those elves, all the time hearing them think, 'I hope these robes aren't too feminine,' or, 'oh, I wonder how my hair is'?" he said, flopping his hands around limply with a feigned worried look on his face. Then he quickly dropped his arms, his expression falling also. "I swear, it drove me absolutely insane."

"You're sure that you weren't insane before hand?" Haldir hissed, his temper, which for a long amount of years had been considerably cool, for some reason starting to heat up again.

Sauron actually looked surprised, as though he was unsure about how to handle the situation. He furrowed his brow, but did not really look displeased, and crossed his arms. "Well, no," he said finally, taking a couple steps forward as the line moved up.

It then occurred to Haldir that it had probably been a very long time since somebody had talked back to him in that manner. Anybody who had done so earlier, be it Feanor or even Namo, had known Sauron already and were definitely entitled to aim some derogatory comments at him, considering what sort of things Sauron had probably done to them personally.

Haldir had not really had any personal grievance that he held against Sauron as they had. Of course, when he had been alive, he had hated him with the hate that all free people had held. But that had faded in his time in the Halls, just like every other feeling he had ever felt. Now, although he was well aware that he should hate Sauron, he couldn't honestly say he did. He, in typical recent fashion, felt simple indifference.

That being the case, Sauron more than likely felt the same towards him. So it was understandable, Haldir supposed, that when he had implied that Sauron was a raving lunatic, to his face, Sauron could be a little taken aback by it. After coming to that conclusion, Haldir just shrugged.

None of them talked as they slowly made their way to the head of the line. Eventually, the last group had gone through, and Sauron and Haldir were ushered forward. Namo, however, did not move.

Haldir turned to Namo, wondering what he was doing. "Once you get outside, you will find some people waiting for you. They will take you where you need to go. Also, keep in mind what happened back there," Namo said, obviously referring to Feanor. "There are people in Valinor who would not be pleased to see him."

Sauron turned to Namo from looking off into space, seeming to understand that he was being spoken about. "Me?"

"Yes," Namo said. "What, is that a surprise or something?"

"No, not really," Sauron admitted.

"Anyway," Namo continued, "it would be wise to keep his identity a secret. It will help give you peace." He started to turn away.

"You aren't coming?" Haldir asked him, surprised

Namo's face actually turned up in a suppressed smile and Haldir swore that he heard him give a precursor to a laugh. Even Sauron looked surprised at the sound. "Are you kidding? No, he's all yours." He nudged Haldir, who was not feeling particularly good after that comment, on towards the tunnels. "You'll do fine. Don't worry so much." With that said, he turned around, and headed back off into the dark, fading into it until he vanished from sight.

Once he was gone, Haldir turned and looked at the tunnels. Sauron was already in front of one and seemed to be taking care of himself, so Haldir went to the only open spot he could find.

He stopped in front of the cloaked maia and - since it was true that he was slightly on the small side - looked up at her. She looked at him for a second with a dull expression on her face as though she was ready to get this over with. "Name," she said staring off into the space directly over Haldir's head.

"Haldir."

"From where do you hail?"

"Lothlorien."

"Ethnic background?"

"Silvan."

"Was your death related to Feanor, war, grief, or other?"

"War..." Haldir said slowly, thinking the first choice a little odd.

"What do you plan to do in Valinor?"

Haldir glanced over a row at Sauron. "I'm going to have to look after him," he said a little sadly, "but I plan to have an otherwise normal life."

He almost thought the maia's stony appearance might have moved slightly at his comment. "Good luck."

She then stepped aside and pointed down the hall, continuing to speak mechanically. "Follow the tunnel until the end. Try to concentrate on memories from your life; it will help the process of regenerating a body. Have a nice life." Then she waved her hand slightly, beckoning Haldir on.

He was eager to go, and so began down the tunnel as soon as he had permission. As he did so, he listened to the maia's words and tried to concentrate on memories from his life.

He remembered sitting by the Nimrodel after a long watch on guard, or the times when he had been in the Lady Galadriel's presence. He thought about when he had been at Cerin Amroth, and of the mellyrn and the niphredil and the elanor. For a moment he almost thought he was happy.

Then he remembered Orophin and Rumil. The numerous occasions when he had woken up to find that his hair was stuck to his pillow with honey. That once when the string on his bow had been snipped. Those evenings sitting beside that very river that he had loved only to suddenly find himself completely soaked with water.

Ah yes, he remembered a great deal when he took the time. Then he was reminded of why he did not normally take the time. He thought back on all those terrible jokes that his younger brothers had played on him and tried to feel spiteful about it, yet, to his surprise, he couldn't. True, they were two good-for-nothing obnoxious ninnies, but they had been his good-for-nothing obnoxious ninnies.

It was with this last thought that the tunnel ended and he was outside. His thoughts instantly scattered as he became aware of the breeze on his face, something that he had not felt for so long that he had nearly forgotten. Standing still, he looked down at his hands and no longer saw the foggy fingers through which the ground could be seen, but solid hands covered with pale skin.

It was an emotional moment. Many things that he had not felt suddenly surfaced as he was overwhelmed by the happiness at finally being again, having some true substance to him. And the moment suddenly came to a screeching halt when a hand smacked against his shoulder.

Taking a step forward to avoid losing his balance, Haldir turned to see who had stolen his special moment from him. He was really not too surprised to see Sauron, who seemed perfectly aware that he had ruined something profound for Haldir. He even looked quite proud about it.

Haldir took another step forward to dislodge Sauron's hand from his shoulder. To be honest, he was a little irritated with Sauron, which was not really a good way to start off. He had not idea how long he would be stuck trying to "rehabilitate" him into the world again, but he did not want to spend however long it took agonizing over every moment, thinking that something foul was going to happen.

He had started to walk off as he considered this, but suddenly a thought hit him like a thousand white-hot needles dripping with lemon juice: it was likely that no matter what he did, he would end up agonizing over every minute. After all, it wasn't just any deranged, twisted spirit he was trying to "fix", it was Sauron. The guy who had helped torture elves to make orcs, who had pinned up Celebrimbor to a war pike and used his body as a banner, who had made Gil-Galad spontaneously combust, who had fed elves to wolves alive. Suddenly, it did not seem nearly as safe to have Sauron out there with a body as it had earlier. After all, those people had all been Haldir's kindred.

"I'm not really that biased to elves. You forget that I destroyed practically an entire race of humans," Sauron put in.

Haldir rolled his eyes back and then closed them. "Will you please stop listening to what I am thinking?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"What, does it bother you?" Sauron asked as he began down the path that was before them.

"Yes, it bothers me!"

"Well, in that case…" he began, turning around momentarily and smiling, "no, I won't stop."

Haldir pressed his hands against his face and slowly pulled down. Why...? he asked himself softly. It had seemed like such a good idea before.

"Oh, don't do that to your face; it will give you wrinkles. And I know that would just be a terrible thing for any of you elves to have to go through."

Sighing, Haldir dropped his hands from his face. He had a point. Slowly, Haldir began to make his way down the path, trying to forget about Sauron for a bit and take in his surroundings.

He had never really been in Valinor before. The Halls didn't really count. There was nothing living there. Everybody was dead. Out here, however, there was grass, tall and green all around, dotted with white flowers. There were birds flying high overhead and trees off in the distance. Taking a deep breath of the night air, Haldir relaxed.

Finally, he looked up at the sky, at the innumerable stars that pierced the blue. All the elves loved the stars, and Haldir was no exception. They were able to boast his spirit.

He didn't realize that he was going through the classic little elven poems and such that were made to Varda until he noticed Sauron mimicking his words with his face screwed up. Haldir stopped thinking the poems immediately and cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" he asked softly.

Sauron paused, his mouth still slightly open. "Trying to entertain myself by mocking your silly little limericks."

"That's rather pathetic. Can't you think of something better to do with your time?"

"Not really. Unless you want me just to solely concentrate on penetrating your mind and finding out your most embarrassing and closely guarded secrets. I'd would find that highly entertaining."

"Why don't you like the stars anyway?" Haldir said, quickly trying to change the subject.

Sauron shrugged.

"Namo said that you worked in smithing."

Sauron glanced at him, frowning. "Yes…" he said, as though thinking Haldir was the most random creature in the whole the world.

"Were you a maia of Aule then?"

Sauron dropped his head down a little and looked at Haldir with an expression that said that this was not a topic that was going to be discussed ever again. "I was for a time."

Haldir looked away and cleared his throat. "Well, that doesn't really matter I guess; you always did those sort of crafty things and such afterwards, anyhow. As such, though, I would think that you would give some credit to good craftsmanship."

"I would give them some credit if I thought they showed good craftsmanship. I just don't think they do."

"How can you think that?"

Sauron fidgeted for a moment, taking a quick peek up at the tiny points of light high
above them. "Well, perhaps they are decent, but since they were partly made as a symbol of the downfall of my former master and myself, I have a bit of a hard time admiring them."

Haldir did not really understand. It made him feel incredibly slow.

Sauron sighed. "How could I explain this so it would make sense to you?" He scrunched up his face with concentration. "All right, how about this. Let's say that there is some beautiful elleth, okay?"

Haldir nodded slowly.

"And let's say that she comes up to you, pulls out a sword and runs you through with it."

Haldir flinched slightly at the thought. The image of getting a sword stuck through him was too close to a memory.

"Now," Sauron continued, making no note of Haldir's discomfort, "you might accept that she is beautiful, but would you really like her after she was done stabbing you so that you were mortally wounded?"

After a moment of blinking, Haldir's eyes lit up. "Ahhhhh, I get it now." He paused. "But still, the stars aren't the ones that were going to 'run you through.'"

"Come on, really!" Sauron said with exasperation. "They're just lights."

"Just lights!" Haldir sighed incredulously.

"Well, the moon and sun are like stars, but you elves don't care for them at all."

"That's because the elves awoke in the light of the stars, not the sun and moon. And the sun was a sign for the coming of Men and all that rubbish."

Sauron sniffed indignantly. "Still, you can't give me any grief for not finding stars special if you don't have respect for things similar to them, and even for a reason that is nearly identical to why I don't like the stars."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"Can."

"Can't."

"Okay, you truly are pathetic. Just stop."

Sauron looked disappointed. "You give up too easily. I could have gone on doing that for hours."

Haldir glanced at Sauron and shook his head, his brows furrowed. "And to think, you were the Dark Lord of Middle-Earth."

Sauron smirked. "In the flesh."

"That's a step up for you, hm?"

"Hold on now, just because my symbol was a fiery eye doesn't mean that is the form I took. That would not be very practical, would it?"

Haldir looked at Sauron again. "And I'm sure practicality is always of special importance to you. There has never been any drama to the things you do," he responded sarcastically.

Sauron scowled a bit. "What would you know about it?"

"More than I'm sure I would care to know, in any case."

Sauron was now quiet and made no further comment about stars or anything of the like. They continued down the path, Haldir pleased with the silence as he looked for who they were supposed to meet.