I wish there were more stories about the Valar. Ah well.

Chapter Four

She was here. Why was she here? Why was he half-naked? Feeling rather self-conscious, Aulë pulled the edges of the cape toward his body in hopes of covering up his dark, muscular chest. It did not cover near as much as he would have liked. So much for dignity.

Yavanna noticed his attractive torso – how could she not? – and quickly looked away when Aulë failed in his attempt to adopt a more modest appearance, feeling rather embarrassed herself.

Curumë snickered.

"Thank you, Curumë," Aulë said to the Maia. "You are dismissed."

Still smirking, Curumë left them, and Aulë turned to Yavanna.

"Is… is everything all right?" he asked cautiously.

"That is what I came here to ask you," Yavanna replied. "I am worried about you. At the festival you were acting so… strange."

How could he explain the reasons for his behavior to her? He couldn't… not without holding out his heart for her to take or break. Ulmo's words returned to him: "But is the chance not worth taking?" He wanted to believe it was. It was so easy when they weren't standing face to face.

"Would you like to sit down?" he asked, gesturing inside his bedchamber.

She nodded and followed him inside. They sat down on a stone bench upholstered with a red velvet cushion. Yavanna looked around in awe at all the firestones lighting the room and said, "Those lights… how did you make them?"

Aulë, feeling rather pleased that she'd noticed them, was only too happy to explain how they'd been made. "When we descended into the world, Eru gave me an imperishable flame that we use here in the forges," he said. "I devised a way to capture the fire within a crystal, and they gave us light to work by when the world was still dark. The crystals I placed in Illuin and Ormal are as large as this room."

Yavanna could not believe her ears. "Then… the fire does not burn wood?"

He shook his head. "No, of course not. I will not agree to the use of wood as fuel for our fires."

That changed things. That changed things a lot. Yavanna felt thoroughly ashamed about what she said to Irmo earlier, about resenting Aulë's creations because she believed they destroyed hers. "Aulë, I must apologize," she said. "I wrongly believed that burning wood was used to provide the fire for the lamps, and I passed judgment on you that I should not have."

Aulë was moved by her apology, but did not think it necessary. "Do not feel you need to apologize, Yavanna," he said. "It was not wrong of you to be concerned for your creations."

"But it was wrong of me to believe something that was not true," she said, and placed her hand on his arm. Aulë's heart raced. "Forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive."

"Aulë, please."

He still felt there was nothing to apologize for, but she was clearly distressed, so he granted her request.

She smiled. "Thank you."

Aulë wanted to say something, to keep their conversation going so she would not leave, but he could not think of anything. Luckily, she did it for him, although the question she asked was not one he was ready to answer. "Do you ever think back to our part in the Music?"

Only a few times every hour, he thought. "Yes; from time to time," he said. "Do… do you?"

Yavanna nodded. "Yes, I do. They say ours was the most beautiful theme of all, and that the world first took shape when our voices joined."

"Yes, I have been told that, too."

They looked into each others' eyes, both shining with curiosity and desire. "It was you who joined me," Yavanna recalled. "Why?"

He could see that there would be no escaping telling her how he really felt. Aulë was terrified at what could result, especially after seeing her with Irmo, but he had no choice. It was time for the truth to come out. He took a deep breath and began his confession.

"Your voice was – and still is – the most beautiful thing I have ever heard," he said. "I don't know why I joined you, but I do know it was the only thing I could have done. I was so afraid that my voice would be unworthy next to yours, or that you would reject my song, or that the others would hate me for ruining music as glorious as yours."

"But it was perfect," Yavanna said. "And why was it not until this day that our paths crossed again?"

"For the reason that I am afraid still," he said. It was time. "I love you."

Those words were the last she expected to hear. "Aulë…"

"I know it is foolish, even wrong for me to feel this way, but I cannot help it," he said. It was liberating to finally confess his feelings, and he could not have stopped there even if he wanted to. "I love you. There is no way I could not love you." He took a few deep breaths as his fervor died down and looked at her perfect face, frozen in bewilderment. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to shock you."

"A sudden, unprovoked declaration of love IS shocking, Aulë."

"I know, I know, and I am sorry. I do not know what came over me."

Yavanna did. She realized that she'd trapped him, and the only way out of this trap was for him to tell his secret. And now that it was out in the open, she didn't know what to do. The last explanation she expected to hear for his behavior was that he was in love with her.

"You are angry," Aulë observed.

"No, I am not," she insisted. "I could not be angry. I am just confused."

"I am sorry. I do not know what else to say."

Neither did she. She didn't want to hurt him, but could this situation be worked out without hurting anyone?

"I know that you could never love me-"

"Aulë-"

"-but please hear me out." He was shaking. He didn't know whether it was from fatigue or fear. Probably both. "I have already begun to say this. It must be finished."

She nodded. "I understand."

His eyes dropped to the stone floor. "I do not know your heart, and I know I never will," he said. Then he straightened and looked at her. "But I do know mine. You are my opposite in every way, the light to my dark, the water to my fire, the hope to my despair, and for this and more, I will love you until the final theme plays and this world and all those bound to it fade into nothing."

Even if Yavanna could have thought of anything to say to that, it was not within her power to speak.

Aulë was almost as shocked by his revelation as Yavanna. He turned his head away. "I am finished."

Ulmo would have been proud. Aulë was going to kill him.

"Aulë… I feel…" She didn't know what she felt. Stunned. Confused. Perhaps even a little angry. However, the prominent emotion was, to her great surprise, curiosity.

He sighed and looked at her again. He'd already put so much at stake; what was a little more? "Yavanna?"

She looked at him, and suddenly didn't feel quite so curious anymore. She knew what he wanted. In his eyes, she saw fear, but beyond the fear was pure, unconditional, perfect love. Perhaps… how much harm could be caused by one kiss?

"Yes?"

Their faces were moving closer with every pounding heartbeat.

And then stopped.

For a moment, it looked as though Aulë was going to pull away. Yavanna would not have that – not now, not after he risked so much by opening his heart to her. Why? Because she pitied him? Because she admired his honesty? Because she wanted to kiss him? She didn't know. What she did know, though, as soon as Aulë's lips touched hers, was that every word he spoke about his love for her was true.

The kiss was by no means aggressive, but neither was it passive. Yavanna was struck by the passion and intensity with which Aulë kissed her; she had not known he was capable of such a tender, heartfelt display of emotion. His kiss, like his love for her, was pure, innocent, from his entire heart, and his very reason for existing. Irmo had never kissed her like this…

Irmo!

Yavanna pulled away, her eyes stinging with guilty tears. "I'm so sorry, Aulë," she said. "I should not have done that. Please forgive me."

Aulë didn't understand. "What do you mean?"

She stood up and half walked, half ran toward the door. Aulë followed her. "Yavanna," he said, "what is wrong?"

"You are wrong to love me," she said. The number of tears on her face made Nienna's eyes seem dry. "Your love is too wonderful, too perfect for me. I will never be worthy of it."

"How can you say this?" he asked.

She opened the door. When she was halfway out, she looked back at him and said, "I am to marry Irmo."