Nine. Nine rings were given to the race of Men, tempting them with great power and immortality. Nine leaders of Men received these rings, becoming great kings, sorcerers, and conquerors. They did indeed receive great power and long life. But they were cursed. Their power did not serve their own will, even if they thought at first that it did. Their lives became hollow, bereft of love, joy, peace, and any hope of contentment. In the end, they were but slaves to the machinations of powers far above their own.

That was long ago. Now, nine ships sailed on winds of light between the stars. Nine ships full of humans wielding terrible power; seeking to extend their lives by taking the lives of others; to save their world by pillaging another, in the basest tradition of men and orcs. As with the ancient Men who received the rings; as with all other ill-gotten power, the power they held did not serve their own will. In the end, it served the will of Morgoth - to spread death and desolation throughout Arda, to corrupt and destroy all the Children of Illuvatar.

Nine ships fired their engines, becoming nine new stars in the sky of Pandora. A beacon of hope and new life for the lost souls on board, but an omen of death and sorrow to those whose hope and lives they would steal.

Year 50 of the Eighth Age

2169 AD

Grief-stricken, the Great Mother watched her garden and her children burn.

Black shapes descended from the sky on pillars of fire. Hotter than Aule's forges and towering into the sky, this fire was like nothing she had seen since the War of Wrath. It swept across the land, a wave of death five thousand feet high.

Flashbacks to the Dagor Bragollach and the dragonfires of Ancalagon haunted her mind. Like the first Dagor Bragollach - the Battle of Sudden Flame - it was not a battle, but a slaughter. As the Men and Elves of Beleriand had perished in the infernos of Morgoth, so now the Na'vi and their world burned in the hellfires of Man.

She felt it all. This world was as much her body as any form she had ever worn. So she felt every leaf, every branch as they combusted. She felt tree trunks burst as the moisture inside them turned to steam. She felt the mindless terror of the animals swept up in the inferno, sprinting hopelessly for their lives as their paws burned, their skin caught fire, and their lungs filled with searing fumes.

She felt the terror and anguish of the Na'vi. She felt the panic of children and parents caught apart, screaming for each other until the flames took the breath from their lungs and the flesh from their bones. She felt the terror and small comfort of two strangers holding each other in their last moments. She felt the shock and grief of a hunter, just outside the blast zone, as he saw his home, his mate, and their children immolated.

She screamed with their pain. She wept with their loss.

If she had a human form, she would have been on her knees, shaking with grief and anger. She was older than the stars, she had seen the worst depredations of Morgoth. Yet it had been so long since those days. She had lived in peace on this world for ages, loving and nurturing her children. She had dared to hope that with Morgoth gone, the worst of his horrors would remain in the past. Even after the events on Pandora 15 years ago, this new atrocity shocked her in a way that nothing had since she could remember.

How? was the question filling her mind. How has this come to pass? How have they attained such powers? It had been too long since she left Earth. She had not been back there since mankind's love for machines had begun to grow out of control, supplanting their love and respect for the world that sustained them. But if she was honest with herself, she should have known this day would come. Deep inside, she had always known that mankind was destined to master the elements of Ea, the universe. This was a bitter truth to know. Corrupted as they were, their mastery would be lacking in wisdom, tainted by greed and cruelty. What was happening right now was her worst fear come to life; a fear she had buried for ages; a fear she had prayed to Eru would never come to pass.

Mankind, in their mastery of the elements, had not embraced the path set out by her, by the other Valar, by Eru Illuvatar; but the path of Morgoth.

As the dark sky-ships set down amid the desolation, and infernal machines emerged to further ravage the land, Yavanna could not see men and women behind their controls. Only orcs.

It was a twisted version of her own work, she mused sadly. Morgoth had a share of all the other Valar's gifts. His evil had taken on a life of its own, and life always found a way to endure. Once established, it was nearly impossible to eliminate. Likewise, the evil seeds Morgoth planted so long ago on Earth had grown to maturity, and borne poisonous fruit. The fruit had borne seeds in turn, on down through the ages. Now, like the seeds of a plant which find their way to a distant island, they had spread his evil across the vast gulf between the stars.

Yavanna had never been seriously tempted to break Eru's law and interfere directly in the fate of His children. Not until today. She was granted greater authority here than on Earth, but she still was not permitted to overrule the free will of the Children. To blatantly interfere in their affairs.

She may have bent the rules in the last battle on this world, when she sent the animals of Pandora into the fray. But their actions were as much their own desire as they were hers. Their simple minds burned with anger at the noisy machines and weapons of man and the mess they made of their home. Yavanna had given them direction, not a command. Even then, she had held them back until the very last moment.

But now - for one terrible moment, she wished to strike these orcish men down directly. She wished for their black hearts to stop beating, for their weapon hands to be stilled forever. And this thought brought her sorrow as soon as it came to her, for she still loved humanity. Why do they do this? How could it all go so wrong?

Through the sorrow, a memory surfaced in her mind. A man from Earth, in the body of a Na'vi, begging her to help him save her people. Oh, how that had pricked her heart. She could not resist the desire to aid a pure soul, whose only motivation was love, to live and protect life - for that was her very essence. So when the battle was won and the People were safe, she had granted this man's wish to live in the body of the Thirdborn - as she had tried and failed to do for his wounded comrade days earlier. Would this displease Eru? She hoped not. Men themselves had found a way to change their fana - their physical form - even if it was only temporary. She had simply made it permanent. Again, perhaps, testing the bounds of her authority. But no rebuke had ever come. Over the years, the results of her choice convinced her that it was right.

Seeing the man and his wife thrive in her world brought her tremendous joy. Seeing their children grow up healthy and strong delighted her! The first union of the Secondborn and the Thirdborn - and it was as blessed a union as she had ever seen. The other Valar reckoned the landing of Men on Pandora as the beginning of the Eighth Age, but to Yavanna, this was the turning point for a new era.

Her heart had soared as she watched the other humans build their new lives alongside the Na'vi. Living in their villages, sharing their meals, joining in their celebrations, playing with their children. Despite the extreme differences between their bodies, humans and Na'vi were more alike in their thinking, in their experience of the world, than humans and elves had ever been. When they could overcome their differences, they lived very well together. This community was a beacon of hope, a beautiful image of what might have been - what still could be.

Oh, how she wished she could give these people bodies that were made for this world. Especially the boy who was born here, who tried with his whole heart to live as one of her people. Had they made their own new fanas, she would have gladly helped them take the final step. But she knew that without their involvement, such a transformation would have been beyond her authority. So she waited.

She had always believed that the Children were meant to live together in harmony. Supporting each other, learning from each other, each contributing their own strengths and wisdom. She mourned the state of the world under Morgoth's shadow. It was too late for the elves and Men to be together in this world. But she held onto hope that here, perhaps, there could be a common future for Men and the Thirdborn. The elder of the two had much to learn from the younger. Morgoth's shadow would remain on Arda until the world was ended and made anew - but perhaps, on this remnant of Arda Unmarred, it needn't always be as dark as it was on Earth.

For now, only Eru knew what the future would hold. For now, there would be fire and war. And hope.

AN: I'm surprised there isn't more Tolkien/Avatar fanfiction. Maybe not many Tolkien fans like Avatar? I love both, largely because of their similar themes and excellent worldbuilding. Once I started seeing parallels and imagining how the two universes could fit together, this crossover almost wrote itself.

I intend to keep canon divergence to a minimum for both worlds. Some is necessary, but I don't plan on making any big changes without good reason.

I know there were 10 ships sent to Pandora in The Way of Water, but I counted 9 when I saw it in the theater, and that was a part of my inspiration to write this fic. I considered taking that section out, but I ultimately decided to leave it.

Stay tuned for more.