Fundamentally, one ought to be surprised and frightened by such a thing as coming to stand before any sort of quasi-almighty being. Coming before Irmo, Vair�, and Yavanna instilled no such fear or awe within me. I was relieved beyond any form of expression which is why I now cannot begin to convey to you all that was going on inside my heart and mind at that moment. As for Mallor, I could only begin to guess what he was feeling.
I was tempted by the comfort the lush green grass promised, and I sat down across from the one I knew to be Yavanna. How exactly I knew it to be her I truly cannot say, but I felt certain of it. She smiled at me in a manner I may have found unnerving on any other day than this. That was all I needed to confirm my assumption as to her identity. I recognized Irmo by his resemblance to his brother Mandos, and Vair� by the familiar and loving way that Mandos seemed to glance at her. As Mallor came to sit beside me, I became aware that my powers of perception had suddenly decided to improve and do me the great service of actually working. I thought this to be slightly ironic, considering it was only now that they helped me, and I was now dead.
�My heart rejoices in seeing you here among us safely,� said Yavanna.
�If you consider being stabbed and then bleeding to death safe,� I quipped incautiously, forgetting who I was talking to in my sudden flare of temper. I stared at her for a moment looking for a reaction, but none came as I was expecting. She simply smiled.
�It was unfortunate that the means for your arrival in this place had to go so poorly, but you are here among us now, and this is a grand thing indeed; it pleases me tremendously,� she said happily.
�If I might take this moment to interrupt,� said Mandos calmly, probably sensing my annoyance or hoping to resolve this matter quickly. �Nienna has informed me that you had your hand in their fates, Yavanna. As such I am obligated to consult you concerning what is to become them now.�
�Indeed, Yavanna. When I found them in Mandos� halls, I knew them to be your handiwork, and it may be best to allow you to have a say in what becomes them now,� confirmed Nienna. Yavanna nodded and then looked back and forth between Mallor and me for many moments.
�I know full and well that you went to Radagast, my servant, in search of answers, and that you received that which you sought. I aided him in his quest to spare both your lives, only now to see you here, in the land of the dead. Not easily do I fall sway to the whims of wizards, and therefore I am hesitant to let such glorious work on the part of good come to an end,� she said contemplatively. She stopped speaking and looked up at the sky as if in a trance, thinking.
�So what shall become of us, my lady?� asked Mallor meekly. Her eyes snapped back to attention to focus on me.
�Why, you shall be sent back, of course!�
�Send them back? Yavanna, they�ll return here in a matter of years,� commented Mandos, who was right. �They�ll die again soon enough, whether by time or the blade, they shall return here.�
�I have pondered this, dear Mandos, and I shall return them to Middle-earth, likened as the Firstborn, by which time cannot bring their deaths,� she said seriously, gazing at me curiously. I was not entirely certain as to what that meant, but I thought I might have preferred being dead over that I thought was on the road ahead of me. I turned to Mallor, who was looking at her in awe. I nudged him.
�What does that mean, Mallor?�
�She is going to send us back as Elves, Manda! Elves!� he exclaimed giddily. Sometimes I thought of Mallor as more of a girl than myself, but that was not the way one ought to describe it. He was free spirited and, for the most part, innocent. As much as he acted brave and mature, he was and would always be a stickler for bedtime stories. For a good and long while I would continue to look at that in a negative light, but instead of hoping he would change, I eventually come to realize that it was I needed to lighten up.
�Is that legal?� I asked, looking at Mandos. He shrugged at me indifferently.
�There is nothing wrong in doing so, and nothing preventing us from doing so,� he replied.
I do not know if I was frightened about the prospect of having to return to life. Perhaps it was nervousness about continuing on as another being, or the dread of leaving perfection only to be dragged back into hell. All I did know was that I was not fond of the idea and that I had no other choice. The path from death to life seemed like a treacherous one; something I did not wish to be forced out upon, but knowing that paradise would no longer keep me.
Turning to look at Mallor, I felt him take my hand in his.
At least this road I would not need to walk down alone.
