It comes in Threes by cílil

Ages of captivity + the Fëanturi

During three ages of captivity, Melkor is visited by all three Fëanturi siblings.

Námo is the first to visit him, unsurprisingly — it's his halls Melkor is trapped in, after all.

He expects him to relay his brother's flimsy excuses or lecture him on laws and morals, but the Judge is silent. All he does is check on him and linger, as if he's quietly offering his companionship and wisdom.

Melkor meets his silence with his own, proud and stubborn. He cares little about whatever Námo has to offer, feeling cheated and betrayed by his own kin.

The law is meaningless to him, and fate can be changed.

He greets Námo with mocking smiles. 

Irmo appears even before his sorrowful sister does, and Melkor envies him for how easily he enters and exits his brother's halls, as if Námo's spells bend to his every will and whim.

And perhaps they do — Irmo has always been his one weakness.

To Melkor's surprise, he doesn't attempt to scold or preach; rather he seems curious and asks him questions.

The fallen Vala lies and evades some, of course, but he deigns to engage Irmo in conversation.

"Why do you ask?" he inquires nevertheless, and the Fëantur smiles mildly.

"I want to understand, and I know I can."
 

Nienna visits him last, and as predictable and inevitable as it seems to him, Melkor finds that he harbours no ill will towards her.

She is perhaps the only one he cares to see, and this time he is the one to speak first.

"How is it that you still defend me," he wonders, "even though everyone is of the opinion that I am the cause of every single tear you shed?"

"Because you too deserve compassion, and I was never angry with you," Nienna answers.  "For I know well that, to cause such hurt, you yourself must be hurting.”