Chapter 26 – Now

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With his support Sookie finally dared look Godric in the eyes again, no longer vulnerable, but with the stone-like façade she had carried for long that only Eric seemed capable at chipping away. “So you made it happen, set us up in a fake moment of happenstance,” Sookie whispered while looking down at the large hand that lay between her own before her eyes grew harsh and stared down the ancient vampire across from them. “You played us, told me to keep away. You knew that would only drive us closer. You used us, your own Childe!”

 

“As a parent you make different choices than as a Maker,” he confessed. “I’m not proud, but I can’t apologise for it either. It’s not for me, it’s for Ness.”

 

“You could have asked,” she spoke with accusation, her body vibrating with the anger that threatened to unleash in irreparable damages. “You could have FUCKING asked!”

 

Eric’s arms instantly surrounded her in an effort to calm her down, hands soothing her upper arms. She sank into the support he offered, trying desperately to hold back more angry tears where he kissed her softly in the crook of her neck, quieting her while she tried to maintain in control of her emotions.

 

“And you would have said yes,” Eric whispered in her ears as he came to understand the actions of his Maker, his thought process not as foreign to him. “It would have appeared a choice but it wasn’t. You would never have said no to the plea of a little girl. Our arrangement would truly be an arrangement, we would always be a sham. A bond born out of obligation for I would not have refused my Maker either.” His thoughts momentarily fell to his own Childe giving her even more credit for daring to stand up to him, releasing her of such a hold that left him incapable of refusing his own Maker centuries on.

 

“Love could have grown from that,” she spoke softly finding the warmth in his adoring eyes.

 

“You would always have questioned it,” he returned before kissing her forehead softly while cupping her cheeks. “I would always have questioned it.” 

 

“We would have felt it, wouldn’t we?”

 

“Feelings are not exactly our forte,” he grinned, and she couldn’t help but snicker a little with that particular truth when she came to rest her forehead against his.

 

“We would have figured it out eventually,” she mumbled sheepishly to which he could only raise a sceptic eyebrow.  “Ok, maybe not. It still doesn’t make it right.”

 

“No, it doesn’t,” Eric agreed louder than necessary to make his feelings on the matter known to his Maker. “However, does it matter now?”

 

 

-Three months later-

 

The knock on her door was soft, almost inaudible to her, but with a sigh she got up regardless and opened up the door to an undoubtedly appreciative gaze.

 

“Ready now?” he posed, his eyes travelling up and down her form.

 

She smiled momentarily, remembering the first time she had seen him dressed in his finest. A deep blue tuxedo masquerading as black, and a dazzling self-content smile. The rain that had messed up his hair sat smoothed back without a strand out of place. The crisp white shirt, now worn without a wrinkle, tied up with a precise bow where it had once been casually unbuttoned. She had met the after, and now she finally came to meet the before; regal, contained, dapper, and slightly withdrawn. Sookie remembered how she had never felt the attraction much for a man in a suit till Eric walked through the doors of Merlotte’s and perhaps it was the honesty of him in his undress that attracted her at that point, more so than the fine tailoring. ‘That wasn’t part of the lie,’ she assured herself internally, a distinction she had to make often in the three months past.

 

“Almost,” she assured, beckoning him into her room where he observed the space carefully. For what reason she wasn’t quite sure, it was identical to his, most likely noting every remnant of her that defined this space as hers, the pieces now missing in his home they once shared. The bond had become too muted to peek into, even covertly, after they had both agreed to keep it closed till the blood ran out of their systems, so they had come to rely on spoken words, even though there were few exchanged.

 

“Thank you for doing this,” he smiled gently before sitting himself down on the edge of her bed, the scent of her still wafting from the upturned sheets. “Again.”

 

“I told you I would, I don’t go back on my word,” she spoke dismissively while sorting out the velvet boxes from the safe that contained the jewellery she would wear that night. “You know Bill asked if I would be his date tonight,” Sookie added conversationally while an earring slipped in one by one.

 

“Did he forget you were mine?” Eric growled out harshly before catching himself with her scornful look at the spoken appropriation.

 

She ignored it, for now, and continued her work in front of the mirror with small clasps. “It was quite fun telling him ‘no’,” Sookie informed, remembering the especially sour look on Lorena’s face who had clearly pushed her eldest Childe into asking the woman he had referred to with distaste as a slattern more than once. His Maker was, however, unable to resist any method of social climbing. A small snort came from her causing Eric to look up in interest when she whispered the name of his absent Childe.

 

“Look,” she said with a bright smile holding up the postcard tucked away with the heavily encrusted diamond necklace displaying a clearly Photo-shopped image of Pam lying out on a beach in Rio in a miniscule bikini appearing like a golden goddess. Cursive script spelled out the name of the beach and a ‘wish you were here’ greeting. The blank space on the back was filled with strict instructions on every part of Sookie’s attire for the night, the final instruction was to make sure to make her Maker sweat. Eric had come to stand behind her with the invitation and together they chuckled at Pam’s antics.

 

“You should go, once the blood wears away,” Eric said while plucking a strand from her tightly coiffed hair, softening her features exactly as Pam would have done in his place. “Do some research for the hotel? Slather up the rays of the sun by day and party with Pam in the night.”

 

“Maybe,” she returned non-committedly. Though she had been toying with the idea of reopening the B&B that he insisted on referring to as a hotel, she had yet to make a definitive decision on it. Wordlessly he helped her arrange and fasten the necklace on her exposed neck, his dexterity with such items still outdoing hers, his hands not willing to move once done with their task. Her hands came to cover his on her shoulders, finding comfort in keeping them there even if it was only in small moments like this. “I think you just want me to check she really is doing fine on her own.”

 

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

 

“You’re a bad liar, Eric Northman,” she scolded half-heartedly meeting his eyes in the mirror. He grinned mischievously finding himself clearly caught out. She kissed the hand to her right before turning around forcing their touch apart. “She’s a grown woman over a century old, Eric,” Sookie said seriously while fondling the buttons of his shirt as if scrutinising their already perfect alignment. “You’re a great Maker, how can she be anything but doing fine?”

 

“I suppose,” he replied frugally, hiding the accomplishing grin he really wanted to release with her compliment. Her hand caressed his in comfort, just as it had when they had met with Pam the night after Godric’s reveal, both still emotionally raw from that particular aftermath. Pam had seated herself on his throne waiting for them to show up, beckoning them forward in the empty room in a display of the new order of things. Emotions had run high with accusations between them and, at some point into the long night, Sookie had to incapacitate them both with her light till they agreed to kiss and make up, or rather their equivalent of it.

 

The words held no power anymore, for Pam had already been released of his total command, but this time he had spoken them with affection worthy of a true release and, in a sense, they had freed him too that night. He had no assurance of Sookie’s affection or love at that point, which would otherwise have seamlessly slipped in place in the absence of Pam. She had yet to make up her mind what she wanted now with the extent of deceit that had been unveiled. Eric was alone and at the mercy of others and once he would have considered that the scariest thing to be, but the reality of it was not as harsh as he had imagined it.

 

“If you say so,” he finally grinned immodestly.

 

She shook her head believing little of his words before disappearing into the bathroom momentarily emerging with the heavy gown on her body, still unfastened in the back. Pam had clearly chosen the dress with her Maker in mind, with its delicate lace in blood red, and in this state of becoming, he was clearly entranced. She let out a small cough before he came to stand behind her with her appraisal in front of the mirror to zip the garment closed.

 

“I thought I always enjoyed helping you out of a dress more than into one,” he whispered close to her neck remembering their moment in the closet when he helped her out of the fitting dress for Russell’s barbecue event while seeking out her natural scent under the heady floral notes of Pam’s sourced perfume. Usually one to detest such frivols to mask a true scent, he couldn’t help but commend his Childe for procuring something that made Sookie’s scent sing together in harmony.  “You look beautiful.”

 

“I suppose,” she grinned in an immodest imitation of him moments earlier.

 

“You’re a terrible liar, Sookie Stackhouse,” he countered whisking her round and admiring her front for himself. He leaned in to kiss her, but she quickly moved out of his grasp, and held up Pam’s card of rules pointing to number seven with a tapping finger.

 

Allow my Maker to mess with the perfection of your make-up with his needy kisses and you die. Under no circumstances is he allowed to fuck you in that dress until the Ball is through, or you die. Twice.

 

He plucked the card from her smug hands and tucked it into his inner jacket pocket while he desperately tried not to pout. “I’m burning this as soon as the night’s ours again,” he grumbled which instantly caused her to protest.

 

“Like hell you are,” Sookie declared, leaning in seductively close and retrieving the humorous memento and confiscating it for her own. “Mine,” she growled for added effect.

 

“Yours,” he agreed, pulling her in closer and biting bluntly on her neck causing her to strain her head back and catch sight of them together in the mirror.

 

“Would you look at us,” she said calling his attention to the image they created there in their formal wear looking like the power couple they had once agreed to pretend to be. “We made it to the finish line.”

 

He smiled appreciatively, pleased with the sight before him. “I’ll be honest,” he spoke seriously. “There were times I didn’t think we’d make it this far.”

 

“Yeah,” she whispered in agreement, remembering the trying times behind them. Her anger at Godric had lasted long, longer than Eric had expected considering how forgiving she could be with him. Initially she had gone back to Bon Temps where she now felt a foreign particle in a previously familiar place.

 

She found her home exactly as it once was, not a thing out of place as it was before the scuffle that had taken place there, just as Godric promised. The paint was newer and it was cleaner, but other than that it was as the day her grandmother left this world. She undid all of the work in one fell swoop, in defiance of Godric’s hand in her home, trinkets crashing out of place to the floor. Not a room was spared and subsequently all were stripped bare, down to the aged paper on the walls.

 

She busied herself during the day making the house hers, moving on from the remnants of Adele. Incidentally she even asked for Eric’s input on a paint chart or a piece of furniture she wanted to change and, with little effort, he repositioned them all in a variation of arrangements till she was satisfied. He was there when she needed him and more often when she didn’t.

 

Eric saw to her safety and held Russell and Niall’s offer to join the Guild at bay. They needed no leverage for him to keep to his word of protecting her. He spent most days in the converted bedroom from her Gran’s fraudulent B&B days. Some days she’d be there when he woke up, other times she would be absent, but never far away. He didn’t push, he didn’t pry, he was simply there when she needed him, and kept his distance when she asked for it as he carefully regaled piece by piece what Godric would tell him, bearing the responsibility of being the messenger of the truth and lies that had shaped her life.

 

The fact that her Gran had joined in on the deceit that had come to characterise every memory she owned had initially angered her further and had her holing up with her brother for days. Adele had lied to her of what she was, insisting she was human and opened up a B&B so all the members of the Guild could come to see to her protection. Unable to express the grief she felt in that betrayal had Jason standing ready and waiting at Eric’s bedroom door with a silver spiked baseball bat, assuming he was the culprit of his sister’s upset, the lethal bat was soon put away with Eric’s explanation of the situation. Despite his lack of book smarts, Jason’s intuitive grasp had been the thing that made something so complex condensed into a few simple words for Sookie.

 

“They gave you as close to normal as you could get.”

 

Her anger had transformed into tears of sorrow at that and, despite his best efforts, Jason was terrible at consoling her. That night she had opened up her side of the bond for the first time since closing it after Godric’s reveal weeks ago, beckoning Eric to her. In mere seconds he was knocking on the door and he had her in his arms where she expelled her grief into his chest. Sex was had in that confusing volatile time in between, mostly angry on her part and apologetic on his, for what he wasn’t certain, but that night they had truly reconnected again, moving beyond simply fucking. He’d remember the words she had spoken, flush with exertion, that night for eternity.

 

“No matter what, you I’ll keep.” The words ‘if you’ll have me’ never made it out of her mouth when he kissed the breath out of her instead.

 

 

Godric had sensibly kept his distance, his explanations had failed to convince her that his methods had been right. It didn’t matter to her that Niall had a line of would-be suitors ready and eager to marry a high Princess like her to gain riches and a title, Sookie’s happiness an inconsideration in the package.  A similar fate would become Ness as her power grew and the warded room no longer contained the impulsive young girl and, despite the fact that Sookie agreed she deserved her most normal as she could get, Sookie felt the need to process fact from fiction of her own past before taking in a ward of her own.

 

Finally she had come to digest Godric’s actions and she understood them, but she had yet to forgive his deceit or the abduction of her choice. Eric had carefully hinted to his Maker the reason for this; their shared history of abuse that had made her more vulnerable to this particular point of usurpation of choice than all the other infractions since Godric had found it hard to figure out a way to make it up to her.

 

She finally came to understand Godric’s desperate actions the morning Ness had simply popped herself out of Russell’s home and showed up on her doorstep looking for her Pappa, remembering Sookie’s home as the last place the little girl found him. She yelled for Godric, a vampire, in the harsh light of day, and Sookie couldn’t help but feel for the girl where others had decided her father wasn’t good enough to provide the safety necessary because he had already failed on two accounts. The little girl spoke earnestly when asked what had made her come to Sookie’s door. While she enjoyed living with Russell and Talbot, there were far too many times where she was the girl confined to a warded room. Godric had wanted what only Fintan had managed to arrange for her, but he lacked in bargaining power.

 

The closest thing to normal.

 

She had called in the least favourite and only faery she knew that day, Claude, for protection and advice. He painted the picture of Ness’ future far away from Godric when Niall would become aware of how slowly but surely Talbot and Russell were no longer the best guardians for her, this incident of her escape surely bringing that timeline forward.

 

Impressive as Godric may be in the vampire community, to Niall he was simply a sperm donor that held little claim. Sookie and Eric, a fully bonded couple of recognised noble descent that strengthened their power in an exchange of blood and light stood a chance, while connected to the child by blood from both sides. That was all Godric had truly given opportunity to and reluctantly she had forgiven him for that.

 

They had sat down with Godric that night while Ness slept in her former childhood bedroom and she calmly allowed him to explain what in a sense she already knew, but had been unable to hear before, what had motivated the manipulation and where Russell’s extensive experience in scheming had come in. The least likely to be innocent through it all and a great catalyst to events turned out to be blameless. Pam had acted fully on her own accord and had trampled on most of the ancient vampires’ orchestrations, constantly thwarting their carefully prepared plans. Somehow that had given Sookie a great sense of comfort and resulted in Pam receiving a boatload of uncomfortable, yet extremely desirable, shoes from the telepath.

 

The only thing she had yet to understand was where Godric would fit in, were they to take him in innocuously? The father-in-law living above the garage while they played the part of her parents to the world at large or would he visit occasionally, when he saw it fit? His answer had been simple.

 

“Whatever is best for Ness.”

 

She had looked at Eric then, who had simply nodded. They arranged to meet with Niall and consequently set things in motion for Ness. They lied to him and she was completely comfortable with that, she felt no obligations to the Faery Prince or to explain that they were taking things slowly, and had no intention of completing the bond or pledging to each other anytime soon if admitting to that meant taking Ness away from her father. An identity was soon found for the little girl as the daughter of Sookie’s deceased cousin Hadley whose father no longer could care for her.

 

Niall, in turn, had been all too happy to relieve himself of two burdens with the Viking, a vampire for whom he had a reluctant admiration. Sookie had grown into a power that had other Fae fearful of her and had a powerful mate beside her to protect her within Fintan’s limiting parameters, and the youngest of his family had a suitable home for so long as the lethal politics in Faerum continued to rage and threaten his kin. There were the inevitable whispers of criticisms on his approval of Eric and Sookie’s impending union, the loss of a fertile female to a dead creature was predictably not embraced by all. He had, however, seen what seemed impossible come to life within Claudette and the lone Cluviel dor he still possessed lay ready and waiting for the day they would simply ask.

 

 

“So this is what the real thing looks like,” Sookie whispered with her head resting against his shoulder catching his smile grow wide in their reflections. He found the hand that carried his mother’s ring, one she hadn’t taken off from the moment the metal had cooled from the heat of the fireplace, and in his darkest moments had given him hope when she seemed to offer little.

 

“No more lies.”

 

It was a line he often spoke to her in soothing. Not that he had lied to her much, he had simply withheld the truth on occasion and, in turn, so had she. Lies seemed to have simply surrounded them. Their fresh start, while still suffering in the aftermath with traces of deception, stood in a necessity of honesty. Sometimes she didn’t like what she heard from him when he delivered it unfiltered and the same could often be said for him, but they knew where they stood with one another. That was worth the momentary pang of pain now and then.

 

Another soft knock interrupted their moment where they gazed at their artifices and returned to themselves. Impatient as she was, Ness popped through the door colliding into Eric before he managed to unlock it.

 

“Ness,” her father warned from behind her when he finally made it in. “Human little girls don’t teleport through doors!”

 

“Humans suck balls!” she shrieked while climbing Eric’s tall form in her frilly formal dress that had been put on under heavy protests. “Right, Eric?”

 

“I was human once,” he offered quickly with Sookie’s scornful look. “As was your Pappa.”

 

A little discontent huff was exhaled before demanding to be put down again and had her scurrying back to the pants leg of her official Guild Guardian. It had been Sookie’s own demand that Godric was granted that title when she recognised the bargaining position she could claim with Niall.  She had quickly assessed that she was doing him a favour after all and, reluctantly, Niall had conceded under the assurance that other safety measures would be implemented alongside the issue of a once failed Guild Guardian. To the Supernatural community, it made perfect sense that the couple would call on Eric’s Maker for the protection of their foster child.

 

While Godric still carried the pain of loss and his ineffectiveness, the load had been lightened with his reunion with Ness, reminding him of the good times with Claudette rather than her and the other Eric’s end. His daughter had in turn been ecstatic to live with her father, though she did find herself feeling a little at a loss without the constant doting of Russell and Talbot. The adjustment to pretend to be human wasn’t an easy one though she did manage it on most days without too much issue.

 

“You look very pretty,” Ness said with the sudden sighting of her day-minder in the glittering red. She almost fell shy with all the sparkle that was on display. Her tiny hands caressed an encrusted bracelet with wonder while watching the refractions play around the room. “Nessy too?” she whispered, indicating she wanted something. A set of words that had worked miracles with Russell and Talbot, filling her warded room to the brim with stuff, though it never managed to satisfy her yearning, it was however, a tactic that had yet to succeed with Sookie.

 

“Come,” Sookie spoke kindly while offering her hand to follow her to the vanity where all the jewellery had been set out. She picked up the sole piece she had brought and intended to wear before the armed bodyguard had shown up at her door courtesy of Pam. “This belonged to your mother and I’m entrusted to keep it till you’re old enough.” The little smile on her face turned to a pout as the magic inside spoke to her, but was held out of her grasp. “I’ll let you wear it this once, but you have to wear it under your dress because the metal stings harder than silver to a vampire.”

 

“K,” she whispered excitedly before Sookie arranged the necklace and tucked it away. The little girl gave a kiss of thanks and Sookie couldn’t help but do the same to her forehead.

 

“How come she gets a kiss?” Eric grumbled discontentedly when he found Sookie vigorously scrubbing away the remnants of red lipstick.

 

She shrugged momentarily as Ness giggled with the ticklish feel and the sight of Eric’s mopey face. “Pam made no mention of her. Maybe I should take Bill up on his offer after all, I might get out of this dress before midnight…”

 

“Not the doodie head!” Ness shrieked while Eric growled at the mere thought.

 

Sookie chuckled at their collective response rubbing the rosy cheeks of indignation before her, assuring the little girl it was but a joke. “Good!” she huffed before stomping out the bedroom back to Godric. “No good nincompoop!”

 

Eric’s aggravation had soon turned to amusement with the little tantrum that stormed off while he helped Sookie back up on her feet. “I never thought I’d say this; but she’s worse than Pam,” he chuckled.

 

“I’M NOT LIKE PAM!”

 

They tried to contain their laughter to snickers, but the effort was futile, which only appeared to make her little red face all the hotter. When she saw that her father was about to join in on the laughter, the small girl attempted to distract him the only way she knew how, playing up her beauty was always a sure fire win with Talbot and Russell after all. “Do you like my shoes Pappa?” she asked with batted eyelashes while sticking out her patent leather shoes for his appraisal.

 

Godric’s well-crafted skill of maintaining a blank face needed every of his two thousand years’ worth of practice in order not to upset his Ness any further. To not to roar with laughter, with his daughter’s inadvertent strengthening of the argument that she was indeed very much like Pam in her adoration of shoes.

 

“Beautiful, ma fille,” he spoke evenly before glaring hard at the two snickering fools with a cocked eyebrow. “Shall we?”

 

Eric and Sookie trailed behind, Ness throwing an incidental indignant look over her shoulder at the two careless beings, till they found their way to the grand ballroom and found their necessary composure for the night.

 

“Great-granddaughters,” Niall greeted regally. “It is a pleasure to have you part of our envoy this year.”

 

Sookie curtsied as expected while Ness attempted an imitation of the gesture before having to steady herself on her father’s hand. Niall took Eric aside imploring once more his offer to join the Guild, his lack of commitment still leaving the Viking’s allegiance up for grabs in his opinion. Sookie and Eric had discussed it at length over the weeks past, where she had initially encouraged it he had become hesitant. She had assumed the offer of finally taking out the female vampire responsible for his human family’s demise would leave little thought to the decision, and she didn’t want her objections to be the thing that held him back.

 

“What would I truly gain, but servitude?” he had posed when they had sat staring into the stoked flames in the fireplace, the reflections dancing over their naked forms, where in the aftermath of sex they managed to communicate like at no other time, an honesty they had yet to find in any other of their extensively long and respectively short lives.

 

“Closure,” she had offered before resting her head in the crook of him.

 

“You never found any,” he observed, fingers finding a path of soothing through tangled hair, while remembering the turmoil that had forced them apart momentarily and caused ruin to her home.  The action that had caused her to grow cold and even now would have her reverting, insulating her from the world at large, not unlike him. “Maybe I endured this existence for the simple fact of undermining the end. We’ve both killed, different circumstances, different motivations.”

 

“Innocent but not,” she had whispered to his cool chest, the warmth of her breath leaving a patch of wet condensation. “Like we all are.”

 

“Except my little sister,” he remarked thoughtfully. “Or Ness.”

 

Sookie hummed her agreement, consciousness slowly slipping away in his embrace, offering, “Let’s keep it that way. For her.”

 

 

“For me?” Ness squealed excitedly before Niall fastened a shiny bracelet round her wrist. “Thank you Pop-Pop.”

 

Sookie’s appreciation to the sight of Ness placing a wet kiss on Niall’s cheek was interrupted by the feel of a familiar cool hand on her shoulder accompanied by the deep Southern drawl as it enunciated her name.

 

“My future King,” she greeted in return, a mischievous glint in her eye exposing to them both she’d never be subjected to such servitude.

 

“My future subject,” he grinned in return. “I demand a dance later on tonight.”

 

“I hope your pockets are deep,” she jested in return, reminding him of the cost it had required for that first dance in his bidding war against Sophie Anne.

 

“How do you think I acquired my bride?” he winked with a chuckle in the direction of his fiancée a good distance away.

 

“And here I thought it was her imaginative acquisition of Godric as new sheriff of Area Five,” she winked conspiratorially of the events that led to Godric’s sudden but inconspicuous relocation. “Making such a show of demoting Eric to Pam’s vacated position. I’m sure that was all her idea.”

 

“I should remember never to start marriage negotiations with you,” Russell chortled, where she so transparently had tracked his political manoeuvres the ‘young’ red haired Queen had simply seized a momentary opportunity in temporary gain.

 

“Well, that head of yours is your only saving grace,” she delivered with a little snort while rubbing it affectionately as if he were a child.

 

“I dare you to say that when expressing your well wishes when we are wed in an hour or so,” he grinned.

 

“Suffering some performance anxiety?” she hinted with a cocked eyebrow in the general direction of his crotch. “In need of a distraction I suppose, you know I just might.”

 

“Ms. Stackhouse!” Russell blurted out with false affront, a weak hand displaying the mock hurt to his supposed manhood over his unbeating heart.

 

“Brigant now,” she threw over her shoulder while Eric escorted her out with the rest of the envoy of the House of Fae.

 

“You should be careful who you play games with,” Eric noted with amusement while ushering her into the large ball room. “You’ll never know how they will retaliate.”

 

In apology, and to spare Russell the displeasure of dancing with his surly bride, she did offer him her hand to dance with after their lavish marriage ceremony. They bantered back and forth, only upping their game to greater heights while she watched Ness stand on Eric’s feet in an attempt to dance together with great disadvantage of heights in a quiet corner. They waved at her when they found them observed to which Eric whispered something in the Ness’ ear. With determination, the little girl shoved aside at legs and limbs that obstructed her path before she reached Sookie on the middle of the dance floor.

 

“I NEED TO PEE!” she demanded while tugging at the delicate fabric of her dress with a frightening force.

 

An apologetic glance was given before Russell encouraged them off as she rushed the little girl towards the far side of the room to the bathrooms before they had an accident on the shiny wood of the ballroom floor.

 

“Great-granddaughters,” Niall greeted jovially taking no notice of Sookie’s fluster and haste when they made it halfway through the crowd.

 

“Niall, we’re in a bit of a hurry,” she informed testily.

 

“I just wanted to ask you to give this to the Northman,” he requested, handing over a bundle wrapped in thick cloth.

 

“Fine, whatever,” she dismissed before taking it with her free hand, tucking it under her armpit and dragging Ness along to the closest bathrooms.

 

“Here,” Sookie announced unceremoniously handing over the wrapped object to Eric before rounding the corner towards the bathrooms. His hand, however, stopped her hasty movements as did Ness’ sudden recalcitrant feet as they dug deep into the plush carpet of the hall.

 

“Sookie, yes, I accept,” he spoke seriously as the whites of her eyes widened with the sight of the ceremonial dagger, clearly denoted as belonging to the House of Sky, in a repetition of moves they had stood witness to only moments ago that marked the marriage vows between Mississippi and Louisiana.

 

“Eric, I…” she stammered unable to know what exactly she wanted in that moment.

 

“It’s a toy, Sookie,” he grinned before handing it to Ness who bluntly stabbed her with it accompanied by a set of giggles that were echoed by Russell, Godric, and Niall at the far end of the hallway as they watched their joke unravel. Talbot stood by, shaking his head in disapproval, already in a sour mood over the nuptials that took place that night.

 

“FUCKING ASSHOLES!” she fumed while Ness ran towards Godric’s inviting arms in escape, her giggles of delight nearly tripping her up on the way.

 

The heated scald rising on her face was soon soothed by Eric’s cool thumbs while he pulled her angered gaze to him softening her glare, the whisper was low, audible only to her, “But maybe?”

 

A small breath was sucked in through her teeth before she finished, almost posing it as a question, “We’ll do it again some time.”

 

 

-Fin-

 

 

A/N: …and Sookie was killed twice by Pam for breaking rule number seven 😉

 

Thank you all for coming along with this tale and making it to the finish line with me, but it really has come to an end and I hope you enjoyed it! Much love to msbuffy for editing this and hopefully soon I’ll receive the editing work on the earlier chapters back so I can offer this up as a .pdf version for you all to keep.

I’ll go sniff a little in a corner for saying goodbye to Super Stubborn Sookie who finally managed to thaw a little in the end with an evolved Eric. This was the first tale I started penning so it was always meant to stay small with a focus on the E/S connection and to play with that theme of emancipation in a supernatural context, a different approach to Sookie discovering the consequences of her hidden existence, and in that changing those around her too while toying with the notions of scheming and deceit that seemed riddled throughout the Supernatural community. I’d love to hear your thoughts as always but since it’s the end: especially now!