Thanks for joining me on this first adventure. Any characters created by Charlaine Harris remain her exclusive property. I will have a few of my own characters added later in the story.

The Wind in Her Sails

Chapter 1

Sookie stretched lazily in the sunshine as it streamed through her bedroom window bathing the room in its glow. She wanted to stay in bed snuggled in her comforter basking in the warmth and the peace. She was happy to finally have a day off and was determined to enjoy every minute of it. After the crazy things that had been going on, she needed some quite time for herself to think about everything that had happened the previous week. Lately, it seemed like there were never enough hours in the day much less any peace and quiet for herself. It had been that way ever since vampires had entered her life.

Her thoughts quickly skipped to the one person she couldn't quit thinking about, a certain tall, blond, Viking.

"Eric..." She whispered softly as his image came racing to her mind.

She felt a surge in the bond as if he heard her call. Then just as quickly as she could, she pushed all thoughts of him aside. She did not want to think about him now - not before she had time to sort out everything. It probably left her in a dangerous position of some sort, it usually did when dealing with the supernatural world. Several of her friends wouldn't appreciate the her opinion, but it was true whether it involved the Vampires, Weres, or shoot now even the Were-Panthers which her brother, Jason, had now become. Sookie sighed, pushing the blankets to the side and slid out of bed.

"Ok enough" she mumbled. She had big plans today and it didn't involve any thoughts about vampires except for the one that really mattered, Eric, but first things first. She'd decided to splurge on a personal day which included a bit of self pampering before anything else.

She also realized she needed to quit avoiding the blood bond and her bonded. Her heart ached a little and tears escaped the corner of her eyes as she longed for her Eric. She missed their time together, when he didn't remember his true self, the Sheriff of Area 5, and she'd become the center of his world. Drying her tears, she shook her head. She needed to get control of herself and get on with the day.

The day before, she decided that it was time she started running her own life instead of letting it run her. Sookie was sick and tired of just waiting for things to happen, going along for the ride, then later dealing with the aftermath the best way she knew. She remembered one of Gran's many pearls of wisdom she was fond of quoting, "You can't always control the wind, but you can control your sails". Sookie was tired of someone else always trying to control her "sails" therefore controlling her life. It was time to start taking charge of her own life and it started today. No more reacting and running, she had done that way too long. She would probably make a lot of mistakes, but they would be her mistakes, and no one else's.

"Yep, today is the day," Sookie said to herself as she started gathering up her new bubble bath and started towards the bathroom. Her first decision was to enjoy a nice long relaxing bath before she would tackle the rest of her day.

An hour later, after soaking until the bubbles had disappeared, Sookie's stomach started growling. She stepped out of the bath, pulling the plug as she stood. She moisturized her skin with a new wonderful smelling lotion that was part of the bath set she had splurged. She loved the scent of it and the bubble bath. It reminded her of the smell of Gran's flowerbeds right after it rained. She thought about her plans for the day and knew Gran would approve of the new course she had set. She couldn't explain it, but somehow Sookie just knew that it was imperative that she start facing everything going on in her life. She didn't understand the feelings guiding her new attitude but her instincts had been throwing red flags up everywhere and this time she was going to listen.

Sookie finished up in the bathroom, drying her hair a bit and putting it up in a casual clip then went to get dressed. She picked out her favorite pair of jeans and a comfy, lightweight, periwinkle blue, sweater getting dressed quickly and heading to the kitchen searching for her roommate, Amelia. She wanted to tell her about the plans and the new found sense of personal direction. Sookie found her in the kitchen scrubbing something, as usual. Amelia was almost pathological about cleaning. Any time she was nervous or upset she cleaned. She dipped into her friend's mind to make sure she wasn't upset, her roomy was just a bit bored and waiting for her with big plans.

"Great!" She thought, today was one time she didn't want anything to mess up her plans.

She didn't want to leave Amelia bored and lonely, but something in her own heart told her it was important to keep her focus and stay on task no matter what. Amelia heard Sookie behind her and swung around with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Girl, I'm glad you are finally getting around I have some great news and have been waiting forever for you to get up." Sookie smiled, pouring herself a cup of coffee and grabbing some fruit out of the fridge.

"Mornin' hon, whatcha need?" She sat down with her breakfast; well actually it would be brunch...

"Geeze when did it get that late." She thought to herself sitting down at the kitchen table. Amelia put down her cleaning rag taking off the ugly yellow gloves.

"Well, there is a new boutique opening up in downtown Shreveport and I thought we could have a girl's day out with some shopping and maybe dinner later. I know after all the vampire drama this week I need some pampering and I'm sure you do too." Amelia sat down with her own cup of coffee and looked at Sookie expectantly.

It was obvious that she really wanted to spend the day together, sharing some lighthearted girl time and Sookie thought it did sound a lot more fun than being alone. When she thought about a day out with her bestie, she was almost ready to agree to go scrapping her own plans. She continued eating her fruit, giving herself more time to think.

"Well are you just going to sit there and eat? What do you think Sook?"

Taking a sip of her coffee, Sookie refocused herself and realized that she couldn't take the easy way out; not any more. She didn't understand it, but she knew deep in her heart that she couldn't go with Amelia. She didn't know why it was so important, but she just had a gut instinct that she needed to stick with her own plans.

"Amelia, hon I would love to have a girls day out and I know we both deserve one, but I've made plans already and I really have to keep them. I don't want to get into it yet but just let me say that I think a lot depends on it" Sookie took another drink from her cup and finally looked up to see Amelia's reaction.

"Oh I guess if you already have plans we'll just have to do a rain check, " and with that Amelia picked up the cleaning supplies and looked as if she were going to start giving the kitchen counters yet another cleaning.

"Hey I have a great idea, why don't you treat yourself to a beauty day. I have a coupon from the salon we liked so much in Shreveport for a free full day of beauty. Pam gave me a few of them and I haven't had time to use any of them. Why don't you treat yourself and maybe you could ask Trey out for a nice dinner at that cute French restaurant you've been wanted to try" Sookie gathered her dishes and started cleaning them quickly waiting for Amelia's response.

"What's gotten into you Sook, since when do you pass up a girl's day out? What's going on?" Amelia looked at her curiously. She stared at her roommate a few minutes and decided to share everything. She knew Amelia would be surprised at how determined she was about her day.

"Don't think I'm crazy Ok? Because it's going to sound kinda strange, but I trust that you will just listen and support me?" Sookie took a deep breath and continued as Amelia readily nodded her head in agreement.

" Ever since the night of the Nevada takeover, I've been having this nagging feeling that I need to do something, I'm not sure what it is but I know that I have to figure out what's going on with my life. I know that sounds so cliché, but I just get a sense that if I don't face my feelings for Eric, this crazy blood bond , and even Quinn, I will make some mistakes which may have horrible consequences." Amelia looked at her, eyes wide with surprise.

"I've even been dreaming of this stuff, coming up to a pair of roads and having to pick one, even a crazy game show one that I had to pick curtain one, two or three. It's been like this the whole week." Amelia walked over and hugged her tightly.

"Oh Sookie, I had no idea why didn't you tell me" She shrugged off the hug and started pacing a bit….

"That's the crazy thing Amelia; it's not upsetting me-it's just kinda there saying I have to choose something, a path, a course, a direction. I know I've been running from my feelings, from Eric, and the blood bond; what it all means or doesn't mean to me. I realize I've been just riding the wind and letting it take me where it wants. I can't do that any more I don't know why, but I know in my heart that I have to face myself, make some choices, and it starts today. I wish I could explain it better, but I can barely understand it myself." She sat down rubbing her temples with her fingertips.

"Sookie I think I know what you are talking about, it's like you are having a personal epiphany that demands action. That happened to me when I moved here with you. I don't know what's happening exactly, but I do know my wards are still in place so no one is getting through, maybe its your intuition."

Amelia sat down next to her and took Sookie's hand. "It will be okay, I realize how hard this is especially facing things when all you want to do is run, but I know if you don't listen to your instincts you will regret it. I know when I ignored mine I ended up with a cat for a boyfriend. Do what you need, and I think I'll take you up on that beauty day and I'm going to ask Trey out, heck who knows maybe that's part of the cosmic plan here?" Amelia sat back and smiled. Sookie reached over and hugged her friend.

"What made me think you wouldn't understand, I should have known better! Thank you for your support. I promise we will have a whole girl's weekend soon, maybe we can even invite Pam!" With that thought both women started giggling at the thought of Pam doing anything girly she was just sooo tough and aloof sometimes.

Amelia shook her head and stood up. "Well I'm going to call Tray then I'm heading to Shreveport." Sookie hugged her friend again, handed her the coupon, and then quickly headed to her bedroom to gather up the a few things she would need for the rest of the day.