A/N: Okay everyone, I am sorry for the delay. It takes me a while because I read, re-read, and re-read the chapters (then run them through three spell checks) myself because I have no beta. If anyone is interested please let me know. I am not feeling all that well so there are probably more mistakes then usual. I apologize, all mistakes are mine feel free to point them out and I will correct them asap. I know I know I am still throwing a lot at you, but bare with me. Thank you to everyone who have sent reviews and messages of support. I write this for y'all. As always all reviews, comments, and questions are welcome. I have a twisted mind sometimes and it may make sense to me but it may not to someone else. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that appear in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Later on I have characters that who were created for the soul use of this story. Mrs. Harris I am poor, so please don't sue.

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Chapter 7

"Sookie," a gentle voice called to her, "wake up Dear One." She felt the lightest pressure as something-lips maybe?-brushed across her cheek. "Sookie," the voice continued, now giving her a little shake. "Sookie wake up, you have got to see this."

She woke up and sat up but she didn't open her eyes. She was still half asleep and she had been so comfortable that she didn't want to wake up at all; but the voice that spoke to her was so beautiful and gentle, and she would do anything for it. She stretched and opened up her eyes to find a pair of crystal blue ones looking right back at her.

"Good morning sleepy head." Eric said with a beautiful smile.

Sookie smiled her greeting, still a little half asleep, and looked around. She was in a massive room bigger then her house. She could see that it was sectioned off. In one area there was an overstuffed black leather couch along with an overstuffed love seat, they were both angled towards a massive flat screen that was hanging on the wall. There was a section opposite the sitting area that was his work area. There was an over sized desk (well over sized for her but probably custom for him) made of some dark wood, that she couldn't identify. It behind the desk were two large silver 4-drawer filing cabinets, on either side of the filing cabinets there were two massive book shelves made of the same wood as the desk. All four bookshelves were completely filled with books. In the far right corner she saw that here was a small kitchen it held the most important things, floor and ceiling cabinets, a regular sized refrigerator, a microwave, and a toaster oven sat on the cabinets. There was a door off to the immediate left that looked like it was the bathroom and a floor to ceiling mirror right next to it.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"It depends, do you want me to be literal or technical?" Eric replied.

She looked at him for a moment, and he was completely unconcerned. "How about both?"

He smiled. "Well, I tried to wake you up a few times but I guess you were more tired then I thought. So I brought you here. We are at my house in Shreveport. Technically you are in a part of my daytime sleeping room."

"Part of?" Sookie questioned.

"There's another part to it but I would rather show you that later."

"Okay." She said trying to clear the last of the cobwebs from her brain. "If we are technically at your house, then where are we literally?"

"I would have to say that we are dreaming again, like before when we shared the day light." Eric was positively beaming now.

A slow smile crossed her face as she processed what he was saying. "Really?" He nodded. "But then, how long have I been sleeping?"

Eric closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated. "There is six hours before I wake."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Okay so what do you want to do this time?" She asked with a coy smile.

The smile vanished from Eric. "What is it Eric?"

"I think that we need to talk about a few things Sookie."

"But this is a dream Eric, can't we just enjoy it?"

"Not this time lover, we have got to get some things strait and I think that this is the best place to do it. I think that this is more then a dream." He looked Sookie steadily in the eyes willing her to understand.

"You don't have to do that." She snapped at him when she felt the pressure on her eyes. "What do we need to talk about?"

"We are leaving for Texas in a few days, and I don't want to take you there while you are so vulnerable. I think that I should teach you how to defend yourself. At the very least, how not to get killed." Sookie's eyes swelled with fear.

"You think we will be attached in Texas?" Her voice trembled a bit.

"I think that there is always a possibility of us getting attacked, and I for one am tired of you ending up in the hospital. You are a big target, and I think that it's time to make you stronger then the weakest link."

"Eric," she started.

"No Sookie." He said firmly. "You are the one that refuses to let us take care of things. Even when you have no intention of fighting, you still somehow end up in the middle of everything getting hurt. You need to learn how to fight."

"Okay, okay. I will learn how to fight." She said holding her hands up in mock-surrender. "When do you want to start our lessons?"

Eric beamed, "Well there's no time like the present." He stood up from the bed and Sookie could see that he was dressed in black leather pants and a white tunic that came to about mid thigh. His hair was pulled back in a low ponytail and he was the most delicious thing she had ever saw.

Sookie took him all in slowly. She started at his shiny black boots, then up his black pants, they clung to him in just the right way. She blew out a breath and bit her lip. His tunic was sheer and it accented his muscles perfectly. By the time she reached his eyes, she couldn't take it anymore. She launched herself at him, roughly claiming his mouth.

Eric returned her kisses but then gently but forcefully pushed her away with a laugh. "I take it that you really like my outfit."

"Oh yes very much so." She said, trying to pull herself closer to him, but it was no use.

"I'm glad." he said. "That means you will like yours too." That was enough to stop Sookie's struggles to pull herself closer to him.

She looked down at herself, and sure enough she was wearing an identical outfit only instead of it being black and white It was solid red. Her tunic was so sheer that she could easily see her matching red bra underneath. She had on matching red leather boots that had a three inch spike heal on it. She raised her eyebrow in question at the ridiculous heal.

He shrugged. "Hey just because it's a dream doesn't mean that you can't look good for me." She shook her head at him in amusement. "Come on lover, let's get started." He took her hand and they closed their eyes. Sookie didn't picture anything because she didn't know where they were supposed to practice.

"Okay Sookie." Eric said, and she opened her eyes.

They looked to be in Eric's back yard, it was quite bare of anything except for them and the massive house. There was no fence or flowers or anything. She could see that Eric's house was three stories tall. It made the Bellfleur mansion look like an outhouse. It was a beautiful house.

"There's usually a deck, a pool, a jacuzzi, a pool house and some other things out here but, I figured that we didn't need it for our purposes here." Eric said. He had walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. Come dear one, let's get started."

They walked a little ways away from the house then they turned to face each other. The house was now their background, and Sookie concentrated on her teacher.

"Okay Sookie, it seems that you have been able to tap into me." She was about to interrupt but he just held his hand up, so that he could continue. "It was me, and my skills, and my abilities that you used when you were fighting Pam. I stepped in that fight because I knew that you were going for the kill shot, and I could not have you killing my child. If you would have missed, she would have known that you were trying to kill her and she would have killed you." He took an unneeded breath and continued. "I guess I should say she would have tried to kill you, because I would not have allowed it. I would have killed her before she could ever harm you."

Tears were running down Sookie's cheeks. "No, Eric. She is your child."

"Yes, but you are my bonded. No one is more important to me then you, but I would have lamented greatly at Pam's loss. This is why you must learn to control yourself."

She was still crying and unable to speak, so she just nodded her head.

"First we will need to figure out how to block, so that you are not overwhelmed by my feelings. I am going to project something to you through our bond and I want you to block them the best way you can. Try using the same blocks you use for your telepathy."

Sookie took a deep breath so that she could focus on the task at hand. She calmed herself and wiped away the remaining tears. She nodded to Eric so that he would know she was ready.

Eric started with something that was easy, he projected calm to her.

Sookie could feel the calm bombard her system, making everything relax within her. She wanted to enjoy the emotion, and she couldn't think for the life of her why she should block this. Then a tiny voice told her she needed to focus. She tried to brush it away but the voice continued. So she threw up a block to the bond. The calm that flowed into her didn't cease but it let up enough so that she could think clearly. She smiled at Eric.

"Good work lover," he said. "Now I am going to amplify it and I want you to reinforce your shields okay?" She nodded.

Sookie felt an increase of pressure on the bond as Eric tried to overrun her with calm. Her block caved in under the intensity of emotion. She tried to think about how to block this because clearly the blocks she uses for peoples thoughts was not substantial enough. Eric's emotion ran over her like a raging river, like air over a plane at 30,000 feet.

A plain at 30,000 feet, didn't air just go over the airplane with ease? Aerodynamics (not formally educated but reads a lot remember)! That gave her an idea. Instead of trying to block Eric's emotion, she let them run through her. Instead of a wall to block she threw up two walls that came together in front of her at a point. Instead of the blocks holding the powerful emotions out completely the two walls directed the emotions away from her. Instead of being pulled under by the current of emotion, it flowed around her. She could feel the calm that he was sending her but it had all the pressure of a stream running over her feet. Then the pressure of calm stopped, and Sookie felt pride.

Sookie opened her eyes to see Eric beaming at her. She dropped her shields and smiled back. "I did good?"

"Oh yes, my lover, you were perfect." He grabbed her in a tight hug and twirled her around. "You are a natural." He set her back on her feet again.

"Okay, so what now?" she asked. Know that she blocked the emotions, she wondered what this would mean. "I can't block you completely, but if I just redirect you so that your emotions are not directly running over me then I won't loose myself."

"I think that we should experiment with stronger emotions. Let's try anger." Eric took a step back and waited for Sookie's signal of readiness. He tried to think of something that would make him mad but he couldn't.

'What if I told you that I had a make-out session with Bill at his house the night before you came to see me?' Sookie supplied him trying to be helpful.

Eric growled severely and rage exploded from him.

Sookie was knocked back a step when the rage surged into her. She hadn't expected such a severe reaction and she wasn't prepared for it. The rage knocked her shield down and she launched her self at Eric. She was throwing punches at him furiously but he kept blocking her so she turned for a round house kick. It hit it's mark, her heal connected to Eric's jaw.

Sookie watched in horror as Eric flew to the side. She threw up the biggest block that she could muster and the rage flowed around her instead of on top of her. Once again she was in control of her self. Eric landed in a crouch, and Sookie instinctively dropped to one knee. She was pushing calm at Eric as hard as she could. He was in front of her within a blink of an eye.

She looked up at him. "Sorry." she said in a small voice. "I didn't think you would react like that. I was just trying to irritate you."

"It worked." He replied and he pulled her to her feet. "I will never hurt you Sookie, don't ever be afraid of me." He promised.

Sookie relaxed, and looked up into his eyes. He was completely sincere. "I'm sorry. And I threw up a block as soon as I could."

"I know." Eric said. "That's why I let you fight. I wanted to see how long before you would be able to control yourself. You did very well lover."

"No I didn't, I kicked you." She pointed out.

"Yes you did. Which means that you are able to adapt yourself when your attack wasn't working." Eric smiled at her again, with pride.

Still smiling she felt rage threw the bond again. Sookie stiffened in his arms but was able to throw up her block before she attacked Eric again. The rage subsided and was again replaced with pride.

"Perfect." he said.

Sookie hit him on the arm "You big jerk, why did you do that?"

"Because you won't have any warnings when my mood shifts, and you've got to be prepared for it." Of course he was right but she didn't feel like admitting it to him right now. "So I will keep sending random emotions to you testing your shield."

"Fine." she agreed. "Now what?"

"I think that we should move on to physical combat." Eric was beaming at the prospect of battle...even an imaginary one.

Sookie could feel his anticipation through the bond, but she was nervous. She didn't want to fight her viking. She would rather run though town naked on a Sunday afternoon then to face her viking in a fight, even an imaginary one. She would rather face an army of vampire army and a whole pack of Weres by herself then face Eric.

"Don't worry Sookie." Eric tried to soothe. "I couldn't bring myself to attack you so-" he stepped aside and waved his arm. Pam appeared. "I have enlisted help."

"I don't want to fight Pam!" Sookie said incredulously. "That's almost as bad as fighting you."

Sookie raised her own hand and waved it at Pam, who turned into Victor Madden. "I really hate him." Sookie stated. Eric erupted in laughter. He actually bent forward and had to clutch his stomach because he was laughing so hard. Sookie rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit at him, then waited for his extreme humor to subside.

"Okay, okay." He said as he straitened back up and whipped bloody tears away. "If you get him then we must also have them." He waved his hand next to Victor and Felipe De Castro, Johnathan, Debbie Pelt, Lorena, Bill, Alcide, Quinn, and Jason appeared.

"What?!" Sookie almost yelled. "I understand why Felipe, Johnathan, Debbie Pelt, and Lorena are here, but why are Bill, Alcide, Quinn, and Jason?"

"Well you have to fight someone and it would please me to no end to see you kick Bill, Quinn, and Alcide's ass. And tell me you're not itching to kick Jason's"

"You are insufferable." She complained.

"And you are stalling." He smiled when she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Fine, where do we start?" She asked not too graciously. It really irritated her when he was right.

It pleased him greatly when she had to admit it.

"It seems that you have been working off of my instincts, so we should build there. I will have one of them attack you, and we will see the extent of your fighting knowledge."

"Okay." she said, a little worried. Can you get bruised up in a dream she wondered, then quickly banished it so that she could concentrate-she didn't want to find out.

"We will start with just one." Eric said and waved Debbie forward. Debbie was a shifter and very strong, but Sookie has had a lot of Eric's blood so at the very least they should be even (though Sookie thought she should have the advantage). "Ready. Attack."

Debbie launched herself at Sookie, but she was ready and she ducked out the way. Debbie landed behind her in a crouch launching herself again, this time knocking Sookie down.

"You're not trusting yourself Sookie. Don't think about what you should do, let your body do what's instinctual."

Sookie tossed Debbie to the side and got to her feet. Debbie was about to attack Sookie again. She threw a punch that Sookie easily blocked. They continued like that. Debbie on the attack and Sookie on the defensive.

"Attack her Sookie." Eric advised. "Fighting is more then just keeping your opponent form hitting you, you have to hit them. You have to make sure that you are the one to end it. If you won't they will."

Sookie blocked an upper cut from Debbie and hit her over her heart with the bottom of her palm. Debbie staggered back a few steps but didn't fall. Sookie used this opening to attack. She threw furious punches at Debbie, who was struggling under the force of Sookie's attack.

"As soon as one fight is over another one starts, sometimes you will have to fight multiple people at once. You cannot hesitate. That hesitation could kill you, or someone you love." Eric nodded his head to Victor who launched himself at Sookie's back.

Sookie saw an opening to end it with Debbie but she couldn't take it. She jumped strait up, just in time for Victor to miss and crash into Debbie. Victor quickly recovered, and then he was on Sookie. He matched Sookie blow for blow. He wasn't just defending he was attacking too. Sookie was strong but she was still human. She was made stronger because she had drank from Eric, but she was still no match for a vampire. Victor caught Sookie with a kick to the gut knocking her a few feet back.

Sookie landed hard on her back. Her eyes blurred with tears. She heard Eric roar with anger. His anger washed through her and Sookie embraced it. Through the blur she saw Victor's body coming towards her. She rolled out the way then got to her feet. She thought it best to try evasion now. Both Debbie and Victor were launching themselves at her but she just managed to evade their grasp.

"Sookie you are not trusting yourself. True it's two of them against you but you have something they don't." Eric said.

Sookie lost her focus for a second to look at Eric. That was all that Victor and Debbie needed. Debbie landed a punch to Sookie's jaw, and Victor knocked her legs from under her. Debbie roughly pulled her to her feet holding her arms behind her back. Victor stood in front of her. She kicked her leg strait out towards him but he was just out of her reach.

"What is that!" Sookie spat.

"You have a thousand years of fighting experience at your disposal. You are fighting on my instincts but you are not fighting with me. Open yourself, fill yourself with me and my experiences and my strength. Don't resist me."

Victor smiled widely at Sookie. She and she was flooded with anger. This time it was her own. Victor was about to go for the kill punch. Debbie still had a firm grip on her arms behind her back. At the last moment Sookie bent forward, leaving Debbie exposed. Sookie was right about Victor going for the kill shot because his fist didn't just connect with her face, it broke through the bone and into her skull. Debbie's grip instantly slacked and Sookie launched her shoulder into Victor's gut. He stumbled back a few steps.

Sookie jumped back several feet, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. It was useless. Victor reached her in one bound and once again they were fighting, hand to hand. Sookie was tiring, and Victor wasn't.

"You still aren't open to me Sookie." Eric called. "Stop thinking, and just embrace me. Draw on my experience like it was your own. Draw on my strength like it was your own." As great as she was doing on her own he could tell that she was starting to fade. He had to motivate her one way or another. "Victor will kill you, which means that he would kill me too. Will you really allow me to perish just because you don't want to let go?"

This struck a chord with Sookie. As if it was the emphases to Eric's words, Victor landed a side kick to Sookie's ribs. Sookie flew ten feet to the side, then rolled a few more once she hit the ground. The pain was so keen in her side it seared through her. Her eyes watered. She turned her head to see Victor sauntering slowly towards her. He had a smile on his face that made her want to throw up. She could see the same killer glint in his eyes that she saw right before he put his hand through Debbie's skull.

She knew she needed to get up, but her body would no longer cooperate.

"You still are not letting go Sookie." Eric murmured. It was hurting him that she didn't relinquish herself to him.

Sookie could feel his pain more then the pain of her own body. His pain was all that mattered to her. Why is she fighting so hard against this? She already knew the answer but she didn't want to believe it. Not wanting to believe, didn't make it any less true. She was holding on to what she perceived as the last bit of herself. She wanted to be one with Eric, but where would that leave her? Would she loose track of who she was as a person? She didn't want to loose herself, but she couldn't stand his pain any longer. She would rather loose herself then endure it for even one moment.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let Eric seep into her. She could feel him bombard every cell in her body. She could feel herself standing with her arms across her chest, but that wasn't her. She was still on the ground. She was feeling the posture of Eric.

She could feel the weight of a thousand years crash on top of her but it wasn't as heavy as she thought it should be. She opened her eyes to the sky again. Eric; the weight was lighter because Eric was carrying the burden to. She could feel the experience of that thousand years, every battle, every skirmish, every war settle in every muscle. The fact that she was almost beat by Victor was laughable now.

More importantly she still felt herself. She wasn't lost. In fact, she added to the strength that flowed inside her.

Victor was standing over her now, with one leg raised. "Such a waste," he sneered. Then with all the force he could muster, he stomped down.

To Sookie, he wasn't moving in slow motion but he was moving slower then he was before. She understood that it was the perception that was gained after a thousand years. She was seeing him as Eric would have. She reached up and caught his foot. She could feel the pressure he was exerting as he tried to break her hand and then her skull.

Sookie smiled because it didn't even faze her. With a flick of her wrist she tossed Victor more then thirty feet. He landed at Eric's feet. Sookie stood in one quick smooth motion. She smiled at Eric, and he returned it.

"It's about time." Eric said. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I am ready." She said.

Eric nodded his head and everyone launched themselves at Sookie at once. Felipe reached her first, but she easily discarded him with a round house kick that made purchase with his temple. She decided to try hand to hand with the rest. It all felt so easy. She easily dodged out of the way of their attacks, replacing them with her own. They were flying away from her then launching themselves back at her. She was delighted when she came face to face with Jason and she broke his wrist with the tiniest flick of her own, then she broke his jaw. After a few more moments everyone was layed out before her.

She turned to Eric, who was trying not to laugh out loud. "Is this an illusion? Are they not as strong as they should be?" she asked. It made her eye twitch when she realize that she sounded like Eric instead of herself.

"No lover, in fact, I made them stronger then they should be. It's you." Eric informed her.

She processed that for a few moment. "Cool." She said, beaming at him. "What's next?"

"Do you want to try weapons?" He asked. He hoped that if she said yes, he would be able to restrain himself from taking her when he saw her wielding a sword.

Sookie smiled at his thoughts. "Yeah, let's try it." His thoughts alone made her eager to try it.

Two swords appeared in Eric's hands. They were almost identical. The only difference is that one was larger then the other, it was clearly made for him. He tossed the shorter one to her and she caught it with ease. She could see that the long blade was pristine. The hilt was ruby encrusted. She could see that there was a mark on the handle but she didn't understand it.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded. "I think that we should make this interesting."

"How?" Sookie asked instantly worried again. She was surprised that she felt that worry. She thought that things that she would feel would disappear. Instead it appears that she still felt what she wanted, she was just not overrun by it.

With a flick of his hands her opponents were on their feet again. Alcide, Quinn, Jason, and Debbie began turning into their animal counterparts. Felipe, Jonathan, Victor and Bill all had swords of their own.

"Oh boy." Sookie murmured ominously. She wasn't all that worried because Eric's experience made her feel confident. She stood firm, and before Eric could wave them forward, she launched herself at them to begin the battle.

A fierce cry erupted from her lips as she landed in front of Jonathan. After two strikes of her sword she saw her opening and she beheaded him. Bill stepped up and then Felipe and Victor surrounded her. The Were's circled them as if creating a perimeter. Sookie was fast, she met their attack head on. Victor cut her back as she tried to behead Felipe. She cried out (Eric growled fiercely but he tried to restrain himself, she needed the practice) and turned to compensate for the miss. Felipe tried to behead her while she was distracted by Victor but missed. He did leave and opening for her to raise her sword over her head and brought it down with all of her might. She cut through his body from head to crotch, splitting him in two. Victor's eyes went wide as he watched what she did. He held up his sword ready to strike. They faced each other, then began to circle one another. Sookie noticed Bill step back to Lorena.

As Sookie turned in a circle facing Victor she swung her sword in a big circle at her side. She saw the confusion on Victor's face until he saw a lynx's head fly through the air. She'd killed Debbie...again. She couldn't stop herself from smirking at Victor. He was now enraged and he attacked. They fought hard. He was great with a sword, better then he was at hand to hand, but Sookie-backed by Eric-was better. Sookie let the fight continue just to see how long he could keep it up. Sookie moved so fast that Victor barely was able to block her.

Sookie quickly grew bored...no Eric was now bored with the fight. So with a great strike Sookie knocked the sword from Victor's hands, and plunged her own into his heart. She saw the light leave his eyes. She pulled it out and watched him fall to the ground.

Lorena let out a taunting laugh. She a Bill had been standing back watching. When she locked eyes with Lorena she was overcome with a hate she hadn't felt since she had killed her the first time. Sookie took a step forward towards Lorena but Bill stepped in between them.

That did it. Sookie raged and she felt her bond open up and completely circle her. Silver Lightening was swirling around the circle. It lashed out everywhere. She saw the tiger, the Were, and the half panther get knocked away from her; they weren't moving anymore. Sookie bent her knees into a crouch as Bill and Lorena looked at her with fear, but still ready for her attack. Lorena wasn't smiling anymore. Sookie jumped forward but as soon as her lightening encrusted sphere touched Bill and Lorena they were thrown backwards.

Sookie stopped and looked at them as they struggled to get to their feet. She wouldn't be able to touch them, her sphere wouldn't allow it. But she needed to fight them. She needed to kill them. She looked at Eric, he was mirroring her. She could see that he was encased also, but his enclosure was golden.

"The lightening or whatever it was, felt like a part of us." he had said last night.

Sookie locked eyes with Eric, then began to draw the electric energy inside of her. She could see the silver ball shrink around her. Her eyes widened at the power that was within her. She could feel it filling her up as it flowed into her. She felt herself change. It was as if she couldn't hold all the power as she was, she had to change so that she could accommodate it all.

The silver sphere was no longer around her. It filled her completely from head to toe. Eric was looking at her completely stunned.

"Sookie." Eric breathed.

"What?" He looked like he was looking at a three headed monster instead of her. "Eric what's wrong?" She took a step closer to him. When she reached him his sphere let her pass with no problems. A full length mirror appeared in front of him.

She looked very much the same, and yet very different. She still was wearing the red outfit that Eric had dressed her in but now her eyes were solid silver. There was no pupil, no iris, just solid silver for her eyes. Her hair was completely silver-almost white-too, and even though she wasn't moving, it billowed around her like she was in water. This was how she was was able to see that her ears were pointed delicately.

"Oh my God Eric. What's happened to me?" Sookie asked. She was glowing and small sparks still erupted around her, but now it hugged her skin.

The mirror disappeared from between them and Eric took her into his arms. "I think that you are more powerful then you let on lover."

She jerked back from him. "Me?" she said indignantly. "Eric you are glowing gold, I think that you have something to do with this too."

"Your right." He conceded. "Do you want to find out what you can do?" He asked nodding his head towards Lorena and Bill who stood there frozen.

"Can you do this too?" Sookie asked gesturing to herself.

"I think I can, I watched what you did carefully." he motioned for her to step back. He locked eyes with Sookie and began to bring his golden energy inside of himself.

Sookie could track the energy in his body as he began to glow (more then usual), it started at his feet and then climbed up his body. The more the golden sphere shrank the more Eric glowed. When it reached his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes disappeared and was replaced by startling gold. His hair that was gold to begin with lost the natural highlights and was glowing solid gold. She could see the static run over his skin too.

He smiled at her then waived his hand where Lorena and Bill stood still frozen, they were standing strait up now. Behind them fifty men and women appeared, Sookie could tell by the voids that they were all vampire. They all were armed with different weapons.

"I thought I would join you this time." Eric smiled. His eyes glowed brighter with anticipation.

Sookie focused for a second and a black sheath appeared slung over her shoulder. She slid the sword into it.

"What are you doing?" Eric questioned.

"I want to try a different weapon, I just don't know what." Sookie racked her brain for a suitable weapon but couldn't come up with anything; in the end it didn't matter.

Niall appeared out of thin air in front of Sookie and Eric.

"Great-Granddaughter you've called I have come." He said kissing her on the cheek.

"But I didn't call you, I was just trying to figure out what weapon to fight with."

"I know. I have something that belongs to you. When you were thinking of what to use, you actually called for them. I am here to deliver what it yours." Niall replied. He held out his hands and a long thin box appeared in front of him and he caught it.

He opened it and Sookie saw matching silver weapons. They had leather handles but the leather spiraled by silver, the lower points of the weapon flared out just a bit, and the long blade in the middle was came to a very sharp point. Sookie could see that there was an inscription on the blade but it wasn't anything she had ever seen before. They were beautiful.

"They are called sais." Niall said. "They were made especially for you. They have been waiting quite a while for you."

"Did you make them?" Sookie asked.

"No, not me." His eyes twinkled. "Go on and pick them up."

Sookie lifted the weapons delicately, she could feel the power hum inside it. It was cool to her her touch. She could feel it pulsate in her hand, like it was alive. She turned to Eric and held them out for his inspection.

"I don't know the words on the blades, do you Niall?"

"I do not." Niall answered.

"Where did they come from?" Eric pressed.

"I am afraid that I cannot tell you that, not just yet. I am held to my word. All I can say is that they are good, they were made specifically for Sookie and the maker will reveal himself later. They will not harm you...either of you."

"Are you sure?" Sookie asked.

"Trust me child." Niall said. "Eric, drop a bit of blood on each blade."

Eric bit his finger and dropped three drops of his blood on each of the blades. They both glowed a bright white for a few seconds and then they went back to their usual shiny silver.

"Now touch the blades Eric."

Eric frowned down at the weapons in Sookie's hands.

"No!" Sookie said frowning at Niall. She dropped the weapons to her sides. Her eyes glowed brighter silver and the electrical currents sparked over her skin.

"Sookie dear, hurting Eric would hurt you and I would never ever do that. I love you." She studied him for a second, then held the weapons out for Eric again. Eric took a breath and then touched one of the sais with his index finger. It hummed under his touched but there was no burning, he didn't pull his hand back in pain.

"It feels like you Sookie." Eric murmured. Sookie tilted her head to the side to look at him.

"That's because they were made to be a part of her. No one else will be able to use them except her. Only she can call them to her."

"Great-Grandfather, we need to talk." Sookie started.

"Later when you are awake." He said, then he kissed her cheek again. "You are truly a beautiful fairy." With that he disappeared.

"I'm a fairy now?" Sookie asked, still staring at the spot where Niall had disappeared. Eric didn't answer. "Eric?"

"I don't know Sookie." He finally said; he looked deep in thought. "When I tasted you last night, it was better then any fairy that I have ever tasted."

"Well Eric...wait. How many fairies have you tasted?" she asked thinking about Claudine.

"In my thousand years? Three." He felt her tense. "They were all centuries ago, and two were during the last great fairy war."

"Oh."

"You don't have to worry about any of your relatives." He pulled her close. "You're the only fairy I have a taste for." He kissed her and she forgot what she was about to say. She wished that she wasn't holding her weapons right then. In the next moment they were gone, but she didn't care at that particular moment. She hitched her leg around his waist.

"Sookie." Eric murmured when she pulled back from habit to breathe. "You are distracting me." He reclaimed her mouth and then gently pushed her away again. "You are making this hard on me...no joke intended."

Sookie groaned and took a step away from him. "When did you become such a stick in the mud?"

Eric laughed at her, then wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close so that he could whisper in her ear. "Work hard now, play hard later lover." Then he licked her ear, and released her.

A shiver rocketed through her body and it took a moment for her to shake her head clear.

"Fine, where are my sais at?" She looked around the ground and saw a shiny glint on the outside of her leg. Her sais were strapped to her in a black holster, one on each leg. "Oh, that's convenient."

She them from their holsters and turned to Eric. "Ready for battle?"

"Always lover. Always."

As they turned towards their adversaries a great ringing noise circled around them. Sookie Clenched her hands on her sais and pushed her knuckles to ears. The noise paused for a moment, then continued. Eric wrapped his arms around her.

"Eric what's happening?!" She shrieked.

Eric was talking but she couldn't make out his words, even with his lips at her ear. The ringing was too loud. She cried out again, but this time she felt a pulling. Everything was going dark and everything was pushing in on her like she was underwater. She jerked herself into a sitting position, but her grip had slackened. Sookie opened her eyes to see two silver things flying across the room away from her.

She was breathing hard and she was trying to orient herself with her surroundings. She heard the ringing sound again, and this time she realized that it was her cell phone. She reached to the only source of light in the room and opened her phone without looking to see who it was.

"What?" She snapped, still out of breath from being sucked out of her dream.

"Well good afternoon to you too," said Sam.

"Sam? Oh I'm sorry. I was sleep and my phone woke me up." she stifled a yawn and stretched. "What's up is there something wrong?"

"No, nothings wrong. I was just calling because I was told that you were going to need some time off of work and I wanted to know if you are okay." He sounded both worried and tired at the same time.

"Who told you that?" Sookie asked out of reflex. "And I am fine, we just have a situation going on. Eric and I were attacked by a were-bear."

"What!?!" Sam practically screamed in the phone.

"We're fine. He attack at my house, but Eric killed him. We don't know who he was, or what he was supposed to do with us, or who sent him."

"Oh Sook, what can I do?" Sam asked.

"Nothing Sam, you can do nothing." She assured him. "I am going to be staying with Eric for a while, and we are going out of town for a while. We will sort this out."

"You're staying with Eric? Are you his now?" Sam actually sounded bitter. "I belong to me, but Eric and I are together now." She heard Sam take in a breath so she kept talking. "I don't know where this is going, but it feels right. I need to see where this leads us."

"Aw Sook, when are you going to learn that you would be better off if you would just leave those damn vampires alone?"

"That's quite enough from you Sam Merllotte. Eric has been there for me when no one else was. He has loved me and protected me and has never asked for me to do anything in return. He is my bonded, and not that it's any of your business. I love him. He is MINE." Her chest was heaving and her hands were clutched into fists. Sam was quiet.

"I get it Sook, you're too far gone." he murmured. "Let me know if you need anything." The line went dead, before Sookie could respond.

Sookie looked at the phone and screamed in frustration. She sat on the edge of the bed for a few moments trying to calm herself. When will she get a break? No matter who she chose to date there would be someone that's unhappy. She thought that it was time for them to suck it up because between them and her she'd rather them be unhappy. She'd had enough unhappiness for a lifetime.

Sookie looked around the great room. As well as she could tell everything was the same as she saw in her dream. She turned on the lamp from the stand next to the bed. The light barely reached the far sides of the room, but it was exactly as she saw it. Whats going on with that? Is she psychic? No that couldn't be it. She wasn't seeing the future, she was seeing what was actually there. So what was that? She saw what she saw at her house, because somehow she was able to sense the Were's mind. She had never been able to see so clearly into a Were's mind. Could it be taking Eric's blood again?

She couldn't think strait right now. What she did know was that she had to use the bathroom really badly. She stood up from the bed, then dropped back down in a heap. Her whole body was aching something terrible, and she almost cried out. But she had to go to the bathroom. So she got to her feet again, she gritted her teeth and began making her was slowly around the bed. It was very slow progress. She opened the first door to the left of the room and was happy to find that she found the bathroom on the first try. Her hand scrambled up and down the wall trying to find the light button. When the light was on she was in too much of a rush to appreciate the mother of all bathrooms. She quickly spotted the toilet and rushed to do her business.

When she was done, she made her way to the sink to wash her hands and she could now see that the floor was made of marble. It climbed up the wall where the shower was which was big enough to comfortably seat six people. The glass around the shower was completely see through-she already knew that modesty didn't live here. She could see a bench on the back of the shower, so apparently it was used as a steamer too. She was not surprised to see that in the center of the room was the largest tub she had ever seen, it had to be custom, she thought that eight people could easily fit in there, maybe even ten.

She scooted back out to the bedroom so that she could lay back down. She gingerly sat back down on the bed. She looked over to the other side to see Eric had fallen asleep on his stomach with an arm stretched out towards her. Her heart swelled when she realized that he had fallen asleep holding her. She squeezed her cell phone again to get the time. Five-forty five. Eric would be up in a hour, maybe less. She slowly let herself down on the bed and pulled the covers up. It took her a while but she was able to finally get Eric's arm up so that she could rest it on her body again. The she didn't move. She lay there with her eyes closed, but she didn't go back to sleep. Her mind raced over what this dream place was that she and Eric kept meeting in. Was she really able to change her form or what that just a part of her dream? She didn't think that it was just a part of her dream because She had seen the same things when she and Eric were making love. True, it was still an orb, and she wasn't able to bring it withing herself...but it was there. What about Niall? He was there, and he said it was a dream but why would she bring him in on a dream? More importantly, why did he give her those weapons in her dream? She was sure that she could have created what ever she'd wanted with no problems. She couldn't forget how it felt when she held them. Even if it was a dream, they felt like an extension of herself. They pulsated in her hand.

There was so much for her to think about. She desperately wanted to talk to Niall but she would need to wait until Eric woke, she knew he would have questions too. All of this made her head spin and she flung herself onto her side. She cried out from the pain again. She focused on Eric's lifeless body so that she could calm herself again, then she closed her eyes again. She would not make that mistake again. She felt like she had been run over by a bus, and a train, and a horse and buggy; but she still couldn't keep herself from feeling the excitement that coursed through her when she felt Eric close to waking.

TBC