Rome

I had never felt so terrified in my life. Brutus had me pinned down and I fought against him as hard as I could, but to no avail. I was weaker than he was and he used his weight to keep me on the bed. Tears flooded my eyes as I struggled with this monstrous excuse for a human being.

'I think I am going to enjoy this very much,' he rasped in my ear as one slimy hand reached up my dress.

I could think of nothing that would stop him. I was powerless. I closed my eyes and prayed for a miracle, for something to happen, for someone to save me. As luck would have it, salvation came sooner than I expected. With a smack, I was released and I felt the full weight of Brutus lift from me, allowing me to be free and to breathe once more. I sat up on the bed to see him sprawled on the floor, clutching his nose which I assumed had been broken on the impact of Godric's fist, which was raised as though he would not hesitate to do it again. I had never seen such rage, such anger in someone. I did not make a sound or a movement as I watched the scene unfold before my eyes, which did not leave the body of my saviour.

'I could kill you for what you have done,' Godric growled. 'My people were great warriors and I learned well. I could finish you in seconds ... '

'Please!' Brutus pleaded, his voice muffled as it was partially covered by his hand which was staunching the blood flow from his nose. 'I beg of you!'

'Good,' Godric said. 'Beg. Beg for forgiveness.'

Brutus made to speak to Godric but he gave a short laugh and knelt down so that they were at eye level. However, Brutus was shaking when he came face to face with his assailant.

'It is not my forgiveness you need to beg for. It is that of the lady you have harmed and very nearly ... violated in her own home.'

Brutus looked at me then as though bade to and I could see nothing in those eyes. There was no forgiveness, no remorse for his actions. He had meant to do what he had set out to do. He was just upset that he had not finished what he had started and that his nose was broken.

'Get out,' Godric ordered. 'And if I see you anywhere near her again, I will kill you. Do you understand?'

It took him a few attempts to mumble an agreement before he rose to his feet and quickly exited the room, leaving nothing behind but a few droplets of blood.

Godric heaved a sigh and looked at me finally. I could barely move or speak. I was still in shock. He raced over to me and held my face in his hands, his eyes flickering over mine, trying to find some response.

'Aurora?' he murmured in a voice of velvet. 'Did he hurt you? Did he ... ?'

He could not bring himself to finish the sentence; he did not want to think of what could have happened, had he been a few seconds later.

'No,' I whispered hoarsely. 'He did not.'

Godric, nodding, kissed my forehead and both of my cheeks before the tears began to flow once more with twice the velocity. I heaved sobs and Godric held me in his arms, rocking me back and forth as I sobbed into his chest. He kissed me on the top of my head every so often but did not say a word and allowed me to let all of my emotions out. I held onto him as though he would be taken from me and I found myself thanking the gods for Godric's presence and for sending him to me.

Within a moment or so, I was at the house of the infamous Sookie Stackhouse. It was a nice looking house and I could only imagine the blonde, perky human Pam had told me so much about walking out of the white door or sitting on the front porch during the summer. It was strange that such a beautiful place could be so close to a cemetery, a place of death and decay. Shrugging off these thoughts and focusing on the problem now at hand, I made my way up the steps and waited patiently on the porch before rapping at the door rather urgently, resuming my waiting again so that I would be allowed into the house by its owner. After two thousand years, the irritation of not being able to enter a home unless invited was still there.

'Who's there?' called a female voice with a strong Southern accent. She then emerged and waited just beyond the threshold, obviously knowing that she would be safe there should I try and attack her. She was young and in her twenties with long golden hair and tanned skin; her lips were pursed as she looked me over, assessing me and the danger I posed to her.

'Are you Sookie Stackhouse?' I asked politely.

'Who wants to know?' she asked hotly.

I smiled a little and answered her. 'I am Aurora. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sookie.'

'You're a vampire, right?' she said in almost a statement. I let my fangs drop in a 'yes' and she continued, unfazed by the extra canines; she must be used to vampires as Pam had said. 'Do you work for Bill?'

'Bill Compton?' I asked and to her nod, I shook my head vehemently. 'No, I do not. Although, I think he may be a reason as to why I'm here.'

'And why's that?' Sookie asked cautiously, standing closer to the living room I could see on her right. Someone was there and I knew who it was instinctively. I craned my eyes to see but she caught me looking and raised an eyebrow.

'You have Eric here.'

She stiffened and looked behind me, probably to see if I had brought back up. Her facial expression then changed as she tried to cover up what I already knew for myself to be true. 'Eric Northman? No, he's not here. Why would he be here?'

I snorted then. 'You don't have to lie to me, Sookie. I would never hurt him.'

Sookie looked taken aback but still remained cautious and wary of me. I admired her spirit.

'How did you know he was here?' she demanded.

'Pam told me,' I said and she seemed to relax, knowing that somehow I could be trusted with an amnesiac Eric.

'Pam wouldn't just tell anyone about this,' she realised out loud and looked me up and down. 'You must be someone pretty important. Well, important to Eric.'

I nodded softly and said, 'He is my brother.'

Sookie's mouth dropped open and she regained her senses in a good time so that she was able to invite me into her house. Once I was inside the threshold, I waited until she had closed the door and listened to her talking away, not leaving me with enough time to deliver any of the answers she seemed to ask for.

'So, you're his sister? In a vampire way? Oh my God ... No one ever told me he had a sister. Then, again, why would he? Oh, and by the way, I didn't have to invite you in. I thought I should say. Eric kinda bought my house.'

I suppressed a laugh. 'That's Eric through and through. What possessed him to buy your house, I must ask?'

'He thought he would get me with it,' Sookie said, shaking her head. 'Kinda like a package deal.' I laughed at this now and she smiled at my mirth before a serious look fell on her face and she gestured to the living room to our right. 'He's just in there. I was gonna get him down in his little cubby early so that he would be resting before dawn but ... '

'Cubby?' I repeated.

'Yeah, he built himself a little cubby in my wardrobe,' she said with a voice dripping in contempt. 'Viking wasn't satisfied with having my house. He's now a tenant.'

It was then that I glimpsed my brother, shirtless and standing in the middle of the room. He was glancing around the room with an innocent and almost childlike expression. Any hint of the Eric I knew was nowhere to be found; he was not his cold, sarcastic self. He was changed completely. Once his eyes found mine, there was no recognition in those blue orbs, none whatsoever. His lips did not tug into that familiar smile and he looked confused at my presence here, not overjoyed as he usually was. My brother, the brother I had newly found and connected with, had been changed. I felt as though I had lost him once again.

'Sookie,' he said, cautiously looking me over. 'Who is this?'

'Eric,' she murmured, 'this is – '

'Eric,' I said, interrupting what she was about to say. I could not hold my tongue for much longer; I had to say something. 'Oh, Eric.'

'I am sorry,' he said in a meek voice that the Eric I knew would never have dreamed of using, 'but I don't know who you are. I'm sorry.'

It was like being stabbed through the heart. I recoiled from the pain being blasted through me by his words and I found my feet taking steps towards him. At first, he took a few steps backwards like a puppy but after a look from Sookie, he remained still and watched my every move carefully. I went up to him and held his face in my hands, willing him to stare into my eyes. There was nothing of my Eric there. He was hidden or ... gone.

'Oh, min bror,' I said in his native Swedish before I threw my arms around his chest and embraced him. Tears flowed from my eyes and I clung to him.

'Är du minsyster?' he asked and he slowly placed his hands on the small of my back as I held him.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I released him and kissed him on the forehead. I then made my way to Sookie who told Eric to stay where he was – which he did obediently – and led me into the kitchen so that we could talk. She offered me a Tru Blood – one of many that Eric had brought as a housewarming gift to himself.

'So, you're his sister?' she asked again and I nodded. 'That means that Godric was your maker too, right?'

'Yes,' I answered her and looked at her with reverence and respect. 'Pam told me that you were with him on that rooftop in Dallas when he ... '

It was still painful and Aurora looked away from her to take a slow breath and calm herself. Sookie reached across the table where she was sitting across from the vampire and placed her hand on hers comfortingly.

'Yeah, I was with him,' Sookie murmured. 'Right until the very end.'

'And was he ... ?' Aurora whispered, pausing only to gather strength to finish her sentence. 'Was he ... in pain? Did he feel it?'

Sookie shook her head. 'No, it was peaceful and painless.' At Aurora's sigh of relief, she continued. 'You loved him, didn't you?'

'More than anything and anyone in this or any of my other lifetimes,' I spoke with the greatest of truth and sadness.

I then pulled myself together and made my excuses to Sookie in order to leave, but I knew that I could not just get up and leave. I actually liked this human, fairy, whatever she was. She had been with Godric and she was now protecting my very changed brother.

'Sookie, would you mind terribly if I offered you my assistance?' I asked.

'Well, Pam's giving me money to mind Eric so you don't have – '

It was my turn to shake my head, almost smiling. 'No, not financial assistance. Eric is over a thousand years old. He's strong, powerful and, in his current state of mind, dangerous.' Our thoughts both turned to the mild-mannered and naive Eric I had encountered so I amended my own words. 'Well, dangerous to others around him. He wouldn't hurt you, Sookie. But I can be of some assistance in that area. I'm the only vampire that you know who's stronger than he is and if needed, I shall help you.'

'Wait,' she said, holding up a hand. 'You're stronger than Eric? That must make you ... older than him.'

'By a thousand years or so,' I shrugged nonchalantly.

'Wow,' she breathed, looking my delicate and youthful frame up and down. 'Appearances sure can be deceiving.'

I remembered the earlier conversation with my brother containing those very words and smiled at Sookie, knowing two things. The first was that she would help my brother in any way she could, despite the fact that she had landed into this situation through no fault of her own. The second was that I needed to find out how to reverse the spell and fix the amnesiac Eric.

Rome

I could barely sleep that night or the next; in fact, I did not sleep for an entire week after Brutus' attempt to claim me. I found myself closing my eyes only to relive those horrifying moments and almost feel his greasy hands on my skin, his hot breath on my neck and his rasping voice in my ears. My eyes would fly open with tears and I would lie there, praying to the gods for some means of escape from this ceaseless torment.

One morning, before even the sun was awake, I was dressed and made my way under the cloak of darkness to the ruins that Godric and I had frequented. With me, I brought a variety of weapons – swords, daggers, clubs, bows and arrows – stolen from my brother's quarters as he lay snoring in his bed. They were heavy to carry but I would rather be dragging them to those ruins than spend one more sleepless night, trying to erase those memories etched into my mind.

I removed my cloak and threw it on a huge stone before picking up one of the swords. It was heavy and I had to make a few attempts to even lift it higher than a few feet off the ground, but eventually my strength pulled through. I racked my brain, avoiding those recollections and finding the vivid images of my brother and Godric training. I visualised his body movements, his agility and his techniques in manoeuvring the blade expertly. I applied these skills to my own and found that I picked them up quite easily.

With my weapon, I fought invisible enemies, demons in the dark, spirits come to torment me. I stabbed at them and hissed at them to leave me be, all the while picturing Brutus with every movement of my sword. I had never felt such hatred course through my veins. My blood had never boiled so. He had hurt me. I wanted to hurt him.

'Aurora, what are you doing?'

In fear, I spun on my heel and turned the blade on the approaching figure, who held his hands up in a surrender as the blade landed in mid-air inches away from the place where his heart rested. He looked at me with confusion and slight anxiety as he watched my fingers tremble at the hilt of the weapon.

'Godric,' I panted, 'what are you doing here?'

'I awoke early to start my duties for Master Cassius,' he explained. 'I was to clean and assort his weaponry, but I discovered that they were nowhere to be found. I then checked your room – '

'Why my room?' I asked.

'Because I wanted to make sure that you were safe and unharmed,' he answered truthfully and I felt my heart flutter. 'And I found that you were not there. I could think of only one place that you might have gone and here we are.'

Heaving deep breaths, I slowly and gently lowered the blade to the ground and collapsed to my knees. Godric knelt beside me and eased my fingers off the hilt, placing it away from me and next to him.

'Why are you here, Aurora? And with your brother's weapons?' he murmured curiously. He was not accusing or patronising; I could be honest with Godric and not have anything to fear from it.

'I was practising,' I answered shortly.

'For what, may I ask?'

'I am unprepared, Godric. I was attacked.' At his recoil and scowl, I continued onwards with my explanation. 'I was helpless, unprotected – '

'I was not there to guard you and protect you. For that, I will never forgive myself.'

'Do not say such things,' I said. 'You have nothing to feel guilty for. I appreciate that you feel the need to protect me, but what good will that do when you cannot save me? I have to learn how to defend myself.'

'I have told you. Brutus will never come near you again.'

'I cannot risk that!' I shouted. 'I need to know how to protect myself so that if he returns, I can ... I can ... '

Words failed me and I sighed, closing my eyes. I felt Godric's fingers cup my chin and turn it closer to him; once I opened my eyes, I discovered his own to be inches away, locking mine in his entrancing gaze.

'He will never touch you,' he promised. 'No other man will touch you. You are protected, Aurora.'

'What do you mean, no other man?' I asked, already guessing what his answer was going to be. However, my guess was completely wrong as he pressed his lips against mine in a passionate kiss.

The kiss was wonderful and I knew instantly that it would be the first of many that Godric and I would share. He moved his lips and I followed suit, but I took control and threw my arms around him. This threw him off balance and we fell to the floor, Godric underneath me. I did not detach my lips from his and soon, I felt his tongue run across my bottom lip. Closing my eyes and sighing in ecstasy, I replied in earnest and urgency, our tongues now fighting for dominance. He ran his hands through my hair and down my back, moaning himself with pleasure. When he had finished with my mouth, his lips travelled down to my cheek and down my jaw, planting sweet kisses on my skin. I gasped as his lips reached the nape of my neck and his tongue flashed out to lick my neck before travelling back up to meet my lips once again. However, the kiss was short and wonderfully sweet as his lips brushed mine and then my eyelids.

He then said something in a strange language I had never heard. I opened my eyes to see him clearly, my beloved Godric in all the glory of the darkness, illuminated by the dying stars.

'What does that mean?' I whispered.

'It is my old tongue. It means 'I love you'.'

I smiled and tears of joy sprang to my eyes. I kissed him again and whispered into his ear, 'I love you too.'

Then, we lay back so that my head was resting on his chest and my ear was listening to the pulsing beat of his heart, gazing up at the new dawn and revelling in our newly-announced love as it rose as brightly as the sun.