Author's Notes: Dearest readers, I am sorry it took a few extra days to get this out to you! My computer wouldn't turn on. My power supply kicked the bucket at the worst possible time. Bad, bad things happen to me and technology hate me. Maybe I need to get a lucky rabbit's foot for emergencies? SO, I rushed to the nearest computer store and then forced my husband to fix the problem. Took a few days, for that I apologize. In that time, however, this story reached over one thousand reviews! That was an amazing Christmas gift! Thanks! ;P

BUT, we are here! We have finally reached the end of Folklore! (I may have cried once or twice while thinking about it). It's a very bittersweet thing. I've been with this tale for so long now that it's kind of hard to let it go. Half of the time, I didn't want to even post the chapter. If I didn't post, it could never end! Ha-ha! But, I would never do that to you. So, here we are now.

Since this is the end and I'm not sure when exactly we will talk again yet, I wanted to wish each of you Happy Holidays now! I hope you enjoy the end of your year in happiness and full of love! I shall be thinking of you all while I rush to the store right after posting this to get my Christmas shopping done. I wouldn't advise waiting this late in the year to do your shopping! Don't be like me. *slaps forehead*

Also: There are a few different POVs in this chapter. First is Eric, then it's Sookie, and then there is a bit in third person toward the end. I hope it doesn't become confusing for you.

Give it up for Msbuffi, my beta, one last time. You rock!

Now that all of that is out of the way, on with the chapter!

So, for the last time with this story (*tear*)….

I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch!

XOXO-SharaMoon

Chapter Thirty-Six - Resurrection

Every night was a waking reminder that she had not returned to me as she had promised she would. It's been five years, five whole years that she has been gone and there is still no sign of her.

I go to her grave every night with the hope that she will awaken. I look down at the tomb that encases her corpse. That's all it was now, a skeleton in a coffin. Her bones were all that remained of the faery who saved me in more ways than I could even admit.

The night she died is my nightmare every time I close my eyes. I hear her gasp and feel her bones break against my closed fist. I feel the warm muscle, her lifeline as it beats in my hand, and feel her warm blood ooze down my fingers. I see her lifeless body lying on the ground while I'm pulled away from her and there is nothing I can do about it.

To hate myself more than I already did was a feat in and of itself, but I was able to accomplish it with every passing day, with every hour, with every single minute that passed. These last five years have passed by unusually slow, painstakingly so. Time used to fly by so quickly for me. One century to the next in a blink of an eye, and yet, these five years dragged on as if it were thousands of years. I grew more and more frustrated at what I had done to her and what I allowed her to do.

A young girl, the woman I loved died to save me, an old vampire. It was absolutely foolish, unnecessary, and… I had been unworthy.

I stood over her grave for the last time before I decided I would be joining her in the afterlife. It seemed as though she was not going to make it back here and I simply couldn't continue on this way. I looked down at the encasement of stone, willing her to feel my love, my devotion, my sadness, and my longing to see her once more. All I wanted was one last moment with her. There was no returning of emotions, the Bond on her side all but shriveled up and faded as she took her last breath.

Where was she? Why did she not return as she believed she would? Why had I accepted it so quickly?

I had grown weary over the years and I was so very tired. That is something in a vampire's existence; once you become tired of the years, when they become too much and you begin to see the world differently, all is lost. It's a telltale sign that your body and, presumably, your soul are done in this life.

There was nothing for me to continue. I had done what I promised those witches long ago. I lead my people back to where they rightfully belonged, all at the expense of the woman I loved. I had no want for the war I had long promised them once I returned. I had no vengeance when I was already so full with such loss.

I had done exactly what they said I might do. I killed her with my own hands. That was the worst of it all. That was what defeated me and kept me from taking my just revenge.

I had stepped down as King once we made it to Earth. There was no point in continuing to be the very thing that I never wanted in the first place. I couldn't fully leave, that was never an option for my people. We chose a Council instead where we all together would decide the law of the people of Symperia in this new world that we now called home.

It had been a strange experience to step through the portal and be standing in the middle of a town with high-rise, metal buildings with glass windows that looked like mirrors, a world that was so very bright you could see it from space. To witness and hear the shock, awe, and fright from the humans who walked the Earth was something I had anticipated, but to hear the shock and awe from my own people hadn't been. The air was dirtier and the land had been used and forged, man-made into whatever they needed it to be. They took more from the earth than they needed to survive, I concluded, city after city, town after town, ocean after ocean. I forget now what this planet looked like before the world and the people evolved.

There was no point to it all. I could no longer find the beauty that I once believed Earth would become. It was everything I had expected, anticipated even, but it did not hold my interests. Nothing did.

There was no hiding our return. We were completely open to the public and it had been quite challenging to make them understand that we meant no harm. It took over a year for us to gain some respect and trust, though we still don't have it fully, and I highly doubt we ever will. They stated in several newspapers, the headlines claiming, 'Vampires come out of the coffin! Supernaturals have come through portals claiming they originated from here!' It had been everywhere.

We shared our secrets with them, there was no other way. The biggest problem was the vampires need for blood. We were the scariest creatures to befall them. My community and our scientists met the ones of Earth and perfected the synthetic blood together, making greedy corporations richer when they signed on to fund and develop it. That alone took a great deal of fear and skepticism from the humans, but not all. There is always fear of the unknown.

I depended on Pam far more than I should have. She was my child in a new world. I was supposed to be the one who showed her that everything would be perfect, that we should relish in this place, thrive well here, that this new world was exactly what we dreamed of, what I wanted to show her. Instead, she took care of me when I was…not myself.

We had once planned to travel the world when we returned. Now I couldn't find it in me to leave the place where we had settled.

We opened a bar in a town called Shreveport, it had been Pamela's idea and it was just twenty minutes from Sookie's childhood home. People flocked to our doors demanding to be shown the ways of my people, of our capabilities. Curiosity goes hand in hand with fear. Business was going quite well and Pam was very happy among the fresh humans who offered themselves to her to feed from willingly. She once told me that they tasted much better here than on Symperia. I will never know if that was true. I had yet to feed on a human here. I wouldn't. Nothing could taste better than my faery-human hybrid.

It had been problematical to see the places Sookie had once spoken of so fondly. It was even more grim to meet her sibling who looked so very similar to her. I watched him cry in front of me when I told him of her demise even though he had been told previously. Jason off-handedly once said that it was the second time he had mourned the loss his sister so openly in front of people he didn't quite know.

I had once told him that she was expected to return, though he couldn't wrap the idea around his head. Truth be told, I had no idea why I believed it either, but I had.

Jason was quite the human I had come to realize, and though he spoke with a very strong Southern accent and wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, I found that he was rather good company. He had shown me old pictures of Sookie and of their family. He told me story after story of his beloved sister.

He believed every word I ever said to him. He opened his door and welcomed me, even though humans were told to be skeptical of doing such. His trust in me spurred questions for which I needed answers. I had asked on one occasion what made him have such faith in me, and he brought forth a letter that Sookie had written to him on parchment paper from my own castle on Symperia. Jason explained it had been delivered by an elderly woman, Nancy, whom I later learned Sookie had befriended. My beloved had many secrets I learned, but I never felt anger for anything she hid from me after she was gone. It was a fire I would not kindle. I did not need to feel betrayal among the other things I had suffocated with for five years.

Sookie had known I would have come to find her roots. In the letter, she wrote about me, about how much I meant to her. She had wanted to marry me. I had smirked when I read that.

It had been almost too much for me to handle, but I would never say as such aloud. I would never let it show in the presence of Jason Stackhouse. I couldn't.

Back then, I was under the false hope that Sookie would return. I was blind and acting on faith and promises she had wholeheartedly believed, but it still had been very difficult to see the little girl in the pictures as she grew into the woman who owned every part of me. I had a fleeting thought while I looked over the pictures, one that haunts me more now than it did in the beginning. Sookie seemed to have been a very happy child with a great family life, surrounded and encased by love and strong familial bonds. There was proof of it all as I peered at every single photo in multiple albums and I saw her smiling face. Because of me, the witches, and the Fae, she was destined to die, to be tainted by darkness. Her whole existence had been planned, she never had an option.

To see the child with pigtails smiling so brightly over a cake, to the woman a few albums later, smiling slyly after a trick Jason had played nearly drove me insane. My vengeance, my wrath was there to avenge her was within me, but I wasn't able to harness it. It was just out of my grasp and my fingers couldn't catch hold.

Jason had brought out a box after the photos. As I lifted the top to view the contents, he had told me that this had been her most cherished item in the whole world. As I lifted up the lid of the box, I noticed several ripped pages and with a closer inspection I realized that it had words on it. It had been a book. Jason then told me that it was the story of my people. He said their Grandmother read it to Sookie almost every night when she was small and she wrote it out as a book.

The hatred I held for myself began to swallow me whole.

As I bid Jason goodbye, he told me to 'not be a stranger'. It had instantly reminded me of his sister and I stumbled in my steps for the first time in years.

It was something I could have heard her say. As it was after that day, Sookie's voice relayed those same words in my head when I would have to succumb to the morning and leave her tomb every night. 'Don't be a stranger.'

Don't be a stranger.

Don't be a stranger.

"Then why are you becoming a stranger for me?" I had whispered, staring down at her final resting place.

After that first day, I watched over Jason. It became an almost a nightly thing, something he was not aware of. Quite frankly, I'm not even sure I'd share that information with anyone else. His wife, Chelsea, was in early stages of pregnancy the first time I met him. She was nice, very gracious, though more timid toward me than her husband. Sookie had told me her brother was engaged to be married. She had missed their wedding. I prayed to the Gods that she would not miss the birth of the new addition in her family.

Since many Supernaturals flocked to Louisiana, the state where Sookie Stackhouse, the Savior once lived, I made sure to keep him and his family safe. It was the only thing I had to offer my departed companion.

But as the months passed, the seasons changed, my prayers had not been answered. Jason and his wife brought a daughter into the world. Susanna Sookie Stackhouse. Three S's, though I found it quite idiotic. I had not shared my opinion on the name when Jason showed me the child bundled tightly in a pink blanket. He was not afraid in the slightest when he passed me the infant. He even did so with a smile. I was not good with children, but the girl had been very calm in my arms. She looked quite a bit like Sookie, her eyes for the most part, and I believed that my Sookie would have been honored to share her name with this child.

Nancy, whom I later learned was a witch and the one Sookie had befriended, moved to Bon Temps even before I had made my way here. So did the human Tara Thornton and the shifter Sam Merlotte. Alcide Herveaux brought together my guard, started a pack, and moved to Shreveport. We still spoke from time to time.

Sam Merlotte had opened a bar in the small town where Sookie grew up. It was almost exactly the same as the rundown piece of shit he had back in our own world. It was doing well, the last I heard.

As time went on, I grew more skeptical of Sookie's promise. I waited, night after night, year after year, for her to no avail. It was heartbreaking and drove me just a bit more insane with each passing second.

Over the years, I found myself changing. My anger became a short fuse and everyone around me seemed to notice. I was not one for an intervention, it was something I was sure would have been organized if I had not threatened to kill anyone who tried. I caused trouble, fought for no other reason beside the fact that I wanted to fight. I did not care what they thought of me, or what The Council thought of my actions. They were below me. I did what I did, on my terms, when these bursts of anger consumed me. No one could control me.

Just as I was on the brink of being thrown off The Council and, possibly, put on the list of our more recent hunting endeavors, Pam pulled me back from the edge of insanity. I went from having the zest of a warrior to becoming a shell of who I once was.

I became more of a recluse. I never left the bar, except for my nightly visits to Sookie's grave and to her childhood home where I would hover outside for hours watching over her family.

There were problems that arose around the third year, but I did not have the motivation to do anything about them. Yes, I was angry at what I had learned, but I was not willing to fall into the middle of it. The Council wanted more from me, wanted me to figure out why there happened to be more Supernaturals in the world than how many came through the portals. No matter what I did to sabotage myself, they still looked at me as their leader. They still wanted me to stand up and take charge, but I couldn't do it. I was not a good leader, not anymore. I was not even in the right frame of mind at that time. I told them to figure it out themselves and walked out. It wasn't that hard to make a few guesses, even Jason Stackhouse could tackle a few ideas of his own on that problem.

I haven't been back since. The Council has yet to start an investigation on the subject. Idiots.

Pamela had also hit her own breaking point with me. She couldn't stand my constant 'hiding' as she called it, telling me that she did not promise Sookie to watch over me for nothing. The night she told me I nearly murdered her. In the heat of the moment and with much regret now, I released her from our bond and I told her to leave me in peace. I knew that all I was going to do was bring her down the spiral I had fallen into with me and I didn't want that, but she never did leave. She stuck by her promise, telling me multiple times that she believed Sookie would return.

It was a daily thing. 'Maybe today is the day', she would say. She never gave up hope. It was for my benefit alone. I was certain she did not believe it herself, but her words stuck with me. The conviction she had when she said those words daily gave me a shred of hope once more.

Pamela is the only reason why there is still a part of me that wishes for Sookie's return, still hopes, still believes that, 'Maybe today is the day.'

Even while I stood at the edge of the forest cemetery next to her childhood home where her body laid several paces away, I wasn't quite sure what I had planned on doing. I wasn't quite sure what I expected after living such a long life. It wasn't that I wanted to meet the True Death exactly, I was just tired.

I was tired of feeling that she wasted her life on me, tired of not living up to the expectations that people needed from me, tired of walking the new world absolutely alone. Most of all, I was tired that the witches were right, that the premonitions were right. I was nothing without Sookie Stackhouse and I wouldn't survive it.

So I waited for the sunrise not quite sure of anything, but tired of everything.

I woke up gasping only to realize there wasn't enough air for me to even gulp into my lungs. They burned. They ached. Everything felt as if it was on fire, like the burning sensation you have after receiving a cut or scrape, times a million.

I wasn't able to move. There was something chilly on either side of me as if I was encased in something. I brought my aching hand up and touched whatever it was above me. It felt like stone. Something fell into my eye and I hissed, immediately trying to rid myself of the debris.

Where am I? What is going on?

These were all valid questions that spun in my brain while I tried to figure out what was happening. I grit my teeth as a painful, sharp twinge in my chest began to eat me alive. I heard a crackling sort of a sound, and it faintly reminded me of the time that Gran had to reset Jason's broken nose.

How did I get here?

I couldn't remember anything for the first few minutes while I struggled to escape what could only be a tomb. A tomb…

I died! That's right! I died! Nothing else came forward. My mind was as blank as if it had been wiped clean. To know you are forgetting something, but can't figure out what that might be had to be one of the worst things to plague me in that moment of sheer terror.

"Help me!" I tried to yell, but it stuck in my throat and I gagged instead.

My throat was incredibly dry and my mouth felt like sandpaper.

Before I could stop myself I began crying, but it sounded odd in my ears. It was more of a wheezing than anything. I tried once more to lift the lid of my tomb, but it was far too heavy and my arms shook violently with the effort.

"Eric!" My brain clicked over when I cried out the name.

Eric?

A moment passed before hazy memories came to me of a vampire with long, blonde hair and striking blue eyes, the King of my fairytale. Eric Northman! Pam! Alcide! Mae! Sam! Tara! Nancy! Rachel!

That clever witch! Rachel was right! I must have made it home! I wheezed a laughing sob.

I could barely breathe any longer. The small pocket of air that must have lingered with me disappeared. It reminded me of Symperia and how, at the end, I could barely breathe there too.

With my raspy voice so badly damaged, I realized yelling wouldn't get him to me to save me before I died, again. I had no idea where he was, I had no idea where I was to be honest. I just prayed he wasn't halfway around the world, or worse, on an entirely different planet than me. That was a frightening realization.

I closed my eyes and focused on our bond. It was hard to do. I couldn't exactly find it within me at first. I panicked for a good few minutes while I tried to search for the invisible threads that tethered me to my vampire. When I found the strings, when I had touched the bond, I sobbed in happiness. We were still connected!

I began thinking of Eric, of me, of how I was so very happy and yet, so very terrified that I wouldn't get to see him before I suffocated. I focused all of my remaining energy on him and trying to overwhelm the bond with everything I had.

Then I waited.

It was not even two minutes before the lid of the concrete tomb went flying away with a booming crash, and I gasped in a lungful of fresh air as it rushed to me. There wasn't much light, but my eyes still burned at the difference between total blackness and light darkness while I tried to focus on the man before me. I could see him!

Eric looked inside the tomb with wide eyes, and was breathing heavily even though it wasn't necessary. As soon as our eyes met, his arms thrust inside my encasement and wrapped around me. I was hauled upward and onto his chilly chest which felt oddly warm to me at the time. He crushed me to him.

I gasped, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him even closer holding him as tightly as I possibly could.

"You're okay," Eric chanted to me, a tone of wonderment clearly evident in his voice. His voice was also shaking.

His knees gave out suddenly. I felt us descend to the ground rather quickly, but I was barely jostled. I leaned into the crook of his neck shaking so badly and I breathed in his scent. It was just as I remembered. I began sobbing while I clung to him so powerfully I was sure my nails were digging into his skin.

"You're here," I kept repeating.

"You kept your promise. You are here," He whispered back in awe, pulling me away from him. I was angered by this and forced myself against him once more. He chuckled in a way that I had never heard before. It was so light, so bubbly, and so happy! "Look at me, Sookie, just for a moment. I want to see your face."

I leaned back and looked him in the eyes once more. He was absolutely the same! My heart grew tight with strong emotion once more as I delicately reached up and took hold of his cheek in my palm. Very slowly, because the pain was still there, I leaned up and brushed my lips against his. They were so soft, so tender, just the same and I felt the electric shock at the act, the spark that ignited my body on fire with joy. I breathed through my nose, filling my lungs with air.

I was alive!

I went to pull away, but his hands went up into my hair dragging my face to his once more. His lips attacked mine and he devoured me completely. The fire raged on within me, sparks flew and danced up my whole being as his tongue licked my bottom lip, wetting my dried mouth. I opened for him generously feeling the sudden need to taste him just as he did me. I drank him in, and he didn't seem to mind that I was probably all gross still.

We kissed for what felt like hours before we pulled away and simply stared at each other.

"I can't believe you are here," Eric told me honestly. "I nearly gave up, Sookie. I'm so sorry."

He went into detail of what he had planned. Though I was extremely angry at him for even thinking he would decide to meet the True Death, my anger seemed to vanish the moment he told me just how long I was gone.

"Five years?" My voice was so very small. "It took me so long to find you again. I'm sorry."

"You don't remember anything?" He questioned lightly as if he was afraid to ask me.

Eric was playing with a strand of my hair. It was dirty and ratted, but he didn't seem to mind at all. The way he was looking at me, I've never seen anyone look at me like he was, even with how he used to look at me before. He was so content, his eyes held warmth I hadn't seen before, and his lips were turned up in a half smile. Eric gazed over my body every now and then. His fingers would drop from my hair to touch my face, run his fingers over my lips, my shoulders, my back, my sides, even my ankles at one point. It was as if he couldn't believe I was truly there. It was as though he needed to touch me to make sure I was real and the thought pained me that he had lived without me for so long and I had kept him waiting, still, I was really enjoying that look on his face!

It was like he was looking at a living, breathing miracle.

Maybe I was, but I didn't feel that way. To me, Eric was always the miracle. He saved me before I saved him.

I thought over his question for a few moments. My mind was foggy and not everything had come back to me, but there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't quite comprehend its presence. It was a feeling of gnawing dread, but I knew it had nothing to do with being in Eric's arms just then. I only felt it when I tried to remember what happened after I died.

I remembered Rachel. Maybe that was it? Maybe it was because I had yet to tell Eric who she was, or rather, what she was to him? I think that was part of it, but not all. Besides, I wasn't going to tell him about her right now. We had forever to talk about things like that. I just wanted to be with him.

I grabbed his hand that resumed playing with my hair and entwined our fingers. He looked down at me with a big grin like a happy child who had received exactly what he wanted for Christmas. I smiled right back.

"I don't remember, but I'm sure it will come to me sooner or later," I answered, shrugging. I didn't want to ruin the moment by telling him that I felt uneasy at the idea that it would come back to me. I was quite positive that everything would be fine if I didn't remember.

He nodded, accepting my words easily.

Eric leaned his forehead against my own before he kissed me once more. It was slower as his lips glided over mine. It was a light as a feather kiss as if he were content enough to just feel my lips slide against his in a caress.

I let him do this. I let him do whatever it was that he wanted to do to me. So he did just that while he slowly pushed me to my lay flat on my back while he hovered over me. I looked up at him in such need that overwhelmed me as his eyes bore into mine, into my very soul. I had missed him more than anything. I ached for him.

We became reacquainted with each other once more, over and over until well after the sun had risen and fallen once again. It was absolutely blissful. It was Heaven.

I was utterly exhausted by the time we were done, but I was content. I laid next to him while his hand traveled between my breasts to where my heart was. There was a faint, ragged scar there that ran from the top of my sternum to just under my breast, very new and quite pink. I peered up at him through my fuzzy, content state as his eyebrows and mouth fell slightly.

"I held that in my hand," Eric bit out, as if it were hard for him to say. His eyes and his rigidity told me that the act he had to do had overwhelmed him, haunted him. The horror in his eyes made me want to cry. For a man who had seen and done many horrible things in his long existence, for this to affect him in such a traumatizing way tore at me, and I wasn't sure how I could fix it or if I even could.

He was referring to my heart which was somehow given back to me. It beat wildly within my chest, thumping just below the placement of his palm. Eric was grateful to feel it once more. I could tell. I quickly leaned up and kissed him whisking away that look from his eyes. If I could, I would have plucked that memory away forever. I didn't want to see that look cross his face ever again.

"It doesn't matter. It's okay now," I promised with a smile while I stroked the side of his face.

"Swear to me that me you will never do something like this again," Eric's tone was commanding, but it was also pained. I could hear just how much he suffered without me for so long.

"You are always worth it, but yes, I swear, I promise," I smiled. "I don't regret it, whatever I've dealt with. I don't."

"Of course you don't," He rolled his eyes and I laughed. "You are something else, Sookie Stackhouse."

"I'm pretty great," I smirked. Leaning my head on his chest, I whispered, "I really do love you."

"I think you have proven yourself," Eric kissed my forehead. "I love you. They were right though, you know."

"Who?"

"The witches, the premonitions," He explained as I sat up. "They knew what I was going to have to do, and they knew that I was going to love you. They knew all of this and came up with several different paths to keep us from returning to Earth."

"Yes, they did," I agreed when he paused.

"In the end, they also knew that it was a possibility that I would happen to return to Earth, but I believe they thought I would be returning alone."

"They weren't planning on me being able to be resurrected," I finished for him, knowing exactly where he was going with it.

"That was one thing I am sure they never thought would happen," Eric looked thoughtful, smirking. "You have someone looking out for you on the other side."

I shifted uncomfortably on the concrete before I returned a smile the best I could.

"I do," I agreed once more before moving on quickly. "They did expect your return one day. Do you think the witches now will be a problem? Are they a problem?"

It was Eric's turn to look uncomfortable. "There are some things that have...happened. Nothing involving witches as of yet, but we'll have to see what to make of it in the coming days, though none of that matters."

He helped me with my clothes after a moment sensing that I needed to do some things. I needed to see my friends, my family, and most of all; I needed to see my world once more.

"You are very cryptic, lover," I raised an eyebrow, using his endearment I heard him say earlier in one of our many, many trysts.

He smirked. "You have just arrived. I would rather celebrate than decide if we are doomed once more."

His words were teasing so I wasn't quite scared of what the new world would be like once I stepped into it. I walked through the crypt I had been in looking back at my tomb one last time. Eric stopped next to me, his fingers running up the length of my arm. I leaned into him.

"It was worth it," I repeated again, more for me than to him. The sense of dread was back in the pit of my stomach. I bit my lip and forced myself to smile up at him as I tilted my head back.

"We'll see," He told me with a chuckle, tilting my head up further to kiss my lips.

Grabbing his hand and lacing our fingers together, we left the crypt. We left the last place that held our hard past and we moved on toward our future. Neither of us were really sure what that would hold. There were no premonitions from here on out, yet. Our destiny now was what we made of it, but I'm sure it will probably be enough to fill up an entirely new book. The thought was funny and made me giggle while we walked toward Gran's home. Eric looked down at me, puzzled, but I shook my head. Even I had to keep some secrets.

Eric Northman started out as a fairytale that my Gran read to me when I was a child and now, here he was, holding my hand. I always worried about him being trapped in that other world where I knew he didn't belong. Even though I just wanted to find normality within myself and my own gift at first to not feel like a freak, after all that time I spent with the story, I began wishing that he would just be able to return back home to where he belonged. I always wanted to believe that he would have found happiness and would be able to return to Earth to live out his long life in peace. That was how I wanted the story to end, how I envisioned it to progress long after Gran's tale had ended and I began thinking on my own. A happily ever after is what I wanted for the Vampire King who enthralled me.

Who would have ever thought that that little seven-year-old girl with a big imagination who loved vampires, werewolves, goblins, and ogres over princesses and ponies would finally get her wish for her King to be safe and also, for her to not be as alone in the world anymore? It was a fairytale come true, something that seemed so unimaginable. Getting picked on now for never giving up believing seemed worth it in the end, everything was worth it, to feel this way, to feel like she now belonged with her people, her kind, the Supernaturals. Now, they were as safe as they could be at that moment. Who would have thought it possible?

Little seven-year-old Sookie Stackhouse would have been very surprised at the outcome, but she would have been so very, very happy.

For now…

THE END, perhaps. . .

Epilogue

I stood in a large, circular, dusty Victorian looking courtroom staring around at dozens of people. They all had their eyes trained on me, all waiting for me to explain exactly what had happened. I saw some familiar faces as I peered around the desks that sat on several different platform levels.

I was an object to be seen, to be admired. I felt like a star in my very own show and it was unwelcomed and awkward for me to stand before them, but I had been summoned. My eyes found Alcide's among the crowd, and I realized these people were sectioned in different categories. Weres, Vampires, Humans, and Shifters, were all seated in their respected racial places. I noticed that a Were guard tapped Alcide on the shoulder, and he leaned back to listen to what the man had to say. Alcide nodded but his eyes still held mine.

He was as shocked as any to see that I was alive. I smiled at him.

Then there were the Vampires. There was Eric in the front, leading the rest of them, though he had looked very bored where he sat. He fiend a yawn, rolling his eyes – it was so unlike him that I smirked.

Next were the Humans. There was a man sitting in the front that I had not remembered from Symperia, but I later learned that he was a mayor of one of the outer towns on Symperia. He was a chubby man, with black hair, beady eyes, and double chins, but he grinned at me as our eyes met.

Then, finally, there was Sam and the Shifters. Sam, my old boss, was more free-spirited than the rest of them. His legs were on top of the desk and his arms were crossed over his chest, but when I gazed at him he pretended to pick his nose and then proceeded to wink in my direction. I laughed, only to cover it up discreetly with a cough.

These leaders all looked at me now, and tons more that sat behind them. With four chairs in front of the rest, with those four specific people placed specially, I deduced that they were the leaders for each major faction that had come from Symperia. All elected by their peers.

"Now, wonderful girl," The human male started, standing up to beam at me with a bright, welcoming smile. "I think I shall be the first one to thank you for what you have sacrificed to get us to our new home, and welcome your return most gleefully!"

And then he started clapping. Everyone else joined in. Alcide and Sam both whistled, looked at each other and laughed as they continued to clap. My cheeks began burning and I knew that I was red in the face.

My eyes sought Eric's. He hadn't wanted me to come here. He said there had been no point, but didn't divulge into his reasons behind his strong argument and therefore, he lost. I had been curious to see what had become of the people after I returned, but I never expected this.

"We owe Sookie our lives, everyone," Sam had spoken next. "I couldn't believe the whispers that were going around of your return. Back from the dead? Even us Supes found that a hard pill to swallow."

"Indeed, Mr. Merlotte has a point," A woman vampire called out next, standing up to address her peers. "If you would permit, My Lady, we would all love to hear how you've escaped the throes of death."

It was my turn to talk. Oh, crap.

"She does not remember," Eric said swiftly, looking at one of his own that had spoken out. His voice was smooth, commanding, and it silenced her.

It was like he did not want to share the information. My eyebrows fell in confusion.

"He's right," I said, clearing my throat. Stage fright, be gone, evil doer! "Though I remember having to go through what was called The Trials. I cannot, for the life of me, remember what I had to do to get through them."

The others nodded at my words, accepting them.

"We are just glad you have returned in one piece, Sookie," Alcide's deep voice spoke. He gave me a strained smile. I'd have to ask him why later. I made a mental note as he continued. "All in all, I think what we came here to do is assess that you are you, and to offer you a seat on the council. You have earned it. We've much to catch up on and fix in these times. Your helpful guidance will do wonders."

"Yes," The chubby male human agreed.

"Of course," Sam said.

All heads turned to Eric, all waiting for their resigned King to speak. It was like everyone held their breath, all at once. I looked around the room before my eyes gravitated toward my vampire once more who was pinning me with a strong, calculating look.

"No," He finally said.

It had shocked me and I was sure the evidence of it came across my face. This had shocked them all. Silence, absolute silence, and then uproar ensued.

"You do not wish for your Fae-human to join our cause? We are trying to balance this out," The human leader said, his double chins bouncing with each word. "She single-handedly saved all our hides! She has earned her place among us!"

"I am not denying as such, Clifton," Eric replied. His eyes were still locked on to mine. They were emotionless pits. "But the point still stands. She has just returned. She should not be drawn into our affairs any more than she needs to be. She needs rest. She needs time. This is not her problem."

"Are you saying that Sookie is not one of us?" Sam questioned, standing up to look down at Eric. "That's a load of horseshit!"

There were others that agreed, though less enthusiastically. They were still very much unwilling to go against His Majesty so openly.

Even I felt a little nervous, being the spectacle of this obvious fight. I rung my hands in front of me as the fighting continued. I couldn't look into Eric's eyes any longer. I was quite upset about his dismissal of the offer. It was my choice after all, right? He shouldn't just suspect that he can take ownership for all my decisions.

"We have hefty problems, Mr. Northman," Another human male with mousey, brown hair said, though he almost slipped up and spoke to him as his King. "All of which you and she could be very useful at, but you deny, deny, and deny some more at our requests of aid!"

"I will handle it, but she doesn't." Eric dismissed, his voice ringing out and echoing all around the giant room.

All went silent – so silent in fact a pin drop would probably be heard. The annoyance I felt in that exact moment as all those people stared at me was something I could not handle. I think they held pity in their gazes, but that wasn't right.

They obviously needed help and though I wasn't quite sure what they were talking about – I assumed it had to do with the 'Supe Confusion' – as I called it – that Eric had slipped up and told me about in the crypt. I was more than sure, as the arguments raged on in front of me, that these people were referring to the 'Supe Confusion', which was that there had been others left here on earth at the time when the portals had opened up. There were selective groups of different beings that seemed to have been overlooked when the purge of the Supernaturals had happened so long ago.

It might not be totally about it. It could be any number of things really, but if Eric kept silencing them in my presence I would never know.

And I didn't like it.

I peered at Eric steadily – almost challengingly as I stood up straighter. I felt the eyes of dozens of people I had saved on me, waiting for me to possibly agree with what Eric had said. And, although I didn't like the attention that was given to me as it was new and uncomfortable, I felt protective of them all. Like a mother hen looking out for her chicks – funnily enough. If they were asking for my help, why could I not give it? Why would Eric make me look and feel so inferior among these people? Our people.

"It's not your choice, Eric, I'm sorry." I said, not daring to look at him anymore. Instead I picked a spot on the wall as I went against his word – something I had not intended to do, ever again. "When do we begin?"

And I took my spot in one of the chairs, thankful to be out of the spot light as the human leader – Clifton – shuffled some papers on his desk. "Well, as we have tried to explain to Mr. Northman countless times, there are hundreds of Supes that we have catalogued in our five years here that were not on Symperia with the rest of us. Now, we don't understand what this means other than the obvious. The witches must not have taken us all as we had originally thought. We have to figure out why…."

After the meeting, which was not more than twenty minutes of theories on the subject, we were dismissed. Eric had come to my side instantly, grabbing my wrist and pulling me from the room where he shoved me up against the wall in a little alcove, hidden from prying eyes and proceeded to kiss me for all that I was worth.

I had thought he was going to be angry and yell my head off, but I would take this turn of events over the fight I was sure that my defiance would have started.

"Insufferable," He whispered against my lips, "absolutely, undeniably, stubborn to the core."

I breathed deeply, running my hands up the back of his neck to run my fingers through that gorgeous hair. I pulled him against my lips again. He crowded me completely, leaving no room between us. His hips ground forward, his erection evident as it poked me, throbbed against me on my lower stomach. I gasped and my brain hazed at his suddenness.

"I don't need you to protect me, you know."

"Of course you do. What you did in there?" He replied as he made his way down my neck, trailing kisses and licks as he went on, "That was something you should not have done."

"I know," I nodded, lightheadedly. "But you cannot control me like that. We're supposed to be equals, Eric. I don't need you to tell me what to do."

"Like I said," He nipped my neck sending chills down my spine, "stubborn to the core. I'll make you regret defying me."

I smirked, liking the sounds of that.

"Promise?" I teased, feeling brazen as he hiked my right leg up and around his waist. He lifted me against the wall. I placed my left hand against the window that was in the small alcove to balance against him.

Eric turned my chin up and toward him, forcing me to look at his face.

"Do not defy me in this." His voice was commanding, controlling. His eyes bore into mine with such intensity that for just a moment, the cloudy, euphoria I was feeling evaporated.

"Why are you so against it?" I whispered, anger bubbling to the surface. "Do you really not think I could help? Even if it is to just talk with them? Join in on the whole theories thing?"

I watched my vampire close his eyes, his hands tightening against my waist to the point of bruising, but it mattered not. His eyelids fluttered once, he shook his head before his lids popped back open and his blue hues bore into my own. He could light me ablaze with that look – such anger and lust in his gaze.

"Enough talking for now," Eric growled as he lifted up my skirt, pushed my panties to the side and entered me suddenly. I gasped, my chest arched away from the wall as he buried himself to the hilt inside of me.

"B-But–" My voice was shaky.

He effectively cut me off as he pulled out almost fully. He began to rub the bundle of nerves above my folds, just at the right pace as he sank deeper into my warmth with a groan, and my brain began to turn off as pleasure began to eat away my annoyance. He kissed me to silence whatever I was about to retort with. As his tongue pried open my lips before mingling with mine, I gave up the battle as my mind became a puddle of goo, and I couldn't remember exactly what I was arguing for anyway, or if it were even worth it.

But I knew – he knew – that I wouldn't just give up without a fight and whatever it was that we were fighting about would come back once my brain unclogged itself.

All I knew now was the pleasure, the absolute delight of his rigid member as it throbbed inside of me, hitting just the right spot with every brush to make me cry out his name, fogging my brain up even more with every thrust, every pump, every inch he gave me, until I forgot even my own name. Except his – I would never forget his name. Eric made sure I would scream it that night for the whole world to hear in an open, public place, filled with people who had supersensitive hearing. I hadn't cared regardless – too far gone to care for modesty and our indecent behavior.

One thing I knew about my vampire lover was that he was very, very good with distractions.

Being with him will surely never be dull.

Two beings stood outside the old building that held the council. They both looked through the window, watching as the blond girl's back arched and her mouth opened in a scream of pleasure. They gazed passively onward as the man holding her in the little space, bit into her throat, bucking his hips upward.

"Love," The male spat out with a vicious high-pitched growl. "Can you believe it?"

The man was not really a man at all. He more resembled a large imp. His skin was grey, his nose long and pointed, his head seemed too large for his body. He wore a cap atop his balding head and over his abnormally large bat-like ears. His three claw-like talon toes dug into the soil below him. His tail, which was partially hidden under the fabric of his clothing, swung out under his cloak, twitching as he knelt against the ground to spit his disgust at the displays of sexual intercourse in its act.

"Indeed I can," The woman raised her brow. "I was the one to predict it, after all."

The woman stood tall, strikingly beautiful. Electric blue eyes narrowed at the display before her. She wore a dark, red cloak with the hood lying against her back while her long, light brown, braided hair hung down to the small of her back. She was delicate, but powerful. Her old magic flowed off of her in waves, attracting the imp to move just a bit closer to her.

The woman was a witch, a very powerful, very old woman of dark magic. You could not tell by her beautiful, youthful features how many years she was able to hang onto, how long she clutched to the earth with all her might to live until this day was upon her. She rather enjoyed the idea of cheating Death so far, so much that they have become quite…acquainted over the years, like old friends.

The woman smirked as the vampire adjusted the blond woman's clothes against the window, all without realizing they were being watched so openly. There was never any cause for alarm regardless. She was untraceable at the moment. Her smile turned into a sneer when he leaned down and brushed his lips so softly against her and though the witch couldn't see the actual act – the back of the blond headed woman got in the way – she knew how much the vampire loved this woman. Disgusting. It brought up old wounds that never fully healed and the witch was not weak. She would not think of similarities.

"You never expected her to live," His gristly, bell-like voice made the woman roll her dark blue eyes. "Tell me how she did it, Madam?"

Yes, that had indeed been a surprise –an unwanted surprise.

"I'm not sure yet, but of course it was magic. Holy magic if I were to guess. It was a….turn of events that I had not expected. Nevertheless, the plan still goes ahead. We'll just have to find a way to make it more interesting, hmm?" The woman turned around, looking away from the two lovers to see her companion gazing at her with satisfaction, his grey-blue lips curling upward unnaturally high to show a row of razor sharp teeth.

"You know how I love it when you are cryptic. I feed off of it!" He wiggled his non-existent eyebrows. "Our magic has grown. We've been ready for their return for a while. When, Madam, when can we kill them all?"

The witch smirked once more as she turned around and watched the two blond lovers walk away from the window hand in hand, disappearing inside the building.

"All in good time, Devlin, you will see. All this work has been centuries in the making. A few more months' time is nothing."

"My lady, can I ask you something?" The male creature shuffled forward, noticing his madam staring at the male vampire that stepped out of the front doors with the girl in toe. "Why is it that you wish to destroy them all? Why did you get involved with the Fae and humans to begin with? Why did you join the war? Not that I mind, at all, Madam! I love your ruthlessness."

The woman's eyes clouded over in anger, as she looked at the vampire with much contempt that could burn a thousand forests to the ground.

"Because my sister chose him over me," The witch's eyes clouded over, her brows shook with anger. "She bonded herself to him, gave up her powers to do so against the coven."

"Your sister must have loved him so greatly to go against the coven," Devlin giggled, clapping his hands. "The plot thickens!"

The witch turned around with wild eyes and brought her hand forward. It connected with his cheek, sending him flying across the forest and into a tree. The tree snapped in half, the top falling to the forest floor behind the creature with a loud thud. He was grabbing his face, sparks of magic burst from the touch as he looked up at his master with frightened eyes, whimpering in his high-pitched voice.

"Don't make this into what it isn't! You always loved a good, romanticized story. It was nothing like that. She was a fool," The witch's teeth clanked together. "Our magic was strongest with us together and she gave it up, hid her relationship. She wanted to become one of them."

"No, madam," Devlin gasped.

"Yes, indeed." The witch cast her eyes to the ground, thinking of the young blond haired girl that stepped out of the old ruined building that the Supernaturals took over to converse their problems. The witch knew by now that they would realize that Supes flourished with time here on Earth, and in time they might even realize that every Supe child born over the centuries belonged to her. She smirked evilly. "They don't understand why I kept some pets over the years," She tsked. "No matter, they will find out soon enough."

She began to make her turn, but Devlin grabbed her wrist. She raised her other hand to strike him for the unnecessary contact, but he gasped.

"Wait, Madam! What are we going to do with the girl?" He pointed toward where the vampire and his human bitch left from several minutes ago. "Sookie Stackhouse," Devlin spit her name out of his mouth as if it were an illness.

"It's not what I'm going to do to her, exactly. I don't even have to touch her." The witch smiled slowly, unnaturally. "She's so pure. I want to taint her. No, hurting her physically outright by my own hands would not achieve my goal. I need to do so emotionally first. I need to break her spirit while effectively messing with a few minds of powerhouse players….and what can I do to achieve that?" She tapped her long fingers against her lips. The tall tale sign of wrinkles beginning to show stated that she needed to make another elixir of youth before Death found his way to her once more."What can I do? Hmm? So many possibilities….ah! I think the answer lies somewhere in this whole story of our history, somewhere close to the beginning of our tale…."

"What is it, madam? Please, please share your wisdom and thoughts with your servant!" Devlin begged with wide eyes.

The witch cackled, throwing her light brown, long braided hair over her shoulder with a flick of her fingers. "If I told you all of my plans, then it wouldn't be very fun, now would it?"

With a twist of her body, contorting it in an unhuman-like way, she evaporated in thin air, leaving her servant to stare after her. Devlin hopped around on his feet anxiously, back and forth, whining out loud at her sudden departure.

"I-I'm coming, Madam!" And he took off in the direction that their home was located, his tail waggling the whole while.

I sat on the floor in the center of the living room of Eric and Pam's home. It was a nice house, in a gated community that was just starting out. Homes were far and few between at the moment. It was spacious, quite modern looking – much more than the two vampires ever needed with a full pristine kitchen and multiple bedrooms. I guess it was my home as well, but I have yet to spend too much time here. I had been with my niece and brother and his wife during the day.

At that moment in time, I was sketching an image of Alcide and Eric, standing side my side in the grand foyer of the castle on our last day on Symperia. It had been four hours and papers were scattered everywhere. Watercolors and colored pencils were to my right, an ink pen and charcoal to my left. In front of me sat a typewriter – Gran's old one I found in the attic when Jason and I started to clean out the dusty place five days prior.

I had been busy for the past several days. The task before me kept me going, especially when I was having trouble sleeping for…reasons I wasn't ready to understand or admit to myself just yet. I had been scared to sleep, and this gave me a reason not to – a happy reason.

I didn't want to think about the dreams I've been having when my eyes shut and I begin to drift. They were not dreams, per se, nightmares would be a better word for them, and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that maybe they weren't nightmares at all. Maybe they were…memories, but that didn't seem right. I didn't understand my terror the dreams elicited from me either. It was only darkness….and glowing, grey eyes.

Grey eyes….

Grey eyes….

I hadn't noticed I was trembling. With a small curse, I erased the few lines that turned out horribly. Shaking my head at my stupidity, releasing a loud sigh and trying to still my nerves, I leaned over the sketch book once more and rubbed the charcoal with my fingertips, shading half of Alcide's face.

Suddenly, I jumped as I felt lips brush my neck. But after I realized who was behind me, I closed my eyes with a small, relieved chuckle as he continued to lazily kiss behind my ear. After another moment, I felt him kneel before scooting up right behind me. H then, pulled me back against his chest, and his arms wrapped around my waist to hold me in place. His chin fell to rest on top of my right shoulder as he looked at my work. He nuzzled me behind my ear, biting playfully at the lobe, making me giggle.

"You finally decided to wake up?" I asked, turning slightly to press a kiss to his face. I managed to kiss the corner of his jaw.

"Have you finally decided to get some much needed rest?" His voice was soft, but wary. We had a fight before he laid down for the day. He didn't want to rehash the fight once more. I couldn't blame him.

I bit my lip.

"Yeah," I lied. "I was going to, but I got so busy with this."

"And are you finally going to tell me what 'this' is? I can make a guess, but I'd like for you to tell me." Eric answered, seemingly happy with the change of topic.

I smiled as his lips kissed the juncture of my neck and shoulder. It was one of my spots. I groaned as his tongue lapped at the love bite he managed to give me there.

"Give me a second." I said as I wriggled out of his grasp.

I grabbed the sheets of paper that I had typed on, grabbed the images I had managed to draw and bunched them together, fixing them in a make-shift order that was all wrong, but would get the point across. And finally, I pulled the cover from the small, glass coffee table. I had made it by hand, fairly proud at my work, and turned around to Eric. I gave him the many pages of words and sketches first, and watched as he slowly went through them, page after page. He read a few lines, smiled and continued.

"These are done really well," He commented with a proud smirk, his eyes never leaving the pages.

I rolled my eyes as I blushed. "I am not an artist, Eric, but thank you."

"So, this is….?" He lifted his eyes to meet mine. He held them for such a long time. There was a pull in my stomach, drawing me nearer to him. I leaned over him and brushed my lips against his. I couldn't help it. But, I pulled away before he could grab me, which I knew he had wanted to do. I giggled as he growled. With small maneuvering, I placed the last part of the project in his lap– the cover.

"The story of our history," I confirmed.

Eric nodded his understanding with a small, lazy, content smile. I watched as his eyebrows ran together as he looked down at the cover before running his hands over the one word at the top stitched into the leather – the title. His blond eyebrow rose and he looked at me with a devilish, slight mocking smile. I took no offence to it.

"Folklore?" He questioned.

I laughed outright, sitting down in front of him. I had a reason to name it that, though it was something I didn't find worth sharing at that particular moment in time. When I first created the first book – the one I had torn to pieces – I had named it 'Folklore' as well, that was back when I didn't think it was all truly real. I wanted to keep it, for my own nostalgia. It had been more important to me than it probably should have been. It was a small, embarrassing reason, but I still wanted it to stay the same, regardless. Besides, this was my own book. I didn't need to explain to anyone. Not like anyone would see it unless I chose otherwise.

"It had a ring to it." I said instead.

"But we've established I was real." He placed it at his side before crawling over to me. He pinned me under him in a matter of seconds. "This is real, is it not?"

I licked my lips at the turn of events. I really loved it when he would be suddenly surprising like this.

"Oh, absolutely," I leaned up and kissed him as he loosened the drawstrings of my pants.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if you truly believe it's real. I mean, with a title like that on our book." Eric hovered over me. His eyes devoured my body almost sinfully as he playfully teased me with his words. His head dipped down and his tongue lapped around my naval. He had move so fast! My hips bucked at the suddenness, but he stilled me in my place on the carpet with his hands on my hips. "Maybe I need to show you how real I am, Sookie."

"Every single day," I replied instantly, wanting him to know how much I wanted him – how I would never tire of our moments together. "I must be reminded that it's all real, it seems."

"Then do we must, lover." He answered as he tore my pants away from my body. I looked down at him and saw that his fangs had descended. As he caught me watching, his lips lifted up and I gazed at him as he licked his right fang. I felt warmth pool between my legs. He could smell my arousal, which was the reason for his sudden smugness as he said, "At least, with me, it's always a happy ending."

My lips curled up in a smile as I laughed at our playfulness, but I was trembling with want. I was wanton, and I needed him. Now.

"That it does," I nodded, before commanding, "Now, give me my happily ever after already."

"As you wish," Eric said right before he joined our bodies together.

Sudden blissfulness entered my very being at being so full, so content. All of my worries, my nightmares faded as Eric swaddled me in his arms – my safe harbor – and continually made love to me. When he was with me like this, all was well, and all was forgotten.

Everything had been worth it in the end.

Unbeknownst to us at the time, in the background and placed on the table, Gran's letter to me began to glow. I would only later come across her written words. I would later read her beautiful cursive handwriting with a blank face and numb insides, because her last message – her final parting words – was just as ominous as several before it: I fear your journey has only just begun, my child.

End of Story Notes: AND….there we are! Folklore is DONE! *Throws confetti* I hoped you liked the ending. Thoughts?

I am leaving several options open for a possible sequel. I don't want to just come out and say that there will be one, but it IS a very big possibility! I have even written some small things on the side for it, so there is that! :) Okay, okay….there is one on the way. HOWEVER, I have no idea when I will post it. I want to have it ALL mapped out and whatnot beforehand. I don't want to disappoint you with never updating because I have lost inspiration on it.

Msbuffi and I will also be revising previous chapters for this story sometime in the future. I don't know how much will change when we begin to tackle it all – if any at all – but I just wanted to warn you in case you get any updates in your mail. There will not be any more updated chapters for this story.

THANK YOU: To each and every one of you – readers, reviewers, followers and to everyone that has put this on their favorite story lists, thank you for taking the time to go on this journey with me. I cannot tell you how much each and every one of you mean to me. YOU are my inspiration to keep going, YOU are my inspiration to come up with new story ideas, and YOU are the reason that I have accomplished SO much more than I originally thought I would with this site. There has not been a day that has gone by since we began this journey that I haven't just smiled because I thought about you all. You truly are the greatest people that I know, and I am so very fortunate and humbled by your friendship and your positive words and guidance. You each have a very special place within my heart. Thank you for EVERYTHING, my fanfic family. 3

I do hope you continue with me with future stories whenever they arise! *Whispers* I have one in the process already.

Msbuffi: I wanted to personally thank you for all of your beta-ing efforts, for taking the time and energy to do something that you didn't have to do. It truly means the world to me that you reached out to help. We started late in the game, but together we have made this story even better than I would have been able to do on my own. You have become someone I shall cherish for the rest of my days. I am very lucky and fortunate to be able to call you my friend. We shall, hopefully, have many more stories and journeys and talks ahead of us in the future. :)

Much love, my dearest readers,

SharaMoon