Sawyer didn't know how long she let Sookie hold her or for how long she stayed on the floor crying. She just knew that when she was eventually able to stop, she felt cold and dead on the inside. She pulled away from Sookie and wiped her tears away. She sat on the cold kitchen floor and closed her eyes wishing that she could take back the last few hours and have Eric there with her again. She felt fresh tears start to fall as she realized that she would never again be able to see Eric. He was no longer hers or the father of her children. In the matter of one night, the Queen of Louisiana had destroyed everything that Eric and Sawyer had fought months to build.

"Sawyer, are you alright?" Sookie asked knowing it was a stupid question but she wanted an answer. She wanted to make sure that Sawyer hadn't completely broken down.

Sawyer took a moment. She looked at Sookie and nodded slowly, "I have no choice but to be alright. The twins need me."

Sookie heard a weird calmness come into Sawyer's voice. She watched as Sawyer slowly climbed to her feet. Sookie stood beside her and watched as her friend tried desperately to hold it together. She then turned and Sookie could see pure pain in Sawyer's face. Sookie knew that deep down inside Sawyer was breaking apart but she was not going to let anyone see that. She would wait until she was alone and then fall apart.

"I am sure Eric will be home and he will-," Sookie started.

"Will, what Sook? Explain everything calmly? Does that sound like Eric to you at all?"

Sawyer watched as Sookie nodded slightly. She turned away from her friend and knew exactly how Eric was going to handle this. He was going to do or say things that would make her hate him. He would push her out and would watch coldly as she packed her things and left all the while not telling her what had really happened. She knew him and knew that he would do exactly those things thinking that she didn't already know what the queen decided. And even if he knew that she did know the truth, Eric would still do something to make her hate him so that she wouldn't be hurt by not having him with her. He would try to make her forget all the love she had for him and Sawyer knew that she couldn't let him do that. She turned back and looked at Sookie.

"I need your help," Sawyer said softly.

"I'll help you anyway I can," Sookie said.

"I need you to help me pack and leave."

Sookie looked at Sawyer confused, "You're going to leave before Eric comes home?" she asked not understanding what Sawyer was planning.

"I need to be gone before he comes back. Sookie, I can't," Sawyer bit her lip to stop the tears from falling again, "I can't let him stand there and push me away and say goodbye. I won't be able to handle it. And I know that it would kill Eric," Sawyer paused and looked around the kitchen thinking of the future that her and Eric had planned in that kitchen and the love they had shared in the house, "I don't want to leave, I want nothing more than to stay here and face Eric and try to get him to disobey the queen. Hell, maybe I would be able to convince him to run away with me but I know that deep down, Eric will never be happy anywhere but here. Here he has Fangtasia, he's a sheriff and I know that all my talking and pleading and begging will never change his mind."

"He loves you, Sawyer he would do anything for you."

"I know and that's why he is going to come home and break my heart forcing me to leave. He loves me Sookie, but he won't put me in danger for that love. He'd walk away first before seeing me or the twins hurt. And I love him too much to stand here and let him tear us apart. I am going to leave so that he never has to say or do anything he will regret."

Sookie thought about it and realized that Sawyer had a point. She knew that Eric would rather Sawyer hate him then leave still loving him. In Eric's mind if she left hating him there was a chance she could find happiness somewhere else while he would stay in Louisiana loving Sawyer and missing her. Eric wouldn't understand that holding on to that love would be the only thing that would keep Sawyer sane without him. She looked at Sawyer and nodded.

"I'll help you. I am sorry this happened," she said softly.

"I know, I am too. I guess they were right," Sawyer answered.

"Who?"

"The people who said all good things must come to an end. They were right; I just didn't think the end for Eric and I would come so soon."

Sawyer wiped away a few stray tears that fell and took a deep breath. She had a lot of work ahead of her. She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She tried not to think about how now her children would never have memories of Eric to hold on too. The only one who would remember Eric holding them and whispering to them in Swedish, would be her and she knew that those memories would haunt her in the years to come.

Eric stood on the roof of the tallest building he could find in New Orleans. He watched as the sky lightened and knew that dawn was a few hours away. He thought about Godric and how his maker had been at peace with his decision to die. Eric had never understood that peace until that moment. He felt that peace now; he would gladly stand there and wait for the sun and die instead of going back to Bon Temps and break Sawyer's heart. He closed his eyes and felt tears rolled down his cheeks.

He had known that in the end it would turn out this way. He had known that loving Sawyer would only bring them both pain in the end. He had seen it over and over throughout the thousand years he had lived. Every time someone allowed themselves to love, it had been ripped away from them. He had seen it first hand with his parents. They had loved each other completely and it had ended bloody one night with wolves killing them and his baby sister. Then he had spent a millennia loving Godric like a father, brother, lover, and friend. And Godric had thrown all that love away and met the sun. Eric wiped the tears from his eyes and opened them. He looked down into the night at the few people still walking around in the early hours. He wondered if any of them had any clue about the pain they would feel if they dared to love. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"What?" he demanded flipping it open.

"Eric, where are you?" he heard Bill ask.

"Hunting."

"The queen demands your presence back here. She wants us to spend the day here."

"She can go to hell and burn there for eternity."

Bill was silent on the other end of the phone. Part of Eric hoped the queen hadn't heard him say that but the other part actually prayed that she had. He was aching for some way to let out his anger and hurt.

"Do you really want me to tell her that? I do not think that that is the way to protect Sawyer and the twins," Bill answered.

Eric squeezed the phone and heard the plastic crack, "William, I am not in the mood for you to try and be smart. Tell the queen I will be back soon."

"How soon are-."

"Goodbye William."

Eric hung up his phone and then hurled it as far as he could off the roof of the building. He watched as it disappeared into what remained of the night. He stood there a moment longer wondering how he was ever going to find the courage and power to walk away from Sawyer. He felt his heart ache just at the thought of it. He sighed and wiped all the signs of his tears from his face. He then jumped from the building and flew off towards the queen's spacious home. His thoughts were with Sawyer and how hurt she was going to be when he told her what had happened.

Sawyer finished the letter and looked at it. Tears came to her eyes again as she read the last words she would ever say to Eric. She then reached behind her neck and undid the chain that held the Valhalla pendant. She took the necklace off and looked at the pendant in her hand. She smiled sadly and thought that maybe after all these years the pendant had really been the one that had belonged to Eric all those years before. She placed it on the desk beside the letter and then took an envelope. She placed the letter in it and then placed the necklace her grandfather had given her inside. She took a moment to remember that day and her grandfather's words.

"Here, Sawyer I found something for you," he had said handing her the long slim box.

Sawyer had opened it and saw the pendant looking back at her, "It's beautiful. What it is?"

"It's a Valhalla pendant."

"What does that mean?"

"The Norse believed that it identified the wearer as a follower of Odin. Upon the wearer's death Valkyries would come and carry the wearer to Valhalla where the person would live their rest of their life in splendour at Odin's court."

Sawyer looked at the pendant and couldn't help but notice how old it was, "It looks ancient," she replied looking up at her grandfather.

"It probably is. The warrior who wore this is probably sitting up there right now at Odin's table waiting for you. Who knows maybe years from when you die you'll meet him."

Sawyer smiled at her grandfather, "You don't really believe that do you?"

Her grandfather smiled and shrugged, "Who knows, honey. When I was a kid things were way different then they are now. There were no crazy cults like the one your parents joined. So maybe there is a Valhalla and an Odin and maybe you will meet the original wearer of this pendant one day. Who are we to know what the future holds for us?"

Sawyer wiped away her tears and sealed the envelope. She turned and saw Sookie standing in the doorway of the living room. She left the letter on her desk and walked over to Sookie. She wrapped her arms around her friend and held her tight.

"I will never ever be able to thank you for everything you have done for me," Sawyer said pulling away and giving Sookie a smile.

"I didn't do anything. Well, I was the reason you met Eric and all this happened," Sookie said softly.

"Sook, this isn't your fault. This is the fault of a spoiled queen. And I am actually thanking you for being the reason I met Eric. Despite how it ended, loving him made me the happiest I have ever been."

Sookie nodded and felt tears fall. She hugged Sawyer again and didn't want to let her go. She watched as Sawyer pulled away and then walked over to the door where she had placed the carriers of the twins. She opened the door and then picked them up. Sookie went and stood beside her and looked at the sun that had just begun to rise. Sookie looked at Sawyer when she turned to face her again.

"Sookie, please help Eric deal with this. He won't," Sawyer paused, "he won't be himself and he will probably push everyone away. Don't let him."

"I'll try but I can't promise anything. You know how Eric is."

Sawyer nodded. She turned and walked down the steps to the Jeep. She placed and secured the twins in the backseat and then climbed in the driver seat. She sat there for a moment and looked at the house. She let tears fall and told herself that in time she would forget the house and Eric. She started the Jeep and backed out of the driveway. She drove down the road feeling the hurt down to her soul. Every mile she drove further away from the house tore her apart. She looked in the rear view mirror and saw the twins sleeping. The only solace in this was that her children would never feel this pain that she was feeling. They would never know what they had lost and for that she was grateful; her pain was more than enough for her to deal with, she didn't even want to think about what would happen if she had to deal wither children's pain as well.

She drove to the end of the road and stopped. She knew if she turned right she would be turning away from Bon Temps and her family. She had no choice of course. She turned the Jeep right onto the highway and continued down the road. She didn't know where it would lead her only that it was taking her away from the man she loved.