Waking up, Sookie could sense her shifter ex-boss/now business partner, and now boyfriend Sam Merlotte still sleeping soundly next to her, lightly snoring. Though it should make have made her happy, finally having someone in her life to wake up next to in the morning who loved her so much, but it just made her feel guilty and ashamed. She doesn't love Sam, not the way he wished She would, not in a romantic way. She had assumed after feeling panicked to use the Cluviel dor on him to save him from dying meant she must just not have realized how much she cared for him and it was maybe more than just friendship. Then Eric left to be the queens consort, and she was alone, so she gave into Sam's affections in hopes it would flourish her own and she just needed time away from vampires and all the drama that comes with them to feel it.
They went out on a few dates, he was gentlemanly, picking her up and dropping her off with only a kiss on the cheek at the end, showing he was interested but willing to wait till she was ready, being patient like he had nothing better to do than wait for her to be ready. She had felt good about it, up until this moment, it had been like any other time with Sam, talking, laughing, friendship. But they had slept together for the first time last night and as she had always feared previously when it came to dating anyone with a pulse, she had heard all his thoughts crystal clear because of his touch, amplifying her telepathy, making it almost impossible to let go and even try and be lost in the feeling and enjoy herself, so while he did his best to make love to her like any other man with the woman he loves, she just played along numbly, moaning when expected and eventually faking the first orgasm in her life since becoming sexually active only a few years ago, never having to do so before with her previous undead partners (thinking mostly of a blonde Viking who had never left her short of at least 3 orgasms in their encounters, though this made her feel even more awful knowing how things ended) since she couldn't hear their thoughts at all even when touching.
As she faked her way through things with Sam, she had time to think, think about all the things that she had been through, and all the men in her life she has loved and realize that she had been an utter fool for a lot longer than she could believe and as a result she knew she would spend the rest of her life alone because the only person she could see herself being with she had fought against every step of the way until the point that they could not be saved. She loved Eric, she loved him with every fiber of her being, but she had let other people influence her opinions such as Bill of all people, as well as let her fears of being hurt by Eric cloud the obvious that she felt that way because she loved him and was afraid he would hurt her heart causing her to try and protect her heart by pushing him away out of fear. Rather than actually taking a moment to rationally process that everything Eric did showed he loved her and to trust him, she just couldn't let go and trust him for reasons not even related to him, related to Bill, and his actions. She had let Bill get away with so much, for so long, never holding him accountable, but always holding Eric accountable for it, as if he had been the one to let her down and hurt her, when in fact, if she really looked back he had always been there for her, always protecting her, Long Shadow, in Dallas, in Mississippi, Rhodes, Filipe, over and over showing loyalty to her, even when he didn't have memories he was drawn to her and protected her. And again and again she had thrown it in his face, and yet he had done his best to try and fight the contract, Pam had even called to tell her after he was gone that he had traded another 100 years to Freyda just so she would be safe now from other vampires, and yet she hadn't even bothered to accept him as her husband in the vampire way, or use the Cluviel dor to save him when she could, expecting him to just swoop in and fix everything himself, what was wrong with her?
She thought about all this while Sam was none the wiser, she moaned and moved as expected so to him she was enjoying herself just as much and after he was done he cuddled her and then rolled over and went to sleep, she just laid there while he did this, eventually falling asleep out of exhaustion from her thoughts and emotions more so than any physical exertion. Which is how she now found herself awake early the next morning and feeling awful, wishing for things that would never be.
She was tired of laying in bed just wallowing in self-pity. Getting up, she got dressed and wandered downstairs to start some coffee thinking of ways to break things off gently with Sam though she would wait until he wasn't naked in her bed so he wouldn't feel worse.
All thoughts were halted however when she stumbled into the kitchen to find her Great Grandfather, Niall Brigant sat at the kitchen table casually as if his appearing there was a regular occurrence, when for him to be here should be near impossible. "Great-Grandfather! What- how are you here?", not one to mince words when there is something more pressing as it seems there was, he got right to the point "Ah Granddaughter, I have come to offer you that which you want most" As he said this, all she could think was the one thing she wanted was Eric, and she already knew there was nothing he could do, Eric was lost to her, but she does not say this as he goes on to speak. "You mean so much to me, and I know I have not been much of a grandfather to you, but I want to change that, I want more time with you, to get to know my granddaughter, and lavish you with all the riches that are entitled to you as a Brigant. I have been a fool and now there is no time, Braenden has a mate, and children I never knew existed and they have come, and I cannot protect you from them here, and I cannot take you to Faery to keep you safe. The only way to protect you is to hide you somewhere they could never know to look, sometime actually rather than somewhere." At this he paused, gauging that she was curious and listening and still too shocked at his presence in her home to say much more than to tell her his plan. "I know you love the Viking, and though I would never have chosen him to be your mate, you have claimed him with your spark whether you are aware of It or not and you have forever tied yourself to him. But he is a great protector of that which he covets and I know if you had to be with any vampire, you could do a lot worse than the north man.
I would like to send you back, offer you the ultimate gift of time, the opportunity to go back and change everything in your life so that you get to be with your Viking, and in so doing, fulfill the prophecy you were meant to, saving both the Fairy race and the Vampire race from being just distant memories on this planet. I know I am throwing a lot at you, and there is so much I wish I could explain to you, but there is no time. Just know if you say yes, we will send you back to 1 month before you met Bill in the first timeline, and I will send you with everything you will need to prepare yourself and to protect yourself from anything you may endure while going back through the past years again, all you must do is say yes"
I am overwhelmed by all the information he is throwing at me, but I can't help but feel my heart earning for the opportunity, wishing to be reconnected with soup mate, now that her grandfather had pointed out she had claimed Eric, that's all she can think about, she had tied her heart to his and she felt it too. All she wanted to do was be able to give it to him and tell him it was his and always had been.
At the same time however, she could not help thinking of the shifter upstairs in her bed. Feeling guilty for wanting to abandon him when he loved her so deeply even if she could never offer it back in such a way. Her great grandfather must after saw the conflict on her face and smelled Sam upstairs and on her as he seemed to understand her thoughts, "Sam was not meant to end up with you, he loves you now because he never got to meet the love of his life in this world, he will if things go as intended when you go back, believe me, any sadness he feels now will be for but a moment, and then he will be back to being in love with you from afar without any hurt and will eventually meet a shifter who will love him the way you could not, and he will be happy."
With this information, though she was still overwhelmed, all she could think is how wonderful it would be to see Eric again, and if everyone ends up happy, what is there to lose? With that thought, she looked at her great grandfather with determination "I will go back, but is there any more information you can give me before I do? Even with the knowledge of the last few years in my head, I don't remember exact dates for everything, and if I change something, that could change the future and I will be back to not knowing anything and staring at an uncertain future in the dark again. How do I even know that if I go back and do things differently that Eric will even want me?". Voicing her fear for the first time even to herself, what if he decided she wasn't worth the possible trouble? Or what if without the temptation in the beginning to take her from Bill, he won't become interested in her in the beginning the way he had before? She loved him and always would and if he truly didn't want her, she could still benefit by going back in time, if only to spend more time with Gran and maybe prevent more deaths this time, but she knew in her heart she would not love anyone else and once her gran passed away hopefully peacefully she would live out the rest of her life alone, but it would still be better to go back and at least prevent Eric from being forced by his makers contract to be the consort to Freyda at the very least. As she thought through this, her questions were somewhat answered once her grandfather saw she was paying attention once more, having come back to the present moment he spoke, "My dear, Eric is your chosen, and while you will need to reclaim him as a fairy once you are in the new timeline as your body will be reset to that time as well, the Viking has always been attracted to you, and it had nothing to do with the circumstances with which you met, it has always had to do with the connection you two have with one another, you are destined by the fate to be together, and while I would not have chosen him for you myself, the fates know better than I what your soul needs, so do not question his loyalty, he will love you the way he does now. And because I know you at least well enough to read your face, that does not mean he has no free will, if he did not want to love you, he wouldn't but I mean you both are meant for each other, and it's more than just a fleeting feeling changed by events and knowledge." She blushed as he guessed exactly what she was worried but still felt reassured at hearing his explanation.
He went on, "unfortunately my dear, we have run out of time, if you wish to go back, say so now, I will send you my spark and you will wake up back in time with all the things needed to get you through it. Since this timeline will no longer exist after this moment, I am going to use all my magic to send you back to ensure you make it they without issues, doing this will make you full Faery however, I do not have time to explain to you what all that will mean but I promise it will be explained once you go back, a letter will await you to help guide you.
I thought I would have more time to explain and give you things myself, but unfortunately I can already hear Braeden's kin at the old portal gate outside in the field making their way here, we are out of time, what will it be Sookie?" without time to process and think it over she also did not have time to second guess so with the word 'yes' barely escaping her lips, her great-grandfather was pushing his powers onto her and sending her back in time, Sookie caught one last look as the fairy's stormed into her kitchen breaking down her porch door with iron swords in hand to slay them both, then blackness engulfed her.