PART THREE

Chapter 7

She had barely managed to sit up when she saw the last bit of flame be extinguished as he had shot like a bottle rocket towards Heather, who's gleeful laughter was cut off by a pair of well burnt hands wringing her neck to the point where her neck snapped. As her dead body fell, so did her spell, the necklace that had trapped the souls shattered and released them back to their owners. Something still felt troubling, off as she finally got to her feet and raced to there he had fallen, having exerted what energy he had left to kill the witch before she could cause further chaos. Ignoring the messy remains of Heather, Sookie was panicked as she took charge in trying to get her Viking healed up after the assault by Heather. She had certainly seen him burnt up before, but never before had she seen him this bad.

"We gotta get him underground." a welcome, but shaky voice called out and looking up, Sookie was relieved to see Pam and the others were back to normal . "And we gotta do something to control the damage that bitch did. Any magic you got, princess?" she asked Sookie as the human remaining still looked murderous and the other vamps remaining confused as they returned to normal.

Frowning, Sookie nodded. "Think of that thing they used in Men in Black to make people forget. Close your eyes thought, I don't want to risk messing y'alls minds up." and five minutes later, gone was any evidence of there being a street fight, a battle and no one, save for Sookie and her family and friends knew that anything devious had transpired. Though there had been a handful of deaths-vamps-she was relieved it hadn't escalated to be worse. "I can just give him some-"

"Yeah, do it…but you did have to put your ex underground once when he tried saving you in the daytime." Pam replied testily, having little patience after everything she had gone through and seeing the current state of affairs of her maker. "He is gonna need more than even your blood to get better. Get us home with your twinkle twinkle magic and lets do this. Now, before I lug him off and do it myself." Sookie said nothing as she bit into her wrist and managed to get some of her uniquely powerful blood into him. But the fact that he was only barely swallowing couldn't be a good sign.

It had been some time since Pam had been this icy, testy towards her and Sookie took no offense. It had been a long night and after everything…well, she herself was feeling less than her true self. And so in a flash, she and her family vanished into a bright light.

Chapter 8

Jess shad at first offered to go home, to leave the others in peace. "Y'all are family and I'm just the-"

"you're more than welcome to stay…you are as good as family." replied a somber sounding and looking Godric ."I may not have known you for too long, but from what I have been told about you, you've been good to our family. And I believe he would appreciate you remaining." he was covered in dirt, as were the rest of those gathered as they had all helped dig a large hole in the formerly immaculate backyard of Sookie and Eric. But the sun would certainly be up soon and soon, goodbyes and hugs were shared as all the vamps scattered to their homes, most not far but Jess needed to get home to her home, to Hoyt, who she knew would likely be worried about her. He always did, which Sookie and Jess thought was sweet as they both knew Jess was no weakling. Still, it was nice to have people fret about you. And fretting was certainly what Sookie was doing now. Alone in the backyard, she could only stand staring at the freshly dug earth for a few moments before her utter exhaustion took over. That even once such as she could be as tired as she was was a testament to the battles that she had waged on a fairly common occasion.

She slept through most of the next day and had to apologize profusely to Arlene as she wound up being three hours late for her shift. Having your boss be your friend as well as highly understanding was certainly a perk, thought Sookie was not about to divulge exactly what had happened as it was too painful to talk about, much less think about. Finally, she made it home just after one in the morning and as much as she had hoped that the grave in the yard would be empty. But to her disappointment, not a speck of dust had been moved. The agonizing wait would be prolonged, she felt deep down and sighing dejectedly, she returned to the house alone and slid into bed alone. She wondered how many days she would have to wait. She tried to sleep but all she could see in her mind was his horribly burned body and then, watched as the body melted into a mess. It was on the fourth night she finally took a blanket outside with her and covered herself up on the thick grass, hoping that perhaps this would be the night.

"I am not, will not, let you leave me like this….you need to get back here…I miss you….everyone….they miss you…..and if you don't survive this? After everything else you've been through? How cruel would that be? A sick joke of fate…." she trailed off as she started to cry, her head hanging forlornly over the grave. Dejected, she went to get up, wiping tears from her face. But then she felt the grip of a cool hand take her by the wrist. Not forcefully but enough to spook her. And it was then she turned and looked with relief at the mischievous grin on the dirty and yet still incredibly sexy Viking.

"Miss me?" he asked, looking dirty but otherwise perfectly healed. He climbed out of the grave, unabashedly naked. They had stripped the tattered and burned remains of his clothes before burying him and even Sookie had turned a little green as layers of flesh had stuck to the clothes. But now…..it was as if nothing had happened whatsoever. He looked up at the cloudy sky above them and it started to mist and then heavy drops of rain started to fall from the heavens. The wetness was warm, pleasant and as she watched the dirt sloth away form his skin, she was surprised to find herself awestruck again at his mere bearing. Once more, he had survived and she shook her head at the miracle, the marvel that was he.

"Um….I don't mind the rain….but I would prefer being somewhere a little warmer…..more…..well…." she glanced at him head to toe, her gaze stopping briefly midway and she gave him a saucy look that turned into one of false seriousness. "I do believe you have some more healing to do and I am ordering you straight to bed…..Oh!" she squealed with delight as he grabbed her into his arms and before she could say anything else, he had them back in the house, in their vast bathtub where their reunion was only beginning. Soon, their family would be well aware of his recovery but until then, they would enjoy some time to themselves. Well deserved time.

THE END