A/N: Warning: Sad. Keep the tissues nearby and don't say I didn't warn you. Thanks to my wonderful beta, Christina for her wicked sharp eye! =)
~xoxo~
Sookie reached the roof top just after the two vampires, wondering why they'd choose to talk here so close to dawn. It didn't take long, nor too many pleas from Eric, for her to catch on. Godric still meant to sacrifice himself. He still didn't understand.
She heard him tell Eric that they, vampires, were wrong. Mostly she listened to the immovable Viking break down. He cried and begged his maker to stay—the language might have become unintelligible but the gist of the conversation was unmistakable. Godric was determined and Eric could not sway him.
The dawn was too close; she needed to get them off the roof. Eric slowly headed back in her direction.
"I'll stay with him," she swore as the blond solemnly headed down the stairs toward safety.
"Godric," Sookie began.
"It's okay, Sookie. I'm exactly where I need to be," he told his new human friend calmly, hoping she would accept it. He could hardly order her away.
"I disagree," she continued in as calm a voice as she could manage and held up a hand to beg him to let her finish. "I think there is more work to be done here and you are robbing the good side of a brave ally."
"I fear I do this world more harm than good. I need to burn. All these years here but now, I will rest."
"Please, Godric," she sobbed, thinking of how much their budding friendship was coming to mean to her and how much she wanted it to have a chance to bloom. "We need you."
"You do not," he told her softly. "But it means more than you will ever know to hear you, a beautiful, pure, wise, young human, value me."
He asked her about her belief in God and she answered as honestly as she could manage but her heart hurt and her mind would not clear or concentrate.
"I have to believe I'm right, Godric, because heaven would not be a paradise for me if I don't get to see you again."
"My dear friend, thank you. Take care of yourself. Trust your heart. And, if you can manage it, look after my child."
Sookie could only nod and sob as Godric turned to face the rising sun with a peaceful smile on his face. She was thankful that it was quick, a beautiful blue flame and her friend was gone from this earth. She bowed her head and said a silent prayer, hoping God would answer a prayer for a vampire.
Sookie stayed on the roof and cried softly at the loss of her friend for a while before remembering there was someone she cared about hurting so much worse. Sookie still couldn't be sure if she could trust Eric or if any of her feelings for him were her own but right now, it didn't matter. He was in so much pain.
Deciding that she couldn't possibly sleep without offering him some measure of comfort, she headed back down into the hotel to seek out his room.
Sookie emerged from the elevator on the floor her room shared with Eric's. His door was ajar. She knew he was distraught but she still found herself surprised at this bit of carelessness. Say anything you want about Eric Northman but he was certainly a creature of intent. He always seemed to have a purpose for every move he made.
Sookie quietly slipped into the suite and called out to him softly, "Eric?"
Getting no response, she ventured a bit further into the room. Through the doorway to a bedroom, she saw him sitting on a bed and staring at the floor. She continued toward him cautiously, not wanting to startle him.
He looked up at her questioningly as she stepped through the doorway. "Sookie?"
"I'm so sorry," she told him softly as she continued her approach. His face was stained with tears of blood. She'd never have imagined he could look so thoroughly broken. "You need to rest," she told him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He let his head drop back down toward the floor and shook it back and forth. "I can't. I..."
"Shh," she shushed him, climbing into the bed beside him and pulling him back to lie down. He allowed her to move him and she helped him settle with his back against her chest and her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
There were no words. She knew he'd find no comfort in platitudes so she just held him, occasionally dropping a soft kiss onto the top of his head.
Eventually he grew very still. She carefully rolled him to his side and slipped from the bed. Standing there staring down at him she believed she could see a bit of the man Godric had told her existed beneath the Viking shell.
Eric certainly had done many things that she considered more than morally questionable but she couldn't find it in herself anymore to dislike him. And for some unknown reason he was interested in her. Sure, part of it was the use of her disability but beyond that, why did he want her? He was gorgeous, rich, and powerful, not that any of that mattered. He was loyal, fighting tooth and nail for his maker. There really was a lot of love in Eric, whether he'd admit it or not.
Of its own volition, her hand reached out to touch his cheek. The attraction was undeniable. She wanted to touch him and she wanted him to touch her but she wasn't that kind of girl. She didn't do that with someone she didn't love.
Did she love Bill? She told herself she did but standing here, letting her fingers play softly across Eric's jaw, she was having more than a little difficulty believing it.
She withdrew her wandering hand and took a deep breath. She should get back to her own room and Bill. She turned to leave but paused before she reached the bedroom door.
A strong urge to stay here and hold the wounded Viking as he slept pressed in on her. She turned back to look at him again. What would he think if she stayed? Would he take it as too strong a sign of her affections? What would he think if she left? Would spurning him at his weakest moment make him hate her?
The thought made her heart hurt. She wasn't sure his hate was something she could bear. Ever since she'd met him, all she'd wanted was for him to leave her be but now...
She sighed as she stood there, halfway between the bed and the door. And what about Bill? He would be upset if she didn't return. He might even be trying to stay up and wait for her to return. She really should get back, she thought as she took another step toward the bed and the sleeping Viking.
It was his tear-stained face in that expression of innocence that can only be achieved in sleep that made her decision for her. It would be cruel to leave him like this. She wasn't sure what the consequences of the choice might be come morning, but she couldn't leave him like this-in such pain and so vulnerable.
She slipped back out to the exterior door of the suite and closed and locked it securely before returning to the bedroom. She slipped over to the closet and took one of Eric's large t-shirts off a hanger. As quickly as she could, she changed from her sun dress to the over-sized shirt. It fell past her knees and would be more than comfortable to sleep in. She lay back down behind him and threw her arm around Eric's waist. Settling in, she soon fell off to sleep.