A/N: Okay, this chapter – I suggest putting on whatever music touches your soul. Hmm... some of you may recall me saying something similar in another chapter of another story. If you'd like the specific song inspirations, there are a couple. First half – 'Gravity of Love' by Enigma. Second half – 'Dante's Prayer' by Loreena McKennitt. Oh, and there's another one that sneaks in the middle... but you'll know it when you get there... it should be familiar to my faithful readers. ;)

I hope you like this one... I poured a lot of myself into its creation.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or stories from The Southern Vampire series. I can only hope that Ms. Harris does not mind me taking them out to play with.

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Eric's hand reached slowly forward, his palm cupping her cheek. Her blue eyes gazed back into his own. Their depths held secrets, ones that waited for release. They were waiting for him.

"Rachal..." he whispered, his thumb caressing softly over her skin.

There was no recognition in her eyes... the eyes of his bonded... the mind of his sister... one trapped... the other lost. Eric had to admire the deviousness, the calculated brilliance of it all. The gods were an opponent he was no match for. They had him pinned in the corner with only one place to go... one move from checkmate.

He'd once seen a human on television playing twenty chess games at once. The grandmaster would fly from table to table, making move after move with absolute conviction. In the end he had crushed them all, but seemed to take no joy in it. Eric knew how he felt. He had been bored with it all, sick of the players that provided him no challenge. Eric remembered the grandmaster had become a hermit not long after, disappearing from the world he had grown so tired of.

Eric had been playing his own simultaneous games, focused intently on besting all those he encountered. With every match his confidence grew, his skills were honed, and wisdom was gained. Centuries and thousands of battles later, he had become one of the most feared and powerful vampires on Earth. He was a grandmaster, and just like the one on television, Eric had become bored and weary.

But while Eric had focused on his games, there was one being played against him without his knowledge. While distracted by his own machinations, by all the things he believed his world to be made of, he had missed the silent hands moving him around the larger board.

I am surprised at you, Viking. I have never known you to be so willfully blind. Still clinging to that vampire superiority complex, I see.

How does one convince a vampire of his age to see himself as something else? How does one force that vampire to relegate his world and species to the level of a stepping stone? How do they overcome his very nature; the arrogance... the superior mindset... the drive for self-preservation above all else?

Divide and conquer. Chase his queen across the board, forcing him to concentrate too much on her protection. He becomes so invested in securing her safety, he misses the forces that silently advance. He has left himself unprotected... because he is all consumed with her. What is a king without his queen, after all?

The sun in the desert burned you because you refused to believe. You have your mind so set to your bloodsucker ways of thinking, you cannot see the forest for the trees.

His queen had finally been pinned down, despite all his efforts to protect her. But then, that was the mistake, wasn't it? He hadn't used every tactic at his disposal. His mind was stuck in the strategies he'd always employed, and that was hardly surprising. If he'd been paying attention, really watching, he would have seen the one move that could have prevented it. The pieces to the ultimate endgame had all been before him, but he'd refused to see the moves being played as something other than a tactic he was already familiar with. The king was on a black space, his queen on a white. The only move he saw was to strengthen the thread between them... keep her tied tightly to him.

But a tether can always be cut... just as a bond can always break.

All roads led to this point. No move in his vampire arsenal could resolve this game in his favor. His queen had been captured, and he had one chance left... move the last pawn the final space toward the other side to exchange for the return of his queen. Rachal had positioned herself perfectly to save him, but it was up to him to make the move.

Eric had to let go of the vampire.

"She will have felt Sookie's energy trying to release, Northman. Sookie has deceived deception Herself - Apate's wrath will know no end." Preston's voice was raw and lamenting, as if he'd already given up on saving his own queen.

Eric turned his eyes to the fae. "Then I will show Apate Her end."

For harmony to exist, both parts must be equal...

Shake yourself from the restraints of what you know...

He slowly raised his hands, his fists clenched tight. Eric closed his eyes, reaching into the darkest depths of his mind. Swimming through his own barricades, carefully built over centuries, the black snakes lashed out in their bid to guard what he sought. The monster that dominated him would not easily relent. The roar emanating from his throat was completely inhuman, and Eric was vaguely aware that his bonded had recoiled in fear, but he would not be distracted from his task.

His eyelids pressed tighter as he fought within his mind. He sucked deeply at his soul, drawing out the pain and love that harbored in its depths, the last remnants of the man he'd been, and the building blocks for the being he must become. Instinct took over, all pragmatism and logic being abandoned in favor of that which could conquer the essence that ran through his veins, which had been his only care for one thousand years. He tore into his mind, forcing it to bend... to break to his will, one last roar ripping from his voice... until finally... he glimpsed it.

Eric slowly opened his eyes, knowing what he would see. He'd willed it there; commanded it. A smirk played at his lips as he opened his fists, beholding the proof of what he was... what he had always been. It was dark, nearly black, unlike his bonded's nearly pure white light... but it was still the same. His hands glowed with the energy of the divine.

He lifted his eyes, leveling them at Preston, whose own were wide with awe. "Go to Rachal. Go to her lake," Eric commanded. "She will not be a sacrifice to this battle. Keep watch over her, and wait for her to rise."

The fae nodded, slowly turning to leave, but paused at the doorway. "What of the merge?"

"There can be no whole without both halves," Eric said simply, his voice cool and even. "Sookie must be released."

He thought for a moment, searching through his mind. The answers were coming to him with the ease of ice melting in the sun. It was all so clear, veils of fog lifting and yielding to reveal the secrets he was born to know. The energy sparked in waves from his hands, but were controlled, merely a tool for him to wield.

"Gather them. All of them," Eric said, watching Preston's eyes close as he received the mental images of Eric's bidding. "Bring them to the lake. It is there the outcome of all this shall be decided. Sookie and I must have enough time to complete the merge once I free her. She and I will be vulnerable until then. You must all aid Avel in defending us from Apate."

Preston drew in a slow, deep breath and nodded firmly. "It will be done." His voice was resolute, and watching him disappear with the familiar pop, Eric knew the fae would succeed in his task.

Eric's gaze fell to his bonded, who was staring wide-eyed at his glowing hands. He willed the energy to dampen, closing it back inside his mind. "Do not be afraid," he said gently.

He needed to get Sookie fighting again. Eric was certain her consciousness had been re-emerging before Preston arrived, driving 'Bella' down, compelling her to act as Sookie wanted. The urgency with which she'd acted, the memories that were Sookie's coming into Bella's mind – he knew she was struggling to work her way through the mist. Now he had the ability to pull her that little bit she needed, but he had to bring her back to the surface first.

Eric stepped slowly toward her, reaching for her hand. His eyes were soft upon hers, imploring her to let go of her fear. No doubt what she'd just witnessed from him had scared her. His fingers gently released the necklace from her grasp, and he stepped around behind her, lowering it over her head to fasten about her neck. He smiled as she lifted her hair out of the way, allowing him to easily clasp the charm. His fingertips brushed with a feather light touch across her skin, sending a visible shiver through her.

"Do not be afraid," he said again, whispering low at her ear.

His fingers laced through her hair, combing softly through the golden locks, and she began to relax with the hypnotic motions, her head lulling forward. As he continued, his eyes were wandering about the small bedroom, looking for any other reminders it might contain. He chuckled inwardly as he found himself wishing for one of those t-shirts she was forced to wear when she worked for Merlotte.

While Eric was not likely to find anything that blatant, his search had yielded an unexpected find when glancing over a pile of music discs, and a small grin reached his lips. A few tiny sparks were already beginning in the bond, and Eric now had the final element he needed.

With his vampire speed he moved to the stereo, plucking the John Hiatt CD he had glimpsed from across the room, settling it inside the player. He scanned the back for the track number, and he was in front of her before she'd even registered his movement. As the first notes of "Have A Little Faith In Me" began to play, he watched her intently. It was the song they'd danced to the night of the New Year's ball.

Her eyes raised to his, and he slowly opened his arms to her, one wrapping about her waist, and his other hand gently cupping the back of her head. Eric drew her in close, holding her so softly against him, just as he'd done that night. It was in that moment, so many years ago, that the game of cat and mouse ended. The waves of love he'd felt rolling through the bond, the way she pressed herself to him... she had finally yielded. She was his.

They swayed slowly to the music, and with every caress of his hand over her hair, the presence in the bond grew stronger. Eric closed his eyes, allowing himself to surrender to the moment, holding her body protectively while her mind sought freedom. The earlier urgency and pounding at the bond had changed, now becoming a steady and flowing stream, lapping at the surface with every motion of his hand. He did not need to see them to know the glow had returned.

"Come back to me, Dear One," he murmured into her hair.

Her arms tightened around his waist as the intensity in the bond grew stronger and stronger. Eric focused all his energy toward her, his hands braced firmly on her body, his mind intently seeking hers. She began to go slack in his arms, and he held her tighter, keeping her from falling. Consciousness was leaving her, and in that moment, he directed all his thoughts to Rachal, willing her to return to herself.

You have fought for me long enough, my sister, now let me fight for you.

Sookie's body went completely limp in his arms, and he gathered her up, lying her gently on the bed. He slid next to her, cradling her to him, watching... waiting. His fingertips brushed the hair from her face, tracing from the contours of her cheekbones, down along her jaw, and tenderly caressing over her lips. He remembered all the nights spent watching her sleep... the peace she brought to his existence... the innocence of her simple dreams.

Eric could not stop the tear that slipped down his cheek as he felt the bond flood open. He cupped her face in his hands, trembling with the overpowering waves of her lifeforce ripping through him, having been absent for so long. It hit him so hard he felt like he'd been kicked in the chest, and he very nearly doubled over on top of her.

"Sookie..." he whispered, his voice ragged and choked.

Her eyes opened right to his, their gaze locking instantly upon each other. The bond flared, the last of the mist clearing from the center, revealing the shining, twisting mass of energy just as it had been before they'd given their command in the Temple. The time they'd wished for... the time they'd needed to find themselves... to learn and to accept... to grow and to change... to make each ready for the other... that time was over.

He bent his head so slowly to hers, some small part of him fearing she might disappear from him again, or even that his mind had finally caved from the weight of his grief. All that he'd suppressed for these long years, the ache... the longing... it churned inside him now like a hurricane. His need for her... his angel... his muse... for her to be real and here with him in every sense... it was stronger than any need for sex or a kill or even blood.

The touch of his lips was no more than a whisper against hers, and in that moment, all fear and doubt were erased. There was only the feel of her, the tender touch of her fingertips reaching into his hair as he tenderly pressed his lips upon hers. It was a kiss like no other he had experienced... the purity of love and devotion that passed between them in that moment... was sacred.

"Eric..." she whispered, her eyes glittering, and her soft lips graced with an angelic smile.

He gently returned her smile, his thumbs brushing tenderly across her cheeks as he hovered over her. She was real. She was here.

"Welcome home, Dear One."

TBC