A/N: Sorry this one took a bit, guys, this was a tough chapter to write. It will, no doubt, leave you wondering, but I hope that by now you all trust me. There is a song for this chapter – the Leona Lewis version of "Run".

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.

___________________________________________________________________________________

As my eyes cast across all my friends, I wanted just a few minutes to hug each of them. From their perspective, I'd been gone... some of them probably thought me dead... for a long time. I wanted time to catch up, to find out how they were, how their lives had changed. If I had my way we'd all be at my house having a great big barbecue, the perfect summertime gathering of friends and family. I wanted to feel human again, if only for a little while.

Of course, that wasn't going to happen.

Eric and I had barely stood up when the entire sky lit up with an enormous white flash that sent all of us to our knees. The air around us sizzled with power, thick and heavy like Louisiana on its most humid day. The intensity of magick knocked us down like a tidal wave, and Amelia began to shriek from the sheer assault of it on her acute senses. I was vaguely aware of the familiar sound of shifting, knowing it must be coming from Sam and Tray. On my hands and knees, still panting, I dared to look up at the sky.

For a moment I recognized her, or the form she had taken. The memory of that petite, Hispanic vampire about to bring a stake down on Eric would be burned forever in my brain. Elana. Only, this was no vampire hovering in the sky. Her eyes were black as pitch, yet somehow they glowed brighter than the sun. They were leveled straight down at me, hair flying wildly as though she were inside a vortex, and in that moment I believed her eyes could sear my very soul in two... and that is exactly what Apate intended to do.

I tried to look away, but those furious black eyes held mine without mercy. I reached out blindly for Eric, willing myself to scream for him... but I couldn't feel him, and my voice wouldn't come. The bond was on fire, burning into my mind, being stretched thinner and thinner with every passing second. She was ripping it apart... ripping us apart... melting the very fabric of what tethered us together.

Her form was no longer recognizable, having swirled and melted into nothing but a haze, but those eyes... those horrible, gleaming eyes remained. The bond screeched with agony in my mind as it was being engulfed in the energy of destruction. I was paralyzed, both physically and mentally, unable to do anything but endure the horror of the images that flashed in my mind's eye. War... famine... death... the Earth raped of all Her beauty and of all life. Apate was showing me what would come to pass if She, and her Brothers and Sisters, got their way. They would rejoice in the end of all things, the return to emptiness and chaos, the place where all pain and suffering would end. The bottom of Pandora's box... hope.

As the world began to grow dark, the glowing blackness of Her eyes closing in around me, I began to wonder if maybe She wasn't right. Maybe the world was a dismal failure and needed release from the pain of it all. So much hate, so much fear... what really lay at the end of that road? Rebirth could take many forms... perhaps complete annihilation was truly the answer.

"Sookie!"

Eric? Eric... where are you? I can't see...

Was I talking out loud? Hmm... I don't think my voice is working. I'm so tired... maybe I can just let this darkness take me... it seems peaceful on the other side of it...

"SOOKIE!!"

Just let me sleep, Eric...

If I can just take a little nap, then maybe we can have the barbecue later. Amelia can make her potato salad, even. She makes great potato salad. Sam can do the grilling... I doubt Eric's good with a grill... all that fire, you know.

"Sookie, hold on!! Fight!"

Oh, look, Eric... someone turned on a night light. Two of them... bright green ones.

Wait...

I felt arms under me, yanking me upwards, squeezing me tight. Oh, I'm flying... we're flying. I blinked my eyes a few times. The glow of Avel's eyes was breaking through the darkness, and I felt a rush of air all around me as Eric carried me away. The sky was glowing... flashing like lightning... booming like thunder... green and black... light and darkness... all clashing together in waves and sonic booms.

Avel and Apate were crashing through the sky in a battle like nothing I'd ever imagined, much less seen.

"Don't look, Sookie!" Eric commanded in a ragged voice, flying us away faster than I knew he could.

I tried to look away, tried to close my eyes, but my body still wouldn't do what I wanted it to. I caught glimpses of all our friends fighting beneath the fire in the sky, clashing with who I knew must be Niall and his fae soldiers. All of this... this violence... this death... what is it for? I can't seem to remember anymore...

"Sookie!" Eric yelled, gripping the back of my head and forcing my face into his chest, shielding my view.

I took a deep breath, shaking my head against him. He was stroking my hair softly, but keeping my gaze averted from the battle raging behind us. I felt tears begin to roll down my cheeks, but I didn't remember them forming.

"Eric..." I finally managed to whisper.

He pressed me tighter against him. "I'm here, Sookie. This is almost over. Just hold on."

"But, Eric..." I gasped as I felt us land.

He set me down in a soft pile of pillows, and I recognized we were inside the Temple, where Phemonoe had spoken to us all those years ago. She wasn't here now. I had no idea where she was... or Rachal. I wished Rachal was here... maybe I wouldn't be breathing so hard if she were. She'd kiss my forehead and speak in that soft voice, and waves of calm would wash over me. I'd feel strong and brave like I had on the roof that night. The night I'd offered my life to Eric. I'd meant it then... but now...

"Eric," my voice hitched. He'd dropped to his knees next to me, and I dragged myself up to meet his eyes. "Eric... I don't want to die."

Kneeling before each other, Eric grasped my shoulders. "You're not going to die, Sookie."

But that wasn't true. I was going to die. We both were.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, and my heart thudded in my ears with every passing second. How could I do this? I thought I was prepared... I thought I was ready. I had accepted what had to be done... but now, looking in Eric's beautiful eyes... the thought of never seeing them again gripped me with terror.

"Eric, no... please," I pleaded.

His hands cupped my cheeks. "Dear one, you must believe me. We will be together again."

"How do you know that? All they want is to use us up... take our energy and smash it together like some perfectly harmonious .... sandwich!" I choked through my tears.

Eric, of course, roared with that perfectly glorious laugh. "Oh, Sookie," he chuckled, pulling me tight against his chest.

I couldn't help but laugh with him, in spite of the anger and fear that remained in a choking lump at the back of my throat. The way he held me, I knew part of him was just as scared. Everything we'd gone through... all the times we'd been torn apart, whether by others or just our own stubbornness... all we wanted now was peace. Peace with ourselves, peace with each other. We didn't ask for this... didn't want it. We weren't given a choice. Even though I wanted nothing more in this moment than to just run, I couldn't. We were being compelled by forces we couldn't stand against. The drive to become one came from our blood... our energy... our souls.

I pulled back to look into his eyes. "If I have to die... at least it's with you."

His fingers caressed my cheek, "Sookie... it is only the end of this life for us. We will be reborn. Together."

"How do you know? When? Where? As what?"

Eric smiled tenderly, that smile that made me ache inside. "It does not matter, Dear One. All that matters is this..." he said, pointing his finger back and forth between us. "...Us. Leave the rest in the hands of the gods."

I nodded silently. I had to trust him... I did trust him. He'd never led me wrong. If he believed we would not be parted, then I would believe him. To believe otherwise... well, I didn't go through all I have only to lose it all.

The sounds of the distant thundering were slowly moving closer, and faint flickers of the green and black lightning were beginning to dance across the room. It was now or never... our time was up. As Eric slid me into his lap, straddling his waist, I gave him a silent look of assent. I was ready... for whatever may come.

"I love you, Sookie," he whispered as I lifted his shirt over his head.

He pulled my dress gently from my body, and I rose up enough for him to lift his hips, and I slid his pants away. I shivered at the feel of his bare flesh against mine and whispered in return, "I love you, Eric."

They were the last words we would speak.

Somehow we both knew what to do, our bodies moving of their own accord, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. For us, it was. We were born for this moment, everything inside us etched with the knowledge and instinct for the completion of this one act. Perhaps it is similar to how vampires knew how to turn others. Eric and I were always destined for this one moment... when we would merge... body... blood... and soul.

I lowered myself slowly onto him, filled with him, his arms grasped tight around me as I locked my legs around his waist. Our rhythm was languid... not rushed or hurried... savoring every sensation as our bodies rolled with each other. His fingertips danced across my back, and mine through his hair. Our eyes never left the other's gaze. I remained as in awe of his beauty as ever, and he in mine. Flesh meeting flesh, wrapped in and around the other, in the dance as old as time... our bodies were one.

Our lips brushed tenderly, pressed in a gentle kiss, lingering with soft, yet desperate intensity. There were no moans, no whispered passions... only feeling. We drowned in that kiss, lost in gentle waves of love, the world around us disappearing as we rocked on calm seas of bliss. Fear and doubt were long behind, left on the shores of the reality we once called home. In perfect unison, our kisses trailed across skin, finding the tender spot of the other's neck, and we began to drink. The sweet nectar flowed from one to the other in an endless cycle... taking in each other's essence... and we would not stop. As we continued to make love... continued to drink... our bodies and blood were one.

Our arms released their grasp, raising up, palms pressing gently together. Willing the energies from inside to the fore, we gathered them in our minds. Bodies entwined... blood mixing and churning... the bond growing and vibrating. This is it. Our souls were seeking the other out... desperate in their need to meld back into a perfect state of being... complete and whole. The crackling of energy passes between our palms... and flows into the bond... white meeting black... harmony meeting chaos... this is what we are, what we have always been. It engulfs us, consumes us... the twining center of the bond unravels... shifting... spinning... each end swallowing the other just as the snake devours her tail.

I feel breath leaving me... heartbeat slowing... yet I make love... and I drink... and I release my soul to his as he does to mine. The shell of our bodies will collapse at any moment, and we will fly from them... but I am not afraid. Nothing has ever felt so right... it is a homecoming... it is the place I longed for that I never knew existed. I no longer want to run from it... but rather run to it... with him. It is a place beyond love... beyond joy... it is paradise. It is release. It is peace.

The light from the bond warms us as it fuses into its endless circle... and it explodes around us... from us... inside us. In body... in blood... in soul... We are consumed. In life... and in death... we fly together. We are one.

TBC