A/N: You get a new chapter today thanks to Ooshka, whose new story The Chain s/9786532/1/The-Chain is so heartbreaking it made me question everything I planned for the end of this story. It made me wonder whether I should have a more angry and less forgiving Sookie, a more willfully clueless Eric, and generally less hope for my favorite pairing. I started this story to heal some of the hurt caused by DEA, though, so I'm sticking with it - which is why I'm posting this key chapter before I can change my mind. Go read Ooshka's piece, but be warned that you might cry. It's totally worth it.
In this chapter and the next, Sookie gets to catch up with some more old acquaintances, and gets to dance some more - because both of those things make her happy. Sookie also has some things to get off her chest regarding the Viking.
Disclaimer: characters belong to Charlaine Harris, I'm just trying to make them all feel less bad
I should have expected that a vampire party couldn't really start without more ceremony. While the attendees stood around in their finery, Kentucky took the podium again and officially welcomed the new King and Queen. The new royals had to make remarks of their own, of course. I grabbed a glass of champagne from one of the circulating waitresses, and used the time during Red Rita's speech to do some scanning of the readable brains in the room. I perked up a little during Eric's remarks, and realized he had already started to grow into the role of King. I thought he'd be a good one, and I was glad to get to see the beginnings of his reign.
As the pomp and circumstance was wrapping up and final room and band preparations for the dance were being made, Pam sidled up to me and said, "Nice work, fairy princess." Pam and I both snickered at that - while it might be technically true, a princess I was not. She scurried off to talk to some of the other Sheriffs, but not before I made her promise to dance with me later.
Just then, I spotted two vampires I was absolutely delighted to see. I hustled over and stepped up between them from behind, sliding my arms through theirs at the elbow. "Sean, Layla! I'm so glad to see you!" I turned to each side, kissing both vampires on the cheek closest to me. I didn't know them very well, but I really enjoyed their dancing and company, and I was feeling pretty good.
Layla was a little reserved, but greeted me warmly. "Hello, Sookie, you look beautiful. How are you?"
"Great, thank you. You both look fantastic, too. You gonna give us the opening performance tonight?" I remembered their starting the dancing at the previous summit.
In his lovely Irish accent, Sean told me, "No, the new King and Queen will open the dance, but we're doing a short performance later." I let go of their arms and stepped forward, turning around to a more comfortable chatting position.
"So, did you two ever end up in Tennessee?" They had been thinking of going there to be closer to Layla's family.
The red-headed Sean nodded. "We did. The hills in east Tennessee are lovely, and there's a lot to remind me of my old home."
I opened my mouth to tell him how terrific that was, but at that moment we all noticed the center floor was clearing out, meaning the dancing would start shortly. Layla observed, "That will be the dance starting. Will you dance with us later, Sookie? I recall that you are quite good."
I was flattered that she remembered; Sean and Layla were wonderful dancers. Smiling, I told them, "Without a doubt. Come find me later. Have fun!" While the two dancers hurried off toward a row of tables on the edge of the room, I spotted Pam and Karin headed toward me and walked over to meet them halfway.
Pam beamed at me and made a show of looking me up and down; apparently she hadn't appreciated my dress fully before. I spoke up before she could make some remark about my cleavage. "Sheriff Ravenscroft, you look beautiful tonight." Pam was decked out in a dark ruby fifties-style sleeveless gown that skimmed the bottom of her knees and looked just like something Audrey Hepburn would have worn. She even had on a petticoat under the flared, narrow-belted dress; Bill would get a kick out of that.
Karin, Pam, and I quickly made our way to the edge of the dance floor. Standing side by side, we three blondes all in jewel tone dresses must have been quite a sight; we could have been sisters.
Kentucky finally finished his announcement of the opening dance. Eric, clad in a well-tailored black tuxedo, offered his arm to Red Rita and carefully stepped down the stage stairs with her. I'd just assumed the two new monarchs would dance together, so I was surprised when they split apart. Rita walked to the opposite edge of the dance floor and took the hand of a gorgeous, caramel-skinned woman with long, dark hair. Eric headed straight for us.
He looked us all over with a pleased expression. "You all look beautiful this evening, even more so than usual." The jazz quintet began playing a basic waltz, and Eric made eye contact with me. "Sookie, would you join me for this dance?" I definitely did not want to turn him down with the whole ballroom watching, so I nodded wordlessly. He gave me a bow, and I slipped my hand into his, letting him lead me onto to the floor where we joined the other pair. Eric and I didn't speak, we just spun through the steps, holding and releasing one another as the music demanded, my dress twirling beautifully as we glided around the floor.
When the song ended, Eric bowed to me again, and the crowd clapped politely. The band started up a more modern but slow song, and I turned my head to look for Pam and Karin. Eric had other plans, because he said, "Sookie, thank you. Would you mind sharing this dance with me as well?" I loved to dance, and Eric was the most handsome vampire in the room, so despite the warnings my brain offered, I said yes.
"Sure, Eric." He took my hand again and put his other arm around my back, and we began swaying slowly to the music. I had to say something to break the ice. "So, how's it going, King Northman?"
Eric looked more serious than I expected. "Please, Sookie, you may continue to call me Eric." I resisted the urge to sarcastically thank him, and decided to make small talk instead.
"So I guess you'll be setting up your reign down here, huh? Are you going to move into Sophie Anne's old place?" The former Queen's headquarters had been badly damaged in Katrina.
"No, it has not had the appropriate repairs to be habitable. I've decided to establish my rule from Shreveport, although I will need to be in New Orleans somewhat regularly." He said it very casually, but I wasn't sure how to take that news. I'd really expected there to be a little more physical distance between me and Eric now that he was King.
I smiled tensely, and said, "Oh. Really? I would have thought..."
Eric's hand slid lower down my back than was decent and he leaned in close. With his mouth almost touching a sensitive spot on my neck, he asked, "Are you so anxious to be rid of me, Sookie?" My temperature zoomed up, and I fought to stay focused; my body knew Eric's very well, but I needed to try to think straight.
"No, Eric, but I guess it's not really my business any more where you live. I know you'll be a great ruler, and I hope you enjoy it, at least a little."
He looked taken aback, but held me tight. "Sookie, we are finally free, as much as we can be. Do you not wish to join me? Did you not hope through your maneuvering that we might be reunited?"
Leave it to Eric to completely ignore what I told him last night about my actions not really being about him, or about us as a couple. I would have preferred to have this conversation in private, but maybe that wasn't such a good idea either. I steadied myself, glanced around to make sure no other vampires were in close listening range, then all the hurt I'd been carrying for so long started to pour out of my mouth.
"Eric, there are a lot of things I'm not really over. The way you dealt with our marriage, the way you'd disappear without a word for weeks at a time - that may be nothing to you, but it's important to people. It's important to me. So is telling the whole truth instead of leaving things out that you think might upset me." Eric started to speak, but I gave him a look that stopped him from interrupting.
"It broke my heart that you didn't come clean about Freyda, about what was happening, about her being in town. Do you know what Bill said to me? That he wasn't sure if you were really fighting the marriage, or just driving up your price. I was never sure either." I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or punch him.
"Sookie, you told me in your hotel room, that I could trust you..."
I found myself gripping his hand tightly. "I did, Eric, and I meant that. It doesn't mean that I have a lot of trust in you right now. You have to earn that, and earning it back is even harder. Now maybe you don't want to make the effort, or maybe you can't make that much effort now that you're King. But if you really want me back in your life in that way, and not just because it's convenient, or just because you assumed I'd be there waiting..." I trailed off, unsure where to go from here. I wasn't sure I'd accept Eric back into my life. Was there anything Eric could really do that would let me trust him again? Did I even want to try?
Eric locked eyes with me, and moved his other hand back up to a more respectable spot in the middle of my back. "Will you give me this chance? I have loved you Sookie, and I would very much like for us to find our way back to one another. If I am willing to work on the problems you have outlined - and I see now that I was very much at fault for many things, even more than you have mentioned - can you work on forgiving me?"
I'd sort of expected him to tell me everything he thought I'd done wrong (and there had been some things) and more of the same old excuses, instead of taking me so seriously. I didn't want to react without thinking, so I kept quiet for a long moment as we continued dancing. I thought about how I'd forgiven Bill after he'd been summoned to Lorena, even though he'd been willing, even though he'd done terrible things to me in the aftermath. Was Eric's acceptance of his Maker's contract any less worthy of forgiveness? I'd forgiven Bill again after finding out about his deceit in trying to acquire me for Queen Sophie-Anne, which had left me utterly devastated. Although I'd never be together with Bill again, every time he'd hurt me, I'd eventually been willing to forgive, to be his friend. Did that mean I should try to forgive Eric, or take back my forgiveness of Bill? I knew what the Sookie I wanted to be would choose.
I clenched my jaw to keep from crying at the memories, but something in me relaxed as I made a decision. "Eric, I'll tell you what. We both have a lot of new responsibilities. We both need time to figure out what we want, and I don't want to just start back up where we were without dealing with all of this. If you still think that's worth it, once you get settled in, you call me up and ask me out, and we'll see what happens." I forced myself to give him a small smile then, saying, "I might even say yes."
Eric kissed the top of my head and whispered, "Thank you, Sookie. You will always be worth dealing with." I rested my head on his chest, not caring what assumptions anybody else was making. We held onto each other and swayed through one more slow song, then parted, each of us headed off to tend to our new duties.
A/N (written before I read Ooshka's story, btw): Make no mistake: while Eric has been changed by Sookie, and he has cared for her, he also knows that he needs to be on her good side given both of their new positions. He'd want to be seen by the vamps in attendance as with Sookie - or at least back in her good graces - too. Remember, the Viking never has just one motive. Sookie knows this too, and because she's smart, she's cautious. Do you think Pam or Karin might have warned him the previous night not to be too presumptuous about simply reclaiming Sookie? I like to think they would have. :) In fact, I picture an exasperated Pam threatening what she'll do to him if he screws this up again.