(Eric's POV)
I struggle against the silver bonds that I am held in, and my captives laugh. I reach for the bond, and unlike just a moment before, Sookie is suddenly scared. She's unhappy and unsure and worried and angry, and with the incredible mixture, I know that Bill must be there. The rage at that thought overwhelms me, and after a few more moments of struggling, I am suddenly free. I break their necks before they know what is happening, and them I'm running up the hill.
When I reach the top I stop, and see the tip of Sookie's sandal as she disappears over the cliff. I rush forward, but before I can leap, I am grabbed from behind. Reaching around, I grab Bill by the neck, and yank him off of me as I hold him up high. "I'll kill you at a time when it can be slow and painful." I throw him with more force than necessary, and watch him crash through several trees in the area beyond the lighthouse. I'm on the edge of the cliff in a second, and panic sets in. I don't see her anywhere on the Cliffside, and then I notice the unnatural disturbance of the water in the river. A limb emerges from the slight rapids for a second, before disappearing again. I jump from the rock edge I'm on, and fly down over the water. But I'm not fast enough and she disappears into the water.
Arms grab me again, and I roar in defiance. I throw Bill to the ground beneath me, and lay into his gut with my fists mercilessly. He moves to retaliate, and I break his arm as he tries to stop my assault. It's only taken a minute for our scuffle to conclude with me bringing my foot down on Bill's neck, and I break it enough to stop him. But not enough to kill him. I want to save that pleasure for another time.
It only takes a minute, but already I can't find her. Even for a vampire, the ocean is a large place to search for something, and it takes me only seconds to jump into the river to follow the current she was on. A strong wave of love hits me, and I try to grasp it, but am unable. I calm my mind and my eyes pierce the water as the moonlight gets suddenly brighter. All at once I can see her far ahead of me. She looks like an angel floating in the water, and I don't miss the red tint that's flowing into the liquid around my eyes as I swim. If she were on land, she'd be standing, with her hair splayed out behind her. Her eyes are glued to the coral reef nearby, and as I get closer, she drifts so her back is to the shore. A red tint similar to the one coming from me surrounds her entire body. I make sure not to take in any of the water. I couldn't bear to taste her blood in such a way.
I grab her from behind, and feel for the bond. My panic has closed it off against my will up until now, and I feel that it is almost gone. I hold onto it, forcing it to stay open as I bring us up onto the beach, and I lay her down in the soft grass at the edge of the sand.
The bond is closing, and using all my energy, I pump my strength into it. It opens slightly, and there's a strange buzz coming from the connection. I feel as though a piece of me is within her, being pulled away from my body, and I don't particularly enjoy the feeling. But I maintain it, and force it to strengthen the bond and through the bond I strengthen her. I know that if I can keep her alive long enough, then I can start to feed her my blood, and she'll be able to heal.
Thinking about our bond, I hate the fact that it is only twice complete. She had insisted on waiting until after we were married to do it a third time, and after minimal argument I had agreed. If we were fully bonded then I could truly keep her alive off of my own strength alone, and I start to berate myself for not insisting that we complete it sooner. Perhaps if I had been keener to the dangers facing us, then I would have noticed the danger as soon as it stepped on the island. Maybe if I had been a more caring husband then I wouldn't have left her vulnerable.
I stop myself as I spiral down into self-loathing. Glancing over I see that Bill is gone, but for the moment I don't care, as long as he stays away. Staring into Sookie's face, I see something. A slight shine is coming from her chest, and when I reach to touch the place over her heart, it grows brighter. I pull away only to touch again a moment later. It glows even brighter, and after pulling away again, I reach forward for a third time. The light is almost unbearable then, and it reminds me of the light Sookie had always used in a tight situation. It pulses a moment later, and starts to spread throughout her entire body. I watch it run up every vain, getting especially bright in areas such as the sides of her neck. It fills her completely, and then all at once, it vanishes back into her heart.
I hold her in my lap, and looking over her, I see that she is completely healed. Her clothes are practically shredded, but the skin underneath doesn't have a single blemish. Using one hand, I tilt her face up for me to examine, and I am not disappointed. She doesn't look at all how she had a moment before. It's more as though she had just stepped out of the shower.
As I watch, her eyes slowly open, and she smiles up at me. I return the look, and suddenly her arms are around my neck. Her lips meet mine, and the moment is more perfect than anything I've ever experienced before. I wonder how I could be so lucky, and suddenly I realize what I have done to myself. While doing so, hadn't noticed just how much energy I had put into keeping her alive. For the first time in a thousand years, I collapse backwards in exhaustion, and she follows to lay halfway on top of me. "Are you alright?" She asks concerned, and I chuckle at the irony of it. Just a moment before, I could have been the one to ask that question.
"Absolutely perfect, just tired. It's odd for me…I can't really remember the last time I was tired." She giggles, and kisses me again. I can barely respond, and she starts to stare at me in real worry. "I just…need some True Blood." I panted out, and she shook her head.
"No, that's not going to help you. Here." She leans forward, and exposes her neck, putting it right up against my mouth.
My lips twitch, and my fangs click down, but I still whisper. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes." With her reply, I bite down, and the rush of blood is like an explosion inside of me. It's like the fairy blood changed it somehow, making it more desirable. I don't know how, but suddenly I'm sitting up, with her cradled in my lap. Her head hasn't moved much, and I continue to drink. After several mouthfuls, I stop and bite my own wrist.
"Will you be mine forever?" I ask, and she doesn't hesitate to latch on. I gasp at the feeling of it, and return to my place at her neck. We drink in unison, and the bond is like nothing I've ever imagined. Everything I am melts into her, and vice versa. Our minds and bodies push together, and we see flashes from each other of all our most important memories. I watch her childhood flicker by, experience her Gran's teachings and wisdom, and feel all of the emotions that she had at the times. I see how much she hated her gift in high school, and how she continued to see it as a handicap until only recently when she had decided that she might be useful to the world after all.
Looking to her, I watched with her as my childhood as a Viking played for her in short bits, followed by my times with Godric. She witnessed from my point of view the first time I had seen her, and how much I had hated Bill for getting to her first. She also wished that I had met her sooner. Her mind reeled when she witnessed firsthand how much I had wanted her from the very first moment we'd met. At that time, I'd had no idea who she really was, and already I'd felt drawn to her.
The memories ended, and we just held onto each other as we retreated into our own physical bodies. After another few mouthfuls, I pull away from her neck, and heal the wound as she releases my arm. The marks there vanish, and I turn to kiss her, which she readily agrees to. I stand, and help her to get up, only to catch her when she sways. "Whoa…head rush." She mutters, and I chuckle.
Then suddenly I hear the sound of wind from behind me, and before I know what's happening, she's gone.