Chapter 43/ Epilogue

Food. That one word permeated her dreamless sleep and managed to wake her. It was that, and the fact that she was alone in bed. She shot up in a sudden panic, looking for Eric. He was headed back into the bedroom and she almost knocked him over.

"What's wrong?" He asked, steadying her.

It took effort to slow her panic, but she managed. "Nothing, excuse me."

Sookie ran into the bathroom. Even before her last word faded, she knew that Eric didn't believe her. It was cowardly, but she just didn't want to have that impossible conversation. A shower was a must to clear her thoughts. It also afforded her time to come up with counter arguments. In fact, she could control the conversation and steer it into her trip out of state. If she was lucky, she could distract him even further so that the subject never came up.

It was a long shot. No one knew her like Eric. He knew when she was lying, when she was hiding, and he never let her get away with either. She certainly couldn't stay in the shower forever. That thought was sobering, because Eric didn't have forever. He had a single human lifetime; no, they had a single lifetime.

There was no more fear, Sookie realized. Knowing that she didn't have forever made the Queen accept the truth in loving Eric, no measure of time would be enough for all the ways she wanted to love him, not even eternity.

When the Queen emerged, the servers were leaving. It was early for dinner, but seeing she hadn't eaten for almost a full day she was ravenous. She dressed herself as quickly as possible and him. From the moment she occupied her chair, it felt like falling into a routine that was as crucial as walking and taking. They were silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable, only a little tense. They ate and he was finished long before her. He just watched with a ghost of smile curving his lips. It didn't make her self-conscious as she continued to stuff her face either.

Sookie downed her juice, but when she reached for the bottle of Royalty Blended, Eric winced. It was barely noticeable. Her first thought was that he was still harboring symptoms of his vampire allergy. It would be understandable even though he had let her bite him. She still hadn't drunk blood in his presence. Yet, he didn't look disgusted. He seemed torn for a moment and then resolute, but he remained quiet a while longer.

"Your Blood was spiked with a sedative," he said, eyeing her.

The Queen went perfectly still for a full minute. In that time, she was thinking of all the people, and all the ways that this could have come about. There was only one person and there was only one reason for this. Felipe always played to win, the more valuable the prize, the dirtier he fought.

More infuriating than that was the fact that Eric who was a hated enemy by her Line was now an accomplice. For all the things her father could do, this was so unbelievably low. Again she shouldn't be surprised.

"FIN-"

"Calm down," Eric said in that rich velvety voice that always made her see reason when she was being stubborn, it always calmed her and it made her see clearly.

It wasn't as effective as before, not this time, not when it was his life on the line. He had a hold of her wrist, knowing that she was about to lose her shit.

"You're pissed that I agreed, but ask me why."

"No!" She snapped, yanking her hand from his hold. "I don't care. He had no right! You had no right! FIN, help!"

The Holo was nowhere to be seen or heard. Obviously he was manually forced off line as part of this plot. Sookie thought through every protocol to get her assistant back on line. Her mind wasn't at its clearest. She was panicked. Eric, however looked cool as a cucumber.

Sookie wanted to fight but she couldn't fight Eric, ever again. She wanted to fight her own stupidity because clearly she was helpless to it. She had been so busy focusing on her father and his counter moves that she never saw this coming. She should have.

The Queen snarled at nothing in general.

"You realize he doesn't like you?" She fired at him. "If you die, he won't care, especially if it means severing a bond he never approved of in the first place!"

He shook his head, "You are vampire, but not fully. So I don't think you really understand what that means and how it dictates so many aspects of who you are. It may be because of your age or upbringing. I don't know. Regardless of what it is, I don't think you get it."

"Says the human, to the vampire Queen of Three," She scoffed.

"Yes, because said human was older than said Queen's father in his past life," He replied. He let out a derisive chuckle, probably because he realized how messed up that was.

"Just…stop!" She snapped. She needed to think and already she could feel her mind fogging.

"I never told you about the night I met you because I…I was confused and a bit ashamed."

That gave her reason to pause. This was something he had never spoken of and she couldn't imagine why it would shame him.

"It was just another night at the office for me. I was chasing drainers and fighting Werewolves with Thalia. Then I was just gone, utterly, and completely lost to you. That connection was rooted to my core. Your smile defined my joy. Your touch was pleasure unbound. It didn't change me though, being mated to you; loving you didn't suddenly make me develop empathy for all humans or blonde haired, fiery, telepathic, amnesiac women or bar maids."

She shot him a dirty look but in true Eric form, he continued, ignoring her ire.

"For all the bone deep emotions you ignited within me, it was solely for you, and you alone and to me, you are everything."

Sookie felt like crying because beautiful as his words were, she knew what he was going to ask her to do this. She couldn't. Why couldn't he see that? Why couldn't her father? Hell, why couldn't anyone?

"It is the same for Felipe because you are his daughter. For you to think that he would give a shit about me when your life hangs in the balance is well…stupid. Risking my life to save yours is an acceptable loss. In this one thing we agree—"

"I'm not listening to this," Sookie asserted, getting to her feet. "FIN! Goddammit!"

"I didn't ask your permission because I don't need it, not for this, not to save you." Eric said. "You understand the difference between sacrifice and loss, and so do I. This is my sacrifice to make and if you know anything else about me, it is that I don't care about much but what I care for, I will die for. Death didn't take that from me and neither can you."

Sookie turned to face him and his expression left her frozen where she stood. It was one of grim acceptance and single-minded purpose.

"You would do the same exact thing for me, wouldn't you?"

She refused to answer him. To do so would be to sign his death warrant. She refused.

"Wouldn't you?" he repeated.

Sookie needed to get out of here. She needed air. She took a step, but for some reason her legs felt like mountains. Her vision wavered. The room lost its focus. Her knees went weak and buckled, but he caught her before she could fall.

"I love you, Sookie. I'd die a thousand deaths for you."

Sacrificing himself for her was something that he'd never have her permission to do. If the tables were turned, he would never allow her to do the same. In fact, he would do something just like this; something highhanded and guaranteed to insure her safety, no matter what she had to say about it. He would insure that his sacrifice would give her her best chance.

Sookie tried to keep her eyes open, but she couldn't. As he pressed his lips to hers, all she could think of was the stark inevitability of the veil coming to take her beloved. The last thing she saw was her eldest brother and the tiny demon.

"Ow…"

The Queen of Three felt like someone had turned her inside out through her nose, everything hurt. Trying to move only made it worse, so she stopped and tried to get her bearings. It wasn't easy. It felt as if she had a thousand people in her skull. She had lost her shields. She tried to focus, but that natural barrier was gone. Her face hadn't hurt this bad since the day her fangs came in.

"Daddy…" she called.

He didn't answer. Attempting to call out mentally only made the pain in her head worse. It took her a moment longer to shut out the thoughts of others manually. She did, and thereafter, she was able to get her bearings. She blinked against the glare of the morning sun and saw the most beautiful sight, Eric. He was seated at her bedside, his hair was down and tousled. His face was just as handsome and his smile was utterly devastating.

"I agree my smile is utterly devastating."

Sookie kept her joy in check because she couldn't believe that she could truly have it all, not after a quarter century of hell. She didn't want to believe that she had been granted the one thing she wanted more than anything, forever with her mate.

"It worked," she whispered in awe. "We don't have to say goodbye again?"

He smirked and it was so cheeky that she couldn't stand it. She pounced on him, and he turned the tides, using strength that he hadn't had since his past life. He pinned her down to the bed, looming over her as he had done so many times before, except Sookie could feel the difference. He wasn't vampire. He wasn't human. He felt exactly like one half of all that she was.

"Well, it depends on how a telepath feels about getting her mind read by her very soon to be husband?"

Epilogue

Ten years later…

Eric was painting in the studio. In the vast palace of Oklahoma, this was the smallest room. It was perfect. In this idyllic space, he was able to bridge his undead past when he had been a thousand-year-old, badass, Viking vampire, Sheriff and his future with his badass, hybrid wife.

He had been down here for hours when Sookie finally came home. He didn't hear her. He just felt it as that deep sense of ease and longing settled over his skin. That broke the trance he had been in for the past four hours. He had washed his brushes and hands by the time she found him.

"Hiya handsome," she greeted, wrapping her hands around him from behind.

"Hi yourself, Queen girlfriend."

She still got a kick out of that title. Her face was buried in his back and he felt as she smiled. For several minutes, she just held him and he absorbed the difficulties of her night, filling it wordlessly with his love. Then he turned around and kissed her. It never took much to get him going. All she had to do was walk into a room and he hungered. It could be attributed to the bond, but it wasn't really different since the first time they'd been together.

Having her hands on him defined his pleasure as a man. Being inside her was his heaven. He dragged her to his workbench and like he had fantasized about so long ago, he got to rough up the pristine appearance of the Queen that the world saw. In this house she was just Sookie, his wife, his lover, and the mother of his child.

When the work bench no longer offered comfort, they left it for a warm bath. Soon Eric had his head resting in his wife's lap as they sat in front of the fire. They shared a late night snack, and she still ate more than he ever could in one sitting.

"How was your day, Lover?" He asked.

"Blah, blah, vampire emergency, blah. The usual," she yawned, and he smiled because she truly sounded bored to tears. "Where's Sin?"

Eric shrugged. He had no idea where their ten-year-old daughter was, despite the late hour of day. It was winter break from school. That meant she could be anywhere. It was hard enough for him to keep track of that girl with her ability to use her impeccable manners to get just about anyone to do anything for her. Having her mother's smile didn't hurt either.

"One of your oddball relatives kidnapped her around noon," he answered. "That's all I know."

The palace in Oklahoma and her grandfather's in Nevada were the safest places for Sin. So the people that often abducted her were clear to do so. The most troublesome was her biological grandfather and his twin of questionable mental standing. Fintan and Dermot often took his daughter gallivanting through other realms.

Sin came home one day talking about riding dragons and swimming with giant water butterflies. A strict prohibition on outer world field trips had been set. Eric had made a show of informing everyone, but in truth that had been enacted because of Dermot. The Faery violated it often, but to his credit, he tried to hide it. If that wasn't enough the Sky Prince, Niall could be found watching Sin from a distance.

With all that being said about the Fae relative, it wasn't meant to suggest that the vampire relatives were perfect either. One night when Sin was four, she was visiting with her sheriff uncle in Vegas while he and Sookie had been on vacation. They'd walked in on Sai telling Sin a bed time story. It went something like this:

"I cut off their noses, their fingers, and their toes," Sai said.

He must have tickled Sin, at least that was Eric's hope, because she laughed. "Then what happened, Uncle Sheriff?" Her voice was bright and eager and intrigued.

"Then I planted them and grew vampire trees."

"Vampires can't be trees! That's silly!"

"I will show you when next time I have to do this. All you have to do is dig a small hole that's deep and then you stick them in upside down."

"Ahh! I see now. That is very clever," Sin had said. "Then what happened to the trees? Did you water them so they would grow?"

There was a distinctively evil, yet affectionate laugh as the vampire replied, "Vampire trees don't grow, they burn."

She clapped her hands, clearly delighted by the tale. "I loved that story!" his daughter had enthused. "What did you do with the noses, fingers, and toes?"

Eric and Sookie interrupted at that point. They talked about their babysitting options that night. It was useless, Sin always requested Sai if he was around. When he wasn't, she wanted to fly or be teleported to him. When that wasn't possible, she called him. Basically, his daughter's favorite person was a vampire that terrified other vampires, and disliked both her parents immensely, Eric more than Sookie.

Sookie thought it was the universe having another laugh at her. Her daughter loved her least favorite sibling. There was no real explanation, but that was Sin though, like him she liked what she liked, and good luck trying to change her little ten-year-old mind because she was as stubborn as her mother.

Sookie swatted at Eric lazily, "You're one to talk! Do I have to remind you that I was the maid of honor for your childhood friend/ex-wife who was marrying my former fiancé? Not to mention she was my most hated enemy in her past life."

Eric rolled his eyes. In this one thing, his wife would never let him forget the favor she had done him, "It has been almost ten years since the wedding, and almost fifty years since she was the witch Queen, get over it, Lover."

"Do you remember the color of the dress?" She balked. "Ten years isn't nearly enough to forget, try a century."

He didn't mean to laugh because this was a real source of ire for her, but when Sookie frowned, she was still so fucking adorable.

"You looked like a lemon, a sexy lemon."

She punched him playfully, "I cannot believe she is Sin's Godmother."

No matter how many times Eric said that or how true it was, it still left him speechless. While his wife believed that the universe had a poor sense of justice, Eric didn't agree. The proof was in Free and Grayson. They were the perfect couple because no one would ever be able to put up with either of them in a relationship. Together they were the perfect blend of crazy. If that wasn't cosmic balance, truly, Eric didn't know what was.

"FIN," Sookie called.

"Your Grace, how may I be of service?"

"Find my little princess, please."

"Activating GPS for Princess Serafina Inez Northman," The Holo said.

The computer triangulated their daughter's location in under a minute. She was on Isla de sa Ferradura, at the family villa.

"Call outgoing, please hold."

Neither Eric nor his wife batted an eye that since they had last seen her, their daughter was now half a world away. The screen appeared against the wall via a holostrip. The lines connected and Eric was looking at a vampire that had a special kind of animosity toward him. Sookie had explained that when he was vampire himself they had fought and he had staked him. In the ten years that he was getting to relearn Sai, Eric thought that it wasn't so much the stake to the heart, but the loss that he couldn't forgive.

"Hey, big brother," Sookie greeted.

He must be a good mood, which was rare, because Sai returned her greeting with more than just a nod,

"Hello, Shy."

"Is Sin awake? I wanted to wish her goodnight or say good morning, rather."

He nodded, and turned his head to the side as he called their child. "Sin," he called. "You mother is calling."

Sin could be heard laughing while she ran toward the phone. She appeared on screen with her halo of blonde hair perfectly braided. It was more than Eric did before dropping her off at school. A lopsided ponytail was her signature do' if he was the one to send her off in the morning. There was a tiara on her head. It was subtle, a woven diadem with so many precious stones crushed into it that it threw a glare in the light of the island sun. Her dress was a soft green and most likely custom-made.

So yes, Sin was definitely with her vampire grandparent, Felipe. The King of Nevada always had enough people on hand to make Sin runway ready at every given moment that she was in his care. Sookie said he just couldn't help himself, the same way he couldn't help giving her jewelry that would shame a Queen since she was born.

Eric would never admit this to his wife, but he enjoyed the look of poorly-concealed horror when he sent his daughter to Felipe in play clothes and her hair a mess. Forever was a long time, and so he had to learn to enjoy the little things.

"Mommy, Daddy, hi!" She waved enthusiastically. Her smile was brighter than her tiara. "Are you guys cold?"

"It's not so bad," Sookie lied, smiling. "What are you doing all the way over there, shrimp?"

The smile on his wife's face was a special kind of smile, the same one she had worn the day she had told him he was going to be a father. It was just her smile for Sin. Eric knew it was hard for his wife, not being home all the time. The truth was he knew her. She couldn't stop being a Queen. That had always been her destiny and he believed his had always been to aid her, as vampire or as an immortal.

Sin laughed, "I will have you know that I am tall for my age and to answer your question, Majesty, I am swimming in the ocean and not freezing my fangs off!"

Sin beamed a beatific smile at Sai. Eric saw that he almost came within a fraction of an inch of smiling, but must have realized he wasn't alone with her, so he didn't. Eric listened to his wife talk to their daughter. There wasn't much to catch up on. Sin saw her mother, even if she had to call her and disrupt her day. She saw her.

It allowed her to have a normal childhood, even though nothing about her was average. Eric wanted her to have that center. He was the only one. No one saw anything wrong with buying a five year old a jet. He was the only one who forced Sin to go to school. She needed the experience with human beings. The kid had Faeries that took her to alternate worlds. She traveled the world on private jets. She hung around ancient vampires. She hung out with hybrids. Not just he and his wife, but the vampires of California. Sin needed that one thing to give her a semblance of normalcy because everything else about her was extraordinary. When she was on holiday, she could do whatever she wanted and they had to let her.

"You need to eat food, Sin, not just blood," Eric warned as they prepared to hang up. "I'll know if you don't eat."

Eric knew that his daughter was a miserable grump when she didn't eat enough solid food. She growled and flashed fang for no good reason. She wanted nothing to do with the sun and she was paler than normal.

"The woman beside you is proof that I care for my own," The King of Nevada said. He scooped Sin up, kissing her face, then setting her on his lap.

"Nim is the only one that makes her eat solid food," Sookie corrected. "He was the only one that used to make me eat."

The King smiled and it conveyed so many things, the least of which being that he was complicit in the spoiling of a Princess.

"Ola, mija."

"Hi Daddy," Sookie greeted.

"Your Majesty."

"Northman."

That was pretty standard between Eric and his vampire-father-in-law. Sookie had also explained the history there. It wasn't easy. The vampire Eric had been had been a severe pain in his ass for so long that it would take more than a decade to overcome his reservations, perhaps it would take another thousand years. It didn't matter because this was his family, and he wasn't going anywhere, no matter what.

"We love you, Sin," Sookie said. "Have a good day."

"Love you, too!" She said.

Eric heard someone call out Sin's name. It was probably Nim and without another word, his daughter bolted off her grandfather's lap. Felipe turned and his glare was so heated and disapproving that she must have felt it. Sin returned, said a proper goodbye, and nodded deeply. She waited to be dismissed before she ran off.

"I will be leaving here in two days' time," The King said with a smile. "She is contemplating visiting with her God brother so she may ride with me and I will drop her off in California. If not, I have coordinated with the Faeries, they will have her. I reminded them that she is prohibited from off world travel but…"

They would probably take her off world anyway.

Sookie and her father talked business for a few moments. Eric wasn't ashamed to say that he wasn't the least bit interested. That was one of the things that he had been worried he would struggle with in this new life. He wasn't a vampire sheriff and politics were no longer a part of his day to day.

The Line he married into was just too powerful that they had few enemies. Deep down, he knew it was because he no longer wanted a part in it. It had been losing its interest long before he ever met his wife. His telekinetic abilities had returned with more force than when he was undead, but he lived a different life. He couldn't be happier.

Sookie said her goodbyes with her father. Then she attempted to track down Fintan and his twin. It was another stroke of bad luck that Sin loved them and they adored her. They were the weak links and they didn't hide it. Sin knew it. The fact that they were not answering meant that Sin was going to be off world and there was nothing anyone could do about it. In the interest of sticking to their word, Eric knew that they still had to act shocked and annoyed. At this point, it was a joke.

"Your daughter is a real pain in the ass," his wife murmured as they settled into bed.

"How come she's only my daughter when she's being a pain your ass?" Eric asked, half knowing the answer, but not wanting to admit it.

"The same way she's only my daughter when she's a pain in yours."

He smiled as he wrapped himself around her, "Fair enough, but a word of warning; if she grows to be half as stubborn as her mother, I'm making a run for it."

She scoffed lazily, "Good luck with that, Handsome."

Sookie nestled closer and Eric held her tighter. He kissed her head. In no time at all, she was asleep and the sun was rising, and he basked in the truth of his parting words to her. Their life wasn't what either of them had imagined when they'd met so many years ago. Then Eric had been a powerful telekinetic thousand-year-old vampire sheriff and Sookie his amnesic telepathic mate. It had taken them three lifetimes and almost four decades to find their happily ever after, and he would never let it go.

The End.

A very special thanks to . Not only was she my eagle eye on this last installment, she has been there since T'n'T was just an idea. She helped me shape and hone it into a trilogy. It was hard…so hard especially the second story. She helped me forge through. Of course I was stuck with this last story but again she helped me push through. Thank, her! I have ideas and a desire to tell stories but if not for her, it wouldn't come to be.

I am glad that this happy ending came to be because there were times when even I wondered, worried and feared for these characters. I am happy to be here, to meet and smile with all of the loyal readers at this, 'happily ever after'.

I'm not done. Join me as I explore the original characters that I added to make this FF epic as it was. All of Shy's brothers will get a story at least that is my wish. I have already begun working and I hope that you will all join me.

Until next time ladies and gents...