"And you're absolutely positive about this, Claudine?" Sookie asked quietly, swallowing hard to get past the lump forming in her throat. The many and varied implications of Claudine's information had her mind racing and her heart pumping rapidly.

"Yes, cousin," her fairy godmother responded sympathetically, her melodic voice somewhat muted through the cell phone connection. "I'm sorry, my darling girl, but I am positive."

Sookie ended the call, after a few more moments of glum conversation, with promises to be in touch frequently. Whatever enthusiasm she'd had for sunbathing under the late spring sun disappeared; Claudine's revelations had sufficiently dampened her interest for much of anything, truth be told. Some deep thought was necessary before she got up from her lounger on the deck and returned inside. Slow steps took her to the kitchen, always her favourite room of the house when she was alone. Pulling out a stool from underneath the bar counter top, she perched on the edge of the seat, staring sightlessly through the enormous picture window as she attempted to organize her chaotic thoughts.

A loud, drawn out sigh escaped her lips as she thought. Everything had been going so damned well until Claudine called. The relationship between the fairy princess and the ancient vampire was better than ever. It was only just weeks ago they'd completed the second phase of their bond, exchanging blood during a highly emotional bout of lovemaking. The love and devotion flowing freely between them had become nearly mind-blowing as their blood mingled, danced and flirted in their veins before sinking deeply into each and every cell of their bodies. It was a rare perfect moment in time; every star in the universe aligned perfectly to bear witness to the blood bond forming between the passionate lovers.

Their fledgling bond had been strong – unusually so, according to Eric – but the second sharing brought them even closer. Sookie didn't think she could be tied any tighter in her heart, body and soul. She loved Eric Northman with an all-encompassing passion; the very foundation of her life – of who she was – was inextricably linked to her love for him. They'd become practically inseparable since the first blood sharing; neither one of them knew if the blood was responsible – nor did they care. The nearly all-consuming love and passion between them was the driving force for both Sookie and Eric and anything that furthered that cause was welcomed and embraced.

They were simply meant for one another.

A ghost of a smile crossed her lips as she reflected on all the changes in her life in the last six months. The last few years of her life had been a whirlwind, really; after Gran died, everything changed for Sookie. The revelations of her fairy powers and royal blood had been enough to change her life irrevocably, but truly, no matter how earth-shattering it had been for her to learn of her heritage, it was the dramatic, sweeping entrance of Eric Northman into her life that had rocked the very core of the telepathic fairy princess.

Everything changed in that moment.

It hadn't taken long for Eric to propose they live together, just a matter of weeks after their first blood sharing he'd brought the subject up after another long drive to Bon Temps.

"Lover, have you given any thought to staying at my place more permanently?" Most nights had been spent at his house already and he knew Sookie felt comfortable in his home.

"Are you asking me to shack up with you, Northman?" she replied with a grin. "Live together in glorious sin?"

"Yes, I am." A soft kiss was placed on her lips. "I even pledge to provide you with abundant glorious sin each and every single night, Stackhouse."

"A very tempting offer," she replied. "I might just have to take you up on that."

"Seriously?"

"Yes." Sookie was firm in her decision; it was something she'd given some thought to. "We've pretty much been living together lately and it's not practical for you to stay here. I want to have the farmhouse completely renovated, anyway. We can install a light proof room for us then because I'll always want to spend some time here, Eric. It is my home, after all, but I want to wake up beside you every day."

"Then it's settled. You can move your stuff tomorrow."

"Hold your horses," she laughed. "I'll stay with you tomorrow night, but it's going to take me a few days, maybe even a week or so to pack and sort through the house. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm going to have to pack up everything in the house and put it in storage or something. It can't stay in the house while it's being renovated." She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Oh, lord, I'm even going to have to clean out the attic, too."

"We can hire some help, Sookie. Is it going to be a big job?"

"Sure, we can hire movers to deal with the furniture and stuff, but there's a hundred years of accumulated Stackhouse stuff in that house and the attic is jammed with trunks and boxes full of God only knows what. You can't hire someone to go through all that, even though I'll probably hire Terry Bellefleur to help me move it all downstairs so I can at least sort through it sensibly."

"Who is Terry Bellefleur?" Eric asked in a sharply inquisitive tone. Sookie laughed softly, knowing his question stemmed not from jealously, but from his deeply protective instincts towards her.

"Relax, babycakes. I've known Terry my whole life. He's had a rough go of it, but he's a great guy. He could use the work and I like spending time with him. He doesn't trust a whole lot of people, but he's one of the few in this town who never treated me like I was crazy. I guess he thought he was a good judge of crazy."

"How is that?

"Terry served active duty in the military and suffers with some pretty serious PTSD. Folks around here always treated him like they treated me – like he was crazy, too. Terry knows he's not crazy, he's just damaged."

"You feel a kinship for this man," Eric concluded astutely.

"I suppose I do." Sookie shrugged her shoulders. "We've always just had an affinity for one another. He's been very kind to me, and he always did what he could for Gran, more than Jason ever did, that's for sure."

"Do you think he will be enough help?" Sookie nodded. "Then I trust your judgement, lover. But promise to let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"I will. For now, I'll start with packing what I want to move to your place."

"Our place," he corrected her with a smile. "I know this is your family home, lover, but I want you to think of my house as our home."

Home and family had always been important but it was really only now that Sookie was realizing that home wasn't necessarily where you were from; home was all about where your heart leads you. The farmhouse Adele Stackhouse had cherished and maintained until her death wasn't her childhood home, but she loved the old wooden homestead with a far greater passion. Sookie was positive she could make a home anywhere, as long as Eric was by her side.

"I like that. Our home. It feels right, doesn't it?" Sookie replied with a happy smile.

And it did feel right. It felt like home. Living together had allowed them to maximize every minute they could spend together. Much of that time was spent in pursuit of that glorious sin Eric had promised, but they'd managed to establish a life for themselves outside the bedroom, too. Sookie had garnered the respect and admiration of every vampire in Eric's immediate circle, even developing a meaningful relationship with his progeny. It was an unlikely friendship, but one both women were beginning to count on.

Life was as near to perfect as any woman had the right to ask for, Sookie believed. She sent thankful prayers to the heavens every day for her immeasurable luck. Life was good. She was in love, and loved deeply in return. Her small circle of trusted friends had grown. She had a lovely home and great prospects for a bright future. Foolishly, she had believed nothing would ever penetrate the golden bubble she lived in. One phone call ended that fantasy.

If Claudine's information was accurate, her bubble would burst whether she acted on that information, or ignored it. Either way, life was about to change once more. Sookie could only pray the foundation of love and trust between her and her vampire would hold under the floodwaters headed their way. They had to, she thought. There was no way she could imagine life any other way now. There would be no life worth speaking of if Eric were not in it.

Her movements quick and efficient, Sookie prepared a healthy and nutritious, albeit small, dinner for herself. Eric worried when he didn't smell food when he woke and had a tendency to fuss over her until she ate. There would be no time tonight for anything distracting them, the fairy thought as she automatically chewed and swallowed the food she prepared without her normal enjoyment of the flavor and texture of her dinner. The kitchen was tidied and she was showered, dried and lotioned in short order. Sunset was a mere hour and a half away. Eric would be waking soon and Sookie was determined to meet him with a cheerful face to combat what she knew he would feel through the bond.

Slipping into her side of the bed, the fairy princess settled close to her vampire lover as he rested on his side. Pushing her back up to him, she pulled a muscular arm over her until they were in the same position as she woke early that afternoon. A small hand pressed his large, slack hand up under her left breast, as close to her beating heart as possible. The physical proximity alone was enough to soothe Sookie's frayed nerves and she soon drifted off into a sleep-like state, drifting in and out of awareness as she waited for her vampire to rise.

That moment arrived when she was drifting away once more, coming to awareness with Eric looming over her, fangs descended and readily visible behind the sweet smile he reserved only for her. Sookie was long accustomed to the sight of his fangs; she was never unnerved by them even in the beginning. A lazy smile curved her lips as she took in the magnificence that was her lover. A shiver went through the vampire's strong frame as Sookie gently caressed the pointed length of one protruding fang. Time for rational thought rapidly fled as he lowered his face to meet hers, bestowing a sweet kiss to the tip of her nose before claiming her lips in a not-so-sweet kiss. Sookie eagerly welcomed his advances, as anxious to reconnect with her lover as she was to delay the inevitable conversation that would follow.

The fated lovers lost themselves in the passion that quickly followed; their tight connection to one another stimulating their senses and adding unusual depth and dimension to their lovemaking. The pure love flowing freely between them was enough to convince the fairy princess she was right in her previous assertion: They would survive whatever obstacles and challenges life threw at them. They were part of one another now and survival of one without the other was doubtful. The thoughts were fleeting, but comforting as Sookie let herself go and flew within the confines of her vampire's embrace.

Blankets kicked off, clothes long forgotten, the lovers lay entwined in nothing but one another. Sookie's head rested on Eric's broad chest as her fingers absently toyed with the sparse blonde hair located between his pectorals. Eric passed the time stroking long fingers through the tumbled mess of Sookie's hair, gently untangling the golden strands by pure force of habit. It was not an uncommon position they found themselves in.

"How was your day, lover?" he finally asked. Sookie's shoulders tightened infinitesimally, but the vampire noticed the reaction. "What is it? What happened, Sookie?"

It was more than a few seconds before the fairy princess responded; each second represented one answer considered, and rejected. A soft sigh whispered across his chest as Sookie pressed her face even closer for a moment before sweeping her hair back from face and peering up at him. Despite how comfortable she was, this was a serious moment and she reluctantly sat up, remaining by his side.

"Everything is fine. Or everything will be fine." She took a deep breath and shook her head. "There's just something we have to do to make sure everything is fine."

"Tell me what happened, lover," Eric urged, his face a mask of concern.

"I spoke to Claudine today. She's been having more visions; more accurately, she's been having more complete visions of something she's been seeing for a while."

"What does she see?" In one swift move, Eric pulled himself into a seated position.

"It's an alternate future she's seen for me, but now she sees it's combined with a vision she's had of you – an alternate future without me. You're married to someone else, living somewhere else, Eric."

"There's not a chance in hell I would marry another in any future," the vampire declared vehemently. "She must be wrong. You said yourself her visions don't tell the full story and cannot be relied on."

"But there are times when her path is clear, Eric. This is one of those times. If we don't act quickly, her visions will not just be predictions, but will likely become fact."

"And what is it we need to do to stop this madness?" Eric looked her directly in the eye as he spoke and Sookie felt a twinge of uncertainty flutter through her before squaring her shoulders and, with a deep breath, looked at the love of her life and spoke the words that would forever change the course of their future.

"We have to kill your maker, Eric."

And there you have it, folks. We've reached the official end of New Beginnings. I truly hope you've enjoyed the ride, it's been a blast to write.

Please let me know what you thought of the ending!

Thanks for reading!