Hello my dear readers! Here is a new story for you. It's another take on how that conversation that never happened between Sookie and Eric could have gone. It deals with the question of Sookie/vampires, light/darkness relation that Bill had pointed out, but I resolve it here a little differently than I did in 'Healed'.

Anyway, this story has an open ending, but this IS a one-shot. This story is not about where the road leads to, but about unlocking the gate at its start :)

It takes place at the end of season 7, the night after Sookie and Bill's conversation when he told her that he wanted her to kill him. It's also the same night when Eric lost his patience with Yakuza - so yes, it's yet another 'fix it' fic.

Speaking of fixing - Breathesgirl fixed it for me and now, thanks to her hard work, it's all mistakes-free and sparkly!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the making of this fanfiction... wait... not this one. No characters... eeerrh, no... main... characters... ? Oh hell. Let's just stick to the copyrights.

THE DOOR IS OPEN

Sookie peeked out of the window warily. The sounds were… odd. She had already been in bed after a rather emotionally taxing day and was doing her best to fall asleep despite the angry thoughts playing in her mind. When the noise outside alerted her to someone's presence in her yard she got up and crept to her window as quietly as she could to investigate.

She saw some kind of movement in the shadows but that was it. She couldn't see much more in the night with her mostly-human eyes so she switched to her extra sense to try figure out who she was dealing with because there was definitely someone out there.

She gasped when she registered a whole group of human minds and one vampire. What was worse was the fact that the humans where thinking in Japanese. Sookie's mind flashed back to Fangtasia and she immediately knew what was going on. Before she had the time to get scared, however, the human minds started to flick off violently with a frightening speed and then only the vampire one remained. Sookie gulped when she understood what happened.

They almost didn't have time to feel pain.

Almost.

She caught sight of someone speeding through her yard and… if she wasn't mistaken, picking up the bodies. The figure was moving too fast to take a good look at it, but there was something familiar about it. The realization hit her. She might be wrong, but…

She opened the window, acting on an impulse.

"Eric?" she called into the night. "Is that you?"

He slowed down and came into view, his pale face caught in the moonlight when he looked up at her. He stood tall, even with a dead body thrown haphazardly over his shoulder. Sookie shivered little but didn't look away.

Eric smirked and bowed with a flare.

"At your service," he said with a rumble in his voice. Its sound would be soothing if not for the contradicting sight of different… body… parts sprinkled in her garden.

Was that a hand lying next to her Gran's favourite rose-bush?

"Apologies for the disturbance," Eric continued smoothly. "I didn't mean to wake you up. You can go back to your rest. Don't mind me, I just need to clean up and then I'll be on my way."

Sookie blinked. He was so composed it was surreal.

"What…" she started and then changed her mind. "Wait there. I'll be down in a minute."

She closed the window without waiting for his reply and quickly put on a robe before hurrying to the door. It wasn't even a full minute before she was stepping outside.

She found Eric making a horrid pile of the remains he had collected.

"Don't worry, I won't leave it here," he said instead of a greeting.

"Eric, what the…" she paused, took a deep breath and started again. "What's going on?"

He flashed her a dazzling smile before ducking to pick up a stray… well, it was some kind of internal organ. Ewww. He tossed it on top of the pile without looking.

"I'm afraid your acting skills were not enough to convince my new partners that you should be left in peace. They were hell bent on asking you a few questions and I happened to find myself in disagreement with the methods they would use to get the answers."

Sookie swallowed feeling like something was stuck in her throat.

"It's a shame, really," Eric commented, furrowing his eyebrows "Mr. Gus seemed like a reasonable man… up to the moment when he silvered Pam and started threatening you."

It was like a dam breaking – Sookie suddenly felt so overwhelmed that she abruptly sat on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Eric wiped the smile off his face, "Hey," he said with a touch of concern in his eyes. "It's okay. It's all taken care off. I have it under control."

Dear God, she had messed up so badly and she probably would have slept through the whole thing without even noticing that he saved her ass yet again. If she had been already out when they had come for her…

"It's all my fault. I know it is. You told me to wait for you and I…" she stopped, afraid that her voice would break.

He lowered himself slowly and sat next to her, leaning his back against the tree.

"Don't beat yourself up. I caught it before it got out of hand. It was probably inevitable if they were willing to turn on me at the a drop of a hat like they did."

She looked at him and then she rested her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

"I'm so sorry, Eric. You warned me and I didn't listen. I should have known you wouldn't have made me wait for no reason and I definitely should have backed off and not entered Fangtasia when I saw the guards… I was just so over feeling useless and watching yet another person in my life dying before my eyes and doing nothing about it… And to think that it was all for nothing, that all this time Bill didn't even want to be saved and he didn't tell us until…"

She was getting choked up again and Eric didn't seem to like that.

"That's definitely not your fault," he interrupted. The truth was, Bill should have made his decision known before walking through the tunnel with Jessica and Sookie and putting them all in danger so he could be a primadonna and have his dramatic effect. Eric rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. "Did you talk to him?"

Sookie lifted her head suddenly, remembering something.

"Yes," she said, turning to look at Eric as she wiped a stray tear off from her cheek quickly. There was a bit of anger in her voice and this time it wasn't directed at herself. "Why did you want me to talk to him?"

Eric raised his eyebrows in surprise at the hint of accusation, or maybe it was hurt that he detected.

"What exactly did he tell you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Why did you tell me to talk to him?" Sookie asked stubbornly, determined to win this battle of 'I asked you first'.

Eric looked at her for a few seconds in silence before giving in: "I thought you needed to hear what he had to say before he was gone."

"Why? Why did I need to hear that?"

There was that hurt tone again.

What did you do now, Bill? Eric thought.

"Because if you didn't, you would have tormented yourself by wondering and regretting that you didn't hear him out for the rest of your life. You deserve an explanation."

She looked away.

"What did he tell you, Sookie?"

"You don't know?"

"I thought I did but now I wonder…"

"He asked me to kill him," she blurted out.

Eric stared at her, stunned.

"That's… unexpected," he said cautiously. She laughed bitterly.

"You think?"

Eric only shook his head. Trust Bill to find a way to be an asshole even when he was dying.

Sookie watched him from the corner of her eye.

"I take it that you didn't know that he was going to ask me to give up my light by giving him a lethal shot either then?"

Eric's fangs snapped down.

"He what?"

She was surprised by the strength of her relief when she saw his reaction. Eric was quite possibly the only one of the people she cared about who had been quick to openly admit that he liked the fairy part of her. The very notion that he might have thought she would be better off without it was making her question her own feelings on the matter.

She shrugged like it was no big deal even though they both knew it was.

"Yeah. He had this idea that he had to die and I had to get rid of my light in order for it to be possible for me to have a good life – something about the inevitability of the vampires seeking out my light and me seeking out the darkness of the vampires… and seeking out Bill as long as he was alive. The cycle repeating itself over and over… so he came up with the idea that it would be best to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak – for me to use all my magic on killing him, so I could be free both of him and my fairyness… To live a safe… human… normal… life."

Sookie's voice dropped to a whisper at the last few words and Eric felt his blood boiling at hearing the truths twisted so much that they had become the worst of lies. Just who the hell did Bill Compton think he was that he could tell her how to live the rest of her life… or who to be? To leave her to carry such a burden? To guilt her into paying such a high price as cutting out a part of her very being and for what? How sick was that?

To use all that precious magic – but not even to save anyone or anything, but to kill a dying man? To make his life shorter by a few days? To shoot that brilliant light… in vain? Such a sacrifice?

Eric growled, angry at himself for taking any part in relaying that message. He had thought that Sookie needed to say good-bye, get closure, to a big part of her life. Had he known this was how Bill was going to use his last moments with Sookie…

Bill was lucky that Eric didn't feel like kicking someone who was already down because right then Eric was really tempted to pay a visit across the cemetary and beat the shit out of the civil war vet.

"Sookie, I had no idea he was going to do that. I would never ask something like that of you. He had no right…"

He trailed off when she raised a shaky hand to stroke the side of his face.

"I believe you," she said softly.

"You're not considering it are you?" he asked, appalled, suddenly worried by her sad appearance.

She sighed.

"I don't know. I'm not really sold on the idea, but…"

He turned more fully toward her.

"Sookie, no," he said hotly. "Bill is wrong. Your light is not something to be put down like a rabid animal. It is beautiful, wondrous and it is yours. Don't ever let anyone take it away from you."

A double memory entered her mind:

…He will steal your light, Claudine's voice warning her against Bill rang in her head. Don't let him take it away from you.

…There is a light in you, Eric told her once. It's beautiful. I couldn't bear it if I snuffed it out.

She felt tears building up in her eyes again but she blinked them back.

"B-but what he said about the light and the darkness…"

"is true," Eric finished calmly.

She looked at him, startled, with round eyes. He made a move as if to take her hands into his, but he dropped his arms when he remembered that his hands were smeared with blood.

"The darkness that is the vampires does attract you – as your light does attract us," he said. "That much is true."

"Then how can it be okay?"

She thought of what she and Bill had: it was toxic. She could recognise that much. She didn't seem to be able to free herself of him for good, just like he had said, but she knew they were not good for one another. Was she damned to fall right back into the cycle every time?

"The concept he described is a very old and well-known one. I've just never heard of anyone considering it something horrible before though," Eric said.

Sookie looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I believe it's called 'yin and yang'. From my understanding it's supposed to be a good thing."

She stared at him, digesting his words and feeling a huge wave of gratefulness crashing over her when the meaning of what he had just said hit her. The fact that she could see no error in his reasoning helped as well.

"The fact that light and dark pull at each other doesn't mean it's because they hate each other," he added softly, "or that they have to destroy each other as a result."

She remembered queen Mab and her face transforming into a monstrous mask. She remembered Godric stopping the slaughter in the church.

Fairies and vampires were not synonyms for 'right' and 'wrong'.

Light could be evil. Darkness could be good.

The answer was not to eliminate them, or even to choose one, but to keep them in balance.

This was something Bill never understood.

She gave in to a sudden urge and leaned forward to kiss Eric's cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered just as the last piece of the puzzle clicked in her head: the yin and yang symbol, the two elements devouring each other – was it because they were seeking to destroy each other? Or simply because they craved each other? Were they fighting or sharing? Was it war – or love?

She lingered a little too long but she couldn't help it. She suddenly wanted every scrap of contact she could get. If darkness had Eric Northman's face, she wasn't afraid of it.

It was a chaste kiss and it could be read simply as a friendly gesture, but they both knew this wasn't what it was.

Sookie leaned back slowly and looked at him to find longing and caution warring in his eyes. Every second they stayed close without saying a word or pulling away the air between them seemed to become thicker.

Finally Sookie shivered from the chill. Sitting on the ground in the middle of the night would do that, especially since she wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion.

"You're cold," Eric observed, standing up. "You should go back inside. I'll finish out here. There will be no sign it ever happened in the morning."

She blinked. She had almost forgotten that there was a pile of dead bodies nearby. She followed Eric's example a little less gracefully, her limbs slightly stiff from sitting. He wanted to offer her a hand, but he stopped himself again.

She realized that she didn't want him to just disappear into the night. She could feel the need for him to stay on a molecular lever. Every cell of her screamed at her not to let him slip away. It hit her like a freight train that while she had been so focused on everyone who was dead or was about to die, she hadn't even taken the time to be thankful for the miracle that was Eric not only returning with a cure, but healed himself. He was standing in front of her, tall and strong…

Had she even told him that she was happy to know he wasn't dying anymore?

No, she had not – she realized with a pang of guilt. She had never spared a second to tell him she cared whether he lived or not – she, who had once told him that she couldn't imagine the world without him in it… She thought how it must have looked to him when it had been obvious she had been ready to fight for Bill but she hadn't spared one word to acknowledge his own more than unexpected recovery.

It looked like you didn't give a damn, she thought. Not since you had to worry about Bill too, anyway.

That wasn't true, though. She definitely did give a damn. It was just that… he had surprised her and she had been embarrassed that he had caught her at Bill's and probably could see right away what she had been up to there… so she had fired question after a question at him, believing that offence was the best defense.

He doesn't know that was the reason, though, does he?

No, he didn't. And he should have.

And then there was another thing… Eric had been willing to put himself in an awkward position of being the middle man between her and Bill. Given their history… maybe he was just over it, but she couldn't imagine it being a nice task for him. He was just trying to be a better man and what did he get in return?

"Thank you, Eric," she said again.

A faint smile returned to his face.

"Don't mention it."

She didn't want him to go. She wanted to hold him close and tell him how precious he was.

Like you had a chance to do when he came to tell you he was all right, the chance you didn't take?

Oh, shut up, she told the voice in her head.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Sookie? Are you okay?"

She nodded a little too vigorously and smiled broadly and a little bit nervously.

"Yeah, sure… I uh… I'm just tired is all."

He looked at her like he didn't believe her, but nodded after a few seconds.

"I won't keep you up then," he said, letting it go. "Good night Sookie."

"Thanks," she whispered watching him turn away. "'Night, Eric."

He took a step away from her, meaning to get back to work. She swallowed, wondering when would be the next time she would see him.

Oh, what the hell, she thought suddenly.

"Hey, Eric! Once you're done…" she called after him and then paused, losing her nerve.

He looked back.

"Yes?"

She licked her lips but couldn't find the words. What was she thinking?

"Never mind… I was just… forget it."

"What was it, Sookie?" he asked patiently yet insistently.

Or maybe the fact that he didn't dismiss her mumbles meant that there was some part of him that wished to be stopped?

She took a deep breath.

"I thought that maybe… you could come back… and come in."

There. She said it.

"Come in?" Eric's voice took a teasing tone. "And do what?"

She looked up to see his eyes sparkling with both mischief and mistrust mixed in equal proportions. She knew why he was wary. He had every reason to feel that way toward her.

Too late, said the voice in her head, but this time it didn't sound spiteful, just sad.

No, maybe not. Not entirely, she disagreed.

By some miracle, she still hadn't lost him completely. He still liked her. And he cared. He was just trying to protect himself and after everything she had put him through she couldn't blame him. The irony of Eric Northman feeling the need to protect his heart from her wasn't lost on her.

She shrugged helplessly.

"I don't know." She looked him up and down. "Start with a shower, maybe?"

A familiar smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Are you sure you aren't just trying to get me naked?"

A nervous laugh erupted out of her.

What if I am? – a rebellious thought surprised even herself.

"I just don't want to be alone tonight," she confessed instead.

"No," Eric said sharply, catching her off guard with the harshness of his tone.

She looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to elaborate. She didn't have to wait long.

"If I go back in there, it won't be because you don't want to be alone," he continued suddenly growing completely serious. "It would be only because you want me to be there with you."

Something flashed on his face and for a second she could see the shades of his hurt. Her heart clenched at the realization.

Oh Eric.

No, it didn't sound like he was 'over' it.

"That's what I meant," she assured him softly.

They stared at each other for a long moment and she watched the conflicting emotions warring in his eyes. He was still hesitant and intuiting that he needed to come to his decision on his own without her pressuring him and that words would probably do more damage than good at the moment, she decided to change her approach and leave him to think in peace. She just needed him to know that he was welcome.

"You know what?" she said gently. "You don't have to tell me right now. You still have some work to do. Why don't you take your time and think about it while you're working? I'll leave the door unlocked for you. You'll see how you feel about it when you're finished. You can come back or go to Shreveport. Just… don't be a stranger, okay?"

He was watching her closely while she was talking, but his face was unreadable. He nodded slowly.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she closed the small gap between them and rose to her tip-toes to kiss his cheek again. The clean one.

"I'm so happy you took the cure, Eric," she said right into his ear. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you this before."

Then without waiting for his reaction she turned around and walked back to her house. She could feel his eyes on her back and it was making her spine straighten.

Don't look back, she chanted in her head. Don't look back.

She didn't. She entered her house and closed the door behind her and then rested her back heavily against it. She shut her eyes. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest and all she could do was hope and pray. She found herself repeating the same thing she had been saying in her mind before falling asleep every night for the last six months:

Please, Eric, she thought. Please come home.

Here. Not much really happened, but at least some things were cleared and some possibilities left open (instead of just... left).

I'm not going to continue this one - I kind of like that it leaves you with your own guesses and some room for imagination.

And yes, I know Sookie had been in relationship with Alcide for the most time Eric had been missing, but I figured she could have been still worried about Eric and wishing for his safe return. All she knew was that he dropped off the face of the earth without informing any of his children where he was going and for how long and that after that there was no word on him. If she cared about him (sadly, I'm no longer sure that's the case with the TV Sookie, but one of the perks of fanfiction is that we can reinterpret actions and make our own improvements), she would have been concerned and he would have been on her mind.

Sorry, I wanted to say it, but it didn't fit in to the story.

Just so you know, I don't think I can squeeze anything more out of season 7.

That's what I think - but what do you have to say? Leave me a review if you'd like to share your impressions!