A/N~ The Southern Vampire Mysteries and all characters therein belong to Charlaine Harris. I'm just stepping into her sandbox, er, swamp in the spirit of fun.

True Blood belongs to Alan Ball and HBO (and whoever else).

This fanfiction will be a happy meshing of both and can solidly be labeled AU, though it starts immediately after the Season 4 finale of TB.

It had been a rough night for Sookie Stackhouse.

Not the kind when she came home with sore feet from a full house at Merlotte's, or even a secondhand crankiness from some jackass of a patron.

Nope.

It had been the kind of night, a mere collection of moments, that tend to shape a person's life. She'd come to a proverbial fork-in-the-road that would result in heartbreak no matter her choice.

Well, she'd gone for a third option and felt double the heartache as a result.

She'd walked away from the men she loved tonight. Both of them.

And wasn't that a fine pickle? She was only just coming to terms with the fact that it was indeed possible to be in love with two men at the same time. A younger Sookie raised on Gran's Southern Baptists ways would have shrunk from such a notion; there were words for such women. But that child was gone and in her place was a woman who had lived a great deal in a short time.

The Supe world would do that to you.

Releasing a weary sigh, Sookie stepped out from her kitchen to the back porch, a spiked iced tea in hand. She was in need of a little liquid consolation, but the thought lead to an image of first Eric and then Bill seeking their own versions with faceless women. It couldn't be helped. She'd freely given them her amped up fairy blood before departing, and it had gone a long way to healing their charred and battered bodies. But their thirst would be great. And even if she did still hold any sort of claim over either vamp, because of their very nature and needs, she couldn't begrudge them sustenance. But jealousy was not a creature of logic.

She sat for long hours, the night heavy and alive around her. The muggy Louisiana air was an old friend and the crickets lulled her to a pleasantly numb stillness. Somewhere in the distance a bull gator bellowed for a mate, and her lips tilted in a sad smile.

"You and me both, old fellow."

"Sookie dear, I know you've been under a lot of strain tonight. But if you start talking to yourself regularly, folks' tongues will really wag."

It said much for her state of mind that she barely startled as Gran appeared beside her on the splintered, creaking porch swing.

A wrenching sob escaped her and she leaned into her grandmother's, very real, very solid arms. She didn't care how or why. She was just deeply grateful. And for the first time in the long months since her gran's brutal murder, she completely let go.

Her tears soaked Gran's flowing white gown, the only thing marring its surface. The blood stains were gone.

She felt enveloped by pure love, and she realized the two of them were softly glowing. It seemed like she should be worried that they would attract the wrong kind of attention from whatever supernatural creatures prowled her woods. But she couldn't bring herself to care.

This was too good.

For long minutes they held each other, until Sookie's weeping gradually subsided.

Her mind kicked on again and several thoughts simultaneously skittered across her brain.

Had she died?

Did something or someone attack her and she'd crossed over?

Was it a dream?

Strangely she felt neither more or less apprehension for either option.

So be it.

As a little girl she'd asked their preacher why they said "amen" at the end of prayers. He'd been offended, saying little girls shouldn't ask such imprudent questions. Well, she didn't know what impudent meant either. But Gran had overhead and gave him a talking to right there in front of her about fostering children's natural curiosity. Gran told her amen meant, "So be it." She'd explained it meant God's will would be done no matter what, and by saying amen people were saying they accepted that.

Sookie didn't know how she felt about a divine creator anymore, but the phrase was exactly right.

Earlier tonight, while Eric and Bill had been tied up, nearly burning to death, Gran and other spirits had appeared. It had been so hard to watch her fade away, to hardly get to speak with her. It had felt like she was losing her all over again.

Like always she'd had to push the heartache aside so she could tend to Bill and Eric; deal with yet another supernatural crisis.

But somehow, Gran was here now and the two of them were together again. Death. A dream. Whatever.

So be it. And thank you, whoever, whatever brought her here.

Gran reached for Sookie, her two palms cradling her face.

"My Sookie-girl. I'm so proud of you."

Sookie's face revealed her confusion, "For leaving Bill and Eric?"

"For everything, sweetheart. You've dealt with so much lately. And you've grown so much. You're not a little girl anymore, but a woman who is able to make very hard choices."

She felt undeserving of the praise. Ashamed. Gran didn't know everything, didn't know the way she'd cavorted with first Bill and later Eric right under this roof.

She started to utter a protest and began to explain, but Gran shook her head.

"No, Sookie, no. I won't judge you for that. We love. There's nothing to be ashamed of in that." Sookie felt overwhelmed, only belatedly remembering her powers came as a result of Gran's infidelity. It was the first time she was in her grandmother's presence, looking into her dark eyes, with the knowledge burning inside of her.

A final piece of innocence chipped away and shattered. But her love for this woman who had raised her remained.

Smiling now, Sookie said, "I love you Gran. You've been so very, very special to me."

It felt so good to say the words, so cleansing.

A tender smile graced Gran's face, "I know sweetheart. I always knew. But I'm not here tonight for goodbyes or final words. They've let me come to you, to ease your travels."

"What do you mean?" Sookie knew she should feel trepidation, but her joy was too great.

"Sookie, there is so much that we don't understand, all of us. About life. About death. About time."

"Time?"

"I was there the day you were born, you know. Your mama wouldn't let me be in the room for the birthin', but I was right there when they brought you out, a squalling pink thing wrapped up in a little yellow blanket. I held you for the first time, and I fell in love right there and then."

Sookie smiled gently but waited.

Gran continued, "But that wasn't the first time I met you. No. Years before I was out hanging the laundry, wishing Finton would step out of them woods truth be told. And for a minute I thought maybe he would. The air shimmered like it would before he would appear. But instead of a Fey, a human, a young woman walked towards me. It was you Sookie-girl, maybe a little older than you are now." Shaking her head in wonder, Gran said, "Gracious, the talk we had that day."

Now completely bewildered, tranquility all but gone, Sookie cried, "But that doesn't make any sense!" Breaking a long practice of never invading family members' minds, Sookie pushed into Gran's consciousness. That she was a spirit didn't seem to matter, and the memory of that summer day was clearly transmitted to her mind's eye. She knew before Gran said the words.

"Sookie, you weren't coming to me from another place or dimension. You came to me from another time."