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//   this  is such an intricate question & i might get lengthy. do forgive me if i do.

           firstly,  let it be clear that eric ( both in life & in death, or *resurrection ) admires sarah. she’s a remarkable kid. intelligent, kind, a little force of nature you surely don’t want to mess with. eric admires her strength, her wit, her personality, her caring nature. in turn, knowing her situation at home, there’s no saying in how much he hurt for her. being that he himself had a rough upbringing ( his formative years: being orphaned at a young age, then placed in foster care, later to end up in a juvenile center to his foster parents’ instructions ). so i suppose you could say, he might see a little bit of himself in her – if only to the extent of her situation, that of a broken home. now, while he’s irrevocably empathetic, a protective big brother, he’s also respectful of boundaries. while alive, though full of concern, he would have to understand & accept that she had to go home to her mother. though she was family to them ( shelly & eric ), they were conscious that - tragically - they were not. they looked after her, in every way they could, & it was genuine love for the kid. but there was only so much they could offer when her home-life was no picnic. what could you say to comfort her when her mother had no interest in being a mother to her? when darla was busy with a criminal for a boyfriend ( & dealer )? there is absolutely nothing eric ( or shelly ) could have done or said to fix that part of sarah’s life. it was an inner conflict they had no way out of ( sarah, mainly, of course ). subsequently, i can imagine eric carried a good amount of guilt around for her. perhaps misplaced, maybe it was none of his business, but i can see him feeling constricted, unable to do more. 

               on a happier note, eric enjoyed every second sarah spent with them. shelly took on the big sister role wholeheartedly. she liked to play around the apartment with her & gabriel. eric saw the happiness this brought to shelly & their life, altogether. perhaps the all around adoptive kid sister, if simply put. they were friends & they were family. sarah brought more life to their already vibrant home & they offered some kind of shelter for her from the dysfunctional storm that was her little world. i imagine. then, of course, when eric & shelly died, that ended.

          in death,  or revival ( as you well put it ), i believe eric feels he shouldn’t reconnect with her. knowing he must leave again, to be with shelly, reconnecting with sarah would only end in heartbreak. both for her & himself. he’s not good with goodbyes, he’s not good with endings. he knows the impact their deaths had on sarah. he’s very aware of it ( though perhaps not to full extent – but then again, who can truly grasp the full impact their deaths? ) so, when he snatches her from the street, he doesn’t dare looking at her directly ( having already come into contact ), & he avoids her recognizing him, almost successfully, for those same reasons. later, when she goes to the abandoned apartment/loft, he scurries away. nearly accepting her heartbreak as she confesses feeling lonely since they died. yet her well-being is more important than his “mission” ( he won’t have her feel more abandoned & neglected ) & allows himself to be seen. he speaks to her & offers comfort again. for sarah, he’s an all-around softy. of course, he clarifies ( & i’m sure this breaks his heart too ) that he can’t stay with her. he can’t be her friend as they were before. this is because his new “life” is dangerous & he’s not the same eric he was in life. this new eric, this new form of existence, includes violence, murder, criminals, vicious, spineless acts he would have never done in his life. unspeakable things, things he wouldn’t want sarah anywhere near. so his refusal to interact with her is merely his way of being protective again. then, when the opportunity strikes, he takes the chance to help her. indirectly, perhaps. but help her nonetheless. her & her mother. scaring the living daylights out of darla ( though not as much as he could have, having her leave before murdering fun-boy, but not before extracting the drugs from her ). so, in fear, & in his words, he manages to scare darla into seeing the true face of her wrongdoings. forcing her to look at herself in the mirror ( quite literally ) & having her understand what she did not only affected her, but her daughter too. i feel that eric simply took the chance to fix what he had no say in while alive, thanks to his new abilities. 

                   finally, there’s a DELETED SCENE from the crow where eric, as he goes to rescue sarah from top-dollar & company in that chapel, faces the skull cowboy ( his second guide & link to both realm of the living & the dead ) & insists in going to save sarah. the skull cowboy warns him that his mission is over, he must go back to shelly. that sarah is not his responsibility, & that in staying any longer in the realm of the living might cause him to forever lose shelly & the chance to be with her. after all of these pending consequences, he still decides to go & rescue sarah. brandon himself made it a point ( reading through his notes on an early version of the script ) that this was important: to know that eric chose to save sarah while knowing this could cost him losing shelly forever. 

                 in summary: eric loved sarah. as a friend, as a little sister, as family. he would do nearly anything for her. he’s protective of her, he cares for her. he wants better for her & her mother… as said, a big softy.