I paced back and forth in my room- no, this wasn't my room because this place wasn't my home. So I paced back and forth in this bedroom and tried to come up with a plan.

What was I supposed to do next? Could I escape like last time? No, Feyd would be expecting that. Did I play along and pretend I'm in love with him?

My hands went to my stomach. Maybe it was all in my head but I could have sworn I felt something. I moved to face the mirror and lifted my shirt just high enough that I could see the

I spotted something from the corner of my eye. It was a glowing light coming from underneath my dresser. I bent over to retrieve it and realized it was my bracelet.

The grey rock was pulsing with light. I stared at it curiously, wondering if it was broken. I slipped it back onto my wrist and the glowing stopped.

I hovered my other hand over the bracelet hesitantly, wondering if I should touch it. It wouldn't do anything anyway, it was probably broken, right? I highly doubted that Paul would be wearing his bracelet anyway.

My fingers brushed the rock impulsively. I quickly recoiled my hand, embarrassed at having touched it. I tried to peel my eyes away from the bracelet but my eyes remained glued to it as I waited for something to happen. Paul wasn't paying attention though. He probably wasn't even wearing his bracelet so why bother?

Then it glowed. The precious small grey rock held by the thin string of the bracelet on my wrist glowed. After everything, it still glowed. He still thought of me.

But then it glowed again, on and off. I watched the flashing light with calculating eyes. The pattern was almost rhythmic. Almost as if it were trying to tell me something.

The opening of the door pulled me from my thoughts and I jumped at the feeling of hands grabbing my shoulders. My eyes widened in panic and instinctively I raised my arms to fight off the perpetrator but froze at the sight of who it was.

"Shhh," Yuma hissed. "It's just me."

"Yuma?" I stared at her in shock. "What- how did you get here? What are you doing here?"

"You've been here almost 20 hours, I'm sorry it took us so long. I was so worried. Did he hurt you, Ophelia?" She demanded and scanned me up and down. "Are you hurt?"

"20 hours..." I muttered to myself as I realized how fast time had passed.

Yuma checked over my body as if she were looking for any injuries. "It only took us a few minutes to realize you were missing. We found the Fremen that took you, should have seen what happened, Sir Paul started yelling and making rescue plans immediately. I've never seen someone so unhinged and desperate."

I was still trying to process that Yuma was here, right in front of me. Her words passed through me and I nearly jumped on her in a hug. My friend. My best friend. She was here to save me like the badass she was.

"You're here," I gasped. I could feel the tears forming. "Thank you for being here."

I expected her to scowl at me and rush me out of the room. I didn't care though, the urgency could wait. To my surprise, she allowed herself to relax into my embrace. "Of course I'm here. You don't know how happy I am that I found you in one piece. Let's get out of here, now."

I tried to speak but she shushed me again and checked over her shoulder and out the door to make sure no one had noticed her yet. "We've got to move fast, you have to come with me, come!" She grabbed my wrists and led me through the door and out to the hall.

"Are you real?" I whispered to her frantically.

"Am I real?" She sent me a worried look but I could see the humour behind her blue eyes. She made sure the path was clear before pulling me after her. "Yes, I'm real. Stilgar is waiting for us at the side of the building, get ready to run soon."

I stuttered as I tried to process everything at once. "B-but how did you guys- how did you know where to find me?"

"Are you forgetting I lived here just as long as you?" She smiled before pulling me around a corner. "I knew where to look. That's why they sent me in to get you."

She began running and I quickly chased after her. I vaguely remembered this part of the palace and realized she was leading us to the emergency landing deck.

She pushed open a door and the wind of an undesignated ornithopter blew my hair back. I held my hand up to protect my eyes from the sand.

"Go!" She waved me towards the aircraft and I dashed for the open door.

But the sound of a gunshot caught my attention. I spun on my heels to see a Sardaukar aiming their gun at Yuma.

I was about to act in defence but Yuma was faster. The bullet wound in her arm left her unfazed as she prepared to fight the Imperial soldier running at her.

I heard another gunshot but this time it bounced off the floor as Yuma knocked his gun from his grasp while she unarmed him. I could tell he was taken aback by her defence which left his guard down just long enough for her to knock him off his feet.

She jumped on him and held her arm to his throat in an attempt to choke him. He responded quickly, hooking his foot with hers and shifting his weight so that he rolled on top of her. They had now switched positions so that the Sardaukar was straddling her in a chokehold while she struggled to breathe.

Yuma was slick, slipping from underneath him with ease. She bent over to grab his gun before struggling to keep him under her.

She flipped the both of them over so that they rolled onto their feet, but Yuma held onto the gun. As soon as they were both on their feet, the soldier attempted a pass at Yuma but she pulled the trigger faster.

The sight was gruesome as his blood splattered across the tarmac, but I still felt relieved knowing my friend was okay. She set the gun aside and stepped back. She turned her body and faced with a funny posture.

That's when I saw it. The red wound in the centre of her chest where it looked like she had been stabbed. When could she have been stabbed? I was watching her the whole time. There was no way.

"What's happening?" She stumbled forward and fell to the ground on her side.

"Yuma!" I called to her and ran to where she lay. "Yuma?" I stood above her to inspect her body. She was fine, right? She looked healthy, just injured. I think. Maybe.

I fell to my knees at her side as I tried to register what I was seeing. What happened? Why was this happening? Why was Yuma bleeding?

"Get back in here Ophelia!" I heard the familiar voice of Stilgar scream above the noise from inside the thopter. "We need to go!"

I ignored the screaming from behind me. Ignored everything, somehow even managing to tune out the whirring of the thopter's wings.

It was all happening so fast. This was a dream, right? I wasn't being rescued by anyone today. There was no stupid rescue mission. Yuma was okay. The people I loved were light years away from Giedi Prime.

Everything was quiet inside my head except for the ringing that made my ears ache. My eyes were on Yuma. Her eyes were wide in shock and her hands held her abdomen where her Stillsuit had been punctured. I stared at the leaking liquid wanting to believe it was just water, but the red colour spilling onto the tarmac told me differently.

"Yuma, Yuma, Yuma," I muttered and held my hands over the cut. "I'm here. I'm going to help you. It will be okay. It will be okay."

This wasn't happening. How could this happen? She was young, brave, a fighter. Hell, she fought better than me. I realized I was shaking like crazy as I pulled my hand away to see them covered in red blood. Her blood. My breath hitched and I think I stopped breathing.

Her gaze met mine and I could feel what she was trying to say even if she couldn't bring herself to speak. Her blue eyes were soft, kind, loving. This fight wasn't a loss, it was love. This was her act of love to me. She had fulfilled her purpose, protecting me. Her eyes told me she was at peace with this death. This was the death of a Fremen. A warrior. She was ready to die.

I'm not ready! I wanted to yell at her, at the Maker, at someone. She may be ready but I'm not! I need her! I need my friend!

I couldn't contain my sobs as the life left her eyes. "YUMA!" I screamed at her and gripped her shoulders but her body didn't respond.

"Lia." I felt someone come from behind me and try to pull me away but I clung to her body, not ready to let go.

"Lia, I'm here." I heard his voice again. It was soft, comforting. "It's time to let go. You have to let her go now."

I would have held her tighter if I could but my sobs weakened any grip I had on Yuma and I fell backwards onto my butt, letting the defeat take me. She was gone. Her body was here but she was gone.

Paul came from behind me and joined me on the ground, his legs trapping me in a V as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders to let me rest against his chest. He whispered words of comfort into my ear while he rubbed my arms soothingly.

Stilgar came into view and through my tears I watched him scoop Yuma into his arms and bring her back onto the aircraft. I knew very little about Fremen rituals, but right now I wished I did. For Yuma, I wished we were back on Arrakis so that I could give her a proper Deathstill. Her precious water didn't deserve to be spilled and wasted on this planet.

I jumped at the sound of a gunshot, scaring the grief from my body and replacing it with adrenaline. I was quick on my feet beside Paul who was already up and facing the culprit.

My eyes widened in panic at the sight of Feyd-Rautha pointing his gun straight at Paul.

"I'm going to kill you," Feyd said fatter-of-factly. "I'm going to kill you and I'm going to love every moment of it."

Paul narrowed his eyes. To my horror, he said, "Try it, then."

"Stop!" I screamed and jumped between the two of them just as Feyd was adjusting his gun. "No one else has to die today, okay?"

"Move aside, Ophelia," Feyd growled at me.

Paul tried to move me out of the way but I pressed against him, not willing to move. No one else was going to die today, I wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I just watched my friend die today. I can't fight you anymore. Let me go, Feyd." I begged him. "Please. Don't keep me prisoner here."

"I need you to stay." He demanded with a stern expression. "Think about all of our fun, the memories you made with me. Think about how hard I loved you."

I felt Paul stiffen beside me but ignored it. "Those feelings and memories may as well be nonexistent." I spat. "They mean nothing now."

"You're going to marry me, Ophelia," Feyd-Rautha said with certainty. "I'll make sure of that."

"You're not marrying her." Paul shook his head. "Not a chance."

"Really?" Feyd threw his hands in the air and laughed. "Why not? What's stopping me?"

Paul narrowed his eyes at Feyd-Rautha. "Because I'm marrying her."

What? I did a double-take at this. He said what?

Feyd seemed equally stunned, his eyes moving between Paul and me. "You're going to marry her." He repeated in a monotone voice. "And you'd let him, Ophelia?" He asked. "You'd let him marry you but not me?"

I stayed quiet, unsure of how to answer that. Something shifted in his mind and his face hardened. He quickly brought his gun back up and pointed it at Paul.

"Whoa!" Once again I found myself between Paul and the gun. "Don't do this Feyd."

"I don't want to hurt you Ophelia, but if you don't move out of my way then I will." He lowered his gun, almost as if he were aiming for my leg or thigh.

"Don't you dare shoot her!" Paul yelled at him and pushed me aside but I held my ground. I fiddled with Paul as we both fought to get in front of the other.

My heart raced as Feyd pointed his gun in our direction, not sure of where to aim. My mind went to my stomach. I would take a bullet for Paul if it meant saving both of our lives, but would that mean the end of another?

"I'm pregnant!"

The both of them froze. Paul stopped resisting me and Feyd lowered his gun ever so slightly.

"Pregnant?" Feyd-Rautha repeated with a straight face. "You're pregnant?"

I nodded and sucked in a breath. "...I am." I hated having to admit this to Paul again. His rejection was understood the first time.

Feyd's eyes moved down to my stomach which wasn't showing yet. "You're pregnant..." He muttered, mostly to himself.

"You didn't know?" Paul asked Feyd-Rautha with a frown.

Feyd's eyes met his with a dark fire. "Did I know my fiancé was pregnant with another man's offspring? No, I didn't."

Paul's energy changed completely. His body stiffened and he shot me a weird look. "What?" He asked me with uncertainty.

"What?" I repeated, unsure of what he was asking. This wasn't anything I hadn't already told him. He had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with this being pregnant thing.

He shook his head, not understanding. "Wait, are you saying- is this baby... is it mine?"

The loud popping sound of a gunshot shook me from my thoughts. I looked in a panic as I searched for whoever had been shot, but it wasn't until I caught the attention of a strange dull pain that I looked down to see the red blood coming from myself.

Paul saw red and was ready to kill Feyd-Rautha. Before he could move towards him, I gripped his forearm in pain to keep him from moving. "Paul!"

He shifted his attention back to me and his face changed to one of fear. "Oh my god, Lia. I'm here. It's okay." His anger for Feyd-Rautha was nothing compared to his concern for me. I found myself falling backwards but Paul caught me.

The colour red spilled onto my shirt. It was almost beautiful. I thought back to just moments before when I held my blood-soaked hands above Yuma. Did I look like her right now? Would I get to see her again?

"If I can't have you, no one can." I could hear Feyd's voice, but I paid it no mind. "If I discover that this is some sick joke, and that the two of you aren't actually getting married... well, I'll have my way. And Paul Atreides won't be leaving alive."

I'm not sure what happened next, but the shouting from above me seemed to grow quieter and quieter. I could still see the frantic movements of Paul and Stilgar, but it all began to feel like a blur. I had the sudden urge to sleep.

My eyelids felt too heavy to hold up. I wished I could hear what Paul was trying to tell me, but I couldn't hear him. I couldn't hear anything. I wondered if it was anything important. Instead, I closed my eyes and went to bed.

***

double update, surprise! merry christmas and happy holidays guys! although obviously i'm sorry this chapter probably wasn't the happy update you would have hoped for :'(

also - i also uploaded a second chapter to my other timothee chalamet fanfic called 'Paired to the Prince' so check that out if you have the chance!

how have your holidays been so far? has anything interesting happened? a favourite gift? memory? experience?

as always, discuss your thoughts in the comments i'd love to hear them ;) so... what was all that? how do we feel? what are the biggest things coming to mind here?

with love,
via <3