the video above is an edit i found on youtube and i loved it so i just wanted to share it with you guys :) happy reading!

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"That little girl is very annoying." Yuma said with a face, staring off at the group of teenagers huddled in a corner.

We were sitting in the common space at the centre of their living quarters. I faced Yuma

"She's not too bad," I shrugged as I watched Zeina speak amongst her small group of friends. I didn't want to call her little because she couldn't have been more than just a few years my junior.

"Say that again when she begins to follow you everywhere." She scoffed. "She's going to get attached, just you watch."

I threw my head back and laughed at her words. I knew Yuma was being a bit harsh, but I could also sense it was in good fun. Her attitude was meant to amuse me. She knew everything was a lot of change for me to handle and was attempting to lighten the load wherever she could.

Something caught my eye from the corner of my vision. I turned my head to see a group of Fremen speaking with Shipo. Their Stillsuits were discoloured from the dry sand, it looked like they had just arrived.

My eyes quickly scanned the group in curiosity. Many of them were men, but a few women stood out from the group. I realized not all of them had the bright blue eyes I had gotten used to seeing. One of the boys met my gaze with his green and white eyes. He had sullen cheeks and tanned skin. His eyes went wide as he stared in my direction. I pressed my brows together, wondering why his face was so familiar.

My heart stopped.

"Lia?"

I stared at the boy. He looked at me funny, as if he were analyzing me as I was him. Was it him? Could it really be him? He didn't look the same. His skin was darker, his hair was longer. As he stood beside his mother I noticed he was even taller than I last remembered. I asked myself if it was possible I was hallucinating. Could I be projecting this image onto someone I didn't know? But I knew I couldn't be, because I'd recognize his voice anywhere.

I had unknowingly stepped forward in his direction. Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself running at the boy I so desperately missed.

I nearly jumped into his arms, hooking my arms around his neck and wrapping my legs over his torso. Paul accepted me willingly as he pulled me tight against him, not wanting to let me know.

"Oh my god, Lia." I could hear him through the muffled sound of his face against my Stillsuit. He had his head buried in crook of my neck. I inhaled his familiar scent, a homely musk mixed with a touch of sulphur from the sand but I didn't care. His scent let me know he was real. He was here.

"You're okay," I whimpered as my hands clutched the seems of his body suit. "I can't believe you're okay."

"I'm okay, I'm here." He affirmed and pulled back to look at me. "I can't believe you're here, not just on Arrakis but among the Fremen? In the middle of the desert?"

"It's a long story." I let out a weak chuckle, doing my best to hold back my tears. I wouldn't allow myself to cry, not in front of the Fremen. Such careless waste of water and bodily fluid would not be taken well.

My eyes moved to my side and I could see Lady Jessica smiling at the sight of our embrace. I quickly let go of Paul and moved to the woman I saw as a mother.

"Oh, Ophelia," Lady Jessica uttered softly as she took me in her arms. "It's so nice to see a familiar face."

"I didn't think you guys would have survived the attack." I told them as I hugged her tightly. "How did you manage to escape?"

I felt the Lady pressing against my stomach with hers, and I looked down to see her protruding belly. My eyes widened at the sight, and she responding with a knowing smile.

Before I could ask her questions, someone cleared their throat. I looked up to see a tall and thin man staring at the two of us. Stepping back, I could feel several pairs of eyes on me as I greeted the two Atreides.

"Shipo, you said these two ladies are all that is left of House Atreides? No soliders?" He turned to the Naib.

She nodded sadly. "As far as I am aware, all of the Atreides soldiers have left in an attempt to find each other elsewhere. But please," She gestured towards the common space. "Feel free to check, there may still be a few of them among us."

The man gestured for his men to move inwards. They began to scatter, approaching some of the people of the sietch to see if they were in contact with any of the soldiers.

My gaze turned back to Paul who looked at me with a smile I couldn't help but return. 

"Paul," A voice said behind him. He shifted and I could see it was a small girl who spoke as she came up to his side.

The girl was young, her blue eyes contrasted Paul's in a special way as she stood beside him. She was very beautiful, her features elfin and soft. For a brief moment her eyes met mine and suddenly I recalled my first visit to the desert.

"Lia, this is Chani." Paul was the first to speak as he introduced the two of us.

I managed a small smile and greeted her with a gentle wave, but she remained still. She looked me up and down, her eyes narrowing before giving a quick nod in my direction.

"You were in the desert," She told me. "That same day as Paul. I spared your lives."

I nodded. "Yes, I remember. Thank you for that."

"Yeah," Paul said. "That was Chani. Crazy, isn't it? She's Dr. Kynes' daughter."

My eyes widened as my mind made the connection. I was surprised to learn that the imperial planetologist had a Fremen daughter. It made sense of course, considering how she mentioned she was accepted in both Fremen and Imperial communities, but the news still came as a shock.

"Yes, well Liet Kynes is no more." Chani mummered and looked away, her eyes on the floor.

"Oh wow," my expression dropped as I thought about Liet Kynes. Her kindness and knowledge of the desert was not something I could forget. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Chani. I had no idea."

She inhaled and looked back up to meet my eyes, her appearance softening. "Thank you. I'm proud to be my mother's daughter. She was the smartest person I knew. Brave, too."

"She was." Paul agreed firmly. "She saved mine and my mother's lives."

"Really?" I asked as I was reminded how much time had passed since I last saw him.

He nodded and shared a look with Chani. For some reason, seeing the two of them interact made my heart race and brought on a strange type of anxiety. The way he looked at Chani was familiar. It was how he looked at me.

"I'll let you two catch up." Chani looked between the two of us, her eyes resting on Paul before joining the rest of her sietch where Yuma had also managed to make new friends.

Paul's eyes moved back to me and suddenly it felt like we were back in Arrakeen sitting on my bed as he handed me the small jar of sand, the small token that made me realize maybe there was something more between the two of us than childhood friendship. My hurt stung as I realized I left the gift back on Giedi Prime.

"I can't believe how much has happened since I last saw you," He smiled, but his eyes suddenly moved down to my stomach and his smile dropped.

His gaze hardened and he met my eyes again. My heart picked up and I wondered, did he know? How could he? We hadn't been in contact in these last few weeks. And why was he looking at me as though I did something bad?

I could tell his jaw was clenched tightly, and he no longer looked at me with the same admiration and warmth as he had just seconds ago. Instead his eyes were narrowed at me, his body tense.

"Why are you here?" He asked me. "I thought you would still be on Giedi Prime with your fiancé."

I felt myself frowning. What happened to hello? How are you? Where was his attitude coming from?

"Well the whole reason I was going to marry Feud-Rautha was because he promised he would keep House Atreides safe," I answered defensively, hurt by his harsh tone. "So my plans kind of changed when I realized he didn't do what he said he would."

Paul nodded, but it didn't erase his reserved behaviour. His eyes quickly fluttered down to my stomach once again.

He kept looking at my stomach, did he know I was pregnant? Should I ask him? But what if he didn't know? I couldn't tell him I was pregnant with his baby the first time seeing him in weeks. That wasn't a conversation I was ready to have with him, not here, and not now.

But god, seeing Paul again made me feel as though I had been falling and he caught me. My mind had been lost since leaving the safety of Giedi Prime, but being with him here now, it grounded me.

Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones - it felt so weird to say that - but he looked so much more... attractive. He no longer reminded me of the boyish teenager from our youth. Instead, he looked like a man.

I couldn't stop myself. I leaned in again and trapped him in a hug, Being in his presence brought on a calm I didn't know was possible. Everything about Paul, his smell, his touch, his voice, it all made my insides tingle. I resented the fact it took time apart from him for me to realize this.

Only, he didn't hug me back. I could hear him suck in a breath as he stiffened under my touch. I quickly released him, stepping back to give him a look. Why was he acting like this?

"Is everything okay?" I asked him, not understanding why he was so withdrawn from me, especially considering I'd been without him for so long.

Paul swallowed and his eyes moved to the floor. "I think I was just enjoying my distance from you." He hesitated. "I didn't expect it to end so soon."

I wasn't sure what to expect from Paul the next time I saw him, but it wasn't this. Those words were a slap to the face. He had consumed my thoughts every day since I had left Arrakis for good, I touched the bracelet he gave me enough times to prove it. Didn't he feel the same? I felt my stomach sink as I registered his words. What did he mean, he wanted distance from me? He didn't miss me?

But before I could ask him more questions, he had already turned his back to me. He joined Chani in the centre of the room, leaving me alone as I wondered what I'd done to drive him away.

***

hello my loves thank you all for your patience on this chapter - i've finally finished my most important finals so now i will allow myself to resume writing! i still have a couple more to write so my uploads won't be super frequent, but once its my christmas break ill try to get back to daily uploads again

also i know that in the book liet kynes was a man and chani's father, but the movie added some extra female representation which i really liked and decided i wanted to keep kynes as a woman 

how do we feel so far? i know where i want to go, but i'm still unsure of what to do about the time skip because it wouldn't make sense to go without it? i also want to have alia somewhere in this story and actually have things work out for the atreides but we shall see

also i wanna write a timmy fic SO BAD LOL i know kinda what i wanna do but i need some ideas. ive drafted the first chapter like 3 times and keep changing it. any of you guys have some? what would you like to see?

with love,
via <3