back to you | paul atreides

thirty seven

"Dad?"

I stared at familiar man before me. His newly tanned skin and blue eyes made me question it, but seeing his face and meeting his eyes made me certain it was my father.

"Lia." He said, his eyes widening. His shoulders dropped and he rushed forward to engulf me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around my father and held him tightly as if he was going to slip from my grasp.

I felt like a child again, finding comfort and security in the arms of my father. I had felt so vulnerable for so long that I nearly forgot the feeling of paternal comfort.

I assumed my dad died back in the attack on House Atreides by House Harkonnen. I wasn't aware there had been any other survivors, nor did I have reason to think so. How could I? House Harkonnen invaded them completely. 

"How- how are you alive?" I stuttered, feeling pathetic from the waste of water that slipped down my cheeks. 

"It's going to take more than a few bombs and Sardaukar to kill Gurney Halleck." He joked with his head over my shoulder. "God, Lia. I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again."

My dad pulled away to cup my cheeks, his face twisting in both pain and relief as he admired the face of his only daughter. "You look so much older. Your eyes have gotten so blue."

"Yours too." I chuckled through my tears.

"How the hell did you get here?" He asked, gesturing to the Fremen world around us.

"My lady in waiting, Yuma. She was Fremen, she helped us find our way back to Arrakis." My eyes found Paul's who was watching patiently from the side as I reunited with my father. "Then we found Paul and joined his sietch."

My dad followed my gaze to Paul, suddenly remembering he was here. "Of course." He smiled, returning his eyes to me. But his eyes moved downwards to my more than obvious pregnant belly.

He stiffened and narrowed his eyes, making a face as though he didn't believe what he was seeing. "Ophelia, what... What's going on here?" His eyes flashed between me and my stomach. "What is this? Are you...?"

I sucked in a breath and pursed my lips awkwardly. "Oh, uh, I forgot to tell you that I'm pregnant."

He stared at me and I made sure to hold eye contact with him until he broke off, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're pregnant? What? How did this happen?"

I tensed awkwardly, my eyes flickering to Paul's for a quick moment. I'm sure my father knew exactly how these sort of things came about and I wasn't exactly tempted to explain the process to him.

He must have noticed Paul and I exchanged small looks because his eyes shifted to Paul. Paul straightened and raised his chin, swallowing. "Gurney..."

"Don't Gurney me," he said slowly, his eyes moving between the two of us as he put two and two together, "you don't mean..."

If our secret glances hadn't given anything away yet then our nervous behaviour obviously did. It all happened so fast. Gurney Halleck charged at Paul faster than I could see. I let out a scream of fear, but thankfully Paul was just as fast as my dad. He moved out of the way right before my dad managed to grab him, instead turning so that he was now on the other side of him.