Halcyon 🪐⋆｡°✩ Paul Arteides ✩⋆｡°🪐 / A Star Wars Story

11.

Paul saw Sidra in his dreams just as clearly as he had seen her that evening.

He still saw the battle that lay ahead and the terror that scared him so. But in contrast to that, he saw the Jedi he had met that day with Spice-laced eyes.

Her black hair sat in curls with pieces tied out of her face. As the sun set over the sand, Sidra turned to smile at him, her cheeks bunching into soft, pink loaves.

Even in his dreams, Paul's heart raged in his chest. Sidra Chihari looked at him like he was the only one who mattered on Arrakis, in the galaxy, and throughout the whole universe. He wanted nothing more than to hold her in his arms and be together without the worry of something tearing them apart.

But nothing came easy, and Paul's dreams made sure to show him that.

With the terror and war that he saw, he felt Sidra's pain. She suffers through so much loss that Paul couldn't see. He sees her come to him injured, crying and pleading for his help.

'Please, Paul, they killed everyone... there's no one left,' she said to him in Chakobsa.

Paul woke up with an urge to see her. The sight of her covered in blood made him panic, and while his mother slept next to him, Paul got to his feet.

The darkness in the sietch seemed irrelevant in the moment. Paul's legs moved on their own, leaving his cushioned futon. But when he stopped and thought about his mother behind him, Paul looked over his shoulder.

The state of Lady Jessica's sleeping figure made him realise how foolish he was being.

Sidra was fine. Everyone was asleep, and if something was wrong, the Fremen would have alerted them. The thing with Paul's dreams, is that there was still a doubt in their truth. To him, they were still just dreams, and not everything he saw could be a near future.

His shoulders relaxed and the drowsiness kicked in. It was the middle of the night and Paul had an exhausting collection of days. Not only him, but Sidra surely had, too. He didn't want to disturb her for his so-called 'visions'.

Paul was already bitter towards the Bene Gesserit for their shaping of his birth. His mother had always held a guilty face when the Reverend Mother subjected him to their tests. His dreams were said to be apart of the Bene Gesserit's power, as well as his use of the Voice. But Paul couldn't be bothered clouding his mind with these thoughts. 

So, he laid back down and hoped his dreams would only hold Sidra Chihari's beautiful face.

---

The next morning, the Fremen prepared for a ceremony. Sidra was given some breakfast and a dribble of water, which she appreciated. 

Water was scarce throughout the desert, and for the Fremen to give her some was a great honour. But she hoped it was because she wasn't a threat, and not because of their supposed prophecy. Sidra would hate to think that the Fremen were wasting their water by prioritising her over others.

Dressed in her stillsuit and with the nose tube on her lip, Sidra followed the Fremen out of the sietch. Stilgar led the party, while a group of woman huddled around Lady Jessica Atreides.

'Sidra Chihari, your grace,' she had introduced herself to the woman that morning. 'I'm sorry to hear about your husband...'

'Thank you, but I'm afraid that I have nothing on my mind a part from the ceremony today,' Lady Jessica had replied with barely a smile. 'Paul tells me that you're a Jedi.'

'Yes, ma'am. But I am just a learner. My Master is... hopefully in search of finding me.'

Sidra was careful on what she told the wife of the deceased duke of Arrakis. She didn't want to upset her with the mention of his murderers, nor did she want to say that she was working with them. So, Sidra left the conversation there, and the frowning Atreides was swept away by Fremen women.