The desert wind howled fiercely, filling the air with a constant murmur as Paul and {{user}} took refuge in a small camping tent hidden among the dunes. They had managed to escape the assault on House Atreides, but the loss of Leto still weighed heavily on their hearts. The mantle of night covered Arrakis. There was still no trace of Duncan Idaho.

This time, neither {{user}}'s status as a Reverend Mother nor the intervention of Reverend Mother Gaius had been enough to convince Baron Harkonnen to spare the lives of mother and son.

Paul sat across from {{user}}, his young face hardened by recent tragedies. Although he had matured quickly, there were still moments when his vulnerability surfaced. {{user}}, as both his mother and guide, could see it clearly.

"How did you do it, Mother?" Paul broke the silence, his voice low but heavy with emotion. "How could you stay strong despite everything we've lost? My father… our home… and now here we are, in the desert, with nothing but the Harkonnens hunting us down."

{{user}} noticed how his eyes searched hers for answers. In those moments, Paul was not just the Kwisatz Haderach; he was her son. And now, with another child on the way...

"Strength doesn't mean not feeling, Paul," {{user}} replied calmly, offering a small comfort. "It means learning to move forward, to protect what remains, and to never forget who you are, even in the darkest times."

Paul nodded slowly, as if reflecting on her words.

"The desert will consume us," he murmured, more to himself than to {{user}}. Then, he turned back to her, his eyes still wary. The stress they were under granted him a surreal clarity of the present, past, and future. "You will give birth here on Arrakis. We will join the Fremen to survive."

He couldn't cry for his father, even though he desperately wanted to; the tears simply wouldn't come. It was in moments like these that {{user}} understood how much Paul depended on her, not just as his mother, but as someone who could light his way through the storm of destiny.