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Emerging from the small tent, now buried in sand from the wind and weather during the nights on Arrakis, Jessica's eyes take a moment to adjust to the change in light. She feels uncomfortable, her skin feels dry, and she feels oddly lifeless.
The attack on Arrakeen the previous night still very fresh, and the loss of Leto, her dear, dear Leto. Jessica feels empty, like she could let go of herself and become a void drifting over this sand into nothingness.
Paul is the reason she's holding on for dear life, and his sister who currently remains a small flicker of life inside Jessica. She will need to do all she can to protect them now, alone.
Jessica and Paul stand there, looking over the endless dunes for what feels like seconds, or hours, she's not sure.
Suddenly there's the unbearably loud noise of ornithopter propellers and engines roaring right above them. A shocking contrast to the silence of the desert.
She vaguely registers the machine flying above and as it turns back suddenly towards them, Jessica comes back to herself instantly, ready to defend herself and her son.
"It's Duncan." She hears Paul say in disbelief next to her. Still on her guard until she sees the face of whoever emerges from the aircraft, Jessica remains ready to fight.
The ornithopter lands and the back of the aircraft opens. It is indeed Duncan Idaho, running towards them, come to rescue them, Jessica feels like she could pass out in sheer relief that they might be safe.
Then turning her attention to the figure on his left, one which her brain registered as familiar enough to flag as safe, Jessica again feels a wave of light-headedness wash over her. Along with a wave of nausea at the idea that she might be conjuring up the ghost of the man she has given her heart and soul to for almost 2 decades.
"Leto?" She breathes to herself as he rushes towards her.
"Jessica! Paul!" He shouts with so much urgency and relief that Jessica's eyes suddenly fill with tears.
"Leto!" She shouts as she takes off in his direction, hearing Paul let out a relieved "Father!" as he followed her to him.
"Jessica." He breathes as they reach each other, his open arms catching Jessica and Paul in a tight embrace, and they cling to each other like a lifeline.
"You're alive?" Paul asks, hiding the emotion in his voice against his father's shoulder.
"I'm alive," Leto breathes out, also on the brink of tears, "Duncan managed to find me by some miracle and we were able to escape."
Jessica feels as if she might die if she let's go of Leto during this. Remembering the terror of the previous night and the stomach-churning pain and grief at losing Leto is just too much to bear now.
Leto briefly touches his forehead to his son’s, and he holds a hand to Paul's face while a look of pure love and relief settles on Leto's face before he lets him go. Paul goes to embrace Duncan as they have their reunion.
Leto, now fully turning his attention towards Jessica, who has yet to remove her face from where she wedged it between the space where his neck meets his shoulder.
"Jessica? Jess, my love, talk to me, please?" He softly pleads and she lifts her head, and he sees all the pain, anguish, relief, and love all settled into the lines of her face and those beautiful eyes. Leto wishes for nothing more than to take all her pain in this moment.
"I'm sorry, Leto." She says finally, and he is in complete disbelief.
"Whatever are you sorry for, my love? You have done nothing wrong; it is I who should apologize, I failed to protect you-" he's interrupted by Duncan and Paul explaining that they would ready the ornithopter for their flight.
Duncan briefly explains the plan to get to where Dr. Kynes, who is on board waiting for them, would take them. And that once they are safe, they would be able to go from there to make plans to get off-world and back to Caladan to gather troops. Leto explains that a full-scale war is bound to break out now and given his escape he will not sit idly by as more of his men die in battle.
This just makes Jessica cling to him more tightly with every word of their plan. As they turn to head for the aircraft, Jessica pulls Leto back and Duncan and Paul go ahead.
When Leto turns to her with a questioning look, Jessica can't help but remember the previous night. How her moments of grief were filled with everything she never told him, how she never told Leto that she loved him with words as much as she should, or everything that has haunted their lives since she fell in love with him and gave him a son.
Mostly how she felt sick with regret that she never even told him she was pregnant, how he would never know of his daughter's existence.
As she looks at him now these thoughts are a rush of constant chaos in her mind and suddenly, she's just blurting them out. "Leto, I'm with child, your child." she breathes out as she starts her ramble that resembles the chaos in her mind.
"I just- I spent the night in grief, terrified at the idea that I had lost you and of all the things I regretted not telling you- I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I don't know why I didn't tell you. I- I thought we'd have more time but-" she's running out of breath, but she had to keep going because he has to know and-
"Jess, my love, just breathe." Leto says, one hand around her waist, the other holding the back of her head as he brings her in for another embrace.
"It's okay, I'm okay." he says and he holds her even more tightly if possible, hoping to synchronize their breathing to allow her to calm.
In the end it's his strong and stubborn heartbeat that calms her, it always is. The steady cadence that seems to settle each nerve ending and the rushing chaos of her mind beat after beat.
"Is the baby alright?" He asks, her previous jumble of words finally setting in as she calms.
"It's a girl, she's fine, we both are." She says softly and she can't help a small smile as she watches him process the new information.
"A girl?" he asks hopefully.
"Yes." she breathes as he beams with pride at the confirmation.
"I love you so much, my love, my heart," he says as his eyes brim with tears as he looks down, expression turning solemn, "and I'm so sorry I could not protect you; I failed you and our children and I-"
"No, Leto, no." Jessica asserts as she cradles his face in her hands, making him look at her. "You have not failed us, do not even think like that, we are all safe and alive. You are alive, and we are together and that is all that matters now."
"I love you, my Jessica." He breathes softly as he looks at her with tentative amazement, like she's a mirage in this literal desert, and she can't quite blame him because she feels the same.
"I love you too. I love you so much." She murmurs as she leans her forehead on his once more, softly bringing their lips together in a tender kiss.
It doesn't last long as their son clears his throat from behind Leto.
"Sorry to interrupt but we have to get moving, now." he says with the appropriate amount of urgency given their current situation.
Leto and Jessica had completely forgotten about their audience and the dangers that currently surround their lives. The threat of sandworms and Harkonnens and everything in between looming over them does quick work of bringing them back to the present. They make quick work of boarding and taking off, Leto and Jessica taking their places next to each other, whilst Paul and Dr. Kynes take the opposite side.
The first half of the flight is spent in uncomfortable tension as they discuss the previous evening’s attack, talk of the involvement of the Sardaukar, the implications of the Emperor’s involvement in the violent attack against the House Atreides.
“So, the Emperor has taken a side.” Jessica whispers, more of a statement than a question at this point, considering the evidence.
“What says the Judge of the Change?” Leto asks, turning his attention to Dr. Kynes, his gaze turning cold and harsh. The anger from their conversation days prior simmering below the surface.
“The Emperor forbids me from saying anything at all.” She replies evenly.
“And yet you risk your life to help us.” It’s Paul’s turn to speak up as he looks at her with an expression that mirrors his father’s. Dr. Kynes leaves the question unanswered, hanging heavily in the air of the small aircraft, as she lowers her gaze to avoid Paul’s.
The cabin returns to tension-filled silence as everyone mull over the conversation, Paul taking this time to pretend to rest as Dr. Kynes busies herself with needlessly inspecting the gloves of her stillsuit to avoid further scrutiny.
Still feeling Leto’s quiet rage rolling off him, Jessica reaches for his hand, interlacing their fingers and covering their joined hands with her other hands.
She needs to tether herself to him with as much physical touch as she can, so he won’t slip away like a dream. She stares down at their joined hands, feeling Leto calm slowly,
As they travel through the air, Jessica can't help but struggle with the fact that, now more than ever, her senses and legendary Bene Gesserit control seem to be failing her these past twenty-four hours.
She hates it and tries to focus more on gaining her control back, they can't afford her skills failing her in a moment of distraction, not as their lives hang in the balance. Recalling her skills is first nature, being trained from birth ensured that, but her mind and body have endured too much stress in such a short period of time. That coupled with growing another person and her immense grief at the idea of Leto being dead has truly taken its toll.
However, while she was always credited with being "too emotionally driven" during her days on Wallach IX, she also knows she has determination and stubbornness in equal spades. Focusing her Bene Gesserit training in order to protect her Duke and her children, the people she loves above all else and the family she has fought too hard to lose, is all too easy now.
As she sits in this ornithopter, on their way to someplace safe after almost 24 full hours of fighting for their lives, Jessica focuses on the feeling of her hands intwined with her Duke’s, and she realizes now that she will do anything for her family. A more chilling thought to accompany this one is that no cost will be too high when it comes to their survival.
She has always known this, but the stakes were never as high as they are now, and she has never been ready until the very real threat of the previous evening's events. No, the only thing that exists to her now is her Duke and her children and their survival. As for anyone else, they should hope and pray they do not come between that.
Next to her, Leto’s mood has almost completely shifted to the opposite end of the spectrum, and he stares at Jessica’s hands holding his. He takes this quiet moment to reflect on their last waking moments together the previous night, the soft touch of her hands lulling him to sleep as they shared a peaceful moment before their world imploded.
I should've married you.
This thought has haunted him for weeks- years - if he's really honest with himself. And as he looks up at her now from the intwined hands, he could marry Jessica right in this moment.
This woman who has remained, unfaltering, by his side for nearly 2 decades. This woman who, beyond who she was made to be by the Bene Gesserit, chose him above all else again and again. This woman, who is more than he deserves after all these years.
After all his stubbornness, pride, and politics kept him from making her his Duchess, the same politics that have gotten them here, in the middle of a desert planet trying desperately to grasp some control over their lives that now hang in the balance.
Yes, he could marry her right now, there's no council to hold him back. He will marry her, that's definite now, he had almost lost her, and the thought alone makes his insides feel like churning as his breathing becomes irregular and panicked. One look at her though, alive and well and carrying their unborn daughter, right in front of him, calms all his nerves at once.
I will marry you. Soon.
This thought becomes more prominent over the previous one, this one isn't stained with regret, rather filled with a determination driven by love and devotion, the same kind she has shown him for so long.
Jessica, feeling his intense gaze on her, turns her attention from their hands to his face, and she can clearly read his expression, years upon years of being together have trained her for this. Especially when he makes it so easy for her by bearing himself so fully to her, emotions raw and unfiltered.
She doesn't know his exact thoughts, but she can feel the utter love and devotion he is showing her now. She knows he is probably thinking of those words from their last night together, she is too. It’s hard not to, after so many years of silent hope for that confirmation.
Jessica knows he wasn't lying, and though that was the first time he had said the words out loud, there have been many moments between them throughout the years where those words were expressed through frustrated huffs over politics and begrudging agreements.
She has wanted it for so long, after years of people wondering, and accusations thrown her way because of the status of their relationship and question of why she hasn't forced him to do the one thing she has wanted from him for so many years.
If he wanted to marry her, she would not begrudge him that now, she would marry him right here and right now if she could. Jessica tries her best to reflect the feelings shining on his face back at him, to let him know her answer, should he still need it after all these years. The answer has never wavered from a strong yes.