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The throne room somehow seemed much bigger than usual as Javicco walked in through the massive front doors. He had no idea why he was using this entrance - he was the Emperor, he should have come from the Imperial wing's corridor behind the throne.
But, no matter. It was his throne room, and now that he was back, he would -
"Look who's here," a hauntingly familiar voice suddenly said, booming across the entire room in a way that should not have been possible.
Javicco stopped dead in his tracks.
"He still doesn't understand that he's neither wanted nor needed anymore," another, equally familiar voice continued.
"Not that he ever truly was anything more than a toy," a third voice - the most familiar one of them all - added.
Javicco somehow forced himself to walk on, which was the only thing he could do anyway since the heavy doors had closed behind him and he had a sinking feeling that they would not open again, no matter how hard he tried.
He kept his head down for as long as he could, not wanting to see who he knew would be there, but once he reached the steps that led up to the throne he was forced to raise his head after all.
Just as he had feared, they were there: Three women, one sitting on the throne, one standing to her left, one standing to her right.
"Javicco Corrino," the one sitting on the throne said in a mocking voice, raised her hands and removed the black veil from her face. "How many times do we need to tell you that you were, are and always will be... obsolete?"
Javicco simply stared at the dreadfully familiar face of Mother Superior Valya Harkonnen, unable to say anything. It all felt exactly like it had on that fateful day when he had found her sitting on his throne - only this time it was even worse because she was not alone.
"The Imperium gets by just fine without you," the woman to Valya's right, Javicco's wife Natalya, continued.
"You were amusing for a while, but no more," the one on the left added, and Javicco's heart ached when he looked at Francesca, the woman he'd thought he'd loved.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out - he could not speak!
Valya Harkonnen smiled sardonically and slowly got up from the throne. "You still don't want to believe us, do you? Well, maybe this will finally convince you." She raised her hand - and Lex walked out of the shadows next to the throne, dressed like a male technician from Wallach IX.
Javicco gasped audibly as an icy fist hit his stomach and then closed itself around his heart.
"You didn't really think I'd leave you unsupervised after your ridiculous little escape, did you?" Valya asked.
"You fell for the old love trick all over again," Francesca remarked.
"Pathetic," Natalya added.
Javicco's knees weakened and he opened his mouth again in order to say something - but he still couldn't speak.
"Javi? It's me, Lex!"
Javicco looked around in confusion. The voice seemed to have come from all around him, and yet the Lex who was standing next to Valya hadn't spoken; he was simply grinning sadistically.
"Javi, wake up!"
The throne room faded away, and Javicco found himself looking up at another Lex - only this one was not smiling.
"Javi?"
Javicco remained frozen in fear, unsure as to what was real and what was not.
"You had another nightmare."
Javicco stared at Lex, desperately wanting to say something but also afraid of even trying to speak - what if he still couldn't?
"Javi, listen to me. Whatever it was that you dreamed, it wasn't real, and it never will be."
Wasn't real? He... hadn't just been in the throne room?
His thoughts began to race - and then, suddenly, the memories rushed back. His escape from the palace after faking his own death. The ice planet. Lex' ship crashing. Lex' broken leg. Lex saving his life after he'd fallen into that icy lake. Him and Lex leaving the icy planet together. Lex striking deals with quite a few unsavory people until they'd finally ended up where they were now - in a soft bed in a luxurious villa on a tropical island, on a planet as far away as you could get from Salusa Secundus and the Imperial Palace.
Valya Harkonnen could not reach him here.
Or could she?
"Lex...?" he finally croaked - partly relieved that he could speak again and partly horrified at his own weak voice.
"I'm right here," the younger man confirmed, reached out his hand towards the bedside table and when he pulled it back he was holding a small white towel that he immediately used to softly wipe Javicco's sweaty face.
"Focus on what I'm doing," he said gently. "This is what's real. Your dream was not."
Javicco briefly closed his eyes, concentrated on the rather refreshing coolness of the towel - and indeed found himself returning to reality.
And yet...
"Valya Harkonnen... she... she... was... and I -" he broke off, the memories of the dream threatening to overwhelm him once more.
"She's not here, and she never will be," Lex remarked softly and kept caressing Javicco's face with the towel even though the sweat had been wiped off already.
Javicco slightly turned his head, looked at the large bedroom window and saw that it was still night outside. "My tossing and turning woke you up again, didn't it?"
Lex smiled. "That's fine."
"No, it isn't." Javicco slowly sat up and hated how exhausted he suddenly felt. "I shouldn't still be having nightmares. Will this ever end?!"
Lex put the towel back on the bedside table. "Javi, your entire life was turned upside down in only a few hours. Everything you believed in turned out to have been a lie. You barely escaped with your life. Of course you're still having nightmares."
Javicco rubbed his forehead. "I always think I'm getting better, and then, just like that -" he snapped his fingers, "I'm right back in the throne room with Vayla Harkonnen, and... and -" he broke off, and, much to his horror, suddenly felt tears forming in his eyes.
Two strong arms wrapped themselves around his upper body. "It's alright."
"You were in my dream, too." Javicco took a deep breath, trying to fight back the tears. "Valya told me she'd sent you to... supervise me."
"She told you that because, deep down inside, that's what you still suspect," Lex replied. "I could launch a whole speech now that lists all the logical reasons as to why this makes no sense, but that's not the point, is it?"
Javicco shook his head. "I wish I could get rid of these thoughts once and for all. It's not fair to you."
"Don't ever think that," Lex said softly. "I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't know and accept that trusting me completely will always be difficult for you due to what Valya Harkonnen did to you."
Javicco leaned into the embrace. "I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for your patience." He turned his head and looked at Lex. "I love you."
Lex smiled. "I love you, too." He gently kissed Javicco's forehead and then the two of them simply sat on their bed in silence, enjoying the comforting light from the two moons in the sky that shone through the window and that, somehow, seemed to be watching over them.