Asleep, and unaware of his father's fading, Atreides dreamed. Dreamed of playing with his mother, and all his sisters, and his Dad, back home beneath the towering redwood trees. Comforting. Familiar. The way it was meant to be. It was warm, and golden, and his parents laughed as they frisked through the trees with them. Bellona collided with him, sending him rolling in a giggling ball through the ferny underbrush. I love you. The words drew him nearly out of sleep, but the boy just turned in his sleep to snuggle more closely with his dad. Unaware, blissfully unaware, that his dad was fading away. "I love you too dad," he mumbled into his father's fur before sinking back into the golden bliss of his dream. For now, this one last moment with his dad, everything was still ok.
