Life would never be the same after the Fischer job. Ariadne knew that. But she wasn't sure how to handle it. So many thoughts ran through her mind as she parted from the team in baggage claim. What would happen now? Go back to school? Travel the world? Do nothing?

Ariadne stood in the airport, contemplating what to do with the rest of her life. But how could she just carry on with her life after all of that? She sighed, deciding it would be best to just put everything behind her and forget it. But then again, she would never be able to forget the wonders of being able to create anything she wished for.

"Shit… How can they except me to just fucking go on with my life?" she mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ariadne whirled around to see Arthur standing before her.

"Are you ok Ariadne?" he asked, his forehead crinkling as he raised one eyebrow.

"I… I'm fine," she said as she pursed her lips.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked as his hand slipped down to Ariadne's arm.

"No…" Ariadne confessed with a sigh.

"Come on, I'll get you a cup of tea," Arthur said as he placed his hand on the small of her back and directed her to a café.

The feel of Arthur touching her made Ariadne's face heat up. She bit her bottom lip and tugged at her scarf as she looked up to Arthur to find any hint of a smile, but his face was as stoic as always. Ariadne looked back down at the ground, disappointed. She didn't know why she felt sad when Arthur didn't smile. She didn't realize that she had become smitten with the point man.

Arthur and Ariadne took a seat at a small booth in the café. She ordered tea and he got hot chocolate. Ariadne couldn't help but smile when Arthur blushed at his childish demand.

"So the point man is a child on the inside," she remarked with a smirk.

"Chocolate calms me down…" Arthur confessed, becoming flustered.

"What are you going to do now that the job is done?" Ariadne wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure. Usually I go wherever Cobb goes, but now that we're free… I don't know. I might go back to France…" he said, looking confused. Arthur was never the kind of person who didn't know what he was going to do.

"Back to France?" Ariadne asked.

"Yes. I have family back there," Arthur said, smiling.

"Oh," Ariadne said sharply as she looked down at her hands.

Of course he has a family. A man like Arthur… Obviously he's got a wife… she thought, beating herself up in her mind.

"My parents live there," he explained, "I haven't seen them in years."

"Oh," Ariadne said, relieved that he wasn't going to be visiting a lover.

"And you?" Arthur questioned.

"I might go back to Paris. Finish my studies, you know?" Ariadne decided. She wasn't actually sure it was a good idea, but if Arthur was going to France, then so was she.

"Well then we'll fly together. But the next flight isn't until tomorrow, so we'll have to stay in a hotel for the night," Arthur said, smiling.

The hotel wasn't particularly impressive. It was a simple, 3 star hotel 10 minutes away from LAX.

"Question. If Saito's given us all this money, why aren't we using it?" Ariadne wondered.

"Because. Even though we're done, we still need to play it safe. It doesn't look right if a college student rents a room at a 5 star hotel," Arthur explained, walking up to the front desk.

The receptionist was a tall blond woman who had been staring at Arthur since the second he stepped foot into the hotel.

"Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?" the receptionist asked, smiling a smile that stretched from cheek to cheek.

"Yes, we're going to need a room. Just for one night," Arthur explained.

"Right, well we're all booked for this evening and we only have one room left. Is it alright if I put you and your… sister… in the same room?" she asked, looking down upon Ariadne, who was furious that the woman could possibly think she and Arthur were brother and sister.

"Yes, that's fine. Thank you ma'am," Arthur said, nodding at the receptionist as he took the keys and headed off towards the elevators.

Ariadne glared at the receptionist as she turned and followed Arthur.

That evening was more uneventful than Ariadne had imagined it would have been. Arthur and Ariadne ate a simple dinner at the restaurant at the hotel and went back to the room where Ariadne took a shower and had nothing else to do but sleep. She flopped onto the queen sized bed, disappointed by the way the evening played out and quickly fell asleep. Arthur took a quick shower while she dozed off and by the time he came out, she was fast asleep. He smiled as he sat down next to her and kissed her forehead. He moved Ariadne's hair out of her face, but the face he saw wasn't the calm face of the innocent girl that he knew so well. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her mouth was shaped into a frown and her hands gripped at her pillow as she tossed and turned. Ariadne was in the middle of a nightmare. Suddenly, her body shot up into the air, startling Arthur.

"Arthur…" she whispered, her bottom lip trembling as she clutched her totem, making sure she still wasn't dreaming.

"Are you ok?" Arthur asked, cradling Ariadne's face in his hands.

"It was so horrible. Mal was… She…" Ariadne began, but then burst into tears and grabbed Arthur, shoving her face into his chest.

Arthur looked down at Ariadne, confused as to what to do. He wraps one arm around her small body and holds her head close to him with the other arm.

"It's ok. You're alright," he whispered as he kissed the top of her head.

Out of the blue, Ariadne revealed her real name and Arthur gave her his and they spent the next hour telling each other secrets about themselves.

"I love you," Ariadne blurted out by accident. Her eyes widened as she let go of Arthur and looked up at him. Their expressions are the same.

"Shit. Sorry…" she apologized as she looked down at her totem and tipped it over, hoping this was a dream. But the bishop fell down as Ariadne groaned.

"No, no. It's ok…" Arthur whispered as he tilted Ariadne's head up. They slowly moved in closer to each other and seconds later, they were kissing. Ariadne got up on her knees and crawled closer to Arthur. Their lips still locked together, the architect straddled the point man, wrapping her hands around his neck. Arthur wrapped his arms around Ariadne's tiny waist and pulled her close, breathing heavily as he kissed her.

"Arthur, I need to breathe you know," Ariadne giggled, pulling away.

"Sorry…" Arthur mumbled.

"It's alright, love," Ariadne said, kissing Arthur's forehead. Arthur smiled as he moved his hands under Ariadne's jaw and gave her a peck on the lips and slowly moved down to her neck. She giggled as she played with his hair, realizing it was gelled back as usual.

"I like your hair," Ariadne laughed as Arthur looked up at her, his hair falling over his face. He became flustered and looked back down. Arthur hated it when his hair was messy. He hated disorder.

"No, no. It's cute," Ariadne smiled, ducking down under Arthur's hair.

"Really?" Arthur asked, giving a shy smile.

"Really," Ariadne whispered, pushing her lips against his. They fell down onto the bed and Ariadne got off of Arthur and cuddled up next to him. He held her close to his chest and realized that he didn't want to let her go. Ever.

"Ariadne… Would you ever leave me?" he asked her.

"No. I love you. Even more than… architecture," she said with a laugh.

"Why? Are you going to leave me?" Ariadne wondered, afraid that he would.

"No. Never…" Arthur whispered as he closed his eyes and kissed Ariadne.

They smiled as they closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

And for the first time in years, Arthur dreamt.