Summary: How they met again and why it took so long.
Pairing: Arthur/Ariadne
Disclaimer: I look up to the creator of my (and many others') favourite movie, C. Nolan. I know the people I pictured here are out of character and I am sorry for that.
Ariadne took her suitcase from the upper shelf in her closet. Slowly packing what she needed, she walked around in her small apartment all day. She had become more neat after the successful inception she had helped with but it was still a mess. With all the money she had now, she could've just hit the road and buy all the necessary items at the location but that would just seem waste in her eyes.
Wasting was nothing she was ever used to so she rather spent the day rummaging through basically everything she owned. After she stuck the last thing, her sunglasses in there and zipped the suitcase up, she stood in front of her bed, eyes closed. It was still a spontaneous trip, although she'd been planning it a week. Taking off to Greece, where it would be warmer, the beautiful beaches, and perhaps, foreign men whom she might take an interest in for all she had done these past 6 months was being stuck on a person she was very likely never to see again. She had to get over.
Six months earlier, after they had stepped out of the airplane in L.A., she had seen all of her teammates walk out of the airport. Cobb, heading towards her professor, the very person responsible for this life-changing experience for her. He was going home to his children, at last. It was a pity they didn't have their mother. Even though Mal had been so vicious towards her, killing her, possessing threat to the mission, she still felt heartbroken for the woman's fate. Yusuf was chatting with Eames quietly in a corner. They would be heading back for Mombasa. Their mark had already stepped outside into his limo. And then a hand appeared beside her, shoving an envelope into her hands.
"I got you a ticket back to Paris" murmured Arthur beside her. She looked at him with widened eyes, "Is this goodbye?" She didn't want to say goodbye. She was deeply attracted to the man that taught her everything, that trained her, that became so very close to her. But it wasn't until they shared a kiss that she realized why her heart had been so arrhythmic lately. Panic took over. What if she would never see him again? Could her heart beat like this for anyone else?
"Not yet. I will join you, the flight has a stopover in London and that's where I am heading to." Ariadne felt a warm squeeze in her stomach. Not yet...
They boarded the plane and Ariadne was surprised to see Arthur had voluntarily got seats in coach. "Less recognizable" was whispered in her ear. Great, now he could read minds. They sat down and the plane took off. It wasn't until they had traveled for at least 10 hours that Ariadne got the courage to divert their light conversation to the things that were burning her mind like acid.
"Arthur, do you think we'll ever meet again?" she looked at him expectantly. A small smirk slid onto the point man's face. "Why are you asking? Do you want to see me again or would you rather delete this all from your memory?" No no no. "Of course I want to see you again. This...job...was something I'll never be able to forget but it wasn't that traumatizing, I am not going to push back anything." Crap, forgot what I wanted to say, she thought. "I was just thinking that I don't know anything about you. How would I ever know if you were in Paris?"
"Believe me, Ariadne, if I was in Paris and wanted to find you, I'd find you."
"Well are you going to?"
Ariadne felt her heart stop and then start stammering as Arthur leaned forward in his chair, looking intently into her eyes, saying "Yes" as if to assure her everything in this world. And that was it. They went back to staring at their own random spots. With a little more sparkle in their eyes.
The next thing she knew was feeling a wind blowing into her face. A quarter of the passengers had left, they were about to close the doors to leave London. She never got to say goodbye.
Taking the suitcase determinedly into her hand and putting it next to the door, she went to the shower to clean up. As the water made its way through her hair and unwinded the knots in her, she thought about the other encounter she had had with Arthur:
It had been 2 months. She was still hopelessly obsessed with the fact that he would return to her. If he didn't feel anything, why was he more open to her than anyone else? Or the kiss they shared, was it all in her head? All she knew for sure was that she had fallen. She still had friends though. Ones that invited her to a pub that night and she happily went. But it was very boring when one of the girls hooked up and the others danced, she hated dancing.
So she finished her beer and started walking back home. And that's when she saw a familiar figure on the other side of the street. A man in a suit sitting on a stone wall, a woman in a red dress standing on the street. They were having a good time, obviously. That kind of a time where one look was enough to know where it was going to end up later in the night. She blinked but the image didn't change much. "If I was in Paris and wanted to find you, I'd find you" played in her head. It was true. He hadn't felt a thing.
Feeling lucky she hadn't been noticed, Ariadne turned on her heel and paced away, not feeling the stare of two intense brown eyes on her back.
She ended up turning on her stereo in her apartment and laying on the floor with rum.
"Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me"
How lame was it that she would listen to a song that was actually titled to be for 17-year olds. She was 23. Yet it hit jackpot.
Ariadne stepped out of the bathroom with her hair curled. It took a long time to look this nice, she figured she could do this effort for once. Going to a hairstylist would have just been too much. Smiling to the mirror, she zipped up her red-green dress. Only graduation to go and then she would be on her way.
Only graduation. One of the happiest days for some of her classmates but not that much for her: sure, she was happy to have made it, with such good grades to top it with. However there was nobody coming to see her graduating. Her parents weren't really that wealthy to take a one-event journey to Paris and she couldn't just send them the money – it would have been really suspicious. Her sister lived in Madrid but was on a holiday already. Most of her friends were graduating alongside her and the others – weren't really that close.
Yeap, heels would be fine. She knew how to walk in them but preferred the comfortable flats in everyday life. But there was no denying that she looked better in the heels. She could make herself into the pretty she would like. Her day.
Sitting on a chair in the grass was very relaxing. Ariadne had managed to reach her diploma without a stumble and was very pleased. The open-air ceremony was very nice and she would enjoy the memory of it on her flight a few hours later. Besides, a friend's parents had taken a few pictures of her as well so she had something to send to her parents.
And suddenly everyone was up and slowly spreading in the small courtyard. All the graduates had managed to get some flowers in a few minutes and were now forming small groups with their families, friends, loved ones. She decided to take a last look at her school before a small "Hey" came from behind her.
She turned around to see Arthur with his head tilted to the side. A small smirk on his face. In a suit. With a beautiful arrangement of yellowish and orange flowers. Before any memory from the last six months could come back to her, a smile floated on her face and her heart was slightly off its normal pace. And then she remembered. "Why are you here?"
"I told you I would find you"
"Six months later? Really, I thought you were speaking of a week or two... Not half a year. What changed?"
"Ariadne, in order for me to come to see you, I had to take care of everything that was haunting from my past. Mine, and Cobb's too, we'd got a lot of trouble but I took care of it all. Many jobs, many negotiations etc."
It took her by surprise. Would anyone do that for her? "Arthur, I saw you in Paris"
Arthur lowered his head slightly, nodding. "I'm sorry. It was a part of a job. Nothing really happened that night but I didn't want to come to you either."
"I know"
"No, I don't think you do right now. Don't you see it? I wanted to be with you so badly, it hurt me. But I knew I could never cause you any harm, I wouldn't ever forgive myself. So I needed to clear everything that could have been cleared. Old feuds, messed up jobs, everything. Only for you"
If her heart wasn't about to explode, it was now. His words, she was still taking them in but something in his eyes made Ariadne want to melt, not just melt anyways but melt in his arms. So she ran over and threw her hands behind his neck to see if he would hold her.
He would. And as soon as her hands locked behind his neck, their lips locked as well. It only took a few seconds before a flame burst out in both of them and suddenly their kiss was more passionate than anything either had ever felt. She felt his hot breath in her mouth and was still in shock. Is it possible really that she would walk out of there as a true winner. She smiled against his lips and he pulled back slightly. She didn't even have time to frown before he pulled the flowers from her back and whispered a soft "Happy graduation!" She smiled and smashed her lips against his again, knowing very well that there was a number of graduates watching it in disbelief and, what was it?, jealousy.
They walked towards her apartment in the dark streets with their fingers interlocked. They had been in her favourite pub, drinking a few beers and eating a bit. Suddenly they were in the elevator with their lips on each others' again and the next thing she felt was her own apartment door against her back as she dug in her bag for the keys, all the while Arthur kissing her neck softly.
And then they were in her living room with Arthur's lips on her collarbone which made her go crazy, her lips found his again and suddenly they felt their clothes were in the way of everything.
The suit was long gone and so were her heels. She fiddled with his shirt buttons while his fingers were slowly pulling on the zipper of her dress. When her dress fell to her feet, she tripped and made them both fall down on the fluffy carpet and laughed sincerely. She would have him right there, on the floor where she once cried over him. The tables had turned now, she belonged to him and she wanted to have him in return. He pinned her by holding down her arms and she knew she had never wanted anything more in her life, wishing Arthur felt the same way.
And later they still laid on the floor, in the soft carpet, under a blanket she had pulled from the couch. He reached out his hand and interlocked their fingers. It was at that moment when she remembered something. "I've got a plane ticket. I should leave in half an hour to reach it in time" she whispered.
Arthur looked very taken aback. "Don't go."
"Shouldn't I? I mean... I'm obviously quite helplessly in love but then again how am I supposed to know you won't be striding out of here the moment a new job comes up?"
Ariadne didn't even have time to think about her words when Arthur had moved closer. His hands were cupping her face now and his eyes were crazily intense. "Do you love me really?"
She was surprised, she didn't even intend to say it out to him, perhaps her subconscious was saying something. Like, don't let this opportunity slip...or something like that. She closed her eyes and whispered "Yes". Because it was true, so true, so very true and she knew it.
Arthur hadn't changed his position. "I am not going to take any more jobs. These past months really made me resent it all, though I'm willing to bet that at some point I'm still going to miss it. I wouldn't take a job because of the money – I have enough to support myself for three lifetimes. Not because of the thrill – I wouldn't want to work with anyone else than my friend Cobb and I don't think I'd trust any extractor this much. Not for the joys - because if I have you, I wouldn't trade reality for anything. I love you too."
And there they were, lips locked once again. He put his tie back on in the morning and she wrapped up her dress. Watching each other with the eyes of people in love. You see it a lot in the world but it's different for everyone. And they were special, she would bet on it. She would bet on it especially when she wore the same dress on his birthday 3 years later to a dinner they had alone in a tranquil night, a dinner from which she returned with a new ring on her finger.
Author's note: Thank you for reading. I am well aware that they are out of character and I apologize for that. Also I apologize for any spelling mistakes I might have here, English is not my first language but I tried my best checking it over.
I hope you review! Thanks!
PS. The song, which's lyrics I used is "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" by Broken Social Science.