A/N This is my first fanfiction so constructive critisim is encouraged! No bashing please though. Thanks to SparxFly for inspiring me to try this out!

Disclaimer: I do not own this story, any of the characters, or the interesting concepts of reality, dreams, and the subconscious! I repeat I DO NOT own any of it. They all belong to the wonderful and super creative Christopher Nolan.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Ariadne sighed. This was pretty much as good as life got. She was lying on a beach, feeling the warm breeze blowing across the shore, and watching the most beautiful sunset she had ever witnessed. The horizon was streaked with striking shades of crimson that gently faded into some more subtle hues of pinks, then blended with pastel oranges and yellows. No, she thought to herself, this was neither your average coastline, nor your average evening.

Looking around, just as soon as she thought she had finally taken in all of the beauty one could possibly behold, something new would capture her already divided attention. The ocean had the bright blue coloring of the Mediterranean, but the waves were more like that of the Pacific. The sand was quite pale and had an unbelievably fine, soft texture. Further inland there was a huge rainforest which expanded across the entire island. There were tall hardwoods, vermillion ferns, leafy foliage, and brightly colored, exotic looking flowers. Yet, even with all of this natural splendor surrounding her, there was no sign that tourists had discovered it. No freeways overcrowded with mini-vans, no families staking out a spot to watch the day slip away, and no buildings in sight. She couldn't have imagined a better vacation spot if she had been dreaming…

"Helloooooo…. Hello? Ariadne, you there?"

Ariadne snapped out of her pleasant reverie. But she was greeted by a view just as enjoyable, if not more so. After "the Project", as she had started referring to it, she had lost contact with all of her old colleagues. Yusuf, Saito, Eames, and even Cobb had slowly but surely stopped keeping in touch. They had all been thrown together in a desperate, life-(or was it sanity) threatening attempt to recover Cobb's life, and complete an impossible feat. Inception. Now that was all over, and they had nothing left in common. They went to follow their own separate paths… except the exceedingly attractive man who strolled over to join her at their spot on the beach.

Arthur, who had laid down beside Ariadne to supposedly enjoy the sunset, wasn't exactly even looking in its direction. He was gazing over at his right, to his Savior. No, he stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Ariadne was NOT his Savior. More like his reality check. Literally. After the Project, he'd constantly been working. Sometimes spending less hours outside of his clients' subconscious worlds than he was in real life. He was turning into a workaholic version of Cobb. By spending time with him outside of his heists, Ariadne had given him something to look forward outside of the alluring draw of the dream world. It was refreshing. Hell, it felt great. Eventually he quit stealing from others' memories and dreams altogether, it wasn't like he had been doing it because he needed the money anyways. He had enough to last him a long enough time and if he ever he needed some extra cash he could pick up a casual small scale theft along the way.

With all of this extra time with Ariadne in the "real world", a tension somewhat stronger than Arthur had originally intended had formed between the two of them. And at this moment, with the two of them relaxing together on the gorgeous beach, he couldn't help but stare. Staring, staring, staring, staring… at her soft skin, her chocolate brown hair, the contours of her face, and her deep, knowing eyes… eyes, which were now staring back into his with a questioning expression.

Finally Ariadne couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you gawking at me? Did I get sand all over my face or something?"

"Wha- Oh… no, it's nothing… I-I was just contemplating something. Here, come with me, I think I just need to splash some cool sea water on my face."

It wasn't exactly a convincing explanation, but she accepted it. Recently Arthur had been acting slightly distracted, and she understood that some days were going to be better than others.

She took his hand and he gently helped her arise. Still holding hands, they made their way to the water. Just as Arthur was leaning down to rinse his face in the pristine sea water, she playfully splashed him and took off as fast as her legs could possibly carry her.

"Oh, it's on now. I'll get you for that!" He called after her, sprinting almost gleefully to catch up with his ambusher.

Soon they were in an all-out soaking contest, using any means they could to get the other companion supremely waterlogged. Grabbing, pulling, pushing, nothing was below either of them, neither one was going to give in. They were having blast, laughing and giggling the whole time. Then, taking him completely by surprise, Ariadne jumped on Arthur's back, causing him to stumble and fall, bringing his ambitious challenger with him.

She tightly shut her eyes as she could feel herself hitting the water and then- she was staring up at a smooth off-white surface. A ceiling? Ariadne found her clothes completely dry... she wasn't even wearing what she had been... She took in the rest of her surroundings. Queen sized bed with a fluffy striped comforter, shining bamboo hard wood flooring, expensive-looking black furniture, complete with a very masculine color scheme of various dark, neutral colors. It slowly began to dawn on her... they were back in Arthur's flat in London. Glancing over to her left she saw him, already taking the equipment out of his arm and very forcibly shoving it back into the briefcase. She sighed in dismay; she hated seeing him like this...

A/N Sorry for the cliffy, but it adds suspense. And yes my writing is slightly crude, but I'm a newbie okay? Review please! Any ideas you might have for the story are welcome. :)