"You were so nervous." Ariadne giggled.
"Believe it or not, I practiced in the mirror for a month before that." Arthur admitted. "I had no idea when I would get the guts to ask, so I felt that I had to always be prepared. I had no idea Cobb set it all up."
"I guess the whole team was fed up with our 'flirting.'" Ariadne agreed. "He told me to wait outside for five minute sand when I came in, you would ask me out."
"Who knew Cobb could be such a great matchmaker?"
"Not me." Ariadne said. "Do you remember when you took me to the ocean?"
Arthur smiled. "How could I forget? You were so happy. And that sandcastle!"
Ariadne laughed. "I may have got a bit overboard."
"A little? Ariadne, you went insane. Most kids build a sand hill with an inoperable moat. You made a human sized fort with a sand drawbridge, a moat, and a fence! Not to mention all the sand shovels and buckets you stole from-"
"I did not steal any of them! They were donated to the castle. An admission fee." Ariadne huffed.
"You made them give them to you."
"The toys were a necessary part of the structure Arthur! I needed them!"
"So you confess?"
"I confess that all of my ideas and hard work paid off, correct?"
"Ariadne, it's past midnight! Do we really have to be out here?" Arthur complained.
"High tide should be up son. I have to make sure the fort is secure!"
The two were stalking on the beach, looking like ghosts from a distance on the empty boardwalk.
"There could be serial killers out here."
"We've took on worse." Ariadne dismissed with a wave. "Together we could take them."
"Yeah, in dreams. This is reality." Arthur argued. "You know, anyone could have taken your castle. A hobo could be staying in there for the night."
"If anyone's in there, I'll kick them out. Unless they're a hobo and have no other place to stay." Ariadne stated. "There it is!"
She ran towards the massive fort, which continued to stand tall despite the waves.
"It really is impressive." Arthur admitted.
"I know. Look, the emergency draining system is working perfectly! The moat's even holding the water!" Ariadne squealed.
The duo stood in the doorway, holding each other and watching the tide ebb and flow.
"You know," Ariadne said, "this really is romantic."
Arthur shrugged. "If you take away the serial killers, hauntings, and legends associated with this place, then I suppose it is."
"Were you serious about that or were you trying to be funny?" Ariadne asked.
"How often do I ever joke? You know I like watching criminal shows."
"Yeah, to outsmart the criminals and such."
"Don't talk about them like they have no purpose. You watch them with me."
Suddenly, the waiter approached, two silver trays in his hands. "Dinner is served,"
Cobb and Eames stood impatiently at the proposal destination. All the preparations were complete, so there was nothing left to do but wait for the happy couple to arrive. "I can't believe it's only ten." Eames complained. "Knowing Arthur, he won't be here until eleven thirty on the dot."
"Only one more hour of torture. Then all of your work will pay off." Cobb said with a smirk.
"It's about time too! You know I deserve the credit for bringing them together, with me asking Ariadne out and such. With no help from you too! You almost broke them up!"
"I got the together."
"Oh please. Arthur never would have asked if I hadn't asked first."
Cobb shook his head, choosing to ignore the remark. "Arthur did an excellent job of mapping out the proposal."
"Oh yeah. He's taken at least four months picking out the ring, three months on the speech, and one phone call for the set up. If only Ariadne knew how much work he put into it all."
"The ring preparation was a bit much." Cobb said, thinking about his elaborate scheme.
"How am I supposed ot propose if I don't know her ring size and rock preference?" Arthur argued.
"You have got to be kidding me. Cobb! Please help me!" Eames yelled.
"Eames has a point. You just can't ask Ariadne about rings and not expect her to catch on. You need to guess."
"But what if I guess wrong?"
"She's not going to reject you over a poor ring choice." Eames teased.
Arthur glared accusingly at him. "How do you know?"
"Relax darling, I know exactly how to get you the best ring without Ariadne knowing a thing."
"That smile makes me nervous Eames."
"Just give me a week."
One week.
"This is a horrible plan." Arthur said. "I feel bad."
"Come on. She's already sedated. It's too late to go back now." Eames said, pulling out an IV.
Arthur gently put the needle in Ariadne's arm and stared, wondering how mad she would be if she caught them, when a hair brush flew across the room and smacked him in the back of his head.
"Eames!"
"Quit staring! She may be Sleeping Beauty but you're no Prince Charming. No matter how many times you kiss her she's not going to wake up until we go into her subconscious, learn her ring preference, get out, and wait for her to wake up!"
"Yusef's sedative worked like a charm." Eames said with a proud smile. "She hardly remembered falling asleep. We were so quick she didn't even realize she was dreaming."
"I did the same thing with Mal."
"Did she catch you?"
"Of course not."
"Well, Arthur was a bit disappointed that Ariadne didn't catch us in her dream, but to give her credit, we were so quick, she didn't even have time to process her dream fully."
Cobb smiled. "Well, in the end he did a pretty good job with the ring, especially after all the stressing out he did beforehand."
"But that speech..."
"He went a little over the top there." Cobb agreed. "The sentiment's there though."
"I suppose. The point's made, as long as it is, and it has the fluff too. I just don't think it's them. It needs some spontaneality."
"Is that even a word?" Cobb asked. "Arthur wouldn't approve."
"Arthur rarely approves of what I do." Eames said with a smirk. "I hardly need his approval. He could take my advice from time to time. He refuses to listen, even when I'm right. Do you remember the big Arthur and Ariadne fight last year?"
"Don't remind me."
"Arthur didn't take my advice then about their relationship. Refused to hear me out until the end of the week right before them made good."
Cobb shook his head. "They were sharing an apartment at that point, so Ari felt the need to stay at my place."
Cobb opened the door to see a sopping Ariadne on his porch. A blue suitcase stood at her side and the poor girl was fighting back tears even as they mixed with the rain and slipped down her cheeks. She flung herself at her mentor the moment he appeared, all boundaries down.
"What happened?" Cobb demanded, holding the young architect.
"Arthur," She choked out.
"Is he all right?"
Ariadne nodded. "We...had an argument and I've never seen him so...it was all over nothing. Just nothing. And then I just..." Ariadne stopped, hiccupping too much to continue.
"Come inside," Cobb said, grabbing her bag.
"One week. She was at my house for a full week, raging on and on to Phillipa about how nasty boys are, with the exception of me, James, Saito, Eames, and Yusef. Phillipa refused to look at the neighbor boys for three days afterwards, until they brought her some flowers."
Eames laughed. "Arthur didn't even stay in his apartment. He stayed with me because he thought Ariadne would want it! It was worse than having a teenage, hormal girl around the house."
"They're quite the pair, aren't they?"
"Amen! Before Ariadne, Arthur was so insufferable, but now he's slightly tolerable. She's the best part of our stick in the mud."
"Ariadne needs Arthur just as much as he needs her. Do you remember when Arthur went missing? She just about lost her mind." Cobb pointed out.
"Well it didn't help that you pulled protocol plan loss and forbid us from communicating. She was alone, searching for Arthur for two weeks before we all came together."
"It was a necessary evil. We all have to follow protocol if someone goes missing to avoid any connection between us. I didn't expect her to fall so far."
"Ariadne darling, you need to eat. You're losing too much weight." Eames said gently.
"Since when was that a bad thing?" Ariadne joked, focusing on the map of Arthur's last whereabouts.
"Since it gets to the point when it's unhealthy. Arthur's not going to like seeing you so thin." Eames said.
Ariadne's hair was beginning to lose its shine while her eyes were red and puffy from sleepless nights and tears. She had easily lost fifteen pounds in the past two and a half weeks.
"Arthur can tell me that himself."
"Ari, you've barely eaten in the past three days. You need to relax." Cobb said sternly. "We're doing everything we can."
Yusef handed the girl a sandwich, eyes pleading. "Please Ariadne,"
She stared at Yusef for a moment before grabbing the sandwich and taking a bite.
When Arthur was found five days later, the answer to his first question wasn't good.
"We tried to convince her, but she's a stubborn little thing!" Eames explained.
"She was just worried about you." Cobb said. "Just tell her how stupid she was so we can prevent this from happening again."
The moment Arthur stepped out of the car, Ariadne was running at him. Arthur met her halfway and he spun her around, giving her quick kisses. He was shocked at how light she felt after such a short time.
"You're alive." She breathed.
"You're lost weight." Arthur noted.
"It doesn't matter. None of it matters now."
"Yes, out little architect can be quite feisty if she wants." Eames said. "We can never make her do what she doesn't want."
"It took her a month to get back to herself. She still seems a little thin if you ask me." Cobb said.
"At least she wasn't angry or impatient like Arthur is whenever she disappears. All of us have went missing at some point. You'd think they would be able to cope better by now."
"He explodes while she implodes." Cobb concluded.
"Exact opposites, those two,"
Cobb glanced at the clock. It's eleven twenty. They should be here any minute."
"And in any minute you mean ten."
"Yeah."
"Finally! After all my hard work!" Eames yelled, jumping up in the air. "It's show time ladies and gentlemen!"
The last chapter, of course, is going to be the proposal! Thanks to everyone who reviewed- you guys give me so much motivation! I hope you liked it!