Authors Note:

Oh my... I just want to thank everyone for all the amazing reviews I have been getting. I am so happy you all like the story.

Please continue to review. I love every single one of them and if I haven't thanked you yet, I am getting to it.

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Chapter 3

Breakfast lasted slightly longer than anyone had anticipated. Random conversations of anything from clothing to school were big topics with the children and Dom. But even as he spoke and laughed, he couldn't help but try to understand why Ariadne had to use her totem to check if this was real life or not. He needed to speak to her about it.

"I've really got to change my shirt." Cobb announced at the end of the meal. He raised himself off the chair and then bent down to kiss Phillipa on the forehead "I'll be right back." He softly spoke the sentence, as if it had an alternate meaning. Which it did. He would never leave his kids again. He would never disappoint them for a second time.

Before he left, he took a slight look at Ariadne who was helping James color a picture of a cat. He smiled at the paper. A blue cat? His son really had a wild imagination. He smirked and then left the kitchen area, not another word uttered.

"You are really great at this, you know that?" Ariadne looked down at James who was smiling, and staying inside the lines as he colored.

"Can I color too, Ari?" Phillipa asked, moving her chair closer to Ariadne.

"Of course you can." Ariadne got another piece of paper from the center pile on the table and handed it to her.

"I don't know what to draw." Phillipa bit down on her lip, while picking up a red crayon.

Ariadne was about to suggest an idea when Phillipa shook her head and interjected "Oh. I know what to draw!" Ariadne chuckled softly and then continued to help James with his art work.

"You know, you are very good." Miles said loudly, making Ariadne look up. "You are very good with children is what I meant to say," he continued, explaining exactly what he meant by his compliment.

Ariadne smiled slightly and shrugged, not knowing exactly what to say in return. She whispered a thank you to him and went back to help James.

"Ariadne?" Cobb's voice called from behind her. She looked back to see an empty hallway and then asked "Yes?" just as loudly. Dom's voice grew quieter as he shouted from his bedroom "Could you come in here for a second?"

Both Ariadne's and Miles' eyes widened at the question. She looked over at Miles who was thinking the exact same thing as she was: what could he possibly want from her, in his bedroom?

She got up from the table and walked out of the kitchen slowly, her iris' taking in the hallway. It looked exactly like it had from Dom's memory.

"What is it?" She called out once more, the nerves heightening along with her pitch.

Dom's voice suddenly sounded more muffled as she reached the bedroom door. "Just come in."

And when she did, she found something that she was definitely not expecting. Cobb was holding a large black bag in his hands. He half smiled and asked curiously "Do you also do laundry?" Ariadne laughed at his question and then she nodded realizing that this man needed her help a lot more than she thought.


"Okay, so you separate the whites from the colors first…" Ariadne explained as her actions mimicked her words. Dom watched her for a second, smirking. It was now the afternoon and they were at nearest Laundromat to the house.

The truth was, Cobb knew how to do laundry. He had been doing it by himself ever since he was thirteen. He just really needed to get Ariadne away from the kids so that he could talk to her without being worried about their curious ears.

Cobb nodded and lied "Okay, so what next?" Ariadne chuckled and placed the clothes in the washing machine. "Set it for about twenty minutes and you should be done."

"That's it?" Cobb lied pretending to be slightly shocked.

"Yup. Now all we have to do is wait."

Dom nodded and realized that this was the perfect time to talk to her.

"Thank you."

Ariadne looked at him strangely. This was the second time he had said thank you to her without being specific. She sat down on one of the empty bins and said "Cobb… could you be just a little more specific?"

Dom chuckled lightly and sat down beside her on one of the empty bins next to her. He sighed and mumbled "I just wanted to thank you for…. well, everything."

"Everything?" Ariadne questioned, turning towards him. His eyes caught hers and there was a sudden silence in the room.

"Yes. Everything." And with that one word, Ariadne knew what he was thanking her for. She just smiled and looked down at the dirty floor of the Laundromat.

"Now," Dom started, tapping her left arm with his fingers, "is there something that you want to talk to me about?" Ariadne shifted away from his touch and shook her head.

"Ari…" he breathed softly and then continued "I saw you using your totem today." Ariadne looked back at him, and he leaned slightly closer to her, trying to make her feel more comfortable. But the only effect that had on her was the opposite. Her stomach churned as his blue eyes stared her down, waiting for the truth.

"I just wanted to make sure. That's it."

"Is that it?"

"Yes." She suddenly got up and leaned against the washing machine in front of him, before asking, "I think the more important question here is… how are you dealing with all this?"

Dom didn't answer for a second. He knew that she was lying. He had spent years perfecting the art of deceit. But he decided that there was always enough time to talk to her about it. Plus, he didn't mind talking to her. In fact, he actually liked talking to her.

"Fine. I mean, I'm just happy to be home." Dom's response was honest. He could be a whole lot better. He could have Mal beside him right now, holding him, telling him how much she loved him. But he didn't. Ariadne was in front of him.

Well, it could have been a whole lot worse too. He could have absolutely no one. He could have been permanently displaced from his children.

Cobb shook the thoughts away from his head and started to focus on the present.

"So, where are you staying?" Dom asked her, curious. He wouldn't let her stay at some hotel all alone.

"Arthur is letting me stay with him at his apartment."

"Oh." Dom didn't mean it to come out so blunt, but it did. "Are you going back to Paris soon?"

Ariadne frowned at the question. Did he already want her gone? She turned her back to him, no longer wanting to face him. She answered, "Not too soon. I thought that I would maybe explore the city."

Dom bit down on his bottom lip. He didn't know why exactly he was compelled to say, "I can show you around, if you want."

Ariadne smiled widely. Her back was still turned to him, thankfully. But she shook her head and replied "Well, Arthur already offered."

Dom watched her suspiciously. If he didn't know any better, she was trying to make him jealous. And for some strange reason, it was working.

Cobb knew the type of guy that Arthur was and it wasn't really the best that someone as innocent as Ariadne could be the next subject in his new study.

Cobb cleared his throat and muttered "I was going to take the kids downtown tomorrow, anyway. You could join us."

Dom was standing up at this point and he moved a few steps closer to her. "You know what?" Ariadne turned around fully and continued "I'll think about it."

"Good. "

And the laundry was done. Time had sure gone by fast.


It was raining really hard and the sky was a dark color that neither of them had ever seen before. They ran towards the large bridge that was barely fifty meters away from them.

"Where did this rain come from?" Ariadne called out to Cobb who was holding the laundry bag in his right hand. He didn't answer; he just kept running towards the bridge.

"Hey! Cobb! Wait up!" Ariadne yelled to him but he didn't even slow down a single step. And without hesitance, she tripped and fell to the ground; her body falling onto the muddy sidewalk. She could barely breathe through the humidity the rain was creating.

Ariadne tried to get up, she really did. But she just couldn't. Her left leg was hurting her so much that she was going pale. She kept screaming out "Cobb!" and suddenly, he came running back to her. He reached out his soaking hand to touch her cheek, while asking "Are you alright?"

She just shook her head and moved her left leg slightly. Dom understood the message and so he placed his arms around her while muttering "Hold on." And he lifted her up into his arms, carrying her figure as if it was weightless.

Once they had made it to the bridge. He placed her back down onto the ground and asked gently "Does it hurt?" Before Ariadne could answer, she was cut off by a voice from behind her that said "Oh it will!" Ariadne used all the strength in her body to try to get up but all she could hear from Dom was "Mal! Don't!"

And she woke up.


"Ariadne!" Cobb was shaking her awake.

Ariadne finally opened her eyes to see that she was in Dom's bedroom, laying down on his bed with him kneeling beside her. "What am I doing here?"

Cobb didn't answer her question; he just asked his own "Are you alright? I heard you screaming from the kitchen."

"I was screaming?" Ariadne asked. She was terrified now. What was she screaming? And what was she doing in his bedroom?

"What am I doing here?" She repeated, out of breath.

"You fell asleep on the sofa in the living room, after dinner. I carried you up here. I thought you would be more-"

"You carried me here?" Ariadne sat up on the bed and Cobb sat down beside her, while nodding.

"Cobb, what did we do today?" She had to know what was real and what wasn't.

Dom looked at her in a concerned fashion. Ariadne never acted like this. She was terrified. She was always so strong and brave… what had gotten into her?

But he answered, none the less "You helped me make breakfast and then we went and did laundry. You came back to say goodbye to the kids-"

"And they didn't want me to leave because they thought I would never come back."

"Yes." Dom agreed with her. She was staring at his face now. So, everything was real except for the rain incident.

"So, are you okay?" Cobb asked her, looking deep into her eyes. He didn't want to admit it but he was scared for her. He had never heard so many screams in his entire life. Ariadne nodded. It was just a dream she told herself. She wasn't hurt. It was just a dream.

"Good. Now, why don't you tell me why you were screaming my name in your sleep?"

Ariadne flushed, her eyes widening.

Authors Note:

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