"That's a nice story."

Ariadne said after a while.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad it didn't happen like that though."

"What?"

"I'm glad we met the way we did, if there wasn't any dream share involved, you wouldn't be you and I wouldn't be me."

"But wouldn't you have preferred normalcy over glancing over your shoulder all the time? Living over surviving? Travelling over running?"

"High pathetically, all those things sound good. But no, I wouldn't have preferred any of those things, I prefer you."

Ariadne explained like it was the only thing she was sure of. Arthur kissed her and got up. He went around the bad and pulled her up, having her follow him through the room and to the massive window in the living room.

"The suns's about to rise."

Arthur whispered into her hair. They watched the sun rise together, and eventually, Ariadne fell asleep on Arthur's shoulder. She woke up when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

Arthur said into the receiver.

"This is the officer from last night, I think you should come back to the office with your girlfriend, sir."

"We'll be right there."

Ariadne sat up and yawned.

"Who was it?"

"The officer from last night, we have to go back to her office."

Ariadne nodded and got up to change. She put a pair of jean shorts that Arthur had found rather short when she had tried them on, which just made her want the that much more, along with a graphic tee that had a print of ghostbusters on it. Next, Arthur went to change, he put beige shorts on along with a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. When he walked out, they went to see the officer. They got many weird glances and when Ariadne briefly caught their reflection in a mirror, she saw why. Their age difference was much more prominent. She was dressed like a teenager while he looked like he was ready to go to a fancy summer club. She decided to shrug it off, who cared if they matched anyway?

"So what did you find?"

"There where many prints on the gun. Two sets which matched yours, one which matched the attacker's. We know you weren't lying because the placement of your prints suggest that you had been holding the gun by the barrel, although the other set showed that it was being held in attack. We have arrested the man and he will be sent off this boat by helicopter later today."

"Great."

Ariadne said.

"If you encounter anything else, please do not hesitate to call."

The officer said and they left.

"I'm gonna go to the pool again."

Ariadne said.

"I'll go too."

Arthur told her and they went to change in their bathing suits. Back at the pool, Arthur was messing around in the water when Ariadne spoke.

"Why did you go in the military?"

She asked.

"My parents died in the war, I guess it was a form of revenge."

"And did you serve anywhere?"

"Not at first, they were letting me finish school, but after a few years yeah, I fought in Afghanistan."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah. I saw some really horrible things, I guess it changed me for who I am today."

"Were you ever... Tortured?"

"Only a handful of times."

He said like it was nothing.

"Why did they let you go?"

"They didn't. They think I'm dead."

Ariadne gaped at the easiness in his voice. He said all of this the way you would tell someone about your day.

"Have you ever talked to anyone about this?"

"Never."

She decided to end the conversation there. They floated around in the water until their skin was all wrinkly.

"I'm gonna go to the spa later today, if you wanna come with me, you're always welcome."

Ariadne told him as she packed up her stuff.

"Of course I'll come with you."

He said as he towelled his body dry.

"I've never had a massage before."

Arthur said, rather nervously.

"Don't worry, you'll love it."

Ariadne confirmed as they entered the room with two massage tables.

"So?"

Ariadne asked an hour later, once they were back up on their feet.

"You were right, it was nice. I feel really gross though."

"Yeah, me too. I'm gonna go take a shower."

She said. They went back to their room and Ariadne went to the bathroom.

"You're coming with me."

She declared and left the door open.

It was two days later that they arrived in Bermuda and as soon as the boat stopped, Ariadne was up and getting dressed for the beach.

"Come on Arthur, let's go!"

She called from the door.

"I'll be right there!"

He said and arrived a second later. She swore she would never get used to him wearing shorts and a half buttoned dress shirt, it was as if he wasn't always trying to be dressed to the nines. He pulled down the aviator sun glasses that had been perched on his wavy hair and smiled goofily.

"You look beautiful."

He told Ariadne.

"And you look hot."

She laughed. He shook his head and they got off the boat. They spent the day at the beach. The rest of the trip went without a hitch. Arthur always had his hand resting on her his and never let her go farther than his arms could reach.

"Arthur, will you tell me where we're going?"

Ariadne asked, getting very tired of the tie he had put over her eyes so she wouldn't see there whereabouts.

"No, it's a surprise!"

He called, laughing. Soon, the car stopped and he went over to her side. She sighed as he reached inside and pulled her up. He walked her to the front door and knocked. Just before the door opened, he took the tie off of her eyes.

"Arthur, Ariadne!"

She heard her friend and mentor say.

"Cobb, hi. How are you?"

Arthur asked nonchalantly.

"Uncle Arthur?"

A small voice asked and barely a second later, two kids were pushing Cobb out of the way to hug Arthur.

"Hey you guys!"

Arthur exclaimed happily.

"This was the surprise?"

"Yeah. Are you happy?"

"Very happy."

Ariadne smiled.

"You didn't know you were coming?"

"No, he didn't wanna tell me."

Cobb laughed and invited them in his house.

"Who are you?"

Phillipa asked Ariadne.

"I'm Ariadne, pleased to meat you, Phillipa."

She smiled.

"You're Ariadne? I thought you would be shorter than that. Daddy said you were as small as me!"

Phillipa said. Ariadne shot Cobb a look and kneeled down next to the young girl.

"I think he was exaggerating. I'm not that small."

"You're uncle Arthur's girlfriend right?"

Pillipa asked and just before Ariadne could answer, Arthur put his arm around her.

"Yeah, she is. Do you like her?"

He said.

"Yes, she's very pretty!"

"She is."

Arthur smiled. James made his way toward the architect and just stared at her for a few seconds. Then he made grabby hands, signalling that he wanted to be picked up.

"Hi, I'm James."

He said solemnly.

"Hi James, I'm Ariadne."

She told him and smiled. He put his hands on her cheeks and laughed and then he laid his head on her shoulder and sighed happily. She rubbed his back and went to Cobb.

"How have you been, Cobb?"

"Better than ever. Actually, I'm really glad that you're here, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Would you want to be James' godmother? I see that he likes you a lot, which is saying something because after Mal, he hasn't liked many people. And I feel like you're the closest thing to a friend right now, except for Arthur and-"

"I would love to be his godmother."

She smiled.

"Great."

Ariadne sat down next to Arthur on the couch, Phillipa was watching cartoons next to him.

"I'm gonna be James' godmother."

She told him.

"I can see why."

Arthur said, looking at James' peaceful state in Ariadne's arms.

"You know, it took weeks for him to let me carry him without crying. And you, he just lets you like he's known you his whole life."

Ariadne looked down at the little boy in her arms and kissed his head. She vowed then that she would never let anything get in the way of this family, of her relationship with Arthur and their closeness to this family.