A/N: Truth be told, this all sounded much nicer in my head. I'm trying my best to...not make this like the Dreamlord episode from Doctor Who. Really trying (and I think I might have just revealed a bit more than I intended, but no worries-constant revisions going on. Sorry for the sort of late update; lots of total scrapping for this one

A bit of a side note: I honestly believe that Dom and Mal were, in a word (or two), soul mates. Two halves of a whole as Mal put it. They were the love of each other's lives and it's rather difficult, in my opinion, to push aside all that and have Ariadne "fill that gap". So...don't expect too much fluff. I'm a romantic at heart and enjoy the happy endings, but when it comes to writing, I am not the kindest person when it comes to love.

"Do you remember?"

"What, Ariadne?"

"I'm sorry, I must sound stupid."

"No, no…what is it?"

"You told me something once…in a dream."

"What did I say?"

"You told me to take a leap of faith."

"I did?"

"Yes, and I listened."

"So…will you come back?"

"Dom, did I ever tell you…"

"No…no, please."

"To take a leap of faith?"

"Dreams, even the most vivid ones, are often only half remembered. Something deep inside tells you that it happened and, consciously, you know it did because you were there. But, subconsciously, you are aware that where you stand now is reality and where you were in that half remembered dream is just that: A dream."

"I'm sorry…I'm not sure I follow."

They were sitting at that café; like the one before. Only, it was the real thing. Dom had always said that it was best not to recreate from memory, to only use the smallest details. Maybe an entire street corner wasn't bad.

"When you sleep, Ariadne, what does it feel like?"

"What…I…."

"Tell me. What are you thinking about right now?"

Reluctantly, Ariadne spoke, afraid of admitting the truth, "I'm thinking…how this is all really a dream…and that you're not here right now. That you're just a projection: The best that I can do."

"And when you wake up, what will you think?"

"That it's better to dream than to be awake."

"But what if you finally did stay in your dream world."

"What do you mean?"

"If you choose to live a dream, you'll never be able to dream again."

"Would I have to?"

Just as Dom moved to respond, Ariadne collapsed again.

"God dam—"

Once again, the onlookers in the café stared at him, watching him fumble around with Ariadne's limp body; he felt like a criminal. Thankfully enough the same waiter from before found it within his heart to help Dom chase down a taxi. Once a Dom placed a generous tip on their table, he was off, trying his best to remain unperturbed by the curious stares of suspicion from the cab driver.

Thankfully enough, Arthur was ready waiting for him outside the workshop.

Ariadne woke up with suddenly and half remembered her dream. She proceeded with her routine of reaching over to her dresser for her chess piece and affirming her reality.

She didn't move for another half hour, allowing the afternoon to fade away. She contemplated going back to sleep, extending her nap, but was afraid of going back and losing reality.

As the clock continued to tick by as slowly as it could, Ariadne sat up. The minute hand began its trek to the top of the hour and Ariadne saw that it would soon be four o'clock.

She then fully remembered that she had to meet someone and ran out the door without ceremony. The clock continued to tick away slowly, but surely.

Time was passing.

"Again? Maybe you should stop having these mini-dates with her. Or at least quit going to that café; people are going to start thinking you're a serial date rapist or something."

"With the same girl on the same day?"

"A persistent one."

"But—that's beside the point."

Bemused, Arthur turned away from Cobb to look at Ariadne asleep on the lawn chair. Her breathing was steady and she didn't have a fever, just like last time. They had just brushed it off as a simple case of not eating breakfast. It did, although, sound a bit ridiculous considering she had collapsed in a café which, Arthur presumed, was full of food. Cobb had presumed the same thing and had his curly fries packed to-go which Ariadne, upon waking up, ate all too happily. Arthur had never realized Ariadne was so fond of curly fries.

She had, almost immediately, asked Cobb out for lunch. She acted as if the incident just a few hours had not happened at all. Cobb, in his mutual suspicion, indulged Ariadne who seemed inexplicably happy to see them—no, him.

And they left Arthur alone, only to return a short hour and a half later in the same state as before.

"Was she acting weird again?"

"Yeah…"

"What'd she say?"

Cobb crossed his arms, knitting his brow in confusion and contemplation. He wished he had heard wrong, that he was thinking too much into it, that Ariadne was just fooling around—trying to be funny. He shut his eyes, squeezing his lids together, hoping it would change something—anything, but he opened his eyes and saw the undeniably reality and swallowed the all too familiar lump in his throat.

"She…she thinks this is all a dream."

Arthur's mouth fell open and he tried to speak, but knew better. He shoved his hands into his pockets and tilted his head up slightly, looking up at the ceiling in though before allowing his eyes to travel down, looking at Cobb and then Ariadne. Lowering his head, he waited.

"I don't know what to do, Arthur. It doesn't make sense. When she said that, I thought that maybe I'd done it again; altered her sense of reality. And maybe I did. I brought her into this world—no, not world. Just—"

"Cobb, it's okay, we'll—"

"No, Arthur, it's not. She could do something incredibly stupid and it might just be my fault. She thinks this, this right here—us—she thinks it's all a dream. And for some god damn reason, she thinks her dreams are real—she's dreaming right now and she thinks it's real."

"Then why don't we just go in and get her back?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Why?"

Rubbing his neck, Cobb struggled to find the right words. He looked down at Ariadne and wondered where he had gone wrong.

"I sort of indulged her at the café; I didn't want to scare her. I acted like she thinks I would…I think."

"What do you mean?"

Shrugging, Cobb replied as nonchalantly as possible, "Well, she might just be insane."

Ariadne ran as fast as she could across the bridge, trying her best to avoid bumping into anyone and the stares while simultaneously averting her eyes from everyone. It was a habit she had picked up ever since her first experience in shared dreaming; Ariadne had never found sidewalks more threatening.

Thankfully enough, Arthur was waiting at the end of the bridge.

"Why did you try so hard, Ariadne?"

"What do you mean, Dom?"

"When we first worked together, you tried so hard with me. Why?"

"Because I was worried about you…the team…your kids, even."

"But why?"

"Because they need a father."

"But I needed their mother."

"Dom,"

"And in my dreams, I had her."

"But you had to let her go, the guilt it…it was killing you—"

"And I loved her—I still do. And I miss her so much"

"Dom, please."

"And it's more than I can bare."