AN: You guys are too wonderful to me, I swear. Thank you for all your kind words and suggestions, I think I've finally figured out the site. I think my favourite part is seeing how people from all kinds of places around the world are reading these words! So hello, bonjour, hola! Here's hoping this installment lives up to the other three! xx Scarlet

She's back in the dream, having finally given in to the overwhelming temptation. She had designed this engine room at home, finally a place where she could give in to her deepest desires instead of hiding from them in reality. It was beautiful. Burgundy hardwood floors, impressively high ceilings, walls made of glistening black marble that was so shiny she could see her reflection. Long chrome workbenches, a dusty bookshelf that towered nearly to the top of the room, complete with a moving ladder.

There were small, circular windows all around the room at eye level, each one showing a different picture. One showed a cornfield. Thousands of pale yellow cornstalks against a brilliant azure sky. The next showed a place underwater. There were no fish, but instead thousands of flowers growing out of the bottom, waving gently in the current.

But perhaps her favourite part of the engine room had to be the grand chandelier that hung right in the middle of it. Thousands of crystal pieces jingled together, reflecting bits of light around every part of the room. Wrought iron pieces delicately shaped into an intricate, perfectly symmetrical design.

She had never believed in love, her parents had gotten divorced and in her opinion relationships were messy and somebody always ended up hurt. But kissing Arthur had made her think for the smallest of seconds that maybe she was living a lie.

It was here, she decided, that she would let herself experience the feelings she knew she was hiding from herself.

-x-

The days following the incidence in the storehouse were tough for Arthur, he was struggling to come to terms with the feelings he had for Ariadne. Unfamiliar to him, they stirred up fear and excitement and passion. He realized that all he really wanted was for her to open up and let him in.

She had been sleeping about an hour when Cobb pulled up, rolled down the window and grumbled for Arthur to get in. Not wanting to disturb her, he had carried her to the car. She had woken up briefly in the backseat and hazily given Cobb directions to her house but it was only minutes before they could hear her softly snoring once again.

That had been the last time he saw her. She hadn't shown up the next day for work. Or the day after that. Arthur had arrived eagerly both mornings, envisioning the two of them behind the closed doors of his office kissing for hours, brushing hands accidentally when they passed each other in the halls, sharing the smallest of shy smiles when nobody was looking.

But none of that was possible if she didn't bother showing up. He still held out hope, but after a week went by he began to realize, with a heavy heart, that maybe she wasn't coming back.

It wasn't until he had to stay late doing research that he heard the door creak open and saw a girl with long dark hair and a paisley scarf around her neck tiptoeing into the warehouse. He wanted to call her name, for her to look around and see him sitting there, but he knew to keep quiet. He knew exactly where she was going and as soon as she was there, without hesitation, he followed her.

He was mesmerized by what he saw when he entered her dreams. It was a million different dreams put into one place. Some kind of laboratory... or a garage... but there were no workers, no harsh sounds. In fact the room was nearly silent, but there seemed to be some kind of melody. It was all black, with the exception of a brilliant, vibrant chandelier that hung in the middle. She was standing under that chandelier, her petite frame bathed in the ashen yellow light.

He was too busy staring at her to notice that he was in no way hidden from her sight. She was walking alongside one of the work benches, letting her hand glide across the smooth chrome finishing, her footsteps echoed through the entire room.

He wanted so desperately to run towards her and kiss her under that chandelier, but he stood frozen in place. Even when she began turning around to face him, his feet didn't move an inch.

-x-

She was looking face to face with him. In the engine room. Somebody else was here; somebody else was in her dreams. Her heart pounded in her chest, who was it? He wasn't moving. Could it be Cobb? If so, she might as well kiss her job goodbye... could it be Eames? She shuddered to think what he might be up to at this hour of the night... that only left one possibility.

"Arthur..." she said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. It wasn't an accusation, not a question, simply just Arthur. "...what are you doing here?"

He took a step closer, letting the light from the chandelier hit one side of his face.

"I couldn't... I didn't... I..." he trailed off, "it's hard for me to explain, Ariadne."

She didn't say anything, just waited. She watched his eyes travel from the bookshelf and moving ladder, to the chandelier, to the circular windows with their spectacular views of other dreams. He took a sharp inhale of air,

"Why haven't you been here?" he shouted, sounding almost angry but more hurt. She felt her heart jump into her throat. She took a step closer to him.

"You don't know what you do to me, do you? You don't have a clue." She felt her eyes begin to water, "...you have no idea what it's like to be me and to look at you."

"No, Ariadne, I do! I do! You don't understand, that's why I'm here. I can't stop myself, I have tried physically to stop myself from thinking about you, from reliving our kiss in the storehouse... but I can't. I just, I can't."

He took another step towards her, she took one towards him.

"Me too," she admitted quietly, "it... it scares me, Arthur. To feel so much for one person. I'm vulnerable, I just... I can't let myself get hurt."

"Don't think like that!" he shouted, his voice breaking, he opened his mouth to say more but she was running towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him with such enthusiasm that he lifted her up off the ground and held her that way.

As they kissed, small bits of white began to fall from the sky. They broke apart for a moment, each of them looking up. Instead of a roof, they saw a strikingly beautiful night sky. Was it snowing? Ariadne was laughing, her eyes fixated on the small pieces that drifted down gracefully and were beginning to form small piles on the floor.

He held out his hand until he felt a piece drop into it. Holding it under the light of chandelier, he saw that it wasn't snow, but in his hand was a tiny paper crane.