FINALLY: The Epilogue.

Thank you guys for all the reviews and comments and everything. Its been so great to write this. I hope you guys like this last chappie!

As always Inception is the intellectual property of Christopher Nolan (:

It's just another night- another sleepless one that is.

She's learnt how to make sleeplessness her friend- no longer is it something she's afraid of, but a new normality for her after the whole inception experience. It has taken her two years to learn, to stop feeling afraid- and she thinks partly, the reason for her fears being gone is partially because she has someone to share it with now.

She turns on her side, a smile gracing her lips even as she looks up the handsome man, with perfect hair (even at bedtime) reading the papers, his reading glasses balanced symmetrically on his nose. She loves him. It's been two beautiful years; and even as she looks up at him, memories flood through her mind like a speeding train-most recently of all her graduation, him, Dom, Eames, Yusuf all proudly clapping for her, his eyes shining the brightest of all at her. Him meeting her parents; the old school manner he has which charmed her parents and caused her mother to pull her aside, whispering, "Ask if he has any brothers for your sister!" Them visiting his parents grave; that memory sobers her a little, how his usually stoic, calm face crumbled a little and how tightly she'd wound her arms around him to remind him that he wasn't alone- he has her.

But he's here now, and they have each other.

She smiles to herself then, a bemused smile, a tiny idea beginning to blossom in her head even as recent questions from the team at her graduation resurface in her mind. It's not such a bad idea.

She pulls the papers out of his hand and tosses it to the floor, ignoring his quizzical half-smile and she gently untangles his reading glasses (which she finds incredibly adorable) and places them on the bedside even as she rolls on top of him, kissing him deeply.

"I was reading that, you know." His voice is amused when they break away, but he doesn't sound unhappy to her.

"I know." She leans her head sideways then on his chest, listening to the way his heartbeat sounds, strong, alive and steady.

They both fall into a contented silence before she starts again. "So, when are you going to ask me to marry you?"

He starts a little then, his mind jumping to the small little velvet box that is currently pressing into his lower back through the plush fabric of his pillow and he tries not to look guilty (Thank God she's not looking at him). How in the world had she found out? Had he been too obvious? He clears his throat then, trying to seem unruffled by the question and as if it had never occurred to him before. "Which lady asks that of a gentleman?"

She smiles a little then to herself. That is so typically Arthur, and try as he might to sound totally nonchalant about it, his heart can't lie on his behalf and she can hear it speeding up where she's from. She thinks it's the best sound she's ever heard. She decides to be evil and turn up the heat a little.

"Oh," She laughs a little. "Eames was asking me that at my graduation." She can practically hear him making a mental note in his head to kill Eames the next time he sees the forger and the thought makes laughter bubble up in her but she represses it firmly. Now's not the time to give the game away.

"Oh?" She has to give it to him for trying so hard, to pretend it doesn't matter. Honestly, she doesn't know if he's going to propose but… it would be nice to know. Everyone's been asking her, and she hates giving that half shrug which is barely a response, let alone an answer.

"Yeah," She drags out her words, turning the screw a little tighter. "Yusuf got a little upset. Said that if he wasn't invited, he'd spike all our drinks with goodness knows what. And Dom said that we'd better do it quick before Philippa and James get too old to be flower girl and ring boy."

If he had been drinking anything, he probably would have choked on it and died. "Oh really?" He manages to say, while thinking grimly that he's going to kill the team for saying such a thing and jumping the gun before him. Really, you would think they were all marrying her, not him. He cannot hide the disgruntlement on his face now, but it is replaced quickly with a sobering thought. Why would she be asking such a question? Wouldn't most girls usually wait for the guy to ask? Unless… she wants to pre-empt him and somehow avoid getting married to him. His heart constricts at the very thought but he scolds himself mentally for being such a dunce; of course she loves him. And if there was any one she'd want to marry, it would be him.

She looks up at him then and she sees an altogether too-serious face and she feels regret and guilt blossom up in her for pushing him too far. She should have known. Of course he doesn't want to marry her; why would marriage be on his cards now, even with that new job coming up? She cannot shake the stab of disappointment that she feels, but she tries not to let it show. Instinctively, she reaches up to push another long, languid kiss onto his lips and his arms snake around her waist, such that he now rolls her onto her back and he towers over her.

When they break apart, she reaches up to push a hair that has escaped from his perfectly slicked back hair. "I was joking." She concedes quietly then, avoiding his eyes.

"What?"

"I was kidding. About the whole marriage thing," She smiles then, guiltily but she knows that her smile holds a sad tinge too. "Eames, Yusuf and Dom never said that. I was just… teasing you." His silence which she thinks, means his quiet anger at her, forces her to ramble on. "It's okay Arthur; I was really just kidding about the whole marriage thing. And I know you've got so much in your life now; let's just take everything slowly. Okay?"

He looks down at her; his beautiful Ariadne, his beautiful, brave Ariadne who says it doesn't matter when it obviously does and he knows then that in that heartbeat he wants to marry her and the quicker the better. He doesn't answer her question; his own ideas starting to take root in his head, even as he lowers himself to kiss her on her forehead, her nose, everywhere and finally her lips. "I love you." He says as a means to effectively end the conversation.

"I love you too." She yawns then and he rolls off her, even as she curls up next to him. "Just so you know," Her voice is becoming heavier and heavier with sleep. "I would have said yes."

She can't see his smile then, wider than it has ever been before nor does she feel the bed shift a few minutes later, as he gets out of bed to make a few phone calls.

She is awakened rudely, by the sound of her mobile phone ringing and blindly, her body still heavy with sleep, she reaches out for the phone on the bedside. "Hello?"

"Congratulations, darling! When did it happen?" Eames' unmistakable British accent travels down the line and she groans at the amount of pep in it.

"Eames? What in the world?"

"Oh hold on, Yusuf wants to say something." She hears that crackle in the background and suddenly the chemist's voice fills her ear. "Ariadne! I was so glad to hear I've been invited! If not," His voice takes on an ominous little note then. "I would have been forced to make my presence known, you know? Spike the drinks with a little sedative… whoa!"

She is perplexed beyond belief, and starting to get a little cranky now. "Yusuf, I do not know what you're saying at all."

"Oh? Hold on Ariadne, Dom wants to speak to you." Has the whole world gone invariably mad, she wonders grouchily. Is it some new inception fad to wake innocent sleepers up and babble about something totally nonsensical?

"Ariadne!" Dom's deep voice comes through loud and clear on her end, and she can hear the happiness in his voice. "I'm so happy for you and Arthur. And of course Philippa and James will be the flower girl and ring boy- I'd be offended if you didn't ask."

Those few phrases ring a somewhat distant bell in her mind- the conversation with Arthur last night. Is she still dreaming? Somewhat more awake now, she reaches for her totem on the bedside table and flicks it, watching it fall to the side. No, she's very much in reality. Just as she's setting her totem upright again, holding the phone with her right hand, something on her left hand catches her attention- and makes her breath catch in her throat.

It is a simple band, silver and she draws it closer for inspection. It looks vintage, intricate carvings all around it and it fits her finger perfectly. For that brief moment, she finds herself close to tears even as happiness, insane joy bursts out of her and she cannot decide whether she wants to laugh or cry. The door closes on her right and she looks up to see him, standing there, watching her with a smile that looks and feels exactly like hers through blurred eyes.

"Ariadne?" Dom's voice is puzzled now on the other line and she laughs then.

"Dom, I'm going to have to call you all back." Her voice is shaky now, filled with unspoken laughter. "Okay?"

She doesn't wait for a response but puts down the phone and jumps off the bed, running towards him until she collides in a huge hug with him. Her arms go so tightly around his neck and his around her waist even as he picks her up and spins her around gently in one circle.

When he finally lets her down, she steps back, brushing away at tears with one hand and looking up accusingly at him. "You still didn't ask."

He looks confused for a few minutes, before recognition dawns and his eyebrows go up in a silent challenge. "You told me you'd say yes."

She opens her mouth to counter that it's the principle of the matter, but before she can, he kneels down, takes her hand and she can barely believe it is happening.

"Ari," He smiles up at her, "I love you. Will you, please, please be my wife?" He looks up at her unabashedly, with all the love and tenderness that she's ever seen in his eyes and she nods, unable to say anything but so incredibly happy she feels like she might burst and he swoops her up in another tight hug that takes her breath away.

And she knows that this is forever. This is her reality.

And so it goes (:

Review one last time please!