Authors Note:

Oh my Lordy is this long.

I hope you enjoy it.

Please Review.

I worked ages on it.

A Dream Within A Dream

Dom Cobb stood frozen upon the bank of the ocean. The musty water hit his clothed body as he steadied his slow breathing. He had finally let go.

He was finally free of the guilt that had forevermore been logged within his throat. But now, it had somehow vanished.

As he watched the sun set upon the evening sky of Limbo, he let his hands fall onto the cold water surrounding him. He took a deep breath inward, his fingers tracing the bits of sand out of his fingernails as he whispered; solemnly to himself "I'm free."

And yet, if he was so free- then why did he still feel trapped?

TicToc

"Find Saito," the phrase repeated in his mind. He had to place it upon a loop.

It was the only way not to loose track of reality. It was the only way to reach his real children and see their beautiful faces.

He had to keep moving and tracking his own footprints upon the sandy beaches of his subconscious.

He had forced the sun to burn at all times, so that his mind would not be tempted to sit and rest.

It had been this way for almost two weeks, and still no Saito, no rest but most importantly no shade of his ex-wife. Maybe he wasn't trapped at all-

TicToc

After two months of searching, his body collapsed along the beaches of his own shore.

He leaned himself upward, upon his knees, so that he could wash his face with the previously transformed clear water.

His mind knew the honest truth. He had all the time in the world to find Saito, but yet with every hour that had passed, he felt more lost to the world of Limbo.

He had even built himself a small cabin to live in, each time he thought he deserved to rest.

He sat down on the shore of the non-salted ocean water, peeling his shirt away from his body and then he sighed, looking up at the large yellow sun. It was so hot that sweat dripped down his face from his upper brow.

He wiped away the drop of sweat with his fingers, gliding them gently across his face and decided to finally turn off the sun, replacing it with its cousin; the moon.

As the moon fell upon Limbo, he aligned stars upon the sky; thousands of them sparkled in the night sky. It was wonderful.

"It's beautiful." A feminine voice commented from behind him.

He turned his head, surprised at hearing voices that did not come from his head.

It was Ariadne- she was dressed in her regular clothing of jeans, a simple blouse and a cardigan that matched to a perfect T with her red scarf.

He exhaled, standing up towards her as his lips flared "What are you doing here?" He moved towards her, her eyes widening as he continued, "It's dangerous for you to be here. Go back up to the real world." He wanted to yell at her, but he knew that she was back to assist him. He couldn't. It wasn't fair.

She smiled, ignoring him as she sat down into the water and pointed to the stars "You know-" she started, her hand fixing a loose strand of hair as she muttered "that kind of looks like 'Spica'."

He looked up at the constellation, his head falling in awe as he sat down beside her on the shore.

She grinned at him, her eyes transfixed as she said, "It's the only constellation that is hotter than the sun." She raised her eyebrows at him, her eyes wandering across his naked chest as she asked, "Did you know that?"

He nods slowly at her, embarrassed abruptly by his half naked form. Moments later, he placed his wet shirt over his body once again, his blue eyes peering into hers as he spoke "It's an odd thing to know-" he stopped there, glancing back towards the ocean as the conception hit his mind. "You're just her projection, aren't you?"

She shrugged her shoulders, her mouth smirking as she replied, "I'm whatever you want me to be."

He nodded at that, his mind crunching and pondering why he had thought her up. Maybe it was to keep him on the right track: the track towards reality and towards freedom. But he did not need her there. She would merely just be a distraction, at most. "I need you to leave."

He whispered the words to her, kindly, as if he did not want to hurt the shade of the young woman who had helped him with so much.

She grinned simply, letting her back fall upon the shore of the ocean as she murmured, "I can only leave if you truly want me to." The waves crashed against her and she giggled as the water covered her full face.

Dom understood what the projection meant. He licked his bottom lip and glared down at her, while saying "I can do this on my own." He looked back up at the constellation Ariadne had been referring to earlier and then spoke "You have to leave."

His eyes trailed back down to the area, beside him, where she recently was resting. But she was gone. He had succeeded. And yet- there was something inside of him that was saying that she would be back.

TicToc

Dom Cobb had decided, a few months later, that perhaps this journey was impossible. He had walked across the land that was within his sight range, almost four times. And he had not found one clue of the Japanese businessman.

It hurt him immensely, considering the possibility of failure.

If he killed himself now, he would awaken on that plane but be on the run once again, as soon as they landed. He would most likely be placed in handcuffs and carried off to county jail.

As he sat on the black sofa couch, he had built for himself in front of the steaming hot fireplace that filled the empty living room; tears began to fall down his cheeks.

Cobb knew that he was not a sentimental person. But to even contemplate the idea he would never see his children faces ever again, made his heart shrivel deep within his chest.

He covered his face, wiping away the few tears that fell from his eyelids. "You can't give up." A familiar voice uttered, a sudden weight shifting the couches soft cushions.

Dom removed his hands from his face and looked up to see Ariadne's smiling face in front of him.

She tilted her head towards the side slightly as she whispered, "You have too much to lose, Cobb."

He gazed at her face, the fire's dim light bouncing off her features as he spoke softly "I thought I told you to leave."

She could not help but smile at him, as she reached upward to cup his face within her hands "Perhaps-" she breathed "You want me here."

He tried to understand her. His own hands reaching towards the fingers she hand on his face to quickly remove them. "No." He shook his head, looking over at the fireplace.

She giggled, fixing her body upon her knees, in front of him, so that she could once again cup his face "You're right." She smiled, her hands falling towards his shoulders as she whispered "Perhaps you need me here."

"All I want is to see my children." He said the words honestly, his eyes blurring into her brown pupils.

The projection of the young architect nodded, her hands loosing their grip on him as she said "And you will, Dom." She raised herself upward while saying "I promise you."

She arranged herself back upon the sofa, looking over at the fireplace while asking, "Do you believe me?"

He nodded, his gaze transfixed on hers. "Yes-" he replied back to her inquiry, his eyes closing shut, trying to find peace in his sleep.

TicToc

He awoke to the smell of fresh coffee being brewed. His nostrils wrinkled at the smell as he stood up from the bed he had fallen asleep on the night before.

It had become somewhat of a ritual. He would wake up, in whatever house he had created for the night, drink a cup of Columbian coffee and then set foot on his never ending journey.

This morning was somewhat different, however.

"Good morning." She smiled at him, her hands holding two mugs filled to the brim with coffee. "One milk, one sugar right?" She asked, passing him the right cup.

He cleared his throat, his eyes wandering on her Beatles t-shirt and small shorts. He had always imagined Ariadne to love the Beatles. Perhaps that was why her projection was wearing such a thing.

"Thank you." He muttered to her, suddenly aware of how stupid he sounded thanking someone who was not actually present.

She took a sip of her own coffee, her tongue licking the mug as she relished in the taste of the sweet coffee. "I like mine just the same." She muttered, placing the cup on the kitchen table Cobb was now sitting at.

She turned on her heel towards the oven that his subconscious, apparently, had dreamed up while he was sleeping. "Sunny side up?" She asked and he, instinctively, nodded at her offering.

"I don't want to be rude, Ariadne-" he started, tracing the sides of the cup with his fingers as he continued "But what are you doing here?" He had tried, multiple times, to get rid of her. But she had always been able to fight her way in.

She laughed, cracking a few eggs onto the steaming pan as she answered his question with a grace in her tenor "I'm making breakfast."

He held his breath for a moment, taking a sip from his coffee as she asked "Is there something wrong with that?"

He smiled crookedly, deciding that it was innocent enough "No." He placed his coffee back down on the table while saying "Never mind."

"Could you get me two plates, please?" The projection asked, her voice sweet as flipped the eggs onto their spines.

Dom Cobb stood up from his chair, "Of course."

TicToc

He collapsed on the shore. His foot burning as he quickly removed his shoe and sock. He stifled a scream, trapping it in his throat as he traced the corners of the large cut that stung him.

Ariadne fell to her knees, seconds later, gasping at the injury. "What happened?"

He shrugged his shoulders once, holding in a moan as she used her small fingers to feel the edges of the cut. "I'm not sure." His nose twitched at the realization. His own mind controlled everything here. His subconscious wanted him to be hurt. But, why?

"Okay." Ariadne said, her eyes searching the lightened beach. Moments later, she pointed towards a small cabin that was located about twenty meters away from them. "Can you make it there?"

He lifted his head towards the hut. He shook his head, unsure as he muttered nervously "I didn't build that."

Ariadne chuckled, swinging her arm around his frame as she said, "This isn't the time for that, Dom."

Since when did she only start calling him by his first name?

She picked him up and he began limping towards the hut, pondering if he actually did create the hut or not. He was not sure anymore. "I'll put you bed and bring you some ice."

He shook his head, weighing himself heavier on her so that she had no choice but to stop walking. "No. I have to find Saito now."

"You need to rest now." She shot back, moving him towards the wooden cabin that required, apparently, no key.

Cobb shook his head again, his voice tense as he said, "I don't have time to rest. Ariadne, I-" he stopped dead in his tracks, a finger of hers falling on top of his lips.

She smirked at him "We'll go when you heal."

Moments later, she laid him down onto the bed. His eyes stared at his bare foot and his wound while he thought about the cause of such a thing. Ariadne sat down on the bank of the bed, her eyes glancing back to him as she spoke "I'll go get some ice."

He stopped her with his timbre, smiling as he laid back down onto bed while saying "Thank you, Ariadne." And she grinned back at him as his eyes closed to fall asleep.

TicToc

"Take this kiss upon the brow! And, in parting from you now, thus much let me avow-
you are not wrong, who deem that my days have been a dream-" Her voice was quiet as she read the words of Edgar Allen Poe. She turned to him, his legs laying upon her small frame on the couch, in front of the newly created fireplace.

She smiled, seeing Dom's eyes drifting closed.

"Continue." He muttered, his eyelids still shut.

She nodded once, her tenor uttering in a hushed tone as she looked down at the book in front of her. "Yet if hope has flown away in a night, or in a day, in a vision, or in none,
is it therefore the less gone? All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."

"It's beautiful." He muttered, his eyes still closed as he yawned.

She looked down at his foot; bandages wrapped the palm of it as she asked, "How are you feeling?"

He almost smiled as he replied, "Better."

"Then perhaps we should start walking again tomorrow?" She said, lifting his legs up and off of her so that she could stand up.

He nodded once, his body twisting itself into a sleeping position as he muttered, "Yes, we should."

He could almost envision her grinning down at him.

In his ears, he could hear the faint echo of her footsteps waking away as she whispered "I'll finish the poem tomorrow night." He had heard her decision and he was one hundred percent fine with it.

TicToc

"I stand amid the roar- of a surf-tormented shore, and I hold within my hand grains of the golden sand-" Dom Cobb recited this time to an almost sleeping Ariadne. She was resting, her body laying down much like his was the night before.

He turned to her, realizing how peaceful she looked and not wanting to awaken her. He raised her legs softly, holding in some of the pain that he felt from the bottom of his foot as he stood upward.

She shifted in her sleep, uttering faintly "Dom?"

He turned to her and asked quietly "Yes?" She still had her eyes closed.

"Stay with me." She scooted over slightly, patting the empty space beside her with her free hand.

He took a deep breath in, saying "Perhaps another night." He bit down on his bottom lip as a small frown appeared on her face.

"Okay." Her half-asleep form let the words escape from her lips. "A dream within a dream." She ushered the poems title unconsciously, her body hitting the extent of her deep sleep patterns.

Cobb half-smiled, bent down onto his knees and rubbed a few fingers over her cheek. "Good night, Ariadne."

He stood up, dragging his wounded leg behind him as he took a few steps towards his dormitory.

"Come back, Dom." Ariadne's timbre was steady as his head snapped back to view her. Her eyes were open this time, and she was tracing the sofa with her fingernails.

He bit down on his bottom lip, breathing in deeply as he agreed to her request.

He laid down beside her, as she adjusted herself so that her back was to him.

She had fallen asleep seconds later while he could not even remember how to close his eyes.

It was hurting him, deeply, that every time he closed his eyes, he would be afraid to open them just in case she was no longer by his side.

The realization terrified him. He couldn't sleep that night.

TicToc

"I think we have been walking in circles." She sighed, her shoulders suddenly slouching as she observed the long beach in front of her.

Cobb held in a cry of desperation. It had been eight months that he had been searching for Saito and he had still not found a single ounce of him.

He peered upward, at a few caves that resonated within the mountains. "Maybe he's up there?"

"In a cave, Dom?" She asked, fiddling with the cap of a water bottle she held within her grasp. "What the hell would a business man be doing in a cave?"

He inhaled, kicking a few pebbles on the beach as he replied the most obvious answer known to man "Living?" Or dreaming- he could not help but think.

Ariadne shook her head, opening her water bottle as she said, "Well, I'm not going up there."

"Why not?" He asked her, his tone too firm and too quick.

She glared at him, holding the water bottle tightly in her hands as she asked, "Do you want me to die?"

He almost chuckled at that. "What will that matter? You're just a projection of my mind."

She dropped the water bottle onto the sand, her feet stammering towards him as she asked bitterly "Is that what you think?"

"No." His eyebrows cocked upward as he continued, "It's what I know."

"Do you, Dom?" She asked, her arms crossing across her chest.

He looked down at her, his voice tense as he said, "You of all people know that."

"So, you won't care if I die?"

"Not at all."

"You wouldn't follow me up there just to make sure I was alright?"

"Never."

"Okay fine-" her tenor was strong as she walked towards the edge of the sand beach and towards the large hill that hung above it.

Dom Cobb watched her walk up higher, the cliffs getting sharper and smaller with every step she took upward. "Okay, that's enough." He said, fear starting to rise within him.

What if she actually was real? What if she had come back to try and rescue him?

She marched herself up higher, his voice raising as he yelled, "Please come down!"

But when she didn't listen, he sighed and muttered "Jesus Christ" in a loud timbre as he ran towards the cliff, climbing his way up it.

TicToc

"You can't do that to me!" He shouted, pointing at himself once his feet were firmly planted on the rock solid ground of the indented caves.

Ariadne was sitting in the middle of the dark cave, her brown eyes searching for his as she asked lowly "If I'm a projection, why would you risk your life to save me?"

He was taken back with the question. He stuttered out quickly "I-I don't know." He sighed softly, his eyes turning towards the opening of the cave as lightening struck.

"Looks like it's going to rain." Ariadne muttered, a smile almost appearing on her face. "Maybe you should make a fire."

TicToc

Cobb stared at the falling rain, accompanied by the natural sounds of thunder and lightening. Ariadne sat beside him, her glance just as steady on the storm as the fire cackled from behind them. "I'm sorry." He spoke to her, sincerely.

She turned towards him, shaking her head as she responded "Apologizes are not necessary, Cobb."

He flinched. She had not called him by his last name in so long. It felt tainted now. He sighed deeply; looking over at her as he commented "You know-" he paused, pointing to the swaying palm trees in front of him "Until I was ten, I was afraid of thunderstorms." He chuckled lightly as he continued, "I used to think that somehow the sky was falling and that the rain would somehow drown my house."

"That's horrible." She admitted, rubbing her hands around her body frame to try and keep herself feel warm.

He laughed, the first real laugh in almost three years before saying "Well, I was an odd child."

"You haven't come very far, then." She snickered, teasing him.

And he nodded at that, his lips curling as he muttered, "My point is: I used to be afraid for absolutely no reason. I would hide under my bed as if it were possible to kill me. I woke up one day and realized that its just water; nothing all that terrifying really. And now-" he looked over at her, sighing as he muttered, "I have to wake up once more and realize that I have no reason to be afraid and to give up on this journey. I will find Satio, Ariadne. Even if it does kill me."

She grinned at that, saying "Well maybe you don't need me anymore."

She stood up upon her feet but he caught her hand just when she was about to walk away, and muttered kindly "But I want you here." And she blushed, her body sitting back down onto the rock formation below her.

He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her petite body towards him as he said, "I noticed you were cold-"

They stayed like that for hours, Dom Cobb completely forgetting that he could have pictured her wearing warmer clothing instead. Well, his arms seemed to fit better anyway.

xxx

Ariadne's eyes shifted towards Dom Cobb's sleeping form on the aircraft. He was smiling and she couldn't help but wonder why that was. He only hoped that he had not once again been lost to Mal's projection.

'Come back, Dom' she thought. She wanted nothing more than to see those blue eyes once more.

TicToc

She had fallen asleep on his bed and he could not help but snicker. This had been the second night in a row that this had happened. Perhaps, she had been doing it on purpose. Perhaps the bed he had conjured for her was less comfortable. He sunk himself downward, placing down a poetry book that he had recently been reading to her and relaxed beside her sleeping frame.

He turned his body turns her closed eyes, licking his lips as he felt compelled to reach upward to place a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. He smiled as she breathed deeply, sighing out inaudible words. "I have to tell you something-" he started, his voice low as he continued to speak to the sleeping Architect "When Miles introduced me to you, I thought he was insane."

He wanted to laugh but he did not want to wake her. "But then, during your first lesson in dream sharing, I thought that I was insane for underestimating you." He smiled at her, stating honestly "If I ever get out of this place and I'm not in handcuffs, I want to work with you, permanently."

"But you can build on your own now." Ariadne's eyes flew open, his fingers still tracing the edges of her face. "You don't need me anymore."

He leered at her, lifting himself upward onto his elbow as he muttered, "I may be able to build, Aria-" he spoke the words quietly "But I don't want to if it would mean that I would never see you again."

"Will you stay with me tonight?" She asked, her eyes sweet as she reached upward to run a hand gently across his right cheek.

He nodded slowly, smiling lightly as his mouth curled while he muttered, "Of course." He curled up beside her; this time his arm hanging around her stomach as he said, "I'll stay as long as you want me to." And he hoped, that she would do the same for him in the real world as well.

TicToc

His head was laying down on Ariadne's lap as she read to him the finale of the Edgar Allen poem they had been trying to get through for months. This time, however, he was very much still awake and very much in contemplation.

She ran a few fingers through his gold locks and peered down at him "Should I go on to the next one?"

His eyes steadied upward at her as he responded "Tomorrow night." She shrugged her shoulders, throwing the book away from her and re-adjusting her figure so that she was flat on her back, inches away from him.

"But I was so comfortable-" he moaned and chuckled, referring to how he had just been laying down on her lap.

Her mouth smirked as she replied in a teasing tone "Well, that makes one of us."

He turned to her then, his head behind held up by his newly plopped upward elbow. He looked at her for a moment, his body heating as he asked nervously "You're not going to leave back to Paris, are you?"

She turned to him, gasping at how close his face was to hers before answering, "What do you want me to do?"

He looked down at her, his eyes rolling as he said with a frown painted on his features "Never mind."

He rolled away from her, shocking Ariadne to the core as she asked, "What's the matter?"

She sat upward on the bed, his back turned to her as he ran fingers through his hair. He had been a complete idiot all this time. He had gotten lost inside his own mind. He had-

"Dom, what is it?" She half-yelled, her voice heated.

He turned back to see her, her white gown hitched upon her legs as he replied back bitterly "I want to know what you want. Don't you get that?"

She gulped, responding shortly "I want what you want."

"I know that, Aria! I know!" He screamed at her, his tenor full of self-loathing as he shouted, "You're just a shade of my mind! You can't tell me what you actually want! This isn't real!"

His hand found the book of poetry as he continued "And this isn't either." He pointed to her then too, his timbre boiling as he stated "And you're not either!"

She stood up onto her feet; her hands reaching for his as she muttered, "Don't say that-" she paused there, his eyes closing as he interrupted her "I want you out."

She looked at him softly, her brown pupils filling with tears as she whispered "But I can't leave. You don't want me to leave."

She smiled, observing his closed eyelids as she continued, "You want me to do this." She leaned over, her hands crawling upward to cup his face before kissing him.

"No." He spoke softly, as her tongue ran deep inside his mouth. But she held him to her strongly, her lips caressing his before his tongue rolled inside her mouth as well.

"Aria-" he spoke, stopping the kiss. "I want it to be real with you." He shook his head at her, his hands falling over the flesh of her bare shoulders.

She smiled at him, her hands grazing his skin above his waistband as she whispered "Just this once-" she opened his buttons and kissed his bare chest, her tongue sliding down his body towards the zipper of his pants as she muttered "Make it real, Dom."

He looked down at her, as she pulled his zipper downward. There was no hesitation this time as she took him into her mouth. This had to be real- it felt too much like it could be.

TicToc

"You know that I can't give you what you need, right?" He asked her one-day as he traced her naked stomach with his fingers.

It had been almost a year later and life had still been the same. In the daytime they would search for Saito and in the night, they would make love. But he knew that she was just a projection and she would make do until he found find the businessman.

She smirked, holding his other hand in hers as she ushered out quietly "You are what I need."

He wanted to smile, he really did but he just couldn't. "You say that now, but what about when I wake up on the airplane. You'll be sitting there, probably fiddling through a magazine of some sort and I'll have this entire history with you here and you won't know a single thing."

She kissed him shortly, her tone refreshingly playful as she asked "Can't you just enjoy it, while it lasts?"

"I guess so." He breathed out. He looked down at her once more, his blue eyes peering into hers as he asked, his fingers dancing lower and lower before hitting a soft spot between her thighs "But what if I want more of you?"

"Then have more of me." She leaned backward as his fingers teased her. He nodded, dipping his lips down her body.

He tongued her and she moaned deeply; it was a sound that he was going to miss.

TicToc

He held a gun in front of her, ten years later. She was sobbing and he was holding in his tears. "You realize why I have to do this, don't you?" He asked, his voice cracking somewhere in the middle of the question.

She nodded at him, closing her eyes as she whispered, "I'll see you up above."

He cocked the gun, aiming at her head, as she spoke "Don't be afraid of me up there, Dom." He almost smiled at her as he pulled the trigger, closing his eyes, not wanting to look at the sight of her dead body.

But he did what needed to be done. He needed to find Saito and then to wake up to the real her. No longer should he be dreaming a dream within a dream.

TicToc

Dom Cobb opened his eyes. And he was sitting upon that airplane, no longer an old man filled with regret with a young man, filled with a new future in front of him.

He turned towards his right to find Arthur, smiling up at him.

He shifted his blue pupils towards the right once again, observing Ariadne sitting upon the large airplane seat reading a magazine about LA Architecture. She grinned at him and his mouth curled. He had made it back to reality.

TicToc

Ariadne smiled, observing the picture on Dom's cell phone of his two beautiful and blond children. "They look so much like you."

He nodded at her, leaning over the desk full of blue prints and sketches that they both had been working on for the past week, since the end of the Inception.

"I want you to meet them." He knitted his eyebrows at her, her face lighting up. "Tonight, if you don't have any plans, of course."

"My plans revolve around you and the crew, you know that." She smirked, her lips curling as she turned back towards one of the sketches and traced a medal door with her fingers. "I don't know anyone else here in LA." She paused, picking up a pencil and muttering, "I have to leave back to Paris next week. Maybe you'll come visit me sometime?"

He almost sighed, but he held it in as he walked towards her and stated, "I want you to be our permanent architect, Aria." He stopped himself there as he saw her expression had changed to one of complete surprise.

"I suppose that leaving Paris to come to school here would be a big change. But I think you could be rather-" he gazed at her face, a funny look striking her features. "What?"

She shrugged her shoulders and answered, "I've never heard that one before. I like Aria."

"I like it too." He said softly, his hand wanting nothing more than to reach out and touch her face. But it would frighten her- he could feel it. And it hurt him slightly to realize that.

He cleared his throat and said "But anyway, would you think about it?"

She nodded quickly, as the door in the abandoned warehouse flew open to reveal the entire crew excluding Saito.

They exchanged greetings moments later, before Arthur started speaking about their next Mark.

Cobb looked over at Ariadne for a moment and she caught his glance, subtly turning red as this happened quite frequently over the next hour.

"I think we need some type of writing- something of beauty but with hints of darkness. This time around we are dealing with a writer and he has to awaken in his own reburial subconscious." Arthur said the words, standing up near the chalkboard in the center of the room.

Cobb nodded his head once and spoke "A Dream Within A Dream' by Poe."

The crew looked at each other but Ariadne was the one to comment, "I've never heard of it."

He smiled at that, looking over at her with blue pupils as he said with a glow in his eyes "Perhaps I'll read it to you sometime."

And he did, the week afterward after he and his children played upon one of the sandy beaches near his home.

The next day she decided to stay in Paris to become his permanent architect even though she insisted that he did not need her anymore.

But that was a lie.

The next week after, when he kissed her, she realized how much a fib it actually was.

And this time, they were not in a dream within a dream and she was real; as real as she'd promise she'd one day become.

Authors Note:

My my, I have never written a one-shot this long before.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Please Review!