A Simple Little Idea... That Changes Everything

After the failed Inception of Edwards, the Team returns to Tokyo. Arthur and Ariadne are engaged, but the events of Limbo still linger in the Architect's mind. The fifth in my story after "Dream, Bliss, Dream a Little Bigger Darling, and Dream on" First, lets review...

Cobb- The Extractor

Arthur- The Point Man

Ariadne- The Architect

Eames- The Forger

Saito- The Business Man

Yori- The Doctor

Sybil- The Control, The Teenage Girl

Hecate- The Chemist

Braker- The Australian Forger

Roy- The Australian Architect

James & Phillipa- The Children

Shin- Saito & Yori's son

Edwards- The Mark

Hector- The Mark's oldest Son

Paris-The Mark's youngest Son

Hagion- The Sanctuary

Tokyo

"The rain stopped." Sybil said. It was a clear morning as the Team stepped out of the airport. Ariadne felt a hand on her back and turned to see Arthur.
"I'll bring the car around" He said gently in her ear. She smiled awkwardly and nodded. Eames strolled into a patch of sun light as the three of them waited for Arthur.

"So I never got around to saying congratulations." The Forger said with a smile.

"For what?" Ariadne asked surprised.
"You and Arthur... getting engaged?" Eames asked with a raised eye brow. Ariadne shook her head feeling stupid.

"Oh yeah. Thank you." She said with a blush.

"It's been a crazy few days." Sybil admitted. "Were all a bit distracted."

"Cobb and Hecate will be back with the kids in the morning. " Eames said. "We can all have a nice dinner together." He turned to the Architect, Who was lost in thought. "Ariadne?" The Forger asked.

"Humm?" The Architect looked up, not listening.

"I was talking about dinner. Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, of course." She told them. Eames and Sybil gave her a hard look as Arthur pulled up in the car.

Yori had taken a red eye back to Japan from France to be with Saito and their son. The Australians had left the day of Edwards failed inception. Cobb and Hecate had taken a flight back to the States to get his Children and bring them back to Japan. The past week had been very stressful. The Team was not accustomed to failure. It had not been anyone's fault. Each Team member had done their job perfectly. Eames had surmised the Edwards (being a self made man) was to difficult to manipulate. Like Saito had been, Edwards was not one to be influenced. Eames and Cobb had thoughts about going after Hector.

"He's like a Prince." Eames told the Extractor that night over dinner. "He is in all the society pages. He is handsome and sociable. Nothing like his Father. He will be easy to influence."

"Were going to perform inception on Hector?" Sybil asked. They were all back at Ariadne's apartment in Tokyo. Sybil (a more accomplished cook) had prepared the dinner. "How will that help us?"

"Edwards listens to his oldest Son." Eames said. "In the dream I had ample time to study their relationship. Edwards admires his oldest son Hector, and sees his youngest as a very flighty womanizer."

"Shame you didn't impersonate Paris." Arthur chimed in. Eames laughed.

"We can use the market, like before." Cobb said.

"No we can't." Ariadne told them. They all turned to the Architect. She had barely spoken anything for several days. It was a surprise to hear any word from her not forced out. She shrugged. "The projections found us. Shot me." She said simply.

"With the sedation, you were there for two weeks, Darling." Eames told her.

"The market worked very well." Hecate agreed brushing back her long dark hair.

"I still was in Limbo." Ariadne said her cheek flushing.

"So what?" Hecate asked. "It faded away like a normal dream." The Chemist looked at the Architect. "It did fade away, right?" Feeling many eyes on her, Ariadne told the truth.

"Yes, it did." She remember little more then green trees, a rustic white house, a lake, Braker and children who's faces she never saw. Braker, remembered everything. He remembered the lifetime they shared in Limbo. In the short few seconds it took Sybil to pull her and the Australian Forger out, they lived together. They had loved each other. The children, who's faces she could not remember, had been their children. Children who vanished when Sybil pulled her out. Waking up had been a shock, and the horror of having that life slip helplessly away was even worse. Seeing Arthur again broke her heart and filled her with guilt at forgetting about him. Guilt for dreaming of a life with another man. Even if she remembered almost none of it. Braker (now immune to Hecate's Compound that protected them from remembering Limbo) had remembered all of it. Before leaving for Australia, He reminded her of their children's names. 'Tomas and Ava'. This information haunted her.

That night, Arthur and Ariadne were getting ready for bed. She was sketching her mazes again. It was her normal way of relaxing.
"Are you sure your alright?" He asked. She responded by reflex

"I'm fine." She said casually. He shrugged.

"I only ask because you seem so distant. Distracted." he said climbing into bed next to her.

"It's been a stressful few days. A lot has happened." She explained.

"Well, it's over now. Maybe we should take a few days off. Just the two of us." He suggested. He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She smiled at his familiar touch. She looked up into his kind eyes.

"That will be nice." She said sadly. He leaned in and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"What happened on the mission... wasn't your fault." He told her. "You did your job right. Everyone did. Some people, like Saito and Edwards, can't be controlled." He was brushing back her hair as he comforted her.

"I still got shot." She almost laughed.
"It killed me to see you there." Arthur admitted. "I finally can respect what Cobb went though, having to kill the projections of Mal." She nodded. Remembering the Extractor's struggle. "What do you remember of Limbo?" He asked. She sighed.

"Light, trees, a lake. It was very peaceful." She said honestly. "When Sybil woke me up, it just slipped away. I couldn't hold onto it." She said. He smiled

"Sounds like Heaven." He said running a hand up her leg. She nodded. She knew where his hand was going, what he was wanting. "I'm glad Hecate's formula worked." He kissed her passionately. Ariadne found herself pushing the Point Man away. She shook her head.
"I'm sorry." she told him. He looked hurt and concerned. "I'm not ready... yet." She hugged her arms to her chest. "I'm sorry." She told him. He rubbed her arm comfortingly.
"It's alright." He assured her. "When the time is right." He told her kissing her forehead. She nodded. Arthur turned off the lights and wrapped his Lady in his arms. Ariadne kept her back to his chest so he couldn't see her tears.