A/N: Like many of you, I had my mind blown away by the brilliant film: Inception. I've been a fan of Nolan's work for quite a while now and most because he thrives off ambiguity, much like myself. And while this little piece of fan fiction shall go nowhere near Nolan's masterpiece, I will not hold myself back anymore. :)

The only way this will be explained is through time and, hopefully, consistent updates (but who knows how long my fascination with this fandom will last?).

"I was once an architect, too."

"But how…how can you just leave it? Like it meant nothing?"

"I was an architect, but you're better than me; you're the best."

"It's not the same without you, though."

"I went too far; I went too far and now I can't dream anymore."

"We need you, Dom."

"Never stop dreaming, Ariadne."

"Please, come back."

"Regret nothing."

Ariadne jolted awake, wiping the sweat off her brow as she tried to calm her labored breathing. Dazedly, she leaned over and her hand fumbled over her dresser, searching for that chess piece. When her clammy hands made contact with the cold marble, Ariadne released a breath she was not aware she had been holding onto. She brushed her thumb over the tip, closing her eyes in relief. Placing the piece back on the dresser, Ariadne tipped it and saw it fall in the right direction.

But she was not as relieved as she'd thought she would be. And then, she understood him; why he had done it all. Sometimes, the dream was better than the reality and the reality served as the dream.

Minutes passed by and they felt like years to her now. Years in dreams felt like seconds. The illuminated day served as the perfect temporal prison, providing an illusion of freedom among the wide awake world. But when the sunset and the city slept, Ariadne would seek solace in her made up world of the endless and he would be there, waiting for her, sitting in that small café that looked so familiar but never really existed.

Ariadne turned her head and looked at the glowing red digits of the alarm clock. Two hours until the sun would come back to reclaim her. Two hours. How far could she go with those two hours?

Without regret, Ariadne closed her eyes and ran as far as she could with two hours.

She was sitting at the café again, not knowing how she got there. The waitress came by and set a cup of coffee in front of her and a plate of curly fries in front of him. Bemused, Ariadne raised an eyebrow at Dom and he fought back a smirk in return.

"Curly fries?"

"I like the fact that their curly."

Ariadne smiled and looked down at her untouched coffee, staring at it until the flutter in her heart passed.

"Do you ever feel like…like your dream is better than reality?"

"Everyone feels that way Ariadne. That's why they're called dreams."

"Have you ever thought of staying in a dream?"

"Always."

"What stopped you? How did you convince yourself to not…dream?"

"Dreams are never perfect. Surely, you'd think they would be, being dream after all. But there will always be that little niggling feeling of being unsatisfied. It's different for everyone since it has to do with the idea of perfection. Sometimes, perfection is not good enough, or too good, and you just can't live with it anymore. If it's not right in a dream, it can never be. But in reality, there is always a chance that you'll be able to find that perfection, or imperfection, and waking up is that leap of faith."

"Have you ever taken a leap of faith?"

"Every time."

"Then…is this a dream?"

"Am I perfect?"

"I—I don't know."

"Take a leap of faith, Ariadne."

Ariadne woke up with the sun and its reality blinding her.

"Then…is this a dream?"

"Am I perfect?"

"I—I don't know."

"Take a leap of faith, Ariadne."

Dom couldn't help but smirk as Ariadne looked back at him, perplexed at his ambiguity. He felt a little pretentious at times, but watching her think, trying to make sense of everything was, in a word, entertaining. He picked up a quickly cooling curly fry and bit into it, taking note of how much easier is was to get to the center of a spiral by simply cutting through it. The rest of it hovered in front of his face, between him and Ariadne, hoping that she would get some sort of clue.

But then, she collapsed.

He rushed to her side, calling out for help from all the bystanders who stayed seated, drinks inches away from their mouths that hung open from bewilderment. No one did anything. Dom tried desperately to wake Ariadne up, even going so far as to dump a cup of ice water on her face, but there was no response.

"Where did you go, Ariadne?"

"I did what you told me to do."

"You need to come back to reality, Ariande."

"I never stopped dreaming."

"Ariande, come back."

"And I regret nothing."