Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter! I know it's been a long wait, for which I truly apologize, but I had some writing problems. This chapter is extra long as you might have noticed. Hopefully, it will make up for my absence. I needed to get some inspiration. Music helped me get out of my blockage eventually. :)

I'd like to thank everyone for being so supportive of this story and for being such great readers and reviewers. And I'm not just saying that (although I do sound corny about it):) I mean, this story is pretty convoluted, so I really appreciate you sticking to it. Wonder if I would've done the same thing. Knowing my lazy ways...

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And as always, let me know what you think!

P.S. Just a quick reminder; last chapter Ariadne went into the dream world to create a prison, similar to Cobb's, in which to entrap Mal. The new chapter starts from thereon.

If she had to be honest with herself – which she usually wasn't – she almost hoped Cobb would enter her dream, against her wishes.

Although it killed her to admit any part of it, she would have felt relieved to have him there.

This small part of her mirrored Cobb's own hope that someone would break into his mind and see and feel whatever it was that was driving him to the brink.

We always yearn for people to learn our secrets and rid us of our responsibility. Become unwilling accomplices.

Ariadne was just like everyone else, except that her kindness and care for Cobb surpassed her selfish need to be broken. Her loaded conscience prevented her from doing anything potentially harmful to Dominic.

It was like a cemented wall, a cemented wall cracked in several places, but a cemented one nevertheless.

Instant dread would engulf her if Cobb were to come through the wall.

At first everything would be alright. He would smile at her and ensure her that he had everything already planned and that he knew what he was doing. He was good at persuading her that he wasn't, in fact, contradicting himself. Time and time again he had proven that he was an emotional person.

It wasn't that she didn't believe him to be strong.

But Mal was his other half (like she had once told her – half of a whole – oh such a poisonous idea). She was that part of him that died and left him loveless. So Cobb was less strong without her – without his love.

Cobb would lose control again. That she feared the most.

He would lose the will to let her die again. You can't let your love die too many times. It gets to you.

Mal would then take him in her arms once more and she would promise him a better life with her, a better future. She would promise him love and comfort.

She would promise she wouldn't die if he stayed with her and the children...

Only, they weren't here...

No, this was her mind. Her mind.

So how would Mal promise him love in her mind?

For a moment, she felt utter despair, thinking that the two would, at one point, take over her mind in order to be together.

She would be at their mercy.

'No, I am crazy!' she suddenly yelled to herself, shaking her head.

When she lifted her head to see where the low whispers were coming from, she realized she was in the middle of a street. A car had stopped right in front of her. The driver had gotten out and was showering her with some colourful insults. The passers-by were whispering to each other, pointing at her.

Here was this poor young woman yelling in the middle of the street.

What caught her eye, though, was a man at the corner of this same street.

It was Professor Miles.

He was walking rather briskly, as if it was urgent for him to be somewhere. He didn't even look at her as he crossed the street in a rush.

He was wearing a nice, tweed suit. His hair was less gray than usual.

She stared at him for a good while – until he disappeared from her view.

She was sure she was in the dream world. But what was Professor Miles doing there?

She would have followed him, but she knew she had a task to accomplish.

She had to snap out of any personal lamentation and do what she was here to do.

Build the elevator.

First off, she had to find a building to her liking. She would incorporate the elevator in it.

But it was hard to choose. She was in Paris now – as she usually was in her dreams – and making an appropriate choice was proving very difficult.

Every building was a new window into another world. She would have wanted to discover all of them.

There was no time for that, however.

She felt – in her bones, in her heart – that there was danger around her. She felt Mal would appear soon – out of nowhere. She felt that not even in the dream world was time a luxury. Not now when a powerful, deadly, beautiful, enticing woman was just waiting to kill her again and again and again...

And why was she going to die at her hand?

Because she was so guilty.

She had taken Cobb away from her. She had taken her half away and had left her dead and alone. Without a single look back. She had shot her, aiming for her heart but only tearing her skin away. She had wanted her dead, unwillingly, un-admittedly. Not because she wanted people dead, God no. But because Mal was killing Cobb.

And seeing Mal do that to her love was infuriating and in a moment of fury and hopelessness, she had grabbed the gun and shot her, trying to make her understand that the key to love was selflessness – that if she really loved Cobb, she would let him go.

So she didn't really love him enough to make herself unhappy.

But, in fact, if she had to sink her feet in it, Cobb was the one not selfless enough to let himself go, to tear himself away from his beloved Mal.

His guilt was his pleasure. He had revelled in it. As long as he felt guilty, he had Mal to look forward to. As long as he was to blame, the victim would always be there, waiting for him at the other end.

He had changed though. She wanted to believe he had changed.

Because now he had his children to look forward to, so he wouldn't need his guilt anymore. Would that be enough to keep him away from his wife for eternity?

He wouldn't take over her mind in order to bring back Mal, no.

He would rebuild her in his mind – and this time maybe with all that she was, all the perfections, all the imperfections.

There was an irrational melancholy in her that made her wish she had met Mal under different circumstances.

An unknown hankering made her wish to have known her in another way. Made her wish she had known Mal as she was; a loving, intelligent, passionate, ambitious woman who happened to be an architect. And there was something else about her that Ariadne desperate wished she had known; she was hungry for Mal's smile, Mal's sad and regretful smile, the smile of the condemned one that has given up on everything and will try everything, just to stop herself from hoping.

It was the smile of someone who hated hope.

She had never seen such a smile before she met Mal. People always turn to hope as their last resort, but Mal hated hope; Cobb's Mall, be it a shadow or a projection, a woman or a soul, was always against hope, always fought against hope.

Hoping that the real world was good enough, hoping that everything was real, hoping that her children would grow up and be happy, hoping that they would be safe in this reality, hoping that what was real would never waver, would never betray her, hoping that her husband would still love her...

All these hopes had burdened her and now, in Ariadne's mind, she was free from her hopes, free from her illusions, careless to whether her world was real or not.

Her incepted mind was now unresponsive, completely indifferent to her place, her time, her existence.

She was free not to hope anymore about anything.

And Ariadne desperately needed to know that, needed to know that feeling.

Her feet stopped in front of what looked like a hotel. It was surrounded by lush gardens on all sides, except the one facing the busy street. It looked tall and majestic, but at the same time, warm and welcoming.

She walked over to the large entrance and stepped inside, hoping to find what she was looking for.

Much to her surprise, Professor Miles was sitting in the lobby, perusing a newspaper.

He seemed nervous about something. He kept touching his nape in an anxious manner.

There were other people in the lobby as well. A woman with a golden retriever, sitting with a large purse in her lap, a young boy playing on the floor next to her, another older man staring at the concierge and a maid that was taking some new towels up a flight of stairs, on the left side of the large lobby.

Everyone stopped to stare at her, but for Miles and the maid. She kept climbing the stairs, unaffected by her presence.

Ariadne decided to follow the maid. She was wearing her usual worn-out sneakers so she didn't make much sound, not enough for the humming and whistling maid to hear her.

On the third floor, the maid stopped. She had found her trolley. It was full of bathrobes, towels, bars of soap and many other such things. She knocked on one of the doors.

'House keeping!'

But she got no answer back.

However, Ariadne heard the sound of glass crashing in the distance.

When the maid had disappeared into another room, Ariadne swiftly opened the door and entered the suite.

The first thing she registered was the fact that the broken glass was just a vase that had glided on the carpet with a soft thud.

The second thing she registered was that she was in that suite. That special suite that Cobb and Mal usually rented for their anniversaries.

The scene of the crime.

But it wasn't the room from Cobb's dreams. There was nothing broken or overturned. Everything was where it should be. The carpet was clean. No shards of glass anywhere. No torn furniture. The window wasn't opened. There was no dark figure standing at the opposite window.

But the room wasn't empty.

Two people were sleeping in the large, double-bed.

She knew this, because the soft, darkening light from outside was tracing the shape of two bodies intertwined in bed.

Cobb and Mal were sleeping, their arms around each other, the covers pulled scantily over their bodies.

Ariadne panicked all over.

She felt sick to her stomach.

Dom had promised her not to come into her dream. He had given his word, if that meant anything.

But for some strange reason, she knew that wasn't Dom. It couldn't have been. He wouldn't have entered her dream and gone to bed with his wife, just like that. He wouldn't have violated her wishes just to have one more go with his wife. That was simply callous.

In addition to that, this Dom was not wearing the bracelet she had given him.

She hadn't thought of this possibility. The possibility that her own projection of Cobb would appear in her dream and that he would be completely devoted to his wife.

For a brief moment, she felt surprised that after all she had seen Mal do to Cobb, after all that Cobb had suffered, after all the dangers they had gone through together, even her projection of Dom was that of a husband, in love with his traitorous wife. For a brief moment.

Because then she mentally slapped herself. It was stupid to consider that she would see Cobb any other way – not in love with Mal. Because he always would be in love with Mal, which was a natural, human thing.

He was in love with Mal in real life – why would her mind change that?

For another brief, very brief moment, she felt like taking off her heavy sneakers and crawling in bed with them. Pulling up the covers. Resting her head between them. Like the long lost image of their love.

Actually...like a lover. Because then maybe she'd know what it felt like to be a lover.

A third of a half of a whole.

A ghost of a shadow. Worse even.

She felt like throwing up. She actually rushed to the bathroom in the adjacent room and splashed cold water on her face.

She stood in front of the sink, staring back at her anxious, sad reflection. Her hands were leaning against the frames of the mirror.

She closed her eyes. She was here to build an elevator.

She had to think of happy memories – and then sad memories.

She wasn't here to see them loving each other, she wasn't here to stay. She had to leave and be quick and quiet about it. Let them live their afternoon in their own peaceful illusion, in her own troubled head.

Was this a happy, or a sad memory?

Neither, because it wasn't a memory.

She would count to ten, and then she would leave.

Ten, nine, eight, seven...

The door suddenly flew open and then shut again.

She turned around terrified.

A very sleepy, drowsy Cobb was standing in front of her. He was only wearing his shorts and a rested but troubled expression on his face.

He stared at her in utter shock and confusion.

'Ari..adne?' he said, almost misspelling her name. 'What...what are you...?'

She put her hands over her face, trying to hide her eyes and her burning cheeks.

'I...am not here. You're dreaming. Go back to bed,' she mumbled hastily and incoherently and tried moving past him in order to leave.

But Cobb quickly pulled her arm to him, not letting her leave.

'Why would I be dreaming of you?' he asked, now fully awake.

'Well, I'm your...architect and your friend. Friends sometimes dream about friends,' she muttered.

'Not when I'm spending time with my wife. Not when I'm with her. That would be odd, dreaming of another woman.'

'I'm not another woman. I'm just...your friend.'

'It still doesn't make sense. When I'm with her, there's no room for friends, or anyone I know. It's only her. So it's odd that I'm dreaming about you. Unless, this isn't a dream.'

'Of course it's a dream. Why would I be in your hotel room? Why would I be here when you're...half naked and...' she spoke, blushing again.

'True, but then something is changed. Something is not right.'

'Why? You're not allowed to dream of me? It happens sometimes, you know, you can't always control dreams,' she suddenly snapped, growing tired of his suppositions.

'But why?' he asked, rather sharply.

'Because, maybe I am – was a big part of your life at one point. Maybe the fact that I saved you triggered you to remember me. Maybe the fact that we were both in limbo,' she rambled, forgetting herself. The bathroom was warm and his eyes were mesmerising, in a sickening way.

'We were both in limbo? That can't be. I only took my wife there. We built our world together there. You were in limbo too?'

'Yes, I was there. I saw your world. It was beautiful...but haunting. I wouldn't have wanted to stay there.'

There was a heavy pause after that, in which he awkwardly looked her up and down.

'I would have remembered you in limbo.'

'The fact that you're dreaming of me proves that you do, I suppose,' Ariadne replied.

'You said you saved me. What from?'

'I...I saved you from having to live in that world.'

'You...' he whispered, searching her eyes for the truthfulness of her answer. He found it locked beneath her shimmering, brown orbs.

He stepped closer to her, his hands suddenly travelling to her chin.

He looked down at her face, trying to bring back the memories of her.

But failing.

He had a hopeless look in his eye. The more he avidly perused her face, the more he got lost in a web of inexplicable details.

Why was he here? Where was Mal? Was she really in that bed, in the other room?

Was Mal going to leave...? How did he feel about Mal not being there?

How did he feel about it being only a dream?

How did he feel to be powerless, trapped in his mind? Was it his mind?

How did it feel to know her? This familiar stranger, this girl who was here against all odds.

He was the shadow of Dominic Cobb, a poor, helpless creature, trying to please his own inexistent mind and hers.

He had to be the reflection of her mind and yet still keep something of his.

He closed the space between them and brought his hands to her arms and drew her to him.

She was pressed into his warm, dry skin. Her head buried in his neck, like a child. The redness of her cheeks enveloped her entire body.

She should have been anywhere else right now, but she wasn't quite willing to leave yet, because she liked to be held sometimes.

In difficult times, she liked to be the person who was comforted for once. Even if he wasn't offering her any comfort.

Cobb suddenly drew in a sharp breath.

He felt her heart beat.

So she was real – oh, she was real. And her heart was beating so fast, it was so beautiful.

It was as if he had never heard a heart beat in his life. He was lost in the moment. He felt entranced by the continuous humming sound, the sound of a hammer, beating into her heart, wearing it down, but lifting it up. Up and down, never stopping. A wild creature fighting to get out, pounding into her chest.

Shades never heard heart beats.

This shade, Dominic Cobb, was listening to a heart beat for the first time in his absurd existence.

He wanted to cry. But he couldn't. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't move now. He was far too bewildered, far too shocked to try and make any sense of it. He knew, although he didn't know why, that this was proof she was alive.

After what felt like an eternity, she lifted her head and drew away.

But he quickly grabbed her tiny hand and pressed it to his chest.

'What about me? Can you hear anything?'

She stared at him with large, wide eyes, her mouth agape.

She was going to nod her head, but then she realized, she wasn't feeling anything. She heard nothing.

He had no heart beat.

She wanted to shrink back, but he was holding her fast.

'Well? Do you?'

She looked at his empty chest, then at his soulless, blue eyes and then back at her hand.

'I...I can't be sure,' she mumbled nervously.

'It's not something you can be sure of or not. Yes or no? Do you hear anything?'

She started shivering.

'I don't think...'

'Tell me, goddammit!' he shrieked, pulling her hand hard.

'No! No, I can't hear anything.'

Her answer came as a punch in the stomach, a fatal wound to the head, a blistering injury to his every breath.

He squeezed her hand, in a pathetic attempt to make her take back her words. But she shook her head.

Ariadne was going to cry herself. She felt so much sadness and pity for the poor man standing in front of her.

Her heart went out to him. She pulled him into a soft hug. More like a tired, familiar embrace, as if it was the normal course of action. She pulled him to her so she wouldn't have to see the disappointment in his eyes.

He almost unconsciously let his arms circle her waist.

The sound of the door banging to the wall made her jump in his arms.

'What is going on? Dom, what are you doing with her?'

Cobb quickly pushed Ariadne behind him.

'Nothing, I was just talking...'

'Talking? Talking? You were holding each other! The way we hold each other. On our anniversary? What kind of bastard are you? You bring her here?'

'Mal, I would never do that! She is only my friend!'

'Friend? What friend? I know your friends, she's not your friend.'

'Yes, she is Mal. Don't you remember her? She's the architect.'

'Then why is she here? What does she want with you?'

'It's me, Mal we're in my dream right now. She's not really here. Please, calm down,' he told her, trying to touch her.

She flinched back and glared at Ariadne, who was trying to look anywhere but at her face.

'Calm down? Why is she in your dream?'

Dom looked at his wife, then looked back at Ariadne. He was trying to remember why she was here.

She was...important. She had...helped him. She meant something.

'She...she saved me from limbo,' he whispered confused.

'Saved you from limbo?' Mal yelled. 'I was the one who saved you from limbo! Don't you remember?'

'You? No...Mal...you wanted us to stay there forever. I remember that well.'

'That's not true. I wanted us to be together forever. And be happy. And you weren't happy there...'

'But you still wanted to keep me there,' Dom said, frowning. 'You didn't want to leave limbo.'

'I wanted to leave it all as long as I had you with me. You just can't see that, can you? Wherever you go, I am willing to follow. But maybe I am being stupid. Maybe sacrificing so much for you is not worth it when you can't even see it. You are as blind as ever, and you always will be.'

This last statement Ariadne felt Mal had meant for her, for some absurd reason. Mal had stared at her with something akin to recognition when she had said those words.

'I'm not blind. I know you love me, Mal. But your love makes you lose your grip on reality.'

'I'd rather lose my grip, than be completely rational and completely unhappy,' Mal retorted.

Ariadne felt once again that this was meant for her. Her rationality was slipping away anyway... she felt it leaving her. But it didn't make her any happier.

'Don't you want to be happy, Dom?' Mal asked, smiling that hopeless smile of hers.

'Of course I...'

'Then come back with me. Come to bed.'

'I...I can't. Mal, this isn't real...' he muttered, looking away in pain.

'Yes, you can! Come back to bed now! Come with me.'

'No. It's a dream, only a dream.'

'You want me to prove to you this is real?' she asked, her anger rising in her like a bullet.

She pulled out a small object from her pocket.

It was her totem – Cobb's.

But before Ariadne could realize what was happening, she saw the totem turning into a knife in her hand.

Ariadne shut her eyes and covered her ears with her hands.

No, not again. No, not her again. Not the senseless killing. Not against Cobb.

She couldn't take watching him get hurt.

She cleared her mind. She visualized.

And suddenly...

The room was torn in two. There was her half, hers and Dom's.

Then there was Mal's, on the other side.

A large elevator stood between them, pushing Dom and Mal away from each other.

Ariadne quickly ran to the elevator, stepped inside and shut the door hard behind her.

Inside, there was no panel of buttons.

Dom was staring at her, watching her intently, but silently.

This was the half – she decided. This was going to be the middle.

This is where Mal would be trapped, here, along with Cobb's projection.

It was as good a place as any to start.

And she didn't have time to overthink it now.

A shiver ran through her again.

She forced her mind to settle on a good memory. Something she treasured and loved. Somewhere where she felt safe.

Somewhere away from the commotion of life. Somewhere where time stood still.

The button panel appeared before her eyes.

Level 1. She pressed the button.

The elevator slowly but surely started going up.

She sighed relieved.

The elevator passed through the floor and reached the first floor of her memories.

The door opened with a clank.

At first, she didn't recognize it, but then she knew it must be what she had hoped.

She was in her safe place. She was in her familiar book store. (Chapter 3)

The infinite rows of books were a clear sign. The quiet, peaceful atmosphere, the smell of dried ink and lavender...Yes, this was it.

She quickly ran back into the elevator though, afraid Mal might show up suddenly and ruin this first memory of hers.

She thought now was a good time to get to Level 2.

Level 2 she decided would be the moment when she received her Paris scholarship. The day when she first found out. She had felt immense joy. She had felt invincible that day.

Could she muster her memory to feel that again?

She had been more than willing to run away from Mal and Cobb and find refuge in her old book store, but would she be able to feel invincible now?

She gulped and pushed on the second button, digging her nails into her fist.