Non, je ne regrette rien...
Ariadne has just experienced a very long plane flight and the wildest series of dreams that she thinks she will ever know. She is simultaneously tired and elated, her body weary from even the rarefied air of a First Class cabin and her mind still tumbling through all the layers of dreams and revelations. They have accomplished something that shouldn't have been possible - inception - and changed the life of a powerful man.
Another life has been rescued along the way.
She watches as Cobb collects his luggage and heads for the gate. They cleared him at customs, stamped his passport. He is home and his children are waiting and Ariadne isn't sure in which accomplishment she should feel the most proud: Fischer's closure with his father or Cobb's closure with his wife. Regardless, the risk has paid off and she has no regrets about her decision to join this strange group on their mission. Saito is obviously pleased with how things have turned out - despite a period in unconstructed dream space - but then Fischer will soon be dismantling his late father's company. A major competitor will gradually fade, if she understands things properly, and the struggle for power will become a more even playing field.
Blah, blah, blah...
The plotting of corporate giants isn't high on her list of interests. She needs to get her luggage and locate an ATM and get a cab to the hotel. Saito has booked rooms for the rest of the team as part of his payment to them, along with a healthy deposit in each of their bank accounts. What is she going to do with all that money? Well, her student loans are a thing of the past, which is a relief. One less issue with which to contend. Will she ever dream like that again? Can she stand a life without that thrill? No one has talked about What Happens Next. All their energy has been focused on this job and now that it's over -
"Here you go, luv," a voice says to her right and her suitcase is deposited beside her. She smiles at Eames and pulls the handle up so she can roll it behind her.
"Thanks," she replies. "What're you going to do now?"
"Eat," he says.
"And sleep?"
Eames frowns a little. "We'll see. I'll give you a ring later." And he is off to the exit. Ariadne follows him with her eyes as best she can, but she isn't a tall woman and he's quickly enveloped by the other people in the terminal. She looks for Arthur and doesn't see him. Yusuf has also vanished. Ghosts, she thinks and heads for the restroom. Slightly refreshed, she finds the ATM, withdraws two hundred American and gets a print out of her current balance. She just might frame that piece of paper. Tucking it away in to a pocket, she takes the handle of her suitcase and makes her way toward the exit.
Through the doors and across a path and she's in a park. She slows, then stops. When did LAX have a park dropped around it? Ariadne turns quickly, as if the terminal building might still be there, but she knows it isn't even before she looks. She's still coming down from one ride and she isn't sure what's happening, but she hasn't really had a chance to catch her breath yet and this can't possibly be fair. She stares at the trees that should be a building and reaches into the pocket of her jeans with her free hand, the other still tightly gripping the handle of her suitcase. Her fingers close around her totem - a brass chess piece - and it feels right. This isn't a dream. She tries to alter the landscape anyway, but to no avail.
Heart pounding but panic still at bay, she turns in a slow circle and wonders why she hasn't left the theme park yet...
Another life has been rescued along the way.
She watches as Cobb collects his luggage and heads for the gate. They cleared him at customs, stamped his passport. He is home and his children are waiting and Ariadne isn't sure in which accomplishment she should feel the most proud: Fischer's closure with his father or Cobb's closure with his wife. Regardless, the risk has paid off and she has no regrets about her decision to join this strange group on their mission. Saito is obviously pleased with how things have turned out - despite a period in unconstructed dream space - but then Fischer will soon be dismantling his late father's company. A major competitor will gradually fade, if she understands things properly, and the struggle for power will become a more even playing field.
Blah, blah, blah...
The plotting of corporate giants isn't high on her list of interests. She needs to get her luggage and locate an ATM and get a cab to the hotel. Saito has booked rooms for the rest of the team as part of his payment to them, along with a healthy deposit in each of their bank accounts. What is she going to do with all that money? Well, her student loans are a thing of the past, which is a relief. One less issue with which to contend. Will she ever dream like that again? Can she stand a life without that thrill? No one has talked about What Happens Next. All their energy has been focused on this job and now that it's over -
"Here you go, luv," a voice says to her right and her suitcase is deposited beside her. She smiles at Eames and pulls the handle up so she can roll it behind her.
"Thanks," she replies. "What're you going to do now?"
"Eat," he says.
"And sleep?"
Eames frowns a little. "We'll see. I'll give you a ring later." And he is off to the exit. Ariadne follows him with her eyes as best she can, but she isn't a tall woman and he's quickly enveloped by the other people in the terminal. She looks for Arthur and doesn't see him. Yusuf has also vanished. Ghosts, she thinks and heads for the restroom. Slightly refreshed, she finds the ATM, withdraws two hundred American and gets a print out of her current balance. She just might frame that piece of paper. Tucking it away in to a pocket, she takes the handle of her suitcase and makes her way toward the exit.
Through the doors and across a path and she's in a park. She slows, then stops. When did LAX have a park dropped around it? Ariadne turns quickly, as if the terminal building might still be there, but she knows it isn't even before she looks. She's still coming down from one ride and she isn't sure what's happening, but she hasn't really had a chance to catch her breath yet and this can't possibly be fair. She stares at the trees that should be a building and reaches into the pocket of her jeans with her free hand, the other still tightly gripping the handle of her suitcase. Her fingers close around her totem - a brass chess piece - and it feels right. This isn't a dream. She tries to alter the landscape anyway, but to no avail.
Heart pounding but panic still at bay, she turns in a slow circle and wonders why she hasn't left the theme park yet...