[natep]

OK downvoters, you're right. In the movie, they explain that a kick is the feeling of falling. So why didn't Cobb wake up when he was falling towards the water, but after he fell in? My guess is that the water invaded the dream and he drowned, and exited the dream via death. But they called that a kick, too. As we've seen, the movie is hardly straightforward. And if one of you had bothered to comment "they say in the movie that it's the feeling of falling" then I wouldn't have had to rewatch half the movie.