A/N: Ok, let's pretend that there are animals in Zion. I was petting my cat just now and wondered what it would be like if Neo had one. Random thought, I know, but its summer and my life depends on writing, so here you go.

The Stray

Neo was just a step behind Trinity and Tank. They were walking home from dinner, the two ahead of him talking about something he didn't care much about at the moment. He was exhausted. They'd just docked two days ago and he was still getting used to Zion.

They reached Tank's room and said their goodbyes, but just as they started to walk away, Tank noticed something. He watched them walk for a few seconds, and then commented.

"Hey, Neo!" He raised his voice a little so that they could hear him. They turned. "I think someone's following you. Looks like a fan." He said this with slight amusement in his voice.

Neo looked around, expecting someone to come from nowhere to praise him, but no one came. His confusion was short lived as he felt a nudge on his leg. He looked down to see a black cat rubbing itself against him.

"A cat?" a new confusion ensued. Trinity looked at the cat and couldn't help but laugh.

"Looks like cats even know you're the One." She said with a smile. Tank laughed at Neo's facial expression and closed the door, saying goodbye once more.

"How long has he been following us?" Neo asked as Trinity kneeled and picked it up. It looked content in her arms and started purring when she scratched the bottom of its chin.

"I don't know. There are quite a lot of strays in Zion." Trinity answered.

Neo just looked at her for a moment. The cat complemented her features in so many ways. It's hair was just as black as Trinity's, its body just as slender. It didn't have blue eyes, but when it looked at him, they matched her intensity. It was weird.

Trinity looked at him with a curious smile. "What?"

He blinked, processing the simplest question on the planet. "I just like looking at you, is there a problem with that?" he said, his tone a bit flirtatious.

She rolled her eyes, putting the cat down. He put his arm around her waist as they headed towards their apartment. A few steps later, Trinity glanced back to see the cat. At first it was standing where they left it, then it began to trot towards them. She whispered to Neo. "Don't look now, but your fan is in pursuit."

"My fan?" Neo said. "It's following you. You were the one loving it up."

"Hmph. Either way, it looks pretty persistent. Maybe it's hungry."

"Maybe." He said as they reached their room. Trinity walked in, Neo following. The cat wanted in, but Neo blocked it with his foot. "Oh no, you don't."

Trinity came back with a bowl of some sort of milk substance. "Let him in, he won't bite."

"Easy for you to say."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means I don't like cats."

"And why not?" Trinity was very amused. She watched as Neo tried in vain to deflect the cat from coming inside with only his foot. The cat eventually outsmarted him and jumped over his ill coordinated boot.

Neo turned to Trinity then, defeated. "Well?" She was still waiting for an answer. He sighed as he stepped inside. Trinity closed the door behind her.

"I was a kid when I got my first pet. It was an orange cat." He started the story as he sat on their bed, the slender feline affectionately brushing its side against his leg once again. Trinity put the bowl just on the side of their bed and the cat hesitated. Neo continued.

"She hated me. She'd scratch me when I woke up every morning, then she'd meow at the top of her lungs when I wasn't in the same room. She was an outdoor cat, so whenever she caught a dead bird or rat, she'd put it on my pillow. She cost me a lot in pillow cases…"

Trinity couldn't help but smile at this ridiculous story. She listened as she watched the black cat inch slowly towards the bowl. It finally drank with obvious hunger.

"She was like no cat I'd ever known. Their supposed to be quiet and independent. This one was…filled with endless energy and never asleep! Never! Even after she died, cats were everywhere on the internet—"

"Neo," Trinity said, interrupting his lovely story, "That cat didn't hate you, it sounds like she really liked you."

After she said this, the black cat jumped onto Neo's lap and made itself comfortable, curling itself into a silky black ball of fur.

"Anyway, this cat's nothing like that one." She added.

Neo looked down and wondered why on earth this cat chose to follow him. He grimaced at the fur that had already begun to shed on his light gray sweat shirt. Trinity laughed once again at his expression, causing him to smile.

…

Neo was the first to wake up the next morning. Trinity was still in his arms, her back to him, sleeping peacefully. He brought her slightly closer to him and heard a faint "meow" in the result of his movement. He looked over his chest to find the black cat curled up on his feet, looking at him with bleary eyes.

Neo had forgotten about the cat. He turned to Trinity as she stirred and opened her eyes.

"Morning." She said groggily.

"Morning…" he said, kissing her cheek, then slowly looking back at the cat still perched on his feet. Trinity noticed this. "What?"

He again had to process the simplest of questions. "That cat's staring at me."

"You're staring at that cat." She countered. He ripped his eyes away from it and back at her.

"Now I'm staring at you." He said, stealing a kiss.

…

"Can you be ready to leave tomorrow?" Morpheus asked his small crew. They'd met for lunch and were sitting around a round table in the mess hall.

Tank loved his work more than ever now, so he nodded eagerly. Neo and Trinity on the other hand were not as thrilled. Not that they didn't love their jobs, but trips home were becoming less and less frequent and they liked their time alone. Either way, they agreed to their captain's request.

Neo casually took some food from his plate and leaned under the table, the obedient cat eating from his hand. Morpheus had already noticed the oddity that was the cat and was mildly confused. Tank noticed as well, unable to suppress a smile.

"That cat still following you?" Tank asked.

"Yeah, Trin let him in our room last night, now he won't leave."

"It looks like you've taken a liking to him." Trinity said slyly.

"Well, I can't let him starve." Neo tried to use an excuse. It didn't work.

"You'll have to leave it here you know." Morpheus said, watching as he took another handful under the table.

"Yeah, I know." Neo said, rather passively. Trinity just shook her head.

…

They were packing for their morning departure. The cat was standing on their bed, watching intently. Neo turned around to get another shirt from the drawer, but came back with the cat actually in his bag.

Trinity looked over and out her hand over her mouth, taken aback by the cuteness. It meowed and sunk further into the bag.

Neo couldn't escape the perfect moment for a terrible pun. "Looks like the cat's in the bag."

Trinity flicked the back of her hand on his arm in playful disapproval. "That was bad."

"It had to be said." He replied simply. He scooped up the cat and nearly flung it across his shoulder. It held on and balanced itself.

Trinity's eyebrow furrowed. "What was that for?"

"I don't know, just messing around, wondering what he'd do." Neo answered. He went back to the drawer for something else as the cat kept perfectly in balance. Trinity couldn't help but find this absolutely ridiculous. Maybe this was why cats were so popular on the internet.

"So," Trinity began, "what should we name him?"

Neo zipped up his bag as the cat jumped down onto the bed. He wasn't sure what to call him. "I don't know. What do you like?"

Trinity thought a moment. "I don't know."

"You mean you don't pick out names?"

"Pick out names for random cats that show up from nowhere?"

"No, I mean, a lot of women usually have favorite names that they pick out for their future kids or something. You don't have any favorite names?"

"…Nope." She concluded. "Never thought about having kids."

"Really?" Neo asked, suddenly intrigued.

"No, have you?"

Neo paused for a second, thinking of an answer. He decided to be honest. "Yeah. Not a lot, but sometimes, you just wonder."

Trinity thought about that answer, knowing that she had wondered in the past, but never fully contemplated on being a mother. Before, she didn't think she'd be a good mother, but now, with Neo, maybe that could change.

The thought escaped her when she saw the cat rub itself against Neo's stomach.

"Again, with the cat hair." Neo said. He truthfully didn't like the cat hair. Trinity grinned.

"I don't know, I'm kind of jealous."

"Of me?"

"Of the cat."

The smile was automatic. She was clever. He loved it. Then again, he loved everything about her.

He looked down at this weird cat that had for some reason chosen him. The cat looked up at him, his eyes everything but blank. He somehow knew that this cat longed for a name and wanted them to get back to their previous subject. As much as he wanted to, he seriously had no idea what to call him.

"Maybe we'll think of a name tomorrow."

So, yeah, there's my take on cats in Zion. Like it? Let me know :)