Late. I'm aware. But I wanted to keep up my habit of not posting a chapter until I had finished the one after it, and let's face it, chapter 9 was a bitch. Not to mention me having unusual amounts of work and being unusually tired, and not being able to stay up till dawn on weekends. And my muse, sadly, is a real bitch when you try to make her work normal hours. She rarely produces anything good outside of the 10 pm - 5 am range. So blame her.

As always (pouts) reviews are much appreciated.

---

Knowing and Walking

Chapter Eight

... Than Never to Have Loved at All

---

She was the first to breakfast that morning. She had only slept a few hours at the very end of the night, and even that was only because she had been sleep deprived for days and was exhausted. Today was it. No more denying or praying or pretending it would go away. In a few hours, they would be taking Neo into the Matrix to see the Oracle.

She wasn't eating, and only had a cup of water in front of her in case someone came in, so that they wouldn't see her sitting alone, staring morosely at the dented table in front of her.

She truly did not even realize that Switch had come in, too, until a bowl and spork were silently set down in front of her. She had not told her best friend what was scheduled to happen that day, but when their eyes met for just a moment, she knew Switch could tell something was wrong. Kindly, she did not ask, but rather sat down with Apoc, talking quietly as they ate. Trinity, in turn, picked up the utensil with shaking hands, and slowly spooned food into her mouth.

For the few minutes that the three of them were alone, she could not help but be transfixed by Switch and Apoc, sitting close together even though there was plenty of room to spread out. There could be no doubt to anyone with eyes, ears and half a dozen working brain cells that the two were deeply in love. She had always known it, but had only started paying close attention in the most recent weeks. They didn't always express themselves blatantly, with caresses or kisses, or constantly whispering "I love you" to each other. But there were always little things. A glance, a smile, a brief touch when they were close. And they were always together, side by side, and it had become such a habit that they didn't even have to try. They would sit or stand next to each other at every opportunity without even realizing it. Their chairs were even side by side in the Core.

She had know Switch for almost eighteen years now. The only person who knew Switch better than Trinity was Switch herself. In retrospect, she could clearly see that love had changed her friend. She truly was better off for it.

Trinity remained shut off from the world as the rest of the crew slowly filtered in for breakfast. She realized that she had barely touched hers. She forced herself to eat as Dozer, Mouse, Tank, Neo, and finally Cypher entered the room. Her eyes were fixated on the plate as each retrieved their breakfast and sat down. Tank, as he often did with the crew's newborns, brought Neo his food.

"Here you go, Buddy, breakfast of champions." He always seemed to say something like that.

"If you close your eyes, it almost feels like you're eating runny eggs." She couldn't help but listen to the conversation, and part of her hated them all bitterly for being so casual when she was in such pain, consumed by such overwhelming fear.

"Yeah, or a big ol' bowl of snot." She could almost feel the repulsion seeping off of Neo as he let the goop fall back into the bowl, his appetite suddenly gone. She became aware of the fact that Mouse was sitting between her and Neo, and she was simultaneously grateful and saddened. These were the last hours before everything changed forever - part of her wanted to spend them by his side. But, for some reason, she could not bring herself to look at him, not even a glance.

"You know what it reminds me of? Tastee Wheat. Did you ever eat Tastee Wheat?"

"No, but technically, neither did you." There was some comfort in the typical banter between Switch and Mouse.

"But that's exactly my point. Exactly!" She was nostalgic for them, her crew, even though they were sitting right there with her. A dread crept into the pit of her stomach, but not that of Neo's seeing the Oracle. This felt ever so slightly different. "Because you have to wonder. I mean, how do the machines really know what Tastee Wheat tasted like, huh? Maybe they got it wrong." She could imagine Neo's reaction - he'd be trying to eat, and then, when Mouse showed no sign of letting up, he'd give him an irritated look. "Maybe what I think Tastee Wheat tasted like actually tasted like... oatmeal, or tuna fish. And you know, it makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken for example, well maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything. And maybe -"

"Shut up Mouse."

"It's a single-celled protein combined with synthetic aminos, vitamins and minerals," Dozer piped in from his place to her right. "Everything the body needs."

"It doesn't have everything the body needs." Mouse simply could not keep his mouth shut. He sat up straight again and turned back to Neo. "So, I hear you've run through the Agent training program. You know, I wrote that program."

"Here it comes." Trinity could just see Switch and Apoc smirking in her peripheral vision.

"So what did you think of her?" Here it came, indeed. She knew what he was about to say, and her hand reflexively tightened around her spork.

"Of who?"

"The woman in the red dress." She could hear the smile in his voice. "I designed her. She, um... well, she doesn't really talk very much, but, if you'd like to meet her -" As his voice lowered, her anger heightened. "- I could arrange a much more personalized milieu."

Jealous. One way or another, he'll be out of your life - your heart - by tonight, get a hold of yourself. She didn't know why the irrational anger surfaced. He hadn't accepted the proposition - he seemed downright annoyed by the suggestion. Mouse did the same thing with every new male crewmember. She shouldn't -

Trinity realized with a start that she had dreamed of him last night. She froze, the spork halfway between her bowl and mouth. Her apartment in Zion, candles, synthetic wine... her bed. She tried to push the image from her mind, of her and Neo fused together as they moved on top of the blanket. She failed miserably.

"Digital pimp, hard at work."

"Pay no attention to these hypocrites, Neo. To deny our own impulses is to deny the very thing that makes us human." The words were meant for Neo. But for all intents and purposes, Trinity was the only one who heard them, and they were like an Agent's bullet straight through her heart.

"There's a sleazy excuse."

Just as every kind of pain tore through her soul, just as all of the unresolved confusion he stirred up seemed ready to drown her, the door opened behind her. Looking up over her shoulder, she found Morpheus. "Dozer, when you're done, bring the ship up to broadcast depth." This was it. No turning back. "We're going in. Taking Neo to see her."

Trinity's fear and anxiety became so intense and acute that they created a physical pain in her chest - like acid burning through her breastbone. She immediately turned back around, and her eyes landed on Cypher, who was watching her. He seemed resigned, almost, and though she did not intend to, her gaze turned smug - I told you so.

"See who?" Neo ventured hesitantly as Morpheus retreated. Her eyes moved to him of their own accord.

"The Oracle."

By the time she had realized what she was doing, she had already rinsed out her nearly empty bowl, and was nearly running down the length of the ship. When she finally stopped, she was in the back of the cargo hold at the very bottom of the Neb. It was as close to truly alone as she could get.

She felt certain that she would cry, and she did, but it was not the fearful, breathless weeping she had expected. For several minutes, she simply cried. When she stopped, an eerie calm had come over her, not eliminating the fear and sadness she carried, but rather controlling them, taking away their power to debilitate her. Although it was strange, she was grateful to once again have control over her own emotions, however artificial that control was.

As she stood, brushing her legs off as she regained her composure, she felt the engines hum to life, and the ship jolt slightly as it lifted off of the ground.

---

She heard only a slight knock at the door before it opened. Switch peered around the door to find Trinity on the bed. She left the door open as she sat down next to her. Nothing was said as Trinity slipped her arms and head through an extra sweater, and for several seconds afterward.

"Are you okay, Trin?"

She ran a hand through her hair, then tugged at a loose thread on her sleeve. The calm that had settled over her had eased her worries further, but they still swam around in the back of her mind. "As much as I'll ever be."

She could feel the other woman's eyes on her, but she did not look up. "You're still not sure about him."

"No." The past days had been the worst yet. It seemed that not a minute went by that she didn't change her mind. The only times she was even remotely certain, went any real length of time believing, was when she was with him. When they were together, talking, training, or just eating dinner in silence, she could not help but love him. Some half a dozen times since she learned he would see the Oracle, she had nearly pulled him aside and admitted her love right then and there. She figured she might as well - she didn't know what would happen, to either one of them, she could at least have a few days, or even only a few hours in love with him. But every time, she stopped herself, made some excuse and promptly retreated to her room. "I just want to get this whole thing over with."

Switch carefully found her hand, and covered it with her own. She seemed to sense that any more contact would upset her at that point. "Well," she gently squeezed, running a thumb over her palm. "Whatever she tells him, I'll get you through it." She looked up, eyes slightly guarded as she studied her friend's face. "I'll be right there next to you when you wake up, okay?"

A movement in the hallway caught her eye. She looked just in time to see Cypher move out of sight. She caught his face, though, and he was nervous. Had he been listening? She stared at the empty space in the hall, her distrust of him coming back sharply. It had become as staple of their encounters for months now, and part of her was beginning to think that she was making it all up. Rationally, though, she knew that was unlikely.

"Okay, Trinity?"

"Yeah," she whispered absently. She returned her attention to Switch. "When I wake up." She stood, making her way to the door. Her hand was on the frame, pulling it open further so she could pass through, when she suddenly turned around. "Hey... thanks." She couldn't help but step back to Switch and hug her tightly, unable to think of any other way to truly express her gratitude. "I don't know what I would've done without you."

As Switch made her way up to the Core, Trinity went the opposite direction, down the hall to Neo's room. She tapped lightly on the door and it opened a crack several seconds later. He peered out at her, hiding behind the door as if he were expecting whoever it was to come in shooting, though he eased up considerably when he saw her. He was scared - it was written all over his face, in his slouched posture. He pulled the door open wider, timidly inviting her in.

She didn't enter. As it was, she was shoving her nails into her palms to keep from reaching out and cupping his face, kissing away his fear. "Time to go."

He immediately averted his eyes, turning back into his cabin. "Yeah..."

She cringed. She hadn't needed to do that. He had interpreted her tone, her clenched fists and her posture as coldness. And when he was already so shaken anyway. She forced her hands to open, relaxed her stance, and took a deep, calming breath. By the time Neo reemerged with an extra sweater over the first, her face bore a hint of a smile, and she did her best to exude a comforting presence. "Come on." She held his eyes just long enough, and saw him relax, too, if only a little bit.

"Hey, Trinity..." he began, pulling the door closed behind him. "I have a question." She glanced back in response, slowing enough for him to catch up. He almost seemed afraid to even ask the question. "I asked them - Tank, and everybody - who Morpheus was taking me to see, and... they said she, um..." He faltered, eyes turning to her for help. "They're not serious...?"

What to tell him? No (I don't love you, you're not the One) or yes (I love you more than anything, and I'll kill you)? She sighed, searching for a few vague words that she knew for certain would not be a lie. "She's not called the Oracle for nothing." She turned back to him cautiously as she reached the ladder, and was again fighting to keep her distance from him. He seemed to understand the implications of their upcoming journey as much as she did. "Hey, don't worry about it." Hypocrite. "You probably won't have a clue what she's talking about today. In fact, there's a fair chance you'll go the rest of your life and die before you understand whatever she throws at you."

He seemed to think she was kidding, but when he laughed a little, the tension in his shoulders easing up, she decided not to correct him. Just smiled back a little, and continued up into the Core.

Upstairs, Dozer was already starting to plug them in. Morpheus was already inside, and Mouse was next. Switch and Apoc carefully examined the monitors, re-familiarizing themselves with this old hardline location. Cypher was not in yet, strangely, but rather was just coming back from the utility and storage rooms at the back of the Core. Trinity watched him as he found his chair, noting how careful he was to avoid anyone else's eyes.

"Hey," she whispered to Switch as Dozer plugged him in. "Have you noticed anything strange about Cypher?"

"No more than usual." She pulled the touch-screens for her chair down to eye level, and began setting up. "Cypher's Cypher. He's never been normal or social." She wasn't paying much attention, while Trinity was still staring back at the man's still form.

"No, I mean worse than he normally is. He's been getting more and more reclusive and... paranoid, for months now." Something in her voice must have caught her friend's attention, because she paused and looked up. "I don't trust him."

Switch nodded slowly, speaking quietly, even though no one who could hear would care what she said. "I'll keep an eye on him. Tell you if I see anything suspicions."

She nodded in thanks, then moved back to her own chair. On her way, she came to Neo, who was reclining, waiting for Dozer to plug him in. She reached him just a second sooner, and nodded the medic on to the next person. Although they had separated only a few moments earlier, the fear and anticipation had already returned to his eyes. "Hey," she whispered quietly as she hovered above him. She smiled as kindly as she could, and for a moment, she could see it - fleeting proof that he loved her. Trinity forced herself to keep her calm demeanor. "Just relax," she soothed as she gently pressed his head down onto the chair, sliding the plug in as carefully as she could. Before she could stop herself, she ran her hand down the side of his face. Incredibly, she did not flinch and jerk away. She simply touched a button, and Neo's eyes fell shut as he moved into the dream world.

---

As they descended the hotel staircase, Trinity was amazed - the inexplicable calm was still there, still shielding her as well as it could. She passed through the dark, dusty corridors as if in a dream. Though the strong fear remained, she was able to control it, force it just below the surface.

Cypher was the first to step out into the digital sunlight. She was next, far too acutely aware of Neo, following behind her. As they walked to the car, she could not help but glance back at him, sighing in relief as she saw that he was not as nervous now. As she turned back, her eyes met with Switch, and she grinned. She would have been completely lost without this woman. Even now, she could see the fear in Trinity that no one else ever could, and even now, she could feel her love and comfort. She would be completely beside herself if anything ever happened to her.

Both women turned away simultaneously, Switch taking up her post with Apoc, Trinity sliding into the car beside Neo.

---

For the first few minutes, they traveled in silence. Cypher, who drove, was characteristically quiet. Morpheus made little attempt to subdue his eagerness. Trinity - this beautiful, incredible woman that he loved, without whom he surely would have had a panic attack by now - rarely looked at him, opting instead to look out the window. He wondered what she thought - did she believe he was the One? In all this time, he had never been able to figure that out. Most of the others were easy to guess. Morpheus was a no-brainer, Cypher seemed to think everything about the One was a load of bullshit. Tank and Mouse were so giddy about the entire thing. Dozer and Apoc had apparently not really decided yet, but were open to the possibility. Switch seemed as though she should be skeptical about it, but, for some reason, was not entirely doubtful. But Trinity... she remained a mystery to him.

At any given time, he was just as likely to think she believed as he was that she didn't. It went back and forth, with her. When she trained him, he felt as though she had unshakable faith in him, that she could see the power of the One within him, and was slowly drawing it out. When they talked, sometimes her little grins held some kind of indescribable faith, like she simply knew. But sometimes it was different. He couldn't quite explain it, but he simply sensed that she did not believe. He wondered if she believed right now. Somehow, he did not care what the others thought. He didn't trust their judgement. For some reason, she was the only one he would ever trust to know, deep down in her heart, what he was.

He wished she would tell him. If he wasn't, he could stop worrying now. If he was, he could start coming to terms with it now.

Mere seconds later, as if she had herd his thoughts, she turned to him. Her smile was small, but warm. "You okay?"

"I... I don't know." He could not seem to express everything he felt right then, or even a small portion of it.

"You shouldn't worry so much." Even Trinity herself seemed surprised at how calm she was. "You can't change what she'll tell you. Doesn't do you any good to worry right now." It was as if she spoke the words to soothe both of them.

Take off your sunglasses. Let me see your eyes. Please, Trinity. "Do you think she really knows?" She nodded almost imperceptibly, her glasses staying where they were on her face. Maybe she couldn't read his mind after all. "I guess... I guess I just haven't gotten my head around this whole thing as well as I thought."

"Yeah, I know. Me neither."

He wondered what that meant. Silence descended over them again. He turned away from her, staring back out the window, but whipped his head back around as her hand wove its way into his, burying itself between his fingers. He stared at their hands, then at Trinity herself, then back at their hands. He remembered the night, several weeks ago, when she had done this same thing in the cockpit after the sentinels. He studied the feeling of her skin against his, and realized, as wonderful as it was, that it was not the same. "None of this is real," he whispered, so quietly he could barely hear the words himself. "Nothing here is real, nothing... completely meaningless."

He turned to stare out the window, pulling his hand away. She seemed to understand, but pulled it back. He was grateful. Even if it was not real, even if it reminded him of his thirty-some years of captivity in this dream world, it did comfort him. Her thumb gently caressed his knuckles, and he squeezed tightly, silence spreading out before them with the road.

"God," he blurted suddenly, staring at the familiar landmarks on the sidewalk.

"What?"

"I used to eat there!" He pointed out the window, and turned to her. She stared at him, surprised by his outburst, and he was suddenly embarrassed. She had watched him extensively before they pulled him out. She had probably spotted the placed before he had. "Really good noodles," he faltered. She smirked, seemingly holding back a laugh, and he turned away bashfully. "I have all these memories from my life," he recovered quickly, again voicing his earlier revelation. "None of them happened." He sighed heavily, and turned back to her. "What does that mean?"

"That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are." She sounded far too certain for his liking, even if she had been given over a decade more to come to terms with this.

"But an Oracle can?" he shot back.

"That's different." She was quiet a moment, and he thought she would not give him any more help on the subject. "No." She squeezed his hand gently. "It's not true, Neo, what you said." He loved the way she said his name. "It's not real. But it's not meaningless, either." He stared up at her, feeling as though he could see her eyes, see into them, even through the dark glass covering them. He felt her open up, somehow, as she leaned towards him ever so slightly, dropping her voice. "Back when I was still plugged in, I came to realize that everything about the world that I knew - businesses, movies, everything about my way of life - it was all self-sustaining. One thing only existed because a second thing was there to make it necessary, and that thing could only exist if the first did. Take away one part, the rest will crumble. It could all disappear and life would simply go on without it." She smirked a little as she thought of the memory. "That made me pretty depressed and morbid for a long time. But... once I got unplugged, I started to realize that people built their lives around that system, made something for themselves. It didn't have to exist, but it did, so people made the most out of it."

"I don't understand." She grinned, as though she knew that already.

"Everything here, when you get to the bottom line, is just ones and zeros." (Neo could not help but flash on the irony of her choice of words - a single One, and endless, powerless masses.) "But it's part of people's lives, it means something to them. And if it meant something to you, then it's as real as anything."

He nodded, understanding her well enough.

"Did you go to her?" he asked as the thought struck him.

---

She knew it had to come up sooner or later. She knew that there was no point in lying about it. "Yes," she sighed. Don't ask me, don't -

"What did she tell you?"

Again. Again, nearly every barrier and inhibition that kept her love a secret slipped away. She loved him, he loved her. Every molecule in her body screamed, telling her that she had every reason to profess her love, and no reason not to. She turned to him, smiling softly. "She told me -" But with her hand halfway up to her face to remove her glasses, she froze. She should be able to tell him, but one inhibition still remained, and the Oracles words, as they always did, rang loudly through her mind. Her mouth closed as she turned away, peeling her hand from his.

She could feel his pain, as he stared, gaping at her. She knew how it must have seemed to him - that she had rejected him, shut him out when he needed her most. He probably thought that he had crossed a line, and she was angry at him for asking such a personal question. But above all, he would be confused, lost and once again afraid after she abruptly shoved him away, taking away the only protection he had.

She was grateful when they arrived at the Oracle's building when they did, because she would not have been able to endure another instant here, with him. Not like this.

---

Trinity... What had happened? She had opened up so much, and then... nothing. Cold and stoic. Why?

"Neo, we're here." Morpheus opened his door, and stepped out of the car. "Come with me."

Neo barely heard him, his eyes still fixed on her. She was so stiff all of a sudden, and so quiet he wasn't even sure if she was still breathing. "Trinity, what -"

His own door opened, cutting him off. "Neo."

"You should go." She made no movements, and he finally decided that she was not going to. Reluctantly, he stepped out of the car, shutting the door behind him. His eyes stayed with her as long as they could, staring over his shoulder as the older man led him into the building. As they entered and he lost sight of her, he wished she was the one taking him in. Whether she believed in him or not, she took care of him. She did not put any pressure on him. As they passed a blind man in the hallway - who, strangely, nodded to Morpheus as though he could see him - he prayed that he had not blown it, not made a complete ass of himself. Its none of your business what the Oracle told Trinity. The doors slid shut with a screech, and they began their ascent. Relax, he told himself as he leaned against the wall. She's just a little upset, she'll get over it. As he pushed the thought to the side, it was replaced again with his distress.

"So is this the same Oracle that made the... Prophecy?" The word sounded so heavy and ominous. He didn't like it, but what else was there to call it?

"Yes, she's very old, she's been with us since the beginning."

"The beginning?" There were so many 'beginnings' to choose from.

"Of the Resistance." He turned back over his shoulder only slightly when he spoke, and when he did, Neo was met only with his own reflection in the rimless, mirrored lenses. He suddenly realized that he was the only one who wasn't wearing sunglasses today. He always felt strange and overly-confident in them, and never wore them. But all of a sudden he wished he had. Morpheus' - and everyone else's - intense scrutiny hit him full force, and he somehow felt that, if his eyes were hidden, it would not be so bad. He felt vulnerable.

"And she knows what? Everything?" Even as the words left his mouth, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

But Morpheus simply smiled, his face as enigmatic as his words: "She would say she knows enough."

Real helpful, thanks. "And she's never wrong?" It seemed only slightly odd to him that he prayed that she often was, even though she had not yet spoken a single word to him.

He sighed as if Neo were an impatient child who did not understand the simplest of explanations to the simplest of concepts. "Try not to think of it in terms of right and wrong. She is a guide, Neo. She can help you to find the path."

"She helped you?"

"Yes," he responded enthusiastically.

"And what did she tell you?" He decided that he had already asked far to many questions that day - redundant ones, too.

As the elevator doors slid open, an enthusiastic, proud and overjoyed smile spread over his face. "That I would find the One."

Neo sighed, and followed him out the door. Fucking great.

---

It's not real, Trinity told herself, forcing her heart rate to even out and her head to clear. But it did her no good - the digital 'air' was stuffy. Fumbling too quickly for the handle, she pushed the door open. Her shield was gone - completely demolished, leaving her engulfed in her fear as never before. She paced outside of the car, her arms folded impossibly tightly across her chest.

Part of her had wished she had gone upstairs with Neo, taken him to see the Oracle herself, but she had instantly known that was a terrible idea. She would have broken down and told him everything. And she simply couldn't do that. Now, a much stronger part of her was pulling at her legs, trying to make them run and carry her to the nearest exit, then back to the cabin, or whatever dark, hidden part of the ship she came across first, and melt away into the rusted walls forever. She became more and more amazed that she didn't do just that with each passing moment. Maybe it was her ingrained sense of duty, or the inevitable questions and humiliation that would follow such a display. Maybe, despite her fear, she still wanted to be there when Neo came out.

"What's wrong with you?"

Trinity jumped and turned back to the car, where Cypher was staring at her over the roof. She scowled at him, muttering, "Nothing."

"C'mon," he continued almost mockingly. "Something's wrong. Not worried about what she's gonna tell him, are we?"

"None of your goddamn business." She glared at him as menacingly as she could, willing her loathing for him to penetrate her sunglasses. But it was the other way around - his taunting skepticism cut through her like a knife, and it was only a few short seconds before she was forced to turn and walk away.

"Fine," Cypher's mocking laugh followed her as she moved away, heading for a place around the corner where she could wait for Neo and Morpheus to come back. "Be that way."

---

They had not yet taken ten steps down the hallway when Neo stopped abruptly. "Morpheus, I don't think this is such a good idea."

The older man stopped much more calmly and turned halfway, all the while maintaining his regal stance. "Why?" he asked, as if he had been expecting this.

Neo fidgeted with the edges of his sleeves, eyes darting around to anything but Morpheus. He wasn't sure where the sudden insecurity had come from, but, to some extent, he knew it was because, until now, he had been able to believe whatever he had wanted. He could believe he was the One, he could not believe, or he could remain uncertain. But now, someone who was supposed to know "enough" was going to tell him for sure - one way or the other. Although the concept of destiny never sat well with him, whenever it came to mind, he had always seen it as something that was not set in stone, and that any given moment could be changed until it had already passed. Even though he did not believe, the very reputation of this woman would give her words the power to influence him, as much as he hated it. He was about to say just this, but his respect for Morpheus and his faith censored his words. "Look... I've never believed in this stuff, I never will, what's the point? Whatever she tells me, I won't believe it."

He shook his head, trademark faith and pride crossing his face. "Belief isn't about reason or logic, Neo. It's about knowing something in your heart in a way you can't explain, you simply feel -"

"Stop it," Neo snapped, cutting him off. "Cut the philosophical crap for once, Morpheus, I just found out that everything I've ever known was a lie."

He sighed, studying Neo calmly for a moment. "What do you believe in?"

Instantly, his mind was filled with Trinity. He didn't know why, how he could believe in a person as opposed to an idea, but he thought of her nonetheless. He wanted to shout, I don't believe in anything anymore, but as the seconds ticked by, he knew, thankfully, that it would not be true. "I don't know," he lied quietly. "But it's sure as hell not this."

He spoke softly as he turned back in the direction of their destination, continuing on. "I do believe in you, Neo."

Anger flared in him at arrogance of the statement. Some of it he knew to simply be fear coming across as anger - but at the same time, a great deal of it was genuine. "What about the five before me?" Morpheus tensed and stopped, much more suddenly this time. "Did you believe in them, too?"

For a minute, he neither spoke nor moved, keeping his back to Neo. Finally, he sighed heavily, head hanging low as he spoke quietly. "I believed... I misunderstood what the Oracle told me. I thought that all I had to do was point my finger and anoint whoever I chose." He slowly turned to him, head still turned toward the ground. "I was wrong, Neo. Terribly wrong. Not a day or night goes by that I do not think of them." He believed this wholeheartedly, and it caused some of his anger to dissipate. "After the fifth, I lost my way. I doubted everything the Oracle had said. I doubted myself. And then I saw you, Neo, and my world changed." Neo swallowed hard. His conviction radiated out around him, and Neo could almost feel it seeping into himself. "I know you doubt yourself, but you are the One, Neo. I know this beyond words or explanation or logic, but it is the Truth. And you will come to see that, too. Maybe not today, but someday. Until that time, all I ask is that you trust me."

He stood his ground, waiting for Neo's response. Somehow, amazingly, Morpheus seemed to have convinced him, more than he had ever been convinced. He felt himself nod, once, and as the older man smiled and continued their journey down the hall, he felt himself follow.