DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Matrix or any of the characters mentioned in this chapter. The song used is ¡®Who wants to live forever¡¯ by Queen. It took some ingenuity to write this. I hope it¡¯s original. There¡¯s some sort of symbolism in here.

Who wants to live forever?
Who dares to love forever when love must die?

But touch my tears with your lips

Touch my world with your fingertips

And we can have forever, and we can love forever

Forever is our today.

D¨¦j¨¤ vu chapter three: Inevitability

¡°You know, you don¡¯t need to worry when I¡¯m in there,¡± Neo murmured, lowering his head to rest in the curve of Trinity¡¯s neck and right shoulder. Trinity sighed unconsciously, closing her eyes underneath the jet of stale water raining softly on them both from the showerhead above. She lay her hand over Neo¡¯s, wrapped around her waist. They¡¯d left their sodden clothes on: standard procedure in the first rinse, to conserve water washing them afterwards, as well as to prevent too much heat from escaping their bodies in the tepid water. Even with the intimate contact between the two, it was all too chilly in the ship.

Neo stretched out a hand and turned a large knob positioned prominently on the wall; with a screech, the water slowed to a steady drip. It was ridiculous how much water was wasted because of a faulty pipe somewhere ¨C a bucket was situated to catch the precious drops before any was wasted. Morpheus had constantly talked of getting the leak fixed sometime, but every mechanic ¨C even crewmate- they¡¯d ever had on board had never been able to find the cause of the problem. It was legendary.

Trinity peeled off her sopping shirt and wrung it out, hanging it up to dry on a makeshift pole built into the wall. ¡°I don¡¯t worry.¡±

¡°You mean you don¡¯t worry about many things,¡± Neo continued, a smug smile forming on his lips.

Trinity turned suddenly to him, eyes sparkling. ¡°I don¡¯t love many things.¡±

¡°But I love you.¡± His own eyes met Trinity¡¯s, just for an instant. She took a step closer to him, and Neo swallowed, the heat from her body closing in on him like an aura.

¡°Neo, I¡¯m going to be honest with you,¡± Trinity said softly. ¡°I worry about you because¡­ because I don¡¯t want to lose you. What happened today¡­¡± Her voice failed her, and Neo raised a hand gently to stroke her damp hair, clinging to her face.

¡°Someday, after this war is over¡­¡± Trinity tensed up. ¡°Someday, we¡¯re going to have to die.¡±

¡°I know,¡± she whispered. Her eyes roamed the dull square tiling on the walls. ¡°But¡­ couldn¡¯t we just stay in this moment for a little while longer?¡±

Sighing, she pulled off the thin tank top she still wore, hanging on the rack as well. Neo came from behind her, blindly fumbling with the catch on her pants. Successful, he undressed himself, then advanced on the large covered pail of the thin, unappealingly tacky liquid they used as soap. It was usually greyish from the greasy hands than came into contact with it, and smelled a bit like petrol.

They finished their shower in silence. Only when Neo turned off the water again did he speak.

¡°Trinity,¡± he told her, slowly, ¡°Listen to me, if anything ever happens to me in there¡­ I love you.¡± His earnest eyes touched her own. ¡°You know that, say you know that.¡±

¡°I do.¡±

He bent nearer to her, eyes drinking in every inch of her silky skin, lips just far enough from hers for speech. ¡°Then I¡¯ll never really be gone.¡±

Neo¡¯s eyes closed and he kissed her, on the lips, as if it was all he knew that moment. Trinity ran her fingers down his smooth chest, hands slick from the water. They barely seemed to need to breathe, too wrapped up in each other to care. Time held for them, and they were trapped, willingly, in a moment of limbo, in a few seconds which stopped to left eternity take their place.

The first thing Trinity could make out when she pulled away was the ceaseless dripping of the leaking showerhead. Neo followed her eyes up. He smiled.

¡°I hear we¡¯re going to Zion.¡±