Disclaimer: I lay no claim to any of the characters other than Tess – the rest belong to the Wachowski brothers, god bless 'em.
A/N: My first Matrix fan fiction. Please be kind. R/R PLEASE!!!
Takes place during Reloaded, on the day when the ships all return to Zion. Tess is Soren's lover and she's contemplating her past and their future together. It's actually quite sad if you know what happens to Soren later. Morpheus and Trinity are secondary characters and Neo has a brief cameo. Actually, his crotch has a brief cameo. (Don't worry, its not as sordid as it sounds!)
Chapter 2
That was seven years ago. Though I never really found a niche on the Nebuchadnezzar, I did find a friend. His name was Stryker and he was one of the "hopefuls". He had been saved nearly six months before me and had helped Trinity take care of me while I was recovering and adjusting to life outside of the Matrix. At the time, Morpheus was convinced that Stryker was the One, but Stryker didn't believe him.
Morpheus had enough faith in Stryker that he wanted to take him to see the Oracle, but Stryker continually refused to go – he didn't see the point. Finally, as a compromise, I agreed to go instead. Morpheus sensed my connection with Stryker and thought that anything the Oracle told me may help shed some light on Stryker's destiny. He sent Trinity along with me.
The Oracle confirmed our suspicions - Stryker was not the One. She told me that the man that I would fall in love with would be very important to the resistance, but he would be no savior, no messiah. Just a man. And that man wasn't Stryker.
I always felt that there was something else the Oracle wanted to tell me, but she held back. I don't know why, maybe she felt I wasn't ready. I trusted her, so I didn't push for more. It wasn't until much later that Trinity told me what the Oracle had revealed to her.
When I returned from my visit, I tried to explain to Morpheus what the Oracle had told me – that Stryker was not the One - but he refused to listen. Instead, he kept testing Stryker, pushing him to and beyond his limits to prove that he was right.
It was this insistence that finally killed Stryker. Morpheus had sent him into battle with three agents – alone. Trinity begged to go in with him, but Morpheus wouldn't allow it. We were left to helplessly watch the bloodbath on the monitors. Stryker didn't last five minutes.
After Stryker died, I was no longer interested in staying on Nebuchadnezzar. I had been training to become the ship's medic, but my interest and my focus died with my friend. Trinity and Morpheus arranged a special trip to Zion to drop me off and I've been here ever since.
It's a good life, for the most part. I work in the medical facility and I've made some brilliant friends. Life here is always somewhat of a struggle, though. The Sentinels are a worry for those of us who stay in the city, but for the crews of our ships patrolling the endless tunnels, they're a constant concern. Of course, going into the Matrix is another kind of risk altogether.
I stay out of the Matrix, but sometimes Soren has to go in. He is a soldier, after all, and captains his own ship, the Vigilant. I'm always afraid when he has to go in and I've asked him not to tell me about it when he does. But some nights I can taste the blood on his lips, see the cuts and bruises on his body that weren't there before, and know he's gone in. It's a fear that I've had to learn to live with.
But lately, there have been rumors of something more sinister than we've ever faced before. They say our entire city is in danger of attack from the sentinels. They say there are thousands of them digging – and there is nothing we can do about it. Nothing that is, except pray that Morpheus is right, and that the One is coming to save us.
Morpheus is telling us not to be afraid, that we will defeat the approaching army and that tonight is a time for celebration, not fear. I try to force myself to believe him, but I can't. I can't help but be afraid - for myself, for Soren, for our child.
I haven't yet told Soren that I'm pregnant. I just found out for sure myself. I'm not sure how he'll react. Soren has been my lover, my best friend, and my prophecy fulfilled for the last three years. Now he will be the father of my child. At another time, maybe, I think he would have been thrilled. But now, with this new threat to our city, I just don't know.
