A/N:  Nothing belongs to me, nope.  I am neither a Warner Brother, nor a Wachowski Brother, so not a dime is being made from this.  Most of the lines are from the movie and certainly not mine; I just added my thoughts to them.  I thank all those involved with the movie for a great scene to play with!

Ok, here's the next to last chapter.  If I'm going to do this like "Prelude to a Hug," then I have to write a chapter at the end to wrap it all up.  That chapter is going to lead into my next story that covers the lives of Trinity and Neo in one, fluffy and clichéd package.  (Sorry to those of you who hate that, but I needed something sappy after seeing "Revolutions")

Anyway, this chapter is Neo's POV and thoughts.

****

            Ah, my Trinity.  The only woman I have ever loved.  It's no secret that I wouldn't be here today without her.  I couldn't live without her anyway.  I know her better than I'll ever know myself.

            So, when we went to the Merovingian, I knew she was on edge.  It didn't help matters when I told her that all the floors were lined with explosives.  Oops.

            After we had our little talk with the Merovingian (and Trinity threatened a guard), we thought we were leaving.  Then Persephone took us to the men's room.

            "I am so sick and tired of his bullshit.  On and on. Pompous prick.  A long time ago, when we first came here, it was so different.  He was so different.  He was like you," she said, staring at me.  "I'll give you what you want, but you have to give me something."

            "What?" I asked.

            "A kiss."

            I knew this wasn't going to be good.

            "Excuse me?" Trinity asked, completely enraged at the mere thought of that.  I was right; this was going to be ugly.

            "I want you to kiss me as if you were kissing her."

            "Why?" I asked, but I knew that it didn't matter why to Trin.  She was probably going to shoot Persephone any second.

            "You love her.  She loves you.  It's all over you both. A long time ago, I knew what that felt like.  I want to remember it.  I want to sample it.  That's all.  Just a sample."

            "Why don't you sample this instead?" Trinity said, using that "don't fuck with Trinity" voice that terrifies me.  I know better than to mess around when she pulls out that voice.  She raised her gun and pointed it straight at Persephone.  I wasn't really surprised that she was that angry, but Trinity rarely let her emotions control her so much.

            "Trinity," Morpheus said, calmly as possible.

            I knew she was upset over what just happened.  Morpheus using that tone with her made her feel all the more irrational.  But I could see through her ironclad exterior.  She was pissed and she wanted to act.

            "Such emotion over something so small.  It's just a kiss," Persephone said.

            But it wasn't small.  This was huge.  She was asking me to break a vow of trust with the woman I loved right in front of her.  How could I do that?  I knew how hard it was for Trin to let me in as it was.  To do something like this would break her heart.

            "Why should we trust you?" I asked.

            "If I don't deliver you to the Keymaker, she can kill me," Persephone replied, looking to Trinity.

            She really shouldn't have given that option.  I knew that my loving girlfriend was already listing death scenes in her head.  I couldn't blame her; that was just part of Trinity's instincts – defend what is important to you at all costs.

            I looked at Trin straight in the eyes.  Even with her sunglasses on, I knew those blue eyes were filled with emotions: anger, fear, jealousy, love.  I was hoping that she would at least tell me that it was ok to do this. Or even tell me that it wasn't ok.  But instead she looked at me as if to say, "this decision is your own."

            Great.

            "All right," I replied, trying to seem nonchalant.

            "But you have to make me believe I am her," Persephone said.

            "All right," I said again, still terrified about what was happening.

            I leaned down to her and gave her a kiss.

            "Terrible.  Forget it."

            I didn't know what to do.  I knew Trinity was milliseconds away from pulling the gun again and this time not giving Morpheus the chance to stop her.

            "Wait," I said.  "Ok."

            I took off my sunglasses.  If I was going to do this, then I was going to do it right. 

            But I couldn't look at Trinity.  I knew her heart was breaking and I couldn't bear the thought that it was because of me.  I hated kissing someone else, especially in front of her.

            Trinity is a thousand times more delicate than she'd ever let anyone believe.  While she is more of an ass-kicker on the outside, she's a scared and fragile woman on the inside.

            And now I was making it worse.

            This was going against everything we had built.  We had let each other in, trusted each other, confessed to each other.  Now I felt as though I was cheating on her, right in front of her.

            If the tables were turned, I would tell her to kiss another.  I know it because we're both still soldiers who wanted this mission to succeed.  But I would hate it as much as she was hating this.  And I know how much I hated this.  I tried to make it seem like I was kissing Trinity.  I used every fiber of my imagination to pretend it was her body I was holding, her lips that I was kissing, but I'm sure I failed.  It was like part of me just wouldn't relinquish that.  I wouldn't betray her that much.  Still, it was killing me to even do this much.

            Finally, our kiss ended. 

            "Yes.  That's it," she whispered.  Persephone looked to Trinity.  "I envy you."

            "But such a thing is not meant to last," she added quite cryptically.

            I knew it didn't matter what she said.  I knew that we were meant to last.  I was going to love this woman till the day I died and I knew she would love me forever as well.

            Over time, I think Trinity has begun to forget what happened, but I know it creeps into her mind every now and then.  Whenever certain missions are discussed, I can see that icy look come back to those blue eyes I love so much.  She gets that expression that she always had before kicking the shit out of someone in the Matrix and I know that don't fuck with me tone is coming.

            "That bitch.  I can't believe I let you kiss her."

            "Yes, sweetheart, but we saved the world that day," I always reply.

            "Still.  That bitch."

            "Yes, sweetheart.  She was a bitch," I'll agree with a sigh and change the subject as quickly as possible.

            At least now we have our daughter to keep Trinity's thoughts busy.  I've never seen her more devoted to anything than she is to our baby girl.  She's an entirely different person around our little girl.  You'd never know she was such an ass-kicker when she's in mother mode.  She smiles and coos now.  Can you picture Trinity cooing?  It's a sight.  But it's an amazing sight, and I'll never tire of seeing it.  She's so beautiful when she's singing our daughter to sleep (not that she's not beautiful any other time). 

            I love my girls and I know I will forever.  They keep me sane and they keep me whole.  I don't care what Persephone said; our love was built to last.