"You already know what I'm going to say."
"I'm not."
"Sorry honey, but you are going to be important."
"That's what I've been told."
"And it's true. How many other people do you think I get through here, in a day, hoping they're the One?"
"Eighty seven."
"How did you guess?" She laughs, questioning.
"You had it in your eyes."
"I see you paid attention to the body language training."
"Of course."
"I want to tell you something." She sits, lighting a cigarette.
"Ok."
"You're a hard shell, you lock everyone out and try to everything on your own. And that's fine, for now."
"For now?"
"One day, you are going to find a man, he isn't going to seem much to himself, but to you, he'll big."
"What do you mean?"
"One day, you are going to fall in love with a man."
"No." Barely audible.
"And the man that you love, he'll be the One."
"No." Definite.
"Why not?"
"Love is a weakness."
"How do you feel about Switch and Apoc then?"
"They are skilled."
"And do you think love gets in their way?"
"No."
"If you look hard enough, you'll see it makes them both stronger."
"They couldn't leave the other behind."
"And they won't." A pause.
"There's more, isn't there?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to tell me?"
"Are you sure you want to know? This is something you will not be able to change."
"Tel me."
"Once you've found the One, he will be brought to me. I'll tell him what he needs to hear and he'll leave."
"What does this have to do with me?"
"You have to know, as soon as you get in the building, as soon as you get out of the car, if you love him."
"Why?"
"If you don't you'll lose everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Yes, Morpheus, Mouse, Apoc, Switch, Tank and Dozer too. And if you don't know, you both could die."
"How do you know about Tank and Dozer? What about Cypher?"
"The Zion-borns? You had their names in your eyes." She smiled, leaving Cypher out still.
"My own tricks against me?"
"Yes, honey. And you better stop playing tricks on yourself, if you want to end the war."
"I'm not the One, I can't end the war."
'But the One can't end it without you." The woman paused, regarding the pale eyes behind black glass.
"What?"
"I know you're not going to believe me, not for a long time. You think the prophecy is bullshit."
"I haven't seen it proved."
'All right, how's this, I give you something to base it on. If it happens, the prophecy it true."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then I've been lying through my teeth for years."
"Alright, what will happen?"
"When you go to get him the first time…"
"We fail the first time? We never go back a second."
"You do this time. What I was saying was, the first time he will chose the devil he knows."
"Agents?"
"Bingo, after that he'll come fairly quietly but that first time, you'll lose him and you'll be powerless."
"If he's the One why doesn't he do something to save himself?"
"He doesn't believe in himself, he is afraid. Don't worry, Morpheus'll put you on watcher first."
"Which is it, that I get made his minder while his still plugged, or he goes with them?"
"Both. If either are wrong then you can do your thing and stay alone. But I'm right honey."
"We'll see."
"And make sure you get your captain to send me that boy Mouse when he's ready."
"Who is Mouse?"
"That little one behind you." An image of a wide-eyed boy appeared as she turned, ready to meet him.
"What the?" The image vanished.
"You haven't met him yet, give it a few years." With a kindly smile, the Oracle pressed a cookie into the hand of the warrioress.
"By the time your done eating it, you'll feel right as rain." With a slight backward glance Trinity left, hoping that she wouldn't have to tell Morpheus. The chocolate chips melted against her palm and with the hesitancy of someone expecting to be laughed at, she raised the smears to her lips, licking them off. For a brief moment she thought staying in the Matrix might have been better, but a sudden longing for something made her shake her head. The dark man saw the cookie in her hand and although he could see he had been wrong originally, he also knew that chocolate chip cookies were reserved for special people.
"What was said was said for you alone."
"No, you have to know."
"What?"
"I am not the One."
"I already knew that."
"Then why did you bring me here?"
"To see what you may be." Silence, the elevator doors opened.
"She said that she wants to see Mouse in a few years."
"I will have to remember that." A small smile, he looked ahead. Later the ship was silent, she sat in the dark on her bunk, thinking about what the Oracle had told her. A voice, foreign to the time remembered, pushed away the hazy clarity of dreaming.
*~*
A/N: This entire chapter was a flashback/dream/thing, just in case you got lost somewhere. :) Please let me know if the characterization is crummy, I'm heading out on a limb with the Oracle and Morpheus so please, if they don't sound right, let me know with some pointers, thanks. :)
Again, thanks to all who have reviewed, all those who haven't but will and even those who've simply read this story. It means a lot to know someone enjoys it, bar me that is :) You all can help yourself to the blocks of chocolate sitting by the review button :)
Skulldodds: I figure, Neo being the One, he hasn't quiet figured out how to use that against someone who rarely fights to their full potential. Trinity is fast but she's also restrained, a different style to the early fights of Neo. It's more fun to give him something to think about too, I mean, he's the One, he's unbeatable. And yet she knocked him to the floor :) Hope you liked this chapter and I'm, looking forward to your next review.
Divamecury: I'm glad you do have some time to write, or at the very least read. :) I'm lucky, I've learnt how to stay up late and type the story on word and still look cheerful in the morning. That means I use the time I do have on the net, I use it to write to reviewers and upload chapters, I hope to hear from you soon, with positive comments! :) Oh, do you want the meanings of any other names or anything, I'd really love to look some up and I'm just waiting for a good excuse :p