Author's Note: I am aware that some readers and/or reviewers are not happy with my current choice of plot (re: not aimed on Trinity and Neo). I'm am heartily sorry and will immediately upon posting this new chapter, take off their names as the two main characters to search for, for If any of my fics have taught you anything about my writing style, it's that I thoroughly enjoy writing a story around one or two people in love, namely, Neo and Trinity. It took a large leap of faith, and enough nagging in the creative part of my brain to come up with what is now the main story thread with Paz. Let me put it this way: either I would've done a really crappy ending to this fic many chapters ago, which I did not want to do under any circumstances. I always want to write something good, and the reason I didn't end the fic then, was because it would not have been even decent. My way of saving this fic was to flip it. If you have a problem with it, you may complain to me, as you have already, but keep in mind: I will not change my story to fit your liking. It is mine and mine alone; you just choose to read it.

Off of that issue, and onto other responses: any inquiries about me writing a Buffy or any other TV fic, this is my response: I actually started an "Alias" fic, the first 3 chapters are posted here, but I broke my rule when I did that, and I do not intend to break it again. My rule is that plots on TV are constantly changing, so I may write something one week that works, but the next does not. Also, I will not, ever, write a Buffy fic, for any character or pair of characters. Nor read any. My reason? I am completely happy with what they did and how they ended it, and I don't want to change it. Hard to understand? A little I guess, I just have this other rule: if I'm going to write fic based on a movie, TV show, or comic, I want to keep it as realistic as possible. That's it, I'm done, and this is the longest note I've ever written.

No amount of training could have prepared Paz for this. Her father, The One, was standing before her. She didn't know which was more of a shock: that he was alive, or that she hadn't recognized him. Then again, his RSI in front of her was younger and clean-shaven, not to mention all black and glasses threw off her last fuzzy memory of him.

"You're my- you're Neo?" Paz quickly jumped over the relation question, fearing how he would react.

"Why would you be so surprised?" Neo replied, cocking his head to one side before taking his glasses off.

"Last I heard you were dead." Paz quipped.

"Yet you come here, looking for and finding me. There's a loophole if I ever saw one." Neo shook his head at the statement, "Who are you, and why are you looking for me?"

"Who I am-" Paz's response was cut short by the shrill cry of her cell phone. Casting a glance at Neo, she quickly opened it, "Hello?"

Niobe's voice cut through the line, surprising Paz, "Paz, do not tell him who you are. Deflect his inquires by asking him about whether he made sure the machines will never bother us again. You must keep your mind unemotional, this is Neo you are talking to-"

"You think I don't know that?" Paz interrupted, only to be cut off.

"I know you know that, but he will very soon know who you are if you don't keep your cool. He will read your coding and see Trinity's."

"Why hers?" Paz hastily asked, her eyes jumping to Neo's confused stare.

"Because you are her, as the Oracle told you, only with a bit of Neo thrown in. Besides, when I look at these screens, I see her old coding mixed with Neo's, why would you think he wouldn't see that also? Just keep it calm." Niobe didn't wait for a response- perhaps her years in the Matrix training her not to- and hung up.

Paz nodded into the phone before putting it in a pocket inside her coat. Turning to face Neo once more, she titled her head to one side- much like he had only moments ago.

"When you left ten years ago," Paz swallowed, and could also see the pain his own eyes, "You went to make sure the machines never attacked Zion again. We have had no further knowledge as to whether you succeeded or not."

The unvoiced question settled thickly in the air for a few moments before Neo replied, "I did, but I don't think they will keep their promise much longer, I have been feeling them attempting to stop my entrances into the Matrix, as well as their newest virus to keep various minds inside. I'm sure the Oracle is voicing her concerns."

Paz opened her mouth to reply only to close it again, thinking over his last statement. "Why would you think that, or that I would know?"

"I don't, but she will be telling someone, most likely someone who was there at the end of the war, possibly Morpheus?" Paz averted her gaze at the name before swallowing audibly.

"Captain Morpheus died four years ago." Paz softly replied.

Neo hung his head at the news, "I'm sorry to hear that. May I ask as to how it happened?"

"Heart attack, of all things." Paz smiled ruefully at the idea.

"What about Niobe? Or Ghost, or Sparks even? Maybe Link?" Neo's eyes fully expressed his fear of the deaths of everyone he knew, the telling reason he always wore glasses in the Matrix.

"Captain Niobe has replaced him at watching over his duties, Sparks is still at her side. Ghost as well as Link and his wife Zee are all still around."

Neo nodded in understanding before speaking. "You would not know such things if you were not in some way connected to each of them. As such, I am assuming that Captain Niobe, as well as her Operator are in charge of this mission of yours to find me."

Paz heard her phone ring again but shut if off, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew Niobe would be making a comment about this choice later on, but she found it hard to care.

"They are not in charge, merely guiding me. It was my idea."

"Why?" Neo shook his head slightly, confused.

"Come with me." Paz cocked her head towards the door, before finally acknowledging the third man in the room. "He will return, I promise."

The man nodded before watching the pair walk out.

Arriving on the rooftop, Paz leaned her hands on the railing at the edge. Taking her glasses off, she allowed her gaze to look out at the digital city before turning to face Neo. Soft brown eyes met their maker.

"When I was younger, my parents used to tell me stories of their experiences in the war. I would be blown away by what they did. They sacrificed everything for the future of Zion, even their love. I was too young then to understand the concept of love, let alone what they felt for one another. It took me ten years to figure out how much they needed one another. Imagine that. Ten years to understand the simple act of devotion." Paz smiled softly before turning her gaze to the skyline.

"For ten years, I have been living with this sad memory of my mother, I would wake almost every night from a nightmare about this memory, and not until two weeks ago, did I know why. That same day, I found out more about my father than I wanted to, and I'm still recovering."

Neo furrowed his brow before placing a gentle hand on Paz's arm. He couldn't explain how much she made him think of Trinity, and it was painful to be reminded so much.

"You see, I came to find you to get some answers for questions I have had for ten years. But now, standing on this roof, seeing you as realistically as possible right now, I don't care anymore. I just want to stop those machines from ever reaching Zion again."

"Why do you need me?" Neo asked, not knowing the pain his simple question caused.

"Because it has been prophesized for me to stop the machines, and I don't know how." Paz replied, finally shifting her gaze back to Neo.

"Why would you be prophesized?" Neo smiled softly, trying to understand.

"You're cuter than I thought. I can see why she likes you."

"Who?"

"Not too bright though."

Paz shook her head at the sudden memory, her hand grasping Neo's for support, only causing another memory to surface.

"You see that? It's Latin. Means 'Know Thyself.'"

"Are you all right?" Neo asked, his hand strong in her grasp.

Paz ripped her hand from his, a sudden flash of multiple memories jarring her brain.

"Don't touch me." Paz whispered, causing Neo to pull back, hurt. "When you do, I can see memories I never experienced. They're yours. They must be."

"I don't understand." Neo shook his head.

"When they started, it was when I-" Paz stopped short, her eyes, wide with understanding, came to rest on Neo's face. "Oh God I can't do this, it's too fucking much."

Neo watched as Paz pulled her phone out and began to dial before grabbing it from her and moving away.

"Who the hell are you?" Neo inquired, watching as she simply stood, not wanting to make contact by accident.

"Look at my coding, then ask that question." Paz shrugged, pain in her eyes.

Neo did as she said, blinking into the coding. Seeing coding that he knew too well pulsating with a few fragments of his own, Neo quickly looked back at Paz, the coding disappearing.

"You're-" Neo stopped, not sure what to say.

"I'm the living embodiment of Trinity, my mother, with the powers of my father, The One, mixed in. I'm your daughter."

Paz sat up in her chair, her hand holding her head, forcing the tears welling up inside not to come crashing down. She had not waited for Neo's response to her statement as she grabbed her phone back and asked for an exit before promptly leaving him speechless on the rooftop.

"You okay girly-girl?" Sparks asked, draping a blanket over her shoulders.

"No, Sparks, I'm not." Paz felt the first shudder in her body before allowing hot tears to fall.

"Aww, you'll be okay." Sparks hugged her gently before seeing Niobe move around the computers, and took a step away from Paz.

"Just what did you expect to accomplish by telling Neo?" Niobe began, her fury barely leashed.

Paz hiccupped once before wiping her eyes and leveling a look she had inherit from her mother on Niobe. "I'm playing an old game he used to play when I was very little. I caught him in his game, and now, he has to catch me, only he knows I won't return to the Matrix."

"Meaning he'll have to come here." Niobe finished, nodding, "All right, why don't you go get your brother and my daughter, oh find Kid, Ghost, Link, Haze and Jupiter. Tell them to meet me in my quarters in two hours."

Paz nodded before feeling Sparks help her up. Smiling thankfully at him she exited the main deck in silence. Turning to his old captain, Sparks scratched his head.

"Do you really think he'll return? I mean, it is Neo, but, well, then again, it is Neo."

Niobe turned, her arms crossed below her chest. "He'll come, if anyone could make him come, it would be her."

Okay, slightly long wait, and also slightly long author's note. Any supporters of this story should take no offence. I'm going to try to wrap this story up within maybe, 2-3 long chapters.