Okay, school and soccer are so damn hectic lately. I have like, no time. But I'm trying. One thing to point out, yes, thank you for telling me that Kid's age seems off, it is, I added wrong. He'd be in his 30's now. I apologize. Anyway, go on and read the chapter.

"Wasn't life so much simpler when there was a war driving the human race?" Neo voiced softly, his eyes staring into the tin of water he held limply in his lap.

All eyes jumped from various other people to him instantly. The silence in the room had been uncomfortable and odd. No one knew what to say, or even if they did, how to say it kindly. Niobe swallowed audibly before replying,

"Yes."

The attention of everyone in the room jumped back to Niobe, a glaring question in their eyes, why do you agree? Niobe shrugged off the looks before meeting Ghost's eyes. The tranquil understanding in his gaze calmed the nervousness in her stomach, and she remembered back to a time not too long ago when her belief in the shell of a man sitting before her was questioned.

"You never believed in the One."

"I still don't. I believe in him."

Niobe blinked, suddenly realizing that even Neo had flaws, and they could not shun him, nor truly hate him for his weaknesses. Moving across the room, Niobe grasped Neo's shoulder, jolting him out of his intent stare at the tin cup. Pulling him to his feet, Niobe leveled a strong gaze at him before speaking.

"I may not understand the full reason for your actions, but I do not care anymore. It was your choice, and yours alone. As I told you once, I will tell you again, no matter what, I believe in you." Niobe did not wait for any reaction- from anyone- before pulling Neo into a tight hug. Neo's hands flew to hold her back almost instantly in comfort and relief after years of fearing the dissolution and hatred of old friends and Zionists, which had wracked his already torn soul.

Ghost, Sparks and Link rose together and moved towards Neo. As Niobe released him, Neo allowed his upper lip to quiver in relief before being thrown into a bear hug by his old operator- who was quickly joined by Sparks on the opposite side. Upon being freed from the Zion-born men, Neo's eyes came to rest on Ghost- perhaps the final barrier in his quest for redemption before his children. Ghost's silent love for Trinity did not go unnoticed by him, and her death was equally painful for Ghost. Ghost looked at Neo for a moment, his face expressionless, the calm and tired gaze of a man who no longer wants to fight or hurt, but would prefer to live out his days for something, not because of something- namely, his anger at Neo. Neo relaxed upon seeing a soft, almost painful smile creep onto Ghost's face before embracing him.

"Brother, welcome home." Ghost said into his ear- the name reference an obvious expression of acceptance.

Neo nodded once to him before the older warriors backed away. Neo's eyes moved across the younger group- only a few he recognized. Kid moved forward holding out his hand, a large grin on his face. Neo shook the hand, surprised at the strength in it. Before he knew what he was doing, Neo pulled Kid into a hug, embracing the man who had looked up to him during the end of the war. Upon releasing Kid, Neo's eyes fell upon the blooming beauty that was Narcissus. He recalled just how mischievous she was as a child, and allowed a pained smile to grace his face before moving to clasp her hand.

"Uncle Neo." Narcissus smiled softly, the smile of her mother evident in her features.

"Narcissus, it is good to see you again."

"Likewise." Narcissus smiled again before releasing Neo's hand and backing away.

Neo's eyes shifted towards Haze and Jupiter, the only two people in the room he did not recognize. Titling his head slightly, he focused his gaze upon the deep olive skin and green eyes of Jupiter. A fierce warrior within the construct, and without, many had whispered that she could quite possibly be the next "Trinity." However, any hopes for that were squashed from Jupiter's mind the moment she moved to introduce herself to the One- Trinity's partner in all aspects of life.

"I am Jupiter, a friend of Paz's." The hand was taken and shook with a live grip from Neo- a surprise for Jupiter.

"Also the best damn fighter-in-training that we've got right now." Narcissus added, causing a few smiles to appear on the younger faces.

"And this guy is my cousin, Haze." Jupiter ignored Narcissus and continued with the introduction of the final unknown member of the group.

"Haze, I know that name but I do not know from where." Neo shook Haze's hand, his brow creased in memory.

"Ice, Captain of the Gnosis. You knew her." Neo nodded at the name. "She was my mother."

"Didn't she die in the final battle?" Neo cocked his head to one side in question.

"I was only a small child then. I stayed with some of her Zion-born friends during the battle." Haze nodded, his eyes lowering to the floor at the mention of her death.

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago, I only have fragments of memories of her, don't worry about it." Haze smiled gently before moving away.

Silence regained its power before Niobe moved towards the door, her eyes meeting everyone's but Neo's and his children's. Everyone but those three left quickly, more in fear of what Niobe would do if they didn't than of what they'd see if the stayed.

Emmanuel cleared his throat before looking at the man he should call "dad." Shifting his balance from one foot to the other, Emmanuel didn't know how to even begin speaking with this shell of a man.

"How does this work?" Paz began, her voice almost childlike in fear, but still adult through the lack of innocence in it.

Neo sighed. "I'm not sure."

"How about you start by telling us why you left us in the first place?"

"Em..." Paz cautioned, her tone weary, as if she had dealt with this more than once. "Please."

"He has the right to know." Neo replied softly, before placing his hands on either leg and pushing himself to stand up. He allowed his gaze to take in the both of them, seeing the similarities and differences before gesturing towards the bed. "Take a seat, the two of you. Please."

They sat side-by-side as Neo pulled his chair up in front of them. He allowed his eyes to shut for a moment as he prepared to begin.

"Shortly after I met your mother, we had a clash of opinions."

"We know, you two went into the Matrix to get Morpheus out, and wreaked havoc in the process. We know this." Emmanuel cut in.

Neo stopped to look at his son, daring him to speak again before continuing,

"She told me to go to hell first. I didn't want her to come with me, but being the woman she was, she would hear none of it." Neo stopped before adding, "Didn't seem to help any that she pulled rank on me either. Anyway, that's not the point. After that day, week, however long it was from the suicide mission to our ship being found accidentally by the Caduceus, Trinity and I had often tried to figure each other out. In the end, we came to a truce that she was always going to be slightly tough, save for privately around me, and I was always going to have trouble communicating. I will be the first to admit that she was always the stronger of the two of us. Which can be a bad thing, but think of it this way, if I had died, and Trinity had lived, she would've caved in on herself, but still stayed- for you two.

"I'm different. I wouldn't say she never made a mistake, but I made more, or it seemed that way. I didn't know her for the first 12 years of her freed life, so I can't say. I will never defend what I did as fair, I know it was wrong, and even when I left I knew it was wrong. I left however; to both sort my then chaotic mind out and also to escape. Outside the Matrix, I felt like I couldn't protect myself without Trinity around, and when she was gone...I lost it."

Neo stopped, his voice quivering. He forced himself to look at Paz and Emmanuel's eyes, seeing a mixture of confusion, anger and compassion.

"I don't know if I could ever be who I once was, not without her." Neo shook his head, running his hands through his hair.

The room was silent for a moment before Paz- casting a quick glace and her brother- stood and fully embraced her father.

"You've got me, dad. You can do it." Neo was taken aback before hugging her in return.

"Don't you mean, 'you've got us?'" Emmanuel added, before joining the pair.

Neo smiled fully, for quite possibly the first time in ten years; maybe everything was going to be all right.

Oh holy crap, the long update (sorry).