A/N: Well, happy Valentine's Day everybody! I hope you enjoy the continuation of WEI. Please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Matrix movies, I'm only borrowing them…

Wide-Eyed Innocence

By Ragdolli

How I made my place

I think that I have always found the world to be like the circus I once saw when it came to Lyon. My father was away on an expedition to the Holy Land, and so my mother and I snuck out of the fort as peasants to go and see the performers. Though I couldn't have been more than five or six at the time, the swirling colors of the caravans mesmerized me. I felt as if I saw everything with warped senses- as if nothing was quite real; that was the first time I could ever give voice to the way I felt. At the circus in disguise, clutching my mother's hand, I felt as if Lady Adrianne did not exist…as if I could just fade out of the circus's suspended, colorful reality and wake up in my bed back in the fort.

Those feelings were intensified working in Morpheus's caravans. He made me feel as if Adrianne the general's daughter no longer existed- as if I could be whomever I wanted. As we traveled on towards Paris and what would be my new life, the swirling colors of the shows we did in towns along the way were magical.

It turned out that I had not been the first or last person to write to Morpheus for answers. Every time we received questions, Morpheus would direct our troupe in the direction of the village the letter was from. We would watch the visitors, and what was disguised as a brothel turned out to be Morpheus's private office. There he met with the villagers, and set someone to follow them…"observing", as he called it (The villagers never knew they were being watched). Yet I'm jumping ahead of myself again-let me back up a bit.

Morpheus was selective with whom he took; I was one of the two lucky ones. When I had first arrived in Morpheus's caravan, I was taught to tumble and walk a wire, taught to sign to the others using my hands, how to live outside and cook on an open flame, but most importantly how to heal.

As I stretched on the mat before practice, I was approached by one of Morpheus's special officer. "You learn fast," Looking up at her, she seemed much bigger than she probably was. I could only think she was trying to intimidate me, but even though I had never seen her crack a smile, it was useless: I wasn't afraid of anything.

"I make an effort," I sent her a stare as calculating as her own, and then went back to stretching.

The officer emitted a sound that might have been a laugh, except I was positive Morpheus's special service wasn't allowed to show emotion. "I'm Switch. I was your spy before you joined, and I've been watching you practice…you know, you aren't that bad."

"Really." I could feel my adulterous ears perking up at her praise. I knew from what the other dancers had told me that Switch was one of Morpheus's "crème de la crème", so to speak: one of his elite members of his personal entourage, which was above the special service. She knew what she was talking about, and for me to be good meant that I was actually good.

"Ever considered joining the entourage?" Now that was unexpected. I had been traveling with the caravan for two weeks; I had preformed in hundreds of shows and almost completed my healer's apprenticeship. Yet through all of that I still had no idea how the caravan ran, or what the entourage did. To say my world had gone from a jail to a mystery would have been an understatement.

"No…but I'm certainly open to the idea," I stood up to begin cardio training when Switched swept one albino eye up and down my form (I hate it when people do that), and nodded to someone who must have been standing behind me. It was scary how easily Morpheus's officers could move about without anyone noticing. I wondered briefly where else they had been watching me before beginning my meditation.

"Be at weapons practice tomorrow morning, just before dawn. We'll see what you can do." Switch then decided to walk away, leaving me with nothing more than a cryptic conversation.

Needless to say, that was the end of any concentration I had that day.

The thing about comrades is that you have to be able to relax when you are around people. Showing emotion has never been something I'm good at. Even so, that didn't stop me from squeaking at my wake-up call. "Apoc! She's new!"

I shook icy water out of my now-drenched face and stamped up into the faces of Switch and a man from Morpheus's crew. "Adrianne, this is Apoc. He's Morpheus's personal bodyguard. He'll be your partner this morning." Introductions over, Switch put a sword (I recognized it as a small sword like I'd been training with back home) and headed over behind one of the wagons, Apoc at her side. I scowled at their retreating backs and sat up in my bedroll, feeling around for my britches.

I grumbled as I headed to the mats. Taking position across from Apoc, I found myself on my back before I had time to think. The sky was an interesting color from this angle: blue. Well, so it wasn't that odd…but even so, my back was already starting to hurt, and I could see this being the beginning of a very long morning.

A/N: This story is dedicated to Mystic Kyra, because she reviewed, and liked it. Thanks so much! I'm sorry I wasn't able to get the whole thing up for Valentine's, but it will be up by this Friday.

Raven