A/N: Chapter dedicated to Kris.
16
Morpheus reached the door to Neo's room, too tired to take any care in opening it. The trip back to Zion may have been a short one, but it felt like it had taken an eternity to reach the point they had arrived at, when it had only taken six hours. And without a full crew, each person would need to take a longer shift. It looked as if the trip may be a harder one than expected.
Tugging the door open fiercely out of exhausted frustration, he expected to see a single figure sprawled out across the bed. Instead, there were two figures tucked up together in the middle of the bed, facing away from the wall and breathing in perfect rhythm. For a moment, he almost believed that he was seeing Apoc and Switch before he remembered they were dead.
Taking a closer look, he almost fell back in surprise when he recognized one of the figures as Trinity. She was lying on her side with the blankets tucked around her waist, leaving only her top half exposed. The only clothing she wore that was visible above the blankets was a black, thin strapped under-shirt. She may have been lying in an awkward position, but she was smiling in sleep, a hand resting on her stomach and clasping fingers with a hand that wasn't her own. Neo lay behind her in the same state, pressed up against her closely.
Well this certainly is a surprise. Morpheus thought to himself as he watched the scene from the doorframe. Never before have I seen Trinity look so peaceful and so content...and to smile like that...to wear that amount of clothing...it's almost as if she's an entirely different person.
His presence must have woken her, because she stirred in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open as she took in her surroundings. She noticed Morpheus watching her with a kind smile and blinked, startled, clutching Neo's fingers tightly as she raised her eyebrows in question.
Morpheus now regretted entering so loudly and disturbing the scene of tranquility that filled the room. He remembered what he was here for and mouthed the words 'Your shift' and Trinity nodded curtly to show she understood. Smiling to himself and nodding once in reply, Morpheus left the room as quietly as possible, closing the door with a gentle click.
Trinity lay stiffly for a moment, feeling Neo's breath brush against the back of her neck. Upon awaking, she'd been surprised to find herself feeling warm and content with a weight pressed against her back and a hand clasped with her own. It had taken a few brief seconds for her to remember why, and when she did she couldn't help but be embarrassed at being found in the situation. Although things could have been worse. It could have been Tank who was sent to wake them.
Somehow, when she saw the look on Morpheus's face when he saw her lying there in such a state of pure bliss, she knew that he wasn't even going to try and separate them, but instead ensure that they remained together. Perhaps he thought she and Neo reminded him of Niobe. All feelings of uncertainty towards the way her captain felt about her new found relationship had now disappeared.
I suppose I better get him up. Trinity decided. She hated to do it, but knew she had to if they were ever going to make it to Zion. She rolled onto her back, shifting Neo's weight and causing him to stir.
"Mmmm...Trin...." He mumbled in sleep, only half conscious of his surroundings. Trinity's head jerked at the sound of the unfamiliar name, wondering why on earth (half conscious or not) he would suddenly decide to address her this way. It was a name Cypher invented, and therefore a name she despised. But it sounded different when it came from Neo's lips. She smiled- perhaps he may be the one exception to her unwritten law of being addressed by her full name.
"God." Neo yawned, his brown eyes groggy with sleep as he opened them slowly. "What time is it?"
"I haven't the slightest idea." Trinity replied truthfully, watching as he rubbed his eyes and struggled to sit up, but still kept one hand clasped with her own. "I'd say around 3am, Matrix time if six hours have passed since we fell asleep. Morpheus never allows anyone to work over six hours, full crew or not."
"Shit." Neo groaned, flopping back onto the pillows beside her and staring up at the ceiling.
"Didn't you sleep well?" Trinity asked worriedly. He really is going to need all the rest he can get...
Neo firmly shook his head, becoming aware of the fact that he was still holding her hand. He turned to face her, smiling broadly. "Truthfully, I don't think I've ever slept better. I just didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked."
"Oh." Was all she could muster to say in reply, flattered by his comment.
"What about you?" He questioned.
"Best sleep I've ever had." She said after a pause. It took her some time to work up enough courage to make her reply.
"Good." He said, now propping himself up with one elbow so he could look at her properly. She lay on her back with her hand clutching his and resting on her stomach, her face stony and her eyes still lined with sleep. Wisps of disheveled ebony hair had fallen into her pasty white face, and her lips were parted ever so slightly as she breathed.
He bent his head to kiss her, still holding her hand as he did so. Her lips felt dry in the early morning, and he traced them with his tongue before bringing it inside her mouth. He didn't know how long he kissed her....exploring each line in her mouth with his tongue as she did the same to him before he pulled away to take in much needed air, and she sighed heavily, closing her eyes softly.
In that moment, Trinity would have liked nothing better than to lie there for what remained of her days. If this was some pleasant dream, and to wake up would mean to reenter a life of solitude and coldness without him, she never wanted to. Now she could see where Cypher was coming from when he said that maybe living in a fantastical world could be better than living in reality. Everything felt too good to be real....how was it possible for someone to experience so many pleasant emotions at once?
"We have to get up, Neo." She said after some time, remembering what had woken her in the first place.
Neo nodded to show that she needed to say no more and let go of her hand, moving away to allow her to stand first. He watched silently as she found her clothes and pulled them on, tearing fingers through her hair in an attempt to try and make it a little neater. Eventually, he scrambled out of bed and tugged both his shirts on, stuffed his feet into his boots and fumbled with the clasps.
When both were ready, Trinity wrenched open the door and moved to climb the ladder, leaving it open for Neo to follow. They walked in silence until they reached the cockpit where Tank was waiting for them, leaning back in his chair in front of the controls.
"Morning." He said with a yawn. "Think you got enough sleep to manage a six hour shift?"
Trinity said nothing, but took the seat beside him. Tank stood and gestured for Neo to take his place. Neo hesitated before sitting down. Piloting a hovercraft was something they didn't teach in school, and he had no idea what he was doing. Trinity didn't even need to look at him to know that he was nervous.
"I don't expect you to know what you're doing, Neo." She said. "I'm going to teach you. Don't worry."
Neo nodded, not entirely convinced. He had always been a fast learner, but that didn't mean that he would find this any less difficult. Tank patted his shoulder in a friendly manner before descending the ladder and headed towards a welcomed sleep.
The ship was resting aloft, the engines whirring around them. Trinity pulled the seatbelt around her and clipped it into place, Neo following her lead. After checking their coordinates and the distance to Zion, she took the controls in her hands and tapped a few buttons, causing the ship to shudder back to life and rise slightly before she began to guide it down a nearby tunnel.
Trinity had been granted the task of teaching newly unplugged people to pilot the ship several times before and new the procedure well. But as it was with Neo, she struggled to keep her tone business like when only moments ago, she had awoken beside him and kissed him passionately. Somehow, she managed to find that she could keep her expression stony, her voice emotionless and her manner serious.
She found that the best way to teach someone something new was to demonstrate it and explain what she was doing and why as she did so. At first, Neo sat stiffly in his chair with his hands folded in his lap, taking in her every word and trying to remember what she was telling him. It was soon that he discovered that she couldn't pilot the ship on her own, and gingerly took the controls in hand, trying to keep everything she had told him in mind and found that it was surprisingly easier than he expected.
Trinity was highly impressed when she saw how Neo was able to learn something so difficult so quickly. That's incredible! He can heal and learn faster than anyone else I've ever met before! Is there anything he can't do?
Once he began to relax and the ship was running on a steady course, she stopped hollering instructions to him and gave him time to start a leisurely conversation instead.
"What does Zion look like?" He asked suddenly into the silence that now surrounded them.
Trinity paused to consider this before she came up with her answer. "It's pretty hard to describe. It's nothing like anything in the Matrix, or anything you've seen in the real world yet. It's the warmest place left in the entire world...as well as the safest. The only entrances are guarded heavily all the time, and the chances of the machines breaking in are slim. It's basically a combination of earth, metal and stone blended in with the large population."
"How many people are in Zion?" He questioned, turning to face her in his chair.
"I honestly couldn't tell you. I'd say roughly over two million." She replied, keeping her eyes on the screen in front of her.
"Compared to the Matrix, that's a pretty small amount." Neo commented, before he decided to change the topic. "So what do people usually do in Zion?"
Trinity shrugged. "I never stay there long enough to spend any leisure time. Morpheus never wants to stay there longer than we have to."
"Why?"
"I guess that he, like me, gets bored of living peacefully for too long." Trinity smiled when she locked eyes with him and saw the puzzlement on his face. "I life of war is the only life I've ever really known. I suppose it's hard for me to adapt to a quieter way of living, even if it is for a short period of time. The longest I've ever stayed in Zion for is two weeks."
There was a silent pause, in which Neo tried to picture the place Trinity described but nothing came to mind. He was afraid of what awaited him there, and of what the Council would do to him when they found out he was the One. Would they order him to stay in Zion for his own protection? Would they run tests on him...make him do things to prove he was the One? Would they separate him from Trinity?
"Trin, what are they going to do to me?" Neo finally had to ask into the silence. He didn't know what possessed him to call her by a different name....he thought he might have heard someone else call her it once....or maybe that was just a dream...
Trinity froze before she replied. She could taste the fear laced in with the question; and it was the second time he'd called her 'Trin'. "I don't know, Neo."
"Do....do they have the power to take me off the Neb?" He continued, gripping the controls nervously. Trinity knew how afraid he was, and she was just as equally terrified at the mere possibility. But she knew she couldn't show him this....knew that if he saw she was afraid, it would only make things worse for him.
"Yes." She paused to read the downcast expression on his eyes as he stared at her in fear, then added quickly. "But they won't. Not if I can help it."
Neo let out a breath of laughter. "Now I'm kind of hoping they order me to stay in Zion just so I can see your reaction."
"You might just get your wish." Trinity smirked. "You're about to learn, Neo, that I can turn real ugly, real fast."
"I'll bet." He grinned briefly before his face fell again as another thought popped into his head. "Um....you don't mind me calling you 'Trin', do you?"
Trinity didn't even need to think about her answer, and replied almost automatically.
"No."
(o)
At first, Neo didn't think that piloting a hovercraft would take up so much of his bodily energy. All he was doing was sitting in a chair, pressing a few buttons, and tapping a few controls on Trinity's command....how hard could it be? But soon he found that the mental stress it placed on his brain also effected him physically so that by the time the six hour shift was up, he was just as eager to sleep again as Trinity was.
Without saying a word, Trinity led the way back down to the lower deck once Tank and Morpheus came to take their shift. She stopped outside the door to Neo's room, waiting for him to make his way to her side, too embarrassed to go inside without being invited.
It seemed as if they'd made a silent agreement to share a room from now on. Neo pulled the door open and allowed her to enter first, shutting the door tightly behind him.
They undressed much faster than before, both too tired to think about anything other than sleep. Neo finished undressing first again and climbed into bed first, with Trinity only just behind him. When he put his arm around her waist again, pulling her against him tightly, neither realized nor cared that their conjoined hands were further down Trinity's stomach than they had been before.
"Trin?" He mumbled quietly as they began to drift into sleep.
"Yes?" She whispered, shifting her weight against him.
"I-I was just wondering." He began, pausing to yawn. "Do you ever miss the Matrix? Do you ever wish....wish that you could have a warm place to go home every night....a soft bed....a big meal....lots of friends. You know, a normal life?"
"Sometimes." She admitted. "But then I remember that this is the life I chose when I took the red pill. I remember what I'm fighting for, and I remind myself that I have a job to do. And then I realize that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Why do you ask?"
"I was just thinking about Cypher...how he wanted to get back into the Matrix." Neo said, smiling into her upper back which his head was placed against. "I-I just can't image why anyone wouldn't want to be free, even if this world isn't as comfortable as the Matrix is."
"I take it you don't ever miss the Matrix, then?" Trinity breathed.
"Never." Neo whispered back. "At least, not when I'm with you."
(o)
After seven six hour shifts shared between Morpheus, Tank, Trinity and Neo, they finally arrived at Zion's gates. Morpheus and Tank took the last shift, much to Neo's annoyance. As they had drawn steadily closer to Zion, he'd grown more and more excited to see what it was like until he could no longer wait for the ship to land and wanted to pilot it when they came through the gates. But Trinity insisted he needed as much rest as he could get in order to prepare for whatever awaited them when they arrived.
Minutes before the ship was scheduled to dock, Trinity rolled onto her back and woke the sleeping Neo with a soft kiss and gentle words. "Time to get up."
"Are we here?" He asked her, sitting up almost instantly.
Trinity nodded. "We need to get dressed."
She pushed back the blankets and scrambled out of bed with Neo close behind her. Instead of putting on the ripped and dirty clothes she'd been wearing since Neo became the One, she rummaged around the room in search of something clean and found an over-shirt and pair of pants that had once belonged to Switch. The indigo coloured shirt and black pants were much tighter than what she usually wore in the real world, but at least they weren't work-worn and practically destroyed like the other clothes she had. She tugged them on, and then ran fingers through her hair in a desperate attempt to make it neat.
Neo didn't fail to notice that Trinity was taking much more care with her appearance now that they were leaving the ship and wondered why, since Trinity didn't seem like the sort of person who would really care about looks. At least that was what he gathered from their conversations when repairing engines together in the cockpit. However, he decided not to ask and dressed in the same two shirts he'd been wearing before.
"You'll be surprised to find that Zion is much warmer than it is on the Neb, even with the boiler working." Trinity explained when the ship shuddered to a halt outside a gate that would give them access to Zion. "It's because we're closer to the earth's core, so you only really need one shirt when you're there."
Neo obediently brought his hands back to the hem of his shirt, but Trinity stopped him. "Don't worry about it now. People wear entirely different clothes in Zion to what they wear on ships. No doubt someone will find you something else to wear."
"Right." Said Neo, now struggling even harder to picture the last city of mankind.
The ship began to move again, but at a much slower pace than before. It sunk downwards, and he began to feel a ringing sensation in his ears, much similar to the feeling of being in a plane when it landed in the Matrix. He gripped onto the door wheel to stabilize himself as the Nebuchadnezzar finally touched down and the engines whirred, then died.
"Get your bags." Trinity instructed. Before they'd fallen asleep after the final shift, Trinity given Neo two bags that had once belonged to Apoc and told him he needed to return to his old room and pack his things into both. Since he had so few possessions, this hadn't taken him too long, and the bags he now had over each shoulder where considerably light.
Neo was filled with a boyish excitement as he climbed the ladder to the main deck and met Tank and Morpheus outside the ship's entrance, both with bags swung over their shoulders. Although he was afraid of what awaited him in Zion, the prospect of seeing the city he'd heard so much about made him anxious to get there as soon as possible.
Trinity moved up to stand beside him, and couldn't resist letting a small smile slip onto her face when she saw the look on his own. At least he seems to have forgotten about the Council and what they might do to him when they find out he's the One. By the looks of things, he actually seems to be in a pretty good mood.
The entrance to the Nebuchadnezzar consisted of a steel wall that automatically opened and fell back to make a slanted ramp that would take them to the floor of the landing dock. It fell slowly to reveal a circular shaped dome of iron and steel and metallic paths winding in between the large docks just wide enough to house a single hovercraft and built in a circular shape, suspended a good hundred feet above the actual ground. Hundreds upon hundreds of cotton clad people bustled between the docks hurriedly, each anxious to get to their destination and too preoccupied with what was on their own mind to take notice of anyone else. Pale faced teenagers pushed carts and trolleys loaded with different assortments of weapons, tools and military equipment, swerving between the clusters of people to load it onto the surrounding ships, waiting patiently to be recharged or repaired.
Neo stared around him in awe, his jaw hanging open as Morpheus and Tank led the way down the ramp (once the wall) and onto a path where several soldiers awaited them, their faces pallid and stony.
Trinity took one look at Neo and smiled secretly to herself. I'll never get tired of seeing the expression on a newbie's face when they see Zion for the first time.
"She'll need full repairs." Morpheus told one of the soldiers at the end of the ramp. "And a solid four or five days of recharging. There are five dead bodies resting in the Med Bay. I'm sure you know what is needed to be done to them."
The soldier nodded once, and Morpheus pushed past him to make his way down the nearest pathway with Tank not too far behind him. Trinity turned to Neo, who was still gazing around him and marveling at the different features of the dock. She held out an arm and touched his, her knuckles lightly grazing his skin and bringing him back into reality.
"Follow me." She said with a smile before moving down the ramp and onto the path in a hurry to catch up with Morpheus and Tank. She took long, rushed strides and Neo had to struggle to keep up with her, moving awkwardly due to the fact that he was still taking in his surroundings as he did so.
"So, what do ya think, Neo?" Tank asked him with a playful grin when they caught up to him and Morpheus outside an elevator.
"It's amazing! I've never seen anything like this before." I've never seen anything like this before." Neo exclaimed truthfully, then added. "Well...technically, I really haven't seen all that much yet, so I'm not one to judge."
"Trust me, Neo." Tank continued. "There's no place in this world or in the Matrix that is in anyway similar to the place you're gonna see today."
The elevator arrived and the doors opened with a metallic clang, revealing three people standing behind it who moved out onto the dock instantly. The first was a woman who appeared to be their leader, at least in Neo's frame of mind. She was slender and dark, with braids of raven hair pulled out of her face and wide brown eyes. She dressed in a faded red cotton over-shirt that was very similar to the one Morpheus wore. Trinity had told Neo when they were repairing the ship that anyone wearing this coloured over-shirt was a ship captain.
"Captain Morpheus, good to see you." The woman said with a nod of her head.
"And you too, Niobe." Morpheus replied, nodding too. "May I ask what you and your crew are doing in Zion?"
Neo had failed to take much notice of the two men who stood behind her. The first must have been a little older than he was, an Asian with a large figure and a proud flair about him. The other was small, meek and mousy with a shock of blonde hair.
"We're just here to recharge our ship." Niobe explained. "I've been looking for Jason, and I thought he might be here. Have you seen him?"
Neo couldn't help but notice how the muscles around Morpheus's lips tightened at the name, and his body seemed to stiffen.
"No, I haven't seen him. My crew and I only just arrived."
Niobe glanced over Morpheus's shoulder and her eyes widened a little when she locked them with Neo's. "Who's he? And where's the rest of your crew?"
"The bodies of the rest of the crew can be found within my ship. It's a long story, and no doubt the Council will be eager to here it first. I'll explain it in detail to you later." Morpheus turned to look over his shoulder, gesturing for Neo to step forward. "This is my newest crewmember, Neo."
Niobe held out her hand, and Neo hesitated before shaking it. He was surprised to find that she had a very firm grip. "Captain Niobe of the Logos." She turned to look back over her shoulder and gestured to each man in turn. "This is my second-in-command, Ghost, and my operator, Sparks."
"Nice to meet you." Neo said shyly, drawing back his hand when she loosened her grip.
"You're right, Morpheus." Niobe continued, taking her eyes off Neo and focusing them back on the other captain instead. "The Council is going to want to know what happened to the rest of your crew. I suggest you make your way to see them immediately."
"Thank you, Niobe." Morpheus smiled. "How long do you plan to stay in Zion?"
"No longer than necessary." She smiled in reply. "See you around."
Morpheus moved aside to allow Niobe, Ghost and Sparks to continue down the path to the dock that would lead them to their ship. He then stepped inside the elevator with the rest of his crew just behind him.
"I'll go to see the Council alone, first." Morpheus told them as the lift carried them further towards the lower floors. "Tank, take my bags to my room."
"Yes, sir." Tank replied solemnly, taking the bags from Morpheus's outstretched hand.
The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors clanked open. In Neo's opinion, stepping out of the elevator and into the heart of Zion was like stepping into an entirely different world. Here, things were still made of different metals, it's walls and floors sturdy and strong, held together by the perspiration and love of those who built it. Every so often, clods of earth would become visible between gaps in the metal and it amazed him (after spending almost a month in an artificial setting) that such a substance could exist in the real world.
But what really left Neo bewildered was the people who roamed the corridors that were lined with blood red steel doors leading into rooms. They dressed nothing like those in the docks, who were all clad in cotton and clothed warmly to shield themselves from cold. As Trinity had said, Zion was much warmer with an invisible balmy breeze wafting about in the air, which meant that all peoples dressed in garments appropriate for summer. The material was threadbare and flimsy, often showing off large areas of skin and leaving as much bare as possible. The clothes were styled like something out of an ancient Greek civilization, and ranged from long swirling robes and headscarves to thin, revealing midriff shirts and shorts. Each person seemed to take pride in their sunless skin, and equally as much pride in their hair, which they let grow long and tangled, flowing down their backs. Most had bare feet, though few wore sandals leather shoes. Neo could now see why Trinity made an effort with her appearance. He felt very much out of place in what he wore.
"I'll see you all later." Morpheus bid them with a smile before leaving them and disappearing round a corridor that would take him to a separate elevator, leading to the ground level and the Council.
"Whoa." Neo whispered under his breath when he caught a brief glimpse of what lay bellow him when he glanced over the side of the corridor to the floors bellow. "This place his huge."
"You ain't seen nothing yet." Tank replied, overhearing Neo's comment as the reached a separate elevator. He turned round to face Trinity, his expression serious for once. "Hey listen, I know Morpheus said I should be helping you to show Neo around and find him somewhere to stay, but....I kind of want to see the others first. Tell them about....you know..."
Trinity felt the tears begin to swell inside her once more. But she was now more than accomplished at keeping her emotions under control. She nodded once to show Tank that she understood.
"Shouldn't be too hard to find him a place to stay." Tank added with a sad smile. "I think he's already found somewhere to sleep. Or should I say someone to sleep with."
"Shut it, Tank." Trinity scowled, folding her arms across her chest. Tank let out a laugh just as the elevator doors sprung open, and he bid them farewell before leaving.
At once, both Trinity and Neo were overcome with a sense of sadness when they realized what he would have to do once he took Morpheus's bags to his room, although it effected Trinity even more so. She knew Tank's family quite well, having spent her first trip to Zion as a guest in their household before she was given her own room. She almost regretted leaving Tank with the challenge of informing them of Dozer's death alone, but knew that it was better this way.
I'm not part of their family, and Tank has more comfort then he'll ever need when he's with them. It's better for everyone if I leave them to themselves.
"So where are we staying?" Neo asked, automatically assuming that they would be sharing a bed just as they had been on board the Nebuchadnezzar. Trinity pretended not to notice this because frankly, it didn't matter at all. She would have asked him to stay with her anyway if he hadn't brought it up.
"My room's just three floors bellow Tank and his family's." Trinity answered blandly, pressing a button to start the elevator again. "Once we dump our bags, I'll show you around."
"Great." He smiled as the lift came to a stop almost as suddenly as it had started. Trinity took the cuffs of her over-shirt in her hands, a strange habit Neo had come to recognize as hers from all their time spent together, that she often did for seemingly no reason whatsoever. The doors parted and Trinity led the way out into the corridor that lay beyond.
"How many levels are in Zion?" Neo wondered aloud as he followed her past a cluster of people, all deep in conversation.
"Roughly over fifty." Trinity said. "There could be more, I'm not sure."
"Jesus." Neo muttered under his breath. Floors and floors of people I have to save...
Trinity paused outside a red steel door that looked no different to the others around it and turned the wheel to open it, pushing it back into the wall behind and standing aside to allow Neo to enter first. She stepped in behind him, pulling the door closed and dumping both her bags on the floor.
Neo stood in the center of the room, his eyes scanning the walls made of clods of earth like a tunnel dug into the side of a rock face. The atmosphere was much cooler in here for some unknown reason, and he noticed, to his delight, that the room was almost ten times the size of his room on board the ship.
There were two offside doors, both made of red steel and identical to the front one. They were positioned on opposite sides of the walls, almost directly in the center of the room. The space between them was nothing more than a long and wide hall that ended at a hollow cave dug into the earthy surface with a gigantic bed wedged inside it, dressed with flimsy white satin sheets and full, welcoming pillows. The bed cave was framed with short, thick white candles as was the rest of the room, and there was a small ditch that led to an offside kitchenette that consisted of three steel benches, one matching cupboard, and a rickety table and two chairs.
"Nice." Neo commented, turning back to face her with a smile. "Real nice."
"Better than what he have on the Neb." Trinity said with a shrug. She crossed the room and opened the door in the left wall, revealing a tiny closet inside holding two sets of clothes. When she addressed him again, he was surprised to hear that her tone was business like again. "You can put your bags in here. The bathroom is through the opposite door. I'm just going to change, so feel free to look around."
She took one of the outfits hanging up in the closet down and moved towards the bathroom, brushing against him as she went. Unable to understand why she was speaking like this when Zion obviously wasn't the place for it, he held out a hand to stop her, clasping it around her arm and pulling her back towards him.
Startled, Trinity turned to face him just in time to see the grin on his face before he brought her close enough to kiss her. She smiled against his lips and dropped the dress she was holding to the floor with a delicate plop so she could wrap both arms around his neck. He let the bags still sitting on his shoulders fall to the ground as he slipped both arms around her waist, massaging her hips soothingly. Finally, Trinity pulled back just far enough to speak, so her breath still brushed across his lips as she spoke.
"Later." She whispered weakly, not that she wanted to stop. It was always hard for her to adjust from the tense and fear-filled life she led when on board the ship to the relaxed and carefree way of living others in Zion seemed to cope with. Somehow, Neo had managed to make her change to fit the correct lifestyle with something as simple as a kiss.
"Not too much later." He whispered back, smiling as he did so. Trinity placed a quick kiss on his lips. He loosened his hold on her hips and she let her hand slide off from around his neck before she bent to pick up the dress she had allowed to slip to the floor and scurried into the bathroom, snapping the door shut behind her and leaving Neo to stand alone in the wider part of her room and wait for her return.
(o)
"This is the main temple in Zion." Trinity gestured to an archway that led into an earthy domain beyond. "It's where we gather to celebrate or commemorate large events, to pray as a community, to hold large functions or to....to mourn the death of those we've lost."
Neo stood beside her, arms laden with Zionist clothing she'd managed to find for him while touring him around the city. Since the upper floors were mainly rooms belonging to others, she'd only shown him the ground floors and still it had taken over an hour thus far- and there was still plenty more to see.
Although he showed interest in all that was around him, most of Neo's attentions were focused on Trinity. She wore a tan coloured gown that reached as far as her ankles, with bare feet prodding out from beneath it. It was split down the middle, showing off the white skin between her breasts and the central part of her stomach before it stopped at her waist. It was styled as a halter neck, tied up behind her neck so that it revealed both her shoulders as well as all of her back before it came to the waist, when it became a flowing skirt that didn't cling to her body, but didn't stick out too far either. She'd washed her hair, leaving the ebony strands crisp and sleek and even slightly kinky, framing her face freely and she made no attempt to brush them back.
"Over here is the orphanage, and next to that is the academy." Trinity said as she led him after her by the shirt, pausing in front of each entrance to explain something. "Zion's law is that no one under the age of twenty is to be unplugged, and those under eighteen are not allowed to leave Zion and work on ships. So newly unplugged children who are under the age of twelve or any children who have lost all their relatives come to stay at the orphanage. Once they are over thirteen, they merge with the ordinary Zion born children and are upgraded to the academy where they are taught how to be soldiers as well as given a basic education. Children who are at that level are given accommodation here, although they can chose to stay elsewhere if they have family and want to return home after the days lessons. Once they graduate when they're eighteen, they can chose a career path of their own."
"Do all children have to go to the academy?" Neo questioned.
Trinity nodded. "It's law for every child to attend here once they reach the age of thirteen. It isn't really much of a problem, since it's free education and so close to everyone since we all live in the one city. So far, I've been the only acceptation to that rule."
"Really?"
"I was unplugged when I was fifteen, and therefore I was supposed to be enrolled in the academy when Morpheus took me back to Zion. It is the job of every captain to ensure that he or she takes newbies through the proper training procedure during the trip back to Zion. In other words, the same training procedure we took you through. But Morpheus was so impressed with my performance during this session that he made mention to the Council that I needn't attend the academy but immediately star work on his ship. Once I proved that I was capable of doing so, they allowed me to do so. Six years later, the entire crew had changed completely from what it originally was and I was appointed second-in-command."
Neo bent his head in concentration as he followed her along a busy corridor. He could clearly remember a conversation they'd shared weeks ago when they were working together in the cockpit:
"You mean there was a whole different crew then to what there is now?" Neo had asked.
"Only Dozer and I were all that remained of Morpheus's original crew. The other members either retired, quit, found a job on another ship, or...died." Trinity had said with a sad smile as she watched him. "Gradually, the crew evolved and ended up being entirely different to what it originally was."
Before he could bring anymore memories to mind, his pattern of thought was broken when he heard a man shout Trinity's name from a distance, and looked up to see a shadowy figure running towards them. As he got closer, Neo could see that the on comer was a large and beefy man of about his age, with tawny brown hair and a goatee.
"Great, here comes a bastard if I ever did see one." Trinity muttered sarcastically under her breath in Neo's ear, causing him to laugh. She rose her head and spoke aloud as the man darted to her side. "What is it, Dwayne?"
Dwayne bent and rested his hands on his knees, puffing heavily and obviously out of breath from running a fair way. Finally, he regained enough strength to raise his head and speak in a loud and booming voice.
"How are we, beautiful?" He asked her slyly. Neo scowled, hating him already.
"What do you want?" She asked irritably, folding her arms across her chest.
"I love it when you wear that dress." Dwayne murmured, reaching out a hand to touch the material. Trinity was about to get tough when Neo acted before Dwayne could lay his hand on her, interrupting with a sharp voice.
"That's enough."
"Easy, easy." Dwayne defended. "No need to get so protective." He turned back to Trinity with a smirk spread across his face. "Who is this guy anyway?"
"This is Neo." Trinity replied. Neo stepped forward immediately and took her hand in his, fixing Dwayne with a look of utter loathing and hatred. Trinity did not protest, but was at first irresponsive before she finally clutched his hand in reply.
"Oh!" Dwayne exclaimed, taking in everything he saw. His voice was touched with obvious signs of irritation and annoyance. "So you've found yourself a lover, have you?"
The pair said nothing, watching him with equally angry glares, their hands still linked together. Dwayne let out a bark of laughter, tears spilling down his eyes from the effort of keeping them open and his face reddening by the second.
"Well I never thought I'd see the day the bitch finally decided she'd give in." Dwayne cackled, looking up to Neo's expressionless face. "Although I suppose she's your bitch now."
"Shut up, Dwayne." Trinity ordered, somehow managing to keep her voice even and firm despite the rage bubbling beneath her skin. "Now what the hell do you want from me?"
"I want everything." Dwayne growled.
"God, get to the point!" She shouted. "What the hell do you want?"
"No need to be a bitch with me." Dwayne defended, realizing that the time had come to back away. "You precious captain sent me here to get you. Your required to stand before the Council." He looked over her shoulder and nodded to Neo, who was still swelling with anger. "So is he."
(o)
A/N: Nice, suspenseful place to leave it, I hope. I'm planning to make something out of this Dwayne character, but to see how he's related to and knows Trinity, you'll have to wait for the next chapter. My one hint is that he's closely connected to Cypher.
Thanks for reading, please review!