A/N: I apologize yet again for making everyone wait so long for an update. I have recently gone back to school and it's been hell so far this year (even though I've only been back for one week). Your support would really make my day, if you would be kind enough to review this chapter. Hope you like it!

31

There were six of them. Long, gnarling, gnashing tentacles that propelled them through the air…a dozen or so eyes that burned red like burning fire…mechanical claws that groped at the air as if desperately searching to find something they could not see. Six of them passing by the ship…each one slightly larger than the last.

One of them must have noticed the ship – heard the sound of an engine that had not completely died out yet. It screeched, the sound piercing through the ears of the watching crew, signaling to the others to follow it as it came hurtling down towards the seemingly defenseless hovercraft.

"Now, Tank, now!" The captain bellowed into the intercom he held rigidly to his mouth.

A blinding white light streamed out from the ship, sending sound waves pumping into the atmosphere. All bystanders found they had to shield their eyes from view as the light filled each dominion both inside and out of where they were standing. The screeching of the sentinels slowly began to die, before their mechanical bodies dropped to the bottom of the sewers – dead. Gradually, the light began to melt away into nothingness.

"All sentinels down, Sir." Tank's voice broke into the stillness of the cockpit where all had been silent. "Power coming back online."

Light filled the ship once more, only now it was the familiar yellow glow of the ship's lighting system. Neo sighed heavily, realizing that he'd been gripping the back of the copilot's chair so tightly that his knuckles had turned a shade of ghostly white. He leaned over to peer into the dank of the sewers, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fallen sentinels, though his attempt was futile. Everything below them was shrouded in misted darkness.

"These sentinel attacks are becoming more frequent." Trinity turned to her captain, focusing on masking the worry in her voice and in her eyes. "We've been out here a little over two weeks and already there's been three. Last time there were none at all, and the time before that there was only one."

"I know, Trinity." Morpheus scratched his chin in deep thought. "There's never been this number of attacks in such a short amount of time. They usually keep their distance from us. I think they might be planning something."

Later that night, as Neo lay awake in bed, he couldn't help running the words of his captain through his mind. They might be planning something…does that mean the time has almost come for me to fight them? I can't do that! I'm not ready! I don't even know what I'm going to do. Do they really expect me to rally some troops and march them into the machine city, knowing full well what is needed to be done? No, I'm no leader. I could never do that sort of thing. But if Morpheus is right, then perhaps I may end up having to.

Trinity was lying in front of him on her side, with his arm wrapped around her midsection. He moved even closer to her, holding her against him as tightly as he could without waking her, as if he were afraid of ever having to let her go…

(o)

"Something's bothering you, isn't it?"

Neo looked up from across the table in the Mess Hall with sudden confusion. Trinity was staring back at him, her eyes locked on his own. Ever since the last sentinel attack, she had sensed something different in him. He seemed distant…quiet even by his standards. It was as if he had suddenly gone into his own private reverie of silent thought which he refused to share with anyone. She quirked an eyebrow at him, and a small smile crept onto his face.

"You can read people like an open book." He laughed.

"It wasn't very difficult to tell that something was wrong." She frowned as an idea sprung to mind. "You're not still thinking about Lorena, are you?"

Neo firmly shook his head. "No, that's not it. It's just…well, you heard what Morpheus said in the cockpit that day. The unusual frequent attacks might be a sign that the machines are planning something."

Trinity sighed, now finally understanding what had been troubling him. He was worried that the time would come in which he needed to fulfill his purpose as the One much sooner than expected, before anyone had told him what to do. It was times like these when she found herself wishing she could fight the war for him, and take the mounds of stress off his back and put it all on herself. Perhaps even for one day, just so he could have a short break. But she knew it was impossible. He was the One. All him…all alone. These were his battles. She wanted to help him, at least. She hated seeing him this way. If only she knew what was the right thing to say…

"Do you remember when we were unplugging Raven, and Morpheus went to see the Oracle?" She waited until Neo had nodded before she continued. "Do you remember what the message Morpheus brought back to you?"

"Yes. She told me that when an unexpected event takes place, I need to go and see her immediately and she'll tell me my destiny." He replied. "But what if she sends a sign, and I don't notice it? What if something happens, and I'm expected to end the war before the Oracle gets a chance to tell me what I need to do?"

"Neo, you should know better than anyone that the Oracle is never wrong. Never." She reached out a hand and found his from across the table, entwining their fingers together. "If she says she'll send a sign, she'll send one that you're bound to notice. It will happen before you're expected to do anything, you'll see. No one can make you do anything if you don't even know what you have to do."

"People expect too much of me, that's the problem." Neo smiled. "I mean, nearly everyone in Zion is oblivious to the fact that I'm the One, but those who do know look at me as if they expect me to perform miracles, destroy the machines and put an end to all of their pain and suffering effortlessly. How am I meant to do all of that on my own? I may be the One, but I'm still just one man."

This is great, He found himself thinking. Getting everything off my chest and into the open…being able to speak to such a trustworthy person. No wonder I've always liked talking to her.

"You're underestimating yourself, Neo. You'll never be able to end this war if you don't believe you can." Trinity sighed. "I keep telling you, try not to think about it just yet. We'll take care of it when it happens."

(o)

"Tosha O'Dea." The science teacher swerved in between several tables until he came to a short, fair-haired girl who was staring past him with hazy brown eyes as if he weren't even there. Neo watched on with mild interest from the consol, using the lip-reading skills Raven had taught him to try and understand the conversation.

"Tosha O'Dea!" The teacher shouted, slamming his hands down on the desk in front of her with such force that it seemed to shake the entire classroom. The girl blinked up at him as if realizing that he was standing there for the first time.

"Hmm…anyone call?" She asked drearily, causing her surrounding classmates to snigger. "Oh, hello, Sir. There's no need to shout at me, you know. I'm right here."

"You weren't listening to my lecture at all, were you?" The teacher scowled reproachfully.

"Yes I was!" Tosha exclaimed in protest. "I was taking notes."

"Do these look like science notes to you, class?" He seized hold of her notebook and began to thumb through the pages, holding each up so that all could see. She had sketched pictures of various, fantastical creatures, most of which featured artist conceptions of different teachers or students the rest of her class seemed to know, for they burst into a hysterical fit of laughter each time a picture was shown. Neo himself found it difficult to suppress a smile when he saw the sketch labeled 'What my science teacher would look like if he was a nymph'.

"Tosha, I know you can do better than this. You're a smart kid." The teacher sighed. "Come on, then. Let's get on task."

"I'm on the task." Tosha replied, thumping her hand down on top of her notebook and gazing at her teacher in a mock-serious manner. The class erupted in a fit of laughter while the teacher glared at her loathingly. Neo leaned closer to the Matrix screens, watching the neon coding with amusement. Taking shifts in the core were so much more interesting when he could understand what people were saying.

"Alright, Tosha." The teacher said witheringly. "Seeing as you like attention so much, why don't you stand up on the desk and give us all a little dance then?"

God, this guy has no idea. Neo shook his head and grinned to himself, knowing full well that Tosha wouldn't hesitate to do it. Sure enough, she shrugged meekly, stood up on the desk and began to dance.

"That's smart." Neo murmured, thinking aloud to himself.

"What is?" Trinity asked from the darkness behind him, causing him to jump in his seat before he turned to face her.

"This girl, Tosha." Neo explained once he'd recovered. "Her teacher said something to her sarcastically, but she preferred to interoperate it literally. She can't get into any sort of trouble for doing it, because the technically he told her to in the first place. She's pretty smart for her age."

"Who is it your watching anyway?" Trinity leaned over Neo's shoulder to get a closer look at the screens while Tosha leapt off the desk and left with the rest of her class, informing them that school must have ended.

Neo shrugged. "This Tosha girl. Tosha O'Dea. She's a hacker Morpheus told me to keep an eye on for a while. I think he might be considering to unplug her."

"Nice socks." Trinity commented sardonically after a pause, observing the knee-high, rainbow stripped socks on the young girl. She had tucked the rim of her torn jeans inside them, and wore a loose fitting shirt with the words 'Beautiful Mind' printed across the front, and a hand knitted beanie.

"Interesting fashion sense, huh?" Neo grinned. "And quite a sense of humor. She has a folder on her computer desktop she labeled 'Evil Plans'."

"She sounds interesting." Trinity remarked with a laugh. "But she doesn't seem like the sort of person Morpheus would usually want to unplug."

"I guess Morpheus is just willing to take his chances." Neo responded uninterestedly.

For reasons unknown to her, Trinity couldn't but feel uneasy about the girl. There was just something about her that seemed untrustworthy…too logical…not the kind of person Morpheus – or any other sensible captain for that matter – would consider unplugging. She slid both arms over Neo's shoulders, draping them down to his chest, watching the screens more carefully.

"Coming shopping with us, Tosha?" One of the girl's two only friends asked her after putting a long, humorous conversation about the last science class to an end.

"Nah," Tosha replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm going to the park so I can be alone with my suppressive teenage angst, where I can drink coffee and bond with the exotic bird life."

"Suit yourself." Her friend replied with a giggle, giving her a small wave and heading in the opposite direction with another girl.

"Doesn't look like she's gonna do anything else interesting." Neo beamed when he tilted his head back in order to gaze into Trinity's eyes. "But I guess Morpheus would want me to tell you to keep an eye on her as well."

"Probably." She said, with a hint of uneasiness strong enough for Neo to sense almost immediately.

"Something wrong?" He asked cautiously.

"No, not really." She lied, not at all in the mood for discussing her feelings right now. Besides, she thought warily to herself, it's probably just me, anyway. If there's one thing the whole experience in Zion with Vivianna has taught me about myself, it's that I'm prone to react irrationally whenever Neo pays the slightest bit of attention to another woman. But somehow, this doesn't feel like it did with Vivianna. It's different. It's not about Neo.

"What are you going to look at?" Neo asked, breaking through her train of thought as he offered her his seat.

"My brother. You know, it was his birthday three days ago."

"Really?"

Trinity nodded slightly, tapping in the specific code that brought up the dimly familiar image of a suburban house in San Francisco. It was odd, she had figured, that ever since she had met and fallen in love with Neo, she had found herself thinking about her Matrix family even more. She had begun to remember things…small and insignificant things, like dates or events of little significance to her back then. It was this, and not the mere fact that it happened to also be three days after her brother's birthday, that she had decided to search for him once more.

It was a dismal afternoon, with rain hammering down on the roof and the image of lighting crashing in the distance, illuminating pasts of the patchy, dark clouds. Hope's two children were safely inside, curled up on the couch on opposite sides of their mother, who appeared to be reading aloud to them from a book. Hope himself, however, was nowhere to be seen in the presence of his family. Scanning the upper stories of the house for him more thoroughly, Trinity was surprised to find him sitting alone in the attic atop an old, forgotten box. He was gazing down at a flimsy piece of paper in his hands, his face expressionless save the glint of remorse in his lightning blue eyes.

"What's he looking at?" Neo whispered curiously, forgetting entirely about the fact that he was meant to be retiring for sleep.

Trinity zoomed in closer on the paper, and at once felt her body stiffen when she came to see what it really was. Neo rested a hand comfortingly on her shoulder, squeezing it gently as he gazed intently at the screens. It was a photograph of six people in total, as well as a baby, which seemed to have been taken during mid-autumn. A thin-faced, dark featured man standing with his arms wrapped tightly around the waist of a woman, resting his chin on her shoulder. The woman was young, and exceedingly pretty, with long coils of crisp golden hair and bold blue eyes. She was cradling a baby in her arms that look as if it could only be a few months old, wrapped tightly in a pink blanket to shield it from the cold. She was holding it proudly up to the camera, while the blue-eyed child appeared to be squealing excitedly with delight. Then there were two teenagers, the older one practically a man who had inherited most of his father's characteristics, with the exception of his eyes, which came from his mother. He was sitting on the floor, his body turned to the side with one knee bent and an arm resting carefully on top of it. To the right of him was his younger sister, who could have well been his identical twin.

But what had first caught and captured Neo's attention was the younger girl of only about seven. Her sister – an image of what she was bound to become when she was older – had encircled her arms around the waist of the smaller girl, bending forward and forcing her to bend forward as well. At a closer look, Neo could see that she was resting all of her weight on her older sister, so that her legs were almost completely off the ground. She was wearing worn, hand-me-down sneakers and a pair of denim shorts, as well as a powder blue jersey. Her shoulder length, dark ebony hair had been scraped back into a high ponytail, apart from a single fine, curled strand of hair that fell down one side of her face. But what had really entranced him was her eyes. They were ice blue, glowing with stubborn determination, and brilliantly bright against her pale skin. At only seven years old, her very being already bubbling with inner strength and power that could never accurately be measured. She was strong and powerful, and yet beautiful at the same time. Beauty in Strength.

"My God," Trinity smiled to herself. "I didn't know he had a copy of that. I thought it was only Faith who did."

"Faith has a copy?"

Trinity nodded, answering him promptly. "She framed it, so that it's sitting on the desk beside the computer in her bedroom."

"It's a nice photo." Neo complimented shyly to the seven beaming faces in the photograph.

"I remember the day it was taken." She recalled the moment rather gravely. "Faith had just been born. In only five month's time, Charity, my older sister, would commit suicide. This is the only photograph we ever were able to take of our entire family being together."

Neo looked into the eyes of the smiling girl who was embracing the child that would grow to become the woman he loved. The smile on her face did not seem artificial, but cheery and filled with joy, as if nothing in world could ever bring her down. He thought of her as the sort of person who would spend most of her time daydreaming, living a life up in the clouds. There was nothing dark about her…nothing oppressive.

"Strange." He pondered aloud. "She doesn't look suicidal to me."

"That's what everyone said when she died." Trinity replied. "Charity and I were very close, as you probably can tell from the photo. I looked up to her as my role model. I used to tell her everything about my life, and what I was thinking and feeling. We would spend hours sitting in our shared bedroom together talking, sometimes about meaningful things, and sometimes about pointless things. It didn't really matter. She had a job, so she could buy her own things. She always had cool clothes, CDs, makeup and shoes. I got left with all her hand-me-downs. But that didn't matter either. I used to worship her." She added the last sentence with a laugh. "The problem was that she was a very private person. Although I would share my deepest thoughts and feelings with her, she never really opened up in return to me. She kept everything to herself. It annoyed me, but I never asked her about it. I was afraid of ruining our relationship and we'd start fighting, like other sisters do. We'd never had a fight before at all. But if only I knew…if only I asked her to talk through her problems with me, then maybe I could have stopped what was happening. Rape…unhealthy addictions…frequent extreme states of depression…all these things she never told anyone about that eventually ended in her death. She couldn't cope with it anymore, so she didn't want to live anymore. One afternoon, she left home for her weekend job, but she never came back."

"Trin…" Neo trailed away, left utterly speechless by her words. Throughout her entire explanation, her voice hadn't given away any trace of emotion, and yet he could feel her body shaking beneath the hand he rested on her shoulder. Again, he gazed into the bright, youthful and promising eyes of Charity, finding it hard to imagine that this same girl would give up her own life in less than five months time. Trinity's life was filled with so much suffering…so much grief. It was almost so impossibly painful that he couldn't believe it was real…

"All she had to do was walk down to the beach, and jump off the cliff ledge onto the rocks. Just one little jump and it was all over." Now even her voice was beginning to tremble as she continued to remember. "I still remember the very last words she ever said to me, when she knew she would never see me again. She said, 'Take care of yourself for me, kiddo. Don't keep letting people push you around. You have to be strong. No matter what happens, and no matter what you do, always remember to be strong. I guess I'll see you again…sometime. You know, I think you're the reason I was able to keep on living for so long.' Then she winked at me. She told me…she told me she loved me. But I never said anything back. I didn't take her words to heart. Not until I found out what happened. It was then I knew I'd regret not saying anything that could have stopped her for the rest of my life. I didn't think I'd ever be able to find anyone like her again, who I could share everything with."

Neo turned the seat around so that she was facing him, immediately enveloping her in a tight embrace, pulling her fragile body up out of the chair and closer to his. There was something pitiful about her words that was so unlike her, which had only made him want to hold onto her, and to bring comfort to her again.

"You've got me to talk to." He whispered to her reassuringly. "Always, remember? You've got me for always."

This only made her hold onto him even tighter, and it was a solid fifteen minutes before she finally let go, allowing him to draw away from her. He could see there were a few tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Smiling softly to himself, he brushed them away with his thumb, causing her to smile as well.

"I must look pretty horrible." She sniffed. She hated crying, ever since the day of Charity's death. At the funeral, she remembered standing beside her father and clutching onto his hand. They were the only two people attending the service who weren't in tears. She hated them all…hated them for crying, because she knew that Charity would hate them for it, too. Crying was weak. Charity always told her to be strong.

"No," Neo murmured to her soothingly, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and drawing her in against him. Because she was sitting down, the chair only made it possible to press her head into his upper stomach. "You look fine."

Some moments passed before either spoke again, in which time they were both able to see a single tear drip down onto the photograph clutched in Hope's trembling hand. Neo merely rubbed Trinity's shoulders relaxingly, eventually breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

Trinity firmly shook her head, reluctantly tearing herself away from him. "No, I'll be alright now. Besides, you need to sleep. You've stayed here long enough."

It took a little more coaxing before Neo finally left her alone, heading back in the direction of his room. It was only then that an idea suddenly came to mind…something that may be able to lift Trinity's spirits not only now, but whenever she needed it the most.

(o)

The chance to test his idea didn't occur for another three weeks, when Neo found himself trading shifts with Tank at some late hour in the core.

"Tank, I need you to do me a favor." He asked.

"You know I'd do it if I could, Neo." Tank replied solemnly.

"Great," The other man beamed, getting up from his seat and offering it to the operator. "first I need to know if it's possible to bring something out of the Matrix and into the real world."

"Course it is." Tank answered promptly, though with an air of causality. "Only it's difficult, and when you bring the object or program or whatever into this world, it will automatically take the shape of what it really is – no more than a computer chip which has no use to anyone. So if you were thinking of jacking in to get something, then I strongly suggest that you don't."

"Maybe it will be different for me." Neo mused aloud. "We could just consider it another test of my abilities."

"I don't know if it's such a good idea." Tank furrowed his brow. "If it were anyone else, I would physically force them out of it if I had to. But since you are the One, I guess nothing really could go wrong…"

"Thanks." Neo grinned delightedly, excitement gathering in the pit of his stomach at the prospect of jacking back in after such a long time.

Although he still didn't seem too thrilled with the idea, Tank obligingly typed in the appropriate hack as Neo sat himself back in his usual jack-in chair, then slid the needle into the back of the other man's head, sending him into the computer simulated world.

(o)

In the past three weeks, Neo had been using his shifts in the core to carefully monitor the day-to-day schedule of Trinity's younger sister, Faith. The nineteen year old led quite a busy life, as he had determined, attending collage by day, and then returning home only to head straight to the local gym, then moving off for her nightly job as a bartender, earning her scarcely a few hours sleep a night. Because of that, she was seldom home, and it was not difficult for him to find a time in which he knew the New York apartment she shared with her aging father. The greatest difficulty would be getting in and out without being tracked down by the agents, and still managing to retrieve the photograph that sat on the desk beside her computer, without causing it to transform into a useless piece of data. Hopefully, his abilities as the One would not fail to disappoint him.

Blinking the code into place and staring intently through the walls of the apartment, he immediately spied the photo resting beside the computer, just as Trinity had told him. After scanning the area for agents briefly, he made his way into the foyer and got straight into the elevator, selecting her floor button and standing back to wait.

The apartment door had been left unlocked, much to both Neo's surprise and gratefulness. At least it saved him from the bother of trying to pick open the lock, or worse, knocking down the door. Though at the same time he had to admit that it was strange. People who had spent the most of their lives in New York should be wise enough to know that leaving any door unguarded was not a good idea. Nevertheless, he wasted little time in finding his way into Faith's bedroom. Sure enough, the photo was there in its frame, surrounded by mounds of university essays. He was about to put it into his pocket, thinking that this had all been too easy, when he heard a sound behind him and turned swiftly to see a girl standing defensively in the doorframe.

Even he had to admit, Faith was more beautiful in reality (or virtual reality) than she was on the screens. She had inherited many of Trinity's features, including a pair of cerulean blue eyes, reflecting the inner strength and determination within her soul. Her lavish spools of golden blonde hair had been tied back loosely behind her ears, and there was perspiration dripping off her summer tanned skin, drenching her gym clothes and sweatbands.

"Who the hell are you?" She shouted, her voice strong, demanding and controlling. She didn't seem anything like the sweet, innocent child who had never said a bad word about anyone that Trinity had once described. Perhaps it was her father's influence, or maybe she was just simply growing up.

"Easy, now." Neo replied with an inward smirk. She reminded him so much of Trinity. "I only want one thing."

"Get the hell out of my house!" She ordered. "I'm warning you…I'll call the cops."

"Hey, listen. I don't want any trouble. I only want this." He held up the photograph he held in his hands.

"You're not taking anything. Drop it and leave, or else!"

She certainly knows how to look after herself. Neo thought as he tried to control a laugh. "Please. It's for your sister."

Faith froze to the spot, her face suddenly turning pale, her eyes widening. She blinked at him in confusion, and for a second, Neo almost believed that she was willing to allow him to pass without further explanation, as if she had let her guard down. But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, her expression became cold again, and she turned away from him sullenly.

"I don't have a sister." She muttered darkly.

"You had two once." Neo replied blandly. "Both older. One is dead now, but the other is still alive. Stephanie."

"S-Stephanie?" She met eyes with him once more, and he removed his sunglasses, nodding in response. She shook her head firmly…gravely. "No, no, no. Stephanie is dead. She disappeared when I was a child."

"That's true. She did disappear. But she didn't die. You wouldn't know it, but she's been watching you for years now. Watching you grow into the person you've become." Faith was silent, taking in all that she heard. Neo held up the photograph again. "My name is Neo, and I…I love your big sister very much. I know this photograph would mean the world to her, if you'd only let me have it. Please, Faith."

"But if Stephanie was alive, then why didn't she ever come to see me? Sure, she might have been watching me all the time, but then why didn't she ever come back for me?"

"I'm sure she would have if she could, but she can't." Neo did his best to explain. "I'm sorry I can't tell you anymore than that. You'll just have to trust me. Blind Faith." He smiled, and for a moment he was sure he saw her smile a little too. "Your sister really still loves you, Faith. Now that you're no longer in your father's custody, then you should go back to her and tell her that Stephanie is still alive. You don't know how much that would mean to your mother, and to Stephanie as well."

Neo made for the door, but was stopped by the sharp tone in which she called out his name. He turned back to her, smiling shyly, and pocketing the photograph with the hand she couldn't see.

"Will…" She trailed away, gazing down at the floor, her face glowing red as if she were embarrassed by the question. "I mean, is there any chance for me to ever see my sister again?"

"Maybe one day." Neo answered after a reflective pause. "If you are ready to give up on believing everything you know to be true so far, and begin to question the existence of reality, then perhaps there is a chance you could meet with her again. But otherwise…I'm sorry."

When he was forced to leave her, she was standing forlornly in the center of her bedroom, staring out after him with an expression of purest grief. She almost looked like the tiny, innocent child from Trinity's stories of her past. He wished he could have told her more…wished he could reunite them again. But this was the best he could do. Now, he could only hope that she had listened to him when he told her to return to her mother.

Faith certainly was glad she had decided to return home from gym an hour early. Neo wouldn't know it until sometime later, but their first and only ever encounter would change the course of her life forever.

(o)

Trinity awoke the following morning with Neo lying behind her in sleep, his arm draped over her stomach and his lips curving into a small, secretive smile, as if he knew something she did not. Grinning to herself, she rolled over so that she was facing him and placed a gentle kiss squarely on his lips, awakening him almost instantly.

"Hey, Trin." He murmured groggily as he slowly brought himself away from slumber. Her smile broadened, and she clambered over him in order to get out of bed, rummaging through draws for a fresh set of clothes, which she pulled on over her black underwear and under-shirt. Neo continued to remain where he was, privately savoring her every movement, a sly smirk spread across his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Trinity found she eventually had to ask, while pulling a cobalt blue over-shirt over her head. She loved the way he looked in the mornings – bedraggled, warm and drowsy, with sleep still in his deepest brown eyes – especially when he would smile at her.

"I got you a little present last night." Neo said, automatically reaching beneath the pillow he was lying on to retrieve what looked like a frame. "Come here. I want to show you."

Curiously, she sat herself down on the edge of the bed, and Neo passed her the photograph, sitting up so he could better read the reaction in her face. Her skin whitened, and her eyes widened in awe. She held it out from her as if she were afraid it might blow up in any given moment, not daring to believe it was real.

"I can't be…" She said breathlessly after regaining her ability to speak. "Neo…how?"

"I brought it back with me from the Matrix." He grinned sheepishly. "Tank jacked me in last night when we were changing shifts. I went straight to your sister's room, grabbed it and then jacked out again. I know usually bringing things from the Matrix into our world doesn't usually work, but it seems to work with me. I was going to give it to you last night, but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you, so…"

Trinity was hardly listening, clutching onto the frame so tightly that her knuckles turned white, while using her other hand to trace an index finger across the image of each person, eventually coming to rest on her sister. She knew that she had told herself she had forgotten about them…forgotten about the days of her childhood, spent with a family she wasn't biologically related to. But as much as she tried to deny it, these people now smiling back at her were still a part of her, including the little seven year old girl who was tucked into the arms of the older sister she had idolized her whole life, grinning as if she didn't have a care in the world. That girl was still inside her somewhere, constantly reminding her that for seven years, she was part of a normal, happy family. It was the last picture ever taken before disaster struck…the only existing photo of her entire family ever being together. Now it was something she could keep, a visual image she could look back on whenever she needed to so that she could remember the way things used to be. And it was all thanks to one man.

"I-I honestly don't know what to tell you." She whispered hoarsely, and when she looked up at him, he could see a few tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. He didn't need her to say anything, as the expression on her face told him even more than what he had hoped for. Instinctively, he moved closer to her, bringing her into a low, awkward kiss, only intensified when she wrapped both arms around his neck, leaving the photo resting on her lap.

Presently, Tank's voice broke into the warming silence of the room, and though both occupants listened to his words, neither broke away from the other even for a second.

"Trinity, Neo, meet Morpheus and I in the core as soon as you're done with breakfast. We've decided to go for Tosha."

(o)

A/N: In case you are wondering, Tosha's hacker name does not need to be known to the reader. You will find out why it is irrelevant later. By the way, don't think that people who get unplugged by the Neb are gone forever. Everyone who gets unplugged will eventually serve some sort of purpose to the story (in other words, expect to see Raven again).

I haven't had a chance to edit this, so please excuse any spelling and grammar mistakes.

Thanks for reading, please review!