A/N: This is a short, romantic chapter with not one, but two sex scenes in it! I figured that since I have been neglecting to write romantic scenes and get more involved with the plot in recent chapters, I decided to write this to make up for all of it.

A big thank you to everyone who reviewed last time, especially to TrinityLoki for helping me with dealing with Neo's emotions (Your review really helped in the early part of this chapter – so thanks a lot!). Therefore, the first part of this chapter is dedicated to TrinityLoki.

The second half of this chapter is dedicated to Skipper, who requested a sex scene in a review sometime ago. As promised, I have finally gotten around to fitting it into the story. Enjoy!

36

As Neo hurried away from the hospital and back towards his room, he struggled to try and ignore the constant throbbing in his head. There was so much for him to think about…it was all just too much…enough to make his head hurt so much that he feared it would burst. He wished he could simply get back on the ship with Trinity and Morpheus and fly away, leaving all his problems behind him. It was odd that he now resented the city, because before he arrived in Zion that morning, he had seen the place as his sanctuary…the one place in all the real world and the Matrix where he and Trinity could truly be together.

Trinity……how was he meant to tell her about what just happened between himself and Vivianna? He distinctly recalled the last time she had suspected he and Vivianna were more than friends, and how she had reacted. So what would she say if he told her Vivianna had tried to kiss him? He couldn't deal with a fight now…couldn't stand being separated from her when he needed her the most. But would he be able to keep everything a secret from her forever? He had never kept anything from her before, and he was worried that keeping this from her would tear at him inside.

Then there was Lorena as well. All this time he had thought that she was suffering from some mental illness, and she needed medical help. But it was more than just that. Someone else was touching her…hurting her…making her go insane. He couldn't begin to image what that must be like. She refused to alert any proper authorities, but she had gone to him hoping that he would perform some kind of miracle and make all of her pain go away. He only wished he had the ability to do something like that. But in reality, there was nothing he could do. Even if he managed to find the person who was doing this to her, the pain would still be there. He couldn't just wave his hand over her and make it all disappear.

By the time he reached his room, he was feeling physically ill from thinking about Lorena. He wanted to push it all out of his mind, but he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it. How much she was suffering…how incapable he was of helping her…

Trinity was waiting for him in their room, having showered and changed into her usual Zion attire. She watched him with concern as he approached her, instantly noticing the lack of colour in his face. He looked as though he was just about to throw up.

"What's the matter?" She asked him worriedly, her blue eyes alive with anxiety. "What did Vivianna say?"

Neo felt his heart stop in his chest. Looking at her now, he was suddenly reminded of when he had first started to fall in love with her…how he felt his stomach churn every time he looked at her. In his eyes, there was nothing on earth that was more beautiful than her. How could he ever tell her about Vivianna? He opened his mouth to speak, but found that he chocked on his own words. He didn't want to talk to her right now. He wanted to hold her, and to reassure himself that he wasn't alone.

Neo took several steps towards her and rested his head on her shoulder. Trinity nearly fell back in surprise, as she had been expecting a verbal reply to her questions. Realizing that he didn't want to talk at the current moment, she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held him against her. She could tell that something else was troubling him, and she believed it had something to do with Lorena. As curious as she was to know what Vivianna had said, she inwardly decided that now was not the time to be asking questions.

Whatever she had said, it had obviously upset him, because he hadn't been this bad when he left their room a little under an hour ago. She wanted to make him forget all of his problems, even if it was only for a short while……

"Trin, I – " Neo murmured. He was about to tell her that he didn't feel like talking, but she cut him off before he could finish the sentence.

"I want to make you forget everything." She whispered softly into his ear. "I want you to forget everything that's happened in the last few hours. I don't want you to worry about your problems again until tomorrow."

Neo pulled away from her slowly, his dark, soulful brown eyes blinking at her in confusion. She allowed a small smile to creep onto her face when she saw the look in his own as he suddenly realized what she meant. Carefully, he brought a hand to her cheek, feeling the softness of her skin against his moist palm.

She's always been there for me. He thought as he looked into her eyes. Whenever I really need someone, she's always here. Ever since day one in the real world. What on earth did I do to deserve someone like her?

He kissed her slowly…softly, alerting and heightening all of her senses, as if he were waking her up after she had been asleep for a long time…reminding her of how fresh and alive she felt when she had first been unplugged from the Matrix all those years ago. Things she didn't think were possible for a person like herself to ever feel. She wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing her body closer to him, and heard him gasp suddenly as it intensified the kiss.

Before he knew it, he had parted her lips with his tongue and traced along the insides of her mouth, his tongue clashing with her own. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, pulling her body as close to his as possible. When he pulled away and began to kiss down along the side of her neck, she moaned deeply in the back of her throat. The sound was enough to set him on fire. All thoughts of logic and reason were gone, replaced by the passion and intensity that had filtered throughout the entire room.

Trinity felt as if her body had been set on fire…as if there were a flame burning at the core of her entire being. Neo had never kissed her like this before. It was almost as if he were trying to prove something to both of them…prove just how much he loved her. Each and every kiss he placed along the side of her neck was laced with uncontrollable desire and passion. Slowly, she lowered her arms down to his waist and slid her hands up underneath his shirt. The firm muscles beneath were tightened with tension, carrying all the stress and anxiety he had felt over the past few hours. She pressed her fingers into his skin, massaging him gently.

He groaned, his hold tightening around her waist as he lifted her onto one of the nearby benches in the kitchenette. They were moving much faster than usual, he noticed, though he barely thought of this at all. By this time, all he wanted was to be closer to her…to make love to her. He let go of her briefly and grasped hold of the hem of his shirt and assisted her in easing it up over his head and tossing it to the floor. He was about to do the same to her, when she stopped him by taking hold of his upper arms and pushing him away slightly. He pulled away from her, eyes filled with confusion, and was now able to see all the lust and desire written on her face, tinged with a hint of what he would have thought was surprise.

"Neo…" She whispered hoarsely. "….not here."

He nodded, immediately understanding what she meant, and wrapped his arms around her small, feminine waist, kissing her softly before lifting her off the bench. Trinity smiled at him seductively, taking hold of his hand and leading him towards the bed.

Having not had the time to change from the clothing he wore on the ship, Neo took the time to remove his boots before lying down amongst the sheets. He embraced her with his arm, pulling her on top of him so that she could plant a soft row of kisses down the side of his neck. He did not try to fight against the deep, yearning sensations that were brewing beneath the surface of his heated skin. He had been fighting them long enough. Instead, he gave into the flame that she had ignited in the very core of his being – feeling himself become aroused as he grasped hold of the hem of her shirt, assisting her in easing it up and over her head.

"I've missed you…." He managed to choke out as he ran is fingers delicately across the soft skin of her breast. "…missed this."

He felt her smile as her lips gently touched his own. The feeling of her naked skin pressed against his own was still indescribable…still unexplainable in any terms. It was hard for him to believe that mere months ago, he hadn't even known her. Right now, and at this specific moment, he couldn't imagine what it would have been like if she wasn't part of his life.

They stripped themselves of the rest of their clothes, wasting no more time in getting to what they knew was bound to come next. Trinity was still on top, which was different to both of them, though it hardly mattered as she lowered herself onto him, sending an explosive surge of heat and fire pulsing through each of them.

Trinity gasped as she began to move him inside of her. She couldn't ever remember feeling this alive – not even when she had first been unplugged. It was like that small flame inside of her had burst into a million flickering fires that had set light to her very being. Looking down into Neo's hazy eyes, she came to see that he felt no different than she did.

Soon, a new feeling replaced the old. No longer were they two separate bodies…two separate people. It felt as if everything had become one. Their mind…soul…everything. The feeling came just as Trinity reached her peak – she and Neo climaxing simultaneously…something that had never happened before. The feeling was unparalleled to anything either of them had felt before.

Neo gazed up into Trinity's face with awe. Her ebony hair was pasted to her face with perspiration, and there were more beads of sweat gathering on her forehead. Her blue eyes were open and alive as she parted her lips to cry out in pure ecstasy. To him, nothing in this world or in any other was more beautiful than her. Lifting his arm and putting it around her waist, he silently urged her to lie down beside him on the bed, as he rolled over and positioned himself on top of her, not once separating them from one another.

"It feels like…I'm on fire…" Neo murmured, beginning to move inside of her.

"Like I'm burning from the inside." Trinity added. The expression on her face made him stop briefly, muscles in his face growing tense.

"You okay?" He questioned in a voice filled with both lust and deep concern. She merely nodded in reply, causing him to relax once more. He brought a hand up to her cheek and gently pushed away strands of her hair, kissing her lips softly.

Although she was grateful that he had cared enough for her that he had been willing to stop himself, Trinity was also frustrated that they had slowed down once again. While his lips were still upon hers, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her to intensify the kiss.

Neo began to move inside of her again, this time using every ounce of his strength physically, mentally and emotionally. He wanted to give her everything he had within him. She wriggled beneath him with pleasure, tightening her hands around his neck so that she could force his body closer to her own.

It wasn't long before Neo climaxed again – enough to send Trinity over the edge as well. In that instant, all he could think about was the sensations surging through his body, and the woman who caused it. Only one person in all the world could make him feel this way. Only one person could make him forget everything that had troubled him in the past few hours. Right then, nothing seemed to matter. Everything was forgotten except the warmth of the room, the deep and profound love he felt for Trinity, and the fire that continued to burn inside of him long after he eventually drifted into sleep.

(o)

When Neo awoke the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the strange sensation he felt coursing throughout his entire being. His body felt peculiarly heavy…as if it would be a great effort for him to lift himself into a sitting position. Despite this, he was extremely lightheaded, and there was a tingling sensation in his skin.

Allowing his eyes to flutter open, he eventually gathered enough strength to reach across the bed, expecting to find Trinity curled up next to him. Instead, his fingers brushed against the cold and empty patch beside him and he gasped in surprise. He sat up quickly, causing his head to spin and his vision to blur, and scanned the room for any sign of her. His breath drew in his throat when he realized she wasn't there, but he was instantly comforted when he heard the gentle sound of running shower water coming from behind the closed bathroom door. The image of Trinity in the shower sprung into his mind and he collapsed back onto the bed, smirking to himself.

Neo knew that Trinity had slept with him last night partly because she wanted to help him clear his mind, and it had worked. All his other troubles seemed millions of miles away from him now. The only thing he thought about – the only thing he could think about – was her. The entire room was filled with her unique scent, as well as the memories of the pervious night andthe few nights before.

He often wondered whether it was fate that had led him to Trinity in the first place. He didn't really believe in fate, but he couldn't think of any other explanation for their meeting. Out of all the hundreds of ships in the real world, the woman he would fall desperately in love with had just happened to end up on the same one as he did. Even though there were billions of people in this world and the Matrix, they had somehow managed to find one another. It all couldn't have been a coincidence. Things like this were just too big and too important to happen by chance.

When he was a teenager, he used to lie awake at night and think about things like philosophy, free will and freedom of thought. One of these things was love. He used to wonder what would happen if he thought he found the girl of his dreams, but then someone else came along who he loved even more. With all the billions of people out there, how could you ever be sure that you had found your soul mate until you had met everyone in the world? What if you were destined to be with one person, and one day they just breezed right past you and didn't give you any notice?

But after Neo had kissed Trinity for the first time, there wasn't a doubt in his mind. He knew right then, even if he didn't realize it at the time, that she was the one he was supposed to be with. Being with her just felt…right. It made him feel like everything was in balance…that this was how it was intended to be. From that moment on, there never would be anyone else. He didn't have to meet every single human woman to figure that out. He just…knew it.

Neo laughed and shook his head. He couldn't believe how cheesy that had just sounded in his own head. It could have been a segment from a television soap opera in the Matrix. But even if it did sound lame, he couldn't deny that it wasn't true, only on a much deeper and more profound level. The emotions he felt whenever he was with Trinity were emotions that he didn't experience when he was with anyone else.

While he was thinking this, he managed to pull himself out of bed and slide into his pants. Thinking back on this moment later on, he wasn't entirely sure what force had possessed him to walk into the bathroom when he knew that Trinity would be in there. He guessed that it was because from the second he awoke that morning, she had been the one thing on his mind. Whatever the reason, he pulled open the bathroom door and stepped inside.

"Neo!" Trinity cried in surprise when she heard the door open, pulling back the shower curtain and staring at him quizzically. "Is something wrong?"

Is was odd, Trinity thought, that she had once been afraid of being naked in front of Neo, and now here she was, standing under the shower, while his eyes roamed lustily over her body. Not a single wave of embarrassment or anxiety overcame her, because at this stage of their relationship, she really didn't have anything to be embarrassed about when she was with him.

Neo said nothing, but there was a certain look in his dark eyes that she knew all too well. A silent understanding passed between them as he gently closed the door behind him for good measure. Trinity merely watched as he stripped himself of the little clothing he wore and stepped into the shower, drawing the curtain closed with one swift movement of his hand.

He drew her mouth down onto his, their tongues sliding together, teasing and exploring one another. He guided his hands down to the small of her back, pressing his fingers into her sodden skin. She hummed softly in the back of her throat, curling her fingers around his tousled dark hair.

It wasn't long before she relinquished all her self-control, and allowed him to push her up against the cold steel wall. She could almost feel his emotion as if it belonged to her as well…feel his yearning and passion, as well as something much stronger. She couldn't believe that she had once accused him of being in love with Vivianna. It was clear to her now that in his eyes, she was the only one. It was exactly how she felt about him. She knew that she could never leave him, even if she wanted to.

Neo wasn't even thinking at all anymore. The warm water fell down his back in heavy sheets. Her bodily scent was overwhelming him…that enigmatic scent that could not be compared to anything else in any possible way. He trailed his tongue down her long, exposed throat, smirking to himself when she quivered and moaned. He let his hands slide down to her chest, her breasts rounding into his trembling hands as if they had always belonged there.

Trinity wished that there was someway to let Neo know exactly what she felt when his hands came into contact with her bare skin. She longed for him to know how just a single look from those dark, soulful eyes of his could set fire to something stored deep inside of her, and awaken a part of her she never knew existed. Right then, she couldn't have been any closer to him, yet she felt like it wasn't enough. She wanted him…she needed him – now.

"Do it!" She whimpered, surprised (and somewhat appalled) at the pleading tone in her voice. "Do it now!"

She wrapped her arms around him, crushing them together and trying desperately to touch all of the skin on his back at once. Neo could almost taste her…could feel the emotion radiating off her…could feel how much she trusted him with herself – how much she wanted him. But he wasn't going to give into her yet. He wanted to make everything last.

She began to cling to him, wrapping her legs around him, practically begging for him to enter her. He could feel himself pressed up against her and groaned, wanting desperately to give into her, but knowing he should hold himself back just a little longer. He pulled back from her, and she exhaled a whimper of protest, then realized that he was guiding a hand down her stomach, and even further down until…

She cried out his name, withering helplessly in his arms as he held her firmly and securely. It was like he had set off an explosion within her, pushing her completely over the edge. She could hardly think…she could hardly breathe. She scarcely had enough control left to remind herself that she did not want it to be this way.

"Neo…stop!" She managed to choke out.

Neo pulled away from her instantly, gripping her shoulders and studying her properly. Her intense blue eyes were wet, but not from the water of the shower. She wasn't even attempting to hold back her tears…it was as if she wasn't even aware that she was crying at all. Seeing her in this state shot a jolt of piercing agony through him. The same thoughts ran constantly through his mind. I did this…I reduced her to this state…what the hell have I done to her?

"I-I'm sorry…I didn't mean…" he trailed away, his voice becoming lost in the sound of the running water. His apology sounded so pathetic to his own ears. Any minute, he thought he was going to cry as well. "…I hurt you…"

Trinity shook her head vigorously. "You didn't. I just…" she swallowed, reaching a hand up to gently stroke his cheek. "…please, Neo…"

She kissed him again, reassuring him that everything was fine. She left one hand on his shoulder while using the other to gradually guide him inside of her, feeling the rush of release almost immediately. They began to move in perfect union, until she wasn't sure which of them was leading the other. It was as if they had one mind…one soul…one spirit.

Neo could feel all the muscles in his body tightening as Trinity reached her climax. The pressure of the water on his back and the blend of sensations he was feeling made him wonder if it were possible to die from so much pleasure. Trinity collapsed into his arms, exhausted, and he held her tightly against him, stroking her hair gently as he leaned back against the wall, eventually sinking onto the floor.

They stayed together in comfortable silence, until the water eventually began to run cold. Trinity reached up to turn it off as Neo slid out from underneath her, retrieving a towel and passing it to her before getting one for himself.

"You tired?" He asked her quietly, running his fingers gently across her back, causing a prickling sensation in her skin.

"I might go back to sleep." She said, resting her head against his shoulder. "What about you?"

Neo would have liked nothing better than to lie in bed with her for the rest of the day, but as much as he wanted to forget this, he knew he had other responsibilities. "I can't stay. Tank's funeral will be on this afternoon, and then – " he paused to take in a gulp of air. "I have to make that speech in the main temple tonight. Plus, I'll need to see Lorena sometime soon, and the only spare time I have to do that is now."

Trinity barely nodded, already half-asleep in his arms. He half carried, half walked her to their bed and pulled the sheets over her once she lay down. He knelt beside her, stroking her hair and watching as she fell into sleep, a rush of love and admiration flowing through him. When he was sure she was sleeping, he kissed her softly before changing into his clothes, then heading out into the streets of Zion.

(o)

A/N: Since I am doing my best to make this YOUR story, I have decided that I want to take a vote because I am not sure about one aspect. Should Neo tell Trinity about what happened with Vivianna or not? Either way, it doesn't really upset the plotline. It's just if you want me to add some extra angst or not. Please answer my question in your reviews!

Also, I have a question for those of you who may understand the Matrix trilogy better than I do. It came across my mind when I watched the first movie again the other day. Everyone knows the scene where Cypher enters the Matrix and strikes a deal with Agent Smith (what I refer to as the 'ignorance is bliss' scene), right? Well, my question is, how did Cypher get into the Matrix that day? He can't just jack himself in, can he? And I doubt anyone else from the crew would jack him in if they knew what he was doing. If someone else did jack him in, then they would have had to not be looking at the Matrix code when Cypher met Agent Smith or they would know what he planned to do ahead of time. But if they weren't looking at the code, then what were they doing? Someone would have had to have been there….right?

Anyway, I hope someone can answer my very complicated series of questions, or otherwise it would mean we've discovered a flaw in the movie's plot (if only a very small one)!

Thanks for reading, please review!