"You were acting quite different earlier." Trinity stated after she and Neo were part way through their meal.

"What do you mean?" Neo looked up from his bowl, a question in his eyes.

"When you were kissing my plugs. It was different from how you usually are around me."

"Is that a bad thing?" Neo placed his bowl on the table so he could focus on what Trinity was saying.

"No. I was just wondering, why the difference?"

Neo shrugged slightly before answering. "I don't know. I guess I feel that I know you well enough to say and doing anything to you. Within your agreement of course." Neo allowed a smirk to creep across his face as he finished.

"Oh I think my agreement is a given in almost any situation." Trinity smiled softly in return. "Look at us, we're actually being playful."

"Definitely has a perk." Neo mused.

"What's that?"

"Your smile." Neo jumped from the bed as Trinity attempted to hit him in the arm at his answer, obviously not wanting a mushy conversation. "Okay, I get it, romance is unwanted. Can I sit on the bed again without worrying about being attacked?"

Trinity allowed a smile to flash across her face before gesturing him over. As he sat back down on the bed, Trinity pulled him closer. Repositioning himself, Neo moved his whole body onto the bed to sit next to her. They both knew that they could start another conversation, but for the moment, they were both quite content being in the others' presence.

"Well Trinity, today is day five. You can leave." The nurse, whose name Neo found out to be Midnight, informed her early in the morning. "I'll just go get you your boots and you can go on your merry way, unless you want to wait for Neo that is."

"No, I told him to stay at our place last night. He needed a proper bed to sleep in, not a fifth of mine here. I'll just go surprise him." Trinity replied as she pulled clean socks onto her feet.

Each bruise and cut had healed, minus her cheek, which was just a scratch now. Once her boot had been put on her foot, Trinity swung her legs off of the bed and tenderly placed her left foot on the floor before placing all of her weight on it as she stood up. Midnight walked over and handed her the boots before watching her slip her feet into them. Bucking each boot up, Trinity cast a last glance at Midnight before exiting the room. Trinity left the hospital with relative ease and only encountered problems in the more crowded sections of Zion as she made her way to the closest lift. When she got to one and entered it, Trinity quickly pressed the button for the floor that she resided on with Neo, almost willing the lift to move faster.

Making her way towards their room, Trinity came across a few worshippers and had quite an adventure getting around all of the gifts left at their door. Opening it, Trinity slipped in and pushed the door shut before moving slowly forward in the darkness. Taking a break in the chair beside the door, Trinity took off her boots before making the final few limps to the bed. Neo was sound asleep and didn't stir until Trinity had sat down on the bed. Trinity gazed down at his naked chest before meeting his sleepy face.

"Morning."

"Oh my God, I should've stayed overnight. I didn't want you to come back alone." Neo sat up suddenly.

"Neo, how many times must I tell you that I can take care of myself? Besides, I wanted to surprise you. It has been about seven weeks since we were completely free from all forms of work. Tell me you haven't forgotten." Neo's eyebrows shot up at the look she gave him. When each moment that he saw but could not touch was pure torture? How could he forget?

"What can't I touch?" Neo asked suddenly, his eyes fixed on Trinity's.

"No limits."

"Seriously?"

Trinity cocked her head to one side. "Seriously."

"Good." Neo allowed a smile to spread across his face.

Snaking his arm around her waist, Neo pulled her closer. Trinity lifted a hand gingerly to his face, pulling his lips to hers tenderly. His hand slid up her back before gripping the base of her neck as the kiss's fervor increased. Neo's hands slid down to her hips before tightening their hold and lifting her over him. Trinity pushed Neo down as his hands slid under the hem of her shirt and pulled it up and over her head. Tossing it across the room, Neo's lips shifted up to her neck, gently sucking, and definitely getting the reaction he wanted. Arching at the attention, Trinity kissed his temple and continued down the side of his face until claiming his lips her own.

Trinity smiled against Neo's mouth as she felt his fingers dancing down to the top of her pants. Boots weren't a problem, seeing as her shoes were dumped on the floor, and Neo's were beside the bed. Feeling Neo's hands sliding along her bare hips, pushing her pants further down, Trinity aided him in his effort and pushed her pants down further until she could wriggle out of them. Her lips dipped down to his throat where she decided to return the favor of a love bite while her hands ventured down to Neo's pants. His hands gripped her back tightly before sliding down to her lower back and finally slipping off to finish getting his pants off.

Rolling over, Neo entered Trinity in a swift motion, causing her to gasp in surprise. He paused above her, his breath ragged, his eyes speaking volumes, watching her for a moment before continuing. One hand slid under her neck, holding her to him while the other moved from place to place on her body. Trinity felt a fire burning beneath her skin from his caresses due to her body being starved of his for so long. Settling into the passion driven rhythm Neo was creating from rocking, Trinity gripped his back tightly while the other held his side. She had seen the multicolored bruises on his abdomen- the only reminder of his beating inside the Matrix, and felt him tense slightly when she touched them, causing her to settle for his side.

Their hunger for each other was equally matched as the passion began to reach its pinnacle. Trinity felt as if a supernova was exploding inside of her, she could see the flashes behind her eyes and wanted nothing more than to experience it. Neo's movements began to slow until he just decided to collapse atop her. Lowering his head down, Trinity gently kissed his forehead before he placed his head in the curves of her neck. His arms slowly spread further out, allowing his body to increasingly press harder against her instead of all at once. Upon kissing her neck lightly, Neo slid off of her.

Pulling her body with him, Neo felt Trinity curve her spine into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her stomach. Looking upon each other's skin, they could see the sweat glistening, cooling them from the heat their bodies had just recently generated. Trinity could feel sleep pushing it's way in even though she had just slept soundly the night before and succumbed to the warm slumber quickly.

"All right Hunter, Welcome to your first day of class. Today, we are going to work on strengthening your muscles." Hunter's instructor informed her. "There is much more to this war than just uploading everything into your brain in the blink of an eye. Muscles do not become strong that way. You need to strengthen them. Today we have a very special guest with us to show you proper form in working out."

Hunter looked up at her instructor from her position on the floor. She had been stretching her legs when he began talking. At the information that someone was coming in, her head turned up to look into the older man's eyes.

"Who?"

"His name is Ghost, and he moves like one inside the Matrix. We would have had Trinity come here to help you since she knows practically everything there is to build up in a female soldier's body, but since she is injured, she will merely watch, as will Neo. Ghost is a longtime friend of hers, you can trust him. Ah, here he comes now."

Hunter turned her head in the direction her instructor was looking to see a decently tall man with a mustache and goatee striding towards them. He was wearing a pair of gray cotton pants and a black undershirt, his feet bare. Once he reached them, he bowed slightly.

"Master."

"Ghost. Nice to see you." The instructor bowed in return. "Do you know where Trinity is? I thought she would be here when you arrived."

"She was just released from the hospital this morning. I am assuming she went back to meet up with Neo." Ghost rationalized.

"Ah yes, that may make her late presuming...never mind, let's begin shall we?"

"Shit. We were supposed to be down in the Academy gym by now." Trinity slowly sat up, shaking the last bits of sleep from her mind. "Neo, come on."

Neo sat up slowly, blinking his eyes several times. As he turned to follow her out of bed, Neo watched her reach for her pants. Slipping off the bed, Neo moved quickly across the room to get her shirt. He suppressed a smile when he saw her eyes upon his naked form before handing her the shirt and going off in search of his own clothes. A few minutes later Trinity placed most of her weight on her right foot as Neo returned the favor she had once exerted on him by putting her left boot on for her.

"Ahhh, they have arrived. Neo, Trinity, come, Ghost has been helping Hunter with her legs. I was hoping one or both of you would help her with her arms."

"Master, how are you today?" Trinity moved swiftly across the floor, Neo keeping pace with her.

"I'm in decent health, thank you. How are you?" The instructor eyed Trinity, a warm smile on his face.

"Better, thank you. Ghost, how have you been?" Trinity ticked her gaze to the man behind the instructor.

"As well as this world allows. Neo." Ghost replied before nodding in recognition of Neo.

"Ghost." Neo nodded back before his eyes fell to the girl beside him. "Hunter, how are you?"

Hunter ran a hand over her prickly head before replying. "Good, you?"

"All right, thanks. So, what do you want us to do?" Neo flicked his eyes back to the instructor.

"You must change into more appropriate clothing first. I think Ghost can show you where you can find some extra clothes. Trinity, you are going to rest that foot of yours over there- and no arguments about it just being a limp." The instructor pointed to a padded cushion not far from where Ghost had been working Hunter out.

The men walked off as Trinity moved to sit down. Hunter wandered over to her and sat down in front of her.

"Keep your legs out straight, you'll cramp up otherwise." Trinity immediately coached.

Hunter stuck her legs out before looking over at Trinity. "How long has Neo been free?"

"Three and a half months." Trinity watched as the younger girl rubbed her scalp self-consciously. "Don't worry, it'll grow back. Neo was just as bald as you are not too long ago, look at him now."

The two women lapsed into silence until Neo and Ghost reappeared. Neo was wearing dark gray cotton pants and his regular undershirt. Upon seeing Trinity's arched eyebrow at his choice of attire, Neo shrugged his shoulders.

"No more shirts that fit me nicely."

"In other words, they were all smalls for boys." Ghost added, thus saving Neo from a later admonishment. "Come Hunter."

Hunter stood slowly and followed the pair over to a set of bars. Looking from them to the men, she arched an eyebrow in question.

"Pull ups of a different kind." Ghost explained. "Grip the bar with both hands and pull up with your head in front of the bar. Neo will demonstrate."

"I will?" Neo looked from Ghost to the instructor who merely nodded before leaving the group to their exercises. "All right."

Moving forward, Neo gripped the bar and slowly pulled his body up into the position Ghost had explained. He felt Trinity's eyes searing into his back and relished in it. Lowering himself, Neo relaxed his muscles and turned to face Ghost and Hunter. Catching the girl's face a moment before she adverted her gaze, Neo looked up to Trinity. She was right.

Backing away, Neo watched as Hunter went into two reps of five, a small amount, but then again, she had to build her muscles up. Neo's had built up by working on the Neb and during spare time when he was last in Zion. He had discovered the Academy's gym and had worked out for quite some time before returning to Trinity's room. He was still slim and in some eyes frail, but his spirit was strong, and that seemed to be good enough for Morpheus. Moving towards Trinity, Neo squatted down next to her.

Whispering quietly, Neo voiced his earlier thoughts. "You were right, she does like me."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"She's fifteen for crying out loud. I don't know what the hell to do and she won't willingly admit it, you know that. Maybe it'll blow over when we are away." Neo replied.

"Yes, but what are you going to do about it?" Neo saw the gleam in Trinity's eyes and could only smile.

Not turning to look, Neo whispered back, "Is she looking?"

Trinity subtlety ticked her gaze to the younger girl. "Right...now."

Neo leaned in and closed his lips over hers. Trinity knew that it wasn't very kind to either Hunter or Ghost to be doing this, but Neo quickly erased all thoughts from her mind. Sliding his lips gently over hers, he nipped her bottom lip to let her know that more would come later. Pulling away, Neo straightened up and turned back around to find Ghost and Hunter doing curl ups. Trinity watched in amusement as the hour ticked by, Ghost and Neo doing various upper body workouts. Hunter watched and would copy them both, trying her best at it. Ghost calmly corrected her while Neo would coach her into trying again, something she did so readily.

When all was done, Neo and Ghost retreated to the male showers while Hunter went towards the female showers. Trinity looked longingly at the pull up bar while waiting and finally decided to go over to it. Stripping herself of her long sleeved shirt, Trinity placed her shirt on the floor next to the bar. Reaching up, Trinity pulled her body up until her chin was just over the bar and proceeded to hold herself there, counting silently to thirty. Lowering herself, Trinity would take a thirty-second breather before pulling herself up again. She didn't notice either Hunter or Ghost exit. Ghost quickly ushered Hunter out upon seeing Neo's gaze settle on Trinity's flexed back, covered only by her black undershirt.

Neo padded over, his spiky hair sticking out everywhere, his boots and shirts in his hands. Dropping the articles of clothing to the floor, Neo moved silently behind Trinity who had just pulled herself up for another thirty seconds. Neo lifted his hands up to her bare waist, sliding them along the skin, feeling her tense. Gripping her tighter, Neo moved so that his chest was against her legs.

"I've got you." Neo stated calmly.

Trinity released her grip and allowed Neo to slowly lower her to the floor. Breathing slowly through her mouth, Trinity tried to regain her breath from her workout. Neo bent down and picked up her shirt, handing it to her when she turned to face him. As Trinity adjusted her weight distribution on her feet, the door opened, revealing a very surprised instructor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you all would have left. Is this a bad time?" the instructor was obviously flustered.

"No, we were just on our way out." Trinity replied, watching Neo pull on his shirts and boots before moving towards the door. "Good bye for now Master. Take care."

"You too Trinity."