Chapter XV

They had done the impossible. It had worked because it had never been done before, just as Neo had said it would.

And it was all because of Neo. That thought wrenched at Trinity's insides like nothing she had ever felt before. None of this would have been possible without his stubborn determination, and now he was lying crumpled on the floor with six bullet holes through his chest and a bloodstain on the wall behind him. His vital stats had gone flat, showing no sign of life.

Oh God, it's not true! It can't be true.

"Do you believe it now Trinity?" She did, oh God how she did believe.

"There's something I have to tell you, but I don't know what it could mean if I do…" Why the hell hadn't she told him? Or even started what she couldn't finish? She was such a coward!

"You will not only be a big part in his life… you will BE his life. Your strength is going to be greatly tested in his time of need, but it will be yours as well. For love is stronger than death itself and my dear, you will be in love." Now she understood the Oracle's words. Now of all times, when it was too late!

But was it too late? She felt the strength welling up inside her because she was in love. Now she knew it was that time. The time the Oracle had spoken of. No, she was not just in love: she was in love with the One. She had known that so long ago, even in her sleep. And that was the difference between life and death.

All these thoughts rushed through her head faster than the speed of light, some of them jumbled and confused, but suddenly everything was completely clear and she began to speak as she leaned over Neo's body. The One's body.

"Neo," she began tentatively, picking up strength as she went along, her voice soft as the whisper of a rose petal caressing the skin, "I'm not afraid anymore. The Oracle told me… She told me that I would fall in love and that man… the man that I loved would be the One. So you see? You can't be dead… you can't be. Because I love you. You hear me? I love you." She lowered her mouth to his, and at every level of her consciousness she poured all the life she had into him through that kiss.

Now they had done the impossible! But as his eyes fluttered open, she had ceased to be surprised because "love is stronger than death itself" and she was in love.

"Now get up!" She ordered him as though he had not just survived a suicide mission and then came back from the dead. But he did get up. Yes, he got up and proved to himself what she knew for sure.

"He is the One." Morpheus watched the screen incredulously as Neo stopped bullets in mid-air and completely demolished an Agent. Trinity could only smile to herself about what she knew to be truer than anything that is in the Matrix or even the Real World.

***

The emotions Trinity felt were so strange and alien to her, but at the same time she felt more comfortable and relaxed than she'd ever been. So this is the destiny of love she realized as she was thinking about all of her crazy feelings. Destiny…That word made her remember something, something that she hadn't really ever forgotten, couldn't have forgotten, but just simply had set aside for a time. She had known that she and Neo were destined to be together, but did he?

She was pulled out of her pondering by something tightening around her waist. She initially tensed up, but then relaxed when she felt the warmth at her back and around her middle.

"You're here." He said simply, his voice gruff from sleepiness mixed with surprise. She smiled instinctively and it felt so nice. She turned over onto her other side to face him. He looked a little bewildered and so damn cute with his hair, which was now starting to grow out, all rumpled and messy. She closed her eyes as he leaned toward her and kissed her nose, murmuring, "You're finally here when I wake up."

"Of course I'm here, Neo. I'll always be here when you wake up. What makes you think I wouldn't be?" She wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, but she was beginning to feel an inkling of what he meant. Perhaps he did know after all…

He sat up a little and propped his head in the side of his hand so he could look straight at her. She sat up a little too as he began to speak. "What seems like a long time ago, although I don't really know anything about time anymore, I had these dreams every night. You were in my dreams, but I didn't know who you were then. You were just this angel; this beautiful being that kept me company through my restless sleep. And yet, your image would always fade away when I woke up. Then you found me again, this time when I was awake. I… I didn't know what to make of it because I was so damned cocky to think that I was totally in control of my own life." Trinity started to say something then, but he silenced her with a single finger and she resigned to biting her lower lip to hold in the joy at what he was telling her. "When Morpheus asked me if I believed in fate, I felt certain my answer would always be no. But now I'm not so sure."

Trinity could no longer contain her happiness - he did know! It was just too much, so she just took him in her arms and kissed him. All the while she could not stop smiling. Nothing in her life had made her feel this elated.

The two lovers talked far into the night as Trinity told him of her own dreams and her dismay at thinking that he didn't know of their fate. Neo shared his own inner torments about being attracted to her, and more about his past. On and on they went, growing farther and farther into love with each other. Finally, when the sun would have been dawning in the Matrix world, Trinity fell asleep, still basking in the glow of romance.

"Trinity…?" he whispered her name so softly that she would've dismissed it as the wind had they not been on the ship. A strong sense of déjà vu engulfed her, but she knew this was not a glitch. It was very, very real. "I love you." He finished what she'd known he wanted to say all those years ago.