This is my first Matrix fanfics, so please be nice to me. I would love it if everyone would review my story please! It
is the only way I’ll get better!

Picks up just after Neo beats the agents in the Matrix.

The Day After

by Jessika Organa Solo
 
 
 

      It had been a long night on the Neb.  After kissing Trinity, Neo, covered in blood, had staggered back to
his room that night and simply fell into bed. Yes, he had been in the Matrix when he obtained his injuries, but they
still hurt like hell and it was going to take him a few days to recover. The fifteen hours he spent sleeping passed
like seconds, and soon he heard someone open the door to his cabin. “Neo?” Morpheus whispered, kneeling
down to look in Neo’s bloodshot eyes. “Uh, Morpheus,” Neo grunted, his mouth dry and his head throbbing. He
attempted to get up, but his arms would not allow it. “I feel like Jello,” he groaned and Morpheus chuckled to
himself.

      Morpheus stepped out of the way as Trinity silently set a tray beside Neo’s bed and quickly walked out
without looking up. “What’s with that?” Neo whispered, finally managing to sit up. Morpheus, his hands behind
his back, showed no emotion in his dark eyes when he stared at Neo. “We’ll be beginning the repairs on the
ship. If you start to feel better, come up on deck and lend us a hand,” Morpheus said, turning his back before
Neo could stop him. The door slammed shut, and Neo flinched at the loud, metallic sound. “Dammit,” he said,
looking down at the goop on the tray. He didn’t exactly know what to do with himself, so he simply lay back down
for a few more hours.

      Outside Neo’s thick door, Trinity stood in front of Morpheus with her arms crossed and tears in her eyes.
“Give him time, Trinity. He needs time to adjust to his new life first,” Morpheus’s deep voice said to her calmly.
She would have normally been so ashamed of herself for crying and openly showing her emotions, but she was
past the point of caring. Her friends were dead: Dozer, Mouse, and Switch. And now, now that she had finally
admitted her love to a man, he wouldn’t even give her the time of day. Stop being so paranoid, Trinity, she had
told herself over and over while she lay in her bed the night before, sleepless and exhausted, he is tired and
sick. He isn’t thinking about love at this moment.  “Maybe you should just go see how he is doing. You know,
talk to him,” Tank said weakly from his operator’s seat. There had been several glitches in the Matrix since
Neo’s revelation, and the crew of the Neb was keeping a close eye on all of the changes. “I don’t think it is that
easy, Tank,” Trinity said, feeling uncomfortable with having her life discussed in a group setting. The two men
stared at her, and Morpheus sighed.

      The goal was to get the Neb operational so that her crew could safely make the journey to Zion, where
the ship would be totally repaired and the crew would be repaired too.  “…those squiddies sure took a lot out of
her,” Neo heard Tank say as he stuck his head out the door of his cabin. Trinity heard the creaking of the door
mechanism and turned around to see Neo staring right at her; she quickly turned away and continued with her
welding. Morpheus shook his head and returned to the wiring he was untangling. “Good morning, Neo!” Tank
said, “Or should I say afternoon?” No one laughed to Tank’s dismay, so he stood awkwardly in front of the pale
young man. Neo cringed at the sight of the bandages wrapped around Tank’s bare chest and stomach.
“Cypher,” he whispered, looking up to meet Tank’s eyes.

      Tank gave Neo the job of brushing the metal shards into the trash shoot; it was the only job his weak body
could handle, and still, he was working really hard to stay upright. It really didn’t matter though, because he spent
his entire time trying to catch Trinity staring at him. Just as he would look away, she would look back with tear
filled eyes. The game went on for at least twenty minutes before Tank got tired of it. “Dammit, you two! You are
acting like two kids in junior high!” he yelled, throwing down his cup. Trinity’s eyes filled with indignation, and she
looked away. Neo became interested in the broom, and he swept with the most energy he could muster.

      Neo’s efforts were too much for his fatigued body, and he began to waver back and forth before finally
falling over onto the ground. “Neo!” Trinity gasped, jumping over steel beams to get to him. “I – I’m okay,” he
said, sitting up as she reached him, “I just got a little dizzy.” Trinity kneeled down beside him and looked at him
with a worried look on her face as Morpheus and Tank walked up. “I think that is enough work for you today,
Neo. Trinity, would you help Neo to his room and see that he gets comfortable?” Morpheus requested, meeting
Neo’s knowing stare. Trinity silently helped Neo stand up and then practically carried him to his nearby cabin.
Her mind was racing the entire time, and Tank and Morpheus stood behind the pair, sharing a look of devious
intentions.

      The door swung shut behind them as Trinity helped Neo to his bed. “Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow,” Neo said,
sitting down on the side of the bed. “Is there anything I can get you?” Trinity said, staring down at her boots. He
stared at her, taking in the sight standing in front of him. She turned to leave, once again saddened by his
silence. “Wait, don’t go,” he said softly, reaching his hand out to grab her arm. “Trinity, please,” he begged
pulling her back with his remaining strength. He slowly managed to turn her around, and he saw the tears in her
eyes. “What? What is it?” he asked her softly, continuing to pull her closer to the bed. Standing right in front of
him, she pulled her arm away and put her hands on her hips. “I watch you die, open my heart to you, watch you
come back to life, kiss you, and then watch you walk into your cabin and fall asleep. And you have to ask me
what is wrong?” she said, practically screaming. “You could at least tell me if you don’t love me back,” she
mumbled through her tears. He swallowed hard and then looked at her red, angry face. “Trinity,” he began,
reaching for her hand, which she promptly pulled out of his reach.

      Come on, Neo, he thought to himself, trying to figure out what to say to her. He had been sacred the night
before. It was one thing to be The One and be able to do anything in the Matrix, but it was another thing to have
to be Neo in the real world. Memories rushed back to him as he and Trinity stared at one another in his dreary
cabin. His first kiss in eighth grade, his many failed relationships in high school and his late teens, and then
Trinity’s voice saying, “…and why you live alone…” Commitment. He was The One, and he wasn’t scared of
agents, but he was afraid of commitment. But somehow, seeing the strong woman standing in front of him,
crying her eyes out in anger and sadness, it didn’t matter to him anymore. He wasn’t scared, and just then,
Trinity had made him see that. Just as she had made him see that he was The One, she opened his eyes to the
fact that he loved her, and he couldn’t let her be mad at him anymore.

      “Trinity,” he pleaded, reaching out for her once again. This time, she did not pull her arm away, but she
stared at him angrily. “I’m sorry I am bothering you, you must need time to think about your new life,” she
sneered, crossing her arms and thinking back to Morpheus’s words. “Why would you think that?” he asked and
frowned in thought. “Morpheus told me that you needed time,” she said, sticking her chin in the air and forcing
herself to stop crying. Smiling slightly, Neo grabbed her arms and pulled her to him. “Stop,” she begged, holding
back more tears. “But Trinity, I love you,” he said, holding her as she struggled to get free. She froze at his
words. “You do?” she asked, her lip quivering. “Yes, Trinity. I do,” he whispered, holding her while she began to
cry again.