Special Thanks: Special thanks goes to my friend Verena. She helped me majorly with this. She also told me to put it
here, so if you want to blame someone, blame her. :P

Disclaimer: "The Matrix", characters, names, and all related indicia belong to the Wachowski Brothers and Warner
Brothers. I'm not making any money of off it.

Until The Last Moment

by Cirael
 
 
 

[...]

Without looking back, Neo sensed the Nothing as it spread behind him. He started running faster, but no matter how fast
they ran, the intensity of the rustling in the background only increased steadily. Even Trinity seemed to realize that
something was wrong. He looked around hastily and when their eyes met, Neo saw something he had never seen
before in her gaze. She was scared.

"C'mon, c'mon," he spurred her. He felt that she was getting tired, that she wouldn't be able to keep running for very
much longer. Neo had already adjusted his speed to hers and Trinity was deeply grateful that he was staying with her
and giving her hope. She could see houses disappearing just a few hundred meters away. Like a greedy monster, which
was waiting for its victims, the emptiness inevitably came closer, but the exit still wasn't in sight. And they couldn't go
faster.

As soon as the virus had begun its destructing mission in the Matrix, Neo had lost any control over the program. They
now only were a tiny part of a world that was being deleted.

And with this world, the biggest betrayal of history died. Neo wondered whether their way of acting was justified. Of
course only one percent of humanity would have survived, if they had freed them all. Most of them wouldn't have been
able to handle reality, the fact that their lives were a lie, and that they were just slaves who weren't even allowed to be
aware of their slavery. Wasn't a crime worse if the victim didn't know it was a victim?

They had done the right thing. A new generation of humans would inhabit the earth, humans who had learnt from the
past what life was worth. Perhaps they would even be able to create a better world. No Utopia, but a real world. A world
where one could be free.

Trinity had told him once that if you were missing the memory of something bad, you wouldn't automatically do
something good. But he hoped so. He knew the created world of the Matrix and was afraid that their victory was
useless. That man would create his own Matrix again, as soon as he got the chance.

But at the same time there was so much hope.

The future; Neo and Trinity. He smiled.

In fact, at this moment the street corner with the phone booth appeared. They would make it. They had to make it.

Because of the future.

Neo and Trinity reached the phone booth. The white Nothing was closing in on them from all directions, the virus was
spreading quicker and quicker. They didn't have much time to get out of the dying Matrix and they both knew it. Neo got
out his cell phone and called Tank.

"Operator," a well-known voice answered on the other end.

"Tank! Get us out of here quick! Make the call!"

Tank hesitated a few seconds before answering. "Neo... There... there's not enough energy for bringing both of you
back."

"What?!"

"The hovercraft got damaged and we lost a lot of energy. I can make one call and get one of you back, but... but not
both of you."

Neo didn't answer but turned to look at Trinity. She was staring at the big white wall, which was coming closer quickly.
Suddenly she turned around and her gaze met Neo's. There was a vulnerability in her eyes he had never seen before;
an unspoken plead to get her out of there as quickly as possible. In that moment Neo made his decision.

He broke their eye contact and turned back to Tank on the phone. "Tank, take care of Trinity, okay? She... she'll need
someone."

"What? But, Neo, you---"

"Make the call! Now!" Neo interrupted him. And before Tank could say another word Neo hung up the phone.

Trinity watched Neo, as he switched off the phone and turned back to her. He looked worried - even more than before.
But his eyes also held a certain determination, something that hadn't been there before. Ignoring the white danger for a
second she came closer and took his hand.

"What's wrong?" Trinity asked softly.

"Nothing." Neo smiled at her, but it seemed fake. "Tank is making the call now. In a few seconds we'll be outta here."
As if to confirm his words the phone in the booth began to ring. Neo gently shoved Trinity in its direction.

"You first. Go on!"

Trinity hesitated and turned to Neo. The look in his eyes worried her more than the Nothing, which was still coming
closer.

"I..." she started.

"Shhh..." he silenced her. "Everything will be fine. We'll win. Trust me."

He smiled again and this time it didn't seem fake, it only seemed sad. Trinity wanted to say something, but before she
could do anything he bent down and kissed her.

"I love you, Trinity, and I'll always be with you. Never forget that," he whispered, while gently removing a strand of hair
from her forehead. "Now go!"

Trinity slowly turned to the phone, still confused by his actions. She reluctantly picked up the receiver and held it to her
ear. Then she looked at Neo, who was still smiling his sad smile. Trinity suddenly got a feeling that this would be the last
time she would see him smiling at her, the last time she would have the chance to look into his deep brown eyes. She
suddenly got the urge to run to him, to hold him, and to never let him go. But it was too late. Her mind was already being
transported back to the Nebuchadnezzar. The image of Neo disappeared before her eyes, as well as the white Nothing
behind him, which had gotten dangerously close. The only thing that kept resounding in her mind during the fall back to
reality was the rustling of the hungry monster.

The next thing she saw was Tank, who was pulling out the plug of the back of her head. Trinity sat up and looked at him.
"What are you waiting for? Get Neo out of there!"

But instead of walking over to the console and making the call for Neo, as Trinity had expected him to, Tank only looked
at her sadly and shook his head.

"He didn't tell you, huh?" His question was more a statement than anything else.

"Tell me what?", Trinity asked slowly, suddenly afraid of Tank's answer.

"The Nebuchadnezzar only had enough energy left for bringing one of you back..." Tank said quietly, trailing off and
looking somewhere else. He seemed tired, tense, and even though they had just lived their greatest success the air of
the Nebuchadnezzar was filled with sadness.

The hovercraft was in a bad shape. And it was in complete silence. The engines had stopped running, due to lack of
energy. The only light in the whole room came from Neo's life monitor and the monitors that were displaying the Matrix
code. Code, which was becoming less and less every second. But Trinity only noticed all this unconsciously. The only
thought on her mind was what Tank had just told her. Only enough energy for bringing one of them back. One of them.
Her. And Neo had known it. He had sacrificed himself to save her. Now Trinity understood the way he had acted. She felt
tears welling up in her eyes and got up from her chair, to push past Tank and walk over to the chair Neo was using. He
looked so peaceful. So innocent. Not like someone who would save the world. And yet he had done it, he had saved
them all. He had saved her. Trinity felt the tears running down her face and bent down to bring her face close to his.

                                              * * *

The city was gleaming under the blind white stare of the dead sky.

Neo tightly held the receiver Trinity had just used to leave the Matrix. He took a deep breath; he could still scent her and
feel her warmth. As if to treasure the moment he stood still for a few seconds until he finally opened the door and left
the booth. The streets were silent. It wasn't a silence of calmness; it was a silence of death. He could see the white
mass behind him as it was coming closer and slowly destroying this fake world - and him.

He wasn't afraid.

A quiet wind swept through the streets while the Nothing crawled closer with the steadiness of a machine.
With the destruction of the Matrix they had robbed the energy source of the machines and wounded them heavily. He
wouldn't get the chance to see the human resistance group take advantage of this wound, but he knew without doubt
that they would - they would change the world.

We already changed it, he thought, and it changed us.

He thought of Trinity and his heart wrenched painfully as the realization hit him, that he wouldn't be able to spend the
future with her. But he knew he would see her again. Some time, some place. They were meant for each other and even
the hate and evilness of the machines would never be able to change his feelings for her.

The white wall was closing in with the speed of a snake that had already caught its victim and now observed it twisting
in agony, waiting for the final hit. But Neo wasn't afraid.

With stoical calm he watched as the last rest of the Matrix vanished, as lonely isles stayed for the fraction of a second
until they were deleted forever from the mainframe by the virus.

His isle was melting like ice in the desert. The rustling went mute ultimately; only a depressing silence accompanied the
deletion of the final parts. Neo knew he wouldn't simply stop existing - his mind would become part of the whole. He
didn't know what to expect, but he suspected that this wouldn't be the end.

I will always love you and forever be with you.

The street under him started to disappear slowly, first threads of the Nothing pulled at his shoes. He felt a slight shiver
at his legs and watched his shoe being covered by a net of thin, almost transparent threads.

I will always love you and be with you.

His second shoe disappeared, and he felt a wave of peace inside him. This wasn't the end. This was simply a new
beginning.

His legs vanished and with them a cold feeling flooded through him. He calmly watched as his arms were enclosed by the
Nothing; saw tiny invisible teeth deleting him from the program. This isn't the end. It is the beginning.

Now humans could finally free the earth from the Artificial Intelligence and create a new world, which was better than the
old one that would be only known from chronicles. The Matrix was a lie, but he knew that everyone had the potential to
learn from it and - with the knowledge of their success - to create a new world, where everyone could be free. They
would free the sun from its unclean grasp and with the help of everyone it would be possible to live on the surface again.

A new world was already born and Neo was sure that something better would be built this time. And with it reality would
be defined anew. Because this, what he was living through right now, was real. There was a transition between both
extremes, and even though the Matrix had been created as a prison it showed so much potential of creativity. Not
machines had built it, but a fallen human being and if Neo had needed one last proof for the rightfulness of his actions he
saw it right now, as the rest of his upper body started to disappear, to leave only the clean, white construct.

Trinity, I love you. I'm with you. I'm part of you.

This isn't the end. This is the beginning. All these worlds are yours.

Bright light filled him as he realized that Trinity could hear him.

"You hear me? I love you, Neo," Trinity whispered. And then she kissed him.

Inside the Matrix, Neo closed his eyes for the last time and smiled.

And while this happened, Tank watched the last letters of the Matrix code run over the screen and disappear into
oblivion. Two columns left... One column left... Gone. The Matrix was finally destroyed. Forever.

After what seemed like an eternity Trinity finally lifted her head and looked at Neo. In the background she could faintly
hear the monotone sound of his life monitors, which indicated that there was no heart beat anymore. Trinity slowly
brought up a hand and touched his face.

"We won, Neo..." she said softly. "We won."

Then she buried her head in his lifeless chest and began to cry.
 
 

End Note: First of all, this is my first fanfic and English is not my first language. If you review, please be gentle, okay? :)
Second, I got the idea in the middle of the night, when I couldn't sleep and was in a bad and melancholic mood. I didn't
mean to kill Neo! Honestly! I guess it was a spur-of-the-moment thing... I feel bad now... :( That's what I get for writing
in the middle of the night. :P