Author: Stephjag aka Steph
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Disclaimer: I do not own the JAG characters; they are the propriety of CBS, Paramount Studios and they belong to Donald P. Bellisario. No copyright infringement intended.
Classification: Vignette / Drama / Romance Harm and Mac
Rating: PG-13 (as always: just to be on the save side)
Spoilers: Nothing in particular, but mostly season 9.
Summary: Mac's watching a movie when someone dear to her knocks on the door.
Author's note: Hi everyone! Well, I'm back from my holidays now! The best holidays I have ever had. And here I am back on writing again. This story came to me yesterday while I was listening to one of Trisha Yearwood's albums I own, "Where Your Road Leads," and because of something I learned before I left for my vacation. Something that makes me see things way differently that I saw them before.
Dae, honey, I'll always listen to you from now on, I promise. You are my "spiritual guide" – thank you so much for being my friend. I also want to think all my readers who are really amazing and last but not least a special thanks to Barb for her kind words, and encouragements.
One last thank you to Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks for singing "Where Your Road Leads" in such a wonderful way and to Victoria Shaw and Desmond Child for having written the song.
Many thanks to AeroGirl and Dae for beta-reading!
Feedback: Please, if you would like to express your enjoyment. If my work does not appeal to you for any reason, I have no problem with that, but please, no need to share that with me.
0031 ZULU Mac's apartment, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Mac had a long day behind her. She felt tired but she was happy and relieved. She'd thought that her life had completely changed in a couple of weeks, not professionally but personally – not in her relationship with Harm, though. They were still working on it and it seemed to turn more easily now. After all they'd been through together, she still trusted him with her life, though this time she slightly doubted that he could do anything to really help her.
Sarah Mackenzie was now sitting on her couch watching television – an old classic, "The Sound of Music." She'd always liked the movie. It was a simple true story of an Austrian family, a father left with seven children after his wife died. On the other side, a young woman who had spent her life in a nunnery till the day one of the sisters told her to go into the outside world just to be sure she'd made the right choice.
Mac had always loved the movie because of the spirit that emanated from the movie. And the places the movie had been shot – Salzburg... a romantic city. Some days Mac wished she'd be able to go there. Yeah, she wished she could. Mac was in the USMC, but she also was a woman. Last night Mac had had a very romantic dream with... a tall handsome guy... Harm. She'd dreamed he'd taken her there for her birthday, or was it for something else?
She was walking on Harm's arm in a wonderful, splendid white dress. They were walking in a magnificent garden, the Mirabell Garden – an enchanting place. They were looking at each other, love shining in their eyes, and Mac felt like she was in heaven. Having Harm with her was wonderful, but it wasn't only the fact that he was with her that made her feel so good; it was also the fact that he had arranged all this for her.
Mac was shaken out of her reverie by a knock on the door. Getting up to open it, she first turned down the sound of the television before heading to the door to look into the peephole at the person that was behind her door.
She was not really surprised to see who the person on the other side of her door was, and with a smile she opened the door. "Hi, flyboy! I could have guessed it would be you," she said, the smile still shining on her face.
"Hi, ninja-Girl! Can I come in?" Harm asked, smiling back at her.
"Sorry, sure, come on in. What brings you here? Anything in particular?"
"No, not really," Harm said, looking elsewhere.
Mac's smile brightened. "Harm, what are you hiding from me?"
"Me? Nothing. Why would I hide anything from you?" he answered, now looking down at the floor.
Yes, he is hiding something from me. Sarah Mackenzie thought to herself.
"Come on in, flyboy, and tell me what's bothering you – or should I say... tell me what you are trying to hide from me?"
Harm entered Mac's apartment, wondering if what Mac had told him about her health would change their relationship in a way or another. He didn't want their relationship to change – well, saying he didn't want it to change would be lying because in the bottom of his heart he wanted it to change. He wanted more. He felt guilty about it, though; Harm wanted more than just a friendship with Mac, but what made him want this were not wrong reasons.
He didn't want to take steps forward out of pity for her because of her sudden illness – no, he wanted to go out with her out of love for her.
Harm wanted to make sure she'd understood that. He wanted Sarah Mackenzie more in his life and closer to him because in was deeply in love with her and nothing else. Now Harm knew that for certain. When Mac had told him about her health problems, his heart had torn and the earth under his feet had burst open. He'd suddenly felt powerless and very small.
Sarah Mackenzie had changed his life since the very first minute they'd met, and Harm knew that he would never ever be able to thank her enough for all she'd done for him. She'd always been there for him when he needed her the most. Mac had been there for him when he'd finally found out the truth about Diane's killer – she'd prevented him from doing something very stupid that would've destroyed his career in the Navy. She had also been there when his quest for his father finally came to an end in Russia.
Russia had been a rough time for them both, but for Harm it had been a heartrending experience. All these years he'd been searching for his missing father, hoping desperately that he would still be alive somewhere, anywhere...
The quest for his beloved father would finally end somewhere in Svischevo with an old woman named Pitcha, who would tell how his father died has a hero saving her from an almost certain rape and death. Harmon Rabb, Sr died saving the mother of his half-brother – a thing he didn't know at that moment.
Today, Harm wanted to be there for the woman he loved like she'd been there for him all these times. To be with her, to help her. To support her in these difficult moments she would have, by giving all the love and friendship she needed without asking anything in return. Harm would not leave her – he would not let her go through this alone, and he was about to do something for her, a thing that she would never forget in her entire life...