AN: This story is dedicated to JWood201 and that masterpiece of an mvid you did. If you haven't seen it, check out When She Loved Me on YouTube by JWood201, it is magnificent and pulled at the heart strings. It was wonderful and I couldn't get that song out of my head, it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote something. It was a sad song when you see it in Toy Story 2, but when put it to MAG, well, need I say more. This is my humble offering, enjoy, and please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
When She Loved Me
He gazed at his reflection in the water and threw a rock at it. He missed her. How did they drift apart? Was it because he was shy? She always stood by his side, but lately she wasn't interested in going on adventures with him. She was busy with chores and he offered to help. Most of the time she'd accept, but again she was turning him down. Didn't she want to be friends anymore? Why after all these years did she begin to avoid him? Sometimes he wished she would've avoided him from the beginning, then he wouldn't feel so hurt.
He gazed back at his reflection, smiling at the memory of when his nose was swollen. He knew the girls meant well, but her words were precious, he knew she liked him no matter what. He also appreciated the meddling of Mrs. Howell when she tried setting them up and they realized how much they cared for the other, but they never moved past the friendship stage even though he thought they might both want to, yet something was holding them back. She didn't know it, but he liked her since the beginning of their journey because she was the only one, besides the Skipper, who really cared if anything should happen to him. Did she still care now? She was the only one who never got mad at him, maybe a little annoyed or frustrated, but she always stuck up for him. Would she continue to do that? Would she become like the rest of them? He couldn't bear it if she turned her back on him.
His memories drifted back to the time he carried her through the jungle back to camp when he caught her instead of an anteater. He was scared she had injured herself, but remembered the sensation of carrying her in his arms, it had felt right. He was grateful she was unharmed, a bit sore in her ankle, but she was okay. He had always worried if another Duke Williams would appear because of how the girls looked at him, but even then she still cared for him. He loved making Duke jealous, he pretended to be nervous about it or not know what the birds and bees were. Skipper meant well with that talk, but his father gave him the talk when he was twelve. He loved the weight of her in his lap, but it did get uncomfortable because he wasn't used to it. He reveled in her kisses and he kissed her back a little, but the one kiss he cherished was when he thought he was an old man because his hair had turned white from a rare tropical disease that he thought he had.
She was trying to make him feel young and he was struck by her admission of love for him, but he thought it a ploy, a way to humor him like what he did when he found out her supposed boyfriend, Horace, got married. Although, that kiss meant so much more, but when she thought she was Ginger those kisses were heart-stopping. He kind of liked it that she got aggressive with him, yet he knew that wasn't who she was, but, wow, her kisses were fantastic. He told her what happened, she laughed and apologized, but somehow he didn't believe she was sorry.
He sighed, but laughed at the memory of when the mad scientist switched their bodies. It would've been fun to go butterfly hunting with the Professor in Mary Ann's body, but would be funnier to watch Mary Ann in the Professor's body try to catch butterflies. Skipper told him it was weird being a woman, but Gilligan was curious and then he got naughty thoughts of what would've happened if he had been switched into Mary Ann or Ginger's body.
He shook his head and laughed, but it grew serious for a moment when he thought back to all the visitors who did happen upon their island. He shivered at the thought of Jonathan Kincaid and the weeks after she stuck to him like glue, well, most of them did, but she hovered. He liked the attention she displayed upon him, but after that they began growing apart. He noticed it before Kincaid, but this incident made it worse and she was pulling away from him which brought him to the present.
All she did was chores, cook, and hang out with Ginger if the actress wasn't busy hanging out with the Professor. How could he get his friend back? Better yet how could he get her to be more than a friend? How could he show her how much he loved her? Did he just admit that to himself? Love? It was true, he loved her that's why he didn't mind helping her, got jealous if she got too chummy with strangers or sometimes the Professor, worried if she was injured or if someone threatened her life, and always confided in her. She always encouraged him and was proud of him even when he screwed up, but isn't that what she liked about him? He didn't know as he threw another rock which skipped angrily across the water. He mumbled a curse word and was about to stand up to wade out into the lagoon to check the lobster traps when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. Before he knew it she had wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his cheek.
"Hi, Gilligan."
"Hi, Mary Ann."
"What are you doing?"
"Getting ready to check the lobster traps."
"Oh, what were you doing before that?"
"Thinking."
"It's a beautiful place to reflect."
"I guess so."
She knew what he had been thinking of, she had followed him after she had sent him away because she saw that pout which indicated he was sad. She didn't mean to hurt him, she had been pushing him away because she believed he only liked her as a friend even though in the beginning there were indications he may have liked her more, but neither of them acted on it. She missed her sweet sailor and the way he carried her through the jungle when she got caught in his anteater trap. He was her hero, in fact, he was everyone's hero because he was the one saving them all the time when they either got captured or were in some kind of bind.
She remembered the times they went hunting for butterflies or when he helped her even when his natural grace interfered taking twice as long to do laundry, but it was more fun when he was with her. He was always kind and thoughtful especially when he tried to cheer her up when he heard about her supposed boyfriend getting married. She loved when he'd confide in her, but he couldn't confide his feelings for her and she saw hints of his true feelings in his eyes. She couldn't blame him, she was shy when it came to admitting her love for him because she had never felt like this before. Wait, love? Did she just admit that to herself? How could she not love him? He had a heart of gold and always thought of others before himself.
She was secretly pleased that he had been jealous of Duke Williams and loved making it up to him when making Duke jealous. She was surprised he had kissed back, but she loved it when she had kissed him when she thought she was Ginger. She wished she could've remembered that, but he put on a good reenactment of it. She wished she could be as aggressive as Ginger, but that just wasn't her except for the time when he thought he was old. She wanted to snap him out of it because she wanted her friend back, but what she said and did had shocked even her. She had laid her heart out and he didn't act on it, but she figured he thought it was just to make him feel better like when he had cheered her up. Maybe he wasn't interested in dating? Maybe he had a girlfriend back home? If that were true he would've told her, but somehow it seemed he only wanted to be friends.
She hadn't meant to push him away especially after Jonathan Kincaid tried to kill him. She knew she loved him, but couldn't admit it to herself and she refused to leave his side. Her sleep had been restless and she would sneak into his hut when she heard him having nightmares about Kincaid. She would hum to him until he relaxed and would kiss his forehead. She never told him because she didn't want him to feel bad that he had woken her up, he was already on edge. When he returned to his happy self she slowly pushed him away because she loved him and it seemed apparent to her that he didn't feel the same. She didn't want to hurt her heart more and settled on being alone. She sighed sadly and hugged him.
"Mary Ann, you're choking me!"
"Sorry, Gilligan."
She released her hold on him and stared at the back of his head. She bowed her head and turned away to take a walk through the jungle. Was she really going to walk away? She knew exactly how he felt about her now and still she feared rejection.
He had glimpsed her sad reflection in the water and in that instant he knew how she felt for him. He heard her footsteps retreating and stood turning to her.
"Mary Ann?"
She stopped and turned back to him. His mouth went dry at that moment and now a lump jumped into his throat while she waited with baited breath. He swallowed and looked down at his feet.
"Never mind."
Her heart sank and he turned away from her. She continued her way into the jungle and she stopped briefly to glance back at him. She stepped into the foliage letting her tears finally fall.
She was halfway back to camp when she heard rushing footsteps and when she turned to see who it was, she was suddenly enfolded in someone's arms. She noticed the red and stared up at him.
"I'm sorry, Mary Ann."
"For what?"
"For not telling you how much I love you."
She was taken aback by his admission and she smiled.
"No, Gilligan, I'm sorry for not telling you how much I love you. I'm sorry for pushing you away because I thought you only wanted to be friends."
"All is forgiven."
She hugged him and let more tears slip from her eyes when she felt him sweep her off her feet. He was smiling at her and she couldn't help but grin back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a swift kiss on the lips. He carried her back to camp and set her down in a chair whispering something in her ear which made her giggle. He prepared a picnic basket and retrieved the butterfly nets. She helped him carry the picnic basket as they strode back into the jungle hand in hand.
THE END