This story doesn't really take place during any particular episode but I would place this around seasons nine and ten.

This is unedited and unbetad. Hope you like.

JAG Headquarters
Lt. Col Sarah MacKenzie's Office
1537 hours (3:37 local)

Mac cringed at the sound of knuckles wrapping on her office door. All day long young Petty Officers continued to file in and out of her office needing signatures on this form and her initials on that form. If it wasn't someone knocking on her door then it was the General calling her into his office so he could add another case to her already busy work load. Needless to say, it had been an extremely long day.

And to top it all off, she hadn't seen or heard from Harm in almost a week. He had left early Wednesday afternoon to interview a witness on the John Henry and said that he would be back late Wednesday night but that must not have been the case. Something must of come up causing him to stay later than planned.

Mac thought that her and Harm were slowly starting to work towards something. Ever since her accident on Christmas Eve Harm had become move attentive towards her. He would bring her a cup of coffee so that she wouldn't have to go into the breakroom, knowing that she really didn't have time to spare but was in desperate need for some caffine. He would call her at night right before he went to sleep not just to hear her voice but knowing that she needed to vent due to her strenuous work load. And now that she hadn't seen him she really started to miss him.

A louder knocking on her door brought her out of her reverie. With a frustrated sigh she said, "Enter."

"Well hello stranger," Harm said with a grin from ear to ear.

"Hi," Mac replied, grinning also. Had her blinds not been open and if they weren't in uniform, she wouldn't have thought twice about going over there and squeezing the daylights out of him. But because of their location and attire, she tought better of it.

Harm shut her door before walking over to take a seat in her visitors chair. He took a moment to just take her in, the way her chocolate brown eyes twinkled with delight in seeing him, how her bangs slightly hung over her eyebrows and into her eyelashes, causing them to move whenever she blinked. She was absolutely breathtaking, even in her uniform.

"So how goes the battle?" Harm tilted his head toward the stack of files that seemed to forever be piled on her desk.

Mac released yet another sigh of frustration before replying, "I've been better." Harm noticed the way her shoulders slumped slightly at her response, like she was carrying the weight of the whole world on her shoulders and she was starting to crumble.

"That bad?"

"Cresswell's been giving me extra cases because we've been short staffed lately, with everyone being away on cases theres just been Bud and myself."

"I'm sorry, Mac." Harm really was sorry that she had all this extra work put on her. He knew all too well what it was like to have added responsibilities on top of extra cases and it wasn't something he enjoyed.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be putting this on you; I'm sure you're tired from your trip and here I am giving you an earful of my problems." Mac looked down at her hands with insecurity. She didn't like to vent her problems and frustrations on Harm but sometimes it just felt natural to tell him everything that was on her mind. Sometimes she didn't think twice about what she told him and that was scary for her, to feel so comfortable with someone yet scared at the same time.

Harm looked down at her hands and fought the urge to reach over and take one of her hands in his. He wanted to do nothing more than take hold of her hands and tell her that it's okay to talk to him about her feelings but given their current location, he knew that wasn't the best idea.

"Mac?"

Mac lifted her head at the sound of her name and looked at Harm. "Yeah?"

Harm leaned forward in his chair and dropped his voice a decible. "Would like to come over to my place for dinner tonight? I have a little something planned for today's holiday and I'd really like for you to come."

Mac nodded her head in consent to the night's plans and nodded once more when Harm said to be there for 1800 but that was the last thing she remembered from there conversation. She didn't hear him say that he had to go brief the General on his case, she didn't even see the smile he sent her way after she agreed to dinner. All she kept thinking about was the 'holiday' that he mentioned.

Mac sat in a stunned silence for minutes trying to think of what holiday today was. After going through all the major holidays twice she started to think about the smaller holidays; Martin Luther King day, Flag day, St. Patrick's Day. Then it hit her: Mother's Day. What in the world had Harm planned for Mother's Day?

Mac soon forgot about the stack of files collecting on her desk that desperately needed her attention and soon started focusing on what lay ahead of her tonight.

Sarah MacKenzie's Apartment

Georgetown

1720 (5:20 local)

For Mac, the day seemed to drag even more once Harm had left her office. She spent the remaining hours trying to stay focused on the files in front of her but it was no use. She left a message with Harriet saying that she had some loose ends to tie up on a case and she would be gone for the rest of the day.

It wasn't like Mac to blatantly lie but she had to do something to keep her mind occupied for a few more hours or else she would've gone insane. So in an attempt to waste time till her dinner with Harm, she went to Rock Creek Park and ran a few miles. After a mile or so, she realized running wasn't the greatest idea after all considering she was running at the park where she and Harm always ran.

Mac gave up trying to keep her mind occupied with thoughts other than what would transpire tonight but it was no use. So with a long hot soak in the tub she gave in to those thoughts. She didn't understand why today was so important Harm had to plan something special. Mac wasn't a mother herself, although she would've liked to have the chance to become before that was taken away from her, so it didn't make sense for them to celebrate about that. If Harm's mother was in town she didn't think Harm would want to celebrate with his mother and her.

While Mac soaked in the tub with her thoughts, she temporarily lost track of time until her cell phone rang. Reaching over to where it rested on the lid to the toilet seat, she picked it up.

"MacKenzie."

"Hey Mac, it's me." Harm couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. The affect she had him lately felt too good for him not to express how he'd been feeling for quite some time.

Mac smiled also after hearing his voice; she'd missed him while he was away on a case. If she wanted to be honest with herself she'd admit that she missed him when he was just across the room.

"Did you get my note?" Harm was sure she got it. It would be kind of hard to drive with a post-it note stuck to your windshield.

"Yes Harm, I got it."

"Good, so I'll see you at 1800 then?"

"Of course you will, Harm. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon."

Now, Mac stood with a towel wrapped around her body in front of her full-length mirror with a post-it note in her line of vision. 'Casual Attire' was all it said in Harm's familiar scrawl. She couldn't understand why she had a closet full of clothing but she still couldn't find anything to wear.

Mac knew she was over thinking but she just couldn't help it. She didn't want to dress too casual and show up at Harm's door to see him dressed up. She didn't want to dress up to go to Harm's and find him in jogging pants. She just didn't know what to put on.

After sifting through her closet for the fifth time that night, she finally settled on a pair of faded blue jeans with a soft brown sweater. She figured it was casual enough to feel comfortable in yet it was dressy enough to born worn to a special occasion.

Once she was dressed Mac grabbed her coat and keys, hit the lights then headed out the door. She had a knot inside her for the better part of the afternoon. She wasn't sure what it was but she knew something was going to happen and it was going to happen very soon.