AN: cause you were all so nice and reviewed in such numbers, I've decided to post this one sooner.
I'm sorry for this being such a short fic, but could not find a way to drag on what was already a longer than planned fic. Besides, I've got too many WIPs in the dry docks to create another long WIP to spend time on.
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Tall, blonde and even more stunning than before.
Meg Austin.
We looked on in disbelief as the Queen of JAG greeted her King with a passionate kiss.
Where did she come from? Where was she all these years? How come we didn't know about her return?
As soon as we could think and breath again, we started to cheer.
Loudly.
Extremely loudly.
The two soulmates, we can call them that because it was clear that they are that, didn't hear us and continued kissing.
We were ecstatic to finally see our beloved Commander finally happy again and, best of all, finally together with his soulmate, after so many years of pain, longing and heartache.
He swung her around in the air and when we saw something on her left ring finger flash brightly in the sun, then our cheering escalated even further, being joined by wolf whistles and cat-calls.
Everyone that knew them both from when they were still partners was in the parking lot, clapping, cheering.
That was A LOT of people. From guards, bullpen staff, LT Bud Roberts, judges, heads of various departments, support staff,... every single person that had known them both had found out about the reunion and had rushed out to see for themselves.
Finally they noticed they weren't alone.
They'd stopped kissing and looked around dumbfounded.
When the situation caught up to them Austin blushed deeply and buried her face into Rabb's shoulder. Rabb stood there, holding his soulmate in his arms and grinning sheepishly.
Suddenly there was utter silence.
Everyone turned towards the building's entrance.
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There stood the JAG himself, with a stern expression on his face.
Rabb and Austin, or should I say Rabb and future-Rabb, froze in their spot.
Suddenly Cheggwidden's face cleared and a large smile broke out on his face. He started clapping with a very pleased expression on his face, obviously approving.
Seemed like the old coot was a romantic after all...
Then we all converged on the two of them, slapping Rabb on his back, shaking their hands, the women demanding to see the ring... It was one big circus.
The guards, that should've dispersed the crowd, were happily participating, as was their leader who was a friend of Rabb's.
When we finally let them leave for home they were clearly overwhelmed with how many people had wished all these years that they would get together and how many people hurt for Rabb after Meg had left. A lot of bets were settled that day and huge amounts of money were finally paid off and exchanged hands.
I glanced back to see if Cheggwidden was still there. He still stood there, with Mackenzie and Bugme behind him, both bright red with jealousy.
Why was Bugme jealous? That's an easy answer. While the LtCol may have been good looking, she was nowhere near the utter, stunning, knockout that Austin is. The second reason was that Rabb had won in the end, without even competing or knowing of a competition that was only in the dumb Aussie's head. Rabb had finally been reunited with his soulmate, was clearly in love, she in love with him and they were getting married... That was enough to make the jerk jealous.
Why was Mackenzie jealous? Because of what Rabb and Austin clearly had together and that Rabb had found happiness even though she had tried to make him jealous with Bugme, tried to force him to 'fight' for her (I really dislike women who want men to fight each other for them, too many men had died because of witches like that in the past) and he had found happiness with someone else. Someone who had been there years before Mackenzie had even known of Harmon Rabb; someone who truly knew, valued and appreciate him, something which she had never done correctly, someone who held his heart in her palm, and took good care of it, except for the forced transfer, right from the start. And the love these two people shared would make anyone jealous, so it was no wonder that it made Mackenzie jealous.
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So, here I am now, attending the wedding reception of Harmon and Meg Rabb. Two Commanders, one with a full and one with half a stripe.
They've just finished telling us how they have finally found each other. Apparently Meg was transferred back the day before the scene in the parking lot.
Immediately after arriving in DC she had searched out Harm, still loving him.
She'd found him and the rest sounds like a completely sappy, mushy love tale. He opened the door, saw her, they fell into each other's arms, professing love and Rabb had proposed to her right then and there, knowing that he could never let her go again. That he'd die if he lost her again. She felt the same way and accepted.
And just a few hours ago they have gotten married in the Naval Academy chapel.
And me? I'm sitting here, after so many years, back in my officer's uniform, and filling my heart with the love and happiness of these two people who were clearly meant to be. What I didn't know was that Harm had been fighting for a few years now to have my case re-opened and new evidence to be examined. He didn't tell me until it was the right time to testify because he didn't want me to be disappointed had his appeal been denied. He represented me in court and won. I was cleared of all charges, my record was scrubbed clean of the black marks and my rank was re-instated, along with my retroactive promotions and pay. I am now a Commander, as I should've been had I not been sacrificed (the guilty ones were identified and are awaiting trial), and all of the pay I should've been getting these past few years way given to me. It is great not having to watch every single penny, but I won't be careless with money ever again. What is even more important, I won't ever look at the people, that make the military function, the same way ever again, after having been one of them.
In an attempt at matchmaking Meg had decided to persuade me into a blind date with a friend of hers. Maybe I should try it, maybe the friend is my soulmate...
You know what I've also realized, something that should've been glaringly obvious to me?
The day of the scene in the parking lot, Harm had not had even a drop of coffee all day... Yet he was wide awake even while the others were like zombies and he had a bounce in his step.
Something more obvious is that ever since he and Meg had finally found each other, he hadn't tasted even a drop of coffee, while always being in an excellent mood, awake, alert and happy with his life. The missing piece of his soul had been returned to him and he didn't need that unhealthy drink anymore.
And I knew, I knew it in my bones, that he won't need another drop of coffee for the rest of his life.
THE END
