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"WHAT THE?!! --" Harm half shouted, shaken abruptly out of his reverie at the unexpected chill and wetness inside the front of his shirt.

It had taken no more than a second for Mac to bend down swiftly and before Harm could suspect a thing, thrust a handful of ice under his layers of clothing. She smirked cheekily and attempted to escape from his reaches, momentarily forgetting that she still had skates on.  

Harm caught her mid-stumble before she fell to the ground – for the fourth time.

"Whoa," Mac gasped. "That was a close shave, thanks Harm."

"You should be more careful Mac. That could've been a bad fall!" he chided, guiding her to sit down on the metal benches outside the rink. "And it's not nice to do THIS -" he added, shoving his own small pile of ice down the back of her sweater.

"Uragh!" Mac yelped glaring daggers at him, although the small quirk at the corners of her mouth betrayed her seriousness. Just then as she felt the pangs of hunger return at full force, Harm looked at his watch, whilst she started to deliberately make a big show of her hunger.

"I'm –-"

"I know," Harm cut her off. "Its time I feed you."

"Damn right Sailor."

9:15pm Local Time

They continued down the main street again, Harm once more leading the way. He seemed to know his directions around easily. It only occurred to Mac then to ask, "Harm have you been here before?"

"Nope." He didn't offer any further explanations. Impulsively, he reached for Mac's hand and entwined their fingers. He risked an uncertain glance to see her reaction. Mac smiled back at him with unexpected shyness that washed through her.

A ten minute stroll through the crowds later, they arrived at the wharf junctions of the left and right banks. An impressive fleet of boats and ships of all sizes were anchored on the embankment of the Seine River.  

Harm guided Mac to stand in front of one of the largest and most elaborately decorated ships in sight. The name 'Le Cristal II' was emblazoned in large blinking lights.

"We're eating here?!" Mac stared with disbelief, back and forth between Harm and the ship.

"Uh huh" Harm muttered, he was suitably impressed with its grandeur. He guessed its length ran no less than sixty metres. It consisted of only one level, entirely transparent from the roof to all four sides. They could see the throngs of people on board, already seated in the seemingly endless long row of tables. 

A waiter dressed immaculately in black, met them on the gangplank and bowed.

"Bonsoir Monsieur, Mademoiselle. Vous avez une reservation?"

Mac opened her mouth to translate and was rather taken aback with Harm's prompt answer.

"Oui, Rabb."

The waiter consulted his book and nodded with a gesture, "Dis way si'l vous plait."

Harm grinned at the surprised expression on Mac's face. This was too easy. Gee, it wasn't that hard to assume what the waiter would ask, nor was it that much of a strain on the brain to recognise the word 'reservation.' But he kept quiet and laid a hand on the base of Mac's back to escort her after their attendant. A guy's got to have his secrets.

Soft strands of classical music played in the background by a group of violinists on a small stage near the large dance floor. The rest of the ship had swiftly filled up and was now packed. And just what were they waiting for? Eight minutes and sixteen seconds after being seated with still no menu or food in sight and unable to get Harm to divulge any details, Mac was beginning to get fed up. She was startled however soon after, to see the shoreline slowly slip away.

"Harm, we're moving?!"

"Well, I think that's what ships are supposed to do Mac, even here in France" he replied mischievously, the corners of his eyes crinkling with delight.

She didn't have time to formulate a sarcastic retort. Their waiter reappeared to fill up their wine glasses with what Mac soon found out would be sparkling cider. Moments later he was back to serve entrée; Mangoes with an Essence of White Truffles. It looked heavenly, but Mac didn't touch it. Instead, she stared in puzzlement at the drink before her. How would they have known to serve a non-alcoholic drink? She was sure literally all the other three hundred plus patrons on board were all having champagne, wine or something of a similar variety.

"You arranged all of this didn't you?" she asked Harm, who was watching her silently with amusement. She was sure to figure it out soon.

"What?? How was I suppose to know we'd be lucky enough to get a nice scenic cruise down France's famous Seine River whilst we're having dinner?" he replied with all the air of innocence he could muster, and with a bit of bragging thrown in for good measure. He could tell she was loving this night as much as he'd hoped she would.  

Mac's eyes narrowed with suspicion as understanding dawned. This meal and cruise would have set him back at least a few months pay, especially on New Years Eve.

"Just how did you arrange all this?" It was more a demand than question.

Harm gave her a big, self-satisfied smile and began digging into his neglected plate of Truffles.

"Harrrm!" Mac hissed with exasperation. All this mysteriousness and being kept in the dark was not something she was used to and it was killing her with infuriation.

"Ok, ok! I have a confession to make. I had most of this planned out beforehand with the help of mom and Frank … and Webb" Harm admitted grudgingly. It sure had been one tough task that relied on higher powers. After pulling the idea out of the blue to spend New Years with Mac, he'd found that it was next to impossible to plan anything extravagant at the last minute like he'd wanted to do. Sometimes, being closely acquainted with the usually annoying Clayton Webb made it all worth while.

"Mom suggested both the ice skating and cruise. Her and Frank have been here a few times. And Webb yanked a few strings to get us seats on this ship. He said happy New Year by the way, along with message and I quote: 'looking forward to working more with your talented skills in '03 Colonel.'" Harm said with a smirk.

At this, he heard Mac groan out loud. "Now eat your food. The mains yet to come."

There was no need for further encouragements to get Mac to start eating. She was already well into finishing her plate since listening to Harm start his 'confession.'