Soulmates Part 5
For Disclaimers, see Part 1

SUNDAY-0945 ROMEO
MAC'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN

Mac slowly opened her eyes to feel not Harm's warm, passionate kisses to her lips, but rather, the roughness of Jingo's tongue. Mac woke up quickly. "Aaack! Jingo! Get down!" Jingo quickly got off of Mac's bed. "It was all another dream," she mused aloud. Something inside her warned that she shouldn't brush it off so fast. Mac barely recognized that feeling. Usually the Marine in her pushed it away, but this time it was pushing back. The voice told her that the dream would be reality soon if she didn't act fast. Instead of pushing the voice inside away again, Mac listened. She picked up her phone and dialed Harm's number. It wasn't hard to remember: it was auto dial number one.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Harm? It's Mac. Can you meet me at the Denny's near the beltway? We need to talk."

"Okay. How's 1030? Do you want to meet there?"

" I have a better idea. How about the Country Waffle down by Massachusetts Avenue? I'll pick you up and you can drive my 'Vette." Mac laughed. She could hear Harm practically salivating on the other end. She knew Harm missed his Corvette, so he relished any chance Mac gave him to drive hers.

1030 ROMEO
THE COUNTRY WAFFLE
NEAR MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
WASHINGTON, DC

As Harm drove, he thought what Mac wanted to talk about. Mac was praying for her resolve not to weaken.

They were seated in an intimate booth. The hostess told them that the waitress would be by shortly. While they waited, Harm asked, "Mac, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" He was afraid it had to do with the ring on her right hand.

"I'll tell you after the waitress comes. I don't want any interruptions." Mac tried to hide a smile, and her hands' movements as she carefully slid Mic's ring off of her right hand and slipped it in her pocket. She knew now. She loved him. Not just as a friend, but as much as she hoped he loved her back. At first this meeting was so she could stay the dream's occurrence, but that voice inside her had changed her heart. No, that voice was her heart, and it had changed her mind.

The waitress had come, taken Harm and Mac's orders, and left. "OK, Mac, what was it you were wanting to say?"

Mac took a deep breath. "OK, starting Thursday night, I have been having these dreams. I have just told Mic that I'd marry him. And, all of a sudden, you come over and tell me that you love me, and you ask me to marry you. But I'm engaged to Mic. But then, you die. The weird thing is, it's not really us. Thursday night, the dream took place in revolutionary times, and I had one Friday night, and it took place during the French Revolution. Then, at your apartment, I had a third dream. That one took place during WWII. That's why I had to leave. I thought you were supposed to be dead."

"Just like me with you and Diane," Harm interjected.

"Yeah. Then, last night, I had another dream. This one took place tomorrow at JAG. Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting with Mic, and that's where Mic and I were in my dream. I told him that I'd marry him. Just then, you rushed in and, you know, declared your love for me. But, of course, I'm engaged to Mic, so you left. But Palmer put a bomb under your car, and it exploded. You died in the ambulance. Two years later, I'm at Arlington, at your grave. I just started crying hysterically, and I think I passed out. And then a frost came in, since it was January, and I died. And then you and I were in Heaven, and then I woke up and called you."

"I see. And why did you call me?" Harm asked.

"Well, at first I wanted to see you and tell you to call in sick to work because Palmer is out and tomorrow if you go to work, you will die. But that doesn't matter. Because now I realize that I love you, and I want to be with you."

"Oh, Mac!" Harm cried. "I have wanted to tell you for so long, but I wasn't sure what it would do to our friendship. It took me a while to realize it, but now I know," he said as he moved over from his side of the booth to the side where Mac was seated. Still unsure of what she might think, he asked, "May I kiss you?"

She replied, "You never need to ask," and kissed him. Soon the waitress brought their orders and they spent the rest of the time eating and small-talking.


MONDAY 0745 ROMEO
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

"You know, it feels kind of weird to walk into work knowing you might die should your 'girlfriend' go back to her ex-boyfriend," Harm remarked as he and Mac entered JAG Headquarters, and headed for Mac's office, because the shades were already down.

"Don't worry. That won't happen. I do still need to keep my date with Mic. You know, that whole 'let him down gently' routine." Mac took her coat off. She had only worn it because it was rather unseasonably cold that morning.

Just then, Harm heard his phone ring in his office. He quickly walked over and answered it. As soon as he hung up the phone, it rang again. After he finished, he returned to Mac's office. "The first call was DC General Hospital. Annette Greenberg died early this morning." He paused. "The second call was Webb. Guess who else died this morning from a car crash?" Without waiting for her to guess, he continued, "Clark Palmer. His car collided with another, and because of the all of the components of a car bomb he had in his car, it exploded."

"So we charge O'Donnelley with murder two and vehicular assault along with DUI and assault..."

"...And I never have to look behind me again." Harm said, smiling. Knowing Mac loved him had brought out the best in him. And now there was just one thing in the way of their eternal happiness...okay, maybe two, he thought.

Harm picked up Mac's phone and dialed. "Tiner, would you please see if the Admiral is available?"

"Yes, sir," Tiner replied. "Do you need to see him?"

"Yes, Colonel MacKenzie and I," Harm answered. "We'll be right there."


"Are you so sure this is a good idea, Harm?" Mac asked as they walked to AJ's office.

"Look, I love you, and you love me, right?" Harm asked as he turned around and held her shoulder. The movement was subtle, his voice a whisper. The couple didn't want everyone to know yet. As Mac nodded slightly, he continued, "We discussed it last night. Wouldn't you rather have Admiral Chegwidden know first?" She nodded again. "Then, what better time than the present?"

"Sir, Ma'am, the admiral is waiting for you." Tiner stated as Harm and Mac entered AJ's outer office.

"Thanks, Tiner," Mac answered as Harm opened as Harm opened the door.


"Good morning, Commander, Colonel," AJ greeted warmly. "Have a seat. What can I do for you?"

"Well, sir, this," Mac said as she removed Mic's ring from her right hand. She had worn it so as not to arouse suspicions. She set the ring on AJ's desk. The ring made a small noise as it landed there. "I'm not marrying Mic. You've heard the expression 'If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with,' right? Biggest lie in the world, sir."

"So what part do you play in this, Rabb?" AJ asked, matter-of-factly.

"Sir, I love him," Mac interjected.

"And I love her, too," Harm added.

"And we wanted you to be the first to know we're 'together,'" Mac finished. Both she and Harm awaited AJ's response.

"Well, I say it's darn near about time!" he said smiling. "Do you have any plans yet?"

"Well, sir, I've wanted to do this for the longest time." Harm said as he took Mac by the hand and led her to the fireplace, which, due to the unseasonable cold, was burning brightly as Harm fished in his pocket and pulled out a small velveteen-covered box. "Sarah, I love you. You have been there for me when I needed it most, and even when I tried to push you away. You have made me so happy words cannot describe it. But there is one thing that would make me even happier." Harm slid the ring on Mac's left-hand ring finger. "Sarah MacKenzie, will you marry me?"

Mac looked at this diamond. It glimmered and even glowed in the firelight, something Mic's ring had never done. His ring looked like a cheap imitation compared to the new ring that now sat on her hand. "Oh, Harm," she said as her mind raced. Why now? So soon? She thought. This isn't exactly how I wanted to tell Mic it's over. All of a sudden her heart told her mind to shut up, and just say yes. "Yes."

"What?" Harm couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she say yes?

"Yes, Harm, I'll marry you!"

AJ sat at his desk as the scene played out before him. Those two had finally seen what was in front of them for years.


Outside AJ's office, Harm and Mac headed to Mac's office to call their respective relatives when AJ stood outside his door and called "ATTENTION ON DECK!" Everyone immediately froze and snapped to attention. "Thank you. Now I would like to give the floor to Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie."

AJ smiled as Harm and Mac blushed. There was a pause as everyone's attention turned toward Harm and Mac. Harm finally spoke up. "Well, since we have everyone here, the Colonel and I would like to announce our engagement."


2200 ROMEO
MAC'S APARTMENT
GEORGETOWN

Mac slid into bed. She fell asleep in no time, and this time, she could only dream about her fiancee. She smiled in her slumber.

MEANWHILE
JAG HEADQUARTERS
FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA

Mic's ring sat, undisturbed, on AJ's desk. A janitor, who was studying to be a jeweler at a nearby trade school, picked it up and examined it. He noticed the ring had no value, so he took it, figuring his ten-year-old niece would love it.

THE END

***Hooray! Finished! Look for a sequel to come in the future. I mean, now they gotta get married, right? And a heartfelt thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers. Love, Luck, and Lollipops, Madelynne 3