Afterward

Well…there it is. My first JAG fanfic, completed. I'm overwhelmed at the response that this story got, and I'm touched at the number of people that took the time to give words of encouragement (and in one particular case ridicule).

I tried to incorporate everything I could from the actual timeline of the show with references to most of the Season 9 finale with one notable exception. I couldn't figure out a way to work in Mac's illness and still have the storyline work so…no big revelations about the illness. I will tell you it is still there, and it will be addressed more thoroughly in You Can't Live in the Past: Mac's Story.

They say you are your own worst critic and I'm beginning to find out that this is true when it comes to my writing. While I am happy with this story, there are parts of it I felt could have been better. I think what I ended up doing that I would do different if I could is tried to fit too much into it. If I'm going to be honest, in the end I wasn't too sure where I stood in the way of a dramatic climax; I wasn't sure if I should make an action oriented climax, a dramatic oriented climax, a suspense oriented climax or a romantic one. Thankfully the issue was resolved because by the end I still had Mac and Harm dancing around each other like the earth and the moon. Romantic it would be then. Rivers was wrapped up in 29, there hadn't been much action since Harm came back from the Henry, but we needed to get our favorite couple together.

I hope everyone, shipper and non-shipper alike, are happy with the ending scene with Harm and Mac in the Rose Garden. I felt that would be the most romantic place for Harm to propose to Mac. I also felt that a serenade with roses strewn about his feet would be an effective way to pique Mac's interest. I had to throw in the President and First Lady congratulating them on a whim…its why we write after all to make the impossible possible.

Currently I am working on my A Man Called Ghost story as well as a quick one off of the dream that I've had Harm having throughout this story. When those are completed I will write Mac's view of this story as well as the dream she's been having. After that I have a couple more projects floating around my head, but there will most definitely be a sequel to this in which we see Mac and Harm in married life and Harm as a Naval Intelligence operative.

I am going to be writing a list of all the people who reviewed this story with a special thanks to all of them and will be posting it in the next day or two. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this monstrosity, and I'm glad so many enjoyed it.

Oh yeah…I don't utilize a beta reader, so all mistakes you may have noticed in the past 30 chapters are mine alone! Long live typos!

June 5, 2004
RJ Whitney (RinkRat)