A/N- There is no excuse for me making you wait this long. I truly apologize, and I am ready to dodge all flying objects.LOL. Here is a long installment. I hope you enjoy it.
Summery: Mac and Harm have finally gotten together, when she finds a letter lying in his room. You do not know what is written in it, but it does disturb her.
- Harm's room-
Mac grabbed her purse and walked into the hall, angrily slamming the door behind her. She stomped lady like down the stairs, if that is at all possible. Once in the lobby she approached the older lady behind the large oak desk. "Excuse me 'mam." Mac said politely. The white headed little lady looked up and gave her a warm smile. "Yes, can I help you dear?" Mac returned the ladie's smile with one of her own. "Do you know Harmon Rabb?" The elderly lady nodded her head. "Oh yes, such a sweet young man."
"Yes he is. Could you tell me the address of his office? I am leaving today and I just wanted to say goodbye." Mac prayed that the lady would have sympathy and give her the address, no questions asked. Well, luck was on Mac's side that day. The lady smiled and looked for the address. "Ahh...here it is." She said pulling out a small piece of paper from amidst the havoc wreaked drawer. "136 Sycamore Ave." The little lady looked up at Mac's confused face and gave a little chuckle. "All you do is go straight down this street, turn left on Oak, and then walk about 2 blocks, and then you will turn right onto Sycamore."
Mac smiled. "Thank you." The lady handed her the scrap of paper."You are more than welcome dear." Sarah smiled at the older lady then quickly left.
She followed the ladie's directions and ended up standing outside of Harm's building an hour later. A few strands of her chestnut hair fluttered across her face as the wind blew them loose. She tucked them behind her ear, only to have them fall out again. She sighed and thought back to a time when life had been simpler.
-Flashback-
9 year old Sarah liepeacefully in her bed. She stirred and sat up when she heard a pinging noise coming from her window. She slipped from her bed and walked cautiously towards the direction of the sound. She smiled when she saw Harm waving to her from below. Once he saw her there he threw down the pebbles. She unlatched her window and felt the warm summer breeze filter in. "What are you doing?" She asked in a loud whisper.
He smiled. "I have a surprise for you." he said excitedly.
"Well, what is it?"
"I can't tell you, or it wouldn't be a surprise." He said in a no duh tone. "Now come down and I will take you to it."
Sarah sighed. "Fine, I am coming down." She slowly and carefully climbed out of her window and onto the limb of the large oak tree beside her window. "Don't look." She called down.
"Why?" he asked confused.
"Because I have to climb down and I am in a nightgown. Now turn around or I am not coming down." She said in a forceful tone.
Harm sighed and did as he was told. "Girls," he muttered. Making sure he was not looking Mac slowly climbed down. She jumped from the last branch and hit the ground with a thud. "You okay?" Harm asked with a worried tone.
"Yeah I am fine." Mac said. She brushed herself off, and then looked up to see that Harm was still turned around. "You know, you obey to well."
"Huh?"
Mac just laughed. "You can turn around now, unless you particularly like talking to me withyour back facing me."
Harm turned around and just rolled his eyes. "Are you ready to go?" She nodded and he quickly grabbed her arm. "Come with me." He ran to the horse he had ridden over and quickly mounted. Then he reached down and helped her up in front of him. They rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Mac's curiosity got the best of her. "Harm why are we riding towards the stables?"
"You'll see." he said.
Mac rolled her eyes. Just like Harm to give her such a "thorough" answer. Once they got there Harm got down and helped her off. He led her and the horse into the stables. Leaving the horse in its stall; he took her by the hand and led her up the latter to the loft above. He placed her in the corner and told her to cover her eyes. She stood with her eyes closed as he made racket. If not for the fact that Mac loved surprises she would have opened her eyes in curiosity.
"Okay you can open them now." He said happily.
She slowly cracked her eyes open. "Wow! Harm It...It's amazing." She looked out through the hole in the roof. Harm had added hinges and a lock to some of the boards. He had made her a "window to the stars".
"I knew you liked looking at the stars, so I made this for you." He smiled proudly.
She gave him a big smile, and then crushed him with a tight hug. "Thank you. I love it!" she squealed.
He pulled her back and then went to the corner and brought out a blanket for them to lie on. The two friends lay down on the blanket and stared at the beautiful stars that stared back at them. Sarah laid her small head on Harm's big shoulder, and sighed. Harm looked over at her and saw the happiness in her eyes begin to fade. "What's wrong Mac?"
"My mom is going through another one of her sad spells." She said. , never pulling her gaze away from the sky.
"I'm sorry." he said as he pulled her tighter into his embrace.
Mac nodded. She knew he was truly sorry, and that he wasn't just saying it to make her feel better. "You know I think I like to look at the stars because I know they will always be there. I mean I know that they change, but they will never go away. I don't have anyone that will always be there."
Harm sat up and looked at her. "Yes you do." She slowly sat up to face him. "Who?" "Me. I will always be there for you." He brushed back a piece of her unruly locks. "I promise I will always be here. We may be miles away, but I will be here." He gently touched her heart. Tears began to run down her face. He pulled her close to him, and lay back down on the blanket. After a little while she had quieted down and was staring back up at the sky.
Mac wiped her wet face and leaned in closer to him. "You see those two stars right beside each other?" she asked pointing to a place in the vast darkness. Harm nodded once he saw them. "Well those can be our stars. One is you and the other is me. Whenever we need someone we can just look at our stars and remember that we have each other. I will always be here for you Harm, I promise." She snuggled close to him.
"Go to sleep Sarah. When you wake up I will be right here, now and forever."
-End of Flashback-
She sighed and wiped away a small tear. Oh how she wished things were like they used to be, but they were not and she would have to adjust. Sarah slowly pushed open the door and stepped in. At the front desk sat a blonde headed woman who appeared to be in her middle to late twenties. She raised her head and smiled at Mac. "Hello, welcome to the law office of Smith, Taylor, and Polk. How may I help you?"
Mac gave the lady a warm smile, well as warm as she could. She couldn't put her finger on it, but for some reason this lady annoyed her. "Yes, I would like to see Mr. Rabb."
"Do you have an appointment?"
"No, but I am a friend of his, and I really need to speak with him."
The blonde raised her eyebrow. "Well I am sorry, but Harm doesn't see anyone unless they have an appointment."
'Harm! This bimbo just called him Harm! Oh I feel like strangling her!' Mac fumed. "Listen 'mam. I really need to see him. Please just tell him I am here."
The blonde just rolled her eyes. "I can not unless..."
"What is going on here ladies?" A handsome man stepped over towards them. He was wearing a 3-piece gray suit, and had a look of important ness about him.
"Well Mr. Taylor, this lady insists on seeing Harm; claims she is a friend of his. I told her that she could not see him unless she had an appointment."
Jason Taylor stepped forward to get a good look at this beautiful young woman. "What is your name miss?"
"Sarah Mackenzie." she said. Happy to see that someone around this office had manors.
A smile crept across Jason's face. "My, my, so you are the one Harm is always talking about." He began to chuckle. "Mac, right?"
Sarah was quickly becoming more at ease. "Yes." she smiled. "Mr. Taylor I know Harm is busy, but I just need to speak to him for a moment."
"Oh of course. He is going to be thrilled to see you. Right this way." Jason began to leave when the lady behind the desk stopped him.
"But Mr. Taylor..." she whined.
"That is enough Renee." He said firmly and continued to walk. Mac looked back at the pouting woman and gave her a huge smile. "Thank you for your help Renee." She said warmly, and then followed Jason.
Once they reached what Mac assumed to be Harm's office, Jason knocked lightly. "Come in." She heard Harm say from the other side of the door. Jason opened the door and stepped in. "Hey man guess who is here to see you?"
Harm looked up from his paper and stared at Jason. "I don't know Jason, why don't you just tell me." He said in mock annoyance.
"Fine, fine." Jason said holding up his hands in surrender.
He stepped aside so Harm could see Mac. He stood up and smiled at her, but she did not smile back. That worried him. 'Somthing must truly be wrong.' he thought. Harm looked at Jason and signaled with his eyes that he wanted to be alone with her. Jason understood and nodded.
"Well I have a stack of papers to work on, so I must take my leave." He turned and smiled at Mac, and then took her hand in his. "It was indeed an honor to meet you." Jason lifted her hand to his lips and softly kissed it. "And if you ever get bored of him please look me up." Mac laughed lightly. "I will, and it was nice to meet you too." Jason nodded and left closing the door behind him.
Harm walked over to Mac and kissed her, however she did not return the gesture. He pulled back and furrowed his brow. "What is wrong?"
"I found this on your desk." She pulled out a folded letter form her purse and held it out to him.
He took it from her and unfolded it. As he read it he became filled with emotions. He folded it back up and put it in his vest pocket. "I would have told you eventually."
"When?" She asked angrily. "The day you were to leave?"
"No, I guess the same day you told me that you were not married."
"Don't change the subject. This has nothing to do with me!"
"Oh, I think it has a lot to do with you." He shouted as he began to pace the room. "Why did you not write to me and tell me that you did not get married?" She just stood there. There was no answer to that. Well, there was she just couldn't bring herself to tell him. "Oh, and another question; why were you going through my stuff? You had no right to do that."
"I did not go through your things! I was tidying up your desk and it was laying there.
While we are asking questions I have one for you; why?"
"Why?" he repeated after her. She simply raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Because Sarah, in case you haven't noticed we are at war; no matter what the papers say!"
"My father is dead because of this war. And every man that they ship off is going to die as well!" she yelled coldly.
"Sarah your father died with honor. Dying for what you believe is never a waste." He looked deep into her eyes. "Plus everyone says that the Union will win, so I will be fighting on the better side."
Sarah slowly began to shack her head in denial. "You're fighting for them!" She said in disbelief.
"If 'them' is the Union, then yes I am."
"How...how can you betray your home? How can you go against everything you have known?"
"Because it is wrong Mac! People are not meant to be whipped or made to work hard for no pay. They are meant to be free." He spoke with determination and passion.
"Harm not all slaves are beaten. You have seen how we treat ours. They are practically family."
Harm gently placed his hands on her face to help soothe her. "I know, but it is not like that at every home."
She looked down at her feet, then back up at him. There were tears in her eyes. "How will you be able to kill men you know?" She asked quietly, emotion in her voice. "How can you shoot at people you have grown up with? How can you?" Her bottom lip began to quiver.
Harm stood in shock. He had not thought about that. "I don't know." he said truthfully. He wiped away a tear from her cheek. "I am not afraid."
She slowly looked into his sea green eyes. "I am." she chocked out. "I have always been afraid to loose you. That is why I didn't write to you, or come sooner, that is why I don't want you to go. I want you to stay; stay with me forever." Tears were steadily flowing down her face. "Although you can't loose something you never had, can you?"
"Sarah," he caressed her face. "you have always had me" He brought her hand to his heart. "You always will."
"That is something you can not promise." She said quietly as she continued to cry.
"Look at me." She obeyed. "I promise you we will be together again. You can believe it, because I never make a promise I can't keep." She slowly nodded, and he pulled her to him. She laid her head on his chest and continued to cry silently. After she had calmed down Harm whispered quietly into her hair.
"Marry me Sarah."
A/N- Well here it is. Again sorry for the delay. Hope you like it. Please review...good or bad I like them all.:)
