AN: This was inspired by CB's recent beachy pictures.
Set about a year after NCIS.
The Beach
Harm sat on a beach chair, his toes dug deep in the sand, aviator glasses protecting his eyes. He sighed happily and a sly grin upturned his lips as he saw his wife walking along the shore, bending down to pick up a shell that she then would chuck back into the water. He glanced at his left hand, specifically the black silicon ring that was now prominently displayed where his Naval Academy ring once sat. He chuckled at the novelty, both of being recently married and the new style of rings that replaced the typical gold or silver bands and kept their actual rings safe from loss or tarnish.
One time the though of wearing any type of ring that tied him to a woman made him feel like he was being anchored down. Perhaps that was why his proposal to Mac fizzled out without much of a fight. Nine years, almost ten - each of which he realized how stupid he had been to let her go and pretend a life without her would be just as fulfilling. He was angry at first but as the years bled into the next, the only thing that kept him sane was work.
Until that wasn't enough anymore.
Mac once told him that they could no longer 'let fate decide' and again, he took her at her word - heard it like a 'never' which reminded him too much about Paraguay. It hurt him, it pissed him off and so a year later he found himself in Florida as a civilian aiding in the training of new fighter pilots - a job Tom Boone helped him acquire. As far as he knew, Mac was still in Washington, still at her Marine liaison position although he hadn't even bothered checking if she moved on. This time, Never would be Never and he was determined to let her go.
"I guess fate decided for us." He found himself telling her because one day he'd spotted one Sarah MacKenzie.
Harm had been on vacation, driving down Florida's West coast stopping at various beaches and mineral springs when fate led him to a sleepy beach down and the one woman he couldn't ever be rid of. She wore a simple sun dress, her short locks of hair held back by her sunglasses as she stood in line at a coffee shop perusing the menu. He would know her from anywhere. Part of him wanted to run, the other stood rooted in place like a man who had crossed a dessert and finally found his oasis. She was beautiful but then he'd always been a little biased about Mac's looks finding her exotic and attractive.
Even if he'd wanted to run, his legs propelled him forward and when he stood directly behind her, Harm could sense she knew he was near. "Yeah, I guess fate did." She replied and turned slowly to face him. There was something different about her that day, perhaps it was the lack of a business suit which made her powerless around him.
"I've been thinking about you more and more these days." She admitted while they sat outside enjoying their respective cups of coffee. "I almost called..I lost my nerve... I think...I think I made a mistake last year. I've made a mistake too many times when it came to us. I want to fix that."
"I do too."
"I still love you, you know? I don't think there's ever been a time since we met that I hadn't loved you."
If it wasn't for the glasses that shaded her eyes, he knew he would see tears forming, it was clear by the way her voice cracked, by the heavy way her chest rose and fell. Hearing Mac say that she still loved him was making his heart race and he both loved and hated that she could do that to him. "Mac, you don't have to say anything, I know."
"But I do. I've been so busy trying to protect my heart that I never realized I was breaking yours in the process. Can you...can you forgive me?"
"Yes."
Fate had other tricks up her sleeve. Not only were they in the same small town, at the same time but the pair were also staying at the same bed and breakfast, a mere three doors away from one another and for the same length of time. They laughed at the coincidence and at once Harm was asking her to dinner at the adjacent restaurant. he didn't expect much; not a kiss and certainly not to wind up in her bed but, it happened. He didn't push, didn't cajole and let Mac lead him. One peck on the lips turned to three or four and soon he was inside of her room sitting on a loveseat with Sarah MacKenzie in his lap kissing the daylights out of him.
"We can take this slow." He offered when they stopped long enough to catch their breaths. Her answer was to kiss him again, take his hand and lead him to the bedroom and one of the most comfortable beds he'd ever laid in. "Slow never worked for us, it just keeps us apart for too long."
Making love to her felt like a homecoming Harm never thought he needed. He still remembered what she liked, Mac still touched him in ways that defied all sense of logic. It was good, better than ever and as they lay in bed in the morning, watching the sun rise over waterfront, she proposed. "Technically, we're still engaged aren't we?"
Mac grinned up at him and the creases on his forehead from thinking about her proposal. "You still have the ring." Harm recalled because he never asked for it back, insisted it belonged to her no matter who came and went in their lives.
"I do. It's back home, in my safe next to your gold wings." The gold wings he'd given her when the coin landed in her favor and he chose to give up the Navy for her. "I think we're meant to be together, Harm. It was just the wrong time."
His heart began to race again because this would be the last time, the last shot at actually being happy. Not that he hated his time in the military but even the skipper had mentioned that he would wind up lonely and alone, words Harm had begun to take to heart. "Yes, Mac. I'll marry you but under one condition... It has to be here and now, no more waiting to pick dates or venues or caterers or anything that will get in the way. Just you and me, like it's always been."
"Yes...Just you and me."
Harm snapped out of his memories to find his wife in the ocean, her body half submerged by the calm, warm waters. There was something about late afternoons on the Florida beaches with their perfect water temperature and waning sunlight that held quite the appeal. Or maybe it was just the woman in the water, the keeper of his heart. He noted the change in the air temperature, the cooler breeze that signified a storm was brewing. Even the sun was obscured by ominous dark clouds. He pushed himself off the chair, placed his sunglasses in the cup holder and walked to the water, into her waiting arms. "I wondered when you'd join me."
"I was enjoying the view." He grinned and kissed her soundly, her lips tasting of salt and sweetness, her body wrapping around his as he took them into deeper waters where Mac could not reach but he could. She giggled when his hands came up her flank, passing a particularly ticklish spot. "Storm's coming."
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around his neck and dipped her head backwards to wet her hair. "Mmm, guess it just means we have to order room service and hunker down together, huh?" Mac brought one hand down between them, brushing against his length purposely. She chuckled at his groan and fused her lips to his for a deep, deep kiss that took his breath away.
"You're insatiable, MacKenzie."
"Rabb." She corrected because once all of the paperwork was processed, Mac would no longer be a MacKenzie - it was time to let that part of her life go and the pain that came along with it.
God, why did that make his heart flutter like it did? Sarah Rabb, the name sounded so damned wonderful to his ears. "I love you, Sarah...Forever." He kissed her gently as the sound of thunder clapped in the distance and the cool droplets of rain came down around them. Life in Florida would suit them well.
