AN: Just a quick thank you to all those who left review for me! They were great to read!
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Part 2
They didn't get to discuss this any further, because a large group of children came running up the main street and Janna excused herself. It seemed that the children from her daughter's school had arrived and Janna was eager to see her child.
"Mika?" she approached one of the children, "Where is Mara?"
Harm and Mac understood only the child's name in this sentence, because Janna was speaking Vanuatu. The child replied something back then quickly rejoined her classmates.
Janna crossed back to the table and sat down again, explaining, "Mara will just be a few minutes, she and some other children are helping the teacher unload the costumes for the performance."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, until Janna rose from her seat once more. She must have seen something they didn't, because she moved quickly out into the street, though Harm and Mac couldn't see what she was looking at. Just as suddenly, a little girl appeared through the crowds and launched herself into Janna's arms.
"Mamma!" the child exclaimed, hugging her mother, "I have missed you."
"I have missed you too, little-one," Janna reciprocated, "What have you been doing in school this week?"
"We've been making masks and decorations and food and all kinds," the child chattered away in Vanuatu's national language, before her Mother gently halted her.
"In English," she insisted, "Tell Mamma in English."
The little girl did so, without a moment of hesitation. It seemed that she was just as comfortable in the non-native language as in her first language, unlike her mother. After that, Janna brought the child over to the table and introduced her to Harm and Mac. Around Mac, the child was quiet and reserved, but when she met Harm, there was something that seemed to spark in her eyes. Mac was not quite sure what it was, maybe it was just because Harm was a very tall man, one very obviously good-looking and also at ease around children. Maybe something subtle in his body language gave this impression. But the child still talked to them for a while, albeit a little more to Harm than to Mac. After that, Harm and Mac watched as Janna helped her child try on the costume over her dress. They all clapped as the little girl, fully outfitted, gave them a twirl. The child had features very like those of her mother, especially her nose, mouth and chin. Her waist-long hair was a dark blond colour, with many streaks of light blond through it, caused by spending so much time in the sun. Taking the sight of her child in, Janna spoke up.
"She will not have shoes and a dress on with it later, but I think it will look very nice," she pronounced, nodding in appreciation, "Now I think we need to get you something to eat, sweetie, before you have your final rehearsal."
They both bid Harm and Mac goodbye and wandered off, presumably to go and find something for Mara's lunch.
"How do you fancy getting a bite to eat?" Harm asked Mac.
She nodded, so they both set off back to their accommodation, to change.
OOOO
Later that evening, once it had gotten dark, the parade was held down the main street. It was filled with lots of people of all ages, in colourful, vibrant attire and costume. Mara's school took part, filling three 'floats' (old pick-ups decked out in decoration.) However, their performance didn't take place until after the huge buffet dinner, during which Harm and Mac tried all manner of foods, most of which was barely identifiable. Harm and Mac weren't so sure that they actually wanted to know what the majority of it was, so didn't bother asking. Later, in front of the long lines of tables along which the island's people sat, the small school of twenty or so children took their places on the main stage and waited for the music to start. The music was provided by the same band of elderly men, whom Harm and Mac had listened to earlier in the day.
It was not hard to pick Janna's daughter out of the bunch of children, for she was the only white-skinned, blond haired one there, although she was almost as tanned as some of the other children. The little girls wore grass skirts and small bandeau tops, with the wreath of woven flowers around their head. The boys wore the grass skirts as well, although the skirts were shorter and they had nothing on top but bright, painted decorations stretching across their entire upper body. Harm and Mac smiled as they saw Janna's daughter obviously enjoying the performance, tossing her head and long, wavy hair in a carefree manner, seemingly not even having to think about the fast and intricate hand, arm and footwork. She was exceedingly skilled and had a great sense of rhythm, probably having been taught traditional dancing alongside the local children from an early age. Indeed, all of the children were exceptionally skilled at the fast, intricate movement required by the dance and Harm and Mac noted that, as Janna had told them, it did seem to have a mix elements of the Hawaiian and New Zealand national dances. As if it were not already impressive enough, as the song went on, it also sped up and so did the children's dancing. It culminated just as suddenly and as impressively as it had started and the crowds around the tables broke out into thunderous applause. Harm and Mac joined in and the children took a bow, before filing off-stage.
The music continued, as the feast resumed once more, but Harm and Mac were both stuffed to bursting point, so they decided to take a walk. After offering many greetings to various people along the way, Harm and Mac reached the beach and began walking along by the shoreline.
It was here, Harm later realised, that things had begun to get out of control.
In a gesture that took Mac by surprise, Harm had reached out and took her hand in his. While it didn't really imply anything much more than friendship (okay, maybe a little bit more) Mac was unused to Harm behaving in this way while they were on assignment. Usually, he was all about business, knowing that it would be inappropriate to get personal in front of fellow officers who were judging them both on the job they were doing and their professional demeanour. Perhaps it was their setting, a million miles away from the reality, pomp and circumstance of their usual, daily life. Whatever it was, something clicked on inside of Mac and she willingly moved closer to Harm, lacing her fingers with his. Harm made the next move after that, dropping her hand and winding his around her waist, to come to rest on her right hip. From time to time, as they chatted with increasing intimacy, he would squeeze her hip and run his thumb softly across the skin of her waist. As time went on, things became more and more intimate and more and more out of control and they were both virtually powerless to stop it. Over the past few months, Harm had fulfilled his promise to back off and wait for her to come to him and Mac had gotten used to this. She had sorted out the problems in her own head, but had not yet taken any step towards rectifying the problems between the two of them. She didn't have the first clue how to, the very notion scared the life out of her. And now, it seemed so much easier to ignore the issues that still needed to be addressed and just give into the need. Harm's advances made her feel alive, after so many months of living as a virtual ghost, at least that was how she felt, like she had only a half-existence. Because of this, Mac did the only thing she knew how to; she ignored the voice in her head telling her to face reality and deal with her issues and she launched into something that made her feel better, but which would never fix any of her problems in the long-term. She knew that she shouldn't, she knew in her heart of hearts that this was only going to get the both of them hurt. But a lot of pain in the distant future didn't seem too bad in comparison to a few hours of intense pleasure with the partner whom she had secretly been fantasizing about for years.
When they were far along the beach, away from the crowds and the grounding influence of the rest of the population, Mac started off the chain of events that would land them both in Harm's bed, with a kiss that was at first tentative, then fiery when Harm answered back all too willingly.
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