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Part 5

By the time that Kim had gotten dressed and washed off her make-up, the temple had emptied of tourists and military officers. However, as she made her way outside, she saw the buses were still parked in the temple carpark.

"Kim?" she turned back to Yan, who had been waiting for her, "You want to ride home, or walk?"

Kim told him she'd rather not walk, her legs being rather tired. Yan climbed onto the saddle of his bike, while she perched side-on, on the cross bar, in front of him. She gave one last look to the military buses, before they took off towards home.

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Mac was surprised when she heard a knock on her office door, early the next morning. She'd come in early, to get another chance for reconnaissance and a head-start on the cases she'd be assigned.

"Good morning, Major," Harm greeted her, cordially.

"Good morning, Lt. Commander…What can I do for you this morning?"

"Uh…I just wanted to apologize for Kim, for last night…And for myself, again, Major…I guess we were caught a little off-guard…"

"That's okay…That seems to be the general reaction amongst the officers here…I guess most people knew Lt. Commander Schonke…"

"Yeah, well…Mostly, they knew of her. She actually reserved her commission before she came here, but she was involved with my, uh…predecessor."

Mac didn't see what that had to do with anything; how did that make her well-known amongst the officers here, when she didn't serve amongst them? And Harm's daughter? Who was this woman to her?

She decided now was not the time to ask. Maybe once she'd gotten to know some of the people, here.

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At the Rabb residence, earlier that morning…

"I don't think this is discussion fit for the breakfast table, Kim," Harm warned his daughter that she was on thin ice with her barrage of questions.

"But, I don't understand…She looks just like her…"

"She's not her, Kim. That's all there is to it."

"You're sure?"

"Very," Harm assured his daughter, but not wanting the discussion to go any further. It was starting to edge up to some very uncomfortable questions, "You know she's not. She just looks like her…"

"She looks just like her…"

"She just looks like her," Harm emphasized, carefully, "The Major's first name is Sarah, not Dianne and she comes from Arizona, not California."

"You said she came from San Diego…"

"She served with the JAG office in San Diego before she came here, but she's originally from Arizona…And she's more than three years younger than your Mother…"

Kim gave up. The night before, she'd had some very intriguing thoughts. But now, they'd all come crashing down around her.

"Okay…"

"Okay?"

"Okay…I understand, now…She's not Mom."

"Good, I'm glad," Harm nodded, "I know this has all been hard on you, Kim, but things have been settling down more and more, this past year. You just keep your eyes on the road ahead and don't look back on what was or might have been. It's always been just the two of us and it'll stay that way, but we'll be fine."

"Okay, Dad," Kim got up from the table and went to go and get her book-bag, so that they could be on their way.

Harm scrubbed a hand across his tired face, once Kim was out of sight. There was so much that she didn't know, but there was no way that he could do that to her. The truth would destroy her.

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"Everybody seems to be very nice, Ma'am," Bud answered Mac's question about how he was settling in, while they sat at lunch, in the staff canteen.

Their lunch companion was Ensign Harriet Simms, who, like Mac, was attached to the Inspector General's office, but whom was assigned indefinitely to JAG.

"I've noticed we're still getting some funny looks," Mac joked, "are you sure you two don't want to steer clear of me?"

"I know it seems kinda strange, Ma'am," Harriet apologized on behalf of the previously existing staff like herself, "But people are slowly beginning to realize you're your own person…Not at all like Lieutenant Commander Schonke…"

"How so, Ensign? If you don't mind me asking, of course…" Bud was intrigued, but realized he might have asked too much.

"Well," Harriet thought carefully, before she answered, "I guess you could say that Lt. Commander Schonke seemed very normal, when she got here…However, once Commander Rabb arrived and scuttlebutt started to get to work, everyone realized that they hadn't known her at all. She didn't work here; she had reserved her commission by then, although her…partner, General Baker still continued to have dealings with JAG, even after his promotion out of this office. I don't think I can say much more, out of respect for Lt. Commander Rabb, but…Lt. Commander Schonke's…reputation was soon well and widely known."

It didn't answer many of Mac's questions, but at least she understood that none of the other officer's reactions had anything to do with her. They'd surely all come around, after a few weeks or so, if she kept her head down and her mind focused on the job.

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"So she looks just like her?"

"They could be twins."

Kim and Yan were once again reprimanded for talking in class, so they had to drop their conversation where it was.

It was lunchtime before they were able to pick it up again.

"But I thought that you'd never met your mother…"

"I didn't. She went missing when I was still a baby…but I've got pictures of her, you see?"

"Oh, okay…and that was why you and your Pa came here, five years ago? To look for your Mother?"

"Yep…Dad heard something along the military grapevine, so he took the post here, even though his promotion prospects weren't as good as if we'd stayed in Okinawa."

"Do you still believe that somebody took her? Like in the Ramayana…"

"I don't know…My Dad seems to have given up…I just don't understand why."

"Prince Rama never gave up…"

Kim didn't say anything more on the matter…She couldn't get her throat to work without bringing tears to her eyes, so she continued to eat her lunch in silence. Yan obviously knew she was upset, so wisely didn't say anything more, either.

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