"What in the gods' names made you say yes? I thought you didn't want to go out with him." Emmy Birdsley, Maggie's best friends from childhood days, stared at her with wide eyes.

"I don't know." Maggie looked at her helplessly. "I just ... the way he asked ...I think I was afraid he wouldn't ask again."

"But you've been trying to get him to stop asking you out for three weeks and when he's finally about to give up you say yes?"

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but ..."

"But what?" Emmy inquired when Maggie didn't continue. When she didn't get an answer, she suddenly realized what was going on. She knew her friend for too long to not recognize the signs. "Oh gods, you're in love with him."

"What? Oh, don't be ridiculous Emmy. Jack Cottle is the most stubborn, idiotic, disrespectful, cynical man I've ever met." Maggie called out indignantly. "I am most definitely not in love with him."

"If Jack Cottle really is such a terrible person, why are you spending so much time with him?" Emmy asked grinning.

Maggie opened her mouth to give a smug reply, but she didn't really know what to say. She had no idea what was making her seek out Jack Cottle so often.

XXXXXX

The night of the Colonial Day Dance was finally there. At first Maggie and Jack only sat quietly at their table, neither of them saying much. But after a while they started talking about their work at the hospital and eventually their conversation turned to more personal matters and when Jack finally found the courage to ask her to dance she followed him to the dance floor happily. They danced for the rest of the night.

It was almost morning when Jack brought her back to her tent.

"It was a wonderful evening. Thank you."

"Thank you." Jack replied smiling. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "What made you say yes?"

Maggie let out a nervous laugh. "Emmy asked me the same thing."

"And what did you answer?"

"That I have no idea." She laughed again and then looked nervously down at her hands. "Emmy thinks it's because I love you."

Surprised Jack looked at her. "And is she right?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know ... maybe."

That was all the answer Jack needed. He moved closer to her and kissed her. It only took Maggie a short moment before she returned the kiss. It was at this moment that she realized Emmy had been right.

When Jack asked her to marry him six months later Maggie said yes without hesitating a second.

XXXXXXX

They were planning to get married as soon as possible, but the war thwarted their plans. The Cylons kept attacking with more ferocity than ever and the Colonials were taking heavy losses. Three weeks before the appointed wedding date Jack received his orders to transfer to the Battlestar Atlantia.

"That's not fair!" Maggie exclaimed, throwing the paper with Jack's orders across the room.

Jack let out a deep sigh. "It will only be for a short while. I ... " He hated to say the next words. "I don't think it will be for much longer. The way things are ..." His voice trailed off. He really didn't want to say it. Saying it meant it was true.

Maggie had no problem saying the words though. "We're losing the war." She finished for him.

"Look, I ... I talked to one of the pilots. He could get you and your family to Carnsville. You could stay with my parents. It ... it would be safer. It's only a small village, the Cylons wouldn't come there so fast, maybe they won't even come there at all. You would be safe there ... and I'd always know where to find you."

"I don't want to leave you." She whispered.

"Neither do I." Jack hugged her tightly before he went on. "I'll come to you as soon as the war is over."

"Jack ..."

"Ask for Bill Adama, that's the pilot's name." Jack interrupted her.

"What about my job at the clinic? I can't just ..."

"They have doctors in Carnsville, you can help them." Jack cut in again. "They have a school there too. In their last letter my parents told me the last teacher there joined the military a few months ago. They could need a new one."

With tears in her eyes Maggie looked at him. Then she cupped his face with her hands and gave him a long kiss. "I love you, Jack Cottle."

"Not as much as I love you, Maggie Dawson." Jack handed her a letter he had written for his parents, explaining the situation. "I have to go. The raptor is leaving any minute." He pulled her close to him again and gave her a long kiss. "And don't forget ... ask for Bill Adama."

"I won't forget." She forced down the tears in her eyes. "Come back safe, Jack."

"I will. Be careful." They kissed again and then they had to separate. Maggie watched him disappearing in the crowd. She wondered how long it would take before she would see him again.

XXXXXXX

Quietly Maggie sat on the extra seat in the cockpit, watching the landscape flowing by below them. With a hurting heart she thought of Jack. Would she ever see him again? Now that he was working on a battlestar he was in danger almost all the time. She had heard that most of the battlestars had taken heavy damages. She closed her eyes and tried to think about what she would do next.

They were on their way to Carnsville. For the hundredth time she looked at Jack's letter. What would his parents say? They didn't even know their son was engaged and now they were supposed to take her and her family in just like that?

"Just a few more minutes."

"Huh?" Bill Adama's voice had pulled her out of her thoughts.

"We'll be in Carnsville in a few minutes." Bill repeated.

"Oh ... thanks." Maggie smiled at him warmly. "Thank you for everything."

"No problem." Bill shrugged it off.

Maggie looked at him thoughtfully. "Why are you doing all this? You're taking a big risk."

"Jack Cottle saved my life. If it hadn't been for him, I would have died in another refugee camp a few months ago. He risked his life to get me out of there. He got shot even."

"It was you." Maggie exclaimed surprised.

"What?"

"The pilot Jack saved when he got shot. It was you."

"Yup, that was me." Bill replied quietly. "I got shot down a few days before. I was hardly conscious at the time. Cottle not only saved my life by dragging me out of the camp, but also by operating on me before. He's one hell of a doctor."

"That he is." Maggie replied proudly.

"If anyone is going to survive this war, it's him." Bill said resolutely

"I hope you're right." Maggie said quietly. "I hope you're right."

XXXXXXX

The war lasted another three years. Just when the colonials were convinced they had lost, the Cylons gave up. A truce was formed between both parties ... and the war was over.

Jack and Maggie hadn't seen each other once during that time. Now that it was over they couldn't wait to see each other again. Jack only waited for all his critical patients to be either out of danger or being transferred to one of the planets and then immediately requested leave.

Maggie was working in the garden when she saw the car pull up the drive-up. She immediately knew who was coming. A wide smile appeared on her lips. She let the rake fall down, wiped her hands on her trousers, pulled a few loose strands of hair in order and then quickly ran to him.

Jack saw her running towards him when he stepped out of the car. He quickly walked the few steps towards her and they embraced each other tightly, exchanging several kisses. Neither of them was willing to ever let go again.

They got married two months later.

Jack took a post in a military hospital in Caprica City and Maggie kept working in the school in Carnsville. By now she had enough experience in teaching that she only needed to pass a few tests and would be officially employed as a teacher of the colonies. She got along well with her in-laws. She had her family and her best friend around. She was happy. And so was Jack.

They had bought a small house in Carnsville and on Colonial Day, their first night in their new house, Jack had prepared a special dinner for them. It wasn't much ... so shortly after the war they never had enough of anything, but it was special. They enjoyed the dinner and talked about everything that happened during the three years they were apart. Afterwards Jack played a CD with Maggie's favorite song – it was the same song they had danced together for the first time ... "Dancing under the moon" from Frank Artanis. They were dancing until late in the night, always to the same music. It was their song ... They didn't need anything else.

They were building their life together and for the next year it seemed nothing could destroy their happiness.

Until the one fateful day when one of the most heavy storms hauled over the planet. Jack was stuck in the hospital. The road to Carnsville was blocked and he had decided to stay in Caprica City. Maggie had been surprised by the storm while visiting her parents-in-law. When the storm got heavier, she remembered that the window in the barn hadn't been closed. She had seen it when she had arrived earlier the day. The hay was stapled beneath it and they couldn't risk it getting wet. Against the protests of Jack's parents, Maggie grabbed her coat and quickly ran through the rain to the barn. She had a hard time running against the wind. When she finally had reached the barn, she was relieved to close the doors behind her. She wasn't really looking forward to go out there again in a few minutes.

She turned on the lights and grabbed the latter - the window was several meters high. She quickly climbed up the ladder and pulled on the window. It stuck and she had a hard time closing it. She pulled several times and when it suddenly gave in, she was so surprised, she lost balance. She tried to hold on to the wall, but her hands were too wet from the rain. She glided off and felt herself falling backwards. Before she knew what was happening, she felt on the ground with a loud bounce. The last thing she remembered was a terrifying cracking sound from her back before she lost consciousness.

XXXXXXX

Nervously Jack paced through the waiting area of the Caprican City hospital. Despite the heavy storm Maggie had been flown here after her accident. That alone told Jack how serious her condition had to be. He didn't know much. All his parents had told him was that Maggie had fallen from a ladder, that she had been unconscious for a while and that she had been admitted here. Now he was waiting desperately on any news from her attending doctor.

Several hours later Dr. Martin Pierson stepped into the waiting area.

"Jack." He greeted his colleague and friend.

"How is she?" Jack asked quickly.

As he listened to Martin telling him about Maggie's condition, the despair in him grew. She had a small spinal fracture. She wasn't paralyzed, but she would have to lie still for several weeks until the fracture was healed. She also had internal bleedings, but Martin had been able to stop them. She wasn't in any immediate danger anymore.

"Can I see her?" Jack asked in a hoarse voice. He felt uncomfortable. He wasn't used to be on this side. Usually he was the one being asked.

"Sure." Hesitantly Martin looked at him. "Listen, Jack, there is one more thing."

"What?" Jack was immediately alerted by the look in his friends eyes. He knew that look. And the tone of his voice. He had used it so often already.

"We found something during the examination. We checked all organs for injuries and ..." He let out a deep sigh. "There's a tumor in her left lung."

Jack froze. That couldn't be true. This had to be some kind of nightmare and he would wake up any moment and Maggie would be at his side and everything would be all right.

"Jack?"

He looked at Martin. "What treatment are you suggesting?" He had no idea where he had the strength to ask this question. He was acting on autopilot. This couldn't be happening.

"We will start chemotherapy right away. And as soon as she is stable ... we will remove the tumor."

Jack nodded. "And the lung ..."

"From where the tumor is positioned ... I don't think it can be saved." Martin answered quietly.

Again Jack nodded. He didn't think he could say anything else right now.

Martin showed him the room Maggie was in and Jack quietly stepped towards her. She was still asleep. He pulled a chair to the bed and sat down. He didn't dare to touch her. She looked so frail, he was afraid she would break if he touched her.

Maggie woke up a few hours later. When he saw her waking up, Jack quickly got up and bent over her so she could see him. She wasn't even allowed to move her head.

"Hi."

"Jack?" Her voice sounded weak, almost inaudible.

"Didn't I tell you not to fall down from ladders?" Jack tried to talk in a light tone, but he wasn't sure it worked.

"I think you ... left that out." She gave him a small smile.

"I love you, Maggie." He gently stroked her face, hardly touching her.

She looked at him intently. "How bad ... is it?"

"You're going to be okay." Jack assured her with a warm smile.

"You sure?"

"I'm the doctor remember. When I say you're going to be all right, you're going to be all right."

"Yes, Sir." She gave him a last smile before sleep took hold of her again and her eyes fell closed.

Maggie didn't recover. The cancer spread faster than they could treat her. It might have been different if they hadn't just fought a war that had lasted too long and had cost them most of their medical supplies. The Cylons had repeatedly attacked medical facilities and even one year after the end of the war they still didn't have enough medication to safe everyone. In different times, Maggie would have been saved. But as things stood, she didn't have a chance. Within a few weeks she had metastases everywhere in her body and eventually it reached the brain. Her fracture healed and she was allowed to move after a few weeks ... but she never left the hospital again.

Once month after Maggie's death, Jack sold the house and took the position of the medical doctor on the Battlestar Galactica. He never stopped loving Maggie. The pain never got less ... but somewhere he found the strength to keep living. But he never was truly happy ever again.

XXXXXXX

40 years later, Second Cylon War, Battlestar Galactica

"Has it spread?" Laura Roslin asked in a calm voice.

"No, the chamalla seems to be working. For now." Jack muttered.

"Good." Roslin smiled at him. "Are you coming to the Colonial Day festivities?"

"No." Jack replied and took a deep drag from his cigarette.

"The smoking is going to kill you someday." Roslin looked at him with a raised eyebrow. It had disturbed her from the beginning that he was smoking so much even when he was in sickbay.

"We all have to die someday." Jack replied in his usual gruff voice. "And I've been smoking for 40 years now. If it hasn't killed me until now, I think I'm safe."

"If you say so." She looked at him disapprovingly. "Happy Colonial Day." She said as she turned to leave.

Jack didn't reply anything.

XXXXXXX

Jack stepped into his dark quarters and turned on the lights. He looked around the room for a moment, then he put out his cigarette. He went to his locker and got out a set of dishes. It was the same dishes that Maggie had bought for their house. The same dishes they had ate from on their first day in their new house. He had always taken good care of them. He hadn't kept much, but this ... he couldn't throw it away. And it had survived the end of the world.

He put two sets of dishes on the table and sat down. He had taken some food from the mess and while he was eating he imagined Maggie sitting across from him. He was doing this every year. Every Colonial Day ... he knew it wasn't healthy but he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to forget her.

He told her about his last year. About the Cylon attack and the end of the world. About the school teacher who was now their President. He told her about his Commander who they had met so many years ago and who was now humanity's only hope to survive. He told her that he didn't think it would take much longer for them to meet again.

With everyone else he pretended all day that their situation didn't scare him, that he wasn't worried if the Cylons would kill them all tomorrow. He didn't let them see his anger and frustration at treating victims from a new Cylon War. He didn't let anyone see how painful it was too see Laura Roslin dying from cancer. With Maggie, he didn't need to pretend.

After the dinner he got up and turned on the music ..."Dancing under the Moon". He closed his eyes and he could feel her close to him. He heard her whisper in his ear how much she loves that song ... how much she loves him. That she is waiting for him.

Slowly Jack danced to the music. For a short while, once a year, Maggie was with him again.

The end.

A.N.: Thanks to Laurie for beta reading. And thank you to everyone for reading and leaving feedback. It's always very much appreciated.