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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Story [The West Wing] Teach Them How to Say Goodbye - OCs (Bri and Mav's TWW 'verse)- One Shot

Discussion in 'Non Star Wars Fan Fiction' started by mavjade , Jul 11, 2017.

  1. mavjade

    mavjade Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 10, 2005
    Title: Teach Them How to Say Goodbye
    Author: mavjade
    Fandom: The West Wing (Future Fic ~2054)
    Characters: OC’s: Josie Seaborn, Leo Lyman. A tiny bit of Sam Seaborn

    Notes: This is written in the Bri and Mav’s West Wing future head canon ‘verse. You don’t need to have read our Diaries or most other stories, nor really know TWW at all, I don't think. If you are a fan of TWW, what you should know is that Josie is Sam Seaborn and Anisley Hayes’ daughter and Leo is Josh Lyman and Donna Moss’ son. They’ve been close friends since they were babies.

    You really should read @Briannakin's One Last Time before reading this because this was inspired by that story and happens at the same time. It’s not very long and absolutely beautiful, so go read that first and then come back. Mmkay?


    ~*~*~

    They did it. They won. Her oldest and closest friend was going to be President of the United States, and she had helped get him there. Josie was ecstatic, but she knew her body language didn’t show it. She sat on a couch slumped down so that her head was laying on the back of the sofa and her legs stretched out in front of her on the floor. She was thrilled, but she was also exhausted and couldn’t figure out how everyone else was jumping around, cheering, and already halfway to being drunk. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel like celebrating, she did, but she just didn’t have it in her to be that physical about it at the moment. It was as though her body gave up just as soon as she knew they'd won.

    Josie continued to watch the festivities around her, the antics of the people she’d practically lived with for the past few months were making her chuckle, when someone plopped down beside her making the couch bump her a little bit.

    “So, we did it,” the voice she would recognize anywhere said, practically in her ear he was sitting so close.

    Josie rolled her head without lifting it from its place on the back of the sofa to look at him and smiled, “Yes Mister President, we did. YOU did.”

    “That’s Mister President-Elect, and WE did,” Leo replied as he leaned into her side. “I couldn’t have done it without you Jos.”

    She nudged him with her shoulder, “You could, and would have. I mean come on, has there ever been a ticket that’s so Presidential? You’ve both been around executive branch politics your entire lives.”

    “True,” Leo nodded. Leo's father had been deputy chief of staff for one president, and Chief of Staff for two others. His running mate was born into the White House, almost literally. His mother was pregnant when early into his father's first term as President and due to this, she almost delivered him while in the Residence. “And the press never let us forget it," Leo continued. "If I ever hear the word 'dynasty' again it will be too soon.”

    “It could be worse.”

    “Oh?” Leo asked.

    “Yeah, I could have been your running mate.”

    They both laughed at the prospect. While Leo would have loved to have Josie as his running mate, she was not the run for office kind of woman. Leo’s dad always told him that there were two types of people in politics, the guy and the guy behind the guy. Like his dad was the guy behind the guy, Josie was more the woman behind the power, type of person. She didn’t want to be in the limelight, she’d had way too much of that growing up for her taste.

    They sat together for a few minutes just taking in the atmosphere, and then Josie encouraged Leo to get up and celebrate with all of the people who had helped him. Soon, the work would begin, and there would be little time for anything else. He deserved to have one night of fun before his life would change forever.

    She was just about to get up and join in the fun for a few minutes when she felt her phone vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw her dad’s name and smiling face on the screen.

    “Dad, hey! Can you believe it,” Josie answered the phone.

    “Josie…”

    She could hear in his voice something was wrong. Despite all his years in politics, her father could not be deceptive to save his life. He wasn’t calling because he was excited for her and for Leo, something had happened. “What is it, dad? What’s wrong?”

    “Josie,” he started again. “I’m sorry to call you right now, I know it’s not a good time, but I just couldn’t wait.”

    “It’s fine dad, what is it?”

    She felt someone sit down beside her again, she turned and saw Marc, Leo’s husband looking at her with concern.

    “It’s your mom, Jos. I’m sorry.”

    “What?!” Josie thought for sure she wasn't understanding. Her mind was going one hundred miles an hour trying to come up with something that her dad meant other than her mother had died.

    “She was so proud of you all. So proud,” Sam said with a shaky voice.

    Marc put his hand on her back, and Josie could see him try to get someone’s attention with his other hand, but she wasn’t really seeing who.

    “I thought… you guys said…” She couldn’t get an entire sentence to come out of her mouth. She knew her mom had been sick, but they assured her it wasn’t anything to worry about. They assured her that she should stay with Leo on the campaign and help him.

    “I’m so sorry Josie, but this is what your mom wanted. She wanted this for you, and for Leo.”

    “I…” she could feel the tears running down her face, but she didn’t stop them. Someone pulled the phone out of her hand. She looked up to see Leo holding her phone. She tried to listen, but the fog in her brain only let her catch small bits of the conversation.

    “Uncle Sam… I’m so sorry… I know she would… thank you… that means so much to me…”

    As Leo was talking, Marc was walking her out of the hotel room the campaign had taken over, and into another room, his arm around her and Leo right behind her still on the phone.

    “I will Uncle Sam,” he said finally and hung up the phone. Marc stood up and let Leo sit down beside Josie. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to get on a plane and go to your dad, Marc is going to go with you, okay?”

    “But what about you?” she asked, her brain finally working well enough to think about what that meant.

    “I’ll be fine. I’d rather come with you now, but your dad insisted I do what needs to be done. I’ll give my speech, and then I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

    “Okay, thank you,” Josie replied.

    Leo kissed her on the head, “It’s what you’ve always done for me.”

    ~*~*~

    Leo gave his victory speech, but the mood was dampened by his announcement that former President Hayes-Seaborn had died that night. He talked about what a great President she had been, but also what a great mother, mentor, and woman she had been. He also spoke about how he was not only sad to lose her council for his upcoming presidency, but that he also lost a woman he considered his second mother.

    After his speech, Leo gathered up his kids and headed off to be with Josie and his Uncle Sam. Once on the private plane that had been loaned to his campaign, Leo called the current President -whose job was to arrange for the former President’s state funeral- and asked that Leo be allowed to plan it as part of his transition. It wouldn’t be easy to add that much to an already short transition of power, but he felt he owed it to his Aunt Ainsley, his Uncle Sam, and to Josie.

    He wanted to honor everything that Ainsley Hayes-Seaborn had been and everything that she stood for, and he knew that taking on the additional event wouldn’t be a burden, but an honor for him.

    The current President agreed and sounded somewhat relieved. Leo figured that dealing with a presidential death in your last few months when you should be concentrating on your legacy wasn’t something to which one would look forward.

    Leo looked at his kids who were asleep in the seats in front on him and barely resisted the urge to pick them up and hold them in his lap to snuggle. Now that things were calmer, it was finally hitting him what had happened. He wished Marc was with him, but he was right where he needed to be; if Leo couldn’t be with Josie, he wanted someone he trusted with her, and there was no one he trusted more.

    He knew the pain of losing a parent intimately, and it had been Josie that had gotten him through that rough time. He was aware that he would soon be busy picking cabinet members, meetings with every government office in existence including some he was pretty sure weren’t real, and putting finalization on the items he wanted to achieve in the first 100 days, and now planing and executing a state funeral. But Leo would make time for his oldest and closest friend and would be there for her in the way she had been for him.

    Leaning the chair back, he tried to relax and rest for the coming hours and days. As he closed his eyes, he gave one last thought to his Aunt Ainsley and how much he would miss her as he drifted off to sleep.

    ~end
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2018
    Chyntuck likes this.
  2. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Well, I knew that this one would be a sucker punch to the feelings before clicking on it, and now here we are. :p :(

    But you gave us a great layering of emotions in this vignette! The sweet thrill of victory, and the delightful achievements of the next generation was superb before the call came. Just:

    Perfect!

    This line was great for a chuckle, but it is a dynasty, in the best of ways - especially with the current encouragement of and foundation laid by the original cast! Even though this was within a more intimate circle, this piece really is a great homage to the theme of legacy. The friends family all supporting each other through their loss - and celebrating their victory - was just beautiful. [face_love]=D=
     
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  3. Briannakin

    Briannakin Former Manager star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 25, 2010
    HOW DID I MISS THIS MAVIS? HOWWWWW!

    Oh, but a Hamilton lyric and it's inspired by something I did? I'm honoured but I'm also reaching for the tissues. Oh god what have I done?


    Bahahaha! Josie is me to a T. It also reminds me of Sam's storyline in 20 Hours in America. The poor guy just went till he dropped.


    Hehe. Just like their dads!

    BAHAHAHA! I love this so much! It is so what I envisioned. I'm going to have to write a fic about Leo and Elvie's presidential campaign and it is going to be titled "Dynasty" (oh god and now the plot bunnies are attacking).

    [​IMG]

    Oh goodness. What a gut-punch. From jubilation to that phone call. As someone who has gotten that news... yeah... you just know as soon as they say your name.

    Man, for Ainsley to die on such a momentous day. That was just mean, even for you Mav. :_| Oh... wait. Sorry. I'll just show myself out....

    Josie is likely no stranger to making personal sacrifices for politics, but this was just heart wrenching to read.

    I loved that Leo took care of Josie in the way that he could, by sending her with Marc. Really shows their love and friendship.

    Also, but this had me rolling my Canadian eyes (your transition lasts three months! IT'S A FREAKING LONG TIME! Meanwhile in Canada it's about two weeks!). Anyways.


    Yeah. Just as Mira said, amazing layers of emotions. I felt them all. Just the perfect companion piece to my random little fic. Bravo!
     
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  4. Chyntuck

    Chyntuck Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2014
    And another "oh wow". Yes, this viggie should definitely be read in conjunction with Bri's, and this one may be even more heartrending because of the brutal transition from a celebratory mood to... this. While sad, Bri's story was peaceful in the sense that both Sam and Ainsley knew what was coming and they'd made their peace with the fact that they were very old people. Seen from Josie's perspective, it's entirely different – not only is she in the middle of the biggest party of her life, not only is she totally unprepared for something to happen now, but like all of us she is simply not able to acknowledge her parents' mortality before it happens. The description of how she suddenly loses contact with the world around her, except for the few people who are closest and dearest to her heart was amazing ( :_| :_| ) Similarly, for Leo, the description of how, as president-elect for less than an hour, he already has to balance his public life with his private grief and his need to be there for those he loves was great. Oh, and I didn't miss the connection to your recent OTP viggie, that I've read but haven't reviewed yet because I want to start from the beginning of the thread.