Fic: Jeeves and the Final Word

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Title: Jeeves and the Final Word

Author: Emerald

Rating: G

Warning: Character death.

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Wodehouse. I make no profit from this story.

Beta: msliz4857  Thank you very much! Your work is marvelous!

Summary: Bertie's death

 

Bertram Wooster watched as his family bustled around the kitchen. A huge cake with the number seventy-eight blazed across it was placed in front of him, and he tried not to frown. It wouldn't do to have the little party spoiled by revealing his innermost thoughts.

 

The number on the cake seemed to taunt him, reminding him that he had survived another year without Jeeves. His friends and family were singing the birthday song and wishing him many more years, and he held in the sigh that threatened to burst from his lungs. The thought of another three hundred and sixty-five days without Jeeves seemed almost unbearable.

 

Another year to roam through the rooms of his apartment as lonely as… he tried to remember the phrase. As lonely as a loon? No, that was not it. As lonely as what? “Jeeves,” he started to call, but once more the ache reminded him of his loss. As crazy as a loon, perhaps the phrase was. No doubt many people thought he was. Calling for Jeeves after the man had died. Talking to himself and searching for words that only his man could supply. Waiting for a sentence to be finished only to realise anew that one who had always done so was gone. Yes, he loved his relatives very much, but they did not understand him as Jeeves had. Jeeves had taken his master’s heart with him when he died.

 

An uncomfortable pressure seized Bertie’s chest. Fingers seemed to wrap around his heart and squeeze. The pain raced outward to his shoulders and neck. He said nothing, poking at his cake with a fork.

 

Bertie recognised the symptoms. He had felt them the day he had buried Jeeves. On that day, he made the error of telling Algernon Little, Bingo’s son, and found himself rushed to the local hospital. It had been a mistake to say anything; it would have been far better then to join Jeeves. It was not a mistake he intended to repeat.

 

A sense of light-headedness pervaded Bertie’s senses and then, as if a curtain fell, darkness overcame him as he temporarily lost consciousness. For a moment, he knew nothing.

 

Then dimly to his ears came cries from his loved ones. “He’s had another heart attack!” “Call for an ambulance!” “Where is his medicine?”

 

Suddenly, Bertie found himself standing in a small field enveloped in white mist. A figure approached him through the haze; it was Jeeves, looking as young as on the day Bertie first beheld him.

 

“Jeeves!” Bertie cried, happiness overwhelming him. “I say, Jeeves, you’re young again!”

 

“Indeed, sir. And so are you.”

 

Bertie felt his face and glanced at his hands. Once wrinkled and old, now the skin was as firm as when he was twenty. “I say!”

 

But none of that was really important. It was but the work of a moment, and he was once more enclosed in Jeeves’s strong arms. “I knew you’d come for me, Jeeves! I knew you wouldn’t let me face death alone!”

 

From a distance, Bertie heard the panicked cries of his family and fear gripped him. He wrapped his arms around Jeeves’s neck and buried his head against his man’s shoulders. “Don’t let them take me back Jeeves! I want to stay with you! Don’t let them take me back!”

 

Jeeves’s fingers rustled through his hair. “I believe the ambulance will arrive too late to be of aid, sir.” Soft lips brushed over Bertie’s face, and Jeeves’s beloved voice whispered in his ear, “We shall never be parted again. But I must insist that you do not wear purple socks, sir.”

 

Bertie laughed. How comforting it was to know that some things would never change! “Then let us go, Jeeves!”

 

Holding hands, they stepped toward the door that appeared in the mist. Far, far off, Bertie could discern the mournful cry of an ambulance. Yet even as he clasped Jeeves’s hand tightly, all sounds from elsewhere faded and were no more. Still he asked, “Jeeves, old thing, their efforts will be bootless, what?”

 

A genuine smile brightened Jeeves’s face as he answered, “Indeed, sir.”

 

 

The end.

 

 

 

 

[Unknown site tag]

Comments

[nohopeafterthis.livejournal.com]

Arrrroo! *Howls*

This was so sad, sweet, and so aww!

I can't describe my emotions at this, just - aw. I swear that my heart was actually squeezy during this.

Oh bless them both. Well done, btw ~ its not at all depressing as i feared it would be - it's too sweet! squeeeeee!

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you read it! I was curious as to what you'd think. They would have had to grow old. I wanted to keep them together forever. :) To me the being apart was the sad part, not the death. And I wanted it to touch people. My beta was a great help! I'm glad you did not find it depressing. Thank you for the comments!

[msliz4857.livejournal.com]

To me the being apart was the sad part, not the death.
*nods* Exactly right. Sad for Bertie's family, of course, but death isn't always the worst that can happen.

And thanks for all the nice comments. :)

[rose-gialle.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's lovely! Well done; a tricky topic nicely handled.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[msliz4857.livejournal.com]

*sniffle* This is at least the 5th or 6th time I've read this, and I cried as hard as I did the first time. You should be proud of this story...it's a very difficult topic and you handled it wonderfully. Very bittersweet, sad and lovely.

Some time ago I heard an elderly woman interviewed on the news some time after her husband was killed in a natural distaster. One comment she made has stuck with me: "The 55 years we were married were the easy part. It's the past 6 months without him that's been hard."

And my dad...well, I told you about my dad.

Congratulations, hon. And thanks for letting me share the process.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think that kind of love is not always understood. People don't realise that the one left behind actually has the harder path to trod. I feel for your Dad. I'm sure he felt that he had lost a part of himself. Thank you for the beta work and comments! I look at it and am amazed at how much better it reads after your touch. A good beta is priceless!

[viciouscats.livejournal.com]

Awesome. Beautiful story. I enjoyed it very very much. Thank you!

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[nohopeafterthis.livejournal.com]

P.S~ D'you know, one of the great success of this story was probably the fact that it didn't use the Bertie-voice, and thus was still realistic. If you had used the 'Bertie's POV' voice, then it probably would have made it too depressing, having ‘brought home’ the reality of the inevitable ~ that even such wonderful personalities must grow old and die.
You didn’t, you used a wonderfully observant third voice instead, and that made the story detached enough from the canon to make it aaaaw rather than ooo. If you see what I mean.
See, in my own head, the magic of the Wodehouse novels was that he ended the books with no 'real' ending- that is,; the last book still had the pair in their prime, ready to take on any new adventures/aunts/fiancées together. That’s why it’s simply unthinkable to think of them growing old, even though that is the reality of life. It’s …nicer... I suppose, to think of them as immortal characters, forever young and strong, trapped within the books.

The fact that you managed to transcend this basic ‘youngness’ of the pair, while still making it realistic, is too, too, cool. I mean it’s just so BELIEVEABLE – I don’t even believe in the whole heaven/hell/God/life after death thing, and I found myself believing this. So brilliant.

P.P.S ~ D’you know, I’ve just one suggestion I’d like to make?
Tell me what you think of it
~ I think, at that bit where you have Bertie searching for the correct word/phrase in the ‘crazy/lonely as a loon’ bit, you might want to wait to give the correct phrase until after he reunited with Jeeves. Sort of like ~ Bertie dies, meets Jeeves again, and asks, ‘I say Jeeves, I’ve been meaning to ask... what’s that phrase ...lonely as a?’ Jeeves could then complete the phrase correctly, like he always did when he was alive.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The way I see Bertie...I believe even in this, he would try to have a stiff upper lip, but Jeeves always aided him to do so. I had to step back a little from Bertie to show how difficult it was for him. As I don't see him telling his family and friends that he could not be happy without Jeeves. I think he would try to be upbeat around them. And the point wasn't to make readers miserable but to keep the two together. I'm glad it worked!
My good friend, who recommended Jeeves and Wooster to me, shares your viewpoint. She sees them as timeless. Now me, I have to have reality to feel comfortable. I need to put reality into it and then work out things to a good ending. Otherwise, I'd worry over things like WWII and not enjoy the books and show. Instead, I just imagine a way for Bertie and Jeeves to do well with the reality. My friend, however, does not want to think about WWII at all. And I can understand that. It comes down to what makes Wodehouse's world enjoyable for a person and that differs with the person.
I'm glad you find that believable! My beta helped a great deal with that aspect.
Thank you for your suggestion! I'll be thinking it over. The as lonely as...is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Wandered_Lonely_as_a_Cloud

It's actually a cheerful poem. Maybe instead of white mist, the field should have daffodils. :)

[nohopeafterthis.livejournal.com]

~ Now me, I have to have reality to feel comfortable. I need to put ~reality into it and then work out things to a good ending. ~Otherwise, I'd worry over things like WWII and not enjoy the books ~and show. Instead, I just imagine a way for Bertie and Jeeves to do ~well with the reality.

And zat is the beauty of the books isn't it?
Wodehouse doesn't mention the war+ Economic depression + flu pandemic +natural ageing process.
He doesn't deny the war+ Economic depression + flu pandemic + natural ageing process. It's brilliant. Everyone can adapt the canon to their tastes. It's just so.. ambiguous.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[captainpellew.livejournal.com]

Aren't we a morbid little goth?

:)
No offense meant.

[nohopeafterthis.livejournal.com]

Eh? What? Me? Huh?

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

I think it's me that is meant.

[nohopeafterthis.livejournal.com]

Ah. Le confuzzlement is gone

[clairefry.livejournal.com]

Thank-you for this. It's all I can really say. Thank-you very very much.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! And thank you very much for the comment!

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

;.;

I am in absolute bawling tears!! Now I need fluff to bounce me up again.

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I understand about needing fluff after that. I ended up writing The Untold Stories afterwards as I needed something light.

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

*sad smile* How can something be so sad and happy at the same time? I'm glad they're together again. *hugs them*

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the reply! The story was my way of keeping them together forever. I'm glad the happiness shows a long with the sorrow.

[ironicbees.livejournal.com]

At last, I've caught up with commenting on all your fics!

I was a little worried the first time I read this, expecting it to be too ouchy, but it was surprisingly uplifting. I’m so glad you had them reunited forever in the end! That’s the only way I could get through a J/W death-fic, because the thought of either being alone after the other’s passing is just so sad and painful. Poor Bertie, I can’t even imagine how he’d cope if Jeeves predeceased him. :( (Of course, I think Jeeves would be equally forlorn, in his own way, if Bertie died first.)

[emeraldreeve.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the kind comments! This one was my way of keeping them together forever. I chose to write it from Bertie's POV, simply because Bertie is always viewed as being the younger of the two. I, too, think Jeeves would be equally lost. Possibly he might hide it better, but the sorrow would be just as great.