A/N Last chapter before the epilogue so I just want to thank everyone and warn all of you that have seen season 6; this will be repetitive, for those who haven't; there's spoilers galore! Enjoy it, and don't hurt me, sometimes these things need to happen…

White House Corridor

She wasn't sure what she expected that day but for everything to be the same wasn't it. Thinking about it, Donna knew that big flashing lights announcing her and Josh were finally together seemed a ludicrous idea but then, maybe, it would have been preferable to what was happening. Everyone was acting the same and Donna didn't like it one bit because things weren't the same, not any more. She felt like her big night should have changed the world and, indeed it changed hers but the bigger world, the one of her job and everything else, was still the same and that was more than a little disconcerting. She supposed it had affected her work a little; the dynamic between her and Josh was the same but different at the same time and Donna wasn't so sure she could handle it.

Take this morning for example, the two of them were sat in Josh's office doing something they'd never done before; eating breakfast together whilst singing a slightly out of tune version of Mamas and Papas' Monday, Monday. It was cute and Donna liked it but then the phone call came about a meeting with Didero, this led to the topic of lunch with each other because Donna needed to talk to Josh. She wanted desperately to talk to him about what she was feeling and Josh was putting it off preferring to try singing again. Suffice to say Donna was more than a little hurt but before she could say anything the quiet day was interrupted with news of the President having an MS episode, obviously she couldn't bring anything up then and so she put it off. Just like she always did.

As the day got more hectic they missed their chance for lunch, Donna tried again in his office a few hours later.

"Can we do this now?" She sounded a little impatient but Josh, too busy with the new situation of an asteroid heading to Earth, didn't pick up on it.

"What?" He asked, not really looking up from the papers he was sorting through.

"The conversation that was supposed to happen over lunch, but that ship sailed so let's just have it now," she was snapping at him by now but she didn't care, she needed to say this.

"Can't. World ending." He said it so calmly Donna felt like hitting him.

"I thought it wasn't hitting?" Not for the first time she wished she was more up-to-date on these details, which she would be if Josh ever let her progress higher.

"Might."

"I thought there was nothing you could do." She was getting more desperate to have this conversation now, how could he not be picking up on it?

"There isn't. Doesn't mean the situation's not to be monitored closely. Tomorrow, lunch, definitely." That said he walked confidently out of the room, Donna watched him go with an increasing sense of annoyance that she showed by letting out a low growl before leaving the office herself.

Now, a few hours later, Donna couldn't wait until tomorrow, she couldn't even wait until that night, she had to do it now and nothing would stop her. She saw him walking down the corridor and hurried after him quickly.

- - - -

Josh had taken a quick break from the mayhem of this once peaceful day to make a phone call to Sam. He gave his best friend a brief recap of the previous night (no details obviously) before he said perhaps some of his most significant words ever.

"I never believed in soul mates, I mean, it's all fairy tale stuff, right? The stories your parents read you to help you sleep, it's not real. At least, that's what I thought, until she entered my life. I never really realized at first, but she's mine. And you knew it all along, you should have made me realize sooner."

"I tried," Sam answered. "We all did, you were just too stubborn but now you have don't mess it up."

Josh hung up with a good feeling determined not to ruin his relationship with Donna, he just sat there for a few minutes before he went off to talk to Will. He was still talking to Will on his way back so he ignored Donna at first.

"I need you," she sounded determined but Josh wasn't listening as he continued to talk to Will.

"See? Tell them to put me on the list."

"We're having our conversation now," her voice was so hard that Josh couldn't ignore it this time but he avoided asking what about at first, he was sure he could guess and he didn't want it to happen.

"Don't you think it would be irresponsible for me to leave this administration before the end of the second term?" He asked her in an obvious stalling way.

"It's a conversation about me, not you," she said, a heavy sigh in her tone.

"I got to get over to the OEOB," anything to avoid this conversation.

Losing all her patience Donna spoke rather waspishly. "You have to sit down and talk to me, that's what you have to do."

"You're very demanding today," he pointed out, trying, and failing, to be cute. "Even Leo thinks I should be wandering the American byways in search of the next President."

That was it, Donna had enough, she couldn't do this anymore. It was the same every time and it was killing her. "I quit," she announced making him stop a little.

His heart started beating a little faster, something in her tone told him she was serious and that she didn't just mean she was quitting her job.

"What?" He said as Donna stopped walking and Josh turned to face her. "Come on! No you don't. Walk with me."

"Look at my face," she told him sternly. "I'm not messing with you."

"Donna –" he tried pleading with her but was cut off.

"There's going to be a temp here tomorrow."

Josh took in a deep breath, still unsure of how much she was quitting. "Oh, for ... we were supposed to have lunch ... I cancelled ... it was crappy of me."

"This is what we were going to talk about." Donna said, not accepting his apology.

Josh began to panic. "I-I-I ... tomorrow –"

"We were going to talk about where my job was going. Because though working for you is an honour and a privilege, I'm ready for more and it's not happening here and I've started looking and –"

'She's started looking?' Josh thought frantically. 'How long has she been planning this?'

"Slow down. Slow down," he instructed, interrupting her. "We'll talk about it. Absolutely. You're right. Tomorrow, lunch, you and me."

He couldn't do it right now, he had stuff to do, and so instead he walked away from her muttering to himself quietly. If he'd turned around he'd have seen Donna's heartbroken and teary-eyed face as she watched him go before she headed to her desk and began packing her things away. She was getting that temp in early; she couldn't handle seeing Josh again.

- - - -

A few hours later there was absolutely no trace that Donna had ever been in the White House. All of her belongings were gone, her desk neat and tidy, a temp sat behind it a fact that took Josh a while to register. His mind hadn't really been on his job since Donna announced she was leaving. He new she was serious and he knew she meant she was leaving the White House and she was leaving him so he figured he had just a few hours to try and convince her to change her mind. When he announced that the asteroid had missed Earth he headed to his office trying to come up with the perfect plan, involved in this he failed to notice that the blonde-haired love of his life wasn't at her desk but instead another woman who seemed to be making herself quite at home. When he did his heart beat so fast he thought he might have a heart attack at any minute.

"Hi," he said slowly, giving her an odd look.

"Can I help you?" She asked sincerely with a pleasant smile on her face.

"Where's Donna?" He asks her urgently.

She frowned. "Who's Donna?"

"You're sitting in her chair," Josh pointed out to her, resisting all urges to roll his eyes.

"The blonde girl?" She questioned as she realised who he was talking about.

"Yeah," Josh croaked quietly.

"I'm Marla Worski. I'm covering this desk for a few days. You need something?"

"I'm Josh Lyman," he told her matter-of-factly, informing her who was boss. "What are you…"

'Oh no,' he thought when he realised what exactly she was doing there. 'She's left already, oh God, now what am I going to do?' Panicking he asked the next question.

"You're a temp. She'll…She'll be back in a few days, you said?" His voice cracked towards the end but he didn't care, he needed to know she'd be back, that this was just her teaching him some kind of lesson.

Marla looked at him with intense pity. "She got a new job, I think. I've got her cell if you want to give her a call?" She handed him a slip of paper with Donna's cell phone number on but Josh just looked at it blankly as he headed silently into his office.

'She left,' he thought gravely as he sat in his chair. 'She finally left me, I can't believe it…'

He slammed the paper down and headed to Leo's office. The man had only been back a few hours but Josh looked up to him like a father figure so where else was he going to go?

"Donna quit," he announced when he got in there.

Leo looked up at him, obviously thinking. "Donna Moss?" He questioned though he was fairly certain that's who Josh meant.

"She's gone," Josh reiterated the grief on his face obvious as he didn't even bother to hide it.

"You piss her off?" Leo asked, figuring they'd just had another argument and she'd be back tomorrow morning.

"I don't know," Josh half-lied, he knew he had, he just didn't know what he'd done. "She has a new job."

"Good for her," Leo announced, not seeing the real problem. "See I tried to tell you this," he said as he walked past Josh to leave the office. "People move on."

He left a heartbroken Josh in the office.

'How can she move on?' Josh thought, close to tears that wouldn't flow. "We were perfect yesterday."