Prologue: About This Fanfic
When I rewatched the episode "Cheerful Goodbyes" (20x09 of Frasier) I realized they didn't say anything specific about Sam's life, only that he was at Cheers in a reunion with the Red Sox, so I thought that, although it was not likely, it was possible that he and Diane were together at that time. Yes, I'm aware that if this had been canon, it would have been said in this episode or in the episode where Woody visits Frasier in Seattle (13x06). But... what if Woody didn't say anything because Carla forbade him to? Knowing Carla, it wouldn't be surprising. And Woody may grow older, but he certainly doesn't grow brighter. Who knows? Maybe he mentioned something off-screen and Frasier, being aware that Carla was happy first, furious later because of Cliff, didn't mention anything when they all met at the party.
To be honest, when I watched the episode where Diane visits Frasier in Seattle (14x03), I felt sad for the character. She has always tried her best to achieve her goals and left everything behind in an attempt to accomplish her dream career. Both in the Cheers finale and in this episode it is hinted that she might have not made the right decision, because she is not entirely happy with her life and gave up something that could have brought her more happiness than her career. But above all, it is implied that she still loves Sam and that she misses Cheers.
On the other hand, when Sam and Diane split up at the end of season five, Sam development as a character plummeted or rather, suffered a setback. Sam went back to being a ladies' man, only he become progressively less successful. Between seasons 10 and 11 he finally matures, but he feels his life is empty or incomplete. In Cheers we see him trying to have a baby with Rebecca and in Frasier he wants to settle down and get married, but he's not successful at any. I think, deep down, what Sam was trying to seek was what he couldn't have with Diane. The saddest thing is that in the last episode of Cheers we are shown that they still love each other and that there is still a flame, but the relationship does not work because they are in different cities and their dreams are incompatible at that time.
In this fanfic I am going to try and fix all that. The story will take place a few months after Diane visited Frasier in Seattle and there will be an evolution of Sam as a character, since he has learned from his mistakes and now is well aware that he loves Diane and that she is the only woman with whom he has ever had real possibilities. In this fic I will try to show what things they will do differently this time to make the relationship work and I will bring back some of the dynamics that I enjoyed the most in Cheers, like Sam and Diane or the gang playing together, and the chapters where the whole group hang out and do things together outside the bar. This is something that, although in the last seasons happened more frequently, I personally missed in the first ones.
Since I find frustrating that Rebecca and Diane tried their best with no results, in this fanfic I want to show them achieving their work goals, even if they are not as great as they had expected.
In this story you can also expect moments of drama (three episodes) but with a happy ending (at least for the main characters), lots of happy moments and progress, references to things that happened in episodes of Cheers, references to the 80s and 90s music, references to old characters like Coach, Nick Tortelli and Eddie Lebec and to Frasier characters (Niles, Daphne, Eddie and Martin), and the appearance of old Cheers characters (Andy Andy, Sumner Sloan, Lillian Huxley (23x03), Harry "The Hat", Lilith, Frasier, Frederick, Cliff and Diane's mothers, Carla's kids...).
I also wanted to include some moments where Carla doesn't have such a hostile attitude towards Diane (not really an evolution of the character, just scenes that developed that way due to circumstantial reasons) and some cute moments between Woody and Diane because I loved their relationship. Woody always shipped Sam and Diane, just like Coach did, and loved them like siblings, they were his best friends at Cheers. When Diane left I missed seeing more of those moments, especially when Woody started working as an actor. Diane would have been so proud of him, she would have supported him and probably tried to help him.
This fanfic will be written in script format, but will include some narrative fragments, and will keep the typical Cheers chapter structure: Cold Opening + Song + Chapter of approximately 25 minutes. My intention is that it feels like a season 12 as much as possible, but I'm aware that the language fails because English is not my mother tongue and I don't know most of the American slang.