NationStates Jolt Archive

"They're coming today; Ambassador Moose informed me this morning. Sarzo and Tyler are flying into BWI at 5:45 PM; they'll be staying for two weeks," Mark Warner, Foreign Minister, said, just barely able to hide the nervousness he was feeling. Their first state visit, and from Sarzonia. It was impressive, yet at the same time scary. What if something went wrong?

"Well, carry on; arrange a (even if only symbolic) meeting with Sarzo within the next few days," Prime Minister Timothy Kaine replied. "Make sure that we don't look foolish; I want Sarzonia to be impressed with our nation's progress." Kaine was confident that the visit would go well; he figured that nostalgia would more than make up for any minor mishaps incurred during the visit to The Beltway. Besides, he had other things on his mind, namely his State of the Union address: in The Beltway, it had become a shorter affair than those of the past, involving a brief speech before the Parliament and Senate of The Beltway describing the progress made towards reunification of America and the state of America since the Collapse.

When (and where; the Oval Office would be nice and symbolic, and would be my suggestion) should Sarzo meet with Kaine, asssuming they do meet?

Sarzonia One taxied on the runway with President Mike Sarzo and First Partner Jay Tyler both sitting inside. Tyler was feeling a bit nervous before the flight as was his custom. He was still getting used to the idea of travel as the significant other of a national leader rather than as a member of a leader's security detail, but he was getting a chance to take what amounted to a vacation.

For Sarzo, the trip wasn't just another visit to a foreign country. He'd logged plenty of nautical miles in the flight from Sarzonia to Hamptonshire and he had a trip to Toke still etched into his mind. This would be different, however. For Sarzo, he would be going home.

It was the first trip for Sarzo back to the place he'd called home for the early part of his life. He would be seeing familiar ground once again for the first time since he and his supporters left the country following the controversial 2000 Presidential election. He wondered how much was different about his home. He knew the airport he'd always called BWI was now named after Supreme Court Associate Justice and civil rights trailblazer Thurgood Marshall, but to him, it was always BWI.

He took a deep breath as he realised he was going to his old home. He looked back at his old high school yearbooks to jog his memory of the sights and sounds he'd left behind for a life in Woodstock leading a country that was becoming an influential player on the world stage. Sarzonia was his new home, but there's nothing like going back to your old home and smelling familiar smells.

"What's Prime Minister Kaine like?"

"What?" Sarzo was thrust out of his reverie for a moment with Tyler's question.

"What's Prime Minister Kaine like?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I've only really talked to Foreign Minister Warner. He can't be worse than Bob Ehrlich."

"Are we going to meet Prime Minister Kaine at the Oval Office?"

"That's my plan, at least. It'll be strange though. It's the first time I've been since I was knee high to a grasshopper." Tyler laughed at the lame joke, but Sarzo thought back. He couldn't remember if Jimmy Carter was the President or if it was Ronald Reagan when he visited. All he remembered was that it was so long ago.

When the coastline and the Chesapeake Bay came into view, Sarzo looked down. He saw Ocean City, magnificient now even from a distance. Before long, he saw Baltimore. He hoped he would get a chance to visit the USS Constellation one more time. Finally, the jet began its tax on the runway in Baltimore.

"Welcome home," Sarzo heard a voice say. He looked down and saw Warner smiling from the bottom of the ladder as the band began to play the Sarzonian national anthem, "Freedom" as written by Fleetwood Mac. When he and Tyler began their descent from the jet, the band kicked in with Sarzonia's equivalent of "Hail to the Chief": The Fleetwood Mac song "Destiny Rules."

It's good to be home.

"Welcome home," Mark Warner said, a smile on his face. All the nervousness was suddenly wiped away by the smile he saw broadening on Mike Sarzo's face in return. Sarzo and Tyler stepped down from the plane, then walked over to Warner for the press to photograph their handshaking. A few reporters shouted questions out to the Sarzonian President, who shouted back a few quick responses, and the ritual was done.

The three, along with attendant security details, got into a limousine for the drive to the embassy, where Sarzo would stay for the day; he was going to attend the State of the Union as a foreign dignitary.

Warner, speaking to the Sarzonians, said, "I apologize that Kaine was unable to meet you. He is currently busy with the State of the Union speech tonight. It's going to be a shocker; Southern Virginia secretly asked to rejoin."

A (non-rping) nation in my region, that held the remainder of Virginia, just died; I figured that, given the lack of any defined nation in North Carolina, and given that I cannot come up with a reason for the sudden collapse of that nation's government, I figured that annexation would work better. At most, my nation might grow to encompass the East Coast from Virginia to Maine and from Indiana to Maine; however, I'll probably not end up gaining New England, due to the existance of rping nations in the area.

bump - reserved for State of the Union