Jo, now aged 86, was fading fast. She had lived an active life, right down to her last few days. But, of course, even Jo March- well, Jo Bhaer now- couldn't live forever. She slipped away quietly, her two sons by her bedside…
Josephine March blinked open her eyes, expecting some sort of darkness, or perhaps a bright white light to follow. But this was nothing like that. She sat up slowly. The first odd thing to notice was where she was. She looked around her and saw that she was at Plumfield. That wasn't the strange part, however. The strange part was that she was outside. The whole place had a beautiful golden glow about it, as if it was a perpetual mid-September sunset. Odd. As far as she could remember, it was February. Then she noticed the second odd thing. She looked down at herself and saw that she was no longer the elderly woman she had grown up to be. She was young again, somewhere in her late teenage years or perhaps early twenties. "This does get more and more peculiar…" she said out loud to herself. She looked up after a moment, hearing a sound that she hadn't heard in many years. A piano. She'd heard pianos, of course, but it had been so long since she'd heard it quite like this. Even the piano at the Plumfield she knew was never played in such a delicately beautiful way. She stood and walked towards the door, then walked inside. Her footsteps echoed across the floor of her oddly empty home. She crossed to the living room and saw a sight that brought tears to her eyes.
Jo was the last of the March family to pass away, even Amy had gone just the year before. As she looked around her, she saw the faces of all of those she had left behind. Her eyes first fell upon her childhood friend Laurie, who greeted her with a grin. "Teddy!" She cried out, running to him and hugging him.
"Well, if it isn't little miss Josephine March! Couldn't stay away from us forever, could you?" He teased. He too, looked young again as if he'd never changed. As a matter of fact, everyone looked like they had in her youth.
"Same old Teddy." She shook her head laughingly. She looked beside him and saw her youngest sister, Amy. The two hugged each other tightly, though it had only been but a year since they'd seen each other.
"My sweet Amy…" Jo smiled warmly.
"How are you, Jo?" Amy smiled back.
"Well, I'm a bit baffled. Where am I? Last time I checked, I was an old lady falling asleep one evening." Jo said as a gentle hand touched her shoulder. She turned to see her mother and Meg waiting to speak. She hugged her sister first, then her mother.
"Meg… And Marmee. It feels so good to see you two… Though, this makes my question even more curious." Jo said softly. "Marmee, am I… am I in heaven?"
"Yes, my dear, you are. And look who came to greet you." Her beloved mother smiled. Jo's father appeared beside Marmee. Jo's eyes widened with a sort of joy that could only be seen when a child saw their parents after many years. Her father had been such an important part to who she was, she had been devastated when he passed. But here he was, smiling at her like he had when she was a child. She hugged him with such happiness, not wanting to let go.
"Ah, my son Jo…" her father teased, referring to what her had called her back in her tomboy years. This caused a cheerful laugh to escape Jo's lips. She hugged him once more, then looked around again. She turned to see her dear Friedrich smiling at her. She hugged him without hesitation.
"How I've missed you…" she whispered. She held him tightly for a long time, until she heard the piano again. She slowly lifted her head from his shoulder and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. As if in a daze, she walked towards the young woman at the piano, who's back faced her.
"Beth…" she whispered. The dark-haired young woman turned until Jo could see her beaming face.
"Hi, Jo." She said quietly, as soft-spoken as ever. The two embraced in a tender hug that seemed to wipe away the many years of grief Jo had felt about losing her sister.
"My Bethie…" She said, her eyes full of many emotions, mostly happy ones. She kept one protective arm around her sister as she looked around the others. Her heart was warmed by their smiling faces. Her family had come to greet her and she couldn't have pictured a better vision of heaven.