A/N- The idea for this story has been bugging me for awhile until I finally decided to run with it. I am not sure how long this story will be but I have a very basic idea of where I am going to take it. I have no real direction when I write each chapter it just seems to form itself. I do know this will follow our ladies into adulthood. I hope i have produced something that was worth my effort and of course your time. Without further ado i give you the first chapter!

Second Grade

"Honey what happened?! Angela exclaims as she rushes to her daughter from the kitchen. Jane drags her backpack into the living room. Her hair is wild but that was nothing new to Angela. However, the blood on her seven year old daughter's shirt was.

"I got into a fight." Jane responded as a matter of fact. Frankie and Tommy trudge in the door sans blood but with ample grass and dirt stains. Jane is fiercely protective of her younger brother's and considering the state of her boys things were starting to make sense. Angela gave Jane a once over and realized the blood on her shirt was not Jane's and sent her daughter upstairs to clean up and change. Other than a few grass stains and some dirt Frankie and Tommy seemed to be fine. Angela was assured of this when they both asked for a snack. She left the boys to eat their snacks and headed up the stairs to Jane's room. She finds Jane sitting on her bed in her favorite Boston Red Socks jersey, a prized possession from her father. Her hands and face were washed but she found her little girl staring at her hands.

"Janie?" The little brown haired girl did not look away from her hands.

"Yeah Ma." Angela sits next to Jane on her bed.

"Did you get into a fight with a kid at school again?" Jane nods her little head still not looking at her mother.

"Which one of your brothers were you defending?' It is now that Jane's little face looks up to Angela.

"I wasn't defending Frankie or Tommy." Jane rolls her eyes a little at how many times she has defended her little brother's from being picked on. "Joey Grant was picking on the new girl. I called him dumb and told him to leave her alone. He laughed at me and was going to push her so I punched him." Jane said confidently as she looked at the blood on her shirt. Angela wanted to admonish her young daughter for her behavior but she couldn't when she knew she had been defending another child. Angela was starting to see that her only daughter was a born protector. She was her little warrior.

"Next time what are you going to do?" Angela asked and Jane huffed.

"Find an adult." Jane replied.

"Right." Angela nodded.

"But I had no time Ma! He was going to push her. I couldn't let him." Jane was getting upset in all her seven year old fury that someone should hurt her new friend.

"I know baby but you can't go through life punching people. Next time try and get an adult." Jane huffs again and nods her head.

"Okay Ma."

"Thank you baby. Now hand over the shirt so I can get the blood out." Jane hands over her damaged battle appeal. "If I remember correctly there is an ice cream sandwich with your name on it in the freezer." Jane smiles wide revealing the gap from a missing tooth. She gives her mom a quick kiss on the check and flies out of the room.

"If any of you knuckleheads eat my ice cream I'll sit on your head!" Angela shakes her head. She can't help but smile that is her baby girl.

Constance is applying makeup when she sees her daughter. She doesn't take her eyes off the mirror when she speaks to the little girl.

"How was your first day at the new school?"

"It was wonderful mother." She wasn't lying. Despite the incident with the mean boy she had made a friend and that made it wonderful.

"That's great dear." Constance checks her appearance in the mirror once more before turning to Maura.

"I made a friend." Maura says hopeful that this will draw her mother into asking more about her day. She is disappointed.

"I am happy for you dear." Constance reaches out and runs her hand down the perfect hair of her six year old. Maura relishes the touch of her mother. "Your father and I have an event tonight that we must attend." Her hand falls from her child's hair and Maura deflates a little but does not it let it show for long. "Oliver will have dinner ready for you and Julia will help you get ready for bed tonight. We will see you in the morning before school." Maura nods dutifully and watches her mother check her makeup once more. She blows Maura a quick kiss before she is out the door.

Maura is used to seeing her parents for a few minutes a day and sometimes even less than that. Maura walks up to her vanity and presses her face into a jacket placed neatly on the chair. It smells of her mother's perfume. She allows herself a few seconds to take in her mother's scent before she collects herself and starts through the large house in search of Oliver the butler and Julia her nanny.

Angela Rizzoli sees Maura Isles for the first time the very next day. She decided to pick up Jane and the boys the next day in hopes of spotting the little girl her daughter fought so fiercely for the day before. She notices her almost immediately. The contrast between her daughter and the girl standing next to her makes it easy to spot the pair among the crowd of children. Her daughter is easily four inches taller and while Jane's hair is dark and wild the little girl next to her is the picture of perfect hair and clothes, Angela can barely get Jane to tie her shoes. It is no surprise to her that when she looks at her daughter's shoes she fines them untied. What does surprise her is when the smaller girl points to Jane's shoes seconds later. She cannot hear their conversation but can see the frustration on the younger girl's face and the annoyance on her daughter's. To Angela's amazement after about a minute of conversation Jane relents and stoops down to tie her shoes.

A large black car pulls up to the two girls just as Jane finishes tying her shoes. A man whom Angela assumes is the girl's father gets out and opens the door. Jane exchanges a few words with her friend. Angela eyes widen when Jane leans into hug the girl. The smaller girl hugs her back and gets into the car. Jane waves until the car is no longer visible. Once the car is out of sight Jane whistles loudly .Angela cringes. She will never forgive Frank for teaching her how to whistle like that. Frankie and Tommy come running from the playground at the whistle. Angela honks the horn and all three of her children come running full speed to the car.

She introduced to Maura Isles the very day. Angela pulls up in front of the school as the kids let out. Jane is yelling at Frankie and Tommy that have taken up a game of arm punching. Angela notices that when the little blonde puts her hand on her daughters shoulder she seems to huff but stops yelling at her rambunctious brothers. Angela finds the affect that the smaller girl has on her daughter fascinating. Jane spots the car and waves her brothers to the car. Angela rolls the window down as the girls approach the car the boys already clibming into the back.

"Hi Ma. This is my friend Maura." Jane beams. Maura smiles softly at the older woman.

"Hello Mrs. Rizzoli it is a pleasure to meet you," Angela practically squeals with delight.

"Hello Honey it is nice to meet you to." The same black car from the day before pulls up and Jane walks Maura to the car making sure she is in the car before running back to the front seat of Angela's car a smile from ear to ear.

Constance Isles meets Jane Rizzoli three weeks later. She hears voices coming from her daughter's room which she finds peculiar. As far as Constance is concerned her daughter has never been one to dally in such things as imaginary friends. To her surprise she looks through her daughter's partially open bedroom door and finds her playing with a friend. A young girl with wild brown hair and is everything opposite to what she thought she knew of her daughter. As she watches them play she hears Maura's excited laughter as both girls work to save one of Maura's dolls from the bad guys. That ends a few minutes later when Maura spots her mother watching from the doorway. The laughter dies from her daughter's lips and the childlike enthusiasm stops. She becomes the proper young lady that she has been trained to be from birth. For the first time she sees more to her daughter than a potential heir, one to be groomed as she once was. Instead Constance sees her daughter, a smart, beautiful and capable little girl. Jane stops playing almost instantly when she sees the change in Maura.

"Maur, are you okay?" Maura does not answer her.

When Jane follows Maura's line of sight the taller girl seems to deflate a little. She recovers quickly and a look of defiance comes over the little brunette's face. Constance is startled when she realizes she feels anger towards the child's defiance. She has never met her daughter's friend but somehow she knows what Constance failed to see until now, Maura is worth fighting for. Maura introduces Jane to her mother like she was raised to do. Jane is polite but the look of defiance never leaves her face. She keeps an eye on Maura as if to protect her from Constance and it affects the older woman in a way she had not anticipated. Before she leaves her daughter's room she calls Maura to her. Jane moves a respectable distance from the pair. Even at a young age Constance can see that Jane is intuitive.

"After Jane goes home I would like to speak with you."

"Yes mother." Maura responds. Constance leaves the room and is down the hallway when she hears her daughter's laughter again. It brings a smile to the older woman's face.

She does not speak to Maura until the next day after Jane has left. Constance was unaware that Maura had sleepovers. She enter Maura's room and finds her sitting on her bed, back straight, hands clasped in her lap and legs crossed at the ankle. Constance sits next to her daughter in the same manner. They sit for a few minutes Constance at a loss on how to start the conversation. Maura wants for nothing in a material sense but it has occurred to Constance that she knows nothing else of her daughter's emotional needs.

"Would you like to go to the park?" Constance had not intended to say that. She had intended to have a conversation with her daughter but the look of excitement Maura gives her allows her to go with her unexpected question.

"Yes, mother I would!" Maura smiles brightly and Constance smiles back.

"Get your coat dear and meet me downstairs. I am going speak to Oliver about seeing to hot chocolate for us." Maura steps lightly down from her bed and walks, rather briskly not runs to retrieve her coat.

They spend two hours walking around the park and drinking hot chocolate. Constance knew her child was bright but in those two hours she realizes her daughter maybe gifted. Maura's conversation constantly turns to Jane. Not only does she discover a lot about her daughter but Jane and her family as well. Angela, Jane's mother is an amazing cook. Jane's father is a plumber and teaches not only his children what he knows but Maura as well. Constance was also unaware that Maura had been visiting the Rizzoli house the past few weeks. Jane's brothers Frankie and Tommy are teaching her everything they know about the Boston Red Sox. Jane is the constant beacon in all the stories Maura tells her mother. By the time they get home Constance knows the whole story of her daughter's friendship with Jane including how they became friends. Constance does not voice it to her daughter but she is grateful to Jane for protecting her little girl. She tucks her daughter into bed that night in a Red Sox t-shirt Jane had outgrown. Maura drifts off quickly as Constance strokes her daughter's hair. When she hears her child's even breathing she slips quietly from the room intent on doing some research.