This one is dedicated to Emerald Zen. Your review got me off of my butt after five years and motivated me to continue the story. So thank you. I hope it isn't a letdown.

Josephine March was particularly unhappy.

Now usually she was a quite passionate creature, prone to fits of emotion, be they positive or otherwise. There was the time that her little sister Amy had thrown her manuscript into the fire. Good Lord had there been hell to pay for that transgression. Jo had never been able to understand the dastardly villains in stories that could hurt someone they loved, but in that moment, with the rage of comprehension roaring in her ears, she had to fight the urge to seriously maim her adorable little sister.

Then there had been the time when she had been she had been so happy she had almost looked in the sky to make sure she had not swallowed the sun, so alive was she with energy. For she had just decided that Laurie as to be her best friend and she his. A very important decision for one so young. The candidates for her best friend had often toddled between her sisters, varying from day to day. Meg the day that she agreed to play the part of the old crone tempting the prince away from his fair maiden, his lady love. Beth on the days she was feeling ill or was too exhausted to play, get out of bed, or even do much of anything. Less frequently, there was Amy. Jo would often announce at the top of her lungs that Amy was her least favorite sister. That is not to say that there were not those rare moments in which Jo felt a certain bond with her baby sister. One memory stands out in particular.

It had been a cold day and it was soon to turn into an even colder night. While she had been running errands most of the morning with Meg and the afternoon reading to Beth, Jo had not seen nor heard from Amy all day. That in and of itself was a peculiar occurrence, but stranger still, Marmee had made hot chocolate for her daughters to cheer them up from the dismal conditions outside. The three eldest thanked their mother and sat down so that they may savor the rare treat. They chatted and laughed for well over an hour before heading to their respective corners of the house. That is when Jo noticed that one mug sat untouched, the steam had long since stopped wafting in its upward flow and the contents undoubtedly lukewarm at best.

"Marmee?" She asked, trying to get her mother's attention from when she stood at the sink, rinsing off her own mug since she had refused to let the girls do so when they offered. "Marmee, why didn't Amy drink her hot chocolate? It's one of her favorites." Marmee glanced over her shoulder before scooping up a towel and beginning to dry off her cup.

"She said she didn't want it, that I should leave it for one of you girls." Since her mother's back was turned, the older woman did not see the look on Jo's face, but she could picture her mouth dropped open in surprise at her sister's unusual answer. What the March matriarch did not expect was to hear the kitchen chair scrape the floor scant moments before a door slammed shut.

There was a tree a ways off the main road where Amy would sit and daydream during the summer. Attending a grand party with an elegant dress. Latest fashion of course. "No hand-me-downs this time." She thought to herself, stewing over the latest batch of what Meg would call 'gently loved clothing'. Well that sure wasn't how Amy saw the patches and obvious needlework courtesy of her mother. It certainly wasn't how the boys would see it either.

Just when her brain was leading her down that particular path, she heard a bush rustle. As she turned around to see what the cause was, (perhaps it was a bunny) a snowball landed between her feet. A laugh alerted her to the fact that she was not alone. With an eye roll, Amy scowled at her sister.

"I suppose you feel downright clever right about now, don't you, Josephine?"

"Oh do drop the formalities sister dearest. You know the depths of my hatred for them outside the nobility in my stories." This must have been her sister's attempt at a joke. Amy was in no mood to pacify Jo, so she turned away, back to her daydreams.

"You can go away now." Jo sat beside her.

"It's Laurie, isn't it?"