Concord, 1870

Getting students was easier than she thought. Mr. Brown was very pleased to see her again. She told him about Europe and all that she learned there and the people she met. He always told his students about traveling to Europe if they really wanted to improve their skills. She took her sketchbooks for him to examine.

"Well, you've certainly made progress." He said using his glasses to look at the papers. "Well done, miss."

"Thank you, Mr. Brown," Amy said proudly. "I know I still have a lot to learn, but I really need to work and I was thinking if you know about people around whom I can give some beginners lessons." She asked, fearing that he would tell her that she wasn't ready for it.

"Mhm… I do have a waiting list." He said going to a drawer to get a sheet of paper. "You can go with these people, they will pay you well. The training of an artist never ends, but from what I see you can give lessons without trouble." Those words meant so much to Amy. With confidence she walked to the addresses he noted and to her surprise, she got a few clients. It took some convincing, but at last Aunt March agreed to lend her a room for the classes. That way she could stay in the house while working. His father helped her set everything up and carry the materials.

She had been nervous at the beginning, but six weeks into it, she was more confident. Because she was living with Aunt March, her expenses reduced, which meant that she was able to help Orchard with more money. She only kept the necessary for her art supplies and her own things. Thankfully, she had a few dresses she could wear that was presentable enough for parties and reunions.

And how much it helped to be well dressed in the Parisian mode. Concord was still a little behind in fashion, and her new European air caught a lot of attention. She quickly reunited with her childhood friends, especially Kate. Thanks to her, she had learned all the town's gossip those last years. Some of the girls of her age had already been married, which inevitably brought the theme of her own marriage to the popular conversation.

"People are asking why you came back unmarried," Kate mentioned her.

"For Christ's sake, I knew this was going to happen. Who is talking?"

"I heard Jenny saying something, and May and you others."

"Jesus, you'd think marrying Tudor would put May in a better mood, but no."

"I know," Kate rolled her eyes. "But tell me, did you meet a lot of handsome European men?"

"I did," she confessed. It was good to be back with her old friends.

Concord, 1867

Amy walked on her way to see her friend Kate Bryant at her house. Much to her dismay, she met along the way a group of friends she hated. Even when Amy had dropped school, she still had to see them in parties and reunions. "Hey, Amy," she heard Jenny's voice calling her.

"Hi, Jenny," she said without stopping. Regardless, Jenny walked beside her.

"How is Laurie? Did he say something about me?"

"Why would he do that?" Amy snorted.

"Oh because we kissed at Sara's party."

"Yeah, alright," she snorted again. "Keep having nice dreams."

"You don't believe me? Ask him," Jenny gave Amy a look. She sounded confident, maybe it was true.

"I wouldn't get too excited if I were you, maybe he just did it for pity. Were you waiting for someone to ask you to dance again?" Jenny's face changed into an annoyed one. "That's what I thought," and with that Amy was able to get rid of Jenny's presence and made her way to Kate's house.

"You know, Laurie kissing Jenny Snow is the kind of things I need to know beforehand."

"Oh no, did you see her?" Amy nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I just would have liked to be prepared."

"She doesn't even like him. She hates Italians."

"It's fine. Honestly, it's not like they're getting married. I just didn't know Laurie liked having disgusting things in his mouth."

Concord, 1870

Another month passed and she was getting a hold of her new lifestyle. She liked it. She would take care of Aunt March, make sure she took her medicines as indicated by the doctor. Then she would help Estelle with the chores before her classes in the evening, and after those, she would pay a quick visit to her family. And at last, she would go back to Plumfield to check on Aunt March and go to sleep. Just every now and then, she would have reunions with friends and Concord upper class. People were interested in her experiences and most were satisfactorily surprised by the progress she made. She was even invited to the Concord's Art Club. Jo always made fun of those kinds of societies, because she thought it was a bunch of ladies talking about their husbands and pretty paintings. Aunt March, on the contrary, was pleased. She always thought it was good for a woman to be involved in these kinds of groups. To Amy, it always represented something special. The mothers of some of her painting classmates were in it and it wasn't easy to enter. Amy discovered these women were highly cultured. Having been all of their lives in a house, whether it was their parents' or their husbands', they have spent their time reading and learning languages, music, and art history. They weren't void, and being in an only-women club allowed them to express more freely. Of course, none of them were ardent revolutionaries or anything related, but they had opinions. Amy found they were a nice company.

And even better, they were attracted to her paintings and sketches. Of course, they knew there were women artists in America and even more in Europe, and it felt nice to have someone from Concord capable of doing it. Amy told them she wasn't sure she could have a career after all the modern ideas from Europe reach America. Most of them found hesitant to accept the new waves, but one or two showed interest, at the very least they were intrigued by these rebels.

December arrived and the snow already covered the streets. People were excited about the Holidays, and so does Amy. However, she was more excited about her new student. Daniel Cameron Franklin was a young boy, 15 years old. His parents have detected an ability for sculpture in the last years and decided to support him. For business reasons, they were staying in the winter in Concord and someone (Robert March) told them about Amy. Mr. Franklin had met Mr. March a long time ago and was sorry to hear of his economic problems. However, Mr. March refused any kind of help. When Daniel's mother talked about giving artistic education, he didn't waste time in talking about his daughter. A few good words about Amy from other people to them and they were convinced.

Now Amy was waiting for the boy to arrive. Amy liked to have male students, mainly because she could be more open and teach them things that the girls couldn't learn. She would have loved to teach the girls real anatomy and model drawing, but their parents weren't ready for that and could accuse her of perverting their daughters. She reserved to teach them the head and hands proportions, and maybe a few more about female anatomy. But a boy with sculpture ambitions was perfect to share the knowledge she had acquired in secret.

Sometimes, on Saturdays, Amy liked to pay a visit to the stables. The owner had welcomed her enthusiastically. Indeed, Amy had been a great help to him, training the horses for little girls before she went to Europe. It pained her to leave the gorgeous stallions at the Nieriker's home in Switzerland, but now she was back and happy to see her girl again. Rosa was a young mare she used to train. Someday, she will have enough money to buy her and build a stable in her own home and ride her whenever she wants.

London, 1871

On no particular day, Laurie found himself going through London streets with a group of friends. "Laurie," He heard a feminine voice calling him.

"Flo!" He said surprised walking towards her. "What brings you here?"

"Father wanted to visit London one more time. We're going back home." They turned to look at the sea in front of them.

"I heard the news. Congratulations." He said looking at the jewel that adorned her finger.

"Thank you. I'm kind of keeping this as a surprise." Flo replied and turned to look at the woman that was among the group. "How did London treat you? Did you find another woman prepared to listen to a failed proposal?" She joked, but Laurie didn't move and kept looking away. "Too soon? I'm sorry."

"No, I guess it is laughable." He answered sincerely. "Do you have news from Concord? How is everything?"

"Everything is..." Flo said, looking attentively at him, though he retained his sight on the sea. "Better. She's taking care of Aunt March." Flo answered, fully conscious that in "everything", he meant "Amy". Laurie turned to look at her, but there was no point denying it. "She's in the Concord Art Club and she's teaching!" He nodded, smiling slightly with pride. But quickly remembering that if he had done things differently, he'd be with her, instead of sulking an ocean away, his mood went down again.

"I had a plan. I was going to do it right this time." He said, turning back to the sea, not wanting Flo to see his eyes became redder. Although she noticed his voice breaking. "I was going to take her to the chateau garden by moonlight, she loved that place. I still had to come up with the speech, but..."

"She would have liked that." Flo looked at him. "You really never knew?" Laurie shook his head. "Laurie! She looked at you and her eyes shone. It's weird, but somehow she could be more like herself with you around."

"I didn't mean to hurt her so much."

"I know." Because she did know. Despite all the teasing and jokes she threw at Laurie, she could see how smitten he was for Amy. "But I'm not the one you should be telling this to, Laurie."

"What if she doesn't want to listen?"

"She will. Maybe you don't have to say it immediately. When are you coming back?"

"Grandfather hoped to be back for the holidays, but work got heavy. I told him I could manage if he wanted to go back. I'll stay here a couple of months"

Concord, 1871

On a Sunday evening, Amy decided to go have dinner with her family. She went to church in the morning. Though the family wasn't one to attend church regularly (they preferred to show their love of God through actions), ever since Amy stayed at Aunt March when Beth was ill, she found comfort in praying and going to church. Even in Europe, she was not Catholic, but one of her favorite places had been the cathedrals. Notre Dame was so amazing. And how can she forget the Sistine Chapel? Of course, those memories were bittersweet, since it had shown her that she didn't have genius.

When Amy entered she heard a familiar voice. "Hello dear". Said the old man.

"Mr. Laurence, good evening."

"How wonderful to see you again. I wish we could have met in Europe," he said kindly. "You look splendid, dear." Amy smiled as she blushed. "Laurie was right."

Amy froze at the mention of Laurie. So he talked about her? What exactly did he say? Hopefully, not much. "He's very kind." She said looking around. "Is he back, too?"

"No, he's staying to finish some tasks. Possibly, he'll be in a few weeks." Amy breathed again, for a second she thought she was going to see him again. "He's working very hard, it's a miracle," he joked, but quickly returned to his serious tone. "I know you helped him a lot. Thank you," he said, taking her hands. It was almost as if he was talking to her as a daughter. The rest of the family looked at her. There was no point in being proud and denying things. She wasn't sure Laurie had told everything to his grandfather's, but something about Mr. Laurence's tone and the way he looked ať her told her that he might know something.

"There's nothing to thank, Laurie is family." She assured him.

Mr. Laurence stayed for the rest of the day, the whole family was together sharing things from the past years. Amy tried not to mention Europe too much and sounded like she was showing off, but the old man kept asking. "I just acquired a painting, but I don't know where to put it. Perhaps you could help me decide."

"Emm… Sure. I would love to."

"Splendid, maybe you can come to the house, later in the week?"

"Of course," she said. Mr. Laurence made his excuses and left the March House. Amy left too, later.

Just go in there, help him and get out. Amy told herself as she walked towards the big house. "Good morning," Amy greeted the maid. "Is Mr. Laurence home?" The maid directed her to his office. Mr. Laurence was learning on the desk holding a frame. Something about his expression was melancholic. He composed himself as he noticed her ať the door.

"Good morning, Mr. Laurence."

"Oh, Amy, dear. How good it is to see you."

"I hope I'm not interrupting you…"

"Nonsense," he stopped her. "Come in," Amy did as told. He walked towards her with the painting so she could see it. Amy couldn't move. It was Laurie's parents' portrait, the one she did for him in Paris. "You did a great job!"

"Laurie asked me to do this, he said he would ask your permission before bringing it…"

"I hate to think of what-ifs, but if there is one thing that I regret is distancing myself from my son. At the time it seemed like the right choice. As much as it hurts," he confessed, looking ať the portrait. "We all make mistakes." Amy nodded. Indeed she made a lot of them. "I hope you can forgive my grandson for his own," he turned to look at Amy. She was incapable of constructing a logic phrase. But Mr. Laurence was merciful and instead of forcing a declaration from Amy, changed the subject. "Why don't we find a nice place for this?" They found a warm spot in the living room. After that, Amy stayed for an hour. Mr. Laurence was very curious about the people she met and about the new wave of movements that were appearing. "Laurie told me you won't pursue art anymore?" He asked as they walked down the stairs, to accompany Amy to the door. She took his arm as they did so.

"Emm… No, I won't."

"I think it's a shame."

"I'm still trying to be close to art."

"Indeed you are. Your Mother has told me all about your nomination to preside over the Club and ideas to bring more art to Concord. And I heard you have a very special student."

"Thankfully, Aunt March is willing to help me."

"And I am too." He said as they reached the door. "If you need anything, I'm here."

"Thank you so much"

Mr. Laurence then did something unexpected: he hugged her, "thank you," he said. Amy didn't say anything, she just hugged him back. She would be too proud to admit it, but a tear did escape her eyes on the way to Plumfield. For the past months, she had been able to put her thoughts about Laurie to the side. Now it seemed like it was coming back.

Notes:

Daniel Cameron Franklin is based on Daniel Chester French, mostly known for the Lincoln Memorial. He was in Concord during the winter of 1868–69, where May Alcott gave him classes and art supplies.

Rosa is the name of May's horse in The Other Alcott, and I couldn't think of a better name for Amy's favorite one. It just suits perfectly for Amy to call it that way.

I honestly wasn't planning to take so much time before Amy and Laurie reunite, but there are a few things that need to be done before that happens. I'll try to make it up by updating quicker. I'm sorry. But hey, it looks like everytime I update, the number of possible chapters increases, so that's a good thing, right?

I always love to read your reviews!