After the night of the Autumn Barn Dance, it seemed the next week flew by. And soon, the day arrived for Jo's journey back to California.

Jo's room was a small room towards the back of the second floor. The walls were painted a light yellow, with two stain glass windows covered with lace curtains. There was a small wooden bench one of the windows, where sat a crowd of quilted pillows and blankets. Her bed was a small write iron bed frame with a large feathered mattress covered in an old quilt, with a small stuffed black and white cat and white rabbit stuffed animal sat at the head of the bed.

As Holly and Robin helped her pack up her room, Jo couldn't stop singing her aunt's praises.

"Aunt Kathrine specializes in transportation magic. Which I used to think was kinda lame, but now that I've learned a transportation spell, I think I might specialize in it too. I think I've gotten really good at it" Jo said, skipping over to her bed, throwing the cat stuffed animal into her leather bag. Aggressively trying to cram it into the bag, as to fit the rabbit as well.

"Oh?" Holly mused, smirking at the small girl, as she helped fold some of her clothes, on the bedroom's wooden floors. "Maybe you should try to transport to California then?"

"Yeah, Jo. Save your aunt the trouble of coming all the way here." Robin chimed in, re-wrapping the baked goods he had made for the girls journey, to better fit in her bags.

"Well, she works for the Great Plain's Railroad Company, and has to take the train from New York to California for the annual re-examination of her spells anyway. So it's best for her that I take it with her to keep her company."

"That's very considerate of you, Jo." Robin said, shooting a smirk to Holly.

"Yeah well, My Aunt Kathrine is all alone. Not married and no boyfriend. Very unlucky in love. Kinda like you guys, Mr Robin and Miss-"

"I'm gonna stop you there Joe. We get it. Not all of us can have a flourishing love life like you, Jo." Holly said, exasperated, Waving a small note that was in Jo's pocket. "Deariest Jo, I will miss you when you are in Califourinia- he misspelled California, but thats okay. Your beautifulest black hair, and-"

"Miss Holly!" Jo shouted, tumbling off of her bed and running over to snag the note out of Holly's hand.

Holly held her ground from her seat on the floor, holding the note above her head defiantly, but it did very little to keep it out of the small girls reach, and Jo pushed a laughing Holly over to rip it out of her hands.

"Oh? You have a boyfriend, do you now, Jo?"

"Well, of course I do." Jo said with an irritated sniff, stuffing the note in her gingham skirt pocket. "I'm the coolest girl in town. Couldn't you tell at the barn dance, Mr. Robin?"

"Oh, I had my suspicions," Robin laughed in amusement at the confident young girl. "I am just surprised any of the boys in town are worth your time, Jo."

"What does that mean?" Jo sneered. Not knowing what the phrase meant, she still seemed annoyed at the connotation. 

"Robin means, that he thinks they aren't good enough for you, Jo," Holly chimed in. "He is surprised you would waste your time on them."

"Well, no time is ever wasted when learning, loving, or trying something new." Jo recited.

"That's what I always say." Holly said with a smile, getting up off of the ground to to give the small girl a hug as she passed Jo her bag of packed clothes. "And it's true. Now let's head to the station. We don't want to be late"

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When they arrived at the train station Robin, recognized Jo's Aunt right away, as she looked like a grown version of Jo. However, quite unlike her spunky young niece, Aunt Shia was a timid and unassuming woman. She was dressed modestly, wearing a plain white and gray dress matching her eyes, and gave them a quiet, polite nod in greeting.

Jo ran up to her aunt and hugged her, speaking to her in what Robin assumed, was the Tang language. Prompting a small smile from her Aunt Shia as the woman gave the young girl a gentle pat on the back.

After a brief hesitation, Jo turned and ran back to Robin. Robin quickly knelt down as she threw her arms around him in a big hug.

"Please say this won't be the last time I see you," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"At this rate, you might return to Sunshine Acres before my brother does," Robin said, prompting the little girl to giggle. "Plus, you promised to bother me in Kingsbury, didn't you? Practice your accent before you come, or they won't let you in. Okay? You promise?" He held out his pinky for Jo to shake.

Jo shook her head and giggled. "That's pishposh and hogwash."

"Whatever that is," Robin said with a smirk, giving her a light pat on the head.

Aunt Shia approached, lightly touching Jo's shoulder. "Time for us to go, Jo."

"Okay," Jo said sadly before turning to Holly. "Miss Holly, I'm worried about leaving the two of you alone and all by yourselves."

Holly laughed. "Don't worry, Jo, we'll be fine. We're adults."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about."

Holly scoffed, grumpily pushing Jo toward her aunt. "Alright, well, thank you, Jo. I'll see you next year. Have a safe trip."

Jo let out a giggle and turned around to give Holly a hug. Holly held the young girl for a moment before she tucked the small girl's hair behind her ears and adjusted her earrings so they were the right way up. The young girl smiled.

"Bye-bye, Miss Holly. Thank you for everything. And bye-bye, Cookie," Jo said, bending down to pick up the small dog at Holly's feet. She squeezed the poor hound so hard that it let out a small cough before licking the girl's face. "I'll miss you the most."

As Jo and her aunt boarded the train, Robin could already feel the shift in life at Sunshine Acres. He would miss the little troublemaker who kept him company with her constant morning chatter, always demanding sunny-side-up eggs.

Cookie, who let out a slight whine as the train departed, lowered her tail in sadness as Jo's waving figure faded from view. Holly quickly picked her up and tried to cheer up the small dog, giving her reassuring kisses on the head, though there was a sad look in her eyes as well.

Holly looked up as if she had forgotten Robin was there momentarily, then smiled.

"Shall we grab some tarts on the way home?"