A/N: Finally a new story for you! I've been a) lacking motivation and b) working slowly on a Once Upon A Time/Swan Queen fic.

Anyway this is a short one, only 3 chapters and it's all finished so I'll put the next part up in a day or two. It's one I've had in my head for a long time though so I finally got around to writing it. Hope you enjoy!

Part 1

"She's going to wake up. She has to wake up."

Except she didn't.

A loud buzzing sound startled Arizona from a restless sleep. With a groan she reached a slender hand out from under the covers and smacked her bedside table until she came in contact with the annoying device. With a hard slap, she shut the alarm off but knocked it to the floor in the process.

She forced herself to roll over and push the covers down to her waist. Arms reached out as she stretched out the kinks from the night. All the while her brain was trying to remember why she'd set the alarm in the first place. She knew it was her day off and in her tired state she couldn't seem to remember her reason.

"Mommy, you awake?" a little voice yelled from the other side of her bedroom door. The little girl didn't wait for an answer, however. Instead the little brunette pushed the door open crawled up onto the big bed.

Now it all came back to her why she'd set the alarm. "Good morning, sweet girl," she smiled as she pulled the little girl onto her lap and placed a kiss in the dark hair. "Are you super excited about today?" she asked with excitement.

Dark curls bobbed up and down as Sofia nodded her head. "I can't wait," the girl giggled.

Arizona smiled to see her daughter so excited about something. The girl hadn't had a whole lot of joy in her life and she only hoped she'd at least have fun today. "Well then we better get you dressed so you can have breakfast."

Sofia scooted off the bed and stood facing her mother. With hands on her hips, "I dress by myself," she stated. She had decided this morning she was a big girl now and big girls dressed themselves.

Arizona tried not to laugh at the independent gleam in her child's eye. The same eyes that look so like her other mother's sending a ping to Arizona's heart. "Alright munchkin, you go get dressed and I'll head downstairs to make you breakfast. Yell if you need any help."

She hated that her girl was getting older but there really wasn't anything she could do to stop it. She'd vowed long ago though to let her daughter set her own pace with things. With Sofia being born 17 weeks early, she never wanted her baby to feel like she was rushing her faster than she needed to go.

She followed the girl out of the bedroom, but then parted ways as she headed for the stairs. They'd already laid out Sofia's clothes for the day, so all she had to do was put them on. With a small bounce in her step, she practically flew off the last step and skipped over the landing on her way towards their small kitchen.

They'd moved into this house around Sofia's second birthday. She hated to move out of the apartment that she'd shared with Callie for so long, but an apartment was no place to raise a child. Sofia needed a backyard to run around in.

Pouring the pancake batter onto the stove, she went off into a daydream of how things could have been if everything had happened differently. She wondered what her life would be like if some of the events that happened five years ago had a different outcome. She loved Sofia exactly as she was and wouldn't trade the joy the little girl had brought into her life for anything in the world. And being born prematurely certainly factored into the little person that was upstairs.

"Mommy, I can't get my shoes on," Sofia pouted and startled her mother out of her wandering thoughts.

Arizona threw a smile over her shoulder at her daughter. "Just a second, baby. Let me get these pancakes off the stove so they don't burn first."

"I not a baby, I a big girl now," Sofia whimpered and stomped her foot, but that was the end of her complaint. Arizona stifled a laugh, knowing it would only get more of a reaction of to her daughter.

With the last of the pancakes moved over onto a plate, Arizona set the stack down on the table before turning to her daughter. She gave the girl a grin as she squatted down in front of her and adjusted her little jeans so they weren't so twisted on her small waist. Then she helped her turn her shirt around so it wasn't on backwards. She didn't comment on it, knowing it would only upset Sofia.

She lifted the girl up and sat her down on her chair and then put both shoes on the little girl's feet. Instantly she knew what the problem with the shoes had been. The velcro had come out of its hole making it so Sofia couldn't do it. "Now hurry up and eat. We need to leave soon if we want to get there on time," Arizona instructed.

Sofia turned to the table and waited for her mom to cut up her pancakes before she dug into her plate. "Can we go see Mama first?" Sofia asked quietly before taking a sip of her apple juice.

Arizona dropped her fork down onto her plate and tried not to let the emotion show on her face. She should have known Sofia would want to see Callie before, but she hadn't given it a thought. There was no way they could make a trip to the hospital and back again in time. "Sorry, sweetie, we don't have enough time. We still have to brush your hair all pretty. You want to look beautiful for your first day of kindergarten don't you?" she tried instead, hoping Sofia would drop it.

"But I want Mama to see my new outfit," Sofia pouted.

"How about this, we'll take some pictures before we leave the house and then we can show them to Mama after school?" the blonde negotiated instead.

"Ok," Sofia whispered sadly.

By the time Arizona had managed to get her daughter's thick hair under control and into a cute little braid, and a few pictures taken by the door, they were rushing out to the car in a hurry. By the time they'd pulled Queen Anne Elementary they had little more than ten minutes left before class started.

Arizona pulled on her daughter's little hand lightly trying to rush her down the hallway towards her classroom. She breathed a sigh as they walked through the doorway to the right room.

"Well, who do we have here?" A kind woman asked who appeared to be Sofia's teacher.

Arizona smiled at the woman and laid a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I'm Dr. Arizona Robbins," she greeted and held out a hand out to the other woman. "And this is my daughter, Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres," she introduced.

The young woman bent down to be eye level with the five-year-old. "Well hi there Sofia. I'm Mrs. Whistler," the teacher greeted.

"Hi," Sofia whispered shyly.

Mrs. Whistler straightened herself and look back at the girl's mother. "Nice to meet you both."

"Yes, I'm sorry we didn't make it last week for the Kindergarten Round-up," Arizona apologized. "I got pulled into a surgery that went on longer than I had anticipated."

"It's quite alright," Mrs. Whistler quickly dismissed. "You're a surgeon then?"

"She's the bestest. Mommy makes all the kids better," Sofia piped up proudly.

The teacher smiled. Hearing the little girl talk about her mother she suddenly recalled reading the notes in this little girl's information packet. She sent the mother a sympathetic smile. "How about I show you were you can put your stuff and where your desk is?" she asked, changing the subject.

She quickly took the mother and daughter on a short tour around the room, careful of all the other kids roaming about room. She knew she needed to start settling them down for class, but she wanted to make sure Sofia was settled first. Once she'd shown the mother and daughter where Sofia's desk was, she wandered away to round up the other kids.

Arizona bent down and helped Sofia get all her supplies organized in her desk. She made sure everything was just the way her girl wanted it before she stood up. She gave her daughter a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll pick you up after school, okay?"

"Not Jenny? No work?" Sofia asked curiously.

"Not today," Arizona smiled. "Jenny will probably be picking you up most days, but I took today off just for you." Jenny was Sofia's nanny. She was a college student who wanted the job for a little extra cash. Sofia usually went to day care while Jenny was in class but afterwards the teenager picked her up and they spent the afternoon and sometimes evening together so Sofia wasn't stuck in day care all day. "See you in a few hours."

Arizona slowly backed out of the room waiting to see Sofia's reaction. The girl didn't seem to have a care in the world so she just turned away, holding tears back herself. She knew it was stupid, her daughter had been in day care. But kindergarten meant her little girl was growing up. She didn't like it.

~CA~

After driving around the city for a while, Arizona pulled into the parking lot of a small office building. Making an appointment today was probably a good idea. She had some things she needed to talk about.

She had started seeing the therapist shortly before Sofia had come home from the hospital. She knew with the accident she was depressed and feeling guilty. She needed to be better for the baby that would depend on her. So she'd bitten the bullet and found someone to talk to who wasn't associated with their hospital.

"How are we doing today, Arizona?" the older woman asked as Arizona took a seat on the couch she'd become far too familiar with.

"A little anxious today, Becky," Arizona answered honestly. She learned a long time ago to be straightforward with the woman she now could almost consider a friend. It did nobody any good to hold in her feelings. "Sofia started school today."

"Ah, yes. We talked a few weeks ago about whether you believed she was ready for it or not," Becky recalled.

Arizona nodded and laid her head on the back of the couch. "I'm still worried, but she's mostly caught up to the other kids her age so I think she'll be fine."

"You're just not sure you're ready," Becky teased, but there was a hint of truth in her words. Arizona would never be ready to let her little girl go. Especially when you considered the circumstances.

"Exactly. I wish Callie could have been with me today," she said sadly. "I miss her," she whispered, though she didn't need too.

"And how is she this week?" Becky asked, moving the conversation forward.

"She's still here. But she's not here and that's what really hurts."

The two woman spent the next hour getting all of emotions out of the blonde. She was feeling so much and she wasn't sure what more she could take. They parted ways with a tight hug, something Becky had taken to doing at the end of each session. Arizona needed that little bit of physical connection to help her deal with her emotions as she left the office.

~CA~

By the time Arizona had made it back to Sofia's school, she'd managed to put a smile on her face again. The joy on her face was honest as she saw her little girl running her way as students piled out of the building. She kneeled down and opened her arms as Sofia ran right into them.

"Mommy!" Sofia squealed.

"Hi, Princess. Did you have a good day?"

"I made a new friend and I colored a picture and I learned all about the letter 'A,'" Sofia rambled. She continued to relay every moment since Arizona had left her she got her buckled into her booster seat. She was still talking as Arizona slid behind the driver's seat.

"Are we going to see Mama now?" Sofia asked, taking a break from talking about her day.

Arizona gave a sad smile into the rear view mirror. "If that's what you want."

Sofia nodded and continued with her story. Arizona couldn't believe Sofia could have that much to talk about after only half a day of school, but it seemed the little girl was on a roll. And she definitely got her rambling from Arizona.

They pulled into the hospital parking lot and Arizona parked in her assigned space. Walking through the halls all the nurses and doctors waved at the little brunette. There wasn't a member on staff here that didn't know who Sofia was. By the time they'd reached the long-term care hallway, the emotions in Arizona built up again.

Sofia was feeling none of those emotions, however. Without any fear, the girl pushed her way into room 3012 and climbed on the bed next to her Mama and began repeating her day. Arizona could only stand in the doorway and watch as their little girl talked to her unconscious mother. The machines showing no sign that anything had changed since their last visit.

Callie was still lost to her coma, just as she had been for the last five and a half years.