Arizona –

I'm glad that you got all of your routines down! And that the seminal songs of Phantom of the Opera were of assistance to you. I mean, I can't say I'm super surprised that they were, because that soundtrack (along with many others) shaped my formative years. I bet you'll kick butt in competition.

I know I usually have more to say, but… opening night is baring down here, and, honestly, I am exhausted. Granted, I know that I say that all of the time, but these double rehearsals have been killing me.

The thing is, I know I'm talented. I know that I can sing and perform, but for every one of me there are five others just as, if not more, talented, trying to make it. I landed this role, but what if it's a flop? What if I get up on that stage, the critics tear it apart, and that's it? What if I get up there and give my best, and it turns out that my best isn't good enough?

I'm sorry for just dumping that here, but even when I'm exhausted and trying to sleep at night, this is all I'm thinking about.

Gah.

I hope that the end of your break is going well,
Callie I-will-never-tell-you-what-the-I-stands-for-so-stop-asking Torres

Arizona bit her bottom lip and shook her head in frustration at the rebuff of Callie telling her her middle name again in the responding letter that she'd yesterday from her… pen pal. That's what she had taken to calling Callie in the last two months, and she was sticking to it.

"Hey!" April's voice popped up from behind her, and it made Arizona jump in her seat, as she quickly folded the letter back in half. Luckily for her, it seemed that April was none the wiser, and she continued, "The girls are getting kind of antsy? Mostly just the younger ones who haven't been to this kind of competition yet. And some of the older ones are talking about partying tonight." She finished in somewhat of a stage whisper in Arizona's ear.

Nodding softly, she shifted to look at her friend, who was often fondly referred to as Arizona's second in command when it came to cracking the whip on the cheerleading squad. The role was only further perpetuated when April had been indoctrinated as the vice president of their sorority. "So… nothing new, then?"

April pushed herself up more to lean past the back of Arizona's bus seat, "No, nothing new. Just thought I'd pass on the chatter from down the ladder, considering you looked like you were in your impenetrable concentration world."

"I was not," she murmured, before bending slightly to pick up the briefcase she'd carefully placed down next to her.

April hummed next to her, "Are you going to deny the existence of Arizona-land again?"

Her jaw automatically set when she clenched her teeth, but blue eyes sparkled, "No, April, I'm not denying that there is a lovely place of nirvana that I enter when I'm trying to concentrate that you and the girls have dubbed Arizona-land. I'm merely stating that I wasn't there," she defended easily.

The other girl was frowning now, though, "I don't think you really grasp the definition of nirvana."

Now she let out a little chuckle, "Okay, April. I'll give one of my world famous speeches in a minute."

When her friend settled back into her seat, Arizona took a moment to make sure no one was looking at her again as she correctly folded the letter in her hands, making sure to press out any crinkles that shouldn't be there, before she slipped it into the briefcase.

Turning her head just in time to see that they there was less than ten miles until they reached their destination, she took just a moment to let herself indulge in some of the chatter she could hear coming from seats behind her. Then she stood up, turned around and braced herself against the seat as she surveyed her team.

Some of the girls were in her sorority, very few of them were from her mock-trial team, and then some of them were just girls she'd known from the squad. So she knew some better than others, but she was all of their captain here. And they were all counting on her.

Clapping her hands together, she lifted her voice, "Everyone! Listen up!" and she waited a moment for the girls to settle down, and for some of them to nudge others in the side to get their attention for her, and she smiled gratefully at them.

"So, competition season is officially upon us. And I know that we are all really devastated that the pipes broke in the competition space at Yale, meaning that that competition got moved to NYU," she added, with a dimpled grin, because she knew by the grinning faces of her girls that they were more than thrilled for the location change.

Then she continued, "Some of us have been through competition season before, some of us haven't; but whether or not you've been here before doesn't matter," she steeled her voice at this, thinking of some of the girls who she'd heard putting down some of the newer teammates, "Everyone sitting now is on equal footing, and you're all equally capable. And being equally capable on our team means that we're all extremely capable, right?"

When she got a resounding war whoop, she smiled again, "Right. Being your captain means that I personally know we're all ready for this. I know that we all know the routines for this afternoon, and when we get to the hotel, we're going to practice them once again for good measure."

That was met with some eye rolls, but she had expected that. "Which brings me to what you're all excited about, I know. We're going to be checked into our rooms and done with our routine run-through before noon, if we're on schedule. April?"

Her right hand, as she affectionately referred to April as, sat up straighter in her seat – if that was possible – and looked down at the agenda she held in her hands, "Right on schedule," she confirmed.

"Perfect. Which means that we're going to have about two hours of free time before the competition, and you'll have free time in the city. But under no circumstances are you to be late. One minute late to check in at the competition, and we're bringing in an alternate, are we clear?" her hands found purchase on her slim hips as she scanned her eyes over the girls, all of whom knew she was not kidding.

Because Arizona Robbins ran a tight ship. And the girls who questioned or tested that learned early on that they shouldn't.

Lucy, an upperclassman who was also in the sorority, called out, "But what about after the competition ends?"

Arizona lifted an eyebrow, and before she said anything, April nodded, running her eyes over her schedule book, "The latest the competition will go tonight is six… which means after dinner, we'll be free from seven?"

"And then we'll have the night to party in the city!" a voice from the way back called out, and she couldn't make it out before the other girls started cheering.

Biting her lip, she looked back out into the crowd of girls, reluctantly nodding, "We'll have the night in the city. But we're leaving the hotel at seven tomorrow morning, and if you aren't on the bus when we need to go, you're getting left behind."

At that, she received several grins, even though they were mostly kept hidden. And in response, she worked to make herself not blush and remain firm.

Because over half of the girls staring back at her had been on her team last year and knew for a fact that when Lucy had been mysteriously absent the morning they were supposed to leave an overnight meet, Arizona had personally made it her mission to seek the girl out and bring her back.

She couldn't help it; she was the captain. Even if she technically wasn't legally responsible for the girls when they went out of town to competitions, she was responsible for them. They were her girls.

Responsible to give an excellent performance and responsible for personal safety. Even when the girls took it upon themselves to find the oddest, sometimes creepiest party situations.

"Are you going to come out with us tonight, o captain our captain?" another one of the girls asked, and even the girls who were slouching in their seats sat up straighter.

She opened her mouth, because it was her first instinct to turn down the invitation, but apparently the girls saw it coming, and she was met with "boo"s and a chorus of "Come on, Arizona!"s and "You never come out with us anymore!"s and "We miss you!"s.

And if that didn't just warm your heart, she thought, taking in a deep breath, but already feeling a little guilty. Arizona bit her lip, "I don't know. I'm not going to make any promises. Okay, focus on the competition for now, and then once we kick ass, we will focus on going out tonight. How's that?"

Met with cheers, she was satisfied enough to sit down. The majority of the pep talks and such were left up to her, though they did have a technical coach, employed by the university. But their coach was less about the girls than Arizona herself was – she chose to drive her own car rather than sit on the bus with them for goodness sake, she thought, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

The two hour bus ride was almost done now, and she'd hardly gotten any of her work that she had intended on accomplishing. Though UPenn's spring semester classes weren't starting up for a few days yet, and mock-trial itself wouldn't begin for another week after that, Arizona's plan of action always entailed doing work as early as it could be done.

That's the strategy that allowed her to get so much done. Push, push, push.

Sighing, she reached for the briefcase again, and paused as she ran her fingers over the soft leather. She really loved it, and if she didn't love it so much, she wouldn't use it as much as she did. Because it felt wrong to take a gift that she knew was more expensive than her pen pal should be buying.

But Callie had insisted that she made a ton of holiday tips picking up shifts at some restaurant, that she'd found it at some vintage shop Arizona had never heard of, and that Arizona's simple ribbon had "saved her show." Which she doubted entirely, but when faced with those staunch arguments, and this really, really beautiful briefcase…

She went along with it.

Forehead crinkling in thought, she presumed that she could possibly make notations on an entire case study before they arrived if she really did buckle down into "Arizona-land." She pulled out a pen and notebook, though the moment after she picked up her pen, her fingers itched to write back to the letter. But she tightened her grip on the pen before shaking her head; mock-trial prep first.

If there was one thing Arizona had, it was self-control. And much of her control worked on a self-reward system.

If she got at least halfway through notes to prepare for her first mock-trial case, then she would allow herself to write back today. Then again, she didn't even have stamps to bring with her on the road… so she'd have to find some sort of post office in the city to mail it today.

Not that she had to write back today, waiting one more day and mailing it when she got back to campus tomorrow would be fine. But Callie seemed to be really freaking out, and she always seemed to respond to Arizona like, right away.

What kind of friend-pal would she be if she left her hanging?

"What's in your hand?" April's head popped back up over her shoulder, her voice loud and questioning in her ear, giving her a start.

Arizona hadn't even been aware that she'd taken Callie's letter back out, and she quickly made her face impassive, as she moved to put the letter into the briefcase again, "Nothing. It's an assignment for mock-trial."

But there was a reason April was her right hand, and it wasn't because she was dumb. Suspicion was in her voice as she said, "Mhmm. And does your mock-trial professor often handwrite every assignment for you?"

At this point, she couldn't go back, "Sometimes. When it's an important case." And when all else failed, when Arizona stared someone down, she could really stare them down.

Too bad it hadn't worked on April in quite some time, "Don't give me your Arizona-boss-lady face. Who are you handwriting to?"

Making sure she was moving slowly as to not garner more suspicion, she closed the strap to the pocket on the case, "No one. Who handwrites letters anymore, April?"

"The same people who don't have Facebook anymore?" April suggested, and Arizona could tell she was going to settle back into her chair before – damn it – that dawning look came over her face, "Don't tell me it's that stalker girl!"

Damn it.

"Keep your voice down, Apes," she stated evenly, looking over the girls who were all sitting near them. Because having your team think you're conversing with a stalker is a good way to keep respect. "And she's not a stalker."

But April was already scandalized, "Arizona Robbins! I hope you haven't given away any pertinent information to this girl. She could – she could be anyone. She tracked you down out of nowhere!"

Arizona managed to not roll her eyes hard enough to strain herself. Though she couldn't exactly blame April; she more blamed herself. For telling April about that first letter in the first place. The whole reason why she liked to keep things to herself was this; people making judgments and assumptions.

But she couldn't change the past, and when she'd first received the letter from Callie, she didn't know exactly how to respond.

And she possible – definitely – hadn't shared the fact that she had responded to the possible stalker, with April aka possibly the most paranoid person she'd ever met.

"April, she is not a stalker. She's kind of cool," she settled on, though she didn't know if she would really classify Callie as cool. But it was a word that April would settle on.

The word did not settle her, however, "Cool? Arizona, she could be planning to murder you. To – to peel off your skin and wear it as her own!"

For a full five seconds, wide, frightened blue eyes stared at her friend, "I – what? Oh my god, what? Why would you say that?"

"That's what serial killers do!" April gestured wildly with her hands, and Arizona couldn't stop picturing that in her mind.

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes, "Okay, now I think you might be the real killer. But seriously, if she was going to kill me, she would have done it by now." And she realized that wasn't the best reasoning, "Besides, I… I know her. She's fine."

Though she could see the doubt still laden in April's features, her friend calmed down, "If you say so," she muttered, leaning back in her seat, "But I would still be careful if I were you."

Arizona didn't respond. She knew that Callie was perfectly sane – if her crazy belief in fate didn't count against her.

Damn. Now not only was the secret out of the bag, but the time she'd had for her work was halved. She definitely wasn't going to have time to write back.

Arizona double checked her watch, just to be sure that she would make perfect time, because how incredibly irresponsible would it look if she was late to her own team's cheerleading competition?

And, okay, technically the competition check-in wasn't for an hour and a half from now, but she'd told her girls to arrive a half hour early, so she had to be there slightly earlier. Just to make sure that she would be there first and could do the head count and personal meet up with her girls.

But she was running on perfect time, with still over a half hour to arrive a half hour earlier than check-in. As her team was out shopping, as she knew they had all been extremely excited about when learning that they would be in New York City, she stood at the counter of the used bookstore she'd found while on her very first cheerleading expedition here three years ago.

It was the best place she had ever found to sell back her used books, because the crochet-y old man who ran the shop – while extremely moody and rude, she would admit – he believed in giving a more than fair price to buy back books.

So during the NYU meet every semester, she utilized her time before the competition began to come here and sell back her books. Though sometimes, it was somewhat of a pain in the butt, she thought in frustration, but didn't let it show.

She knew it would only make it all worse, as she stared the man down, who was glaring at her, "You're trying to sell me two of the same book? I'm not sure how, but it doesn't seem right."

Arizona nearly let out a growl, "So? Both of them were bought for much more than you're going to be buying them for. And when have any of the books I've brought here never been bought?" Because they were all the newest editions of the textbooks that were required in her classes; she knew they sold well.

Though none of her girls wanted to make the expedition here with her and give up their free time, she always begrudgingly accepted a few books to sell back on their behalves.

And the man glared at her some more, but she wasn't backing down. Finally, he huffed, and moved over to the cash register, and she felt extremely satisfied. It only took twenty minutes…

Good thing she had the box with her perfectly dry-cleaned uniform already in her backpack, ready to head straight to the competition after.

After carefully tucking the money away – separating the exact amounts for how much belonged to each girl – she gave the man as bright of a smile as she could muster for him before making her way out.

It was a shame that his attitude was the one that ruled this place, she thought as she pulled open the door and stepped out of the shop; it was fairly cute and had that warm vibe, only to be tarnishe –

She didn't know exactly how it happened, but from her side she was smashed into, and she didn't even have a chance at regaining her footing before she found herself on her back, head knocking onto the concrete. Shocked blue eyes stared dazedly up at the sky, and she blinked several times, as she tried to take in the air that had been knocked out of her.

And then – she blinked even more, rubbing her eyes – she was positive that an angel was staring over her, a worried expression on her face.

Arizona closed her eyes tightly once more, because angels didn't exist, and when she reopened them, the woman who was not an angel but had the face like one was even closer now, kneeling next to her, "Oh my god, are you okay? I'm so sorry. There was a patch of ice, and then I lost my footing, and I was in a hurry, and then…"

Right. She was on the ground, and her head had hit the sidewalk – god, her head hit the sidewalk. Quickly – too quickly – she sat up to reach up and touch the back of her head to make sure she was okay, but she didn't get there before she had to put her hand back down to brace herself. All she got out was a groan.

And the angel's voice was angelic, too, she found, and it soothed the slight throbbing she felt in her head at the moment. Despite her frazzled tone, Arizona found it soothing as she asked, "Can I touch you?"

Blue eyes flew open again because what? She was met with big, wide, expressive brown eyes that clearly just realized what she had said, as she rephrased, "Uh, your head. Can I touch your head?"

She nodded slightly, and found that it didn't hurt. In fact, her vision wasn't even bleary, which was a great sign – she'd once not been caught properly in cheerleading, so she knew what a concussion felt like, and this wasn't it.

And then cool, long, soft fingers were in her hair and pressing lightly around, while those worried eyes stared, "I don't think I feel anything? No lump. How do you feel?"

Arizona took another moment to stretch her neck for a few seconds, and the pain she'd felt was receding, so she managed a small smile, "I think I'll live. No promises, though."

The smile she received in response was positively breathtaking – maybe she did hit her head harder than she thought? – but there was still a hand cupping the back of her head, gently stroking over her scalp.

It felt nice.

But she reached up to stop the probing, taking the soft hand in hers, "I'm really okay. I –"

The door to the bookshop behind her swung open, and she flinched as the old man's angry voice started shouting so close behind her, "You again! I'm going to have a restraining order put on your loitering!"

Though she thought he was talking to her, her attacker/companion threw him an exasperated glare, "Oh my god, are you kidding me?"

And the hand she'd just taken gently pulled her up, as she looked at the man, "That's not even how restraining orders work. If you take so much pride in the area outside of your shop, you might want to be more concerned with the un-salted patches of ice."

She took even more satisfaction in the way he glared and huffed, without a leg to stand on in the argument, before he pointed at the mystery girl's feet, "And littering, again!" before he stormed back inside.

It was only then that Arizona's eyed wandered down to see that there were two crushed coffee cup on the sidewalk. And then when her eyes came back up, she swallowed hard. Because the woman was wearing shorts. Like, short shorts, with tights underneath them, and she had… really nice legs.

Stop staring.

Her slightly less than appropriate staring halted when she got to the woman's chest, covered only in a light jacket as opposed to the thick one Arizona herself wore. No, really. Because it was soaked with what Arizona realized was the coffee from the cup on the ground, and then her eyes flicked to her own jacket, that had been splashed on as well.

The other woman's dark gaze followed hers, and she bit white teeth into an extraordinary bottom lip, "I'm so sorry," she offered, again, "I can… I might have a napkin…" she trailed off, as her free hand started searching in the pockets of her thin jacket.

Arizona shook herself out of her stupor – finally, "No, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"I mean… okay. But I was really looking forward to that coffee."

Her eyes flew up to meet the other girls' and she was met with those eyes glinting with humor. Arizona playfully narrowed her own, as she offered her sleeve, "Have at it."

When the woman threw her head back in a laugh, black hair that had escaped a hurried ponytail fell around her face, and it was almost precious. She looked back at Arizona, "I think I'd have better luck licking my own."

Once again, the words came out, and Arizona was able to see the moment the words she'd said dawned on her. It made her smile grow even wider, dimples popping, "Speaking of… can I just ask how are you not absolutely freezing?"

There was a reason Arizona was walking around the city in jeans and not in her cheerleading uniform. Apparently the brunette didn't seem to have that problem.

"Oh, I am. Well, now I have some coffee to keep me warm," she joked, before shrugging, "I was in kind of a hurry, which is kind of how I ran into you like that. You're sure you're okay?"

Thankfully, Arizona nodded, "Yes. Vision, verbal abilities, and memory are fully intact. Are you okay? No coffee burns?"

The smile that shined back at her was radiant, "I think I'm okay. Though… damn," she uttered, before she reached up to unzip the jacket, only pausing when she realized her hand was still being held by Arizona's.

Arizona dropped it quickly – she herself hadn't even realized that she'd still been holding it, and it made her hand tingle in a strange way. She wasn't a hand-holder by nature, "Sorry."

But the other girl flushed just for a moment, before continuing to take off her jacket, explaining, "I'll be freezing, but I need to not be soaking wet when I get back." Then she grimaced, "And… I was already running late. I'm sorry. I wish I could I don't know. Buy you a coffee? Take you to the hospital? I'm – today is super, super busy for me."

Arizona kept up with the way the girl rambled, and she was surprised that she found it cute. But she just nodded, "It's okay. I'm in a hurry, too. And I'm not in need of hospital services, so… I guess I'll…" she trailed off, tilting her head to the side.

And she watched as those perfectly white teeth bit into that bottom lip, "Yeah. I should, too. Um, it was nice running into you."

She couldn't help but smile at her, "Nice running into me? You maimed me on purpose?"

Then she took an obscene amount of pleasure in the way a light blush formed on those tanned cheeks, "I – no! I just meant… you know. You're pretty and nice, and it could have been worse."

Arizona just found herself grinning even more, "I get it. Now… we probably really should go," she tapped her finger against her wrist where a watch would be, and the other woman nodded quickly, "Yes! Right, good call. Well. Bye," she sent her another grin, and that soft hand brushed against hers before the taller woman turned to go.

She watched her for a moment, before telling herself to shake out of it. She was in the city to win a competition – not to meet cute girls. Head in the game, Arizona.

Digging out her iPod from her backpack, she put in her headphones and put on the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack Callie had sent her. It helped put her in Arizona-land, now that she associated it with her routines.

As she started walking – it was in the same direction of the woman, and for a moment, she was mildly let down that she hadn't realized it sooner and possibly walked with her – she tried to focus.

It was only a few blocks away, as she walked through the theatre district, that her eyes were drawn to a sign that read Opening Night, next to the theater sign of Altered Affection. And her stomach flip-flopped for a moment, focus completely interrupted.

It was surreal, she thought, to know the abstract – she knew Altered Affection was a play that was going to premiere "soon" in New York City. But it was another thing all together to see it right here, in front of her eyes. Knowing that Callie Torres, her pen pal, who somehow gave her a cooler gift for Christmas than anyone else she knew, was there every day to practice – she literally walked these streets – was just… weird.

Her pen pal could be in that building right this moment.

Weirder.

And even though she told herself that this was not the time for distraction – focus and control, Arizona – she couldn't stop herself from crossing the street to the ticket booth.

The play was premiering at 8.

April said that according to the schedule, she would be free by 7.

And she could still go out with her girls tonight, not letting them down. They'd be going out later, after the show ended, right?

"Do you have any tickets left for tonight's show?"

Please let me know what you think! Arizona is finally here!

Thank you so much for everyone who has left their thoughts, I really appreciate it! You guys are awesome. Thanks for reading.