A/N 1: I'm a bit unclear on the rating system. There is one word of profanity in this chapter. Based on what I have read, the rating can stay "T", but the rating guidelines are a bit vague and I am still trying to find my way in figuring this out. If I have misunderstood, please feel free to send me PM to get me up to speed, and I will adjust. Thank you for reading, and I hope this story continues to hold your interest.

Chapter 10

The next few days remained uneventful; they were task driven. At the Robbins-Torres home, schoolwork was the mission morning, noon and night. Mother and daughter robotically plugged away. Actually, Sofia handled the lion's share, as she should have, and Arizona explained, proofed, suggested and guided when needed.

Arizona was committed to getting Sofia back on track with her schoolwork. Sofia found it annoying to have her mother relentlessly looking over her shoulder. She certainly did not appreciate that her mother finally shows up and it's to be nothing more than her taskmaster. Each morning, Callie dutifully checked in.

The phone rang Wednesday morning right on schedule:

Callie: "Hi Arizona,"

Arizona: "Callie, hi."

Callie: "Just checking in again. How is it going with you and Sofia?"

Arizona: "We're good. English and History are done. Today we are doing science. I need to stop into work today, so I thought we would go by the Skills Lab so I can show Sofia what she is learning about in 3D… Umm, having fun?"

Callie: "It's been awesome; this place is amazing. I've tried different spa treatments every day. The weather and Margaritas are perfect. My tan is coming along nicely. Addison and I have managed to eat at an outstanding restaurant each day. We've hit a different club every night. I'm having a ball! I'm so glad you insisted on me doing this with Addison. I feel great, like a new person."

Arizona: "Super, well, ah, let me get Sofia for you. Bye.…Sof, it's Mom for you." Arizona handed the handset to Sofia.

Dismissing the vaguely familiar feeling stirring inside her, Arizona took a deep breath. Last Friday she noticed the same unsettling reaction on the Ortho wing when she went to find Callie. 'It doesn't matter' she tried to convince herself. But Arizona could not shake the sensation. Callie was having so much fun and it made her feel something. 'Callie is finally figuring out that life is better without me. She deserves this.' Arizona surmised. 'It's what I've wanted; I just thought it would make me feel better when it happened,' Arizona mutely concluded. Whether she acknowledged it or not, Arizona Robbins was reluctantly jealous.

xxxxxxxx

After the phone call, Arizona reminded Sofia that they needed to leave for the hospital. Brandon Taft was scheduled to be discharged and Arizona wanted to confirm that he was ready.

"Ready Sofia? We need to go." Arizona asked.

"Do I have to go?" Sofia challenged.

Arizona steadfastly replied, "Yes, I told you, you are with me all the time. I promised Mom."

xxxxxx

The trip into Seattle Grace was uneventful, another music-filled, conversation-less car ride. Sofia waited in Arizona's office, reading, while Arizona went to the Pediatric floor. Arizona reviewed Brandon's chart and then examined Brandon, and agreed he was ready to be discharged. Arizona met with Brandon's mother, explaining the follow-up needed.

"Call this number if any redness or swelling presents by the wounds. He needs to see his pediatrician next week. No gym or physical activities for the next four weeks. Do you have any questions?" Arizona asked.

"No. Thank you." Mrs. Taft replied, she started to turn but stopped. "Dr. Robbins… Arizona, please," Arizona made an about-face.

Melissa Taft stammered. "I…I need to apologize. I was wrong to judge you and Callie. Who am I to judge? It's not my place to judge who you choose to love. I'm sorry, I truly am."

Caught off guard by the unexpected but sincere apology, Arizona nodded, simply responding, "Thank you, Melissa." Arizona departed for her office thinking ' Didn't see that coming.' Though, Arizona Robbins knew only too well how a near-tragedy can change one's perspective.

She arrived at her office to find it empty, with a hand-written note lying on top of her desk.

'Evil spawn is with me, I am holding her hostage in the cafeteria.

Yang

PS: She told me she was not supposed to leave your office, my bad.'

Arizona rolled her eyes in reading the note. As annoyed as she wanted be with Cristina Yang, she knew Sofia and her had been spent a lot of time together the last few days, it had not been exactly fun, for lack of a better word. The change of company would probably be good for both of them.

Arizona made her way to the cafeteria, and she could see Alex Karev had joined Cristina and Sofia. As Arizona approached the table, with Alex's back facing her she heard:

"Does she quietly creep up and then just lean over your shoulder? The when you look up at her she raises her eyebrows with that smug look on her face, like she approves?" Karev was asking Sofia as he mimicked his boss' habit. Sofia giggled at the depiction of her mother.

"Karev, are you calling me creepy?" Arizona questioned her protégé. Before he could answer she asked "Don't you have patients?"

Alex answered "Whatever. Bye Sof" and he left the cafeteria. He was not sure whether Dr. Robbins was irked or not, but lately he had been walking on egg shells around her so he thought it was best to leave.

"You found my note." Cristina commented. Sofia sat there, eyes fixed on Cristina Yang; Sofia worried that Arizona would be upset with her for not staying put in the office.

"I did." Arizona, looking at Sofia, said "It's fine that you went with Aunt Cristina. I'm not a tyrant."

Arizona joined her colleague-turned-friend and daughter for lunch. Cristina Yang, acting as an impromptu emissary, provided her quick wit and dark humor to keep the conversation flowing.

After lunch, Arizona brought Sofia to the Skills Lab, where she showed her daughter replicas of the organs and body parts Sofia was studying for her Anatomy and Physiology class. Sofia perked up a when Arizona let her handle some of the equipment. Arizona smiled as she noted her daughter's enthusiasm for science reappearing. After an hour or so in the Skills Lab, mother and daughter returned home.

Sofia dug enthusiastically into her research assignment on the respiratory system after having had the hands-on lesson from her mother in the Skills Lab. She took over the dining table as she drafted her paper.

As Arizona observed Sofia plugging away on her school assignment, she noticed that her daughter seemed back to normal physically. Despite the pleasant lunch earlier, Sofia still seemed aloof. Arizona was not sure whether the emotional detachment was due to her daughter's anger with her for canceling her trip, the fact she moved out, the events of Friday night along with the ensuing consequences or Saturday evening's night terror. In all probability, it was a combination of all. The unofficial truce had thankfully held up. Though they were not bickering, they were not communicating either. Arizona understood that she was not helping the situation, as she was daunted by the effort of initiating any personal conversation with Sofia. The two worked diligently on coursework, and did not veer off topic.

That afternoon the house phone rang, and Arizona answered it. "Hello….This is Dr. Robbins…Hi Officer Connelly…..I will need to get back to you on that…By Friday?...Okay, thank you for calling."

Arizona, although hesitant to stir the pot any further, unfortunately needed to go over last Friday night's events with Sofia. The police wanted to talk to Sofia and have her provide a statement. Sofia had been stalling about having the conversation. Arizona concluded that the teen was probably bothered by the night's events more than she was letting on.

After the phone call, Arizona knew she had no choice but to broach the subject. "Sofia, that was Officer Connelly, he really needs to talk to you about last Friday."

"There is nothing to talk about, I drank some Sprite and I got sick, end of story." Sofia snarled.

"Then just tell him that. He needs a statement." Arizona calmly reasoned.

"I don't want to talk to him; you can just tell him what happened." Sofia muttered.

"I already gave my statement to the police. They need your statement." Arizona clarified.

Sofia remained silent, her eyes staring downward so her mother would not see the tears forming.

Arizona continued, "I think you are avoiding talking to the police because what happened really bothers you. I know this was a very scary experience for you; it was for all of us. You do need to make a statement to the police, it's not optional, Sofia. It was a traumatic experience. You need to talk about it, if not to me, talk to Mom or I can make arrangements with someone else. But I think you need to get some help to work through this because it is clearly upsetting you when I bring it up and not talking about it doesn't make it go away." Arizona rationalized.

Arizona hit a nerve. Sofia's head shot up and her eyes icily bore into Arizona. "Stop trying to shrink me! You're trying to get into my head." Sofia screamed at her mother, "You are way more fucked up than I will ever be."

Arizona was livid that her daughter would speak to her like that. She shouted back, "Stop it, don't you dare talk to me like that! That is not how you were raised."

Sofia sneered. "That's funny coming from you. Not how I was raised? This is exactly how I was raised. This is exactly how you raised me. I'm like you, remember? Everyone says I am like you. Guess what, now I really am. I'm pissing and moody and angry and I don't want to talk about it – just like you!" Sofia hollered at her mother.

Arizona stood there speechless, arms crossed, intensely staring at Sofia.

Sofia continued her tirade, "We don't ever talk about my dad because then we would have to talk about 'the crash'. We don't ever talk about 'the crash'. Everyone else can talk about 'the crash' but you. But you do talk about the crash, in your sleep Saturday you talked about it, you even yelled about it. Aunt Cristina told me about the four days, she told me how she took care of you, she told me you cried for Mom and me, that we kept you going. You can't even tell me some of it? Now you want to talk? Have me share my crappy few months, my could-have-been fatal overdose. Now you want to be part of my life, is it convenient for you today? Will tomorrow work for you too or is this a once in a life-time offer? Because they say if it's too good to be true, it probably is."

Arizona, waylaid by the teen's verbal attack, stood there, paralyzed by the biting words.

Seeing her mother's indifferent reception to her condemnation, Sofia hissed "I'm done with you. I don't want you in my life anymore! I don't need you. We are better off without you here." and Sofia stormed out of the house.

Arizona was furious that Sofia had actually spoken to her like that. Who did her daughter think she was using that tone with her? As she processed what had just transpired, the words spoken, Arizona was abruptly aware of the truthfulness that burst from Sofia's barrage.

Letting go a defeated lament, Arizona admitted to herself 'I finally understand that quote: "The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off."

Arizona continued her soliloquy, "I have been pushing everyone away, trying to shut everyone out of my life. But I don't need to push anyone away or even avoid them, they are just going to leave, when they have had it with me, they will walk away, out the front door like Sofia. Why am I running?"

Arizona grasped, at that moment in time, that she survived a tragic plane crash only to now, since January, watch all the relationships she has with the people that mean the most to her disintegrate. They were dying a slow and painful death before her very eyes.

Arizona imploded in tears to the floor, thinking that 'the truth may piss you off, but then it hurts like hell'.

What was most painful was in watching Sofia; she was in essence watching herself. Sofia was right, they were so alike. Now Sofia seemed destined to live this nightmare too.

Arizona thought back to Friday night in the hospital room where she was seeing her life as some tragic movie. She had contemplated whether or not she had any control over the finale. At the time she felt helpless but she knew, right now, she was at a crossroads and she needed to make a choice. That choice would dictate maybe not the ending, but it would choose the path.

Over the years she had learn to share and lean on Callie when needed, it was reciprocal. As time passed the couple had become complacent, comfortable. The heart to heart talks had fallen by the wayside. Life had treated them well for a stretch and parenthood consumed many of their spare moments; those conversations became nonexistent. Then January tossed them from their relaxed state into such turmoil. Truth be told, deep down Arizona knew she reverted to her earlier ways, stubbornly determined to work through it on her own, then shutting people out when it got too hard. She thought of Mark's astute observation, 'when it gets hard, you bail.'

She saw her daughter risk being drawn into the same dark cycle. She finally recognized her demon and the demon was her own self. As beaten down as she felt, she was not prepared to concede defeat. This time she wasn't going to flee.

Arizona roused herself from the floor, knowing she needed to find Sofia. She painstakingly made her way out the front door. As she rounded the house, Arizona was surprised to see Sofia sitting on the swing in the backyard, her eyes fixed on the ground. Arizona sat on the swing adjacent to Sofia's. Sofia had clearly been crying, she avoided looking at Arizona. She would not give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her tear-stained face.

After a few minutes Arizona shared, "It happened so fast. It was a day like this, the sky was blue with a few puffy white clouds, the sun was out, and it was cool, the day we crashed. Of course, at night it got really cold."

Sofia looked at Arizona surprised. It was the first time her mother had ever uttered a word to her about the plane crash. The largesse of the gesture was not lost on Sofia. Sofia noted that her mother was visibly emotional, her voice cracked, distinct tears dripped down her cheeks and sadness spread over her visage.

Arizona continued "Your dad lay right by me, for four days we gave each other hope. It was scary. We were all hurting. Lexi was dead. We could hear the animals, it was all surreal. Your dad and I were determined to come back to you and Mom. Aunt Cristina took care of us."

Sofia continued to stare in awe at Arizona. She knew the story, but never from Arizona's mouth. The pain that Arizona was experiencing as she spoke each syllable was evident to Sofia; she was aghast at hearing it told in her mother's voice. A silence fell between them. Sofia realized that her mother had shared all she could right now.

Feeling somewhat guilty about how she had treated Arizona earlier, Sofia felt the need to make some amends, Sofia whispered, "I'm sorry I swore at you."

"Hmm, not my favorite word choice. But I guess I am a bit messed-up right now." Arizona tenderly concluded as she looked at her daughter.

The two sat there gently swinging for awhile as they each quietly processed all that had been shared. "It's getting kind of chilly. Are you ready to go inside? I'm a bit hungry too." Arizona warily asked.

Sofia timidly suggested. "Chick Pad Thai?" It was Sofia's and Arizona's favorite takeout dish.

"Let's take the night off from homework, watch a movie and order some Thai food?" Arizona hesitantly proposed. Sofia grinned in approval. Arizona's heart was overjoyed that Sofia was willing to at least give her a reprieve.

As the two stood, Arizona put her arm around her daughter and confessed, "I know that you are still very angry and upset with me. I know we need to talk more, there is a lot I need to make right. I'm sorry for all of it. It's going to take some time for me to get there, but I am not going to give up, please don't give up on me yet."

Sofia nodded her head. Sofia was hurt, confused and upset, but she could at least watch a movie with her Mama. She wanted to watch a movie with her Mama.

Arizona told her daughter as they entered the house, "You pick out the movie and I will order." After Arizona had placed the order, she looked at her phone; the screen saver had a family photo of her children. She impulsively dialed her mother's number, "Hi Mom."

Barbara Robbins was surprised and overjoyed to hear Arizona's voice. "It is great to hear from you, is everything okay? How's Sofia?"

"Everything is fine Mom, Sofia is good too." Arizona replied. "I just wanted to check in, maybe say hi to the kids."

Arizona spent the next ten minutes hearing about the adventures of the week, the fish that were caught, the doll that was purchased, the exciting baseball game. It was the first time she had spoken to her three younger children since they left on their trip. A lump stuck in her throat as she realized how much she missed her family.

The phone was now returned to her mother, "Have you spoken with Callie? She checked in last night, she seems to be having a nice time." Barbara noted.

"We spoke this morning." Arizona thought about how happy Callie sounded on the phone without her. "I've got to go, the food delivery is here." It wasn't, but Arizona did not want to talk about Callie and how much fun she was having. "Love you Mom, give the kids a hug for me." And Arizona hung up.

Arizona walked into the living room with a glass of wine for her and a bottle of sparkling water for Sofia. "What movie did you pick? Something light I hope."

Sofia smiled and replied, "Finding Nemo?" The irony was not lost on Arizona as she looked at her daughter amusingly. The doorbell rang. Arizona retrieved the delivery order and made her way to the couch. The two settled in, each claiming one half of the sofa. Both had marked her territory, leaving a noticeable gap between them, but a contented feeling was present in the room, which was refreshing from the lingering tension that had previously filled the house.

A/n 2: Gloria Steinem quote: The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.