AN: This is the chapter that broke me. I grew up a Navy brat, so writing this hit a little too close to home.

Chapter 25: Goodbye

The next two days passed by without anyone realizing it, and sooner than they expected, Tim was packing to leave. Teddy had called in sick to the hospital both days so that she could spend every minute that she possibly could by his side. She had sworn to never fall for a man in the military after she retired, but somehow Timothy Robbins had completely stolen her heart. They had talked and decided they had to see if they could make a relationship work; they both had become each other's everything in just a few short days. He was hoping to be able to transfer to Fort Lewis after his deployment so he could be closer to Seattle, but he'd assured her they'd figure it out. So, she sat on his bed, begging herself not to cry as she watched the man who held her heart pack his bags to go to war.

Arizona sat on their bed, blowing her nose. Her body was aching. Her eyes stung with hot, fresh tears that continued to fall down her make-up smeared face. A weight hung heavy in the pit of her stomach that made even breathing difficult. She was being held together only by Callie's arms, tracing circles on her back. Callie wished she could make all the pain vanish; but the reality was that it had to happen and there was nothing she could do to stop it from hurting. She could distract her, maybe dull the pain. She leaned in to kiss the top of the blonde's head, letting her lips linger along her hairline. She placed her cheek gently on her head and brushed away stray strands of hair that had plastered themselves to the blonde's damp face. She whispered gently, using the same voice she used for Sofia's nightmares. "He'll be back in a few months; just in time for our wedding."

Arizona smiled weakly thinking about their wedding and threw another tissue into the trash. "I know. I'm just scared… what if he doesn't come back, Callie?" Her voice was weak, and it broke as a tear rolled down her cheek. The emptiness she felt when thinking of her wedding day without Tim there to see it was indescribable. Suddenly what should be the happiest day of her life was her biggest fear. "What if he can't be there? What if he misses all of it?" She couldn't handle it; sobs overtook her as she envisioned their ceremony without her brother. Her vision went black as the feeling of what could only be described as darkness overcame her. Suddenly, Callie drew her in, placing soft kisses on her head as she held her against her chest. Arizona clung to her, the only light she could see.

Callie had never seen the blonde so completely devastated. She reached out trying to pull her out from whatever dark thoughts were clouding her love. This wasn't Arizona; she wanted her Arizona back, so she did the only thing she could think to do. "I promise you, he will come back and I promise you he won't miss anything."

Arizona grabbed another tissue, wiping the tears from her face. "You can't promise that though, Calliope! You don't know that!"

Callie knew she was right, but right now the only thing she could offer was the hope that it was true. "Yes I do know that, Arizona! I promise you, he will live through this, and so will you." She lifted Arizona's chin, searching her eyes. They were starting to show a glimpse of the eyes she knew so well and loved so much. "You know how I know?"

Arizona's nerves started to calm, but only slightly. The weight in the pit of her stomach was starting to roll, and suddenly she felt like she needed to puke. She wanted to believe Callie; she wanted to believe Tim would come back safe… but something about this goodbye felt so entirely foreign that it terrified her. She needed that hope though. She sniffed, wiping a tear away from her eyes. "How?"

"Because I say so. That's how." Arizona's eyes searched Callie's until she found what she was looking for. In the very corner of her eye, there was a glimmer of what she needed. It was the honest belief that she had the ability to know Tim was going to be alright. She locked onto it and decided that if the love of her life had even the slightest hope that she would hold on to that. She might not have that hope yet, but the most important person in her life, her Calliope, did and that was enough. Her heart finally started working again, but her stomach was still spinning. She threw her arms around Callie, throwing them both off balance. The Latina fell backwards, but sank into the embrace. She felt Arizona latching on to her as her source of strength. It was a subtle but powerful shift. She tightened her arms around the blonde, wishing she could honestly protect her from the horrors of the world, even if for just a minute.

They held each other until the blonde's grip loosened. She sat back on their bed and grabbed another tissue, dabbing at her eyes. Her voice cracked. "I hope you're right."

Callie smirked. "I'm Dr. Calliope Torres, I'm always right!"

Arizona laughed, suddenly feeling absolutely ridiculous. She looked around at all of the tissues, immediately deciding to avoid all mirrors for the rest of eternity; she had to look as rough as she felt. She found Callie's worried eyes and reached for her hand. As soon as their fingers entwined, the weight in the pit of her stomach disappeared. She still felt as though all of the anxiety and worry about her brother was crawling along her skin, but a part of her was grounded, and it was all because she actually believed in the insane notion that the love of her life could stop every single bad thing the world could throw at them. "I love you." For the first time all day, her voice didn't shake.

Callie kissed the top of Arizona's hand and held it to her chest. "I love you, too."

They walked up to the gate, Callie's arm firmly around Arizona's waist, holding her strongly in place. Arizona had asked her to make sure she wouldn't make a scene, which right now seemed very likely. She had finally gotten her emotions under control, but actually seeing the plane was making everything too real. Her grip tightened on Callie's hand. She wasn't ready for this.

Teddy leaned in to Tim's embrace, not wanting to let go. She had said goodbye so many times before just like this, except she had always been the one in uniform. It was different from the other side, and she didn't like it. She leaned back to look him in the eye. "Promise me you won't be a hero."

Tim chuckled and leaned in to kiss her. "Promise." He took a deep breath. He hated making speeches, but for some reason he had been making a lot of them this time. "Teddy, I want you to know that I have never been so happy in my entire life. Meeting you has changed… well, everything." He looked into her eyes as tears filled his own crisp baby blues. "I promise I will come home to you. I love you baby."

Her heart fluttered. It was the first time he had said that he loved her, and she silently cursed him for it as the tears finally broke and started streaming down her face. "Damn it, Robbins… I told you not to make me cry." He laughed and wiped away her tears.

"I'm sorry. Don't cry!" He kissed her again and grabbed her sides, tickling them.

She broke into an awkward crying/laughing combination and pressed her forehead against his. "I love you, too. So don't you dare die out there, or I'll kick your ass." She kissed him again and gave him another hug before stepping back and holding her sides. She wiped away the stray tears that still fell as she watched him turn towards Callie and Arizona.

He held out his arms to his sister who shook her head. She wasn't ready to say goodbye. Not yet. He locked eyes with Callie who turned to Arizona. She had been holding her grounded the entire walk to the gate, and she knew that as soon as she broke contact, Arizona's mind would take over; she had to make this quick. She gave her a final squeeze before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around her future brother-in-law. They had had their conversation already, so silent words flowed through them as they embraced. She was prepared for this, and she mustered up her best doctor professionalism to get through their goodbye without a single tear. She needed to be strong for Arizona. When they pulled away he saw the strength she was emanating and a huge smile spread across his face. "Thank you, Callie. I knew I could count on you."

She smiled back and gave his arm a squeeze. "Take care of yourself, and call or Skype or whatever as much as you can, okay?"

He nodded and leaned back in for another hug. He whispered quietly in her ear, "Take care of our girl. Even if I don't come back, you take care of her."

She tightened her grip on him and pulled away, locking eyes with him briefly and nodded. They turned to find Arizona staring at the floor, rubbing her arm nervously. Tears were streaming down her face and falling down to the ground.

"Oh, Arizona…" Tim stepped forward and took her in his arms. "This isn't goodbye, okay little sister? Hey, look at me." Her eyes flickered up as she sniffed, trying to keep herself together. As soon as Callie let her go, her mind had taken over and it didn't help that she couldn't get the nagging feeling to go away that something about this goodbye was different. "This isn't goodbye. I will see you again, I promise. And in just a few months you'll be getting married, and I'll be…?" He looked at her expectantly.

She wished she could get this feeling to disappear. She didn't even feel physically present for this goodbye; she needed to remember this. She needed to fill her senses with every feeling that was her last moment with her brother, but she couldn't get her mind to stop. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind and to focus on Tim and his words. She thought about the wedding and she forced the image of Tim dancing into the background. She shifted her weight and wiped her face with a nervous chuckle. "You'll be dancing."

"That's right. Like a mad man." He wrapped his arms around her as the final boarding call was announced. "I love you. If you need anything at all, you tell Callie. She'll take care of you." She closed her eyes and held onto him, tugging on his uniform. She inhaled deeply, trying to memorize the scent that was uniquely him, just like she used to with her Dad. He kissed the top of her head. "I'll call you tonight when I get in to Dulles before my plane takes off for Asscrackistan."

Arizona laughed against his shoulder and rolled her eyes. "I love you."

He held her close, placing his chin on the top of her head. "I'll Skype with you and call you as much as I can, I promise."

Arizona felt him pull away and suddenly she panicked. Her grip tightened on his uniform. "No! Don't go!" The weight was dropped like a freight train back into the pit of her stomach, and her knees gave out.

Tim looked to Callie for help. She immediately went to her side and wrapped her arms around Arizona. "Arizona, honey, he has to leave… his plane's about to take off."

"No!" Arizona couldn't stop her world from spinning. Something was wrong. Something was different. He had to stay. Her body felt like she was being smothered, and she couldn't breathe.

Tim gave her a final squeeze as Callie gripped her wrists and pulled her off of her brother. Teddy was there in an instant, her arm around her best friend. "No, Tim! You can't go! SOMETHING'S WRONG!" Arizona reached for him, but Callie's arms wrapped around her.

"Arizona, honey, he has to go. It's okay." Callie kissed the top of her head and held her as Tim grabbed his bags and waved to them, boarding his flight. Just as the final call was given, she saw another soldier run up beside him. She couldn't see his face, but for an instant she thought she recognized him. She watched as Tim greeted him, patting him on the back. She gave a sigh of relief, realizing he wasn't alone.

"But something's wrong…" Arizona's tears took over her voice and she wrapped her face in Callie's embrace. Her knees gave out and suddenly she was on the ground. Callie knelt beside her, holding her to her chest. Teddy stood with her hand on her shoulder, watching the love of her life board the plane that would take him half a world away.

He stepped onto the plane with a deep breath and found his seat. The soldier who came running up behind him had the seat next to him. He silently celebrated as he realized he would have someone to talk to on the flight to D.C.; he needed a distraction. That was one of the worst farewells he had ever experienced.

As soon as the safety announcement was over, he leaned over to shake the soldier's hand. "Tim Robbins, nice to meet you."

The soldier looked up and took his hand in a firm handshake. "George O'Malley. Where you headed?"

Tim decided he really liked this O'Malley. Turns out he had a daughter, but was estranged from his ex, so he didn't get to spend Christmas with her. Instead, he spent it with some friends. It sounded lonely to Tim, but he wasn't one to pry. He told him about his Christmas; how he got to meet his sister's fiancée and even met the girl of his dreams and fell in love. He liked saying that; he was in love. O'Malley explained that it was his first tour and they found out they were headed to the same place, so Tim offered to show him around. He was a kind guy, and Tim knew the Army would tear him apart if he left him alone. He was a surgeon, so Tim found even more reason to talk about his three girls, happy to be able to actually use some of the medical jargon he had picked up over break. They shifted easily into talking about sports and their favorite teams. He was happy to find out that he actually watched college ball. Before they knew it, they had landed in D.C.

"Hey man, I'll meet you at the McDonald's. I gotta call my sister to tell her we landed." Tim pulled out his cell phone and waved as George trotted towards the bathroom.

Arizona was sitting on their bed, still wiping away tears staring at her cell phone intently, willing it to ring. She had convinced herself that if she heard his voice, that she could find just a small amount of relief from the overwhelming sadness that had become her reality. "They should have landed 5 minutes ago, Calliope… what's taking him so long?"

Callie sighed. She had been trying to comfort her every way she knew how, but nothing was working; she was out of ideas. She squeezed her shoulder, praying that Tim would just call already just as her screen lit up with a picture of Tim playing with Sofia. She smiled, suddenly able to hear his baby voice ringing through the empty apartment like a ghost's.

Arizona immediately grabbed the phone, sliding the screen to answer it. "Tim?!"

"Hey, Arizona! We made it! And I met this guy on the plane, he's really cool. He's stationed at the same place, so I'm gonna show him around!" Tim tried to keep his voice light. He could hear his sister sniffling.

Relief washed over Arizona. Tim's voice was already calming her down. He wasn't physically in front of her, but he was alive and he was okay. If he was alive and okay now, he could be alive and okay for the next few months. "That's great, Tim! Is he in the same group thingy as you?"

Tim chuckled. "No, he's a surgeon actually, so he'll be in the medical platoon like Teddy was."

"Oh, wow. I hope he's ready for some serious shit." Arizona leaned back into her pillow, finally relaxing into their conversation. Callie watched her nervously, hoping this would break the spell.

"Yeah, he seems up for it. He's a good guy and he sounds like he knows what he's talking about. I threw some of those big words out that you guys are always saying and he didn't even flinch."

Arizona laughed, eliciting a sigh and a huge breath of relief from Callie. She decided to start some dinner so that she could talk to Tim alone. "Well, good. You guys need better doctors out there. Some of the horror stories Teddy has though are pretty intense. Owen won't even talk about it."

Tim sat down at one of the tables outside of the McDonald's. "Yeah, she told me about that. Some people handle it better if they don't have to talk about it. I guess Owen's one of those people." He looked up at the menu. "Hey. Pick a number between 1 and 4."

Arizona chuckled as she recognized her brother's way of picking what he wanted for dinner. He could never decide and always made her pick a number that he had randomly assigned to his choices. "Uhm… 3."

"Good choice! Chicken nuggets it is! Final meal state-side… I'm super sizing this shit."

Arizona laughed and shook her head. "Well, enjoy that. Callie's making stir fry because I told her I wasn't hungry but she knows I'll eat that anyways."

Tim sent a silent thank you up to Callie. "That sounds good. Your lady can make a mean stir fry. Hey man! Over here!" He waved down George who had just come walking up to the food court and was looking for him.

She realized this was the moment of the real farewell, and suddenly she really needed to not be talking to him anymore. It was like ripping off a band-aid, the faster she ripped the less it would hurt. "I'll let you go, love you!"

"Love you too! Oh wait! Put Callie on the phone, I wanna say hi to her too."

Arizona got up and walked to the kitchen. She watched Callie shake her hips to the music playing in the background and laughed silently to herself. It definitely helped to have someone so happy around to offset everything. She thought of Sofia, and kicked herself for not thinking to talk to her little girl sooner. Sofia always made her feel better. Suddenly that was all that she wanted to do. "Okay, here she is. I love you. See you soon."

"Love you too."

She handed Callie the phone and took several deep breaths, trying to keep herself from crying again. Callie took the phone and watched as Arizona turned on her heel and walked quickly towards Sofia's nursery. "Hey, Tim."

"Hey, Cal. Is she crying still?"

Callie sighed. "Yeah, it's not as bad though. She's headed to go see Sofia though which means she'll be fine soon. I'm making her favorite dinner too, so she'll be alright. Don't worry about her, I got this. How was your flight?"

"It was good. I met one of the new surgeons on the flight out here. He's headed to the same base. He's pretty cool. Except right now apparently he can't freakin' see me. HEY! O'MALLEY!" He stood up on his chair and flung his arms around. George finally caught sight of him and smiled, running up to him.

Callie froze. "O'Malley? Like, George O'Malley?"

"Yeah. You know him?"

Callie laughed. "Yeah, you could say that; I used to be married to him. That's Sofia's Dad."

Tim jumped down from his chair. "No shit!"

Callie had to laugh. She hadn't really explained to Tim what had happened between them, and she decided she'd rather Tim had a new a friend than a new enemy; especially when she knew how talented of a surgeon George really was. "Yeah. He'll take care of you. Stick close to him, okay?"

Tim grabbed his bag and flung it over his shoulder. "Okay. If you say so, boss! Alright, I got some chicken nuggets and some super-sized fries to get. Love you, chica!"

Callie smiled. "Love you, too. Stay safe!" She ended the call and put the phone down on the counter. It was one hell of a coincidence that George would end up at the same base as Tim. She, for the first time, was actually happy he enlisted. Take care of him, George. She sent up the prayer to the universe and scooped some of her famous stir fry to take in to her fiancée.

AN 2: Thoughts? You guys have been quiet. Too quiet.