Disclaimer: This is AU. I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine. I borrow…

AN: Final two chapters! Everyone ready?! Good luck. And enjoy!


Chapter 53

It's peculiar how the relationship between the passage of time alters depending on the upcoming event. If the counting of days led to the start of a vacation or a much anticipated TV series season premiere, the time would drag. Each day passing like molasses. But if this upcoming event was something not so fun, say end of the year exams or tax season or a pelvic exam, time flies right on by. So quickly that it could cause whiplash to those with weaker necks. And before you know it you're facing this terrible thing, wondering what you ever did to deserve it.

That's all Arizona can think about. How quickly the time passed.

After Callie returned from her possible intern programs, time just sped right up. Soon studying and writing and highlighting and reading and more studying were taking up every spare minute of either woman's lives. The library became their sanctuary and coffee was downed as if it were the sweet nectar of the God's. And because of all the tension, mixed with lack of sleep and frayed nerves, stupid fights began occurring during what little time Callie and Arizona managed to spend in the same room at the same time together.

One day it was a water ring left on the glass coffee table by a perspiring soft drink. That nearly sent Arizona through the roof. And then a week later, and a mere thirty some hours of sleep, Callie exploded right back at the blonde. All because her shampoo bottle was set right side up instead of upside down, so that all the shampoo would pool at the cap.

Yes, the last few weeks of their time together were not the easiest of going.

But then the last bubble was penciled in and the last lab practical was completed and all breathed a sigh of relief. Callie walked the stage, accepted her diploma, raised her right hand as she swore the Hippocratic oath, and donned her white coat. Her accomplishment was toasted at dinner, where Callie was surrounded by both her own family and her girlfriend's.

But the real celebration came later that night.

And for the couple weeks following.

That brief respite between graduation and the start of Callie's internship was unbelievable. There were days where no article of clothing touched their bodies; where every surface in their apartment was stained with the mixture of sweat and sweet arousal. One such surface being the coffee table, which, instead of a water ring, sported Arizona's butt print until a very amused Teddy and Addison noticed the following night during take-out night.

They spent days walking around downtown Boston and eating out in the open air, and sleepless nights filled with whispers and caresses. Evenings of movies and dinners and putt putting and go karting interspersed with drinks at Joe's with their friends.

And then the day came when Callie rented her U-Haul trailer and loaded it up with her belongings. Her books. Her dresser. Her clothes. It surprised both of them how difficult it was to split their life in half like that. But a mere two months after she received her diploma, Callie's life was packed up and locked inside a 4'x8' trailer.

The next morning Arizona locked the apartment door behind her, knowing that the next time it would be opened would be with her girlfriend all the way across the country, and climbed into the passenger's seat of Callie's BMW.

Three thousand miles.

That's what was laid in front of them. Three thousand miles in a week and a half. A ten day road trip. No real itinerary, just the destination and day of arrival in mind.

So they wandered the states, spent a day in Chicago before turning south and visiting St. Louis. They were tourists, lost in the heart of the United States. Arizona's camera was filled. Picture after picture of a smiling blonde and brunette arm in arm, hand in hand, kissing at the top of the Arch or posing with statues or taking candid's of each other not-so gracefully licking at an ice cream cone.

They ate horrible road food and filled Callie's backseat with soda cans and Slim-Jim wrappers. They stopped at road side stands and picked their own apples and strawberries from out-of-the-way orchards. As long as their heading was generally West, they went where the wind took them. All the while with smiles on their faces and the radio turned up.

Chicago. St. Louis. Denver. Salt Lake City.

All these cities passed beneath the wheels of Callie's car.

The bright lights of Vegas tempted the women but there is no time in their schedule for an added 800 miles, and both Callie and Arizona hit Seattle soil right on time.

Callie had a week before her first day of internship, and in that week she set about building her life back up in Seattle. She didn't have the luxury of taking her time finding an apartment like she did when both she and Arizona were looking for theirs. For a few days it seemed as if Callie would be living in the basement of the hospital, but finally something opened up only a few blocks from the hospital. By the end of the following day her U-Haul trailer was unloaded and her new apartment was filled with boxes.

It's these same boxes that Callie looks up from and gazes across the expanse of her empty living room to see Arizona staring out the window.

She leaves tomorrow, and neither woman is looking forward to that.

"Hey," Callie whispers, coming up behind her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around the blonde. "Whatcha thinking about, sweetness?"

"What you said…" Arizona hums. She leans back into Callie's embrace. "You were right. It is beautiful here. …I'm kinda jealous that you get to stay and I have to leave."

"Well… you don't have to leave." A blue eye peeks over her shoulder and plump lips pull up into a sly smile. "You could stay. …Be my house-wife. Trophy girlfriend. Arm candy." Callie plays, making Arizona chuckle in her arms. "I could be your sugar momma. I mean, you'd have to earn it, of course. Momma has needs."

"Tempting." Arizona's head turns and kisses the corner of Callie's mouth. And then kisses her again.

"Why don't we go out tonight?" Callie offers. "My treat."

"Guess I need to change into my working thong on then." Arizona teases, then giggles as she disappears to the bedroom with a sharp smack on the ass from her girlfriend.

They leave the cluttered mess of Callie's new apartment and take off into the Settle early evening. With no destination in mind, they wander. Up one busy downtown block and then down another. Callie manages to tug her girlfriend into the Seattle Space Needle elevator, and the blonde's vice grip never loosens as they take a trip around the observation deck. A tint of green settles in the acrophobic's features but still Arizona smiles when Callie wraps a protective arm around her waist.

Once firmly on the ground floor again, Arizona declares her hunger and soon they find themselves in a dimly light, out-of-the-way, hole-in-the-wall pub. They sample some of Seattle's favorite microbrews as well as the very unhealthy, and very delicious house specialty bacon cheeseburger.

When they step back outside the sun is just beginning to sink beneath the horizon. A cool breeze and the smell of rain keep Arizona and Callie in the walking mood. With a tasty meal in their bellies and a slight buzz lifting their mind, they shuffle hand in hand through the night time hustle and bustle.

Callie can feel a heaviness settle back into her girlfriend's shoulders, but doesn't ask why. She knows. Of course she knows.

Tomorrow they say good-bye.

While meandering through a peaceful and quiet park, vastly different from the lively city streets just outside the park's boundaries, they come upon an empty bench.

They sit.

Off in the distance a siren wails. And the breeze blows.

A thousand words, a million worries, race through the two women's minds. But not a syllable is spoken.

And then Callie pulls out a box.

A small, black felt box.

For a moment Arizona doesn't notice it, but then, in the light of a soft street lamp, she does. And a knot forms in the pit of her stomach.

"I've been carrying this around with me for…" Callie takes a deep breath, her eyes downcast to the soft box in her hands. "…for months." She holds it out for Arizona, still closed, and looks up into blue eyes.

Arizona is hesitant. And confused. She knows what that box means, at least she thinks she does. She has seen more than her fair share of rom-com's. But she takes the box, and she opens it.

"Callie..." She sighs.

It's her grandmother's ring. The one her grandfather started saving for the day he set eyes on his one-day wife. And Arizona has loved it since she was a little girl. Two deep blue sapphires bookending a gorgeous diamond, and the only work Callie has had done on it is changing out the battered and brushed thin gold band for a sleek, new silver one.

Blue eyes find brown again, the ring pinched between Arizona's thumb and forefinger.

"Are… are you asking…"

"No." Callie says weakly. "I'm not. Because I don't want to ask you to spend the rest of your life with me and then… and then leave you for a year. That wouldn't be fair. Not to you. Not to me. But… I do want to ask you." She looks up and finds sparkling blue eyes staring back at her. "One day." And the intensity of Arizona's gaze suddenly makes her nervous.

"You know, if you'd want me to." Callie adds unsteadily.

The cutest dimpled smile appears on Arizona's face. But she doesn't say anything.

Instead, Arizona lays her hand at the base of Callie's neck and pulls her – not too hard, but not too soft – in for a kiss. One that's not too hard, but not too soft.

Perfect.

Only then, when their lips part, does Arizona whisper, "I do. One day."

They spend another half hour on that bench. Couples walk by, hand in hand. A handful of joggers dash past, and more than one wet little nose looks their way while dogs and their owners take their nightly stroll.

Then, with Callie's lips pressed gently against her cheek, Arizona sighs, "Take me home, Calliope."

And she does.

What follows is a night neither one will be able to forget for years to come. A mattress in the middle of Callie's bedroom, a few sheets, and just the glow of the moon shining through unfurnished windows. They put to their bodies the love and future that has already been promised.

And the next morning, in the middle of a sea of summer travelers, Arizona and Callie clung to each other as they had the night before. No matter how tightly Callie hugged her, Arizona wished it were more.

"You sleep with any of your Attendings and I'll fly all the way back here to kick your ass." Arizona grumbles into Callie's hair, making her chuckle.

She pulls away to find glistening blue eyes. "What about some storage room making out?"

The blonde pauses for a second, then says, "Only if they let you cut."

They both know what they're doing. Joking to put off the inevitable. But then Arizona's flight is called and she knows her time is up.

"Damn it." Arizona sighs, returning to her girlfriend's arms one last time. "I hate this."

"I know, sweetness." Callie whispers. She breathes the blonde in deeply, letting the sweet scent of Arizona's coconut shampoo and vanilla scented body soap reach every last corner of her lungs. "I know."

Lips meet lips in a soft kiss. One whose memory must last for months.

"I love you, Calliope." Arizona whispers, then forces a smile on her lips. "And I know you're going to be awesome."

"I love you, too." Callie sighs.

They part, and Callie watches the blonde work her way through security. Part of her wishes that Arizona misses her flight. Hell, there will always be another flight into Chicago, and then Boston. But no, Arizona makes it through without delay, and from opposite sides of their border they wave one final goodbye.

Then Arizona turns her back on Callie and disappears into the crowd.

And the countdown begins.