A/N: Oh look how far we have come! As a courtesy to all of you, I'll keep my author's note brief and let you carry on with the story. I really enjoyed the journey and I hope you liked it just as much!

Here you go, the final chapter.


Chapter 41: Callie

Present Day

This is not how I pictured my day would go. Yesterday morning when I woke up, I didn't know that I was going to fight with Arizona, I didn't know that she was going to shut down on me and least of all, I didn't expect us to have a screaming match in the middle of the hospital for everyone to watch.

But oh well, our relationship has always been a huge source of drama for the nurses here and let's be honest, it wouldn't be Grey Sloan if there wasn't a lovers spat, would it?

I just wished Arizona had given me a chance to say something.

I understood her, I completely did. If the tables were turned and it was me who got the news the way she did, I would have completely lost my mind and would have yelled at her a lot more than she did. Okay, a whole lot more.

I just… Now, I was unsure of what I was going to do next. It frightened me to my very core. And Callie Torres does not scare easy.

I took a deep breath before I stepped closer into the light and knocked on the door in front of me.

"What do you want?" she said harshly, destroying my confidence on the spot.

"Arizona" I tried to think about the words or rather the speech I had prepared in my head on my way over here but, the look in her eyes scared me to my very core. She was hurting, she was hurting because of me.

"Weren't you supposed to be in New York?" she said as she folded her arms. "What happened? You clearly showed me that I don't mean anything to you so, what are you doing here, in the middle of the night?"

Arizona was really mad, wasn't she? I hadn't realized that just like Sofia even Arizona had some abandonment issues. Even though she was well loved and adored by both of her parents she had taken her brother's death pretty hard. Tim was her everything and based on the stories I have heard he seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

I remember when I had gotten Arizona to come out of her shell and actually talk about him. She had cried the whole night about how much she missed him and how he'd promised her that he'd return and then he'd broken her promise, that it just wasn't fair. I had held her all night as she wept in my arms. I later learnt from her parents that it was his death anniversary, when they had called to check up on her.

I didn't mean to answer the call, but I wasn't going to wake her up, especially when I had finally gotten her to sleep, but I was glad that I spoke to her parents. I didn't mean to pry, but she had had a rough night and only managed to sleep because of all the exhaustion that came with all the crying. I would have loved to meet him. I would have loved it if Sofia would have gotten a chance to meet him. But we just weren't that fortunate.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to say something because I'm not like you. I won't slam the door on your face like you did, when I returned from Africa" Arizona said as she leaned on the door frame.

This just shows that even though momentarily things seemed great between us, we weren't over our trauma. We still wanted to hurt each other and see each other in pain whenever we felt lost or overly consumed by anger.

Usually it was me who did the lashing out and Arizona listened, but I was willing to be patient, I had to be patient.

On my flight back from New York. I had made up my mind that I have to listen to her rather than taking matters into my own hand. But that didn't mean that I would just let her continue hurting especially if I can go anything to stop it.

I'm a firm words sort of a person, I like it when people tell me what to do and give me words of encouragement. Whereas Arizona was the exact opposite. She may seem perky but she was a huge in actions and gestures.

I took a deep breath before I opened my mouth "Are you done?" I asked.

"What do you mean 'am I done'?" Arizona said as she folded her arms.

"I mean, can I actually talk now or do you want to tell me more about how wrong I am? Or how mean I am?" I asked, keeping my voice in check. I didn't want to make her any more mad that she already was, but at the same time, I didn't want her to completely misunderstand why I was here at such a late hour.

I waited for Arizona to speak but she remained quiet. I took that as my cue to speak.

"For the first time in our relationship I promised you something that was reasonable and-and it wasn't because you were about to lose your best friend or-or your life. Things were good, no things were great between us"

I wanted to take away all the pain and hurt away from her eyes, but it wasn't going to be that simple.

"Well that didn't stop you from leaving for New York" Arizona replied as she further distanced herself from me.

This was going to be way harder than I thought "Will you let me talk Arizona, please?" I pleaded. "Just hear me out and then you can yell, scream, throw stuff at me and I wont say a word"

"Fine" Arizona scoffed.

"I promised you that I won't take more than twenty-four hours to get back to you and I almost made it" Honestly, it had been around twenty-six hours but I blamed the flight and the Seattle weather and of course the god awful traffic. I would have easily made it here five hours ago. But that wasn't the point of the story, that wasn't why I was here. So, I continued. "Years ago, you told me that you didn't need much to be happy, that you needed me and Sofia that's all you needed"

"But you turned down the job Bailey offered" Arizona interrupted.

It was true, one week ago Bailey had officially offered me a senior attendings position in Orthopedic surgery and I would have taken it in a heartbeat, but I cannot let go of my research, of the progress I have made, which is why I told her that I would need some time to think it thorough.

"I did, but that doesn't mean that I can't move my practice from New York to Seattle," I replied.

My impromptu trip to New York was to see my financial advisor and a couple of people who worked for my dad and helped him with his business. I was looking for an option that didn't involve me getting rid of my practice or accepting a job that I was under qualified for at Grey Sloan. I had been toying with the idea of shifting my practice to Seattle the moment Arizona and I got back together.

I mean I know I would see a similar amount of cases here in Seattle but also, I can have my patients from New York fly out to see me. In the past five years, I had built a reputation that had people from all over the world coming to me for treatment options, consults, surgeries, you name it. I just hoped that shifting my practice wouldn't cause a major fluctuation, but honestly, if it did, it was totally worth it. Arizona made it worth it.

I looked at Arizona and saw the anger starting to melt from her eyes. Now she just looked a little confused. I could almost see the sparkle returning to her eyes.

"I mean there are still a lot of things that need to be done, like look for a preschool for Finn, close the practice there and-"

Arizona took a few steps forward before she leaned in and kissed me. Her hands reached for my collar as she pulled my head down to meet hers. I could feel her smiling as we kissed or wait, was that my smile?

"Is this what I think it means?" she asked, breaking the kiss.

I put my arms around her waist not wanting her to go away from me "Yeah, I'm moving back to Seattle, for good"

"For good?"

"Fine, for you" I said as I smiled at her. A real smile. Something that was lost the previous day when we fought with each other. "But like I said I still have to go back to New York to pack my stuff, tie up some loose ends and..." Arizona leaned in and kissed me thoroughly as she took my bottom lip in between her own teeth. I moaned at the contact but I didn't stop kissing her back. I could kiss her forever if she'd let me.

"But Arizona, you have to let me talk to you before you start assuming the worst" I said. I didn't want to break our moment or ruin our progress but at the same time, it wouldn't count if I didn't tell her how I felt.

"I know, I just… I got so mad that you were leaving… again. And I just couldn't … you know"

I leaned in and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "I'm sorry, I had this idea that I would surprise you by telling you that I was going to move my practice here after I spoke to a bunch of people in New York, but then Bailey kind of sabotaged it"

Arizona laughed "Bailey didn't sabotage it, you are just really bad at keeping secrets. Wait, is that why you had to go to New York?"

I nodded.

"Calliope!"

"It was meant to be a surprise!"

"And you know how much I hate surprises!"

"I know, I'm sorry. I was going to do this really romantic thing where I would just wake you up and tell you that I was going to move back here, but then Bailey-"

"Ruined your plans?" Arizona finished.

"I'm really sorry okay, I didn't mean to make you so mad" I said as I hugged her.

"Just, next time. I want to be involved"

"What? I'm not going to move my practice again" I said, pulling away from the hug.

"No, that's not what I meant. Any decisions you make from now on, I want to know about them beforehand. Even if it is as simple as… as buying Bagels" Arizona said as she held onto my elbows, pulling away from the hug.

"Bagels?"

"Teddy and I… Nevermind. I just… I want to be more involved okay?" Arizona asked.

I nodded as I leaned in to hug her again. Even if it had only been a little over a day, I missed her. And the stupid fight just… it made me miss her even more. God, I could just stay like this forever. She was my home, not New York, not Penny. It was Arizona, it was always her.

Years ago, when I left for New York, it wasn't because I loved Penny or that I wanted to be with her, I just didn't want to be here in Seattle. I didn't want to be reminded of all the memories we made, when I was desperately trying to erase them and make new ones with Penny. Staying here hurt and I was looking for a way out. So, when the opportunity presented, I took it.

In a way, I'm glad I did, because if I hadn't, I don't think I would have been able to make peace with everything that happened. Finn probably would've never come into this world and I would have drowned myself in my own toxicity. We needed this time to be apart and find ourselves again.

I just didn't anticipate that Sofia had suffered because of it. But you know what, I'm going to make sure she never feels this way ever again, that none of my children ever do.

"You're back?" Arizona asked.

"Yes, I'm back, if you'd have me and-and Finn of course"

"I would love nothing more," Arizona replied as she started pulling me inside.

Five years! Five freaking years! It took me that long to realize that Arizona was the one for me. That she was the one I wanted to raise my children with, that she was worth all the hassle of shifting businesses across the coast. This incredible woman gave me strength and courage even when I felt like I didn't deserve it. She showered me with all of her love and kindness.

Now, I'm back right where I was five years ago, but I'm back happier and healthier than I was when I left. I feel more like myself. I feel free and most of all I feel content about myself. I love myself enough that I could let her back into my life.

Five years later.


A/N: So there you go, that was the last chapter! Honestly, this was going to be a buffer chapter, but I thought screw it. I have written a lot of buffer chapters before and I'm not going to extend this even if it means that the ending would be delayed by only one chapter.

Also, I wasn't planning on writing an epilogue, because I think I ended it at a place where I'm happy. But if you guys want one, I'd be more than happy to write one.

In one of the reviews left by Carly Fiorina, the review said if I could do a sequel or if I could write a couple of more happy chapters of them together. Honestly, as a writer, it's difficult to write a story that is making progress when there are no problems on the horizon. So, I may not do more chapters, an epilogue on the other hand? I might consider. Also with the sequel, I feel like I have left the story at a great place. But I'm not opposed to a sequel but I'd like to take some break from this universe and get back to writing my other Calzona story. But yes, I'm down for a sequel and I'd be more than happy to co-write it with someone, that is if our ideas line up. I'm very possessive about my work, but I'd like to explore that possibility.

Once again thank you for all your support and for the ones keeping track, 'Guns and Scalpels' will resume with the same update frequency as this one or I'll try to at least.

Thank you so much for all the love! :)