Disclaimer: Characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and Grey's anatomy.

A/N: I wanted to...I still want to... write, bias-free stories about Arizona or Callie's mistakes. Because I'm part of the team that thinks no one's perfect, that everyone's different and that error is human. In every person there's always good even if at some point it wasn't the best she could do... What is important is what we do next, it is to know how to recognize our mistakes and if possible repair them especially if we hurt someone.. I feel like on this story I've achieved my goal.

Chapter 19: "Love is a treasure trove of memories."

Arizona was back at work for a couple of days. She was only allowed to consult, her arm not yet allowing her to cross the doors of an operating room.

She had had no contact with Callie, since the Latina had left her house, slamming the door slightly hard behind her.

When she entered the cafeteria hoping to be able to renew a cordial relationship with her ex-wife; she had approached the table that Callie shared with Alex and Meredith. But the surgeons' talk immediately ceased. Their discomfort was palpable enough, to suggest that she had just interrupted a discussion of which she seemed to be the main topic.
Moreover, as soon as she arrived, seemingly upset, the brunette was up and, pretending to have finished her meal, had left the cafeteria by giving up her tray, which she had barely eaten.
Arizona wasn't sure, but it seemed to her to have seen tears in the black eyes.
Later, she had met her several times in the corridors, giving the impression that she was pursuing her. But each time, her ex-wife had greeted her as an ordinary and pretty colder colleague, and had continued on her way, making it clear that from now on she was avoiding any relationship with her daughter's mother.

The extremely slow days, gave the blonde time to think about this situation.
She had been afraid to get involved in this story for fear of failing, of suffering and hurting the Latin woman and losing her friendship. And as a matter of fact, she felt right now that she had lost everything, and apparently that was still what she was doing.

She was looking for April who was supposed to be in charge of the emergency room to share with her their thoughts; when a frightened girl walked through the doors holding her younger sister in her arms.

- Help me! Help me! Please.

- Hi, I'm Dr Robbins, what happened? The blonde turns to the intern... Joshua pages Alex 911.

- A bookshelf full of books fell on her. She was trapped under the furniture. Rescue wasn't coming, so I pulled her out by the arms and drove her here. But in the car, she complained that she could no longer move her legs. Yet she moved them. She... she pushed with her legs as I tried to lift the furniture to free her. I... I don't understand

Arizona pulls the reflex hammer out of her pocket to test the child's knee jerk. A shadow passes through her eyes for a thousandth of a second. Wearing the doctor's soothing smile, she turns to the older sister as Alex rushed in.

- You said she could move them...

The girl nods her head

- Our parents are out of town, should I warn them? Do my parents have to go home? Oh my God, they asked me to look after her, and I didn't see her trying to climb up to grab a book. I was on the phone with my boyfriend and I didn't pay attention to my little sister. Moaned the older sister

- What is your name?

- Samantha

- Okay Samantha, you need to calm down, and... yes, you should tell your parents. Go to the waiting room and Joshua will come and give you an update. Okay? It's gonna be okay.

With a single glance the blonde tells to the intern to get the girl out, and turns to the pediatrician.

- Are you thinking as I am?

- Yeah, we need to call Callie. Callie is the only one who can save her from paralysis, she has already done so. Do you remember a few years ago, that kid his dad brought in without waiting for help? Asks Alex innocently. Arizona rolls her eyes. Of course, she remembered the case, but not the surgeon who did the surgery... Oh, shit, sorry... sorry... It's so weird that Callie disappeared out of your head... I can't get used to it.

- I admit I'm having a little trouble with that, too. Arizona sighs with bitterness... Well, Alex beeps Callie then, because I may not be in the best position with her to...

- Uh... Dr Torres is no longer at the hospital. I saw her leave about 20 minutes ago, and she told me she had a plane to catch.

As if Joshua had just pressed the pause button, the two surgeons suddenly interrupt everything they were doing, and look at each other.

- A...A plane... Stutters the blonde

- Yeah, I think she was on her way to New York...

Looking tetanized, Arizona questioned Alex with her eyes, as if he was the only one with the answers. He was close to the brunette; besides, there was this conversation that she had interrupted, barely two days ago in the cafeteria. According to Arizona, he must have known the Latin woman's plans, and right now she was casting an inquisitive gaze on him, which said, "Tell me immediately everything you know."

- I ... I have no idea! Alex cries out... I don't know all the deeds and gestures of your ex-wife. Oh, shit, the new guy who just got into ortho can't do that.

- What new guy are you talking about?

- Well, Link quit when he saw Torres come back.

- Why on earth did he do that?

- He must have thought there was no room for a God ortho and a Goddess ortho in the same hospital. Since you're one of the hospital owners, I guess, he thought that the games were over for him. And now that she's gone, we have no one to look after that kid. I swear, I'm sick of all your fucking stories! Can't you stop bringing your mess to work and understand once and for all that you can never live without each other?

Although he did that very often, and even if she would have confessed to him not in a million, that she had always loved his insolence; surprised by the way he allowed himself to speak to her, the blonde's wide-eyed stared at the pediatrician.

- Okay, look, do the CT scan, stabilize her, and I'll ... I'll get her back, Alex ... This time, Calliope Torres won't run away.

Seizing her phone to call a cab, Arizona throws off her white coat, and runs out, leaving Alex with a smirk on his face.

The blonde rushes back into the taxi already parked in front of the hospital gate

- To the airport as fast as you can, please.

Alerted by the blonde's anxious tone, two black almond shaped eyes, turn towards her. Giving her a big calm smile, a black woman with rounded cheeks, stared at her with a jovial air.

- All right, that sounds like an urgency? When is the flight?

- I... I don't fly, but... but I have to stop someone from getting on a plane... So please, do your best to get me to the airport as soon as possible... The words came out of Arizona's mouth at the speed of sound, amusing the taxi driver.

- Humm…There is like a taste of romantic history here, and I love romantic stories... Said the woman, revealing teeth of immaculate whiteness behind a smile that seemed to be stuck on her face since the dawn of time. She suddenly presses the accelerator pedal causing the tires to grind in a way far from reassuring... I often get bored in this car. Looks like today's my lucky day. So, you don't want your boyfriend to get on...Looking into the rearview mirror, the black woman really takes on the blonde's appearance for the first time, and makes a face…More like your husband? … You don't want him to take the plane?

Puzzled by the question, and slightly offended by the reference to her age, Arizona made eye contact with the woman at the wheel, through the rearview mirror. Her likeable face and sharp eyes reflected curiosity, but also kindness; oddly this unknown put her in confidence.

- My ex-wife

- Okay! So, this ex-wife wouldn't be as ex as you thought!

- It's complicated

- Oh, it is complicated. Another way of saying I love her, but I don't want to admit it to myself. Or I love her, but I am so scared that I prefer to pass up my chance. You know what's not complicated, at all? Asks the woman rhetorically, not hesitating to shake her passenger by slaloming between cars on the highway... It's loneliness. Loneliness is never complicated, but that's so sad.

Arizona grimaces. This strange driver showed on top of her immense talent as a driver in emergency situations, a great wisdom and a real philosophy of life. Unless her feelings are as obvious as a nose in the middle of a face, so that a complete stranger could tell her at first glance what her parents and friends kept telling her; thought the blonde.

- It was complicated... In fact, it's often what she says when she talks about us and everyone always says that between us it's always been complicated... But you're right, in some ways it's not exactly...but...in other ways it is. You see?

- Uh... I admit it's complicated... The woman at the wheel giggles

- We went through a lot of really tough stuff during our marriage, and we…We failed. Apparently more than once. And then she left for New York, clearly to get away from me and forget me. But the thing is, I did it...

- Moved to New York?... The black woman looked downright lost

- No! To forget about her! I'm the one who forgot her! The pout Arizona saw on the woman's face through the rearview mirror suggested to clarifying her explanations... Oh, I think you should know that I fell and I had a few days of comas, and she came back. She came back from New York for me... I mean, she jumped on the first plane as soon as she found out. That means something, doesn't it?

- Yeah…Uh… Maybe that means your ex-wife loves you; but mostly when you're sleeping. Using her horn excessively to overtake cars while Arizona clung to everything she could find, to stay in balance, the black woman was openly laughing … Otherwise, it sounds really complicated,

- You're not really helping there! Well, note that, it seems that she did this too, she watched me sleep. But I can't recall... By the way, when I woke up, I was amnesiac. I couldn't remember anything, not even my daughter…Uh…Our daughter…She gave me the cutest little girl in the whole world. I love her so much… Anyway, everything came back except her. I forgot everything about her, the whole thing.

- Wow... that's kind of tough to take, isn't it?

- Yeah, I guess, but you know, she was really amazing. She took it pretty well. Arizona sighs deeply... She's wonderful. She'd rather accept that I don't remember her, than I remember the hell I was in, when my leg was amputated.

An abrupt brake thrusts the blonde forward.

- You... you have no leg?!

Arizona laughed out loud.

- I still have one left. But you see, she made me think that she was the one who cut it so that I wouldn't be mad at Alex, and that I still have a friend. That's the kind of stuff she does, that's the kind of person she is. Shaking her head thoughtfully, a blissful smile on her face, love was sweating through every pore of the blonde's skin... Um, we're all surgeons and she's an orthopedic surgeon, by the way. And I was awful with her and I rejected her because I thought she had cut off my leg, and then I rejected her again because I thought I'd never be up to... You know... uh... to have such a beautiful wife.

- It's... it's a pretty intense story...

- Yeah, I think she still blames herself for not saving my leg. Since then, she had spent most of her time inventing a prosthesis for me, so that I would regain my autonomy

- I swear, if my husband had done a quarter of what she did for you, I...I would never have let him go...

- I know... she... she's outstanding. I guess I was afraid I didn't deserve her. What if I didn't know how to be good enough, and that's why I always lost her.

Another brake shook the blonde hurling her violently forward.

- Why don't you stop wondering about that, and start believing in it? Go ahead ... Run and get her! Exclaims the driver

The blonde looks through the window, against all odds, she was arrived safely in record time.

- ... I will be there for your return trip

- Are you waiting for me?

- Hey, I've listened to the whole «complicated» part, I deserve to see the end of the film

At the airport, panicked, Arizona was watching at the Departure Display. The flight to New York was announced ready for boarding, Gate 5

- Calliope, please don't get on that plane... don't go up... The blonde was whispering to herself, while slaloming between people carrying their suitcase and moving on at the speed of snails

Arriving at gate 5, the blonde's lips stretch in a big smile, when she sees the brunette waiting in line.
The headphones in her ears and the rhythmic movements of her head suggested that she was listening to music. Advancing towards the boarding point, the blonde calls her.

- Callie!

- Ma'am, you can't go through

- Callie! Look, sir, I need to talk to the woman over there with the leather jacket. Callie!

- Step back, ma'am, I'm telling you that you cannot do it.

- She must not board. Arizona was starting to get angry at this narrow-minded employee who didn't understand that suddenly it had become a life- and death- story for her. Go and get her, then! Callie!

- No, ma'am, I'll take you back to the exit

- I tell you I have to talk to her! Callie... Callie!

The security guard grabs Arizona by the shoulders to push her back.

In the queue, a woman bangs on the Latina's shoulder, who, unaware of what was happening, kept humming the song that was playing in her ears, waiting her turn to go through the security gate.

- I think, this person really needs to talk to you. Points out to her, the lady behind her, as she watched the scene between the security guard and Arizona from the very beginning.

- Arizona? Tearing the headphones of her ears, the Latina hurries to get closer to her ex-wife who seemed to want to rip off the security officer's eyeball out. What the hell is going on? Speaking dryly to the man in uniform... It's okay, let go of her right now! …The brunette was holding back the blonde… Arizona, you scare me! Why are you screaming like this?

Out of breath from her race and the battle she had just fought, the blonde frees herself from the man and, with smothered words, succeeds in murmuring

- Don't... Don't do that

- What?

- Don't leave. Please don't run away

- Arizona, I need to...

Regaining strength, Arizona interrupts her ex-wife

- No. Shut up and listen to me, Calliope! I know ... I know I have a fucking lousy record with you, and it's hard for you to trust me. And plus, I had doubts... No, it wasn't doubts, I have no doubt about my own feelings, Calliope, but I was afraid.
Arizona stared at the brunette with a distraught look … You know, apparently, I've been pretty scared since I met you, and I thought I wanted to go back to my old life, without fear and without all this stuff that I don't like at all, about me. But I don't like my life. I mean, without you in, I don't like it... ... Even though I can't remember those years with you, I know I've loved every minute I've spent with you since you came back.
And when I don't see you, I feel bad, and I miss you. And…and I don't regret that night, because I love you, Calliope, and I know I've always loved you because something so strong, can never be forgotten. You never forget when you truly loved each other, right?
It's... it's like Sofia, you know I couldn't remember her, but I knew deep down, she was my little girl and I was her mom.
It can't be explained, it was inside me, you see... And you...you're written somewhere in me too. Maybe with invisible ink, but you're in there I know that, and I want you to know that too.
Arizona delivered her heart without restraint and Callie's eyes shone. Her whole face reflected an infinite tenderness and a deep love for her ex-wife. She stood there, motionless without a word. So, still trying to convince, the blonde kept on...
And besides, April! She says I was so miserable when you left me. I kept drinking because I was trying to forget how badly I missed you; and that I couldn't even breathe fully without you.
She told me that I didn't even want to divorce, but I didn't dare tell you anymore, because I was sure that I was suffocating you, and that you were feeling stuck with me. You know… married to some angry, disabled cheater.
Listening to the heartfelt words of her ex-wife, all the emotions went through Callie's face. It ranged from pain, to the regret of having, at one point, been so blinded by her selfishness, that she had understood nothing about the situation that the woman she loved was living. But that confirmed, what, in the cafeteria, only a few days ago, Alex with his outspokenness, did not hesitate to explain to her; accusing her outright of feeling hurt from being rejected after a night of love, while it was exactly what she had done years before with Arizona, the night before leaving her. Her thoughts are interrupted by Arizona's voice...
So, you see, you can't be my breaking point, and you're right, I should stop asking myself questions and maybe we could...
Suddenly,interrupting her speech the blonde frowns... You laugh! Why are you laughing?

- Because I can never do without your frightening endless speeches. I'm not leaving, honey. Not sure of having understood everything, the blonde remains frozen in her turn. I have just to make a round trip to New York to quit my job, pack my stuffs and leave the flat. I... I decided to come back and settle here and… and wait for you... I mean, if you want me to drive a tractor, I'll drive a tractor. I want to give you as much time as you need to be ready. You know what, I have a fucking lousy record with you, too. But please trust me Arizona; I don't want to hurt you anymore. It'll take as long as it takes, but I know we'll make enough new and beautiful memories for you not to be afraid anymore.

- You ... You're not leaving? Asked Arizona incredulously. Laughing, the brunette shook her head. Oh, thanks God... But why didn't you shut me up earlier... Shyly casting an eye around her, Arizona realized that her screams against the security guard had caused a small crowd watching the spectacle. Oh my God, you let me make a fool of myself in the middle of an airport.

Callie had a big smirk on her face

- Honey, do I need to remind you that you always hated me interrupting you... And seriously, I was not going to deprive myself of this magnificent declaration of love, in this terminal where some years ago I was cowardly abandoned…

- Oh my God, was this where I left you?

Glancing around, the blonde sits on the seat right behind her. Her eyes slipping away, she suddenly turned pale looking absent.
Lights flashing in her eyes, everything was spinning in her head, the airport noises around her became deaf, she tried to cling to the voice of Callie calling her, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't.
The Latin woman's voice was moving further and further away to become a murmur while the blonde was sinking into darkness.

Following one after the other at a speed that made her dizzy; images took hold of her mind.

A blue door slammed into her face...
A white coat turns her back on her...
Standing in a waiting room, wearing her red dress, a stab tears her chest, as a black leather jacket walked away...
She could still feel the lump in her throat when, sat in a house filled with boxes, she collapsed into tears, watching a brown hair disappear from the room…
Finally, she clearly saw Callie's devastated face. She was standing in front of her in her blue surgical outfit, tears streaming down her face. The Latina turns her back and gets out of the hospital lounge…

Then in another room, another day, with the same face shattered, Calliope gets up and leaves an office. Desperate, feeling a hole in her belly that seemed to engulf her, her eyes shining with tears that she was doing her best to hold back, the blonde saw herself watching Calliope leaving, without being able to say a word, without making a gesture to keep her.

That day like all the others, helpless, she had only watched her leave.

- Arizona are you okay?

The brunette's voice became clearer, the light slowly turned back in the mind of Arizona.

She was in a stairwell, light as when the rain hasn't yet wet you; she was jumping down the stairs, catching Callie coming up, so she could steal from her, some kisses...

And then in a place that looked more like the bat cave than a flat; she saw herself again carefree, dancing with the Latin woman...

In the same place, Calliope wearing a ridiculous hat on her head was sitting on a couch in a sexy lingerie. The emotion still overwhelmed her in this memory, it was the first time that she confessed her love to her.

Then on a sidewalk, she had aged a bit, a prosthesis replaced her left leg, but Callie still held her hands to help her skate with the prosthesis...

- Arizona, sweetheart talk to me.

Arizona opened her eyes, silent tears rolled down her face. Fondling her cheek tenderly, Callie stood beside her.

- I... I see you... Calliope, I...I remember everything...

- What? You mean the breaking point was Africa?

- No, the breaking point was us. You, leaving me for fear of being left. And I who have never known how to hold you back, and who have been always frozen and distraught when you turn your back on me and leave me. The breaking point was our stupid fears. But I'm no longer afraid, Calliope... It' so stupid to be scared of so much love and I don't want you to leave anymore and I never want to let you go again.

Callie hugs the blonde, laying brief kisses on her lips

- I don't want to be anywhere either. I don't like my life without you either... I want to love my life again and I love it only with you.

- So, we stop our foolishness and no more breakups or pauses, or anything about that. Okay?

- No more breakup sweetheart. It's just you and me now, and never again anyone between us. Callie whispered, plunging her hands into the blonde's hair and bringing her closer for a tender kiss.

When she stepped back from the kiss, Arizona put her forehead on the brunette's, she still needed to hear it.

-You don't ever leave again, right?

- Never. I think I missed my plane anyway. The Latin woman laughed

- Oh, Jesus! Callie a taxi is waiting for us... I... I may have forgotten that I promised Alex, I'd bring you back, we need you for a C- spine surgery on a 10-year-old girl...

The latin woman's eyebrows are gathering

- Okay, I get it. You actually picked me up, and you did all that super-romantic and super-hot thing just to use my professional skills

- Yeah, for your skills in the OR and not only... Taking her hand and dragging her out, the blonde gives the Latina a suggestive wink... I would very much like to deepen this famous «Wow» that you had sold me ...

- You... you mean, Uh… Our last night, it wasn't?... Arizona it was «Wow»? Having fun letting the doubt hover, the blonde didn't answer. It was definitely a «super wow» and even several times. Persisted the brunette, speaking for herself, and making Arizona roar with laughter.

Thank you for reading. I thought this chapter really meant the end of this story. But now, I have a doubt, more like an idea for a sequel... So, if this is confirmed in my head, maybe I will continue this story in a while and so, maybe you will hear about me, soon ...In the meantime, many thanks to all of you, for your great comments