Inspired by Slexie.


Walking towards a cafeteria table alongside April, Callie's laugh suddenly distracted her from several yards away. Callie was eating lunch with Meredith and Amelia — having restored her friendship with the two 'sisters' several weeks before.

According to the omnipresent rumor mill, she and Penny had broken up a few weeks before, and Callie seemed to be okay with that. She seemed just as happy and as radiant as she always was — which was a relief to Arizona. She was glad the woman she loved wasn't taking the breakup too badly.

But, even as glad as Arizona was, she also couldn't shake the feeling of heartache from her bones. She loved seeing Callie happy, but god. She wanted Callie to be happy with her.

She'd realized that she still wanted her ex-wife a few weeks before, and since then, seeing Callie had become even harder than before. And talking to her had become nearly impossible, because it just reminded Arizona that she wanted more. She wanted so much more.

So, as she caught sight of the brunette, she couldn't help but exhale a hopeless "great" under her breath. Great. Callie was there. Callie was everywhere.

And Arizona would have easily recovered if lunch had been the only time — or even the last time — she'd seen Callie that day. But it wasn't. Because, during her lunch with April, Callie had begun walking towards them, and Arizona had desperately fled. Great. And an hour later, Callie was at their old coffee cart, and Arizona'd had to run in the opposite direction — less smoothly than she might have liked. Great. And then Callie had strode up to the OR board, right beside Arizona. Great. Again, Arizona'd had to turn and scurry away.

And then, Callie had been in the scrub room on Arizona's way to surgery.

Freakin' great.

No. It wasn't great at all. And it was the last straw.

"Great!" Arizona sarcastically tossed towards the taller woman, throwing her hands into the air. "You're here!" Callie was there, and being brilliant, and gorgeous, and outstanding, and Arizona felt the weight on her heart multiply. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with Callie, but Callie hadn't felt the same. Callie had walked away.

And now, with Arizona happy, healthy, recovered, and aware of her priorities, it was too late. She just had to suffer in silence, loving her ex-wife, while Callie was free and happy without her.

With knitted eyebrows, Callie turned her head towards the sudden harsh words. Arizona had walked into the scrub room. Good. "Hi?"

Arizona strode towards the sink, yanking the faucet on. "Dr. Forster was supposed to help with the reconstruction." In fact, she had purposefully requested the other orthopedic surgeon to help her. A six hour surgery with Callie had just seemed like too much, given Arizona's mood. Still, apparently Callie's fellow surgeon was busy. Great.

"His 86-year-old hip replacement guy didn't wake up," Callie explained. "He got stuck with paperwork and with calling the family." And, frankly, she had been more than happy to take Forster's place. She had been trying to talk to Arizona all day. Hell, she had been trying to talk to Arizona all month, but she hadn't been able to secure a spare moment between only the two of them.

She had been trying to talk to Arizona since her breakup with Penny a few weeks before. She still remembered Penny's desperate words: "I just…don't know how to be what you want, Callie. Am I even the person who can give you what you want?"

And, in that moment, Callie had realized that Penny wasn't the person who could give her what she wanted. Because all she really wanted was a life with Arizona.

It had been a harsh realization. Seriously, it had. Because — over the course of the past two years — she hadn't ever allowed herself to want her ex-wife. She had missed her — of course. She had admitted that she loved Arizona and would always love her, but she hadn't allowed herself to ever think about wanting Arizona back.

She had told herself that she had been the one to end their marriage when it was at its worst, and she didn't have the right to ever seek out the blonde's love again. Not when Arizona was better off without her. Not when Arizona was happier without her.

But then came the realization that Callie most certainly was not happier without Arizona. She was happy, sure, and she didn't need Arizona, but god. She wanted her. And she knew that — if Arizona wanted to spend the rest of her life with her — they could be their happiest selves together.

She just needed a second alone with the blonde to explain that.

"How's your day going?" Callie offered conversationally, looking towards Arizona's face.

Arizona refused to look up, her blue eyes locked on her hands as she vigorously washed them. "Just great," she muttered under her breath. And, even as she formed the words, she cringed internally. She loved Callie. She freakin' adored her, and yet, there she was, being rude to her.

It had been a really, really long day.

"We should get in there." She finally decided to effectively change the subject by walking into the OR.

As Arizona knew she would, Callie immediately — though a little cautiously — followed, entering the room with her focused game-face on.

She was truly such an incredible surgeon. She never ceased to amaze Arizona.

As they operated on the young patient, Arizona bit her lip, keeping her mouth shut and concentrating solely on her work. She couldn't even look at Callie, for fear that "I love you" would boil over her hot lips.

On the other side of the operation table, Callie periodically sighed, attempting to think of an acceptable and not-totally-weird way to bring up their past, and perhaps even talk to Arizona a little. Like, really talk to her. About something of substance. And maybe even suggest that her feelings for Arizona were stronger than ever.

But Arizona wouldn't even look at her. During the entire six hour surgery, she only looked at Callie twice, and never for more than a millisecond. What was Callie supposed to do with that? How was she supposed to say how she felt? How was she supposed to say "I love you" if Arizona wouldn't even look at her?

The surgery seemed to be never-ending, with each woman miserable: they hated being forced to be around the other, the one they couldn't admit they still loved. Six hours was a long, long time to be inches from the person they yearned for but couldn't touch — at least not with intention.

As they closed up, Arizona's hand accidentally brushed Callie's through her glove, but it was clinical. It didn't count; not when she wanted to kiss Callie, to lie in her arms, to have everything with her. It wasn't enough. It didn't compare.

"Well," Arizona finally exhaled as she threaded the final stitch. "Let's get her into recovery." As soon as the nurses began closing in, she turned towards the scrub room, ripping off her gown and gloves and stepping inside.

Wide eyed, Callie followed behind her, losing her own sterile equipment. She loved Arizona. She loved her. And — whatever Arizona was going through, whatever was upsetting her — Callie wanted to be there for her. She wanted to protect the woman she loved, in the way that Arizona had always done her best to protect her.

"Arizo-" Callie began prompting as the door to the scrub room shut behind her. Then, she stopped short. The gorgeous blonde was leaning over the large sink basin with her head in her hands.

"What?" Arizona murmured, her voice warbling. When Callie didn't answer, she looked up, her eyes ringed with red.

Callie locked eyes with her, and she felt herself melt. An invisible force brought her to Arizona's side, needing to provide some sort of comfort to the other woman — even if Arizona wouldn't accept it. "What's wrong?"

Sighing in defeat, Arizona shook her head. She stood up straight, moving towards the door. "It's fine."

"Wait!" Callie called after her. She needed to talk to Arizona. To really talk to her. She was desperate for words.

With careful, cautious eyes, Arizona turned back towards her. Something in Callie's voice stopped her from going any further.

"What are you thinking?" Callie wasn't merely asking for an answer; she was begging.

Arizona shook her head, a tired, tragic laugh escaping her throat. Nothing was funny. "You're just…" she paused. "You're everywhere."

Callie raised her eyebrows. She hadn't expected to hear those words.

"Everywhere I look," Arizona continued. "You're all I see. I mean, we're divorced — we've been divorced — but you're all I see again." She sighed, meeting receptive big brown eyes as she swallowed hard. "I love seeing you, and I hate that I love that. I hate-"

"Me?" Callie finished, suddenly horrified. It was more than possible, wasn't it? That, now that she had realized how deeply she still loved and wanted Arizona, her ex wanted nothing to do with her? It was possible, right? That Callie had realized she loved Arizona, and Arizona had realized she hated Callie?

"NO!" Arizona exclaimed, appalled by the mere idea. She couldn't hate Callie. She couldn't even just like Callie. She could only love her.

She loved her, she loved her, she loved her.

"Oh." Callie's voice was small. She had been confused about Arizona's opinion about her before, but she was even more confused right then. Arizona had said that she loved seeing her. What the hell did that mean?

"I, um," Callie paused, forcing herself to compose her jumbled thoughts. "I love seeing you, too. I've been trying to see you all day."

Their eyes locked.

"I've been trying to talk to you," Callie explained.

Arizona felt her heartbeat change. From a steady lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, lub dub to a BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM, pounding in her ears. Callie had been near her…on purpose? "Why?"

Callie's eyes implored cool blues, unblinking. "I think you know." She had to know. Why else would Callie be trying to talk to her?

Arizona exhaled a shuddering breath. "Why?" She would ask until she received an answer. She didn't trust her gut, anymore. It had been what had told her that couple's therapy was going to help.

"Because I love you." There. Callie had said it. The truth. Her truth. They were the words she had been trying to say but couldn't.

Love. It was a feeling that consumed her. She was consumed with love for Arizona, she had so much of it.

"And I know I walked away, I know I-"

Arizona vigorously shook her head, refusing to let Callie apologize. "Don't."

Callie closed her mouth. She waited.

Arizona licked her lips. She felt her heart in her throat. She felt sick.

And she felt whole.

"Calliope…" she breathed, reveling in the way the sweet music flowed off her lips. It didn't hold a candle to the music of Callie's breath as it hitched; Arizona certainly noticed the small sound as the brunette's breath changed. "You are my real and true love." She shrugged helplessly. It was the truth. It was Callie. It was only ever Callie. "You're the love of my life, and you're everywhere."

Callie beamed — consumed with joy — and instinctively moved towards Arizona, invading her senses.

"I want to be everywhere. I want you to be everywhere. I just…" she sighed. "I choose you, okay?" She wasn't like Arizona or Mark — she didn't believe in that singular soulmate — but she knew that she had never loved anyone as much as she loved Arizona. She knew that she would never love anyone the way she loved Arizona. She knew that — even if she did — she would always choose Arizona. She chose Arizona to be the love of her life, simply because she knew she would never want anyone else. Not anymore. Not ever. "I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. I just…I choose you." She brought her hands to Arizona's cheeks, reverently stroking soft skin. She'd missed Arizona's skin. She'd missed her.

Closing her eyes at the blissful feeling of Callie's hands on her skin, Arizona breathed, "Me, too. I choose you to be my wife." She'd said those words at their wedding, but they were even truer right then. She and Callie had been married in spirit, and they'd divorced in spirit, but Arizona had never truly stopped seeing Callie as her wife. She couldn't.

And she would never, ever let Callie go again. She would never let anything destroy their love again.

Their love would prevail. She would make sure of it.

Callie smiled at the memory. That had been the happiest day of her life. But, somehow, this day seemed more momentous. It seemed even more pivotal. And it felt good. She repeated the words she'd once sworn:

"I choose you to be the one with whom I spend my life."

It was a promise. Just as weighty as it had been on the day of their wedding, half a decade before.

It was a promise. And she sealed it with a kiss.

And then another.

And another.

And another, as milky hands roved over strong arms, and Callie pulled Arizona tightly against her.

Finally, they pulled their lips apart, their foreheads still resting together.

"What now?" Arizona whispered. They still loved each other, and chose each other, but what came next?

"We pick up Sofia, a pizza, some beer, and you come over?" Callie offered. Her palms laid over a soft waist. "We figure it out. We spend the rest of our lives together. We love each other." She shrugged. "We're meant to be."

Slowly, a blissful smile bloomed on Arizona's face, her rose cheeks becoming indented with dimples. "Meant to be."