"So? What happens now?" Callie demanded irritably.
She and Bailey were on a water taxi being taken back to the mainland, sitting on opposite sides and frowning at each other. Her father's personal assistant was regarding her with something that was dangerously close to pity and it was doing nothing to help the raging emotions that were bubbling through her. One of Callie's hands was gripping the railing beside her in a vice-like grip; unable as she was to shake the memory of the last time she'd been on the water from her mind.
"Well…" Bailey hesitated for a moment. "Seeing as you're coming back with me voluntarily, we don't need to go telling your father everything that happened."
"What, like the fact that I nearly went through with it?"
"Exactly."
"Bailey, you know I respect the hell out of you," Callie started, turning her gaze onto the other woman for a moment, "but why are you doing my father's dirty work on this one?"
"Contrary to popular belief I do actually care about you and your future, Torres. I don't want to see you throwing away everything you've worked so damn hard for. That's exactly what you'd be doing if you went through with this nonsense."
"Bailey, I…"
She sighed. "I know. But this is for the best. What do you and that girl really have in common? She has a child… That is a massive commitment. Are you seriously telling me that you're ready for that? And do you honestly think you could have made an actual relationship work based on a lie? Come on now, Torres… we both know that you're smarter than that."
"I just… I really did like her. It was different with her and Sofia. I think… I think I'm in love with Arizona."
Shrugging, Bailey looked out over the water. "Maybe it was different… maybe you do love her. But maybe sometimes that's just not enough."
Making her way out of the house, Arizona was in no mood to be stopped by any of the wedding guests mingling on the lawn. She spotted her family standing together, looking incredibly worried, and frowned deeply. Realising that she would be unable to bypass them without drawing a lot of attention to herself, she steeled herself for a confrontation.
"Arizona?" Barbara called out to her as she approached, earning herself a deep sigh from the younger woman. "Arizona, what's going on?"
"I need to talk to her."
Daniel scowled and followed his daughter as she strode through the crowd. "Why the hell would you do that after the stunt she's just pulled?"
"This has nothing to do with you, Dad."
"It has everything to do with me! You're my daughter. She used you, Arizona. She's not–"
"Leave it alone!" The blonde snapped, yanking her arm out of his grip and whirling round to fix him with a furious glare. "You don't know anything about it. You don't know anything about her."
"I know that she was playing you."
"She wrote me this stupid letter!" Arizona snapped, brandishing the crumpled paper in their direction. "I need to ask her about the stupid letter!"
"Arizona, no. You need to forget about–"
As they continued to bicker, with Barbara and Timothy doing their best to break up the argument, Sofia glanced up at Teddy. Her aunt nodded back, leaning down to whisper something in her ear. When the little girl furrowed her eyebrows, asking a question, Teddy nodded again and whispered something else.
For a moment a bright grin spread across Sofia's face, but then she forced it into a contorted expression of agony and let out a loud moan, clutching her stomach and doubling over. At once all eyes were on her, Arizona roughly shoving past her family and moving to crouch in front of her daughter worriedly. She brushed Sofia's hair away from her face, her eyes darting over her in a panic.
"Sof? Baby what's wrong? Sof, honey, tell Mommy what hurts."
"My tummy…" The five-year-old ground out, her eyes squeezed shut. "My tummy hurts so much!"
"Teddy?" Arizona's fearful blue eyes found her medic future sister-in-law desperately.
Nodding again, Teddy helped Arizona lay the little girl on the grass and began carefully examining her. She prodded Sofia's abdomen more forcefully than necessary, causing her to let out a yelp of surprise, which made Teddy draw in her breath dramatically.
"I think it might be her appendix." She announced, looking directly at Arizona. "We need to get her to hospital as soon as possible."
"Daniel! Call–" Barbara started, but her husband was already talking into his cell phone, demanding help immediately.
They waited impatiently for the medic plane to arrive, before all of them piled in. There was no point telling any of the family to wait behind, because they wouldn't have listened anyway. Arizona clutched her daughter's hand, leaning forward and murmuring gently to her, doing her best to reassure Sofia that she was going to be OK.
"I want Callie."
"Sof, baby…" Arizona sighed, shaking her head.
"Callie's gone." Daniel informed his granddaughter bluntly.
"No… I want Callie!" Sofia repeated loudly. "Mommy wants Callie and I want Callie. We need Callie."
"Sofia…" Barbara sighed, running a hand through the five-year-old's hair. "It's not that simple."
"Yes it is." Sitting up, all hints of pain vanishing completely, Sofia grinned brightly at them. "We can go to the airport now."
"Wait… what?" Arizona gaped at her daughter in astonishment. "You're not… your tummy?"
Sofia waved away her concern, bouncing excitedly on the stretcher and looking out of the tiny window. "Oh, that's fine. I'm OK. It doesn't really hurt at all. Me and Aunt Teddy had a plan."
Everyone rounded on Teddy then, making the blonde shrink back a little. "Uhh, it was mostly Sof's idea."
"You concocted a plan with my five-year-old to get us on a plane to… do what?" Arizona demanded, narrowing her eyes at her friend. "Scare the living daylights out of me?"
"No! We wanted you and Gramps to stop fighting." Sofia informed her with a shrug. "All you ever do is fight. And now you're sad 'cos Callie's gone away. But you don't have to be sad 'cos we can go to the airport and you can tell her that you don't want her to leave us." Sofia tilted her head and looked at her mother seriously. "You don't want Callie to leave us, do you Mommy?"
"I…"
"Take us to the airport, please!" Sofia requested, calling out to the pilot with all of the certainty and confidence that only a small child could possess.
"We're not authorised to take you to the airport."
Barbara huffed and craned her neck to fix the pilot with a hard stare. "George O'Malley, don't make me call your mother!"
"You've got it, Mrs Robbins."
As Sofia beamed triumphantly, clearly thoroughly pleased with herself for her actions, leaning over and high-fiving Teddy, Arizona put her head in her hands and exhaled sharply. Daniel laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder, patting it comfortingly.
"You scared the crap out of me, Sofia." Her mother muttered. "Don't you ever, ever do that again. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Mommy." Sofia agreed, rolling her eyes in an expression that was entirely reminiscent of Arizona. "You said a bad word."
"I'm allowed." Arizona informed her bluntly. "I was terrified."
When they touched down on Sitka Airfield, everyone was out of the plane in seconds. They looked around for a clue as to where Callie might be, all eyes immediately falling on a private jet with the words 'Torres Hotels' emblazoned on the side. To Arizona's horror it was already speeding along the runway, ready for take off.
Pulling out her cell phone, Arizona selected a number from her contacts and held it to her ear. "Karev? It's Arizona."
"What's up, Robbins?"
"I need a huge favour. Callie's on that plane and I really, really need to talk to her. Can you stop it?"
"Oh yeah!" Karev laughed on the other end of the call. "I heard she bailed on you. That's gotta be rough."
"Yeah, it was… So? Can you stop the plane?"
"Oh, yeah, no. I can't do that. Sorry."
"Karev!" Arizona lowered her phone and screamed at the sky, unable to do anything as the plane carrying Callie soared into the air. "No, no, no, no, no!"
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked, looking at his family in bemusement.
Barbara huffed at him. "Callie's on that plane."
"And Mommy didn't get to tell her!"
"Tell her what?"
"That she loves her, duh!" Sofia looked at her grandfather as though he were stupid. "And then Callie was supposed to tell Mommy that she loves her back. Then everything would be OK again."
"But how does Arizona…"
Tim rolled his eyes at his father. "If Callie didn't love her, she wouldn't have left."
"Or written her a letter." Teddy added.
Daniel looked completely and utterly lost by the entire situation. "Am I the only one not getting any of this?"
"Oh, Daniel!"
"Dad, come on!"
"Gramps, don't be a moron!"
They approached Arizona, who was now waving her arms frantically in the direction of the tower, apparently doing her best to attract Karev's attention. Sofia moved to stand beside her mother, jumping up and down and trying to help the situation.
"Karev!" Arizona snapped into the cell phone. "Look down! Come on! I'm in a wedding dress – you can't exactly miss me!"
"Oh, hey Robbins! Sorry dude, there was nothing I could do."
"Great… thanks anyway."
Dejectedly, the blonde turned to face her family. She tried her best to avoid their eyes, unsure if she'd be able to hold back her tears if she did. Sofia slipped her hand into her mother's, snuggling into her side and tilting her face upwards to look at her.
"I'm sorry, Arizona." Daniel was the first to speak. His tone was softer than she had heard it for a long time. "I didn't know how you felt about her. I… I thought…"
"It's going to be OK, dear." Barbara promised gently.
"You'll sort this out." Tim assured her.
Callie had gone straight into the office when her flight landed. After an awkward conversation – technically it was more of a blazing row – with her father she had all but quit her job. Carlos had attempted to reason with her, but Callie was furious and heartbroken and far too stubborn to listen to him. That led to the task of clearing her office and loading all of her things into boxes. At least, Callie told herself, it gave her something to think about other than the way her heart seemed to be shattering into a million pieces in her chest.
"April!" She shouted, trying to attract the attention of the redhead who was chatting with a man that Callie was pretty sure didn't even work there. "Put him down and get over here."
"Calliope, you're being ridiculous." Carlos snapped, folding his arms and doing nothing to help as his daughter struggled with the box in her arms. "You don't need to do this."
"Uhh? Pretty sure you were the one who said if I didn't find someone to settle down with you'd give my job away." Callie reminded him angrily. "I found someone and you completely ruined it. You might as well take my job while you're at it."
"Ms Torres?"
"Ahh, April. Can you take these boxes and load them into the trunk of my car. Maybe you can get your boyfriend to help you."
"He's not…" The redhead blushed scarlet. "Yes, Ms Torres."
"Stop, Calliope!"
"No, Daddy!"
"No… Calliope… look."
Looking up at him with a scowl, Callie realised that her father was motioning to something outside her office. Turning, the brunette's jaw dropped at the sight of a beautiful blonde standing uncertainly between the partitions and watching her carefully. Callie's eyes dropped to the little girl who was clinging onto her hand, dancing on the spot and clearly excited about something.
"Hey."
"Arizona." Callie breathed, unable to believe that she was really there. "Why are… why are you panting?"
The blonde snorted. "Because I've been running."
"Really?" Callie arched an eyebrow. "From Alaska?"
"No… from outside on the street, moron." Sofia chipped in, rolling her eyes. "We had to run up the stairs 'cos the elevator wasn't coming quick enough and we needed to see you."
Arizona ignored her daughter's interruption, her eyes locked on Callie's. "I need to talk to you."
"Yeah? Well, I don't have time to talk." Callie snapped back, turning away to shove the box in her arms in April's direction. "Trunk of my car, OK? Then the rest of them need to go down, too."
"Calliope…"
"I need this all done today, April, understand? I don't want everything–"
"Callie! Shut up! Stop talking!" Arizona snapped, fed up of the brunette ignoring her presence. "I need to say something and I really, really need you to just shut up and listen to me."
"OK?"
"It'll just take a second. Think you can not say anything for that long?"
"Fine." Callie rolled her eyes impatiently, but it was obvious to everyone in the vicinity that she was incredibly nervous about what the blonde might want to say to her. "What?
"Three days ago, I had a pretty low opinion of you." Arizona admitted, tilting her chin upwards, almost defiantly. "Sometimes, I used to dream about you getting hit by a cab… or poisoned."
"Oh, that's nice. And in front of your kid?"
"I've heard worse." Sofia shrugged. Callie thought that certainly explained her habit of referring to anyone who mildly annoyed or inconvenienced her as morons.
"Sof, shush. And I told you to stop talking." Arizona reminded Callie, taking a couple of steps closer, pulling her daughter along in her wake. "Then you talked me into that ridiculous scheme and we went to Alaska and things started to change. Things changed when we kissed. And when we talked about things that actually matter. Even when you checked me out when we were naked."
"Naked?" April asked, unable to help herself. At the frowns she received from both women, she clamped her lips shut and shook her head. "Sorry, Arizona."
"Arizona?" The man standing beside her suddenly looked at the blonde with recognition.
She blinked for a moment and then smiled brightly at him. "Oh my god… Jackson? Your mom said you'd moved to Seattle but–"
Sofia yanked on her sleeve, frowning. "Mommy!"
"Oh!" Arizona nodded quickly, refocusing her attention. "Yeah, thanks, Sof." She looked sheepishly at Callie, who was staring at her with an expression of exasperated bemusement. "So… the naked checking out…"
"Well, I didn't see anything." The brunette muttered, her eyes darting around everyone else rather than settling on the blonde in front of her.
Arizona laughed. "Yeah, you did."
Callie couldn't help smirking slightly at the amusement in her tone. Her eyes flickered to Arizona's once more and she felt herself getting lost in the endless blue that was fixed solely on her.
"But I didn't really understand what any of it meant until I was standing alone in a barn… wife-less." Arizona continued. She smiled wryly, tilting her head to one side and watching the emotions playing out over Callie's face as she spoke. "So, you can imagine my distress when it suddenly dawned on me that the breathtakingly beautiful, irritatingly stubborn woman that I really, really like is about to do something incredibly stupid like quit the job that she loves and is completely awesome at. Then I imagine she'll almost definitely do something even more ridiculous, like flee the country."
"Morons." Sofia muttered, shaking her head with a comical expression of complete and utter exasperation on her face.
"Sofia, shhh!" Arizona admonished her, shaking her head. Then she turned back to the brunette in front of her, smiling brightly, dimples on display. "So, Calliope. Will you marry me?"
"Arizona…"
"Marry me, because I'd like to date you."
"Trust me. You don't really want to be with me." Callie assured her, shaking her head and starting to turn around again.
"Yes, I do."
"See, the thing is, there is a reason why I've been alone all this time. It's because I'm much more comfortable that way." Callie informed her, chancing a quick glance in her father's direction and furrowing her eyebrows at the entirely unreadable expression on his face. "I thought it was because I love my job and I thought that anything else would be an unnecessary distraction. But now I know that it's because everything I touch gets ruined and… Arizona… I don't want to ruin you. You and Sofia… your whole family… you're all so amazing and I don't… I can't risk ruining that."
"Calliope–"
Callie shook her head. "And I think it would just be a lot easier if we forgot everything that happened and I just left."
There was a pause. The blonde studied her closely for a moment and then shrugged. "You're right, that would be easier."
Silence descended over everyone gathered in the office. Callie stared into Arizona's eyes, reading every single emotion that they held. She could see the sincerity in what the blonde was saying, see the fondness and affection that Arizona apparently held for her. Callie was sure she could even see something that looked like love. Her heart swelled as she realised that, wanting nothing more than to reach out and gather the other woman in her arms and never let her go.
But she could also see fear and trepidation and panic. Callie knew those emotions all too well, could feel them swirling around inside herself as she got lost in Arizona's eyes. She could imagine a future with the woman in front of her, but she could also imagine the pain and heartbreak that could head their way, too. Was trying to make it work with Arizona worth the possibility of how she'd feel if she lost her?
"I'm scared."
Arizona nodded, taking another step closer. "Me, too."
Bringing her hands up to cup Callie's face, Arizona paused for a moment, smiling at her. Then she leant in and kissed her, threading her fingers through soft, dark waves and cupping the back of Callie's head to prevent her moving away. Not that the brunette had any intention of doing any such thing. She wrapped her arms around Arizona's waist, pulling her flush against her own body and moaning softly at the realisation that they fit together perfectly.
"You do realise we don't actually need to get married to date each other?" Callie murmured against pink lips when they pulled apart. "I'm pretty sure that an engagement isn't a legal requirement for dating."
"Maybe I want to?" Arizona teased, arching an eyebrow at her. "Maybe I need a guarantee that you're not going to do something idiotic like running again?"
"Then I think it's probably your turn to get down on one knee, right?"
Arizona laughed. "I'm gonna take that as a yes."
"Oh, OK."
This time it was Callie who dragged Arizona towards her, kissing her with all the emotion that was swirling inside her. She ran her tongue along the blonde's bottom lip, demanding entrance and then moaning again when she felt Arizona's tongue caressing hers. Her hands slipped lower, moving from her hips to squeeze her ass, before pulling away when she felt Arizona laughing against her.
"I think we should pause for a minute, babe." She suggested, pulling back breathlessly and arching an eyebrow at her.
"Why?"
"Gross!" Sofia muttered, shaking her head. "You touched Mommy's butt."
Callie blushed crimson, having completely forgotten that there was anyone else around. "Sorry, Sof."
"Uncle Tim said I should get you to pay for my therapy." Sofia continued, peering up at the brunette in confusion. "But I don't know what that is, so can I have a kitty instead?"
Laughing, Arizona tugged her daughter into her side and shot Callie the biggest, brightest smile she'd ever seen. It made the Latina melt and she had to fight to stop herself gathering the blonde in her arms and kissing her again.
Instead she turned and fixed her father with an almost challenging glare. "Well? Have you got anything to say on the matter?"
Carlos shrugged and shook his head. "Welcome to the family, Ms Robbins." He smiled down at Sofia, who grinned shyly back at him from behind her mother. "And you, Miss Robbins."
Callie beamed, crossing the office and throwing her arms around him. "Thank you, Daddy."
He looked over his daughter's shoulder and met Arizona's eyes. "I was wrong. I didn't think you were worthy of being with my daughter. Now I can see that you truly love her."
"I do, Sir."
"You do?" Callie blinked, turning back to Arizona quickly.
It was only then that she realised that they hadn't actually admitted how strongly they felt about each other. It had been implied, but the words, somehow, hadn't been said. Arizona beamed and nodded, walking forward and laying her hand on Callie's cheek.
"I love you, Calliope Torres."
"I love you too, Arizona Robbins."
"I love you both!" Sofia grinned, throwing her arms around them, breaking the tension and making everyone laugh.
Callie glanced over her shoulder. "April, do me a favour… unpack all my stuff? Daddy, I'm taking the rest of the day off because we've got a non-proposal to celebrate."
"Ice cream?" Sofia asked hopefully.
"Ice cream." Arizona agreed, unable to rip her eyes away form Callie's, a bright, happy smile firmly in place on her lips.
A/N: The end!
Thank you all so, so much for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following!
It means a lot that you enjoyed it as much as I did!