Disclaimer: The show Grey's Anatomy is not mine, and neither are the characters, I am not receiving any profit from this work. Everyone in this story belongs to Shondaland. I'm just going to play with the characters for a bit. I'll return them in tact... mostly. T for language and content. Rating may change, eventually.

This is a really, really, really long one. My longest yet, I'm tired. I hope you enjoy. Guys I can't tell you how much your reviews and follows make me smile. Your comments keep this fic going. So thank you xox.

...

It was raining quite heavily. Seattle always rained. Today it poured, so much so that the windscreen wipers were struggling. April, had finally reached her house. Exiting her car, she hurriedly ran to her front door, shrinking slightly because she had forgotten her umbrella. She was tired and soaked. This week had been huge. Thank god it was friday! Arizona and her had the weekend free. She was determined to do some more flat-hunting with Arizona. There were a few possibilities, the criteria being a place which was on the ground floor, could be modified and had at least two bathroom and, three bedrooms - one for herself, one for Sophia and one for a guest. April took 'guest' to mean, herself.

Arizona and her had forged a strong bond in the week that they had spent together. It was natural, she reasoned. One can't break down, without loosening a few boundaries. Arizona had been an absolute mess. A lot of walls had been dismantled since that day in the street. April slid her wet clothes on the ground and changed into a fluffy nightgown with slippers.

Arizona and her were both in the same place emotionally: lonely, empty and crying out for friendship and attention. Arizona cried herself to sleep most nights. She really missed Sophia and Callie. Arizona refused to acknowledge that she missed her wife, but she clearly did. On the whole, it seemed like Arizona was determined to improve her life, though there were constant challenges. For example, Murphy still texted every day. April knew this because Arizona showed her the texts. Arizona would just gesture helplessly at her phone and pass the phone to April. What do I do, she won't take no for an answer? April would reach over, delete the message and turn off the phone. Arizona would work it out eventually. She was fragile now, that was understandable. The woman had held in so much in, for so long, that when she finally broke it had been like a tidal wave. She was still recovering. When Arizona was stronger she would let her be in charge of handling her lover. In the meantime she needed protection. Arizona had been avoiding Leah since she had moved in. However, Leah had become stronger and more persistent in her advances. She had come to April's apartment and knocked on the door, the previous evening. Arizona had shrunk and melted away. April had answered the door and Leah had asked to see Arizona.

"For the last time, no, its midnight!" April had said, "She doesn't want to see you, let her contact you. If you come here again to my place at this time of night I am calling the police, and making sure you are fired, now leave, we need sleep!" she threatened. She meant the threat. This was becoming out of hand.

Leah had slunk away. When April had gone to tell Arizona what had occurred, Arizona had looked guilty and replied that it was her fault for leading Leah on. She said there was no need to call the police. Arizona felt that she deserved what she got. Then she had shut down and turned on the tv, refusing to talk about it any further. Yes, it was her fault, but, it was also Leah's fault. Leah was playing a very dangerous game. Openly pursuing a married women, who obviously still had very strong feelings towards her wife. Leah was obsessed and infatuated which was interfering with her natural judgement. Arizona couldn't see the bigger picture. Leah was openly trying to drive a wedge between Callie and Arizona. April didn't like the situation and so she mothered, waiting patiently for Arizona to assert herself.

...

Sliding the key into the door, April quickly entered her apartment. Locating her friend it was apparent that Arizona was settling in for the night. She had her pajamas on and had a pile of dvds and a bucket of caramel ice cream. She looked sweet in her bunny slippers and her hair was in braids.

"Hey, how was your day?" April asked.

Arizona looked up and shrugged, her eyes going back to the tv, she was playing April's collection of Judy Garland movies, starting with 'Meet me in Saint Louise'.

"It was alright, the meeting was boring. I had a run in with Callie." Arizona's hand wondered unconsciously to her cheek. "We said some things we shouldn't have...oh god I can't even..." She sighed heavily. "I guess things are never going to work out between us, I'm never going to be able to see my daughter. I've made such a mess of my life."

"Arizona?", April prodded, waiting for a response.

"Yah?" Arizona's eyes wondered to April's face and lingered a moment before returning to the tv, 'clang, clang, clang..goes the trolley', Judy Garland sang.

"Your're really starting to annoy me. We are going out tonight and we are going to get good and tipsy on champagne, and we are going to dance! So, lets go find you something hot to wear because you have zero choice in the matter, if you don't want to be homeless. Its friday and I'm sick of being miserable in your delightful company". April turned the tv off.

Arizona grumbled and got up. There was no winning this battle.

...

They had chosen their clothes carefully. April choosing a green, frilly top and wide pants with black boots and a denim jacket hair up and Arizona, choose a red tank, and black skinny jeans. April had convinced her to wear her hair loose. Arizona had chosen to wear heals tonight. She reached for her jeans and was frustrated when she couldn't pull them up easily, the jeans catching around Arizona's prothetic. April swatted Arizona's hand away and touched the high healed prosthetic. She pulled up the jeans with both hands over the prosthetic. Arizona looked like she was about to cry.

"Oh for gods sake, what's the matter now?" April was becomming impatient with the emotional roller coaster.

"Nothing, its just, you're the first person to touch my leg, apart from Callie, it means..a lot, thank you."

"Oh, well no problem, its just a prosthetic" April said humbled. "Come on, lets get drunk." They called a taxi and arrived 15 minutes later at Joes.

...

Joes was pumping. It looked ready to be a big night. More and more customers were arriving, and the staff was working hard. Joe was out of town and one of his nephews was running the show. Tonight Joes resembled a night club. The music was blearing, the people sweaty and drunk. Joe was going to be mad when he came back. In the meantime, the clientele seemed quite pleased. Buying drinks and dancing. Most of them were staff from the hospital, April recognized a few faces.

They worked their way to the bar and ordered some champagne. Watching as the place fill up, they steadily ploughed through the bottle. Another champagne bottle was bought and demolished at a similar rate. Time to Dance! It was amazing. Finally, a release after so much tension. April left Arizona still dancing, eyes closed, body moving, hair swaying; and went to order another bottle. She turned and surveyed the scene. Leah had arrived and was seeking out Arizona on the dance floor while Arizona was dancing solo and oblivious. She looked at Leah, nodded and they began to dance together. Ooh this was getting tricky. Was this yet another evening when she would need to play clit-blocker? She could only keep this level of protectiveness up for so long before Arizona would need to be an adult and take responsibility again. She was just one person and Leah was relentless. This couldn't continue. It was time for Arizona to step up. She would monitor from here and run interference if necessary.

...

April was watching as Arizona danced. Her hands were around Leah's waist and Leah was ecstatic. They were dancing a little too closely. April shook her head. From the other side of the room she saw Callie approach the dance floor. Where had she come from? She looked good. Callie was wearing a shiny black tank top and black pants, her hair loose. April hadn't seen her when they entered this evening. Callie looked furious and on a mission. She had slipped behind Arizona. April watched in horror as Callie slipped her arm around Arizona's waist and glared at Leah. The message was clear even from this distance. Step off, bitch!

Leah had retreated to the ladies bathroom, embarrassed. "Good, at least there is a sense of shame in the woman!" April thought to herself. she wondered if she should make her presence known and walked towards the floor. The situation was becoming messy and Arizona was still fragile. She was reaching Arizona. She was about to tap Arizona's shoulder when she felt Christina grab her arm and pull her back.

"Stop April, this is not your problem, you need to let them work this out for themselves." Christina pulled April away further still. They watched the dance floor from the other side of the room.

"Arizona's in a really fragile state."

"What are you, her mum? Arizona's a grown women and she seems pretty happy to me," Christina pointed out.

April had to admit that Christina was right. Callie was dancing behind Arizona. Their hips moved in sync to the music. Callie's hands wondered down to Arizona's stomach and pulled her closer, firmly massaging the area. They slid together, moving as one. Arizona seemed happy and content for the first time in a long time. She moved one arm up behind Callie's head. Callie placed her lips under Arizona's ear. She was kissing her neck. Arizona had closed her eyes.

"Its like watching the cable channel, huh? Cristina said, breaking the mood. "Come on lets get some tequila!" April shook her head. It was primal. Callie had moved her lips down to Arizona's neck. She kissed her neck and still they danced, slowly.

"I feel dirty watching this," April said.

"Oh my god, April you are such a prude!"

Arizona had turned around and placed her arms around Callie's head. Callie placed her leg between Arizona's thighs. They kissed as they continued to dance. This song, 'Silence' by Delirium was a long one. It really was quite uncomfortable watching, but she couldn't help it. These two drew her gaze in. They continued to kiss until the song ended. They had given up all pretense of dancing. They looked happy. Callie whispered something in Arizona's ear and Arizona's face fell, stricken by whatever Callie had said. Arizona pushed Callie away. Callie went to follow but she was stopped by April glaring at her, arms folded. Callie backed down. Not because of April, but because she must have realized that she had gone too far.

"We need to leave, April, now", Arizona said shakily.

April obliged and they left the pub.

...

Outside Arizona caught her breath.

"You want to tell me what happened, you seemed to be having a really good time?" April asked.

Arizona shook her head, "No, theres no milage in telling you. We were kissing and dancing and it felt so good and then Callie said something really horrible... I had to get out of there." Arizona paused, her face downcast. She continued, "April I'm trying so hard to change and be a better person but it doesn't seem to matter what I do? I need to do something drastic. I don't know what..."

April looked down, deep in thought. They were both pretty drunk, a random thought hit her. "I know, lets get a tattoo," she said.

When Arizona laughed, April frowned, "No I'm serious. What would you get? I'd get a dolphin."

"A dolphin?! Oh my God, you are straight!" Arizona paused considering her response. "Well, if I were to get a tattoo it would need to be something which honored Nick and Tim. They used to tease me about my name all the time and it used to annoy me so much, but I miss it now. It would need to be something that symbolizes renewal..."

"...April, I'd get a Phoenix!"