Walk Tall...by lilscout

Chapter 13

A/N – This is the second to last chapter. And yes, for those who felt that Arizona has some serious making up to do, I agree. You're right. But Callie has to learn to trust a little more, don't you think?

...

"Can you believe she lied?" Callie asked, pacing beside Mark's couch as she quickly tossed back the rest of her wine.

Mark dutifully passed the bottle, and Callie filled her glass again.

"What exactly did she lie about?" Mark asked, treading carefully. His friend was angry. And hurt. And indignant as hell.

"About Joanne!" Callie raised her voice, more than a little annoyed. "About the fact that she kissed her. And...and...frankly, who knows what else at this point!"

Mark eyed her silently for a moment, then spoke up.

"Cal...look...you know I'm always on your side and I always will be, but I think you're making too much of this."

"What?" Callie choked back, stopping and slamming her empty glass down on the coffee table.

He shrugged at her. "You told me last night that she volunteered the fact that Joanne kissed her. And you told me that Arizona pushed her away as soon as it happened. She's devoted to you, Callie. Anyone can see that. And she's made it clear she's not interested in this Joanne chick..."

"But why was she even there with her in the first place? She knows that bitch has a thing for her, and she knows I don't trust..."

"Who don't you trust?" Mark cut her off.

"Joanne, Mark...I don't trust Joanne."

"So...you trust Arizona?"

Callie opened her mouth to respond, then stopped. She looked off to the side, then back at her friend. She flopped down on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yes, I do trust her," she finally replied. "I do. But it hurts me that she doesn't seem to take my feelings into consideration when it comes to Joanne. I'm her girlfriend. I'm the one she says she loves. So why does it feel lately that she's putting this other woman ahead of me?"

After a long moment, he looked sidelong at her and asked, "Are you going to the tournament?"

"Ha! No way!" Callie scoffed at him, sitting up.

He regarded her, silently.

"What?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I was just thinking...what if she gets hurt? I imagine things can get pretty rough, which must be why she was doing all that training in the first place..." He raised his hands when Callie started to protest. "I'm just saying, what if she does get hurt? Could you live with the fact that you weren't there to help her? What if she has a flashback to that night in the alley? What if..."

"Okay, Mark. Enough," Callie warned him.

He stood up quickly, and offered his hand to his best friend.

"I'll go with you if you want. We can sit in the back...she won't even have to know we're there..."

...

Arizona arrived early at the University's gymnasium. She stood in line with dozens of other participants waiting to register and pay the entrance fee, and scanned the crowded hallways, hoping she might catch a glimpse of Callie. She didn't really expect to, but looked anyway.

She shuffled forward in line until it was her turn.

"Event?" the young man asked, not even looking up as she passed him her registration form and some cash. He glanced over the form and quickly counted the money.

"Hi," she responded. "Umm, kumite. Twenty five to forty five," she offered.

"Belt?"

"Black. Fourth dan."

"School?"

"Pacific Dojo, Seattle."

"Okay," he said, finally looking up at her. "You're age group starts around three o'clock. Ring number nine probably, but just keep an eye out for when they call it. So far you're the seventh competitor, so it'll go in heats."

Arizona nodded as he spoke, paying keen attention.

"Number of heats will depend on final number of people competing," he continued. "We'll know more when registration closes." He passed her a legal form to sign. "Take this with you and read it. Must be signed and given to the judges table before you compete. It's just a standard waiver for any potential injuries you may sustain, and outlines the rules for fighting, such as no head shots, etcetera."

"Okay, thanks. I'll read it over. Where can I get changed?" she asked.

"Down the hall," he pointed, "then make a left. Women's locker room. You can store your coat and shoes and stuff there, but we're not responsible if anything goes missing."

"Uh, right. Thanks..."

"Yep, good luck." He looked past her. "Next?"

Arizona made her way down the hall, then turned left, then pushed open the door to the locker room. Wishing she had remembered to bring a padlock with her, she dropped her duffle bag beside her as she sat down on the long wooden bench and began to remove her boots. She took a casual look around at some of the others in the room. Mostly young girls and teens with their moms, but a few of the other's in gi's were in her age group. She wondered if she'd be fighting against any of them. She was pulling on her white pants and jacket when she heard a familiar voice, and cringed.

"Arizona! Hi."

Joanne sat down beside her, a little too close, a little to familiar.

Arizona slid over a couple feet, and considered what she should say.

Joanne noticed. "What?" she asked, her hand on Arizona's shoulder.

Arizona shook her head. "Jo, don't. Please."

"What? Arizona..." Joanne smiled at her playfully, flirtatiously, and ran her finger slowly down the length of Arizona's arm.

Arizona abruptly stood up and shoved the rest of her belongings into her locker. She slammed the door shut and hesitated a second before turning to face Joanne.

"Look, Joanne, Callie's really angry about what happened the other night."

"And what exactly happened, Arizona?"

"You know what happened," she retorted, leaning down and lowering her voice. "You kissed me."

"And you kissed me back."

Arizona stood up quickly, appalled. "I did not kiss you back!"

"Sure seemed like it to me..."

"I wasn't...I was a bit drunk, okay...and it took me a second to realize that you were being more than just...friendly."

Some of the mom's in the room glanced over, mild concern registered on their faces.

Arizona shook her head and looked pointedly at Joanne, still seated. She lowered her voice. "I'm not having this argument with you. I have a fight to prepare for, and my head is nowhere near ready for it. All I can think about is..." She stopped herself. "You know what? Never mind. Good luck with your kata."

Arizona strode from the room, angrily tying together the strings on her gi. She got halfway down the hall, and realized she had forgotten her belt and the legal form she was supposed to sign. She considered going back for them later, after all, she didn't need them right this second.

"Screw it," she mumbled. She wasn't going to tip toe around the woman. She'd just be quick about it, that's all.

What she found surprised the hell out of her. Arizona rounded the length of lockers to find Joanne standing at her locker, now open, staring intently down at the blonde's cellphone as she scrolled through it.

Arizona rushed over and grabbed Joanne hard by the arm, spinning her around.

Joanne, startled, dropped the phone, and it hit the vinyl floor with a clatter.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Arizona hissed.

"Arizona...I'm sorry...I just...I thought I heard it ring...so I was just going to see who it was and tell you later when I saw you..."

Arizona bent down and picked up the phone, checking for damage. She turned away from the stammering woman and looked at the display. It wasn't on the calls screen at all. Joanne had been reading her text messages. And finally, Arizona saw exactly what Callie had been trying to get across to her. Only, Callie had seen it all along.

Arizona felt foolish, like she had been played this whole time. She turned around, angry.

"You. The other night, at the dojo, it was you who messed with my phone, wasn't it? You cleared my messages from Callie, so I would think she hadn't bothered to call me. So I would agree to go for a drink with you. So you could..."

"Arizona..."

"Are you really so manipulative? Do you hate me that much that you would want to ruin the best thing in my life?"

"God Arizona, I don't hate you, can't you see that? I'm in love with you."

Arizona flinched, surprised at the admission.

"I have been for a long time, I just didn't have the courage to say anything before, and then you started seeing Callie, and I got jealous. It was stupid, I know."

"No, it was incredibly stupid, and dishonest, and hurtful."

Joanne looked away, no longer able to meet Arizona's accusing eyes. "I'm sorry," she whispered as tears began to form.

"I'm in love with Callie, Joanne. You know that. Completely, head over heels in love with her. We," she indicated between the two of them, "were never more that friends, ever." Arizona dropped her hand to her side. "And now, even that's been ruined."

Joanne tore her gaze back to Arizona. "What? You don't have to do that. I said I was sorry. I'll never do anything like that again...Arizona, please."

"No. Stop." Arizona put up her hand, and was silent for a long moment. "I can't make you leave the dojo, so I will. And that'll be the end of it." Arizona turned to leave. "I just hope I haven't screwed things up too much with Callie."

...

Callie and Mark found a couple of seats at the back of the bleachers and settled in. They scanned the huge gymnasium, but couldn't spot Arizona.

"Maybe she's already competed?" Mark offered.

"No," Callie shook her head distractedly. "She told me earlier that her event is usually among the last ones."

Mark pointed towards one of the judge's tables. "Want me to go ask?"

Callie smiled warmly at him. "Could you? Thanks Mark."

"No prob, kid. Be right back." He stood up and climbed over her to the aisle, then lumbered down the metal steps to floor level.

Callie watched him go, then returned her gaze to the competitor's area. She recognized a few young men and women from the dojo, and smiled at their serious expressions as they practised with each other, preparing for their upcoming event.

"Women's kumite starts in half an hour." Mark had returned.

"Okay, so maybe she's not here yet," Callie wondered.

"She's here," he said, sitting down beside his friend again. "She's already registered and checked in at the table." He pointed across the gym to the left. "Ring number 9, they said."

Callie followed his line of sight and found Arizona immediately. She was sitting on the floor, legs pulled up into her body, watching the young men's fight currently taking place in the ring. At least that's how it looked at first. Callie squinted her eyes, and could see that Arizona was actually staring ahead into space, looking blankly at nothing at all.

Like that night.

"There she is," Callie whispered aloud, and pointed.

"I see her," Mark answered. "She looks kinda sad, Callie, don't you think?"

"I guess, yeah..." Callie said weakly, a bad feeling beginning to sprout in the pit of her stomach.

"She's fighting in, like, half an hour. Shouldn't she be, I don't know, preparing?"

"She knows what she's doing, Mark." Callie began to fidget. "At least, I hope she does."

...

Arizona stifled a sob as she tried to pull her mind away from thoughts of Callie and how she had hurt her, maybe irrevocably. She needed to get herself ready for her fight. She stood up and moved away from the ring to a empty corner of the gym, and began to mimic some defensive moves.

"I can help you with that if you want."

Arizona stiffened as she recognized the voice from behind. "No thank you," she responded curtly.

"Arizona, I'm so sorry..." Joanne began, pleading.

"I have nothing to say to you, please just leave me alone," Arizona answered back, not bothering to turn around.

"Are you really going to leave the dojo...because of...me?"

"Yes, I will. Unless you choose to leave. But I can't make that decision for you," Arizona said, finally turning around, revealing to Joanne sad, hurt eyes. "Now please go. I have to prepare."

Joanne walked away, dejected. This was never what she wanted. Never what she hoped for.

Arizona moved to turn back around, but took one last cursory scan of the bleachers hoping, maybe, she would see Callie.

...

Callie and Mark watched the interaction in the corner of the gym with surprise.

"She looks pissed, Callie. She wouldn't even turn around to talk to her, to Joanne."

"Yeah..." Callie mumbled. She could see, plain as day, that Arizona was profoundly sad. "Maybe I should go talk to her..." Callie stood up.

"You can't." Mark held her arm. "Look, they're calling her event early."

He pointed to the ring again as several women around Callie's age, all black belts, all serious as hell, gathered around the judges table for their fight order. She watched with growing concern as Arizona moved to join them. She didn't look ready for this at all.

...

"Robbins and Smythe, first up. Then Brennan and Yoshira..."

The referee continued to pair up the fighters for the first round. Every competitor would fight until they lost two matches, with the remaining four women fighting each other until there were just two left. They would fight for the championship.

"Fights will last three minutes, or until one person reaches three points, or I will end it if there is a knockout. As you read and agreed to, there will be no shots above the neck. I will penalize you if I see it." He looked at each of them directly to drive his point home. Some women nodded back, others just stared him down. "We'll begin in five minutes." With that, he turned back to the table to talk with the judges.

The women looked each other over, sizing up the competition. Arizona turned away and walked off the mat, then knelt down on the hard floor and closed her eyes. She took a long deep breath and tried to focus on what was about to happen, why she was there. She tried desperately to push all thoughts of Callie from her mind, and just focus. It wasn't easy. For only a second she considered pulling out of the tournament altogether, but Arizona Robbins was not a quitter. She would see this through, even if she never made it past the first round.

"Robbins, Smythe...on the mat please, first fight of the women's black belt twenty-five to forty-five kumite event. Everybody else, stay at least five feet back of the mat, please."

Arizona stepped up to her white line on the mat, about two feet from the edge, and her competitor did the same. The area around them became quiet as bodies stilled to watch.

"Shomen ni. Rei" Arizona and the other woman both turned and bowed to the judges table, and to the referee, and finally to each other.

"Yoi!" the referee yelled, raising his arm, indicating they should ready themselves to fight.

Arizona tensed, opened her eyes wide and took a sharp intake of breath.

"Hajime!" the referee yelled, dropping his arm, and in a flash the other woman was moving, advancing on Arizona, full of bluster, curled fists out in front, ready to strike.

...

Am I evil? Yep, a little bit. )

Don't fret...we know Arizona can handle herself in a fight.