Walk Tall...by lilscout

Chapter 14

A/N – Okay, so this was supposed to be the last chapter, but I'm going on vacation in two days and I haven't packed or cleaned or done laundry or anything! :) So, I'll post this now, then the final conclusion in about two weeks. I'm looking forward to next Thursday...Season Premier! Also, FYI, the DVD of Season 7 was released for sale this week...great shot of our girls kissing on the inside cover! Thanks once again for all the kind and funny comments and reviews. Seems a lot of you really want Arizona to know that Callie showed up for her.

...

"Hajime!"

The referee yelled, dropped his arm and stepped back, and the woman came at Arizona like gangbusters, all fury and thunder.

But without, Arizona quickly noted, much pace or self control. Can she keep it up? she wondered, as she swiftly side-stepped a glancing blow to her left shoulder.

Arizona recalled what she had been taught at every dojo she trained in, and by every teacher she trained with.

Breathe. Focus. Anticipate. React.

And so that's what she did, for most of the match. Letting her opponent come at her, avoiding all the wayward punches and kicks, expending as little energy as possible, while steadily watching the other woman tire herself out.

Callie watched from the bleachers with a mixture of worry and fear.

"Oh god, Mark...I can't watch!" She quickly drew a hand up to her face, partially obscuring her view. Unable to contain herself, she stood up and stepped over to the aisle, pointing down at the ring. "She's gonna get hurt!"

"No, I don't think so, Cal," Mark said, observing carefully, objectively. "She's playing it smart, I think...yeah, look," he said, standing up to join his friend on the steps. "the other one's getting tired..."

And it was true.

At about the two and a half minute mark, Arizona shifted her eyes briefly to the timer's clock, then back to her opponent. The woman was sweating and breathing heavily, and looked frustrated by the outcome. Clearly, she had envisioned a quick defeat of the smaller, unassuming blonde.

Neither had scored a point yet, and time was almost up.

The woman took a gulp of air, then did exactly what Arizona had hoped. She rushed forward and drew her leg up for what was sure to be a devastating and conclusive front kick to Arizona's midsection. But the woman was tired, no doubt about it. Her attempt was transparent, and laborious.

Arizona was counting on it. She spun around quickly to her left, using her forearm to provide a cursory block in case the woman was able to adjust and redirect mid-kick.

She wasn't, and her devastating, game ending front kick landed with a hard thud onto the now vacant mat.

Arizona had already stepped behind the startled woman and grabbed the thick material of her gi at her shoulder with one hand while lowering her knee and placing it directly behind her opponent's at the same time. Then Arizona shot her arm out straight across the woman's throat, like a pole, and in one fluid motion Arizona buckled her opponent's knee, flexed her hip upwards, and pulled back her arm, yanking on the gi. The woman, had she been told ahead of time, still would have been powerless to stop it.

It was science, really. Kinetics. Joints and leverage. Push and pull. And plenty of know how.

The woman's body flung like a rag doll over Arizona's hip and landed hard on the mat. Arizona wasted no time in dropping to one knee and delivering a blow, half strength, to the woman's abdomen.

"Point!" the referee yelled, stepping in and raising his arm high in Arizona's direction, just as someone at the judge's table called out, "Time!"

Arizona stood and offered a hand to her opponent, helping her up. They each returned quickly to their line on the mat and bowed to each other and to the referee.

"Winner, Robbins!" he proclaimed, and Arizona turned and shuffled off the mat just as the next two competitors were being called.

Arizona had won on points, which she was happy with. She had absolutely no desire to inflict pain or injury on the poor woman, clearly outclassed in this event. She pressed through the crowd of onlookers and received a few nods of approval and congratulatory pats on the shoulder as she went. She manoeuvred around groups of people and some kids running and playing, aiming for the large set of double doors leading out to the main hall.

There was something she needed to check.

As soon as the referee called Arizona the winner, Callie bolted down the stairs, her anger and jealousy long gone. All she wanted to do was find Arizona and hold her. Kiss her. Tell her she was sorry. Tell her she loved her and they would work things out. All that and more.

"Callie!" A distressed voice called out to her as she stepped onto the bustling gymnasium floor.

"What do you want?" Callie snarled, turning, her voice low.

"I want to talk to you about Arizona..." Joanne stopped, wisely, a few feet away.

Callie waved at her dismissively. "Well I have nothing to say to you." She turned around to leave, then stopped. "Actually, that's not true."

She turned back and took a long angry stride in Joanne's direction, causing the smaller woman to cringe and step back. "You are a manipulative, conniving bitch..."

"I know, I'm sorry about everything!" Joanne pleaded. "Please, just...Arizona won't talk to me...she won't even look at me, but...she can't leave!" She looked sheepishly around, aware of the attention they were garnering. She gambled one cautious step closer to the brunette.

"What the hell are you talking about, Joanne. Leave where?" Callie was becoming increasingly agitated. She just wanted to go find Arizona.

Joanne shook her head and looked away, and Callie suddenly wondered if the young woman was close to crying.

"I...it can't be me...I can't be the reason Arizona leaves the dojo. They, well, all the kids and parents and everybody...they love her there." She looked straight at Callie. "I'll go. I'll leave. And she can stay."

"What?" Callie's tone softened, confused by this new information. "Why would she leave?"

"Because of what I did." Joanne looked away again, embarrassed. She sighed loudly. "How I tried to come between you two."

Callie regarded her, still cautious, but didn't say a word.

"I love her too, you know. I have for a long time," Joanne finally confessed, looking back at Callie.

She met Callie's steady gaze with a hint of defiance, then it melted away.

"How could I not? She's amazing...but I don't have to tell you that." She paused, and shifted in place. "I guess I just figured things would eventually happen between us, and then you came on the scene...and I got...jealous."

She shrugged her shoulders, and sighed heavily again.

"It was my fault, the other night. I cleared Arizona's messages on her phone. I guilted her into having a drink with me. And I kissed her at the bar...she...didn't kiss me back. Not at all. She pushed me away and left right after."

Callie, arms crossed, opened her mouth to speak, but Joanne interrupted her.

"I know, okay, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. And now...she's just so worried that things are messed up between the two of you...I'm afraid she might get hurt today, you know. If she's not concentrating properly when she fights." She looked over her shoulder towards the ring. "She was lucky with the first one. That woman didn't really know what she was doing and Arizona could see that...but some of the others here are seriously good fighters. I don't want her to get hurt, Callie."

Callie took a deep breath and composed herself, the venom she felt earlier slowly dissolving.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Find her," Joanne simply said. "Find her, and tell her that she doesn't have to leave the dojo, because I am, and tell her she has to focus on the fight..." She paused. She didn't know what else to say.

"Fine," Callie answered, then she turned and quickly walked away.

"Wait! One more thing." Joanne hurried to catch up, reaching out and holding Callie lightly by the arm. "Tell her that her foot placement is still too slow. She has to be quicker or a better fighter will pick up on it and take advantage." Joanne dropped her arm, then took a step back, out of the way.

Callie nodded once and walked on, across the gym floor and through the set of double doors through which Arizona had disappeared.

She looked left, down the hall, and saw only the outside entrance to the building, so she headed right instead, figuring Arizona would still be somewhere inside. She hurried along, opening every unlocked door, checking every alcove, quietly calling out her name.

Callie finally found her, slumped on the floor, in a far corner of the women's change room.

She was leaning against an open locker.

She looked small and frail.

Defeated.

Her head was down, her legs pulled up to her chest, her cell phone clutched tightly in her hand.

She was crying.

Callie rushed forward.

"Arizona!" She crumpled to the floor as Arizona looked up and gasped. "I'm here, baby, it's okay." Callie felt warm tears sting her own eyes as she folded Arizona's weeping form into her body. "I'm so sorry about everything," she whispered, kissing the top of the blonde's head. "I love you so much.

"You came..." Arizona stammered, "I didn't know you were here...Callie you were right about everything...Joanne was trying to split us up and I..."

"Doesn't matter now." Callie assured her, pulling away to look at her. "She told me...I just ran into her and she told me...well, she apologized, actually."

"I...just, I had no idea how manipulative she could be...I don't believe anything she says..." Arizona sobbed, sitting up and back as she wiped at the tears that had settled on her cheeks.

Callie moved to settle beside her, wrapping one arm comfortingly around the blonde's shoulder as she took her hand and held it tightly.

"What exactly did she say to you?" Arizona sniffed, wiping at a stray tear again.

Callie smiled adoringly and kissed the back of Arizona's hand before answering.

"She told me that she's in love with you."

"Yeah right," Arizona muttered, shuddering a little.

"She did," Callie teased back, "And I think, you know, maybe it's true." She smiled coyly. "You are pretty amazing."

Arizona gave a nudge with her shoulder. "Anyway, what else did she say?"

Callie shrugged. "Just that she admitted to messing with your phone, and she told me she kissed you at the bar..."

Arizona's head quickly turned, and she opened her mouth to speak.

"...and, she told me you pushed her away." Callie smiled back. "It's okay."

"Well," Arizona began, "I guess it's good that she confessed...but it's always going to be a problem if she's around. So," Arizona took a deep resigning breath in, and exhaled. "I've decided to leave the dojo."

"Nope." Callie simply said, shaking her head.

"Yeah..." Arizona looked sideways at her. "I have to Cal, otherwise she'll always be around..."

"No, she won't." Callie shook her head again. "She told me that you were planning on leaving, but she said she would feel guilty, I think, if that happened." She paused. "So she's going to leave instead."

"Really?" Arizona asked, incredulous.

"Yeah, really," Callie responded, wiping away the remaining tears lingering on Arizona's cheek. Then she stood up, pulling the blonde with her.

"She told me one more thing too," Callie added.

"What?" Arizona asked, looking around deserted locker room for the first time.

Callie tugged at her girlfriends jacket, pulling and straightening it underneath the belt. "She told me that you're too slow with you're footing, whatever that means, and that some opponents will pick up on it." Her expression turned serious. "She said you could get hurt."

Arizona nodded, "I know, she's right. I have to be faster."

"How many more rounds do you have?" Callie called, sitting down on a bench as Arizona stepped over to a nearby sink to splash cold water on her face.

"Well, I just keep going until I lose two matches," Arizona answered, inspecting her slightly red and puffy cheeks. "Might be the next two, who knows," she shrugged, walking back to where Callie sat.

"No, you're too good, you know that. I bet you'll make it to the final." Callie stood up again. "Speaking of which, maybe we should head back out...see when your next match is, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Arizona answered as she stepped over to her open locker and tossed her cell back in her bag, slamming the door shut. She turned around and smiled shyly. "Callie? Thanks for coming...and for finding me."

Callie stepped over the bench and pulled Arizona into her. They wrapped their arms around each other and held on tight. Then they kissed, softly, briefly.

"I love you so much," Callie whispered as she held Arizona. "I would do anything for you."

"Me too," Arizona echoed, pulling Callie even closer.

They stood just like that, pressed together, for a long minute, until finally Callie nudged her head in the direction of the door. They walked out together, their arms wrapped firmly around the other's waist.

Arizona's next match was still about ten minutes away, so she waved at Mark to join her and Callie on a bench at floor level, and together they watched the remaining competitors. Mark expressed concern for one woman in particular, who seemed especially fast and dangerous, should Arizona have to fight her.

"That one," he pointed out, "over there in the corner."

They cast their gaze to the empty corner of the gym Arizona had previously occupied.

The woman was formidable, no doubt.

She easily had a good four inches in height over Arizona, was probably thirty pounds heavier, and just looked mean.

Like she wanted to hurt someone.

Like maybe she would enjoy it.

Arizona's eyes widened a bit. "Well," she said, more herself more than anyone, "size isn't everything..."

The woman was practising her kicks with a male counterpart, a colleague from the same dojo. Not only was she powerful, but she was incredibly controlled and accurate, aiming for his head with spectacular force, but stopping mere inches from making contact. He seemed to have complete confidence in her abilities too, because he didn't flinch once.

Arizona would have been suitably impressed if she didn't have to face the notion of possibly fighting against the woman.

"I watched her first match," Mark said. "She won it in less than a minute with a knock out. The other woman had to be helped off the mat, Arizona," he cautioned.

"Mark..." Callie nudged him to stop talking.

"No, it's okay," Arizona said, placing a hand on Callie's knee as she leaned over to look at Mark. "Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it."

She nodded and stood, and began to stretch and limber up again. "I'd better get ready. They could call me any time now..."

"Robbins! Yoshira! To the mat!" they all heard, and Arizona forced a smile.

"Gotta go," she said.

Callie stood up quickly, nervously. "Okay, just...remember what Joanne said, okay?" She placed her hands firmly on Arizona's shoulders, and held her gaze. "You'll be great...you are great."

Arizona nodded once, steeled her expression, and moved away through the crowd.

...

Okay, this isn't really a cliffhanger, per se...so please don't be upset with me!

Anyway, I think we all know where this is headed...BTW, it's very difficult to write a karate tournament scene and not have it turn into something from The Karate Kid movie (the original, I haven't seen the others). Just saying. :)

I'll see you in two weeks, folks.

Enjoy the Season Premier!