Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Grey's Anatomy. I just manipulate them to my will. Also, any line or phrase or setting that seems remotely familiar from any other show, movie or book, also not mine. I borrow…

Prompt: Can you write one where Callie/Arizona is explaining to Sofia what happened with Z's leg and Mark, etc.

AN: So I decided to have this fic follow 'Fire and Ice' since it was prompted directly after I posted that one. So if you're a bit lost, I suggest you go back and read that one first. Enjoy!

Ghosts of the Past

The glossy photo pinched between two fingers smiles up at Sofia, just like it does every night. A picture of her father, a father she never really knew. Sure, he was around when she was little, and he loved her endlessly, but that was so long ago and she was too young that the sixteen year old doesn't have any memories of him. Her mothers talk about him in passing, sometimes just a stray remark here or a fleeting comment there as they go about their lives, but he, like most people who have since moved on, start to fade from the minds of their loved ones.

She's stirred from her thoughts when her mother's voice calls up the stairs, "Sofia, dinner time!"

The young woman places the photo back into the shoebox that holds all of her most prized possessions and she slips it back under the bed. And just like every other night, she plods from her room, marches down the stairs and joins her two mothers at the dining table.

"How's Dani doing? I heard she made it through surgery but it was a tough one." Her Mom says, absently chatting with her wife as the Latina goes about setting dinner on the table.

"She's awesome. A little weak but I definitely got a smile out of her before I left." Arizona replies, her dimpled smile shining as she thinks about her tiny humans back at the hospital. It's not always rainbows and sunshine, but those children who actually make it through and get better almost make up for the ones the pediatric surgeon can't save.

"Sof, help your mother, please." The blonde says when she notices her wife trying to juggle too many pots and plates at the same time.

But finally the three women get settled at the dinner table and start on another delicious meal Callie has expertly whipped up. The usual small talk ensues; the two mom's asking their daughter how school was, if she has any homework, and how all the 'cute' boys are like. Of course the sixteen year old blushes and rolls her eyes when her mother's start talking about anything relationship wise, but on the inside she loves the fact that they are so open and accepting of everything of that nature.

About halfway through their meal Callie notices that her daughter seems a bit distracted and asks, "You ok, mija? You look like you're trying to solve the world's problems over there."

"Yeah, Mom." Sofia replies weakly, and immediately comes under the scrutiny of piercing blue eyes as well as rich brown eyes. So, setting her fork down, she straightens her back and says, "I… I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something." This triggers multiple red flags in both Arizona and Callie, and the two exchange a concerned look before turning back to their daughter.

"I know that you try to protect me from things, and you think that by not talking about it that it helps but… but I think I'm old enough to know. I am almost seventeen, after all." The Callie-clone says.

Arizona's brow scrunches in confusion, and then a look of understanding hits her. Turning her gaze to her wife across from her, she says "I thought you already had the sex talk with her."

"Me?" Callie rebuttals. "I thought you said you did."

"Ma..." Sofia tries but isn't heard.

"Why would I talk to her about it? I don't know anything about a man's…. junk." Arizona says, shivering just picturing the other sex's anatomy.

"You are a doctor, Arizona. I'm pretty sure you know the basics." Callie fires back. "I mean, you did go to med school, right?"

"Mom." Sofia tries again, but just keeps getting talked over.

"That's all technical. The sex talk is about feelings and, and, and waiting and love and finding the 'one'. I've never done any of that with guys." The blonde states.

"Kill me now…" Sofia groans, hanging her head in her hands. "Look, that's not what I'm asking about." She says, finally catching her mother's attention.

"Then what is it, honey?" Callie asks, reaching for her daughters hand.

Eyes as dark as her mother's glance to Arizona and Sofia swallows the lump in her throat. "I… I want to know what happened. …The plane crash." The mood in their home immediately darkens and Arizona feels a weight press on her. Even after all these years it's still hard to think about… To talk about. Arizona slowly sets her fork down on her plate and dabs her napkin against her mouth as she takes a slow and deep breath.

"I mean, I know what happened. I know what came from it but… I don't know what happened during it all." Sofia adds, getting nothing but silence from her mothers.

"Sofia, why don't you go to the living room." Arizona says, catching the concerned look from her wife but ignoring it. Their daughter suddenly feels guilty for asking something that is obviously so painful for her mother's, but silently excuses herself and follows her Ma's instructions.

In the living room, Sofia waits impatiently. She can here soft whisperings come from the kitchen where the dining table is, but can't make out any words. Her fingers pick nervously at the fringe on the sofa cushions, and she debates on if she should just run for it now. But a minute later both Arizona and Callie join her, the blonde sitting next to her daughter while the Latina sits in front of her on the coffee table.

A fair hand finds the sixteen year olds knee, and Arizona asks, "What do you want to know?"

She wants to know everything. She wants to know how a plane could just fall out of the sky. How her dad could just die. How her mother's lives were nearly ruined by this event. But mostly, she wants to know how her family still made it through.

But instead, she asks, "What do you remember, Ma?"

"Not a lot…" Arizona sighs, "I… I remember staring out the window and then… a loud, ripping noise. Like the metal was getting peeled from the plane. Screaming… a lot of screaming. I'm sure I was doing most of it. And then… pain." Blue eyes have glazed over and Arizona finds herself back in those woods with her bone sticking out of her leg.

"How long were you out there for?" Sofia asks.

"Forever." The blonde answers in a whisper, still stuck 15 years in the past.

"Four days." Callie adds. "The longest four days of my life."

"They found us, though. I can still hear the whirling of the chopper blades. And I thought, 'this is it'. 'We're going to be just fine'. I told Mark that, your father. I told him to hang on. That we made it." Arizona says.

"What happened to him?" Their daughter questions. "If he survived the crash, then why'd he…"

"He sustained heavy trauma to his body." Callie answers, a tear pooling in the corner of her eye. "They kept him alive out there, performing surgery with clothes pins and a spray bottle tube, but… he just… he couldn't catch up. He fought though, honey. He fought so hard to stay here with you. He just… he was so tired." A drop falls from dark brown eyes and rolls down the Latina's cheek as the memory of holding her best friends hand during his last breath replays in his mind. "He fell into a coma about five weeks after they were rescued and… and he didn't come out of it. But you were the last thing on his mind, Sofia. I swear it. You were always the last thing he thought about when he fell asleep."

A tanned hand comes up to her cheek and Sofia finds that she too is crying, and she wipes the evidence from her face. "And what about you, Ma? And your leg."

"She made a choice." Arizona answers, her voice empty of all emotion. Guilt still rips through Callie's body, but she doesn't regret any of it to this day.

"Your mother… because they spent so long out in the woods, Ma contracted an infection that was starting to eat at her bone." The ortho surgeon explains. "We tried to fight it; we were going to fight it. I was going to build her a brand new leg but… that infection got into her bloodstream and started attaching the rest of her body."

"I was dying." The blonde adds, her gaze now locked on the woman seated across from her.

"You almost died?" Sofia asks in shock. Just the thought of it makes her chest tighten and stomach roll.

"Yeah, baby girl. I almost died." Her mother answers.

"It was her leg, or her life." Callie states. "I was stuck in surgery repairing Uncle Derek's hand when Alex came in and told me about your mom. There was nothing I could do. …Nothing anyone could do. So…" She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes and swallows the lump in her throat. Just like she did that fateful day. "So I told them to cut it off. …And I'd do it again if I had to to keep her alive."

Sofia sits in silence, letting all of this sink in. She knew that the call for amputation came down to her mother's but she didn't know that it was solely in the hands of Callie. The guilt and anger her mother must have carried around since then… she can't even imagine.

After a beat of silence, Arizona continues. "I was mad. …So made at her. I called her things that would make the devil's ear's bleed. I treated her like… well, I can't even describe it. I was horrible. I was mad. …At everything and everyone. That's all I could feel. It was like someone filled a bottle of the world's most intense hate and I drank it all down."

"She scared me." Callie adds. "For so long I thought I would never get your Ma back. I thought that I had lost her out in the woods. That the woman they brought back was just a, a, a shell. Some robot that looked like her. But it wasn't her."

"Did you…" Sofia's voice gets stuck in her throat, almost afraid to ask the question. "Did you ever think about… about leaving?"

"Yes." Callie answers quickly, making both sets of eyes snap to her. "I did. I thought about it, but I couldn't do that to your mother. She might not have been my Arizona. But she was my wife, and she needed me. Whether she thought she did or not. And I still loved her, I just couldn't leave her. And I could take you away from her."

"Then… how?" Their daughter asks. "How did you, I mean, you two are my role model for what I want in a relationship. How did you go from… from scaring each other to… to now?"

A soft smile pulls at plump lips and Callie reaches for her wife's hand. "Love." She answers simply. "It was hard, and rough. And so many times I just wanted to give up. But… I couldn't. She needed me to be the bad guy. So I let her yell, and throw things, and call me all the nasty names in the book. That's what your mother needed. …She needed someone to take all her hurt out on." Arizona's head dips in shame, still not forgiving herself for how she treated her wife back then.

"But then… one day it wasn't so bad. And then the next day was even better. And the next day. And the next day. …And slowly the old Arizona, the Arizona that I fell in love with, started to come back." The Latina says, smiling openly at her wife now. "I didn't have the words to make her feel better; she didn't want to listen to me. But I had the arms to hold her, the ears to listen, and the heart that was aching to see her smile again."

"And that's exactly what I needed…" Arizona replies, her own smile appearing. "It was a long and difficult year, but your Mom got me through." Blue eyes turn to her daughter and the blonde gently nudges her with her shoulder. "You got me through, baby girl. You gave me something to fight for, instead of against. …Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand you fell apart? Now, that's true strength."