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: Arizona first dance (with Callie) after the amputation, at Bailey's wedding.' Shonda tweeted that her favorite Calzona moment so far this season is going to be at Bailey's wedding (9x10).
AN: So I know it's been forever since I've done a one-shot but I found this prompt buried in my very large stack of saved messages, and figured since the episode is right around the corner I should give it a shot. Enjoy!
First Dance
Weddings are a time of new beginnings and promises, of love and vows, of family and loved ones to gather around a witness two people pledge their lives to each other. It's a time of celebration and smiles, and to toast a new couple. And that's exactly what Dr. Miranda Bailey's wedding is. After some initial complications of getting her to the alter, Arizona, Callie and Meredith succeeded in their main duty as bridesmaids. …Bride watch.
And now it's time to relax, kick back and enjoy the good food, good drinks, and even better company. The live band is putting out some great music and the dance floor has been packed since the newly wed's first dance. Champagne flows freely and more than one Seattle Grace Mercy West surgeon is feeling the effects. April and Jackson seem to be trying to make another baby out there on the dance floor for all to see while Alex Karev puts his moves on one of the newest interns. Meredith and Derek are lost in their own little pretty pink bubble, leaving Arizona alone in the sea of couples.
But she's not alone, of course. Blue eyes glance back out over the dance floor and immediately find Callie being twirled in the arms of Richard Webber. A slight twinge of jealousy courses through the blonde but is quickly quelled when Arizona remembers it was her idea for the Latina to get out and dance. She knows how much Callie loves to dance, it was one of their first dates. The sight of the Latina's body swaying majestically with a steady melody is something Arizona never tires of. And it wasn't that long ago that it was their first dance, but now it all seems like some distant dream. Any thoughts of yanking her wife from the man's arms and taking Callie for a lap around the dance floor is sent up in smoke whenever the blonde moves her left leg. The constant reminder of the worst event in her life is strapped there, all ten pounds of it. It's always there, like some sort of nightmare she can't wake up from.
The song dies out but quickly picks up the beat of another and Arizona downs the last half of her champagne while she watches Derek cut in, taking the surgeon who saved his multimillion dollar hand into his arms and set about the dance floor the way Arizona just can't. She should be over it by now. Arizona has told herself too many times to count that there are things she just can't do now. Like she can't stand for eight hours straight in surgery then attempt to put all her weight on her left foot. …Because she will soon come face to face with the floor. And she can't race off to the ER at the moment a 911 page comes in. …Because a dying kid can't wait for her to limp through the halls with her cane.
Arizona is too deep into her own personal pity party to hear the next song fade out and the crowd applaud. It's only when a warm hand is placed across the back of her bare shoulders do blue eyes look up to find the flushed face of her wife.
"Have fun?" Arizona asks, trying to hide the venom in her voice with a fake smile.
"Yeah." Callie replies, slightly out of breath from all the dancing. "Though, I got to tell you, Derek isn't the most graceful swan in the lake, if you know what I mean." Despite her mood, Callie's comment gets a slight chuckle out of the blonde, stemming the steady rolling anger for just a few minutes.
The band takes a couple minute break but then is back for even more fun. Callie is once again pulled from her chair and spends the number swaying with Owen, the man doing his best to keep a strong front in front of Cristina.
When a very familiar tune starts to fill the air, Arizona's ears perk up. It's not just any song, no. No this song is her song, Callie's song. …It's their song, the song they danced to just after being pronounced wife and wife by the same woman who was wedded today.
That warm hand reappears on her back and Arizona slowly turns to find Callie, red dress and all, staring down at her with a smile. "Can I have this dance?" She asks, hand held out to her wife in offering.
"Calliope…" Arizona sighs.
"Arizona." The Latina replies just as weakly.
A heat starts to build in the blonde's cheeks and Arizona mutters, "You know that I can't… my leg won't… I don't know-"
"Arizona," Callie interjects, kneeling down so that she's looking up at her wife. "This is a wedding. We're both in dresses. The band is playing our song. …And I want to dance with my wife." She can see the emotion swirling behind Arizona's eyes but Callie isn't going to give up on this. The woman has been making leaps and strides in her recovery, but mentally and emotionally Arizona is still distant.
"Please, honey…" Callie pleads with the woman. "You're the only one I want to dance with."
A long beat passes and Callie is sure that her wife is about to shut her out again, but then an ivory hand reaches out for Callie to take. She quickly rights herself and helps her wife to stand, leading them to the dance floor among the masses.
Arizona's grip is tight on the Latina, and when Callie turns to face her Arizona loops her arms around the back of her wife's neck, using the woman to stay upright. Tanned hands wrap around a trim waist and Callie shuffles in closer to the blonde until no daylight is visible between them. All around them guests stop in their own dancing to make room for the couple until it's just them on the dance floor. Everyone looking on takes a moment to acknowledge what it is they are witnessing. It's not a disabled woman having her first dance with her wife after an accident, and it's not a rocky relationship correcting its course, but a shining beacon of strength and love.
Unaware of the fact that every eye in the room is on them, Arizona keeps her grip tight around Callie's neck as they slowly sway back and forth to the same song they danced to years ago. Back when the worst thing that happened between them was Africa and the baby daddy drama. All that seems so simple and ridiculous now, because so much has changed. And yet… Arizona finds herself in the arms of the woman she loves while Sofia happily plays with her fellow flower girl, Zola. And that's something, isn't it?
So with a ragged breath, Arizona whispers, "Don't let me fall."
A smile appears on Callie's face, seeing a glimmer of her old Arizona returning to blue eyes, and replies, "Don't worry. …I'll catch you."