Disclaimer: I own nothing. Praise be to Shonda and ABC.

Chapter 4

Arizona awoke to her alarm at 6 AM; she had to be at the hospital by nine. She sat up, looking around the living room, her eyes eventually returning to the still-sleeping form of her pillow.

Before getting to know her, Arizona had never imagined Amelia as a particularly peaceful person. She was ambitious. Cut throat. Enthusiastic. But most of all, she'd always seemed at least a touch closed off. The Amelia that Arizona was getting to know, however, was anything but closed off. She was sweet, funny, caring, and absolutely beautiful. Arizona sighed. She knew better than to pursue Amelia; rumor had it that the head neurosurgeon was involved with Dr. Hunt. And besides, she wasn't interested in women, as far as Arizona knew.

She tried to put thoughts of Amelia on the backburner as she began her morning routine; she showered, washing the rest of the flour out of her hair and deep conditioning the powder away. She had two surgeries today, she recalled as she dried her hair and donned her dark blue scrubs. She ran over the cases in her head as she walked down stairs. She made a pot of coffee and a few pieces of toast. She took out a handful of grapes and practiced cutting into them with a paring knife.

"Big day?" she heard from the doorway. Her hand slipped. Her current patient split into two pieces.

Arizona looked up to see messy chocolate hair and a sleepy smirk.

"I hope you aren't that jumpy in the OR," Amelia said as she rounded the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee. Arizona laughed nervously.

"Hopefully not," she agreed. She watched Amelia with interest, studying the way she moved as she walked around the kitchen.

"What do you have today?" Amelia asked, finally sitting down in a bar stool, directly in front of Arizona's operating table.

"Two fetal surgeries. One of the babies has an abrasion on its heart, the other has a tumor growing on its stomach."

Amelia nodded, cocking her head at the blonde, "Do you feel ready?" She asked.

Arizona smiled, immediately answering, "Yes. I just like to be…"

"Over prepared," Amelia finished with a smile. Arizona nodded, finishing off her cup of coffee before she looked at her watch.

"I'd better go," she said, placing her mug in the sink.

"Go get 'em, Dr. Robbins," Amelia said sweetly. Arizona smiled, rounding the counter and planting a kiss on Amelia's cheek. She jumped back, wide eyed. Amy looked at her quizzically.

"I'm sorry, Amelia," she said nervously.

"Sorry for what?" the other woman asked, obviously confused.

"I didn't mean to – I just – it's a habit…"

Amelia laughed, trying to push down all of her nervousness, "Arizona, it's fine, don't be sorry."

"I just – I don't want to – I didn't mean to – if that made you uncomfortable –"

Amy stood up. While Arizona's stammering was endearing, Amelia was overwhelmed. She put her hands lightly on the other woman's shoulders. "It's fine, Arizona. I know you didn't mean anything by it," she said gently. Arizona relaxed.

"I didn't, you're right," she breathed, almost disappointed that Amelia passed off her affection as platonic. "I'm going to go now. I'll see you soon."

Amelia watched as Arizona pushed through the door, feeling her heart drop. She wanted Arizona's kisses to mean something, though she didn't know why.

Arizona scrubbed out, smiling at the OR staff as they left the room. One fetus successful saved, one more to go for the day. Mary and baby Elliot had been model patients. Hopefully Liz and her unnamed little one would follow suit.

She was working overtime to not think about Amelia's dark blue eyes, or her impossibly soft skin, or the way her eyes crinkled at the corners when she smiled when Callie cornered her in the hallway and burst her bubble.

"What's going on with you and Dr. Shepherd?" Callie demanded, though she tried to hide her tone beneath her question.

"We took the kids to the zoo yesterday, why?" Arizona asked, avoiding the question.

"Because she was still with you at 11 o'clock last night. With our daughter in the house," Callie responded.

Arizona rolled her eyes, "So I hung out and watched a movie with a friend. What exactly is the problem here?"

Callie huffed, not pleased that she wasn't getting the response she wanted. "There is no problem. I'm just making sure, you know. She's with Owen and I didn't want you getting…"

"Getting what, Calliope?" Arizona sighed, "Getting hurt? Getting involved? Getting over you?"

Callie blanched, staring at Arizona.

"Nothing is going on with Amelia and me, Callie. I promise. We hung out yesterday. She's been going through a rough time, and so have I. So we talked and we realized that we actually get along really well. That doesn't mean that I want to get with her, or that she's going to cheat on Owen. It means that we hang out." Arizona pushed past her ex-wife, exasperated. Why was it that Callie could be involved with other people, but she couldn't?

Callie just watched Arizona leave, immediately overcome with guilt. She shouldn't have said anything.

"How was your sleepover?" Meredith asked as she set breakfast in front of her kids.

"It was fun, actually," Amelia answered from her place at the bar. She was working on her third cup of coffee. "Arizona is really great with the kids," she added.

Meredith nodded, "She really is. Granted she has some experience with work and her own kid, but I wish I had the kind of energy she does with them."

"Yeah, she's pretty incredible," Amelia said quietly. She looked at Meredith to see if she'd heard her, but the other woman didn't react if she had. Amy sipped her coffee.

"Have you talked to Cristina lately?" Amy asked after a moment.

Meredith perked up at the mention of her friend's name, "Yes! She's actually coming to Seattle soon for a visit."

Amelia smiled, knowing how much Meredith had missed Cristina since Derek had died. "That's great," she said. "Maybe you can talk her into taking over cardio again."

She laughed, shaking her head, "I doubt that, but she does want to meet Maggie."

"Oh yeah? The newest twisted sister?" Amelia winked at her, and Meredith laughed again.

"Yeah, I guess so! But I think we're gonna have a party here while she's in town. You should bring Owen, maybe."

Amelia blanched, feeling her cheeks get red. Owen. The sound of his name felt off somehow, whereas before it had sounded warm and inviting. She shuddered

Meredith saw Amelia fidgeting, "Are you still with Owen?"

Amelia bit her lip, wondering how to answer that question. "I mean, yes? But…"

Meredith came to stand next to Amelia, forcing her to make eye contact. "Amy…"

She sighed, "Yes, we're still together. But I don't think I want to be," she admitted. "I think I want to be with someone else."

"Arizona?"

Amy sputtered, "H-how? No? I mean… Yes? But how did you?"

Meredith laughed, shaking her head at her sister-in-law's obliviousness. "Amy when I came in last night, Arizona was asleep in your lap. I hardly thought that was 'friendly' behavior. And besides, after one day at the zoo with her you talk about her like she hung the moon."

Amelia sighed, nodding. "I've got it bad, Mer. But I don't know what to do."

"Tell her!" Meredith insisted, "Arizona is sweet, and smart, and you should be with her if you want to be. But I know her, and I know she won't chase you unless she knows there's a realistic possibility that you'll want to be with her." Amelia nodded, thinking. She did want to be with Arizona – she thought. She hadn't been with a woman before, not in an actual relationship. But Arizona was so intoxicating, she couldn't imagine not being with her. That was something she couldn't quite deny herself.

"But you have to talk to Owen first, Amy. You can't say anything to Arizona before you talk to him."

Amelia nodded. "I know," she said quietly. Meredith patted Amelia's shoulder as she walked off, sympathetic to the woman's current dilemma. She knew that this couldn't be easy for her, especially since Owen had helped her so much in recovering from Derek's death. But everyone had to move on, eventually. And maybe for Amelia, moving on meant starting over with someone new.

Meredith left her to think over her coffee when she heard Ellis crying upstairs.

Amy sighed. She knew what she'd have to do.