Disclaimer: This is AU. 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…

AN: Enjoy!

Chapter 32

When Arizona was finally able to pick herself up off the ground and clear her vision enough to see, she didn't head to Boston. At least not at first. She drove around aimlessly like a ship wandering the raging sea with a broken compass. Everything she thought she had was gone. Granted, there wasn't much to lose to begin with but still… it was all she needed. She had Callie, and Arizona knew that everything else would just fall into place.

But then the anvil dropped and Callie left her. Told her that it was for her own good, for their own good. They couldn't be together when both were broken and damaged. Callie needed to figure things out at home, in Miami. And Arizona needed to right all the wrongs in her own life in Boston. …Apart. The blonde dehydrated herself from crying so much and she was sure that she would be the first person to actually die of a broken heart. She trusted Callie completely. Even when the woman had hurt her months before, asking Arizona to risk her medical license in hopes of covering up Amelia's secret. But, eventually, Callie did the right thing even though it risked the Latina's own hopes of winning gold while giving her team the chance to go on and continue. She sacrificed her own life's goal in hopes of making other's come true. Arizona trusted her with everything, all the secrets and pain of her life, but then Callie did what they all did. …She just left.

So after sweeping the shards of her shattered heart off that black top, Arizona climbed back into her Jeep and took off. It should have only been a twenty two hour drive to Boston, but it took her three days because more than once she found her vehicle pointed south, towards Miami. But then she'd have to pull over and scream again. And after sobbing for twenty minutes, pounding her steering wheel and cursing the gods, Arizona would turn her Jeep around and head back towards home.

And when she finally entered the Boston city limits that weight of all her past failures and pains accumulated on her chest and it made it hard for her to breathe. A visceral reaction to everything her hometown has become a symbol of. Pain. And hurt. And disappointment. So she turned to the one person she knew she could count on above all else.

With a heavy fist, she knocks on a front door she's found herself at more times she can count, hoping and praying that her pleas are answered. And when the door swings open, Arizona can only stand the intensity of his stare for a few seconds before melting into the arms of her best friend.

"Phoenix, what's wrong?" He asks as he leads the woman into his apartment.

Through her muffled cries and tear stained eyes, Arizona replies, "Everything, Nick. Everything is wrong."

It took a week and a half for Callie to muster up her courage but now she finds herself storming the lobby of her father's building. A week and a half of crying from missing Arizona, of battling with herself to just forget about being the 'stronger' person and to just drive as fast as she can to Boston and beg for forgiveness. A week of crashing on a friend's couch because she didn't want her family to know she was back in town. …Not yet. But now, after staring at herself in the bathroom mirror for an hour straight, Callie Torres is determined to set her life straight again. …Figuratively speaking.

"Ms. Torres! What a surprise." Her father's receptionist says, the pitch of her voice just a bit too high to be authentic. "Your father is in a meeting but I can-" But Callie isn't in the mood to wait and instead pushes right on through. "No! Ms. Torres, please! You can't just-"

"Try and stop me." The Latina challenges. She's taken on some of the biggest, strongest and the most fiercest base runners in the world and has more often than not come out on top. Callie Torres isn't afraid of a tiny 115 lb receptionist. And her stride doesn't falter when she pushes open the heavy door to his office, nor as she stalks up to his desk.

Her father looks up as his receptionist chases after his daughter, and brown eyes go wide in surprise. "Calliope? What are you-"

"Hang up." Callie spits.

Carlos gawks at his daughter for a second, not used to her being so rude with him, and states, "I'm in the middle of-" But the decision is taken out of his hands when Callie reaches across his desk and hangs up the call herself.

Anger boils over and Carlos bolts from his chair. "Calliope Iphigenia Torres, how dare you do-"

"How dare me?!" Callie exclaims. "How dare you!"

"Get out of my office this instant." The man demands.

"No." The Latina sneers. "No, I'm not going anywhere, Daddy. I'm not going to be pushed around by you anymore." The heat coming from her father's glare is enough to make the skin melt off her skull, but Callie remains strong. "How dare you come to London and demand that I leave the team. That I abandon my teammates and walk out on my country. How dare you!"

"We are not going to talk about-" Carlos fights back but gets cut off again.

"Yeah, we are going to talk about it." Callie interjects. "Because I'm sick and tired of having a father who only supports me when I do what he wants. For God's sakes, Daddy. I won a medal in the Olympics and all I get from you is silence. No congratulations, no smile, not even a phone call. Nothing…" Carlos slowly slinks back down into his chair as sadness fills Callie's eyes. "I… I'm trying to understand why you're so angry at me but… I can't. I'm your daughter. You're supposed to love me. You're supposed to accept me."

"I can't accept the life you have chosen to live." Carlos replies in a broken voice. "You've committed a… grave sin. And you've brought shame to this family."

"By loving someone?" Callie cries, silent tears streaking her face even though she swore to herself she wouldn't cry in front of her father. "How is that wrong, Daddy? Tell me, how is me loving someone so wrong?"

"It's unnatural. And goes against God." He answers. "You were raised with certain values and beliefs and you deliberately go against the path of righteousness by committing acts of an… intimate-" The word tastes like bile on the man's tongue, but he continues on. "-nature with a woman and that cannot be ignored."

Callie stares at the man she once thought of as a hero, but now only as a man too weak to stand up against others to protect his family, and she says, "Then I guess I was lost when I had sex for the first time. Because I wasn't married. …Or when I divorced George, because divorce is a sin as well. So I guess I've been a lost cause for a while now." She takes a second to compose herself, then turns on her heel and leaves.

To see his daughter in pain tears at Carlos's heart, and he calls after her, "Calliope, please…" She stops in her tracks and listens, but doesn't face him. "Let me take you to see Father Kevin. He can help you, make you see the light again. We can help you, mija. And then… it'll be like it never happened. You can come and work for me, get your trust fund back… You don't have to be like this."

A forced laugh slips from plump lips and finally Callie spins to look her father in the eyes. "This is who I am, Daddy. I don't want to work for you, or take over the family business. I don't want the money. And I don't want to forget about Arizona, because I love her. All I want is for you to accept me as I am. …And if you can't do that, if you can't see that I'm the same person I've always been then… I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you can't open your mind to something or someone who might be just a little bit different than you are. But I'm not changing who I am, and I'm not going to pretend what happened between me and Arizona never happened because those were the best moments of my life."

Another pregnant pause falls between them, each waiting for the other to crack, but then Callie realizes she's just bashing her head against a brick wall. So with a renewed dose of strength she wipes away the last of her tears and says, "You know, I idolized you. But now…" Carlos can see the disappointment in his daughter's eyes but he just can't let the issue drop. And without another word he watches the light of his life walk out of his office… and out of his life.

"What am I going to say to them?" A beaten and broken Arizona asks as she watches the dark amber liquid swirl around her glass. Others taking up residence in her usual neighborhood bar laugh and chat with one another while the blonde sits on a bar stool and broods.

"Tell them the truth." Nick replies.

"It's not that easy." She sighs then downs the last of her scotch and gestures to the barkeep for another. "Getting my parents to stay in the same room is like risking World War III, then trying to tell them that they've been bad parents on top of that? I'd rather not be accused of being the reason the entire block combusts in a flaming ball of fire."

Silence fall between the two friends, as it has for the past few weeks since Arizona has been home. Nick has done his best to help the troubled Arizona try to breathe again but sometimes when he looks into those blue eyes he just can't see the fight anymore. Arizona used to be a fighter, ever since they started hanging out together. He, Arizona and Tim used to raise hell, but now that Arizona seems lost. And he can time it up to almost exactly when her brother perished overseas.

He battles himself for a few minutes on whether to bring up a subject he hasn't uttered a word about, nor has Arizona. She doesn't mention Callie, but he's seen the news. He watched the Games. He saw how Arizona looked at the woman, and in their embrace just after winning Gold, when all of America's eyes were on them, he saw that fire in his friends soul again. But it doesn't take a genius to realize that something happened, otherwise Arizona wouldn't be sitting with him in the bar as she tries to drink herself numb. No… something has hurt his friend more deeply than anything else that has happened yet.

"Have you talked to her yet?" Nick asks.

Arizona's finger still on her glass and blue eyes slowly trek up to meet his gaze. "Who?"

"You know who, Flagstaff." The man replies softly and receives only silence in return. "You loved her, didn't you?"

"I still do." The blonde whispers. "If only that were enough."

"Arizona Robbins." An examiner calls, creating a wave of anxiety to flow through the blonde's veins.

With shaky legs the woman stands and replies, "Here."

"This way please." The man says, then steps back into the hotel room that is being used as an exam room.

Arizona straightens the jacket of her business suit and takes a deep breath. Today is the day she has been both dreading and expecting for some time. Nearly ten months ago she sat across from this hotel and just stared at it while dozens of fellow surgeons took their boards. She was supposed to be among them but her brother's death was still fresh, that wound still open and exposed. That Arizona couldn't do it, so instead she ran. But this is a new Arizona, one fighting to take control of her life. It's not easy. None of it has been easy. Confronting Rachel, her ex. Talking to her folks. Convincing her chief of surgery to allow her back to work even if it meant under probation. But here she is.

She enters the clean and warmth free room, taking a seat in an armless chair across from two exam practitioners. They're busy scribbling something in their respective folders, giving Arizona even more time to settle down. She pulls at the hem of her skirt to straight it and smoothes out some invisible wrinkles before bringing a hand to her chest. Just beneath her blouse lies something heavy, and cool. Her gold medal. At first she thought it was ridiculous to wear, but Nick insisted. He said it would bring her courage and strength. And he's right, it has.

"Alright, Dr. Robbins." The older of the two white gentleman starts. "A 11 year old Caucasian boy comes into the ER showing signs of cardiac distress. Go."

What seems like mere seconds later the blonde is released after the first of three sections of her oral boards are completed. Despite her fears and anxieties, she feels good. Great. It's not a secret that she is an amazing surgeon, one of the best in her program and a young doctor with a bright future. But since last year there has been a sort of… wall, one that has been chipped away at slowly but surely ever since.

She takes a few minutes to herself in the restroom while fellow doctors also take their breaks. After splashing some cool water on her face, the blonde exits the bathroom when a hand reaches out and grips her arm. Spinning on her heel she finds a hand belong to a young, no more than 8 years old, girl.

"I saw you on TV." The girl says, smiling to reveal a couple missing teeth.

"Sofia! Sofia where are- there you are." A woman calls, stepping up behind the girl. "I'm so sorry if she was bothering you."

"Mom, I told you it was her!" The girl exclaims, turning her gaze from to her mother to Arizona. "You were on the TV for the Olympics. Right?"

"That's right." Arizona replies with a smile. "You watched us?"

"Yeah, every game. I even made a flag." Sofia says, a light sparking beautifully green eyes. And even thought the two girls didn't look anything like one another, Arizona is taken back in time to when a different Sofia graced her life. One that changed everything the blonde thought about medicine. She wanted to be hardcore, work with hearts or do trauma. She hated kids, they were loud and messy and they smelled funny. Then she met Sofia. And she lost Sofia. …And now she is testing to become a board certified pediatric surgeon in hopes of never losing a Sofia again.

"Do you have your gold medal?" The girl asks, shaking Arizona from her thoughts.

The mother grips her daughter's shoulder and says, "Honey, it's not polite to-"

"I do, actually." Arizona cuts the woman off, kneeling down to get on the same level as Sofia. She reaches under her shirt and slowly pulls out the golden ornament, making green eyes go wide with wonder.

"Wow, that's pretty." Sofia whispers, her tiny hands reaching out to touch the raised surface.

"It is." Robbins agrees. She can feel her break drawing to a close and she adds, "You know what, I'm heading into a very important meeting right now and… this medal is just too heavy for me to carry with me. If only there were someone who could hold it for me." Sofia's eyes widen in an instant and she nearly starts to hop in place. "Do you know of someone who could do that?"

"I could!" The girl answers.

"You?" Arizona feigns uncertainty. "I don't know, are you strong enough to carry it?" Pigtails wave feverishly as Sofia nods her head 'yes' hard enough to stir her brain. "Are you trustworthy? Can you protect it? Use it only for good? Because that's what this medal stands for, Sofia. Bringing only good to the world."

"Yes, I can." Sofia says, looking up to into the smiling face of her mother. "You can trust me, I promise."

"Alright then…" The surgeon replies, then pulls the medal up and over her head. "Keep this safe for me, alright kiddo?" With one last look at the excited girl, now the one wearing the gold, Arizona turns on her heel and heads back to her exam.

She's just being called by the time she makes it to her assigned room and Arizona quickly settles back into her chair. "Ready to continue, Dr. Robbins?" Her practitioner asks.

A hand reaches up and rests against Arizona's chest to find no medal, no crutch, no lucky charm. But for some reason she knows she doesn't need it. And with a smile, Arizona simply replies with, "Bring it on."

A piercing ring of Callie's alarm clock pulls the Latina out of her deep sleep. The sound bounces off the empty, dull walls of her bedroom and starts to bore into her mind. Brown eyes squeeze together, trying to block the noise, the day, the world… everything out, but it doesn't work. Disentangling herself from the cocoon of sheets and pillows, an unsteady hand reaches out for her phone and shuts off the alarm. There is nothing more she wants to do is to close her eyes again and drift back off to sleep, but the work schedule hanging on her refrigerator door and the pile of bills stacked up on her kitchen counter are reminders that that just isn't an option.

After a big stretch the Latina rolls out of bed and shuffles to the bathroom in a daze, stubbing her toe on one of the many boxes still left unpacked. After weeks and weeks, most of her possessions still remained boxed up. It's not that the woman has been working long shifts and extra hours just to try and get by, but there is also the subconscious thought that once she finally does unpack, this little hole in the wall is her home. Callie Torres never thought she took her family's money for granted, but she never thought trying to make it on her own would be so hard. …Especially with an economy in a tail spin.

When she finally makes it to the bathroom sink, partially hopping the rest of the way as a string of expletives slip between her lips, tired brown eyes greet her with heaviness. It seems like just an hour ago she finally fell into bed and now she has to do it all over again.

Within an hour and a half Callie strides through the back door of her place of employment, a semi-popular karaoke bar. It's not her dream job. Far from it in fact. But when all the experience you have is a degree in Hotel Management and a gold medal in softball, there's not a lot out there. Especially when ninety percent of the hotels within the greater Miami area belong to one Carlos Torres. What Callie really wants is a restaurant of her own, but that takes money and connections. Things she doesn't have… along with money. Being broke doesn't make living any easier so she ended up taking the first job someone offered her. Just so happened that she visited this establishment a couple times in the past and the owner remembered her. So now Callie Torres, ex-heiress to a fortune and a world renowned softball player, is a waitress in a neighborhood karaoke bar.

"Torres! You're late!" Her boss shouts from his office as she flies past his open door.

"I closed last night, give me a break." The Latina replies while locking her purse and jacket in her locker.

The large, overweight and sweaty man shuffles from his office and leans against the door jam, his breath heavy and ragged. "You're the one who wanted more hours so don't bitch at me that you're tired." Only because her back is turned to the man does Callie chance an eye roll. "And there's a broad waiting for you. She's been here for an hour but wouldn't leave."

This catches Callie's attention, a flicker of hope sparking inside of her. Maybe it's Arizona. Maybe she's here to sweep Callie off her feet. Hell, she'd even take Arizona coming all the way back to Miami to just to call her a bitch. She doesn't care as long as it's Arizona.

"Who is it?" Torres asks, trying to keep a calm exterior.

"Wouldn't say." The man replies shortly. "But get her out of here. You got work to do and I don't need you half assing your way through another shift." He turns back into his office while Callie moves on towards the front of the club, mumbling something not nice under her breath. "What was that?!"

She grinds her teeth but shoots her boss a tight smile and replies too sweetly, "Nothing." Pushing through the double doors that separate the back from the rest of the bar, her eyes scan the dozens of bar stool and chair legs sticking up in the air. A noise from behind the bar draws her attention and she sees the usual starting barkeep setting up his stock for the night. But then with one more sweep she finds a lone woman sitting in a darkened corner, waiting.

Any hopes that it might be Arizona are dashed when not blonde hair but black comes into view. Callie approaches the woman slowly, and when footsteps are heard the mysterious person peeks over their shoulder and the Latina recognizes her instantly.

"Aria, what are you doing here?" Callie asks in shock. It's been much longer than she would like to say since she's seen her sister, but the Latina knows that this call can't be a social one.

"I could ask you the same thing, Callie." Aria replies evenly, a perfect rendition of their mother's tone.

A disbelieving smirk appears on Callie's lips. "Don't." She snaps, then turns on her heels and starts to pull down the dozens of chairs waiting for her.

"Mom and Dad haven't heard from you in nearly three months." Her sister continues, following Callie as she moves around the bar.

"Yeah well, the phone works both ways." The woman grumbles.

Taking hold of her sister's arm, Aria tugs Callie to a halt and says, "This isn't right, Callie. It's not proper. You acting like the victim isn't helping anything. You need to-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Aria." Callie growls. "You don't get to play big sister to me, not anymore. When you cut ties with me just because Daddy told you to you lost that right. And I'm not 'playing' anything."

"You think you're the only one who was hurt from all of this?" Aria rebuttals. "Imagine what our parents went through when your face popped up on TV, sticking your tongue down another woman's throat. What were they supposed to do? They were blindsided, Callie. We all were. And we didn't get a single word from you! No heads up, nothing."

"So instead Dad comes storming into Olympic Village, demanding I come home with him so he can send me to some mind warping church program to pray the gay out of me?" Callie exclaims. "Tell me how any of this is my fault. That picture was taken without my knowledge and shown without my consent. I had no-"

"You KISSED her!" Aria shouts above her sister. "You did that, Callie. You. That is how this is your fault. It's your fault that Dad is having chest pains and Mom is sick so often that she's forming ulcers. That's all on you."

"Fine. Wanna dump it all on me, that's just fine." Callie snaps back, stepping in close to her older sister and using the inch height advantage she has to look down at Aria. "If it makes you feel better about all of this, ok. Do it. You know why? Because I don't care anymore. I'm done trying to please everyone besides myself. If my family can't accept me for who I am then I don't accept them." A beat passes, Callie daring her sister to say something but when only silence is given, she adds, "Now, please leave. Because I am one incident away from being fired and I need this job to try and pay the pile of bills stacked up on my counter at home otherwise I'll not only be jobless… but homeless as well."

Aria studies her sister's face and sees a mixture of pain and sadness dwelling deep in those brown eyes, and a fresh wave of quilt washes over her. Shoulder's slumping, the woman digs into her purse and pulls out a pen.

Callie watches her older sister starts to make out a check and asks, "What are you doing?" But instead of answering, Aria rips the fresh check from its place in her checkbook and hands it to Callie. Brown eyes go wide at the sum written there but then she quickly recovers. "I don't want it." She sneers, shoving it back into her sisters hand then turning her back to the woman.

"Callie, don't be stupid." Aria groans. "Just take it."

"And let Mom and Dad think that they can just buy their way out of all of this?" The Latina questions. "No."

"It's not their money, it's mine." The other woman replies. "Alright? So just take it, pay off your bills, and come back home."

"No." Callie says again. "You all made it perfectly clear about how you feel about me and my lifestyle, and I'm not going to go back to living a fake life. I'm not. I'm going to stay here, work in this run down bar until something else… something better opens up. Because I don't want that life, Aria. I don't want that life of fake smiles and fake families and million dollar homes that are just for show. I want the real thing… Love that isn't forced and a family that is full of life. And I'm getting punished because that real thing just so happens to involve a woman. And that's not fair." A tear starts to streak down the Latina's cheek, an overhead light catching it just right so that it shines like a beacon in Aria's gaze. "How is it fair that you get a happy ever after and I don't, just because I fell in love with a woman and not a man?"

The question gets left hanging in the air because Callie pushes through into the back of the club, leaving her sister alone to think about it all. And she does think, being a lawyer doesn't just happen by chance. She saw the sadness in her sister's eyes, the lack of hope weighing down the woman's shoulders. Despite often being at odds when they were younger, Aria's love for her little sister is trumped by nothing else in this world. It's only because of that love she flew down from New York in hopes of talking some sense into the woman. But then she saw Callie's conviction, heard her words, and felt her pain. And it was all too real.

And when, later that evening as Aria sits quietly in the dark corner of that karaoke bar, her sister is called up on stage to sing a number for the crowd, tears flow like the mighty Mississippi as Callie belts out the most heart wrenching rendition of 'Leave the Light On'. Because Aria knows that her sister isn't just singing a song, but serenading a woman she loved… and lost.

The hard, bitter winter wind of mid December slaps Arizona square in the face. Tears start to run down from her eyes and freeze before they even reach her chin. The snow below her feet crunches as she fights her way to her destination. Thin scrubs beneath her winter jacket does little to keep her warm but this trip wasn't planned, it just happened. It's been a long time coming, and maybe the coldness now attacking her body is a form of punishment, one that she believes she fully deserves.

She weaves through row after covered row until she reaches the one she is looking for, or so she hopes. Down ten spaces and Arizona comes to a stop in front of a snow covered mass, and with a clearing wipe of her hand, the etched words of 'Timothy James Robbins' appears.

Within the confines of the cemetery the brutal wind is abated just enough, and the blonde falls to her knees in front of her brother's gray marble tombstone.

Blue eyes, watery from the sharp bite in the air, study the slab of granite she has only seen once. It's been nearly a year, only a week until the day, since he died. A year since Arizona's world came crashing down, along with everything she loved. She hasn't visited her brother since, nor has she even spoken to him. Arizona has spoken of him, about him, she's read his letters more times than she can count, but to talk to the heavens, to talk to someone who is no longer here, makes it too real.

But with a heavy breath, one that hangs on the crisp December air, Arizona speaks her first words to her brother since his death. "…Hey big bro. How are you? …You know, I told mom and dad not to get you the gray one, you hate gray. But, surprise surprise, they didn't listen." A beat passes, almost as if Arizona is waiting for a response, and then a forced chuckle slips from between pink lips. "God I'm terrible at this… I know. I should have come sooner but I just… I couldn't" Blue eyes fill with tears of emotion, but are kept restrained. "Because I still can't understand why. …Why you? I don't blame you Tim, not at all. I get it. …You wanted to save the world. But… why did it have to be you?" Finally the first tear escapes her grasp and freezes against her cheek.

"God, I miss you. So much, I miss you." A steady stream of wetness streaks from her eyes and Arizona doesn't even bother to wipe them away. "You left me, Tim. You left and you're not coming back and I miss you so much it hurts. …I miss how you used to pick on me, and how Mom would roll her eyes when we'd come up with a scheme together. I miss your letters and your voice. I just miss you." She buries her face in her hands, trying to calm herself. The coldness has already seeped into her flesh, making her skin nearly numb but it doesn't bother her. It gives her something to hold on to.

Clearing her vision yet again, she continues in a ragged voice, "And I got you something…" Arizona pulls out a weighty gold medal from her pocket, the metal glittering in the barely there sunlight. "I won this… for you, Tim. I thought that by winning this, it would honor your sacrifice. That it would really show you how much I love you. And maybe, just maybe, it'd give me something to fight for." A finger traces the raised patterns of the award just like it has a hundred times before. "But this wasn't the best thing that happened to me since you died, Tim. Not by a long shot. …I met someone."

A smile plays at chapped lips, an image of a smiling Callie replaying in her mind. "She's amazing. …And I miss her. God I miss her so much. …You would have loved her. You would. She's… perfect. She was the one, Tim. The reason you'd be dancing at my wedding, because I would have married the most amazing woman ever. But now? I don't know… I know she left me because she loved me but… God, she left and took my heart with her. I just don't know how to make it work."

After pulling a limp tissue from her pocket and clearing her nose, Arizona continues, "I came back to Boston to… make things right. To take control of my life again. For you, for Callie. But… I realized that those weren't good enough reasons. I needed to do it for myself. So I talked to Mom and Dad, like really talked to them for the first time in a year. It was painful and awful but… so worth it. And I confronted Rachel. …Who says hi by the way. She always did like you, Timmy."

Pink lips turn up in a playful smile for a half second before her sadness falls back into place. "And I went back to work, I passed my boards. …Today I operated on a little boy, eleven years old. A moppy head of thick, tangled brown hair and the greenest eyes I've ever seen." She finally gets to the real reason of what brought her to her brother today, her hands wringing together as her gaze remains plastered on the tombstone right in front of her. "He shouldn't have made it. …He should have died on the table, or years before but… he pulled through. If anyone else had had their hands on him, he would have died. But I saved him. It took me so long to remember why I do what I do, but then today, when I told his weeping mother and his stone-faced father that their little boy will live to grow old, I remembered."

And wiping the way the last of her tears and holding up her medal, she says, "So I don't need this anymore. I've taken all I can from it so I figured that since it was you who took me to London, Tim, that you could hang on to it for me." Using one of her keys, Arizona is able to pry up just enough of the frozen ground right in front of Tim's tombstone, and she slips the plastic covered package underneath. "If I ever want it back, I'll know where to find it but… I want you to have it, big brother. …And, this might be my last visit for a while. I was offered a fellowship in Seattle and… I'm thinking about taking it. But don't worry, just because I'm gone doesn't mean won't talk to you. I will. I promise." Swallowing the lump in her throat, Arizona rights herself into the standing position, legs numb and wobbly from having been kneeling so long.

Once her balance has returned, the blonde kisses her gloved hand and places it on the cool marble of her brother's gravestone. "I love you, Tim. And I miss you."

Another night has drawn to a close at the dark and depressing bar Callie Torres is working in. Another night of people singing off key, men asking for 'another round hot stuff', and not enough tips to make up for not killing someone. The Latina counts through her earnings and finds it depressingly small. Those bills stacked up in her apartment never seem to get any less, but somehow only grow. She's avoided being kicked out for four months, but everything else is pretty lean. It's only because she is stealing wi-fi from the old couple who live above her, who have yet to figure out how to password their connection, that she doesn't end up sitting in the dark night after night after night.

"I thought Christmas season was supposed to be a giving season." She grumbles under her breath. "Hey Joe?"

The bartender peeks his head out from the stock room and calls, "Yeah?"

"If you're good, I'm gonna head out." Callie replies, already untying her apron and grabbing her stuff.

"Sounds good, Cal. Have a good night." Her lone friend says, waving as she walks past and out into the Miami night.

She instinctively grips the can of mace on her key chain as she turns the corner and starts the six block walk back towards her apartment. Callie is still in possession of her T-Bird but when her work is so close, she doesn't waste gas on the daily trip to and from, instead relying on the lit and populated sidewalks of Miami to get from A to B. The first few nights were a little tense but now, after four months of the same routine, she knows when something is amiss.

Which is why, as she pushes open the front door of her apartment building and checks her mailbox, she peeks over her shoulder to find a figure crouched down and leaning against the far wall. Whoever she was expecting it was, the woman who stands and steps into the light makes her heart stop.

"Arizona." She whispers between dry lips.

The blonde knew who it was the moment the Latina's feet hit the apartment building lobby. The signature pounding of strong legs and long strides is something that has been engrained into Arizona's mind for eternity. Hours of waiting and wondering, battling on whether to forget it and just leave, have come full circle to this moment.

"Hey." Arizona replies just as softly.

Realizing her mouth is agape, Callie snaps it shut and mumbles, "W-what are you-"

"We need to talk…" The blonde cuts her off.

The sharpness of the woman's tone makes the Latina's stomach knot, but she's able to muster up a response. "Um, o-ok. We can go to my apartment." Arizona just nods and follows the woman who broke her heart over four months ago.

They climb the three sets of stairs in silence, Arizona always a step behind Callie, and soon end up at Torres's front door. Shaky hands struggle to find the correct key and slide it into the lock, but finally it turns and the door gives way.

"Come in." Callie murmurs. It's not the first time she's had company over, but it's the first time anyone she knows has seen her place. She watches from across the room as crystal clear blue eyes take in the small, rundown apartment. It's not horrible, but it's not what one would expect a daughter of a millionaire to be living in. Boxes are still stacked around the living room, coffee still in its pot and yesterday's work clothes strewn across the couch.

"Sorry about the mess…" She says, quickly snatching the clothes and tossing them into the bedroom before shutting it from sight. The two women stand on opposite sides of the apartment, both more nervous than when they faced Japan in the finals, and neither knowing what to say.

With a deep breath, Callie starts, "Arizona, I-"

"Don't." Arizona cuts her off. "You uh, you did most of the talking the last time we saw each other so now it's my turn." Her words are much stronger than she feels and right now she is silently wishing she would have folded earlier and just had a smoke.

"Ok." Callie whispers, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I…" A forced laugh slips between pink lips, and she continues. "I've spent a lot of time… a lot, trying to figure out what to say to you. I've had this conversation in my head more times than I can count and every time it just… Last week marked a year since Tim died."

Callie can see the slight twinkle in those blue eyes that signal a trace of approaching tears, and she mumbles, "I'm sorry."

"I visited his grave for the first time since. Before then I couldn't even talk to him, but there I was. In the freezing ass cold, kneeling in six inches of snow, crying my eyes out because I finally… accepted that he was gone." Her voice is rough and she keeps her eyes averted from the Latina as she slowly moves through the apartment, almost like Callie is pulling her closer. "I've accepted that my parents are divorced, and I've been able to, for the first time in I don't know how long, sit down and talk with them. …I've retaken my boards and I've gone back to work. …And I did all of this despite you, Callie."

Callie's heart, which has been pounding faster than ever, suddenly stops. The ice in Arizona's words cut her to the core and all those fears she's had for the past few months of Arizona falling out of love with her have come speeding back.

"You were right. I was using you." Arizona continues. "I was using you to forget about my pain, and my loss. I was using you like a drug. And, just like every other addict, when my drug was ripped away from me, I died." Finally blue eyes meet brown in the soft lighting of Callie's apartment, and they reach deep down into the Latina's soul. "Not literally, obviously. But metaphorically, I died. I didn't know what to do. But slowly I recovered. I learned to live without you."

Their gazes lock for a few seconds, and then the blonde adds, "When I failed my boards last year, the fellowship at Johns Hopkins was given away to someone else. But… another hospital, one of the best in Pediatric Surgery, offered me a their fellow position."

"Oh?" Callie breathes out, not having the strength for anything else because her heart is getting shredded finer and finer with each word Arizona utters.

"It's in Seattle, Washington." Arizona says, "And I'm taking it."

Those four words hit Callie like a hammer, her breath being knocked from her body and her heart being ripped from her chest. This is it, this is the end. Any hopes of she and Arizona getting back together are over. Whatever their relationship is at the present, as messed up and difficult as it is, would never be able to survive the three thousand mile distance between Miami and Seattle. …And that's if Arizona wanted to try it or not. But going off of everything the blonde has said up to this point, she doesn't.

A ragged breath gets pushed from her lungs and a tear that has been threatening to fall for a long time now finally makes a streak down her cheek. "I'm happy for you…" She manages to get out before more tears streak down her face.

Blue eyes watch as the woman in front of her slowly falls apart, and Arizona quietly adds, "And I want you to come with me."

Taking in a sharp breath, brown eyes snap up to the blonde and Callie has to ask, "What?"

A crooked smile pulls at one side of her face, and Arizona says, "I planned to say all these terrible thing to you, Calliope, but in the end, you're still the woman I love. …And I know we're skipping about a million steps but I know that I need you. Yes, I can live without you, I've proved that. But I know… I know that you're it for me. You're the woman that I've been dreaming about since I was young, and you're the woman who I've imagined growing old with, and I'm not running away from it anymore." She takes a small step forward, closing the distance between them to just a foot, and says, "I want you to come to Seattle with me, but I'm not going to beg. I don't want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with me. …So I need to know. Do you still love-"

The rest of the sentence is never spoken because Callie lunges forward, her hands cupping creamy cheeks and her lips finding Arizona's. It's a kiss she's been craving and dreaming and imagining for four months, and it's so much better. Tears fall unabashed from both blue and brown eyes as Arizona takes hold at the nape of the Latina's neck, pulling her down harder.

"I'm sorry." Callie sobs between their joined lips. "I'm so sorry." And Arizona knows she is, not because of her words but because of her pain. Someone can always say they are sorry, but the real apology is when you hear the sadness in their voice and see the look in their eyes. And you realize that they have hurt themselves just as much.

Their mouths part, both out of breath and their vision hampered from tears, but blue eyes stare up into brown and Arizona whispers, "Say it…"

And the words Callie has ached to say to her finally come flooding out, and she says, "I love you. Arizona, I love you. I love you, I love you…" Neither know who reinitiates their kiss, but both delve into with hunger and passion. And when air becomes a necessity again, they cling to each other like life rafts, afraid that if they let go they will float away forever.

"How did you find me?" Callie asks with a hoarse voice.

Arizona pulls away, and with shaky hands she reaches into her back pocket to pull out a small index card. "I got this in the mail…" A tanned hand grasps it and Callie reads the plain piece of paper. A black sharpie has hastily written down her address, along with 'Just in case you wanted to know'. "It didn't have a return address but…" Blue eyes read the flash of confusion quickly followed by understanding, and she says, "You didn't send this."

"No, but I know who did." The Latina replies.

"So… you never answered my question." The blonde muses after a second, blue eyes pleading for brown to meet her gaze again. "I mean, I know it's a lot to ask… and I'll be working 100 hours a week, getting paid less than minimum wage but… this is the start of my new life, Calliope. And I want you to be a part of it."

Callie presses in for yet another kiss, soft, tender and loving, the Latina never getting over how sweet Arizona tastes against her lips. And as she parts, Callie pulls the blonde's hips into hers, their two body molding together. With her forehead resting against Arizona's, she whispers, "When do we leave?"

True dimples appear for the first time in four months, and the blonde says, "When are you ready?"

Dark eyes scan the run down hovel she's been calling home for months now, and says, "Give me ten minutes to spread the lighter fluid then I'm good." Their laughs meld together, forming a tune that neither thought they would ever hear again.

Sobering up, a caramel finger traces the jaw line of the woman she set free so long ago, still not believing she came back, and asks, "Until then… Stay with me?"

"Yes." Arizona answers in a whisper.

"Forever?" Callie mumbles.

"Forever."