A/N: enjoy!

Chapter 15

Arizona couldn't help back crack a smile, "what?" she laughed.

"Arizona, I'm being shipped off again. This is not a joke," Callie stated firmly, choking back more tears.

Silence filled the area around them. The smile fell from the blonde's sweet lips. They started to shiver as tears developed. She swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat grew larger. Her jaw fell and she took a deep breath before the truth hit her like a speeding bullet. "Why?" was all she could ask.

Callie stepped forward and pulled the fragile blonde against her shoulder. Arizona gripped onto her tightly, as if maybe, just maybe, this would stop her from leaving. Everything was going swimmingly. Everything was just fine and now Callie would have to leave her once again.

Callie was regretting everything now. She didn't want to go back. She didn't want to leave her beautiful life here at home. She couldn't stomach leaving Roe behind again. She couldn't even begin to imagine the day she'd have to kiss Arizona goodbye. This was all too much. She'd give the government all of her money if it meant not having to go. This time, however, it was non-negotiatable.

"How long?" Arizona questioned. Her voice shook.

"A year," Callie stated.

Arizona knew this. She knew this was the average time for a soldier to have their boots on the ground. She just couldn't believe it.

"Tim, too?" she asked.

Callie shook her head, "Not this time."

Arizona let out a deep sigh. At least she would have her little brother, but now Callie would be all alone over there. To Callie, there was nothing scarier than that thought.

The two women ended up on Arizona's couch. The television was on but no one was watching. They held each other closely, trying to concoct a plan to keep Callie home but they both knew this was useless.

"I can still see Roe, right?" Arizona whimpered. She had fallen completely in love with Callie's daughter. She knew Roe felt just the same. They would both be devistated if they couldn't see each other anymore.

"Of course you can," Callie squeezed her in even closer.

There was silence for a few more moments until Arizona bursted into yet another fit of tears, "I don't want you to be alone!" she cried. She remembered saying the same thing to her brother before his last deployment and her father when she was a young girl. Her biggest concern was that if her loved ones were to die, that they'd die alone.

Callie stood up and walked over to the pictures on the wall. She took a specific one down and took out the picture. She took it over to the couch and angled it towards Arizona, "Now I won't be alone." The photo was of Arizona and her brother a few years back after he graduated from basic training. Arizona knew Callie loved this picture. She learned this after one long night of being propped up on that very same couch, talking through the story of each and every memory.

Arizona let a smile peak between her lips, "Yeah."

There were only three weeks before Callie's deployment and she was going to make the most of it. She had a checklist to fulfill within the next twenty one days and there was no fooling around.

Arizona had plenty of surgeries coming up before Callie was leaving. She wished that she had more time to spend with her.

"Robbins!" Mark said as he spotted the blonde taking a seat at a cafeteria table.

"Hey, Mark!" Although Mark's presence used to annoy her, seeing him interact with Roe softened Arizona up a little.

"How're you holding up, kiddo?" her asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm doing alright," she explained. Which she was. The initial shock had passed and she has now entered the acceptance phase. She had been planning a thousand different surgeries and new activities to do for the next year to keep her mind in a hopeful place. She knew where Callie was going would be dangerous. She could only hope for the best and expect the worst but meanwhile, she needed to stay busy.

"Hey, I was thinking about throwing Cal a going away party the night before she leaves. Nothing crazy, just us," he suggested.

Arizona smiled. She knew Mark would always have a special place in his heart for Callie and now that he was growing a real relationship with her, anyone could see that he had feelings. The beautiful thing was that he was respectful of Callie and Arizona's relationship. Not your typical Mark Sloan.

What was Callie and Arizona's relationship anyway? Were they in a relationship? Were they still dating? There were a lot of unanswered questions that Arizona had. She hoped to get them answered before Callie left.

"That sounds great! Maybe we could all gather at Joe's or something. I know Callie would love that," Arizona suggested.

Mark took a seat as they began to plan. A small get together at the bar turned into a party. They wanted cake and an open bar and decorations. They wanted to have as much fun as possible before Callie went back to the land of sand.

Arizona was swamped with work before the week of the party. She barely had time to sleep, let alone plan or even see Callie. After her final surgery of the evening, she found an empty on-call room and climbed into the bottom bunk. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.

She was jolted awake by full lips pressed against hers, "Arizona," a sweet, husky voice whispered into the darkness.

Arizona kissed back needily, wrapping her arms around the Latina's neck, "I missed you," she mumbled between kisses. A warm hand grabbed at her peaking hip.

"I missed you," Callie mumbled back. They slowly eased themselves into a steamy make out session. Callie slipped in next to the blonde and it wasn't long before Arizona was on top of her, grinding and pulling at clothing.

"Um...Ari-zona," Callie said between a few kisses.

Arizona finally came up for air, "What?"

Callie smiled up at the blonde who was having the time of her life. She wished that it didn't have to stop but they had to, "We have somewhere to be. Come on, up and at'em."

The two women floated up off of the bed, still high on each other's affection, "Where are we going?" Arizona questioned.

"I guess we'll see," Callie stated.

It wasn't long after that their adventure began. Callie stopped for fast food before hopping on the highway. The two women jammed french fries into their mouths as they sang to the scatchy stations on the radio. They watched the sun set in the rear view mirror and Callie rarely ever let go of the fair hand of that beautiful woman.

"Why won't you tell me where were going?" Arizona asked.

"Because I'm not exactly sure," Callie confessed.

"What?! Callie!" Arizona panicked.

"Relax! We've got a full tank of gas and the GPS is in the back seat if we need it," Callie stated calmly with a smirk on her face.

"Then what are we doing?" Arizona questioned.

"I want to get lost with you, Arizona. I want to forget about the fact that I'm leaving next week. I just want it to be us in a strange place and not a worry in the world," she explained, squeezing that same fair hand.

Arizona smiled and scooted closer, resting her head on Callie's shoulder. The highway turned to dirt and Callie explained that when they hit a half of a tank, they'll stop. They passed historical sights and large patches of agricultural land. They saw a family of deer searching for food in a patch of grassland.

"Half of a tank! It's time to stop," Arizona articulated. They spotted a bed and breakfast and pulled into the driveway, which was nearly empty.

"Looks pretty sketchy to me. Let's do this," Callie laughed as they stepped out of the car.

The house was placed right on a huge, jagged hill. Not even the biggest idiot in the world would build a house on a patch of land like this. The pair walked up a tall, white wooden staircase to a rickety old porch with a swing, two chairs, and a small table with an ashtray on it.

"Welcome to the Sanford Inn! Visitors always welcome, day or night," the sign beside the door read.

Arizona gripped onto Callie's hand tighter as she pushed the doorbell.

A fragile old woman came to the door with a smile and a plate of freshly baked cookies in her hand, "good evenin', y'all!" Why the woman had a southern accent in northwest was beyond both of these women.

"Jim! We've got company!" she yelled for her husband, "Please come in."

Callie and Arizona stepped inside. It wrecked of mothballs and melted chocolate chips and the floors creaked with every step they took. The short, round man they assumed to be Jim stepped into the small living area with his cane in his left hand, "Good evenin', girls," the man smiled politely.

"Hi, I'm Callie," the Latina stated, shaking the man's offered hand, "and this is Arizona."

"Ah, nice to meet you girls. Welcome to the Sanford Inn. I'm Jim and this is my wife, Susan. We ask that you treat this home as your own. You are welcome to any unoccupied room that you desire. Lucky for you young ladies, you get the first pick of the night," the old man laughed.

"We'd like to pay upfront. How much for one night?" Callie asked.

"We ask that you only leave what you feel that we as your hosts deserve," the old woman explained, offering us a cookie.

"You have a beautiful home," Arizona explained, setting off the man to tell the story behind "The Old House on the Hill."

The women took a seat on the couch and Callie put her hand on Arizona's thigh. The blonde could read every single gesture that the Latina made. They all pointed back to her desire to get Arizona into bed as quickly as possible.

"Well, we better hit the hay," Callie said, completely out of character, "Arizona and I have had a long day."

"Alright, girls. You two have a good night. The stairs are down the hall. Extra blankets and pillows are in the wardrobe and if you need anything, don't hesitate to come down and ask. Were night owls around here," Susan chuckled.

"Thank you so much!" the women said as they made their way down the hall, bolting up the stairs and finding the room that suited their fancy. One of the rooms was overrun by religious memorabililia.

"Noooo," Arizona shook her head, shutting the door quickly, and moving on to the next room.

"What about this one?" Callie asked from further down the hall.

It was a simple room. A fireplace in the corner and one of the only rooms with carpet.

"Maybe this room will muffle your screams," Arizona suggested.

"My screams? I'm not the screamer here," Callie insisted.

"I guess we'll have to settle this the old-fashioned way," Arizona sassed, pushing the brunette inside and slamming the door behind them.

Skin stuck to sticky skin, body parts entertwined into knots. The sun was just peaking into the blinds but the smell of sex still lingered in the air, mixing with a newer scent of bacon.

"Arizona," Callie mumbled, her oily face stuck to a fair breast.

The blonde mumbled and started to stretch her body but quickly holted when she realised how sore she was.

"Come on, let's get in the shower. We're gross," Callie insisted, sitting herself up and pulling the blankets off of both of them. Arizona curled up into a ball, the cold air rushing towards her naked body. Now she definitely wanted a shower.

The women quickly cleaned themselves and hopped into the clothes they had worn the day before. Callie put two hundred dollars on the night stand, one hundred for the good service and another as an apology for having to clean those sweaty sheets. Arizona stuffed the two pairs of soiled panties in her scrub pockets and headed down for breakfast with sopping wet hair.

"Good morning, girls!" Susan exclaimed happily, moving a big stack of bacon onto a paper towel. Another couple was propped up at a small breakfast nook. When they caught the pair's eyes, they gave an evil glance. Arizona internally blamed Callie for how loud they were the previous evening and Callie did the same for the blonde.

The pair sat at the table and made themselves a plate of delicious home-cooked breakfast. Callie looked at Arizona and smiled. She was glad she had made this spontaneous decision. Nothing made her happier than seeing Arizona smile.

After thanking Susan and Jim for everything, the two found themselves back in Callie's BMW. The drive home was quiet and calm. The time together was appreciated. The sun lit scenery from the night before passed by them in reverse. There was no music to be sung this morning, only talk radio. It wasn't long before they arrived back at Arizona's apartment.

"Are you coming in?" Arizona asked, pulling her work bag from the back seat.

"No, I have to pick up Roe. She wanted to have a mommy/daughter brunch today. She says she misses you. Maybe the three of us can go see a movie this week," Callie smiled.

"That sounds great," Arizona insisted. She was sad to see the Latina go. She wished that they had more time.

Callie leaned over the console and kissed those lucious lips with her own. When her eyes closed, they both slipped into their own world for a moment, "I'll see you soon," Arizona broke it.

Arizona got out and shut the door. Callie wasn't finished. She went on this mission for a purpose and she needed to follow through. She stepped out of her BMW and shut the door, "Arizona, wait."

Callie stood face to face with the blonde, trying hard to concentrate and to not get completely lost in those beautiful seas of blue, "I have something for you."

Callie pulled a small box from her jacket pocket at Arizona gave her a look. Callie laughed, "It's not what you think."

Callie opened the box, "Well, it is what you think. My father gave this ring to my mother as a promise to always take care of her. This is my promise to you. I will take care of you and myself while I'm gone."

Arizona knodded, giving permission for Callie to put it on her finger, "I love you, Arizona. This deployment will be the true. I want you to be my girlfriend. I want you to be the one I get to kiss when I come home."

Arizona's eyes swelled with tears, "yes, of course, Callie. I love you so much." They pulled each other into a tight hug.

"Just stay safe over there. There are people waiting for you when you come home," Arizona whispered.

"I'll do my best."