I had most of this written already, just took a little fine tuning, I hope you all enjoy it. And with that, that is the end of this. Thank you all for reading, and reviewing.
Epilogue
Callie
"Sofia, come on let's go"
"I'm ready momma"
"thank you Steph" I smile down at my not quite yet daughter.
"Sofia, you are not wearing that to school" Arizona's voice is heard
"but mommy I want too" Sofia whines in that tone I know is gonna turn into her having a fit, which we definitely did not have time for, not this morning. "just find something else" Arizona says I look down at Steph, and she shrugs "NOW!" Arizona screams, I see Steph shiver, and try to hide behind me. Moving I lower myself so I'm level with her "honey, you know Arizona and I won't ever hurt you right?" she nods, but I can see the fear in her eyes "I'm serious" I say softly "we are not going to hurt you, we may raise our voices, like Arizona, mommy," I correct myself "did but we will never hurt you"
"I'm sorry, momma, I'm just" she sniffles "I'm just so scared"
"oh honey" I hold open my arms, hoping she'd come in for a hug, to my surprise she does "I'm sorry momma" she says again this time into my chest and sobbing.
"Sofia I swear to" Arizona says but stops when I look up at her she's coming down the stairs, and gave me the what happened look, after seeing Stephanie in my arms sobbing. "Sofia" Arizona calls up the stairs.
"I'm coming mommy geeze"
"no baby it's ok, what do you say we all stay home today" she says her eyes not leaving mine, I nod, Stephanie still in my arms "no school?" Sofia asks poking her head around the wall
"no" I say Arizona nods
"yay no school" Sofia cheers and runs back up the stairs
"are you ok with that?" I ask as Steph let's go of me
"I can go to school, I used to cry all the time before and after school, and I still went" she sniffles
"well" Arizona says moving closer "I think we could all use a day to play hooky"
"what's playing hooky?" Steph asks, reaching up to wipe her nose on the back of her sweater.
"its when we stay home, and not go to work or school, and spend the day together" Arizona explains
"I'll call Bailey, you call the school" I say to my wife who nods, and helps Steph get her backpack off. As I head into the kitchen to make the call, pulling out my phone I take a deep breath, this is going to go one of two ways, either we're going to get yelled at or she's going to have a heart and tell us to take all the time we need. "Torres"
"um" wanting to correct her, but I haven't yet changed my name at the hospital, and no one knows that Arizona and I are legally married yet. "spit it out" she says
"Arizona and I won't be in today"
"why"
"well" I clear my throat "we, um, Stephanie" I couldn't think of what to say "oh" comes from the phone "take all the time you need, I'll get your surgeries rescheduled for you"
"thanks Miranda"
"no problem Torres, take care of that little girl"
"she's not sick, she just had a breakdown and Arizona and I thought"
"no I get it, really I do"
"ok, thank you" I say hearing a noise in the doorway I look up meeting Arizona's eyes I nod and hang up.
"how'd that go?"
"it's Bailey how do you think it went?" I say setting my phone on the counter
"well I didn't hear her yelling so" Arizona giggles.
"she told us to take all the time we need" I say leaning against the counter, Arizona smiled and walked closer, reaches out and pulling me in, as our lips connect I feel the flutter in my stomach that's always present when she's around. After she pulls back "did you call the school?" I ask
"mmhmm" she smiles, she had it easier than I did.
"pajama day on the couch Dr. Robbins?"
"pajama day on the couch, Dr. Robbins" she repeats before giving me a kiss and leaving the room.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Arizona
I could hear waves crashing onto the shore and feel the warm sun on my skin. Slowly opening my eyes, the sun was bright, too bright, so I shut my eyes tight. "Zona" I hear, it was a voice I haven't' heard in a very, very long time. Opening my eyes, I squint into the sunlight, but all I could see was a silhouette of someone standing there "Timmy?" I ask, it sure as hell sounded like him, and he's the only one who has ever called me Zona.
"hi Zona" he says again and moves, so I he's out of the direct sun, and I see him, he looks just like the last time I saw him, his blonde hair was buzz cut, and blue eyes shining at me. I jumped up, not even bothering to wipe the sand off, and wrapped my arms around him. "Timmy I've missed you so much"
"I miss you too Zona" he says giving me a big bear hug, I could smell his cologne, with a hint of salt water. I pull back before the tears start and look around "where am I?"
"you don't recognize it?"
"no" I shake my head looking around we are the only two, standing on a white sandy beach.
"it's the beach" he says softly
"the beach" I turn to look around again, my eye sight caught my left leg, moving my hand to it "I have my leg"
"yes Zona, you have your leg" he laughs, as I run my hands up and down my leg. I look up at him, blue meeting blue, "the beach" I see him nod "am I dead?" I watch as he takes a deep breath and nods. "you will be soon, this is the cross over beach"
"Callie, and the girls"
"the girls are good, sad, but good, and" he stops, nodding behind me when I turn around I see the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. Calliope Robbins standing before me, looking all young and healthy, just like she did the day I kissed her in that dirty bar bathroom. She smiled and I run into her arms. "everyone is here Zona" Tim says, when I pull back from Callie and look around, I see my mom and dad, Carlos, Richard, Mark, Derek, Lexie, and little Wallace. I move out of Callie's embrace and to him "hello Dr. Robbins"
"Wallace" my eyes fill up with tears "I'm, I'm so sorry"
"it's ok, Dr. Robbins, I know you did everything you could to fix me, and I'm happy here" he says waving around, "there's no more pain" he reaches up to push his glasses back up on his face.
"Arizona" Callie's voice is heard
"Calliope" I say and run back into her arms, "what happened"
"nothing" she says pushing my hair back out of my face "we're old" she laughs
"damn blondie, looking good" Mark says as he walks up beside us.
"shut it Mark" I smile and go in for a hug, after he lets go I make my way to my mom and dad, giving them both hugs, and then Carlos, Lexie and Derek were next, then Richard. He looks so young "good to see you again Robbins"
"look at you" I say looking him up and down
"I know, I feel like I'm a teenager again" he laughs.
"Zona" Tim says standing next to my parents. I have not seen this sight in so long, it takes my breath away. "I want to show you something" I nod and he takes my hand "Callie you too" he reaches out for her. The next thing I know we are standing inside a church, Sofia and Steph are standing behind a podium, with pictures of Callie and I behind them.
General POV
The church was packed, so packed that there were people standing along the wall, and out the door. There wasn't a dry eye in the place as Sofia stood, making her way to the front. Where the preacher had just finished, she laid the paper she had written her speech on out onto the podium and looked out over the crowd that had gathered. "thank you all for coming" she sniffled "my moms were" she paused again, looking up making eye contact with Stephanie, then over to Zola, and next to her husband, who gave her a nod. She hadn't really wanted to do this, she was hoping Steph would have, but they all agreed that since Sofia was with them longer, it would be her. "I'm sorry I" she started to say, Steph had stood from her seat and joined her sister "we should have done this together" she said sniffling, as she wrapped her arm around her sister. Steph cleared her throat and read from the paper. They had written it together, she almost could recite it from memory. "Arizona Robbins was a woman if you didn't know you wanted to. She always had a smile on her face, and was always the one we could count on when we needed a pick me up" Sofia cleared her throat and leaned toward the microphone "Calliope Robbins, formally Torres, was" she paused and looked at Steph who nodded for her to continue "she was my momma, the woman who had given me life, the woman I am told I take after. Although I never ended up living in the basement of Grey Sloan" the room erupted into laughter, especially the ones who knew Callie back then. Steph then took over, not looking at the paper "together Arizona and Callie, they were the parents, I always dreamed of having. They saved me"
"and we saved them" Sofia said reaching for Steph's hand, as the tears stung their eyes, Steph was the first to step back and whispered "I'm sorry Sof, I can't do it"
"I know, me either" Sofia sobbed as the sisters wrapped each other in a hug. Mark and Zola both stood, making their way to them, Zola wrapped her arms around them and ushered them to the seats, returning to stand next to Mark who was standing at the podium. "Arizona and Callie were always our biggest fans. Always cheering us on in whatever we decided to do in life. They may not have been my parents by blood, but they raised me, alongside my mom" Zola said. She knew Sofia and Steph wouldn't be able to talk today so she and Mark had come up with their own speech. "they opened their arms and invited me into their family with no hesitation, and if I've taken anything away from what they had taught us over the years, its family doesn't mean blood, family is" Mark paused looking at Zola. They both took a deep breath "family is the friends you meet along the way, and I know Arizona and Callie have a lot of them" he finished.
"we want to thank all of you again, for being apart of our, their lives, if you're here, I'm betting they touched your life one way or another" the church was filled with murmurs of yes. Zola nods and moves back to her seat. Steph and Sofia were still clinging to each other, as Zola took her seat next to Steph, and Mark next to Sofia. The preacher appeared at the podium again "now if you'd all join us in a procession to the cemetery where we will lay these amazing doctors in their final resting place.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Callie
"this is all for us?" I asked looking at Tim
"you know you two were loved" he smiles
"yes we were"
"your daughters are great, I wish I could have met them" Tim says "and I wish I could have met you while we were still alive"
"me too" I smile, looking at Arizona who hasn't taken her eyes off the girls.
"they'll be alright" Tim says wrapping his arms around Arizona "you raised them well"
"we did didn't we" she says turning to me and smiles, I nod "we did" Tim then takes our hands and we are back on the beach. "I just wanted to make sure you two knew you made a difference in everyone's life you touch" Tim says as Mark shows up next to him "I know I already told you this when you had your accident but you did an amazing job with Sofia, she, Stephanie and Zola will be just fine, it'll hurt, but they'll be fine"
"Meredith has them" Derek says standing beside Mark, but not looking at us "see" he says nodding out into the ocean.
xxxx
Sofia
Taking a deep breath I have to hold back the tears, I've done nothing but cry since Steph called me with the news. I feel and arm around me, too shaky to be Steph's or Mark's. "we'll make it" Meredith whispers, "you, me, Steph, Zola, Mark and the kids, we'll make it"
"it's just so hard to believe that they're both gone"
"I know" Meredith says her voice shaking "I still expect to see them sitting in the kitchen having coffee" Meredith had moved in with Steph and Zola after the kids had left for college.
"hey" Steph says coming up to us, "are you ready to go?" we were still at the cemetery, just staring at the coffins.
"I'm ready whenever you guys are" Meredith says
"I'd like to stay for a bit longer" I sniffle and move away, we had laid my mom's to rest right next to my dad, I hadn't been here in so long, but I wanted to say hi "hi dad" I say as I leaned down picking some weeds that had grown in front of the stone "sorry I haven't been here" I feel a cool breeze hit my face and let out a giggle "I know that was you" Steph joins me, as she grabs my hand I let out a shaky breath, "take good care of them" my voice is quiet as I kiss my hand and place it on my dads headstone. I never got to know him, but I loved him the same. Meredith is waiting and wraps her arms around Steph and I as we make our way to the car. "where too" the driver asked
"home to have coffee" Steph says looking at both Meredith and I
"that sounds like an amazing idea" I smile, as much as I can manage. I know we are all feeling the loss. Mark wraps his arm around me, and I see Zola do the same to Steph. Meredith clears her throat "we have one stop to make first" she reaches up and knocks on the window that separates us from the driver, he nods and we're off. With one last glance at my mom's coffins I let out a deep sigh, and lay my head on Mark's shoulder.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Arizona
Wow, I couldn't even say anything else. We are now back on the beach, sitting on a log that came out of nowhere. My brother on my left and my wife on my right. Mark Sloan on the other side of her, along with Lexie Grey, Derek Shepard, Richard Webber, and on the other side of Tim sat my parents. Carlos was behind Callie with his hand on her shoulder. "so, where do we go from here?" I ask no one in particular.
"well" Tim says as he stands and reaches for me "now you go swimming little sister" and he picks me up, just like he did when we were little and runs to the water, tossing me in. When I resurface, I see Mark has Callie and is doing the same. Damn I missed these people, Callie and I had lived a good life. When we died, I had just turned 90 and Callie 89, we died in bed at home, wrapped around each other, at the same time. Neither one of us wanting to live without the other. I know we left behind a lot of people who love us, but we'll see them again one day. Probably on this beach, and we'll welcome them with smiles and love. Callie comes over to me in the water, as the waves break around us, grabbing me she places a soft kiss on my lips "I love you Arizona"
"I love you too Calliope" I smile, from the sand you can hear everyone cheering for us.
"no place I'd rather be" Callie says
"no place I'd rather be" I repeat her words and we kiss again.