The Game Changer

They were both constantly at the receiving end of loss; what is it going to take for that to change?

A/N: So my friend and I had been talking quite a lot about what happened after the perfect storm. We ended up writing a little story which grew and grew (and grew). We are at least 70-80% complete so we thought we'd let chapter 1 out into the ff world to see what you think.

I've enjoyed working with Nic, it's been good fun having a writing partner. Hopefully a good mix of our personalities will come through. My lovely Zoe is here as usual with her awesome brain powers but we have a little family going here and Gene has been gracious and offered her beta powers for us too.

Our little labour of love, we do hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed writing it cause that's what fan fiction is all about.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters I am borrowing from Grey's Anatomy or any other TV programme or Film that I may reference. I am writing this purely for my own sanity, I do not intend to gain anything else from it. All mistakes are mine and spell-checker's, they do escape no matter how hard my wonderful Beta tries to squash them with a fly swat.

Chapter One: Without A Leg To Stand On

The Case Of The Missing Legs...

"MOM! Have you seen my leg?" Arizona stood awkwardly in front of the empty wardrobe compartment looking bemused. "Actually … any of my legs." She sighed to herself. She was willing to even go with her high heel leg except that, too, was missing from its resting spot. Four freaking legs and all four were missing.

The door slammed shut, revealing her reflection staring back at her in the mirror. Leaning most of her weight on her cane, she looked at her towel-clad image. Scanning down to the missing appendage, the void no longer reminded her of what was cut off, but now it represented the loss of her heart. For so long it had always came back to the leg, but it wasn't the leg. She just never had the chance to explain. Callie just shut off from her and every time Arizona tried to talk to her, she could see the pain just chipping away at her wife. The hatred that had come that night was a year's worth of built up, buried issues. They never talked about anything and she knew they were both to blame for that. Arizona loved staying in a bubble and that bubble most certainly burst that night, leaving them where they were today.

"Hey, Sweetie. Why are you not ready for your date yet?" Barbara stood leaning against the doorframe, watching her daughter battle her inner demons. The same demons she watched Callie fight with whenever she helped out at Callie's, too.

"My prosthetics are missing. All of them. And don't you go telling me you moved them for cleaning again in the short time I was in the shower. It was Sofia, wasn't it? Again with the fricken disappearing leg trick … Sofia! SOFIA ROBBIN SLOAN!" Arizona wiped the water from her forehead as she shouted sternly and loudly enough that she knew her daughter would hear her regardless of her wearing her device or not.

"Sweetie, you finish getting ready I'll go ask her it she's seen them." Barbara put a gentle hand on her daughter's shoulder, giving her reflection a small smile. Arizona looked sad as she nodded her head in agreement, grabbed for her crutches, and moved over to her dressing table to start drying her hair.

Barbara gave the rainbow-colored door a sharp rap before she entered. Miniature versions of her mother's eyes looked up, pleading with her Gramma. Plastic feet attached to what she knew would be left legs poked out from under her a canopy of blankets with some cushions trying to hide them by way of a pillow fort.

"You know if she comes in here, she's going to find them and then what are you going to do? You can't keep doing this. You have to let your moms get on with their lives, Darling." Barbara took a seat next to her granddaughter, taking her hand.

"They still love each other. I know it. Mommy keeps a picture of the three of us in her office from when I was a baby and Mama, she's just sad all the time, but whenever she sees Mommy pass when we're Skyping, she lights up, Gramma. I can see it in her eyes. They don't want to date other people; they want to date each other. Mama can't go on a date with the poo-poo head; she's not Mommy." Sofia buried her head into Barbara's chest, cuddling into the older woman.

"You know, Sofia, sometimes I forget you are just seven when you talk. You have such an older head on you, but then 'poo poo head' hits home and you're still my baby. You see more than your mothers do and you're right: it's time for the poo poo heads' dates to stop. Come on. Let's sort this." Barbara smirked as she got up off the bed, picking up more blankets to better camouflage her daughter's legs. She knew encouraging her granddaughter wasn't smart, but she understood where Sofia was coming from. She was an active part in everybody's lives and she knew exactly what Sofia saw because she saw it herself.

"Mom, I thought you were going to get my legs from Sofia?" On her crutches, Arizona hobbled into the living room to see her mother sitting on the couch reading the newspaper.

"Yeah, she didn't have them. You've probably misplaced them. You have been pretty distracted, Sweetie." Barbara nonchalantly spoke to her daughter without looking up and having her eyes give the truth away.

"Really!" Arizona huffed and made her way into her daughter's room, taking in the view in front of her.

"Hi, Mama. Have you come to play with me in my fort?" Sofia smiled up sweetly at her mom. "Would you like a cup of tea with us in here? There's plenty of space." Crawling out further, Sofia's head poked fully out of the opening of her recently improved fort, now giving her mother a wide, cheeky grin.

"No, Sofia, you know very well that I am going out. Now tell me where they are!" Arizona looked crossly at her daughter while scanning the room for her missing prosthetics.

"Mama, but you don't have your leg on. You said that you would never go out without it on. Have you misplaced your leg again?" Sofia answered her mother straight faced trying not to crack under the pressure of Arizona's stern look.

"You know very well I can't find any of my legs, Sofia Robbin Sloan! Now where are they? Abby is going to be picking me up soon. " Sofia cringed at the use of three of her four names, a clear indicator of just how much trouble she was in as Arizona bent down best she could while balancing on her crutches and looked into the fort.

Coming up empty, Arizona sighed when she realized she was getting nowhere fast with her daughter and she left the bedroom to return to where her mother was still staying tight lipped. Making eye contact with Barbara, she overemphasized hitting Abby's number into the keys of the telephone.

After apologizing for having to cancel their date so late, Arizona made her way back into her daughter's room. As she turned her back on her own mother, Barbara smiled as she returned her gaze to her newspaper.

"Okay, Sofia. You win. Give me a cup of tea." Arizona expertly dropped to the floor after years of practice with a grace she never figured she'd have being one full-limb short. She scooted herself into her daughter's newly made den and instantly got tangled in the mess of sheets. As she unraveled herself from the bright pink material, she realized that the structure of Sofia's fort had toes with red painted nails.

"Sofia! Really? Why would you do that?" Arizona tried to keep her face straight. She was angry, but she did find it kind of funny. Deep down, Arizona knew herself that she didn't want to go out on the date and miss out on a night with her daughter and mother.

"Mama, I have to go back home soon and I just wanted to spend some time with you. I didn't mean to upset you. It's just one our last night together, just us. I'm sorry." Arizona looked at her daughter when she heard the spare bedroom door shut, realizing that her mother slipped away to give them proper time together. Her own heart sank at the thought that they'd soon be separated again.

"You and your gramma both conspired against me, didn't you?" Arizona's annoyance and anger melted a bit more when her daughter crawled into her lap, cuddling into her arms like she did as a toddler. "Okay, Sweetie. You have me to yourself. What do you want to do?" Arizona gave her daughter a tight squeeze as she pulled both of them further into the depths, settling in on the cushions of the fort, what would be her daughter's makeshift bed for the night.

Once Upon A Twisted Time ...

"Mama, will you tell me the story?" Sofia yawned, cuddling deeper into Arizona's embrace. Being one of their last nights together, Arizona couldn't help but feel guilty that she almost gave these special moments up to go out on a date. She could date any time; she only had such limited time with her daughter. That guilt made it hard for her to refuse, but she still sighed and instead reached for a storybook shoved under the fort blankets. "Why do you want that story, Baby? It doesn't have a happy ending. Let's read some Amelia Bedelia."

"No, Mama, maybe one day it will. Please tell me the story." Sofia's smile held hope that Arizona couldn't bring herself to squash. Hope she maybe secretly harbored herself.

"Okay. First, did you brush your teeth?"

Sofia nodded eagerly and opened wide for Arizona to inspect.

"Wash your face?"

Again Sofia nodded. She'd done her nightly routine properly just in case Mama didn't react well to the missing legs and she needed to portray an angelic child.

"Use your machine?" Arizona looked over to the table in the corner, everything was neatly put away with a towel covering it from view. Her daughter would leave toys out, shoes in the middle of the room, half eaten pieces of pizza in her bathroom but never would she leave her breathing machine out for anybody to see. She hated being tied to the stupid thing, it embarrassed her. She didn't want anybody to know about it. She got enough crap for everything else, and she didn't want to add that to the mix.

Embarrassed, Sofia nodded again looking anywhere but at her Mama.

Tickling her daughter to bring her mood back up, she raised an eyebrow."Did you by chance hang your towel back up in the bathroom?" She knew that her daughter always forgot that step of her nightly routine without question and teasing her about it was a nice change of subject.

"Gramma!" Sofia yelled loudly and Barbara quickly appeared in the doorway.

"Your wet towel is hung up. Don't worry." She smiled when her daughter shook her head.

"You spoil her, Mom. How's she going to learn if you do it for her?"

"Like you learned when I would clean out from under your bed for you before room inspections because you thought out of sight, out of mind? You were fifteen and I was still racing your Dad to make your room acceptable," Barbara countered before disappearing, leaving Sofia to tease her mom over her childhood antics.

"So where were we? Right, once upon a time …" Arizona quickly began, only to be interrupted.

"How come you were messy but I can't be?"

"Because I'm the Mom. That's why!" Arizona choked as the words she promised she'd never say came spilling out of her mouth. When she heard her Mom chuckle in the other room, she knew she'd get hell for that statement later.

"You sound like Mommy." Sofia feigned a pout.

"Yeah, well, your Mommy is a very smart woman." Arizona felt her cheeks redden and her heart speed up. Quickly changing the subject, she returned to their argument at hand. "So do you want story time or do you want to tease me?"

"Both!" Sofia giggled, pulling the book from her Mama's hands, throwing it out of reach so Arizona had no choice but to continue with the story.

"Story time and then sleep." Arizona kissed her daughter's forehead, getting comfortable once more.

"Once upon a time in the small village of Graceloanem Orial, there was a beautiful maiden with long, yellow locks curling all the way down her back, crystal blue eyes shining of pure love, and a dimpled smile that could turn the most sour people into happy again. This maiden loved life so so so much; she was such a happy person. Some of the villagers said she could make flowers bloom on dead plants and turn hay into the finest gold just because of her loving personality."

"What color flowers?" Sofia yawned again. Her eyelids were getting heavy but she refused to succumb to sleep because it was her favorite story.

"Red. The most amazing shade of ruby red."

"I like red."

"I know, Baby Girl. So this maiden lived in the village where everyone else was kind and nice, too. They all loved each other and looked out for each other and were the best of friends."

"I wish I lived there, too." Sofia could imagine the wonderful place so happy and nice and it made her happy thinking about it.

"Oh, but then a wicked witch came and released her wild enchanted beasts into the village. But the maiden wasn't scared because the villagers had already overcome so much in their history and she knew they'd pull through and triumph over this wicked witch. There had been intruders armed with bows who couldn't break this village apart. An awful carriage collision where lives hung in the balance only to come out on the sunny side once again. They were a united bunch, except this time was different because the witch's powers were so much stronger than they'd ever encountered. Her evil ran so deep. One day, the maiden was out in the forest, picking wild berries for the pies she was going to bake later that day …"

"I heard the maiden's Mommy is a better baker." Sofia giggled, curling deeper into Arizona's side to hide her face from her Mama.

"Hey, the maiden does just fine with her baking." Arizona feigned insult, tickling her daughter until she threatened to pee herself.

"So one day, the maiden was picking berries when she got cornered by one of the witch's beasts. He attacked her, trapping her in his jaws and almost ending her life, but then the beautiful princess from the village came and saved her from the beast. Killing the beast with her bravery and courage, she also saved the village from the witch's spell."

"How'd she kill the beast, Mama?"

"She had special princess powers; her love for her villagers was so strong, her love saved everyone. The princess always only ever wanted to save people. She was beautiful inside and out and everybody loved her even before she freed the village, but the maiden in particular loved the princess very much. But after her awful fight with the beast, she was now maimed in what she saw as the most horrible way and feared no return of her feelings. Except the princess didn't care because she also loved the maiden regardless of the damage left by the beast. She saw that her physical deformities only added to her beauty."

"Because it's what's inside that counts, that makes you beautiful, right?" Sofia was raised to know the difference between good and bad and what constituted pretty and ugly.

"Yes, the princess knew that the maiden was a good person and that alone was what made her undeniably beautiful in her eyes. The two women started a life together when they sealed their true love for each other with a kiss and a promise of forever."

Sofia giggled, clapping her hands together in glee. "Cuz kissing means they love each other for ever and ever and ever." She smiled. She loved the part when they kissed. When the prince kissed Sleeping Beauty in the Disney film, their daughter, starting at age four would swoon as if she were the recipient of the kiss. Sofia loved fairy tales; their daughter was a true romantic.

Arizona smiled at Sofia's reaction. The same reaction she had every single time she heard this story. "Yes Baby, they would always love each other." Her smile faltered momentarily as pain shot deep into her heart. She cleared her throat and focused on her daughter's joy. "So they were wonderful together and loved life and each other very much except what they didn't know was that the beast's bite released poison into the maiden's body that slowly ate away at her. Within time, it started to change the maiden slowly and she no longer could make pretty flowers grow. Instead, her touch killed everything it came into contact with, including the princess' soul. The princess tried to fight it, tried to bring her maiden back from evil's clutches, but it was too strong and one day, the maiden was as evil as the wicked witch. Completely changed for the bad, with all her powers of evil, the maiden lashed out cruelly, banishing the princess to a faraway land never to be heard from again. The poison eventually ran its course, leaving the maiden and returning her conscience again, but after her actions, the maiden felt as ugly inside as she thought she looked outside. With the princess gone, no contact between them, the maiden forever promised to right her wrongs and maybe one day they'd be reunited and she could be forgiven."

Arizona looked down and saw that her daughter had fallen asleep. Kissing the top of her head, she slowly crawled out of the fort, expertly hopping up onto her crutches once again. The fort needed her legs more than she did for the night and she was okay with that. Looking over at a small sniffle, her own mother was standing in the doorway watching with love and adoration on her face, a few tears marking her cheeks.

"I don't know why she likes that story. It's morbid and I wish I'd never made it up," Arizona whispered to her mother as she reached the door.

"Mama?" Sofia waited for her mom to turn back around.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Do you miss Mommy?"

Arizona froze momentarily in shock that her daughter had finally caught on to the fairy tale's underlying story. Tears welled in her eyes and she grabbed onto Barbara's arm for support. "I do, Baby Girl, I do," she whispered and quickly exited the room before the tears could fall in front of her family.

Go Away, Don't Go...

There weren't many things in life that could shatter Arizona's heart into thousands of pieces like her daughter pressing the issue of her ex-wife and her feelings toward Callie. Both Arizona and Barbara knew this. Her decision to let Callie go, make Callie go to Pennsylvania, wasn't an easy one and it had been the most selfless act she'd done in her entire life. It was Arizona trying to make things better because there was no way she could make things right between them. Her ultimate act of betrayal soiled any chance she had at a future with her family, so she did what she could and she packed up her ex-wife and daughter and sent them worlds away, all the way across the country.

That didn't mean it was what she wanted, because it wasn't. She didn't want to play whose holiday was it with her ex-wife in regards to her daughter. She didn't want to have to wait months on end to hold her daughter in her arms. It wasn't ideal that she got to talk to Sofia through Skype in order just to see her growing face. Clothes that her daughter had just worn on her last visit home to Seattle no longer fit, requiring another shopping trip each and every time because Sofia grew like a weed and Arizona was missing it. None of it was what she wanted, but she made Callie go. She went behind her back and cemented her transferring of hospitals without consulting her ex-wife because while it wasn't what she wanted, it was what Callie needed.

"She'll understand when she's older. She's still a baby and she's confused." Barbara tried to get through to her daughter, who sat lifeless on the couch recounting the past as if she could do something to change it.

"What? She'll understand her mama destroyed her family and she'll hate me just like Callie?"

"Callie doesn't hate you, Arizona." Barbara cupped her daughter's chin in her hand, turning her to face her. "Callie doesn't hate you," she repeated.

"Mom, we've barely spoken in over five years. She even got Sofia her own phone so I didn't have to go through her to talk to my daughter. When I call the landline, Callie immediately passes me off to Sofia. She emails me updates on her education or health or to set plans for the next custody switch off. If I Skype, Callie stays completely out of the room or if she has to go through the room, she speed walks so I barely get sight of her. If she has something that needs my immediate attention, she texts me whatever she has to say. I think we've had a handful of actual conversations in five years and I haven't seen her since I put them on the plane to Pennsylvania. Callie hates me. Five years has done nothing to change those feelings," Arizona explained. "I should have never let her go."

"You made her go," Barbara reminded her.

"What choice did I really have? She was suffering, dying in Seattle. At least there she had opportunity to do something, to be something. If she'd been around when rumors spread about why we really divorced, she would have been humiliated aside from everything else."

"So you saved your wife even though she couldn't save you?" She pushed. Barbara was a smart woman and knew exactly why Arizona made Callie go to Pennsylvania. Arizona felt like a hopeless case, but that didn't mean her wife, her ex-wife, needed to be taken down with her sinking ship. Not only could Callie's career really do something in Pennsylvania, and while Arizona no longer could take care of Callie, could no longer be what she should have been to Callie, her parents could take over where she left off so long ago. Callie wouldn't be alone out there. She wouldn't be putting her life on hold for a woman whom Arizona didn't feel deserved it, herself, and Arizona could give her back some of the future she'd stolen from her when she slept with that other woman. When they started dating, if they started dating, they wouldn't be in each other's faces with it. And though Sofia was shuffled between two coasts, spending every other holiday with Arizona and most of the summers, they figured it out for the best. Barbara was a lifesaver flying Sofia to and from, staying in Seattle during her granddaughter's entire stay to help Arizona out with childcare while Sofia was in her care, and then doing the same with Callie so their daughter wasn't raised by nannies and babysitters but instead by her own family. Callie going to Pennsylvania was Arizona's decision. She'd set the wheels in motion.

The difference between Promises and Memories is we break Promises while Memories break us...

Looking back at what she thought was her relief, it was now very obvious to Arizona that her wife wasn't going to let herself become a victim yet again. She wasn't going to play the sympathy card and bring their marital drama into the doors of the hospital. In a matter of seconds, when Callie realized that her wife's ring was attached to that other women's scrub top. Well, Arizona's scrub top. The look on her face as she turned around, blue eyes glistening with unshed tears of guilt, had said it all. What made matters worse was the look on Callie's face said it all too; her heart had been ripped from her chest to hear such venom in Arizona's voice and it obviously haunted her to the core. Days after the storm had passed and they were still trying to clear up the damage while Callie was still trying to keep her heart beating, her head above the raging waters.

Arizona had pleaded with her that they could work through this, that it was a moment of insanity and she would do anything. Callie was still numb from it while Arizona was trying everything and had even gone to what she saw as the extreme and suggested couples therapy.

But Callie made it clear to her wife that it was all just too much after too long and she refused the offer of therapy, opting for a quick and easy divorce instead. It seemed to Arizona that for Callie, she had already learned her lesson from an albeit short, but adulterous, marriage and wasn't going to make somebody stay who she thought didn't love her. And in Arizona's eyes, her wife was setting her free. She couldn't save her leg, but she could give Arizona the rest of her life to live as she pleased.

Even after Arizona apologized and tried to make things right, Callie still remained set on her decision. Arizona knew it wasn't a vengeful decision, Callie told her that she just couldn't bringherself to repair something that would ultimately break again because she wasn't certain she could come back from it the next time.

Immediately after the divorce, Arizona had found out that Callie sold her shares to Cristina and resigned from the board. Callie had obviously waited until after the divorce so she didn't have to consult Arizona in her decision. When Arizona had approached Callie on the subject she had retorted that she felt she had no right being there, she didn't have the war wounds as Arizona had made it very clear. She kept the money she had put into the hospital, what was rightfully hers from her own funds before putting the rest from Mark and Arizona's part of the settlement into a trust fund for their daughter only to touch it for Sofia's needs. It wasn't her money, she didn't have the warrior wounds that deserved it; wasn't that what she was told? Who cares that regardless of lacking physical scars, her entire life was essentially ruined by it because she wasn't on the plane. As Arizona told her in plain English, she wasn't on the plane, so she didn't deserve anything, even sympathy and because of that, Callie didn't ask for anything from anybody.

Arizona watched that while Callie remained pleasant and together at work, she'd noticeably become withdrawn from her friends, only spending time with her daughter. When it was Arizona's time with Sofia, Callie was almost impossible to contact.

In keeping herself busy, away from everybody, Callie submerged herself in her research and, with the success of her TED speech, had been starting to attract attention from very prestigious institutions. Most notable was the Thomas Jefferson University, which had contacted Callie with a very tempting job offer that she disclosed to nobody. Except Callie didn't and wouldn't even flirt with the idea of leaving Seattle. As much as it was obvious with her actions, her reclusiveness that Callie wanted nothing more than to flee from her trapped life, having to see her Arizona almost daily, a big reminder of her losses, she still had obligations to there. Never would she ever think for one second to take their daughter across the country for her own selfish needs; Arizona knew this and it was never an issue or thought that crossed her mind, losing her daughter even with herwife's... ex-wife'sbrokenness that was obviously plaguing her. That wasn't Callie. So what if her career would stall out in Seattle? They shared a daughter and therefore Arizona's needs were Callie's needs and vice versa. So life went on as usual and Callie was living for her daughter, Arizona figured Callie thought she had nothing else in her life worth living for. But as Arizona knew too well, the life of solitude wasn't so bad. No life meant no drama and no drama meant no heartache. Well, heartache aside from the living reminder of her failures, but those were her own demons to bear. Callie made sure they were hers and hers alone and she wasn't letting anybody in.

"First order of business, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital contacted us with an arrangement opportunity for one of our fellow surgeons. It would be a six-month stint with our surgeon going back and forth on their dime between our hospital and their own. It is awonderful learning opportunity and they're eager for us to agree because the surgeon already turned down a job offer from them. We're looking at what could be a great opportunity, giving the hospital some good publicity for the first time in too long." Jackson projected his voice to all members of the board present.

"Who is the member of staff?" Derek questioned. As he waited for Avery to reply, Cristina interjected.

"They want Torres." Cristina stared straight at Arizona. She wanted to see how the blonde reacted to the news. Callie hadn't told anyone about what happened that night, but Cristina had caught on rather quickly, being on the other side of an adulterous relationship herself, and when Callie sold her shares over without a second thought or explanation, it had only cemented the idea that Arizona had broken her friend once again.

As Arizona let the news sink in, she tried to organize in her head how they would deal with Sofia for six months of Callie traveling back and forth. Her chain of thought was broken by a very excited Avery, who began tell the group the details.

"Yes, they actually offered her a very prominent position. I mean, it's the nation's seventh best orthopedics program. She'd be trained on the most up-to-date technology, teaching some of the best and brightest students. I have no idea how we will be able to keep her once she goes and gets a taste of it. Also, the offer they put on the table completely blows any offer we can give her out of the water, we can't compete …" Avery looked up at the blunt laugh spilling from Cristina's lips interrupting him.

"Don't worry about that. She's not going anywhere. It's not even an issue. She'll stay and pay for everyone else's mistakes. It's always going to be Callie putting her own ambitions on the back burner as it's been for too long now." Cristina instantly glared at Arizona. The boardroom went silent with the venom in her voice. The ball was in the blonde's court now and Cristina had just given an uppercut to the chin, backing her into a corner. It was up to her what move she would make next. Not that Cristina wanted to see her friend leave and take her goddaughter with her, but Callie was so unhappy and while nobody else might see it, she did. She saw it, she felt it, but she couldn't stand it any longer.

And with the new information raging through her brain, Arizona was a mess. She couldn't lose her daughter. She'd already lost her wife. She also hated knowing that keeping Callie here was literally killing her ex-wife's soul. After calling her mom and crying for who knows how long over the phone, she made her decision. As it was, they were pros at making the transition work between them with Sofia. So what if they had to do it a country apart? What did Seattle hold for Callie but of ghosts past? Arizona couldn't save herself and she couldn't save her marriage, but she could give Callie what she needed. For the first time in over a year and a half, Arizonawould put Callie first regardless of what it would do to her. It wasn't her playing the martyr here; it was Arizona doing what was best for somebody else. Maybe a little bit of it was her trying to rectify what she'd done by having the affair, destroying her wife … ex-wife, but even so, she had to do something. What good would Callie be to her patients, to their daughter, if she only continued to live a partial existence? Arizona had to fully let her go. Keeping her in Seattle was purely selfish. They'd figure it out. There was no question there. Callie wasn't Callie anymore. All the light and spark that Arizona had fallen in love with had been extinguished and Arizona wanted … needed to give her something back.

The board had been dismissed until the following week due to everybody's tight schedules, since discussing this with the surgeon in question was off the table today as Callie was in the OR on a very long procedure. This had bought Arizona time. She needed to talk to someone, the only person she knew who wouldn't judge.

"Hi, Mom. Are you busy?" Arizona's voice was small and childlike, like a child who was about to tell the truth and was waiting to get punished.

"Oh, hello, Dear. I was just finishing up the washing, so you have saved me. What can I do for you? Arizona, you sound sad, Baby." Barbara removed herself from the presence of her husband.

"You know how I asked you not to ask what had happened with Callie?" Arizona's voice continued to get quieter.

"Yes. I figured you would tell me in your own time. I didn't want to start any fights, so I didn't press the issue."

Taking a very deep breath, she blurted out. "It was me, Mom, I did it." Arizona sighed, wiping away the tears that gathered on her cheeks with the back of her hand. Choking back a sob, she continued. "I walked out, I broke promises. I let Callie down. I asked her never to leave and it was me who bailed again. I let both Callie and Sofia down, Mom." She couldn't stop the muffled sobbing from breaking through.

"It's been a hard year. Sometimes trauma breaks the strongest relationships. You can't take on this blame alone. It takes two to make a marriage and break a marriage, honey. I love Callie and she'll always be my daughter because she saved my daughter's life, but she has play in this as well. You both let that plane crash win and really it's no one's fault." Barbara needed to calm her daughter down. She couldn't physically comfort her from across the country, but she had to try.

"Or it takes one person destroying the best thing that ever happened to her. I … I cheated on Callie, Mom. I … this wasn't on Callie. This wasn't the stupid plane crash. This was me royally screwing up. Callie, she tried. She did. I hung her out to dry. I'm so sorry." Arizona was now openly, hysterically sobbing. It was the first time she had said it to anyone since telling Alex in the supply closet. Her own disappointment in herself was nothing compared to what she expected from her mother.

"Oh."

"You can say it. I'm a disappointment. You raised me better than that. I am a failure. I … I let you all down."

"You made a mistake and one you've obviously paid dearly for, but you aren't a child any longer, Arizona. I did my job. I can only hope that was enough, but the decisions you make for you and your future are yours and yours alone, Honey." Barbara's voice was now a whisper itself as she tried to rein in her own feelings of betrayal. It wasn't her relationship, it wasn't her mistake, but she felt like her daughter had ripped out her own heart, too.

"Do you still love me?"

"Oh, Arizona. Of course, Baby. Your dad, too. There's nothing you could do that could ever change that." Barbara stressed her point.

"I need to fix this." Arizona cleared her throat.

"Honey, you two aren't just separated. You got a divorce. There's really no going back here, only moving forward, being the best you two can be for Sofia."

"I know that. I do. Or I'm trying really hard to. I'm not the same person, I'm not who she married and she deserves more than this. They both do."

"So what are you going to do about it? You wouldn't be calling me if you were going to stick your head in the sand, so what is your plan here? Can I help?" Barbara questioned softly.

"I need to ... Callie turned down a job offer. A really good job offer and I know it's because she won't take Sofia from me. It would make her career. She has nothing left here in Seattle and I need to make this work. I need to let her go, but I ... I just don't know how?" Arizona closed her eyes, trying to think about the next step.

"Where is the job offer? Is it far? Will you still be able to be in contact with Sofia?"

"Well, you'll be in more contact with Sofia … it's at TJ." Arizona sighed. Ten miles up the road from her parents. Meaning Callie would also be ten miles up the road from her parents and she wasn't sure how much she liked that idea, but she wasn't sure why.

"Well then, let me think about this. Have you had your dinner yet, dear? Have you made sure you have had enough fluids today? Go take a bath or something. Let me think about this. I have an idea, but I need to talk to your father. And no, I'm not telling him anything about what happened between you two. You know he doesn't like to meddle. I will call you back in 30 minutes, Baby." And with that, Arizona looked at her end of the phone as she heard the sound of her mother hanging up.