"Are you sure you packed everything?" Callie called from the kitchen of Apartment 502.
Her wife rolled her eyes as she brushed her hair in their bedroom.
"Yes, Calliope, I told you that!"
"Are you sure? This isn't going to be like last time right? Because I am not turning around halfway to the airport because you forgot your neck pillow again."
The blonde's eyes widened as she reached into their closet to add her neck pillow to her carry-on.
"I'm sure!" Arizona replied as she grabbed her suitcase and tote bag and brought it into the living room.
"Sofia!" Arizona called to the couple's three year old daughter. "Come on! It's time to go pick up Zola then we'll be on our way to see Mickey!"
The energized toddler bounded into the common area with her Mickey Mouse stuffed animal in her arms.
"Mickey!!!!!" she cried gleefully as Callie helped her put on her rain jacket and Arizona sat down on the couch to help her put on her rain boots.
When their daughter was ready to go, Arizona stood up and kissed her wife on the cheek.
"I'm so happy we could do this for her. After everything we've been through lately, it's..." she trailed off.
"It's been hard, but we've made the most of it. We have each other, we have our beautiful little girl, and we have the opportunity to take her to the happiest place on Earth. We're... we're surviving." Callie said as she squeezed her wife's shoulders and gave her a soft reassuring look.
The trip to Disney was booked six months ago- about two weeks before the plane crash- by Callie, Arizona, Meredith and Derek to celebrate Zola and Sofia's fourth birthdays which were quickly approaching. Originally, Mark and Lexie were planning on coming on the trip too. After much debate after the crash over whether or not the trip should still happen, without Mark and Lexie, with Arizona's rehab schedule and Derek's surgeries, they decided to still go through with it, for Sofia and Zola's sake.
"Time to go!" Callie exclaimed. "Who's ready to go pick up Uncle Derek, Auntie Mer, and Zola then head on our way to Disney World?!"
"Meeeeeee!" the toddler squealed with excitement.
Arizona couldn't help but smile as she grabbed her bags and followed her wife and daughter out the door and into the Seattle rain.
...
"Hey, hey, hey!" Derek said as he opened the front door to his house. "How's my favorite goddaughter today?"
Sofia smiled as she ran inside and showed him her Mickey Mouse toy.
Meredith held the door open for Callie and Arizona, inviting them inside for a quick drink before they hit the road.
"Zozo! Sofia's here!" Meredith called into the playroom. A couple seconds later, another excited three year old entered the room clutching a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal. The girls began squealing and playing together as their parents opened a bottle of wine.
"We're doing the right thing, right?" Callie asked wearily. She missed Mark and Lexie and knew that the entire trip would be a constant reminder of the two missing people they loved so much.
"Of course we are," Arizona replied. "Every child has to go to Disney World."
"I never did," Meredith stated as she took a sip of her wine.
"And now you're all dark and twisty," Derek pointed out. "You don't want Zola to be dark and twisty, do you?"
The couples laughed and drank while keeping an eye on their daughters, who were growing more and more excited by the minute.
"We better get going. We don't want to take any chances with there being traffic on the highway or backed up lines at security." Arizona warned.
The other adults agreed as they rounded up the kids and headed outside.
"Arizona, you didn't forget your neck pillow again, right? Because I don't want to listen to it for six hours across the country for the third time," Meredith warned giving an Arizona a stern look.
"No, I packed it, I packed it," Arizona replied as she buckled Zola and Sofia into their car seats. "Jeez, everyone thinks I'm so forgetful!"
"Sorry, honey, but you do forget a lot of things," Callie said as she lovingly patted her wife on the back. "You're on fire in the O.R., but after you scrub out... well..."
The adults laughed as they finished loading their luggage into Callie's car.
"You know, Torres, I never pictured you driving a minivan," Derek laughed as he climbed in the passenger seat. "Honestly, I always pictured Robbins as the soccer mom."
"I would never! The humiliation!" Arizona scoffed from the backseat.
"That was our one deal when we were discussing kids: that if a minivan was involved, I would be the one to drive it. Besides, I love my van!" Callie replied with a smile.
...
"You're going to have to take off those shoes, missy." Arizona warned Sofia as they were getting ready to pass through security.
"Why?" the curious toddler asked.
"Because they need to make sure nobody brings anything that they're not supposed to on the plane."
"Like... puppies?"
Arizona laughed at the innocence of her little girl.
"Yes, Sof. Like puppies."
Arizona helped her daughter put her bag on the conveyor belt to be screened and watched as Callie and Sofia walked through security.
"You can come through now, ma'am," the security guard motioned.
Just as Arizona walked through the metal detector, the alarms started blaring.
Everyone in the security checkpoint turned to stare at Arizona as she turned bright red.
Callie's hand covered her mouth as security guards started to pat her wife down.
"I, um," Arizona's voice cracked. "I have a prosthetic leg." Arizona's eyes glossed over with tears as she faced her new reality.
"Can you raise your pant leg for me please, ma'am?" the officer asked her as he stepped back.
Arizona swallowed as she reluctantly bent down and tugged at the bottom of her pants, exposing the titanium limb that now served as her left leg.
The officer tapped her prosthetic and backed away.
Arizona let out a relieved breath as she walked over to join her friends and family. She stared at the ground as she sat down to put on her shoes.
Callie put her luggage on the floor and went to sit next to her wife on the bench.
"Sweetie... are you okay?" she lovingly asked.
Arizona looked up at Callie. Callie looked at Arizona's flushed face, watery eyes and trembling bottom lip.
Callie hugged her close.
"I know that this is hard. That every day is hard. There will always be challenges for you and you will have to overcome them everyday, and this is just another reminder. You are so brave and so beautiful. Our daughter is lucky to grow up with a mommy as strong as you," Callie reassured her wife.
Arizona nodded, smiled, and grabbed her luggage.
Though she was embarrassed, she knew that this was the first of many times she would be stopped by airport security for the rest of her life. It was just another thing she had to do differently. But she was ready to adapt. She put on a smile for the girls and acted like her usual happy and cheerful self that was just starting to come back around.
...
"Flight 720 with non-stop service to Orlando is preparing to board." the flight attendant called over the loudspeaker in the terminal.
Arizona stood up and grabbed her carry-on. She paused at the sight of the gate and froze. She began closing her eyes and taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm her post-plane crash nerves.
"Hey, you good?" Derek asked as he put his arm around her.
"I'm... I'm trying to be," Arizona replied, shakily. "I haven't been on a plane since the... well, you know. I just don't think it'll ever be as easy as it was before, you know? Getting on the plane. I can never get the visions out of my head. Those were the worst four days of my life, Derek. I never want to go through that again."
Her eyes filled up with tears.
"Robbins, I know how it is. My first time after the incident, I was a nervous wreck. I almost cut off Richard's circulation because I was grabbing him so tight!"
The friends laughed.
"It gets easier. What happened to us was awful, and terrifying, but it's not going to happen again. Don't think about the plane. Think about how much Mark and Lex would've loved to come with us. Think about how happy Sof and Zo will be when they get to see Cinderella's castle and hug Mickey and Minnie. It helps," Derek assured her.
Arizona nodded and tried to stray her thoughts elsewhere.
Callie came up behind her and put her arm around her. Arizona rested her head on Callie's chest as they waited for the plane to board.
"I'll be with you the whole time. I promise you. I won't let go of your hand for the entire flight if you don't want me to. I want you to be comfortable. Whatever you need, 'Zona, whatever you need," Callie hugged her wife closer and kissed her forehead.
"We will now start boarding with our active military personnel and those flying who will need extra assistance," the flight attendant called.
"That's us," Callie stated. "C'mon Sof! Time to get on the airplane!"
"We'll see you on the plane," Meredith told them as she picked up Zola.
Callie, Arizona and Sofia made their way over to the gate.
As they made their way down the hallway to where the airplane sat waiting, Arizona's breathing became sharper and more labored.
Arizona stopped and watched as her wife and daughter continued towards the plane.
"Callie..." Arizona started.
She wanted to move. She wanted to follow them, but her legs just wouldn't budge.
Callie turned around and saw how panicked Arizona looked. She walked over to her wife and pulled her close.
"You alright?" she asked.
Arizona shut her eyes and pressed her head into Callie's shoulder. Callie felt Arizona shake her head and a single tear fell to her arm.
Callie's heart shattered into a million pieces for her wife. She tried to put herself into Arizona's shoes, just for a second. She shuddered trying to imagine the pain and famine Arizona experienced while in the cold Idaho forest while also suffering the loss of Lexie and trying to keep Mark alive. Callie couldn't even fathom everything her dear wife had been through and was in awe of all of her little accomplishments each day since. Today would be Arizona's first flight since the unspeakable event, and she understood why she was so scared.
"Just close your eyes. I'll help you on until we sit down, okay? Do you want to sit between me and Sofia?" Callie asked her wife as they stepped on to the plane.
"No. Please, no. Could I have the aisle seat please? I don't want to be able to see out the window," Arizona whispered softly, panic arising in her voice.
Callie led her girls- Sofia in one hand and Arizona clutching her other arm- on to the plane and into row 5 seats A, B, and C.
Callie let Sofia slide in first, then sat down herself, then guided Arizona into her seat. She felt Arizona's muscles tense and her breathing sharpen at the sudden loss of contact, but she buried her face into her wife's neck a moment later.
Callie held Arizona's shoulders as her wife silently sobbed into her neck. She could tell how overwhelming this was for Arizona and she hoped that she would be able to make it through the duration of the flight.
"Mommy! Look at all of the airplanes!" Sofia marveled as she pressed her face against the window.
"Mhm," Arizona mumbled against her wife's sweater.
Sofia's eyes widened as she saw her mother's current position.
"Are you... scared, Mommy?" she asked. This was a strange sight for Sofia, as she never saw her mommy cry. She only knew her mommy as the strong woman she was, and she had never seen this side of her.
"Mommy's the bravest one on this plane, Sofia. She isn't scared. Her super magic bravery powers just haven't come into full force yet, that's all," Callie told their daughter.
A moment later, Zola, Derek and Meredith slid into the seats across the aisle from Callie, Arizona and Sofia. Zola was in awe of the airplanes as well, just as Sofia had been only minutes earlier.
Meredith's heart broke when she saw Arizona crying into Callie's shoulder. She reached over from her seat across the aisle from Arizona and rubbed her arm. This comforted Arizona and she felt herself loosen up, but only for a little bit.
The flight attendants began to demonstrate the safety and emergency protocols and Arizona tensed up again. Callie hugged her wife closer and Meredith squeezed Arizona's hand. Her sobs started up again and Callie's heart sank. She desperately wanted to help her wife, but she didn't know how. She desperately wished for this plane, which hadn't even taken off the ground yet, to land in sunny Florida so that this could all be over. She desperately wished Mark and Lexie could be here. Callie pictured how much fun they would have had celebrating the little princesses. She smiled thinking about how Mark would have carried Sofia around Disney on his shoulders. He would've bought her anything she asked for and he would've spoiled her rotten. She had him wrapped around her little finger...
Callie was snapped out of her daydream when the pilot came over the system and Arizona breathed heavier. Moments later, the plane lurched and started inching forward.
"Calliope... please... talk to me," Arizona whined between sobs.
"Arizona, remember when we went on our first date? We went to that adorable little coffee shop across from the hospital. It was, like, eight in the morning and we both had just come off of a 36 hour shift. You had just finished removing six tumors from the abdomen of a three year old little girl with Neuroblastoma and I had rebuilt the bones of a car accident victim. You asked if I wanted anything to eat with my coffee, and I told you I wasn't hungry, when actually, I was starving. I was just too nervous to eat around you!"
Callie felt Arizona's cries pause and heard a laugh come from her wife. Callie smiled as she continued telling stories until Arizona's sniffles were scarce and her wife fell asleep.
...
Pretty soon, everyone on the plane was asleep except for Callie. Sure, she was tired, but she just couldn't sleep. What if Sofia woke up and needed to use the bathroom? What if Arizona woke up to find herself on an airplane, her worst nightmare?
Callie couldn't bear to have either of those situations happen, so she sat awake between her wife and her daughter, staring straight ahead, praying for the flight to end soon.