⚠️ mentions of suicide in this chapter⚠️

It was soon Wednesday and Hope had completed her work for the day yesterday, she only had some georgraphy work to do and then Montana and Hope were going swimming and then Hope was spending 6 hours at dance before Arizona was going to be picking her up.

"Morning Mom, I made you coffee and made you lunch" Hope smiled as she turned around in the kitchen with a spring in her step. She had a message that morning from Noelle Montgomery-Shepherd one of her really good friend who lived in LA,  she said was also home schooled and she was coming to Seattle for a week to spend time with Derek but she was excited to see her long distance best friend. She was also excited to find out about her biological mother that evening after dance.

"Someone's happy this morning" Arizona pointed out to her daughter who nodded happily.

"I am, for two reasons Noelle is coming to Seattle for a week,  and your telling me about Scarlett tonight." Hope grinned as she packed her water bottle into her dance bag.

"I'm glad your happy Hope" Arizona kissed her daughters forehead gently.

"Right I have to go get dressed, but I won't be long" Hope said to her mom who nodded.

"I'll make you some breakfast. Toast or cereal?" Arizona asked her daughter.

"Toast please mom" Hope said making her way into her bed room where she had a pair of jeans laid on her bed with a lilac camouflaged patterned t-shirt. Hope changed into her outfit of the day and sat on her bed to pull on her shoes and socks on. The teenager sat mentally planning out her English assignment, she was going to mention her hospital family, cause that's what they are like to her, Lexie, Meredith, Cristina, Teddy, April and Miranda were like aunts to her, obviously they weren't actually her aunts and Derek, Owen, Jackson, Alex and Richard were like uncles to her while Mark was like a father to her mostly because she is like a sister to Montana.

Hope stood up and grabbed her white denim jacket which was actually the same colour as her jeans. She grabbed her phone off charge and slipped it into her pocket. She left her room and headed to the breakfast bar in the kitchen. She climbed onto the stool and picked up her drink she had made before she went to get changed.

"Thank you for my toast mom" Hope smiled picking up the buttered toast and she took a bite.

"What take away shall we go for tonight?" Arizona asked Hope, Hope wasn't sure what she fancied.

"I'm not sure, maybe something with chicken or Chinese" Hope answered shrugging after she had swallowed her mouthful of toast.

"You've got time to decide anyway" Arizona smiled.

"Tana' is taking me swimming at 9:30 and she's dropping me off at the the dance school for my classes this afternoon. I have a competition class last today, I think we are competing in a few weeks" Hope said as she continued eating her breakfast.

"You know I'll be their cheering you on" Arizona smiled to her daughter kissing her forehead before she put her mug in the dishwashers

"You always are Mom." Hope said hopping off the stool to put her plate into the dishwasher so she was ready to join her mom at the hospital.

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Hope was sat in the gallery of OR 2 where Mark Sloan was operating, it was 8am and she was wide awake. She sat watching her best friends father work magic on a burn victim that came in over night. He was doing a skin graft and Hope was just fascinated by by the whole thing, she always was when watching surgery. She'd watched so many appendicectomy's from the gallery that she swears she could possibly do one herself, of course she wouldn't seeing as she's only a teenager but she knew she probably could do.

"Their you are. I've been looking for you" Hope heard Meredith's voice pulling her from the trance she seemed to be in.

"Here I am" Hope grinned happily

"What's up Mer" Hope then asked curiously  while pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Elle' has phoned and has asked if you wanted to stay over when she gets here in a few weeks" Meredith asked Hope who smiled.

"If it's okay with you and Derek then I would love to." Hope answered.

"You are always welcome at ours I mean it, even if you just want a bed to sleep In instead of being here when your mom is on nights. As long as you get permission from her you can always stay at ours, someone would take you to ours and you could stay in Noelle's room" Meredith said to Hope who didn't expect that. She had stayed round Meredith's about 5 times when she has been with Noelle but she's never expected to be invited to stay when Noelle isn't in Seattle.

"Thank you Meredith. I might take you up on that offer when Callie and mom are both working at night. Mom is asking Callie to move in" Hope said unsure if anyone actually knew Arizona was asking Callie to move in.

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Hope met Montana in the main atrium of the hospital and they headed out to Montana's red car, Hope had two bags with her, her dance bag and her swim bag. Their was a clear difference to which bag was which, her dance bag was much bigger than her swimming bag covered in badges she'd collected, they consisted Disney, dance and random badges too.

"Have you let Arizona know that you are leaving?" Montana asked as the two teens got into Montana's red car.

"I told mom this morning that your taking me swimming then dropping me off at dance. I haven't see since this morning, I guess she's busy" Hope shrugged securing her seatbelt.

"I think you should let her know you've left, their could be a fire and she could think your still inside" Montana said worried about her best friend, their May be a 6 years age gap between the two of them but they were best friends and nothing would get in the way of they. Both girls were also best friends with Noelle Montgomery-Shepherd and they both hated that they live so far apart from each other.

"Come on Tana' I doubt their would be a fire at the hospital" Hope rolled her eyes laughing slightly.

"I'm serious Hope you need to text her to let her know you've left" Montana said.

"Fine, I'll text her now" Hope gave in as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She unlocked her phone and found her moms number

Hope: Hi Mom, I've just left the hospital with Montana, see you later when you pick me up from dance. Love you xx

Hope sends to Arizona before locking her phone and smiling. She didn't know if her mom was in surgery but she was still smiling knowing her mom would reply when she's free.

"Can you Im believe Elle' is coming to Seattle in a few weeks? I can't wait to see her again" Hope beamed happily while Montana began driving to the swim center. The two teenagers were singing along to Take That, one of Hope's favourite bands, she didn't care if not many teens her age liked them, she loved them.

I guess now it's time for me to give up
I feel it's time
Got a picture of you beside me
Got your lipstick mark still on your coffee cup
Got a fist of pure emotion
Got a head of shattered dreams
Gotta leave it, gotta leave it all behind now

Hope sang along to back for good, it was one of her favourite Take That songs and one that she had sang a million times in her room, she's also played it loads of times too whether it was dancing randomly in the hospital, in her bedroom or in the dance academy.

"You know, your voice is truely incredible" Montana points out to her best friend

"Yours is better than mine. I could listen to you sing for hours" Hope smiled happily turning to look at her friend. The two have had plenty of arguments about who's better at singing, they never settle the argument though, they just end up changing the subject so why should this time be any different. Soon Hope and Montana we're at the swim centre and they paid before heading to the locker room, both girls went into the stools and changed into their swimming costumes unintentionally they had packed the same costume.

"Twins" Hope giggled when she left her stool in her pink two piece costume and her towel over her arm.

"How did this happen, we both have other swimming costumes" laughed Montana.

"I guess we really are twins" Hope laughed. The best friends spent their time swimming, having a good time and making memories together as best friends. At 11 the two friends got out of the pool and changed back into their normal clothes. Montana took Hope for some lunch before dropping her off at her dance academy. Hope thanked her best friend for an amazing time and went to get changed into her black leotard which she matched with some black booty shorts, she took her ballet shoes into the dance studio ready for her ballet class which she had in the same studio in a hours time.

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Arizona picked Hope up from dance at 6:20pm, she was had arrived at the dance academy at 5:50 but Hope was running late after the group dance rehearsal that the competition team had began learning. Hope loved the dance

"Sorry I was late, we were learning the group dance" Hope apologised to her mom.

"You don't have to apologise" Arizona reminded her daughter who smiled as she secured her seatbelt. Arizona drove the pair home after picking up Chinese food for their dinner, the mother and daughter duo were talking about their day, Hope was telling Arizona about the group dance she was learning and how much she had loved swimming with Montana. The two got home and Hope put her swimming costumes and towel into the washing machine before she set the table for the two of them.

"Are you ready to learn about Scarlett?" Arizona asked Hope who nodded, she wasn't sure what else to say.

"Scarlett was in the army, she loved what she did and she loved you. She would jump in front of a bullet for you, she would jump in front of a bullet for me, she would jump in front of anyone she loves and cares about." Arizona began telling Hope about her biological mother as they began eating their dinner after dishing up the food. Arizona always had pride when talking about Scarlett but it was hard for her to do so, she was her best friend after all, you could say they were each other's person.

"I'd take a bullet for anyone I love and care about. I guy was I take after her on that" Hope said with a smile on her face.

"I know you would and that scares me, I'd never want to loose you but I know you would always try and protect anyone you care about" Arizona said nodding knowing she'd never stop Hope from trying to protect people she cares about.

"What did she like doing?" Hope asked taking a bite of her chicken chow mein.

"She was a daredevil, she loved taking risks, she once convinced me to go indoor skydiving becuase she wanted to do the real thing with me by her side when she raised money for ex army veterans, I went to the indoor one but I couldn't do the real thing." Arizona smiled remembering the experience of the indoor skydiving she had. Hope had secretly wanted to try the indoor skydiving, she'd never have the bottle to go actual skydiving though, that was one thing that was a big No from her

"Her favourite colour was yellow and when you were born, she dressed you in all yellow, not the mustard type of yellow, she preferred Lemon Yellow and Cadmium Yellow." Arizona smiled showing Hope the picture of Scarlett and Hope when she was a baby, in the yellow outfit which Scarlett adored.

"She looked happy, how did she die?" Hope asked biting her lip anxiously hoping she hadn't overstepped.

"She wasn't well. After you were born she went back to work when you were about 5 months old, she was having trouble bonding with you and thought it would be best to go back to serving her country. After 3 months she was honourably discharged from the army. At the time I didn't know this but she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and Depression, she hid it for some time and was admitted to a phyce ward after she tried to take her own life, she was discharged for only a week before she ended up committing suicide. But that's only the short version of the story" Arizona told Hope with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry mom" Hope mumbled her own eyes filling with tears, she didn't really know who Scarlett was, of course she knew she was her biological mom but she didn't know anything personal about her like proper a proper daughter should.

"Hope, You have nothing to be sorry for. Never in a million years do you have to apologise for asking about Scarlett; she is your biological mother, you have the right to ask about her" Arizona said.

"Do I really have the right to ask? I hardly knew her. I was 2 when she died, you are all I have ever known, I don't remember anything about her. I try to remember her smile or her voice but I don't remember anything. I wish I did hit I don't" Hope said with the tears in her eyes threatening to spill, she was trying to hold the tears back.

"Of course you have the right to ask about  her. You were and always will be her daughter" Arizona said as she sat Hope smile a small smile while eating her meal.

"I wish I could have gotten to know her but You will always be my mom because you are the only one I have ever known, you have taken care of me all my life. You've loved and cared for me even when you didn't have to, you chose to adopt me and I can never thank you enough for that." Hope said having a drink of her juice.

"I chose to adopt you because you were already my world, I wasn't going to let you grow up in care and you have always reminded me of Scarlett and it's a honour to watch you grow into a beautiful and talented young lady" Arizona said to her daughter who couldn't help but smile. She had learnt everything and more about her biological mother and although it was hard for her mom she was truly grateful for everything that she had learnt.

Hope had learnt the tale of Scarlett June, her biological mother who truly did sound like a incredible woman who was indeed one of a kind