"So, there's this bird. Some sort of swallow I think. Every September, thousands of them ditch rainy Seattle to winter in Mexico. These birds aren't dumb. And every year, crowds of people gather around Seattle to drink beer and watch the flocks take off. They call it the Great Migration. I don't know how those birds do it. Travel thousands of miles without getting lost. Banging into windows, being eaten by cats. But every spring, they're always here. I guess they come back to what they know. People say it's pretty cool, watching them go. They say you can actually see the moment when, at some mysterious signal, all at once the birds decide to leave. So maybe I've been missing out. Whatever... there's always next year"

"we'll hum our hearts to rest"

At Meredith's house, the 5th year residents were having a party to celebrate passing their boards. April was rocking back and forth to the music on a chair. "Oh! I love this song! Excuse me!" she exclaimed, getting up and running off to dance. "Kepner's wasted", Alex stated. "That's a first", Lucy added. "Yeah, well, lately, she's been all about firsts", Jackson replied. A phone started ringing. "Wait, wait, wait", Cristina said as Meredith shut off the music and she grabbed her phone. "This is Dr Yang. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Well, that does certainly give me a lot to think about. Thank you so much for calling. Mayo wants to give me a research lab. Guess who's back in the running!" Everyone cheered. "Yeah, Cristina!" April said. "April!" Cristina said. The music came back on and April started aggressively dancing again. "So that's what rock bottom looks like", Alex said. A phone started ringing. "Music. Music!" Jackson said. April grabbed her phone. "Hello? Yes, this is she", she said. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Well, yes, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity. UVA wants a board-certified surgeon, so they pulled my offer. Come on. Music! Come on. Come on. Music! Come on!"

Aurora entered the firehouse, where Owen was already asleep. He woke up and saw her. "Aurora?" he said. She climbed onto the bed and lay on his chest.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know"

He held her tighter. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know"

She got up and left.

Teddy, Cristina, Beck and Callie were in Nick's room. "So, this patch here is your tumour", Cristina explained, pointing to a scan. "It's invading the wall of your right ventricle. What we'll do is, we'll resect the tumour, then repair the ventricle, and replace the tricuspid valve". "Dr Yang is the best that we have. You couldn't be in better hands", Teddy reassured him. "Come on", Nick said to Callie. "Where is she?" "Arizona? She's... Patients. So many patients", Callie replied.

"So, basically, you all want to chop up my heart into a jigsaw puzzle. It may give me a few more months, most of which, I'll be spending in a hospital bed, while my best friend in the world does everything possible to avoid me? Or, I spend the rest of my short life lying on a sandy beach in Belize"

"Nick, you need this surgery"

"Tell Scottsdale I said goodbye. Looks like I won't get the chance"

Alex found Lucy in the hallway and grabbed her wrist, dragging her into an on-call room. "What's up?" she asked him.

"Richard just told me that one of my examiners loved me so much that they're gonna call me about a fellowship at Johns Hopkins"

"Shut up"

"It's true"

"Oh, my God! I'm so proud of you"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"You're not mad?"

"Of course not. This is the real deal, Alex. I'm not gonna take that away from you. Besides, I don't mind moving if it's something you really want. I've got some options close to there. We'll make it work and it'll be great"

"You're the best"

"I know"

He kissed her. They were interrupted by his phone ringing. They looked at each other.

"Hopkins!" Alex exclaimed as he and Lucy walked over to Meredith and Cristina. "Hopkins is not in the running", Cristina stated.

"Not for you. For me. Hopkins. Hopkins wants me. Hopkins wants me!"

"Johns Hopkins, the hospital?"

"Alex, how?" Meredith asked.

"Not Hopkins Refrigeration School?"

"I kind of bitched out their chief of surgery at my boards, and I guess he was impressed", he explained.

"So they know you're a jerk?"

"They totally know, and they want me. Hopkins wants me"

"I'm not surprised at all", Meredith said, smiling. "I am 100% surprised," Cristina said, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug. "Nice work, evil spawn". He looked surprised for a second but sighing and smiling once again. He turned around and cheered with his arms raised. "Yes! Hopkins!" he said as he walked off. Lucy laughed.

Mark, Lucy and Derek were in the elevator together. "How's Julia? You impregnate her yet?" Derek asked Mark. "Wait, you and Julia are trying to have a baby?" Lucy questioned. "Well, I was all ready to impregnate her, but then Kelly...", Mark said before sighing. "Oh, she told me she was in love with me".

"What did you say?"

"I kissed her. And I told her I loved her"

"That's great"

"And I broke up with Julia"

"Wow"

"And I'm gonna ask Kelly to marry me"

"Jesus. That's quite the turn of events. How long was I gone?"

The 4th and 5th-year residents were having lunch. "Well, we can add spaghetti Wednesday to the list of things I'm not gonna miss about this place", Jackson said. "Are you kidding? Best deal in town", Meredith replied. "I've watched Alex go through six bowls already". "True that", Alex said, through a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Hey, I hear Stanford has a farm-to-table chef. You can text your order right from the OR"

"I'll factor that in. I still haven't made my decision", Cristina said.

"Well, it's gotta be Stanford. Where else would you go?"

"I don't know. I might stay. Everything's on the table"

"She like-a the spaghetti, too," Alex said in a terrible Italian accent. "Tulane's got crawfish. I mean, that's a selling point", Jackson said.

"USC, I mean, what do they eat in LA?"

"Souls", Lucy stated. April's phone rang. "2-1-2. It's New York", she said, staring at it. "Mount Sinai", Meredith said. "Answer it", Kelly urged. "Bad news is only bad news if you pick up the phone", April said. Cristina grabbed it. "April Kepner speaking", she said after answering, putting on April's voice. "Cristina", April said.

"Oh, really? Okay. Okay. Oh, my gosh. Okay. No, no, no, no. No, thank you"

"They didn't pull my offer?"

"Oh, no. They did. I just figured that's what you'd sound like in the face of rejection"

"Hey, you want my fries, Apes?" Alex offered. "Not if they're pity fries", she said.

"They taste the same"

"No, you still got Case Western and Seattle, right?" Jackson said reassuringly, putting his hand on her arm comfortingly. Beck looked at the gesture in confusion.

"You're gonna be fine"

April shrugged off his hand and Jackson caught Beck's eye but quickly looked away. "So what does Sloan think of Tulane?" Kelly asked him. "He hasn't weighed in one way or the other", he said. "There's something wrong with him. I think he's nervous about something".

"Really?"

"Then again, I've been pretty disturbed myself these days"

April's phone rang again and Cristina quickly grabbed it once again. "2-1-6. Cleveland", she said, reading the screen. "Maybe Case Western's offering loan assistance", Meredith suggested. Cristina offered April the phone but you shook her head. "This is Kepner", Cristina spoke into the phone. "Oh, yeah? Well, you know what? I am an awesome surgeon. And I would've rocked your stupid little program, so it is your loss. Go to hell!" April looked down in disappointment.

Teddy, Cristina and Beck were scrubbing in. "Okay, dealer's choice", Teddy said. "Do you want to do the ventriculoplasty, or resect the tumour, or... Do you want to be primary surgeon?" "Fine", Cristina replied.

"Fine? Okay, what is going on? Are you staying? Are you going? 'Cause it... It's driving me crazy. I don't..."

"I'll take all of it"

"What?"

"All of it. The ventriculoplasty and as much of the tumour as you'll let me do. Thank you. It's very generous. I'll see you in there"

Cristina made her way into the OR. "I'm not being crazy. She's being weird, right?" Teddy said.

"Totally"

Jackson, Kelly and Mark were preparing to remove a worm from Marion's arm. "Okay, Marion, the ultrasound shows the worm went deeper into your tissue but we should still be able to get that nasty thing out", Mark said. "Jake could die or he could be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life", she stated. "I'm the one that insisted we go to Thailand. I keep trying to turn him into somebody else. Maybe we made a mistake".

"What do you mean exactly?"

"How do you know it was a mistake?" Jackson asked. "I don't know why we keep coming back to each other", she said. "We're the same people, but we keep expecting a different outcome. Isn't that the definition of insanity?" "Or love. If there's a spark, there's a spark", Mark said. "Or maybe you think there's a spark, but you don't know how the other person really feels, so you can't really tell, and there's no time to actually figure that out because you're probably moving halfway across the country", Jackson rambled. They all looked at him. "Are we gonna get this worm out any time soon?" Marion said. "Yeah", Jackson said. "Get the irrigation ready", Mark instructed.

"On it"

Teddy, Beck and Cristina were operating on Nick with Callie and Arizona watching from the gallery. "Alright, temp's down to 30 degrees", Beck informed them. "Cross-clamping the aorta", Cristina said. "Alright. Let's see what we're working with", Teddy said. They looked at the ultrasound in shock. "Damn it. This wasn't in the scans. The tumour's infiltrated much deeper into the ventricle", Cristina said. "Reconstructive ventriculoplasty isn't gonna cut it". "We could do a Fontan?" Beck suggested. "Directly sew the right atrium to the pulmonary artery. We could patch whatever's left". "That would help with the blood flow, but the hole in the resection would...", Teddy said. "Yeah. He'd arrest right on the table", Cristina concluded. "We could do an RV to a PA conduit...".

"No, the thing would calcify. It would kill him"

"A cadaver homograft?" Beck said.

"The hole would be way too big. It's instant heart failure"

They looked at each other as they stood in silence, not knowing what to do.

Beck, Kelly and Aurora were looking at the conjoined twins chart. "They're conjoined at the sternum and the diaphragm", Kelly stated. "It's tricky". "I can't believe I don't get to go", Aurora sighed. "So, still thinking about other jobs?" Beck asked her.

"I don't know"

"Because of Owen? Aurora, you should be with someone who's there for you through the rough times, not someone's who's blaming you for it. Who doesn't cheat on you"

"You know what? You and everyone else needs to just... Shut up about it"

"It's a huge decision", Kelly said. "And we just don't want you doing the wrong thing. Or compromising yourself and what you stand for"

"It's not your decision to make"

"We're your people"

"We're not married. You're not my... He's my person"

She got up and left the room.

Owen was asleep in an on-call room but he woke up as soon as Aurora came in. He sat up. "So, Arizona told me you're considering other hospitals", he said. "What's it gonna be? What are your options?" She walked over to him and sat down beside him.

"You know, really, you can't go wrong with any of them, so..."

She turned to him and kissed him. He pulled back. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asked her. She stroked his cheek and leaned in to kiss him again. He laid her on the bed.

Mark dragged Kelly into an on-call room. "Before we leave, I wanted to ask you something I've been meaning to ask you ever since I fell in love with you", he said.

"Okay..."

He got down on one knee and took out a black velvet box.

"Oh, my God"

He opened it revealing a tear-shaped diamond ring.

"Oh, my God"

"Kelly Ripa, will you marry me?"

"Oh, my God"

"Is that a yes or..."

"It's a yes"

She laughed with tears shining in her eyes. He stood up in disbelief and placed the ring on her finger. He put her face in his hands and kissed her.

Jackson caught up with Beck outside the hospital. "Hey, I know you're leaving soon but can we talk for a second?" he asked.

"Not right now, Jackson"

"No, okay? I need to talk to you"

"Did something happen between you and April? Tell the truth"

"I slept with her"

"Seriously? When?"

"The night before our oral boards"

"You mean the night I sent you that message saying that you were gonna do great and that we should talk"

"I heard that after it happened"

"Whatever, it doesn't matter"

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Nothing, it's fine"

"Beck, come on, you always do this. The conversation takes place when it's convenient for you"

"I'm getting on a plane soon, okay? Can we talk about this when I get back?"

"Or maybe you hope the plane will crash so we don't have this conversation at all"

"Real mature, Jackson. Thank you for that. Glad to know you think so highly of me"

Aurora lay on top of Owen. He looked at her. "What?" she asked.

"I'm happy. I know this doesn't fix anything. But I'm just happy"

"I'm leaving you"

In the hall, the surgeons leaving for Boise were getting ready. Kelly picked up her bag but Mark immediately took it out of her hands. "Mark", she scolded, fighting her smile.

"Carrying around that rock is more than enough. I'll take care of the rest"

She pecked his lips, smiling widely. "You son of a bitch. I had to hear it from Hunt?" Arizona yelled at Alex. "What, you couldn't even be man enough to tell me yourself?" "Sweetie. She's had a horrible day. I'm so...", Callie said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You ungrateful crap dog!"

"Hey, stop it! Do not talk to him like that" Lucy warned.

"It's Hopkins. You went there. You of all people should know", Alex reasoned. "You are a miserable, miserable bastard", Arizona retorted.

"Robbins, they want me. Alright? They really want me"

"Oh, well, you... You're actually going?"

"Can we talk about this when I get back?"

"No!"

"What are you doing? No, you are not going to Boise, because you no longer represent this hospital!"

"Give me a break..."

"Fine. You know what? Forget the charts! Go see if they need help in the clinic"

"I've been prepping for this surgery for days! This is crap!"

After Arizona had walked off, Lucy placed her hand on Alex's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"I was happy. Now, I'm just annoyed"

The doctors were on the plane. Mark looked at Kelly and grabbed her hand, squeezing with a smile on his face. Beck looked out the window thoughtfully.

Birds took off from the treetops. The sun shone through the branches. There were pieces of the plane scattered all over the ground. It had broken in the middle. Kelly lay motionless on the ground, a piece of glass in her eye and a part of the plane lodged into her stomach, blood surrounding it. 

hope you enjoyed! comment your opinions! song is migration by wintersleep