A/N: Well hello everyone... First I wanna apologize up front if this chapter seems rushed...but I wanted to focus on two main things for our final chapter...I wanted to keep the adrenaline pumping, so to speak...

Wow! What can I say about this one? Almost three years of my life spent on this story... I'm feeling very emotional about this right at the moment...

Over 200,000 words...that's a lot of words...a shit ton of research...hours upon hours of research...that's a lot of research...apologies for any inaccuracies, I really did try my hardest to make it believable for you all:)

Carry on... enjoy...

I'll be alright... I promise...

***Quick Arm Update-an MRI is needed, might have torn some tendons and muscles, possible surgery...definitely no more golfing for now:(

Disclaimer: If I still have to remind everyone that I don't own Skins...all typos and grammatical errors are totally my fault...


Chapter 29: and Match!

Cook and Katie sat in the cafeteria, choosing to wait out the rain by enjoying a quick meal. Once Katie had returned from the locker room, she was calmer.

"So...," Cook decided to break the comfortable silence, "is my sister still alive?"

Katie's head snapped up at the question. At first she thought he was serious, but then she watch a smirk break out on his face.

"Fuck off! I thought you were mad at me." Katie told him as she sipped from her cup. "Although, I did happen to inform her of the consequences of hurting my sister again...,"

Cook laughed out loud. "Jesus woman, I love you," he made sure to keep eye contact with her, "you know that, right?"

"Yeah, right." She muttered in shock and embarrassment, not really believing him, until he reached across the table and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together.

"Katie, I've never felt this way about anyone. Ever." He told her sincerely. "You make me feel like I can take on the world and win." Katie didn't say anything, couldn't say anything, as her heart started beating a million miles per hour. "You know, when I was younger, I never thought about my future. My life was about living in the moment, going from tournament to tournament...me and Naomi, tennis and having fun. That's what life was for me, until you." Cook smiled shyly at Katie, before laying everything on the line. "But now when I think about the future...I see you."

Katie was still silent, as the emotions from Cook's speech bubbled to the surface. Tears spilled from her eyes, making Cook a bit nervous he'd done something wrong, until she smiled at him.

"Say something, Katie."

"Do you mean it?" She asked shyly.

Cook smiled back at her, stood up and drug his chair closer to hers while reaching into his pocket. "I've never meant anything more, Katie." He placed a small jeweller's box on the table and opened it.

Katie gasped as she stared at the ring inside.

"I wasn't going to give this to you yet, because we've only been together a short while." He told her, as he watched her trace the ring in the box lovingly. "But I saw it the other day and I knew it was for you. See? It sparkles in the light, just like your eyes when you're smiling."

"Oh my god, James, this is gorgeous!" Katie admitted.

"So what do you think, Katiekins? We can have a long engagement? Whenever you're ready, yeah?"

"What the fuck kind of shit proposal is that, James Cook!" Katie's voice sounded out through the cafeteria, causing everyone in there to stop and see what was going on.

Cook merely laughed loudly again. "Did I mention your eyes sparkle when you get your knickers in a twist as well?" He stood up again and pushed the chair out of the way, then fell on to one knee in front of Katie.

He looked around, making sure people had their cameras out and at the ready, smiled at them all before turning back to Katie, because this definitely needed to be documented.

"Katherine Fitch, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" He asked as cameras started clicking and flashes lit up the area around them both.

Who knew the paparazzi could be good for something? Cook wanted the whole world to know that he belonged to Katie and that, hopefully, she would belong to him.

The whole scene shut Katie right up, as happiness overshadowed everything else. Tears of joy streamed down her face as she kept looking between Cook and the ring, afraid to blink in case this was a dream.

She was silent for so long that Cook was afraid she was going to say no. "Uh...babes?" He looked at her expectantly.

"Yes."

It was whispered, so quietly that Cook didn't actually hear it, but rather saw her lips move, as her tears kept falling.

"Yes!" She said again, because she wasn't quite sure she had said it out loud the first time. "Yes, James."

"Yeah?" He clarified, just to be sure he wasn't imagining it.

Katie reached out, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. Just before she crushed their lips together she told him again. "Yes!"

He pulled back from her, breathless, and pulled the ring out of the box, placing it on her finger while all around them, amid the applause, fans videoed the proposal to post online and journalists waited to start asking questions and the photogs snapped away trying to earn a few quid.

It may not have been perfect, cause God only knew how imperfect James Cook was, but Katie said yes and that was all that mattered to him.


After another round of warmups, Emily and Serena were finally able to resume their match.

Emily stood at the baseline, still getting used to the feeling of being under the closed roof, and waited for the crowd to calm down.

"Quiet! Quiet please!" The umpire called out. "Play will resume at Love-15, Miss Fitch to serve."

Emily got ready to serve, staring down the court at her opponent, and remembered what Naomi had told her. She watched as Williams crouched down and heard Naomi's voice in her head.

'If she crouches down before you serve, she's gonna explode into action. It'll be a cross court slice, so be ready for it.'

Emily tossed the ball high and hit it with as much power as she could and watched it fly across the net. She only hesitated long enough to see that, yes, Serena did explode into action, but Emily was already on the move to were the other girl was hitting the ball to.

It was subtle enough, so that if you didn't know to watch for it, you'd never know what was happening. But Naomi pointed it out. It was a slight shuffling of her feet, the way she cocked her head, the way she held her racquet and the way her body would lean. When you watched her, you could read her like a book, just like Naomi told her. Emily hit the ball back to the other player, who was shocked a bit. She could see it on Serena's face, but that didn't stop her from returning it back to Emily.

But Emily was paying attention to Serena's feet and knew what she was planning to do, so she made sure that she got to where the ball was about to land and easily hit it back watching as it landed in the opposite corner from where Serena was standing.

"15-all!"

"Yes!" Emily cried out, feeling refreshed and more confident than before.

She quickly got into position to serve again, and didn't feel the need to waste anymore time as she fired the ball over to Serena. Ground stroke after ground stroke both of them played their hardest, but Emily was able to hold serve and win the game, tying the set to 3-all.

Thirty minutes later, Emily had fought back hard enough to win the set, 6-4, shocking Serena and more importantly, shocking herself.

'Holy shit!' She thought to herself in wonder. 'I may have a shot at winning this!'


Naomi watched Emily win the second set from the lounge. She really didn't want to take anything away from Emily. Even though she wanted to sit in the players box and cheer her on, Naomi knew that with all the rumours going around that her presence would disrupt the match.

"Yes!" She whispered to herself, as the players on the screen sat for their allotted break. "You can do this, Ems!"

"You should really be out there, you know."

The voice penetrated the room, causing Naomi to jump at the unexpected sound. She turned toward the source, finding Jenna standing there staring at the television and felt her blood run cold.

"Jenna, wh...," Naomi swallowed thickly, "what are you doing here?"

Jenna sat down next to Naomi, keeping her eyes on the telly. "You should be out there." She stated again, quieter this time, finally looking at Naomi. "Have you any idea how miserable she's been the last couple of days?"

Naomi hung her head in shame, blinking back the tears that filled her eyes. "I can only imagine the worst, Jenna, please don't make it any harder."

Jenna simply looked at the young woman before her. "You know...I can see now why she loves you."

Naomi's eyes snapped up and locked with Jenna's, obviously not expecting her to say that at all. "What?"

"Emily?" Jenna felt a smile start to break, but she held it in check. "She told Katie that she was in love with you."

Naomi couldn't help but be confused. "I don't understand...,"

"The night I found out about Emily," Jenna glanced away, shame still filled her when she thought about how she acted that night, "I overheard her telling Katie that she was in love with you, but she was afraid to say anything."

"I'm sorry if I made her feel as if she had to hide her feelings."

Jenna heard guilt and sadness in Naomi's words, but she knew the truth behind Emily reasoning. "I don't think it was you who did that, dear," Jenna said with a sigh, as Naomi brushed back a tear, "I think that was me...actually, I know that was me."

Naomi didn't know what to say to that, so she stayed silent.

"I understand all about the frustrations of this game, Naomi. I know what it's like to want to win so badly and all you end up with is the bitter taste of defeat in your mouth as you have to congratulate your opponent for a game well played." Jenna remembered clearly. "I get the anguish of being so close to that trophy and having it ripped away from you, I really do...and I also know, from first hand experience, about taking out that frustration on the one you love."

"You do?" Naomi asked quietly.

Jenna looked off toward the other side of the room as she remembered a particularly bad incident. "Yes. It was after my injury, Rob and I had been married for a short while and I had made the decision that I was ready to go back on the tour. I pushed myself, trained harder than ever, convinced that I could get back to where I was before the injury...," she glanced at Naomi, happy to see she had the blonde's full attention, "Rob had informed that he didn't think I was ready, but supported me. I ignored the warning signs that things weren't right, and when I lost in the first round at Indian Wells, I was so embarrassed and shocked and mad."

Naomi quickly gazed at the telly, keeping an eye on the match, before returning her eyes back to Jenna. "What happened?" She asked curiously.

"I was horrible to him, Naomi...I...I blamed him for not helping me enough, for not being more supportive...I blamed him because I had lost that match, I accused him of holding me back." Jenna told her, swallowing back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. "You and I are quite similar in some ways...we want perfection, we want to be the best...we expect it and when we don't get it, well...let's just say that my temper almost cost me my husband all those years ago."

"Really? How did you fix it?"

"I'm not saying it was perfect, but I apologised and...I found out I was pregnant with the girls. That helped ease the sting of never playing again, but it didn't stop me from reverting back to type when the girls started playing tennis...a lifetime habit is hard to break, you know." Jenna smiled a sad smile.

"So what you're saying is Emily has to look forward to me become a complete and utter cunt again." Naomi hung her head again feeling tears welling up in her eyes as a loud cheer ripped through the crowd on the telly, which she could hear muffled through the club walls.

"No, Naomi...I didn't learn for my mistake, but that doesn't mean that you can't or won't." She smiled at the blonde now. "I only said we were similar in some ways, Nai, not in all of them."

"Maybe you're right, but...,"

"But nothing, Naomi! Did you apologise? Did you mean it?" Naomi nodded at Jenna. "Then you've already taken the first step, don't you see?"

Naomi was surprised by the passion that Jenna was displaying. She had heard all the stories from Emily and Katie about how Jenna was cold and uncaring, but this woman sitting in front of her right now? She loved her daughter and it showed.

"Do you love my daughter?"

The question brought Naomi back to reality, shocking her again. "Come again?" she asked, unable to refrain from squirming in her seat.

"Do you love Emily?" Jenna asked the question again, more slowly this time as if she was speaking to a small child, keeping her gaze on the blonde.

Naomi didn't even need to think about the answer as it started flowing off the tip of her tongue. "I love her with all my heart. I never thought I'd find anyone like her...I hoped I would one day, but didn't put much faith in it, and then one morning I'm running five miles with my new best friend, cracking jokes about people as we passed them...," Naomi remembered the moment, a smile lighting her face up, as Jenna watched in amazement, "then I looked over at Emily and she had this smile on her face...and I knew at that moment, that very moment when she had never looked more beautiful, sweaty hair plastered to her face and all, that my heart would only belong to her."

Naomi pulled herself out of the memory, suddenly feeling embarrassed for the verbal diarrhea, but when she looked up at Jenna, she saw the older woman had tears in her eyes.

"Jenna? What's wrong?" She asked nervously.

"Everyone tells you that when you become a mother, your children become your world. Their happiness is your happiness." Jenna wiped the tears away, blinking them back, as she let the last of her reservations about Emily and Naomi go. "I never really knew what that meant until just now."

"But I'm a coward, aren't I?" Naomi asked quietly. "I couldn't tell her that from the start, because I was afraid she couldn't love me back."

"But you told her today, didn't you?" Jenna inquired and Naomi nodded. "Not so cowardly now, are you?"

Naomi smiled at the thought. "I guess not."

"So, how about we go watch a tennis match?" Jenna's eyebrow quirked up in question.


"Somebody's on fire right now, Chrissie." John McEnroe stated from the press booth.

"I'd have to agree with you on that one, John." Chrissie Evert smiled for the camera as she and John continued to provide a running commentary on the match taking place. "I wonder if Fitch had thought forty-five minutes ago, that she'd be heading into a third set?"

John chuckled. "She was probably looking to leave the club when the rain set in. Emily Fitch is not an endurance player, Chris. Her defining virtue is her ability to cover the court...she's well adjusted to moving those legs to get her where she needs to be, which is something that was lacking in the first set and a half."

"Well, we did get word that she pulled some muscles when the rain hit, but her coach, Kieran, had stated that Emily was in excellent condition to continue the match, so my question is, what exactly happened in that locker room during the rain delay?"

"No doubt Serena's asking that same question herself." John replied sarcastically. "This was the perfect match for the younger Williams sister, Chrissie, she was coming into this ranked number one, against a nobody-"

"I wouldn't call Emily Fitch a nobody, John. She was ranked at thirty-three coming into Wimbledon. She had an impressive record in WTA tournaments, which is where she got her ranking from in the first place." Chris interrupted.

"But she's never made it to a Grand Slam final, Chris! And we're all aware of the fact that in tennis, Grand Slams are what matter! So like I said, this should have been an easy win for Serena. This match shoulda been over forty-five minutes ago!"

"I don't know, John. I'm watching the match right now, and I've gotta say, Emily Fitch is definitely someone to watch out for." Chris stated. "I mean, I know she's little, she barely cracks the 5'3 mark, but her strokes are just as powerful as Serena's. And her serve?" Chris exclaimed, watching the action down on the court. "Her serve rivals Serena's...she took out some of the biggest names in tennis during this tournament!"

"I don't know about that, Chris...I think Emily Fitch has got to be the luckiest girl alive! This whole tournament she's been practically swarmed with publicity of the personal kind...you know the whole Campbell incident...was Fitch to blame for that disappointing loss against Serena? Who's to say? Has it distracted her game today? With no sighting of Naomi Campbell at all, I have to say yes!"

"I think you may be about to eat your words, John, because someone just received a visitor!" Chris pointed out, as the word of Naomi looking for a seat reached the press booth.


Naomi felt eyes on her as she made her way through the seats, choosing to forgo the players box for a couple of reasons. One, it was packed with both her and Emily's family and friends, and two, she didn't want to distract Emily by just appearing there. She came to a spot on the stairs with a clear view of the court, sitting down on the top step and watched as Emily won another point.


The crowd was cheering loudly. Louder than Emily had ever heard before and it was a bit surreal, to say the least. But she knew that none of that mattered. Not the crowd, not the cameras, not even the members of the royal family in attendance mattered. What mattered right now, was focus. Emily knew that she had to stay focused on this match or she would lose it all.

After she had gotten over the shock of winning the second set, she put all her energy into the game and now the score stood at 3 games all, in the third set.

The third set!

Never in a million years did she ever really think she'd be here, on Centre Court, playing against the top ranked player in the world, and making it to the third set! Yeah, sure she'd made mistakes...unforced errors, a double fault here and there, but she told herself to stop being intimidated by the older player and her game seemed to sort itself out.

'Okay, Emily! Get over it and back into the game!' She told herself forcefully, as the umpire called time, indicating that their break was over.

Both made their way to the baselines and prepared for the next game. It was Serena's serve and while she examined the balls that were being tossed to her, Emily took a moment to glance around the crowd, seeing her family and Naomi's family in her players box. She smiled at them and turn her attention to the cheering crowd, wishing yet again that Naomi was out here.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of blonde in the crowd, causing her breath to catch, as the people moved revealing Naomi. The moment their eyes locked on each other, both girls smiled, but then Naomi pointed to Serena, indicating that Emily needed to pay attention to the game. She felt herself blush as she quickly glanced around and saw that Serena was waiting on her to get ready.

Head back on the game, Emily got into position and watched Serena serve a powerful 120 mph serve. She moved quickly to the other side of the court and returned it with force back over the net, and as Serena reached out to send it back, Emily found herself waiting for the ball.

The veteran player's strokes were becoming more forceful as she put all her power into winning the point, but she was also getting frustrated with herself and the more she got frustrated, the more errors she made.

After a couple of minutes, an intense rally and two deuces, Serena with the advantage no less, she sent the ball flying with a powerful back hand to the left side corner and Emily just missed it.

"COME ON!" Serena cried out.

"15- Love!" The crowd went wild, but Emily shook it off as she got ready for the next serve.

The ball was tossed and a satisfying thwack sounded throughout the arena, almost like the gunshot at the start of a race, setting Emily free to rush for the point, as she scurried across the court to return the serve.

Serena sent Emily on a merry chase up and down the court, as the younger player refused to give up the point. Stroke after stroke, both girls ran, determined to be the winner. But it was Emily who prevailed when Serena, standing mid-court, noticed Emily still at the baseline and popped the ball up softly, intending it to fall at the net, but Emily saw what was happening and ran with everything she had to get underneath it.

The older player watched as Emily scooped the ball up with her racquet, effectively sending the ball back over the net at an angle, dropping safely just inside the line.

The crowd cheered louder than before. "15-all!"

"YES!" It was Emily's turn to cry out now, as the adrenaline pumped through her and she quickly got back into position.

Thwack!

Serena served again, both of them wanting the game and the match to be over as quickly as possible now. And a quick three stroke volley, with Emily landing the ball on the other side of the court away from Serena.

"15-30!"

"C'MON EMILY!" She heard Naomi shout from the crowd and she smiled as she walked to the other side of the court and crouched down.

What Serena didn't know was that Emily was growing more confident with every point.


"Excuse me?"

Naomi quickly glanced next to her to see Pam Shriver sitting next to her and knew what was about to happen, as Emily took the game, leading the set at 4 games to 3.

"Hello. I'm Pam Shriver and I was wondering if you'd be up for a tiny court side interview?" The commentator asked.

Naomi felt trapped all of a sudden, but knew there was no way to turn her down. "Um...yeah, sure."

The woman smiled and leaned in closer to the blonde. "Chrissie, I'm sitting here with Naomi Campbell." She said quietly into the mic she held, then listened for a response. "Sitting next to me is Naomi Campbell, who lost her match with Serena the other day," Pam started then turned to the blonde with a smile, "Naomi, that must have been a bitter loss? Can you tell me what you were feeling?"

"Yeah...it was a hard loss to swallow, Pam, but at the end of the day, I just wasn't as prepared as I should have been. The thing with Serena is that she's such a commanding presence on the court, and that has to be respected, if you don't respect that, respect her as a player, you're going to regret it." Naomi stated quietly, keeping her eyes on the court as much as she could.

"I know that Emily is your training partner, how good do you think her chances are here today? This is her first Grand Slam Final, so she's gotta be feeling the pressure." Pam asked after Emily served the ball.

"I think Emily has a solid chance today. I know she started out unsure of herself, coming into the final round against Serena, but that's to be expected, I feel." Naomi said thoughtfully. "She gets overlooked a lot because people assume she's shy and timid, but that's just not the case."

"15-Love!" The umpire called out as the crowd went wild. Naomi wanted to cheer as well, but Pam was still sitting next to her, waiting.

"Three words to describe Emily Fitch...go!" Pam smiled as she posed the challenge, as the players on the court readied for the next serve.

Naomi was surprised, but gave it some thought. "Hmm, only three?" She asked with a cheeky smile, after Emily had hit the ball.

"Just three." Pam chuckled quietly, as she glanced at the on court action.

"Um...fierce...determined...and, I'd have to say strong." Naomi said. "There's a lot I could say about Emily, because she's all that and more, but if I'm being forced to limit myself...,"

The sounds from the court indicated that things were getting tense, so Naomi turned her attention to watch the players battle. Serena was doing everything she could to keep Emily at the baseline, but Naomi saw the red head taking steps up to the net and she knew that Emily was trying to bring Serena closer.

"So, Naomi...," Pam said, drawing Naomi back to the conversation, "what's your honest prediction for today?"

Naomi turned back to watch as Emily stood mid-court while Serena stepped up to the net, barely dropping the ball a foot past the net, but Emily was ready yet again and sent it back over the net behind Serena, landing on the line.

"30-Love!"

Again the crowd went wild and started chanting for Emily, as Naomi smiled. "My prediction is that Emily's gonna win this." She stated with confidence, and the older woman smiled at her.

"Well, there you have it. Naomi, thank you so much for taking the time." Pam said sincerely. "Back to you guys, Chrissie."


Emily bounced the ball, taking a moment to calm herself down.

Serena had rallied back taking the eighth game, tying the set up at 4 games all. But she couldn't hold the ninth game against Emily. Too many first serve faults, too slow on her second serves and too wide in her returns, allowing Emily to take the lead yet again, and now Emily stood at the baseline, preparing to serve for the match.

To say that Emily was scared, was an understatement. She was fucking terrified. She looked down the court at her opponent, and noticed that she looked tired. Emily could understand that, because she was tired as well. She glanced up to get a look at Naomi, and found those ice blue eyes zoned in on her.

'She's still here.' Emily thought in wonder, before turning her mind back to the game. 'Alright, Emily...you've got this. Keep control of the ball and the court and for fucks sake, don't choke!'

Emily got into position, bounced the ball a couple more time before tossing high and springing up to hit it, just like Gina had taught her to do, watching it speed at 105 mph straight down the centreline and sail right past Serena, for her first ever ace against the veteran player.

"15- Love!" The umpire called out, sending the crowd into roaring cheers.

"FITCH! FITCH! FITCH!" The crowd started chanting loudly, as Emily examined a ball for her next serve, boosting her confidence even more.

"Quiet please!" The umpire requested from the crowd.

Emily bounced the ball again, getting into her stance and once she felt comfortable, she tossed the ball high again, jumping high as she brought her racquet around and with a loud thwack, sent it over the net, only to hear a beep when the ball grazed the top of the net.

"Let for service!" Emily shook her head at the call, knowing that she needed to do better, as she got back to the baseline.

Serving again, the ball went over and Serena returned it easily back to Emily, who sliced it back over, rushing the court, once again trying to draw the older player to the net. Emily hit a soft drop shot, hoping to land the point, but Serena was quick to be there, hitting it and sending it deep behind Emily.

"15-all!"

"Come on, Emsy! Shake it off!" Katie called out, as the cheering got louder.

Emily went to serve, but she couldn't concentrate because the crowd was still somewhat loud.

"Quiet please!" The umpire called again getting no response so she repeated the request a bit louder this time. "Quiet please! Quiet!"

Emily felt ready to serve now as she quickly go into position taking the time to bounce the ball. 'Three more points, Emily.' She told herself. 'Three fucking points and you are the Ladies Champion! The first English woman since 1977!'

She stamped down the nerves that suddenly cropped back up, knowing that she would choke if she allowed them to get the best of her. So with another bounce or two of the ball she threw it high and let it fly.


"I'm so glad to see that you've come to your senses." Gina sat down next to her daughter, as Naomi groaned quietly.

"Can't I watch my girlfriend play in peace?" She muttered making Gina chuckle.

"You know very well you could sit in the box with the rest of us."

"It's a bit crowded at the moment besides, I'm fine right here, thank you very much." Naomi stated never taking her eyes off of the court as Serena scored another point.

"15-30!"

"Ah, yes...the better vantage point." Gina said as she realised that Naomi was sitting up high enough to see both sides of the court without any obstructions. "So...when did you realise you were being a cunt!"

She whispered to Naomi just as Emily was getting ready to serve, so that when Naomi gasped, the sound ricocheted throughout the arena, causing Emily to lose concentration before she could hit the ball and it dropped to the court with a bounce and rolled away from her.

"Seriously?" Serena called out as the umpire called for silence during play and Naomi knew her face turn red as she felt the heat of embarrassment consume her.

"What the fuck, Mum?" Naomi hissed between clenched teeth. "You know the rules. And what kind of question is that anyway?"

"A legitimate one. So?"

Naomi knew her mother wouldn't let it go until she answered. "Before the flight to New York. Are you happy now?"

Gina smiled at her daughter, exasperation and pride warring with each other, as she reached over and hugged her. "The real question is, are you happy?"

Naomi pulled away from Gina and smiled at her, but then quickly glanced back to Emily on the court getting ready to serve. "I am." She replied honestly after Emily served the ball to Serena.

"Then yes, love. I'm happy." Gina told her. "But if you ever pull something like this agai-,"

"Never again, Mum. I promised her I wouldn't." Naomi told her mum quickly, wanting to pay attention to the match.

Both her and Gina turned in time to watch Emily hit the ball into the net.

"15-40!" The umpire called out, as half the crowd cheered and half the crowd groaned.

"What is that girl doing!" This time it was Gina's turn to mutter as Emily stood on the court looking at her racquet as if it was to blame for Serena's surge in points.

"She's freaking out. She's so close to winning and she's bottling it!" Naomi could see it in the way Emily was holding herself, as the red head looked up at her with an unreadable look on her face. She knew she had to do something and she had to do it fast.

If Serena won this game, any chance Emily had of winning the match would be gone.


Emily stared down at her feet as she made her way back to the baseline.

She failed.

That thought was the only thing running through her head at the moment. How could she give up that huge lead?

'You're fucking pathetic!' She screamed at herself silently. 'You shouldn't even be here! Naomi should be here! Not you!' She couldn't stop the thoughts whirling around, feeling the need to just let the other player win and be done with it.

She bought herself some time by requesting new balls and then took a few seconds inspecting them, all in an attempt to calm herself down.

Emily glanced over to where her family was sitting, then looked to where she knew Naomi was, finding her and Gina both watching her. She tried to smile, but it must not have come out right, because Naomi frowned.

She stepped to the baseline, unable to waste anymore time, and bounced the ball as she tried to calm her nerves. Emily was almost ready to serve, as the umpire called for silence from the rowdy crowd, when she heard a voice ring out.

"I believe in you, Emily!"

Naomi's voice rang above the cheers, filling Emily with a sense of calmness and confidence that she seriously needed right about now, and she smiled as the crowd finally settled down enough for her to serve.

She tossed the ball, hitting it as hard as she could, and it headed toward Serena but it was a low shot and Serena's return went into the net.

"30-40!" Applause and cheers rang out.

"YES!" Emily cried out, pumping her fist as she shuffled into the next position to serve.

Crouched low, Emily bounced the ball a couple of times, then tossed it high. The sound that her racquet made as it hit the ball was a very satisfying sound as she followed through with the swing. Serena jumped into action and returned the ball deep, keeping Emily at the baseline.

Serena did her best to keep the momentum of the match going in her favour, but Emily was fighting back with everything she had. As long as Emily could keep Serena using her forehand strokes, she could dictate the game.

Serena sent a cross court slice over the net while Emily was mid-court, and the red head knew that if she didn't get it she would lose control of the match. So she ran as fast as she could to get in front of it, connecting with it and sending it straight back down the line.

"Deuce!"

"YEAH!" Emily's heart started pounding even harder, as the adrenaline coursed through her. "YEAH!" She cried out again.

"COME ON EMILY!" Naomi once again shouted out encouragement.

'Two points, Emily. Two points and you've got this.' She told herself.

Emily served it straight down the line, hoping to get it past Serena, but the older player returned it back to her. Emily chased it to the other side of the court and sent it back from the baseline with a two-handed backhand swing.

Serena's long legs helped to get her where the ball landed, but the stroke was too flat and the ball sailed into the net.

The crowd roared as the umpire called out the score. "Advantage, Miss Fitch!"

Cheers erupted from Emily's players box as her family went wild, causing Emily to smirk before getting into position, serving for match point.

She bounced the ball a couple of times, waiting for the crowd to calm down, and took a moment to think about everything that had happened in the last month. Every decision and every one she's met, especially Naomi, it all led to this.

No matter what happened within the next few seconds, she was happier than she'd ever been in her whole life.

She happened to glance up into the royal box and felt the pride of her country as the members of the royal family cheered her on and feeling a bit more pressure to win one point.

Emily looked down the court at her opponent, making sure she was ready, and then took a deep, calming breath, exhaling as she raised her arm to toss the ball.

It was almost as if time slowed down. She watched the ball spin as it left her hands, the logo on the ball and the imprinted Wimbledon flashing as it rotated. Keeping her left arm extended high, she brought her racquet up behind her, swinging it with every bit of strength she had. Once the strings connected with the ball, time sped up as Emily followed through with the swing, sending the ball straight down the centerline.

Serena was there to return it, but wasn't able to control the angle and ended up send it straight back to Emily. Once again, Emily knew if she wanted any chance of winning the match, she'd have to keep Serena using her forehand as much as possible.

The veteran player was standing in the middle of the baseline, so Emily fired the ball to Serena's right side hoping to force her to use a forehand stroke, but Serena volleyed it back to Emily.

Emily did a split step and just barely reached the ball, crouching down low to get underneath it, sending it toward the net and watched as it hit the top of the net, popping up. This made Serena scramble to get up to the net before the ball dropped, but she hit it with the tip of her racquet unable to control the ball.

Emily saw the other player over extend her reach and charged the net. She let the ball bounce one time, keeping Serena in sight, and waited until the ball high enough to smash it into the top corner, well out of Serena's reach.

Emily was frozen in shock as she watched the ball hit the wall behind one of the line judges, as the crowd went absolutely wild.

"GAME! SET! AND MATCH, MISS FITCH!" The chair umpire called out, having to shout to be heard over the thunderous sound.

"YEAH!" Emily heard Katie shout out, as she dropped to to her knees and bowed down on the court.

Tears of joy, exhaustion, and gratitude fell from her eyes, as she stood up and jogged to the net to accept the handshake. After both players shook hands with the umpire, Emily made her way over to the edge of the court and started to make her way up to her players box, where her parents, Kieran, Gina, Katie and Cook were cheering her on.

She was standing next to the commentators booth, when the crowd became too thick for her to pass, so she said to hell with the new gate that had been installed and followed the tradition of winners of the past and climbed atop the booth with the help of a couple beefy lads.

Emily made the rounds quickly through her family, knowing she didn't have much time before the presenting of the trophies, and there was one very important person she needed to see.

Naomi, who had stood up to cheer with everyone else, watched as her girlfriend started making her way over. She had never felt this fucking happy before in her life, and she knew that it was all because of Emily.

As Emily came closer, Naomi moved to the top of the stairs and decided to meet her partway. It was hard going, because every person wanted to stop Emily and congratulate her, but the red head was detirmined.

When Emily finally spilled out of the crowd, she rushed over to the blonde and launched herself into Naomi's arms.

"I did it, Naoms!" She cried into Naomi's shoulder, feeling the rush of the moment.

"Yes you did." Naomi said as she pulled away, giving Emily a kiss. "I knew you could do it.I'm so fucking proud of you, Ems."

Emily, still feeling shocked, looked deep into Naomi's eyes. "I still can't believe you're here."

"Of course I'm here, Ems. I may not have acted like it the other day, but I wouldn't have missed this for the world. It just took a bit to remember that." Naomi said. "I love you, Fitch." Naomi gave her one more kiss, before pulling away again. "Now, you'd better go and collect your prize."

"I love you too, Naomi. More than I can ever say." Emily replied before turning and making her way back down to were everything was set up on the court.

After Emily was presented with the Venus Rosewater Dish by the Queen herself, She kissed it and hoisted high above her as she made her way around the court. She saw that Naomi, who had finally made it over to where their families were sitting, standing there with a a proud smile on her face.

And she knew in that moment, that even if she had lost it wouldn't have mattered, because Naomi loved her and wanted to be with her, and that was a way better prize.


A/N: I want to take a moment to thank you all for believing in this story, you have all made it totally worth while.

And taking a cue from Crevette, who by the way finished her wonderful masterpiece this morning, I know if I try to individually thank you all here, I'll forget someone and I'd never be able to forgive my self, so I'll just say thank you to all of you who reviewed every chapter/reviewed at all/favorited/alerted/sent PMs pushing me to update, and also to all the silent readers.

This started out as a dream...something that I did while I waited for all you awesome writers to update...and I enjoyed writing this for myself...because it's not a job after all...but sharing this with all of you has made my life a little brighter.

To all the friends I've made along the way...you guys are seriously the best!

So for the last time for this story...tell me your thoughts...if you've read this from the beginning but have never reviewed, do so now, let me know how I did, I would love to hear from all my readers out there...even if it's just a quick thanks:)

Also, I will be resuming work on TBWITB and hoping to get that last pesky chapter posted for TNC...plus I've got about 5 other stories I've started, so...you're all kinda stuck with me for a bit;-)

Love to each and every one of you guys...I fookin' love you, man! (Sorry, bad Cook impersonation there...)

Marci:)