A/N: Ok, two things. One, yes, I'll have missed three book chapters by the time I'm done with this section, but it's because these chapters are important and very long winded without the book chapters. Also, Nationals came pretty quickly, yes, but some time did pass after Regionals.

Disclaimer: I don't own CM.

JJ sat on her board, grinning as two others paddled up to her.

"Hey. Remember me?" Zoe asked. JJ laughed, shaking her head.

"No," she teased.

"Oh, that's nice, real nice," Zoe laughed. Bethany came to a stop beside Zoe, pushing up into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you at Regionals," JJ said sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for going all kamikaze on Melissa...wait, no I'm not. That was the best moment of my life," Zoe replied. Bethany and JJ burst out laughing. Zoe grinned, moving a little closer to JJ, and holding out her pinky finger.

"Friends?" she offered. JJ laughed again, hooking her finger around Zoe's. Bethany watched on, laughing as Zoe pulled JJ off her board.

"Hey!" JJ exclaimed as she surfaced again. Bethany moved closer, holding JJ's board steady while she climbed back on.

"Thanks"

"I'm sorry about what I said the other day"

"Trust me, I've been called worse. It's alright. Besides, I was being stupid, wasn't I?" JJ replied. Bethany and Zoe glanced at each other, before nodding. JJ shrugged, lying down on her board, and beginning to paddle out.

"I am a bit like that...a lot of the time," she called over her shoulder, making the other two laugh again.

xxx

JJ pushed down on her board, feeling better than she had since Regionals as the water surrounded her. To her left was Zoe, and behind the two of them, Emily and Bethany.

Pointing the nose of her board up, JJ surfaced again, paddling out to the waves.

"She's definitely got the natural talent to go far," Morgan said as he stood beside Will, watching the girls surfing.

"I watch her surfin' all the time, and it just amazes me. It's like the attack made her more passionate about it," Will replied.

"It did. I don't think we'll ever really know why. That's something only JJ would be able to explain"

xxx

After extending their stay again to coincide with the National competition that JJ had managed to qualify for (despite her blowout at Regionals), JJ began training hard for Nationals.

Training consisted of running, push ups, riding an Indo board, chin ups, sit ups, tow paddling (where Morgan would hold a rope that was tied to JJ's board and she would paddle with his weight behind her), and of course, surfing.

Morgan had been training JJ in pulling a 360 in the air. The day he was convinced she had it, he dragged everyone down to the beach to watch.

JJ dropped into a nice sized wave, turning along the shoulder. A barrel threw out for a short distance. Threading the tube, JJ shot out onto the curve. Drawing out a long turn, she leaned so far forward, the others thought she was going to fall off her board. She proved them wrong by sweeping the turn up to the lip, launching the nose of her board through the curl, and flying up off of the wave. Turning a full 360 degrees, she manoeuvred the nose back into the wave, dropping back down into the shoulder as she headed for the white water.

"Oh my god, that was awesome!" Emily exclaimed amongst the excitement of the others.

"Go, Mommy, go!" Henry yelled from Will's shoulders. JJ turned, having heard her very loud son. Grinning, she waved to him, before lying on the board again and paddling out.

xxx

"Come on Pennsylvania, let's go," Morgan teased. He and JJ were side by side on the wooden platform at the bottom of the back garden, doing push ups.

"Shut up, Morgan," JJ laughed, focusing on keeping her weight balanced over her hand. Will and Emily were watching from the top of the yard, highly amused.

"You gonna do more than me?"

"I'm gonna give you an ass whooping you won't forget," JJ shot back. Morgan laughed as he sank down again.

"Is that how it is? Challenge accepted," he played.

The jabs carried on for a few more minutes until Morgan decided his arms felt like lead. JJ did one more, before standing up and poking Morgan's hip, making the other two laugh.

"I beat you," she hissed, skipping past her colleague slash trainer slash friend. Morgan grinned, following her back up to where their other halves were watching.

"You feel good about Nationals?" Will asked, putting his arm around her. JJ nodded.

"Two weeks away," Emily pondered.

"I'm pumped. Gonna kick some ass," JJ joked, making them laugh.

"The way you're trainin's goin', you're gonna blow them out of the water," Will teased as they walked back inside the house.

"Mama!" Meilani squealed, putting her little arms up as she saw JJ re-entering the house. JJ smiled, reaching down and lifting her little girl from the floor.

"Hi baby girl," she cooed, kissing Meilani's nose. Meilani giggled, resting against her Mommy's shoulder.

xxx

"Welcome to the RipCurl National Surfing Championships! David Stanfield, along with Bo Hodge, and Bo, we have an exciting day today!"

"We've got an excellent day of surfing on hand, we're going to see some of the best women's amateur surfers from around the country today"

"We have a panel of four international judges watching this national championship. High and low scores are thrown out, but what are the judges exactly looking for?"

"Well, Dave, we have 25 minute heats. Each rider is allowed to catch a maximum of 10 waves per heat. The best two waves will be tallied up for the final score, and what the judges are looking for is style, flow, and power and control in radical manoeuvres in the most critical sections of the wave"

"Well, we have surf in the six to eight foot range, it looks like out there..."

As JJ applied the surf wax to the surface of her board, Morgan came up behind her and beckoned for her to come with. Getting up, she left her board and followed Morgan to a less crowded part of the beach. Will gave her a warm smile, and brushed all the sand off of her board as they walked away.

"These girls are tough, especially Melissa, you know that," Morgan said seriously as they came to a stop. JJ nodded. "Now, the surf is big out there today, so if you try to match them wave for wave, you're just going to wear yourself out with all that paddling"

"Yeah," JJ said softly.

"So don't take just any wave that comes along. The greatest surfers, they all have this sixth sense. They know when the best waves are coming. They can feel it. It's a gift. You have that gift too," Morgan praised warmly. He couldn't help but feel extremely proud of his colleague who was like his little sister. She definitely had a gift.

"I do?" JJ asked, surprised. Morgan grinned.

"Well, Will was talking to me the other day, and he is right. You are quite the mermaid," he teased. JJ grinned, blushing a little.

"You know that moment, between the sets when it's quiet, and the waves haven't even formed yet, it's just energy surging through the water?"

JJ nodded, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Well that's the time to be patient. Listen to your instinct. Trust it"

JJ looked up at Morgan, the bright blue waves reflected in her eyes.

"You'll know"

Putting his arms around her, he pulled her into a warm hug. "Go get 'em"

"Melissa! Melissa, right here!" reporters called as Melissa stood in a throng of cameras.

"Over the past few months, Melissa Grey has dominated every heat she's surfed, winning three contests in a row. No one has come close, she's by far the person to beat today"

JJ walked up towards the group of reporters, Zoe at her side. People immediately turned around, snapping photos of the two.

"Don't worry. I heard a little rumour that RipCurl's lining up new sponsor material, so they want shots of their best prospects," Zoe said warmly. JJ raised her eyebrows.

"If they want to sponsor me to drown, they'll make plenty of money," she said sarcastically. Zoe shook her head, fighting back a grin.

"Keep saying that and you'll go nowhere. Have a little faith. I'm gonna go get the rash guards"

Melissa crossed over to JJ, putting on a wide smile and putting her arm around JJ. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I'm surfing, same as you," JJ half laughed. Melissa cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, I hope you don't need to be rescued again"

"Actually, Melissa, I wanted to thank you"

Melissa looked completely surprised. "For what?"

"Just for never taking it easy on me. It means a lot," JJ said simply as Zoe approached them.

"You ready?" she asked. JJ nodded, following her back down to the beach, blue rash guard in hand.

A/N: Go next!

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SQ215 xxx