A thanks to all of my amazing reviewers! YOU ARE THE BEST READERS IN THE WHOLE WORLD! Thanks to your lovely reviews, I have reached more than a thousand reviews! Keep up the good work- I love hearing from each and every one of you. There is Bella's floor final in the next chapter, then the gala and finally the prologue- I am sooo sad this story is almost over that I keep trying to find ways to drag it out.

As always thanks to Nancy for her awesome betaing- which I know isn't a word, but I made it one.

This chapter took awhile, but once I found out I hit 1000 reviews, I started working on it despite it being midterm week and made it longer than usual. 2335, not counting the AN.

Aiming for 40 or more this chapter- you know what to do.

XOXO,

Meg

Bella Pov:

In the split second it took my brain to process the bar missing, my body was already in recovery mode. Flattening my hips to keep my legs together and pointing my toes, I stretched out my upper body to grab the bar. I grasped at air for a second before experiencing the satisfying feel of the bar under my grips.

I had lost momentum in my recovery, and I caught the bar at a very low angle. The combination of the two caused my pirouette handstand to be less than vertical. The low angle and then the vertical miss were a BIG deduction. Not as detrimental to my score as a fall would have been, but the judges could shave a good deal off my execution skill.

I knew there was a good chance that I wouldn't medal after that, but I decided I was going to make the rest of my routine as perfect as I possibly could.

I pointed my toes and practically glued my legs together. For the rest of my routine, I had perfect form and I got some pretty good height. I knew I had to stick my dismount just to place top five.

I threw myself off the bar, catching some serious air. I twisted my body to complete my full twisting double back. I hit the mat…. Struggled to stick it, but somehow managed to pull it off with a small step.

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Edward Pov:

I pulled myself out of the water in agitation. "What the hell? How could it be a tie?" I checked the scores for the billionth time. The score next to my name was 3:34.01. The score next to Jacob's was also 3:34.01. Next to both of our scores was also the WR, signaling a world record. Not only did we tie, but we also manage to shatter the World Record for this event.

"A tie!" The announcer shouted over the confused calls of the crowd. "A World Record and a tie in the last men's swim race of the Olympics! I don't believe it!" "What are the procedures for a tie in an Olympic final?" he asked his companion. "I'm not sure, we will have to wait for the officials' rules for this one. And yes, there they are conferring. Meanwhile both Edward Cullen and Jacob Black are talking with coaches looking just as confused as everyone else."

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Bella Pov:

I smiled and waved at the crowd, while disappointment, though futile at this point, was coursing through me, though I refused to let it show.

"And that is a very good routine for American Bella Swan, who has been sweeping the golds in these Olympics. Only a few mistakes, mostly on her transition on the low bar. She separated her legs a bit as she transitioned from the high bar and caught the bar at a very low angle. And her pirouetting handstand was not vertical to the bar. Those could be big deductions, or they might not make that much of a difference. It all depends on the judges, and with the way they have been scoring in these games it could go either way…. And it is a 15.29. So far that places her in second place below He Kexin, with three gymnasts including Alice Cullen left to go. Was her score high enough to keep her top three, or will she be knocked out of the medals?"

"I don't know Carl; I guess we will just have to wait to find out."

I began cooling down my muscles as one and then two gymnasts competed. I couldn't look up to watch their routines; instead I waited until the announcers called out their scores. I let out a gust of air as neither beat my score. Next up was Alice.

Following my routine with the other two competitors, I didn't watch her compete. Or I tried- I glanced up against my will occasionally and was again awed at her grace. Her elegance and beauty on the bars made what I knew to be almost impossible look as though she was flying through the air without a care in the world; it was breathtaking!

"Her style is so different from He Kexin and Isabella Swan. He's style is concentrated power, where Isabella's form is more innovation. Alice Cullen's grace and elegance on this bar sets her apart. Her style is reminiscent of Nastia Liukin, but she makes it her own."

I listened to the announcer as she swung, once, twice, three times preparing for her dismount. I bit my lip as her petite form flew, twisting and flipping through the air. I had mixed feelings, I felt disappointment in myself, but at the same time I was hoping that she would finish her routine as perfectly as she had started it and finally get her gold. It was her last chance and I knew that she wanted this more than anything. She hit the mat and… stuck it!

Her score came up, almost instantaneously. I checked it against He Kexin's. It was close, but she did it! Alice was the Olympic beam gold medallist! She grabbed me in a hug, and we stepped up together to receive our gold and bronze medals, with He Kexin on our right.

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Edward Pov:

A tiebreaker. Jacob and I were to swim the race over. This was my third swim today, and my body was faltering. I could feel muscles I didn't even know I had screaming at me as I did my best to prepare my body for the most important race of these games.

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Bella Pov:

It was about an hour later when I walked back into the gym. This time I was out of the constricting leotard and into a comfy sports bra and gym shorts. I walked over to Bela Karolyi to begin my workout, even though I really wanted to be a block away watching Edward compete. I had managed to find out that he had tied Jacob Black in the last race- a near impossibility, and now had to swim yet another race.

"Where do you want me to begin?" I asked Bela.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Working out?" I asked, confused.

"No, you are of no use to me if you are worrying about the Cullen boy and not focused on your workout." His face softened. "Go, watch, but be back here no later than six."

"Thanks!" I called over my shoulder as I threw on my Team USA jacket and booked it out of the gym.

I made it just in time. Edward was stretching right in front of the starting block. A lane away, Jacob Black was doing the same.

I slid into an empty seat next to Esme who hugged me and then clutched my hand in a death grip. She was as nervous for Edward as I was.

I took a deep breath as the race began and Edward sliced into the water. He was making good time, about half a length ahead of Jacob, but I could see he was tiring. His muscles must be killing him, I thought as I remembered this was his third race of the day.

I was more anxious for him then I ever was for myself when I competed. It was like he held both of our dreams, and he was trying to save them, and I couldn't do anything to help.

The other times I had watched him I had almost taken it for granted that he would win. To me it seemed as though he was invincible, but now I realized that that isn't the case. He has to struggle just as much as I do and right now he was struggling hard.

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Edward Pov:

I leapt off the starter block and began to slice through the water. If I had thought my muscles hurt before, it was nothing to what I was feeling now. Imagine hot molten lava burning down you legs and when you tried to get away, it was like there was 100 pound weights attached to your ankles. Yeah, it was bad.

I struggled through the water- not for my record this time, not for my sponsors, but for the ones I love. I wanted them to be proud of me and I wanted to be proud of myself. I had proven a lot to the world, but this was something that I had to prove to myself. So it was with a renewed determination that I forced my muscles to move one stroke, and one kick at a time.

I continued to slice through the water as quickly as I could. There was almost a sense of ennui as I pushed my tired body through the water, broken occasionally by hitting the wall and turning. Every few seconds I would check my progress. For most of the race, Jacob was about a length behind me, but as we hit the wall and headed into the last leg of the race things began to change.

I had thought he was struggling too, a thought I took comfort in, but he was just pacing me. He quickly gained on me and was pulling past me. By the time we had reached the halfway point to the wall, our positions were completely reversed, and he was the one who was a length ahead of me.

I asked my sore and tired muscles for one last burst of energy. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't refined- it was down and dirty swimming, all or nothing. Inch by tiring inch, stroke by agonizing stroke, kick by excruciating kick, I slowly began to gain on him. I was level with his hips now, up to his shoulders; finally I pulled forward until we were head and head, only lengths from the wall.

I dug in as deep as I could, using every ounce of strength I had. Time ceased to exist as I shot closer to the wall. As I struggled, I thought of all of the times I thought of giving up, each devastating loss, each detrimental injury, all of the pressure to win; to be the best. But above all of that, I remembered my love of swimming, the way I felt when I first got into the pool; the freedom that comes from slicing through the water at great speeds, and complete insight I found every time I dived through the crystalline water.

As we closed in on the last length, it was no longer about winning. It was just swimming, the way it started for me, the way it should be. It was then that I found a hidden reserve of strength as I reached for the wall at the end of my stroke, with Jacob right beside me.

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Bella Pov:

It was excruciating watching him struggle through the race. It looked as though he was holding his own though, at least until they turned into the last leg of the race. Jacob began closing the distance between them with easy clean strokes. Soon he was in the lead and Edward was the one trailing.

Esme was clutching my hand so hard that I was losing feeling in it, but I barely noticed.

It didn't look good; Jacob was fresher than Edward, this being only his second race of the day rather than his third like Edward. I cheered at the top of my lungs as Edward tore through the water using everything he had. There was none of the finesse that was normally present in his swims. The clean lines that made it seem as if he was gliding through a leisurely swim rather than an Olympic race was no longer present as he pushed his body to the limit.

I peeked through my fingers, unable to fully watch as the two swimmers closed the last few strides to the wall. To me it seemed that they hit the wall simultaneously, but I knew that one of them had won and one had lost.

I hid my face fully in my hands as the times came up. Raucous cheering resounded around me, but for whom, I wasn't sure.

"HE WON!" Esme screamed next to me. "HE WON!"

I squealed and hugged her, the two of us jumping and screaming in joy.

Edward seemed to have gained a burst of energy from his amazing win and ran up to the stands where his mother and I were waiting.

Throwing his arms around his mom, he kissed her on the cheek. Then he turned and realized I was next to her.

Scooping me up into his arms he spun me around kissing me passionately on the lips.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes, pride and love shining though my eyes into his. Heedless of the reporters, cameras and thousands of spectators, I pulled his lips back to mine.

Eventually he needed to go receive his final, well-deserved gold medal. I watched him proudly, emotions swirling through me as he stood at attention during the playing of the National Anthem.

He had received nine gold medals, an impossible feat for anyone, but I realized it was just the beginning for him. I felt so fortunate to be able to experience it with him.