A/N: Plenty more to come!

Two rotations down, and they were almost completely through the third. Simone was sitting in the lead after a stellar vault and a solid bars routine, with JJ just over half a point behind her. Her beam routine had not gone quite to plan; a slip up on her front tuck had forced her to almost grab the beam in order to save herself from falling, but her difficulty saved her immensely. Every gymnast in the building knew that only a major issue on floor would have a hope of stopping Simone from repeating as world champion.

JJ had experienced some minor issues on bars; some short handstands and form breaks that had unfortunately added up in deductions, but luckily, she had gone one better than the previous year's all-around final and stayed on the apparatus.

She was now standing by the beam waiting for her turn, and her stomach was churning horribly. She knew it wasn't beam that was making her so nervous; she'd been pushing off thoughts of what was going on at home all day. Knowing her dad was watching her from home made her feel a little better, but it didn't erase the fact that once she got home, their lives were forever changed.

Swallowing thickly as her light went green, she saluted the judges and prepared to mount before she could overthink herself into a frenzy.

Her mount was characteristically solid. Her standing Arabian saw a small check on the landing, but nothing too serious.

She focused entirely on her own body as she whipped back into her Onodi, followed immediately by her front aerial to front aerial. One of her feet almost missed the beam as she came down at the end, causing a larger than usual wobble, but she held onto it.

"Very nervy beam rotation for all the competitors today. Hopefully JJ can keep it together and finish it up strong for them. She literally hasn't fallen on a beam set since the 2009 junior national championships, and I hope, touch wood, that that isn't going to change anytime soon"

Flip, flip, layout full.

Nailed it.

Allowing a smile onto her face reminded her to breathe as she worked through the rest of the routine, her confidence growing more and more with each skill. She was feeling strong and completely on by the time she was ready to dismount, and so it was that she put her dismount perfectly to her feet.

"A little wobbly to start, but it ended up being a great routine for Jennifer Jareau!"

"Just what she needed after bars"

"Good job, you brought it back nicely," Nick praised, giving her a hug as she came down the stairs. "Just needed a little more focus in the beginning"

Nodding, JJ pulled away, managing a smile as Simone approached her for a hug.

"Still better than me," Simone giggled, making JJ laugh.

A 15.433 ended up being her score, settling her in right behind Simone as the third rotation came to a close.

Having fallen away from a silver medal at the previous year's world championships, JJ was standing waiting to go on floor, a fire burning inside her to finish strong and prove she was the best in the world up there with Simone.

She'd never found herself thinking of herself as the best, not even really on beam. She'd always taken the stance of simply doing her best and being happy with the result. But over the past few days, with everything going on, she had been channelling her focus into the results she wanted to achieve. And it had brought out her competitiveness, the desire to be the best.

She wanted to leave the final with no regrets.

"On floor, representing the United States of America, Jennifer Jareau!"

Saluting, she stepped out onto the floor and into her starting pose. A small smile played around her lips as a glimmer of confidence sparkled in her eyes.

"She's pretty much locked down for a silver medal... so long as she stays on her feet"

When her music began, she let it flow through her, her muscle memory carrying her perfectly into her opening tumbling pass.

This routine, this one right here... she was going to make it the best she had ever done.

And it very nearly was, with only a few missteps on her landings that added up into her deductions. When she struck her final pose, it was to excited and appreciative applause.

"Awesome, awesome job kiddo," Nick gushed when she skipped off the podium to join him and Aimee. "That was one of the best routines I've seen you do"

"I've done it better," JJ said nonchalantly.

"Maybe once," Nick replied with a grin, pulling her into a warm hug. "I'm really proud of you... I know it's been a rough week for you, let alone a rough year... but I'm really really proud of you. You just keep pushing through everything and getting better"

"I hope my dad was watching," JJ said softly, a smile creeping onto her face as she hugged her coach.

"The house could've burnt down around the TV set and your dad would still be watching," Nick chuckled. "Don't you worry about that"

Her score came up, a 14.900 to have her in the lead ahead of Larisa Iordache. Larisa had been overcome with emotion to see she would be taking home a medal; after a disastrous qualifications, she had qualified in the last group to the all-around final. Romania as a whole had also failed to qualify directly to the Olympics, meaning they would have to put together a team in April and travel to Rio for the Olympic test event and attempt to qualify there. It was a revelation that had shocked the rest of the countries; Romania had always been considered one of the Big Four in gymnastics, along with the USA, China, and Russia. Now, they had failed to make a team final for the first time in as long as anyone could remember.

Simone took the floor just a few moments later to deliver the finishing touches on her third world all-around title. It didn't come easily; she landed her eponymous skill, the Biles, completely out of bounds, much to the surprise of the watching crowd.

But by the time she had finished, no-one could deny she had done it again.

And so it was when her score came up, Simone in first for the third year in a row. JJ was in second, just three tenths behind her tiny teammate, and Larisa in third to clinch an incredible bronze.

It was a good feeling for JJ as they left the arena later that night with their medals around their necks; her dad had texted her to say he was incredibly proud and that she had made a crappy day feel a lot better. That was really all she wanted to achieve.

Improving her dad's days, however she could.

Simone won again but this time she had JJ right on her heels! Do you think JJ can beat Simone?

I don't know to be honest. They both had mistakes in the all-around, and, in fact, I don't think they've ever been in an all-around competition together where one of them didn't make a mistake so it's hard to gauge. Simone's mistake was also larger than JJ's, so the margin between the two of them may not be the most accurate measure. I think anything's possible, although Simone is probably the one of the two who's more likely to win. Both of them have some upgrading and cleaning up to do. We'll probably better be able to judge next season.