A/N: Can anyone pick the line I recycled from an earlier chapter? Haha!

After five days out of the gym following the news, JJ had been incredibly surprised one morning to wake up and find herself itching to be back in training. So she had risen, dressed, and headed out to the gym after giving her mom and dad a tight hug each.

Nick had been pleasantly surprised to see her and had immediately obliged to continue her training. After only ten minutes, she was already smiling and laughing as Nick and Teagan joked with her, and it had felt nothing short of incredible, like all the weight and darkness had been lifted from her shoulders.

Once she'd come home, she had called Aly, finally telling her what was going on, with a fair amount of difficulty. Aly had been heartbroken for her, but again, JJ had felt better after saying it out loud to her best friend.

And now, she was about to do something she'd never imagined herself having the courage to do.

Having noticed a flurry of concern surrounding her mysterious withdrawal from the Pacific Rim Championships team selection, JJ had decided to set the record straight before any weird rumours started flying. Having discussed it with her parents, she had then sat down to write out the longest social media post she was sure she would ever make.

Accompanying it was a picture of the night after she had won the beam final in London. She and Aly had both been taken to Team USA House to see their parents, and Michael had wrapped his daughter in a loving hug, tears of pride in his eyes as Sandy snapped a picture of the two; the picture that was now going to be accompanying the most heartbreaking news of JJ's life.

jenniferjareau94
I love this picture so much. My dad has always been so proud to watch me represent the United States of America on the international stage, and it fills me with so much pride and joy to go out there and represent not only my country, but the parents who raised me to be the person I am today. I wouldn't be half the athlete, half the competitor, half the PERSON I am now if it wasn't for their endless love and support, and the wonderful advice they've always had for me.

This is the hardest thing I have ever had to say on a public platform… and I'm not doing it for sympathy. I'm doing it because you guys, my fans, have always shown me love and support, and I feel you deserve to know the truth about why I withdrew from Pac Rim selection. I want people to know what's going on from my own words, not from warped rumours and assumptions.

Last year, when I was in Glasgow for Worlds, my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Colon cancer is a bitch of a disease to have in the first place, but to have it at stage 4 is a whole different battle. Because we're a family of champions, he took the news like a pro and focused all his energy on beating the beast. I wasn't allowed to worry about him, because if I let his illness interrupt my gymnastics, he would've disowned me *laughing face*

Just last week, we learned from his monthly checkup that the cancer is spreading faster than the treatment can kill it. There's nothing more that they can do for him, and now, all they can really do is manage his pain and try to improve his quality of life.

My dad is dying. He has maybe six months. It's been… the worst week of my life. I felt like nothing mattered anymore. Right now… I'm really not ok, and it's so hard for me to admit that. But given time, I will be. I still have gymnastics, I still have my family, Will, my team… I'm not giving up my sport, because it's the only thing in the world that never fails to make my dad smile. I'm seeing this season through, and I'm giving it everything I have. I'm going to make that team going to Rio, and I'm going to do it for my dad. I want the time he has left to be filled with pride and joy, rather than pain and grief. So it sucks, it sucks majorly. But my dad is tougher than this disease, by a thousand times, and so I will be too.

Thank you all so much for all the support these last few months, my family and I really appreciate it. Please keep sending thoughts of love and strength our way… I think we're going to need it.

A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she finished rereading the post. Taking a deep breath, she tapped 'share', sending the post out into the public domain.

Setting her phone down beside her, she looked up towards her display shelf. Just the previous day, she had pulled her Olympic medals back out of the safe and reinstated them to their central position of pride.

Those medals represented the pivotal moments in her career, moments when not only her own hard work had paid off, but her parents' as well.

In the wake of the grief surrounding her father's new prognosis, the medals had gone from causing her stress to providing her with a sense of comfort and motivation.

Wiping away the track left by the tear, she sucked up a deep breath as her phone buzzed beside her with the first comment on her post.

Picking up the device, she opened the app back up.

olympichampionedits oh my god… JJ, I really have no words! I was hoping and praying your dad would get better, I'm so sorry it's come to this. Never forget you have the continued love and support of myself and many others in the gymternet *heart* I'm thinking of you every day, and I'm absolutely sure you can make that team, but I know that whether you do or you don't, your dad will be proud of you! Much love *heart*

Fighting back tears as a watery smile crossed her face, all she could do was like the comment, before she had to set the phone down and recompose herself.

But deep down inside, her desire had steeled itself.

She was going to make that team.

Come hell or high water, she was going to Rio.