The Challenge

Chapter Thirty-One

Every part of her body feels like dead weight as she crawls upon the sand in the shallow water to their destination. The end. The finish line just ahead but all she wants to do is collapse into a sopping wet heap and nap for an eternity. She is gasping for air, reeling at the idea of finally finishing this stupid final but also feeling like she can't move another inch.

"That's it, Swan, we are almost there! Let's move!" Killian happily screams, even though Sabine and Regina have already crossed the finish line with their partners.

Emma lifts her heavy head after two and half hours of a grueling swim and finds Sabine resting her head upon Regina's stomach as they lie in the sand, dog-tired. She nods slowly to her partner, summoning every ounce of energy to drag her ass across that finish line and end this torturous battle.

The minute her eyes land on TJ standing behind the finish line, a rush of adrenaline surges through her body, motivating her to take off running. Killian is right beside her, laughing as they tumble across the finish line together. She breathes out a sigh of relief, so utterly proud of herself for completing something but then he is scooping her up and squeezing her a little too tight.

"We did it! We did it!" He says in disbelief, persuading tears of joy to fill her eyes.

"You...I have you to thank for pushing me every step of the way!" She cries, holding onto him for dear life and knowing she has a true friend for always with this man.

He gently sets her down, wipes the tears from her eyes while he laughs and then slides through the sand to hug and congratulate Sabine and Regina as well. Emma hugs Naveen and Merlin and congratulates them as well while TJ laughs and smiles brightly at all of them.

"Regina, Killian, Sabine," TJ begins, observing them all hugging on the ground, "I have watched you three grow for over ten years now, you are all badasses and I'm so proud of you all."

"Awww, Teej," Sabine playfully whines through watery eyes.

"That means the world to us," Regina politely says as Killian scrambles to his feet and gives TJ a fist bump.

Production stops filming for a moment to line the three teams up in front of TJ to announce this season's champions. This is when the feeling sinks in and she realizes that she could potentially be a champ. Regina did have a thirty minute penalty but Sabine did pass Emma in the end. It could be anybody's game.

Her heart starts racing, her body breaking out in a cold sweat as TJ goes on with his speech, reminding them of all their accomplishments over the season. Killian slips his hand into hers and squeezes as TJ pauses for dramatic effect.

"And in third place, Sabine and Merlin, congratulations, you two, that's still fifty thousand dollars for you two to split." The last remaining six clap along and say congratulations as well before TJ grows very serious. "Now, for our winners, the new champs of The Challenge:Fresh Meat...Regina and Naveen!"

And the funny thing is, she's not even a little disappointed. She had auditioned on a whim and was only expecting to stay one week and instead she has been competing for three whole months. That's twelve thousand dollars right there for every week she lasted but it's not even about the money anymore. It's more about the pride that she finally finished something that she's extremely proud of. She broke a horrible bad habit and went out of her comfort zone to try something new and she is so happy of the person she is today.

She glances to her left, observing as Regina and Naveen celebrate and yeah, she's even more ecstatic about all those beautiful memories she gets to look back on with Regina. She never saw her coming, wanted nothing to do with the woman and now she can't imagine a life without her.