From Deep End to Surface and Everything In Between (Sebastian Vettel FanFic)

The Olympics

Scar wiggled out of Emerson's death grip, dressed up and made her way to the pool. Since it was early, the stands were empty of people. She sat down with a deep sigh, staring into the oblivion with an unfocused look in her eyes.

'Penny, for your thoughts?' Scar raised her head towards the source of the voice. 'Bob', she breathed out of relief. He sat next to her and nudged her playfully to her shoulder. 'In the over 20 years that I have trained you, I have never seen you so unsure of yourself. What's the matter?' Scar swallowed a couple of times as her emotions got the best out of her. 'I'm scared', she whispered. 'I'm scared of what happens after we're done here. I'm scared of failure.' She laughed out loud after she heard her fear spoken out.

'Oh, Scar. Bob said with a heavy emotion lacing his voice: 'All athletes are afraid when their career is coming to an end. They're all scared. Whoever claims otherwise is just a fool and pride person, unwilling to admit their weaknesses.' He continued. 'Scar, you're an exceptional swimmer. Always been, always will be. So for these games -' He grabbed her hand and squeezed it assuringly. '- Swim with your heart and soul. Praise all the achievements you have made over the years. Embrace the difficulties you have overcome as an athlete that has helped you grow, develop, and cherish small achievements of breakthroughs. When you hit your hand to the wall at 50m freestyle, you have celebrated all aspects of your career as a swimmer, and I'll cheer you up until the finishing line.'

If there were moments in life when Scar felt she had the best coach in the world, it was moments like this when she was in doubt or at crossroads. He was there to lift her and carry her through the tough times. The atmosphere was instantly lighter when they both smirked at each other. 'I know, I know.' she laughed. 'I was in a dark place.'

'Dark?! You were in the deep waters, Scar', her coach teased. 'So, are you ready to be tortured for the next seven days? Her eyes twinkled, and a mischievous look landed on them. 'Of course, I was born ready, game on. This is not my first rodeo.'

After sharing her fears and doubts, she fell into autopilot mode. The hearsay and gossips didn't bother her when she stumbled from heat after heat. Just like her coach had advised, she threw her heart and soul into it, swimming like there was no tomorrow.

When she reached the wall first in 100m butterfly and scored her first gold, she slashed a faint smile, thankful for the crowd's support during the medal ceremony. The win was dedicated to her parents, who had encouraged her to follow her dreams.

She was pushed to the edge from the fourth day onwards, and her shoulder also let her know it. The pain shook her body minutes before her 200m freestyle final, making her gasp, waters in her eyes. She bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming when the pain was unbearable. 'You okay?' One of the volunteers asked when she saw cold sweat forming on her forehead. 'Of course, all good', she murmured, rolling the shoulder until she heard the familiar crack, making her gasp like she was able to breathe correctly again. When she stood on the podium after the win for 200m freestyle, she was overwhelmed. The medal felt heavy and somewhat cold on her neck. The race had been torture due to the events before the start. The second win was for her support groups, who had stuck with her through and through over the years.

She was exhausted when she jumped into the pool for the 200m butterfly final the following day with a 20-minute intermission from the 100m freestyle semi-finals. Her body was screaming stiffness and lactic acid. Scar was grumpy as hell, yet somewhat she managed to push through with the adrenaline. When she pushed herself out of the pool as a winner, the happy tears glittering in her eyes as she was beyond pleased with the result.

100m freestyle final was mentally challenging as she was expected to win her speciality distance. Unfortunately, her body didn't recover as quickly as it did when Scar was 18, which meant her muscles became weaker and weaker the further the week went. Out of the gold medals she had gathered so far, the fourth one was the most emotional yet as it was the style that made her break history all those years ago. The tears were flooding down her face when she climbed out of the pool, luckily mixing into the water.