A slight moment of panic

Today, my friend and I played a viola duet at the event that has literally comprised the past 2 months of my existence.  Well, only three weeks has been full of playing this particular piece.  We had another one before that, but my teacher found out it wasn't on the list of pieces we could do at the event...
So anyway it's been crazy, learning this piece so fast and then having to perform it in front of judges today.  We were only able to practice it together twice before today, so we spent the two hours before our performance practicing our butts off and just trying to stay together.  We played it once through perfectly about 5 minutes before we were on.
As soon as we were standing in front of the judges and began to play, I just had this bad feeling in my stomach, like something was about to go terribly wrong.  I tried to forget about everything but the sheet of music in front of me and my friend, playing at exactly the same time as me.  We got through the first page perfectly.  I messed up a little at the top of the second page just because my brain didn't transfer quickly enough.  The moment was over, and I wasn't just in the music anymore.  I suddenly felt the eyes of my teacher in school, the judges, one of the judge's brother, and my mom, all bearing into me, scrutinizing my every note.  I swallowed and hoped my mistake -in a part where I had the melody, no less!- hadn't been very noticeable. 
 We kept playing, and about halfway through the second page I realized we were off.  Only by half a beat, but it was enough to make the music sound like a mess.  I felt my friend tense a little next to me, as we both frantically scrambled to try and find each other.  We only got further apart.  I focused on my music alone, unable to do anything else without making the entire piece fall apart.
My friend stopped playing.
This was my moment of panic.  For a whole measure that seemed to last for an eternity, I was the only one playing in an unwritten solo, in a part near the end that was supposed to be in perfect harmony.  I did my best to play in tune with a steady beat, feeling my face grow hot, and glad I was too short to see the judges scribbling down notes over the black music stand.
Finally, she joined back in.  It was over.  I relaxed, and allowed myself to breathe as we played the last note- in tune, together, and beautifully.
It was only supposed to take 15 minutes for the judges to put up our score, but we waited an hour and half.  We ate lunch in the cafeteria of the school the event was at and waited anxiously, speculating.
On a scale of 1 to 5, we expected to get a three.  Maybe a 2 if they were lenient, a 4 if they were strict.
But no matter what, we were not expecting a 1.  The highest rating.
We receive the notes that the judges took in school on Monday.  Personally, I can't wait.  I want to know how to improve, want to see what made them give us such a high score when we messed up so badly.
But all this time, our private lessons teacher had been right.
The most important thing isn't whether you get lost or not.  It's whether you find each other and end together.  I never understood until now what that meant.  If the piece was a wreck, it didn't matter how the ending sounded.  It was still a wreck, wasn't it?  But no.
I've learned more about music today than I have in the past 4 years since I started playing.