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Rosie set down, allowing Fang to rest his head on her lap as she stroked him. He was a good dog, a little dirty, but that was to be expected. Still, he was a big friendly dog and she was glad to meet him.

"Well I need to go get things started for our Christmas party if we want to have it," said Jenna, giving a smile. "I'll go tell Dixie and Silvie, they know every dog in town, they'll be able to get us supplies."

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Dusty panted as they ran along, now getting close to their destination. She wasn't that tired, just a little bit. They'd moved pretty fast, but it was still midday before they got within sight of Nome. There's been no more problems from Kirby, but she was still rather worried about him. She didn't know what was going on in his head, but she didn't particularally like it. "Looks like we're almost there!" she called.

Kodi was so grateful to be on the last leg of the trip. The sun was above them, angled just so slightly enough so that Kodi needed to keep his eyes pointed low, lest he risk an irritating glare from it’s powerful rays. Despite this, when he heard Dusty’s exclamation from behind him, he looked straight ahead to see the familiar sight of Nome in front of him. They were almost home!

His legs pushed a little bit faster. He knew that he had chastised Kirby for moving too quickly, but judging from the ever-so-slightly growing slack behind him, the rest of the team was eager to sprint for the finish. Rather than tell everyone to slow down, he opted to join them. The relief was infectious and palpable.

“Let’s go in strong for everyone, alright?” Kodi beckoned to his team. What better way to show the town that they had made it back safely than with a rip-roaring finish?

Charging the familiar slow bend around the corner, the team blazed down the street. The few passerby on the street were sparse, but almost all of them cheerily waved to Mr. Simpson as he passed.

“Look! They made it!”
“The mail is here!”
“Thank goodness they’re ok!”

Ralph, and especially Kirby, were both especially gladdened by the responses they were getting. They barked excitedly at the townsfolk, and announced the bounty of letters and gifts they had carried with them with them in the process. Unable to control himself, Kodi joined in the fracas.

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“…That’s what happened last year.” Balto finished his recollection of the previous years’ Christmas bash to Fang. “I can’t believe you’ve never been to a Christmas party!” He uttered, shaking his head again. “Well, you’re in for a treat. With Jenna on the case, tonight’s going to be spectacu-”

The chorus of barking met Balto’s pointed ears. He quickly looked up at the sky, the position of the sun giving him a general timeline. It was just a tad after midday; could the sled team have arrived already? Either they had departed White Mountain really early that morning, or they had booked it to get back to Nome. Balto wasn’t going to wait around to find out.

“Come on!” He announced to Fang. “I think that might be Kodi and the others!” As quickly as his recovering body could handle, he began a quick jog to the post office, where the team would hopefully be pulling up.

Dusty wagged her tail as they ran along, happy to see Nome again. She'd honestly never been happier to see the town in her life. After nearly dying at least twice in one day and Kirby's attitude, it felt good to be home. She hoped that everything would settle down for Christment and they could all relax. "This has been a tiring sled run if there ever was one, huh guys?"

-----------------

Fang walked along with Balto, listening carefully to what he said about Christmas. "Well mom did get me something once or twice, but never anything big, she couldn't afford it," he explained, then heard what he'd said about the sled team. "Thank goodness they made it home alright, I was worried about that...." he muttered, thinking about it.

"I think we all where," said Jenna, following along. She was glad her son was back, and the sled team too. Rosie walked along with them as they moved along, keeping pace as she'd grown used to. "With that monster around, I was worried."

Kodi breathed raggedly. The team’s final sprint to the post office coupled with his excited barking left him very little time to inhale properly. “I…” he gasped for air, unable to keep a smile from spreading across his face. “I… know I say this… all of- all of the time but…” He drew another deep breath, swallowing the cold air, inhaling the oxygen as it threatened to freeze his throat. “…But I’m proud of you. All of you. That was… an awesome run.” The cold air finally settled in his lungs, causing him to wince from the stinging that festered in a horrible unmitigated fashion. He shook it off as best he could, and continued. “Especially you, Kirby. You really… really pulled out all of the stops for that one.” Kodi felt that, all things considered, feeding Kirby’s ego was the best way to stave off the Kirby that had lashed out at them hours before.

Perhaps it was because Kodi appeared so winded, and he wasn’t, but Kirby graciously accepted the words of praise with relish. “Thanks for that, Kodi. You didn’t do so badly yourself. Matter of fact,” he turned to look at his companions with a bravado that was downright uncanny for such an intense finish. “You all did a fine job. Even you and your toenail, Ralph!” He laughed.

Ralph, just happy to see his friend in high spirits again, simply smiled. He lifted his boot from the matted snow, and shook it in front of him. “Still warm and dry.” Ralph hadn’t forgotten what Kirby had done for him in his hour of need yesterday, when his own jealousy had threatened to tear their team apart as well. Like Dusty, he was simply happy to be back in Nome, and was in no mood to argue further.

The door to the post office swung open, the impact of the door hitting the layered wooden siding adorning the front of the building, and loosing several chunks of snow from the sill above and below the large bay window.

“Well, I’ll be! Hardly a quarter to two, and you’re already back!” Mr. Connor exclaimed. There was a pitter patter sounding off against the wooden floor behind him, and not a moment later, Kodi could see the relief stricken face of Mel observing them through his owner’s legs. “And with that size of a load! You guys were really cruising out there, weren’t ya?”

Kodi wasn’t much for bragging about his accomplishments, but when he looked at how much they were carrying, he had to admit that maybe they did a good job after all.

“They sure did!” Mr. Simpson positively beamed at his group of great canines. “You should have seen Kirby.” He unfastened all of his dogs, starting with Dusty. “It was a great team effort all around. That’s a story for another time.” Kodi’s harness wasn’t as tight as the others were (because of the slack garnered early on, he’d wager), and Kodi could have slipped out of it fairly easily. However, he instead waited for his owner to do the honors, and Kodi seized the opportunity to attack Mr. Simpson’s stroking hand with a barrage of friendly licks from his panting tongue.

“That’s a story for another time, and boy do I have stories!” Mr. Simpson said happily. “Kodi and Dusty had me worried sick, those rascals. Let me help get some of these in, and I’ll tell you about it.” Mr. Simpson stepped back to the sled, and lifted a large brown sack from atop many other similar bags. “Erf!” He carefully made his way up the step, turning to admire his team one more time before he stepped inside to where Mr. Connor had already set up the sorting boxes.

With a final sigh, Kodi finally felt back to normal. More tired than he was when they arrived, of course, the heightened excitement and it’s energizing effects wearing off as was typical for him, but normal nonetheless. But… he knew that the day was far from over. Though the physically taxing portion was hopefully at it’s end, he knew that he still needed to speak to his father.

He opened his eyes relaxingly. As if they had been summoned by his very thoughts, he saw four figures walking down the white streets. One of them, the human, was Rosy. To her left, Kodi’s mother Jenna walked alongside her. Opposite Jenna, Fang jaunted along happily. Off of Fang’s right shoulder-

“Dad…” Kodi choked.

Kirby stepped backwards when he saw the strong, almost saddened expression that consumed his friend. Ralph looked concernedly at him too.

“What’s going on? You know Kodi better than any of us, Dusty. Is something wrong?”

Kodi kept his gaze lowered. He followed Fang’s slouching figure as he sauntered past, turning his head to keep with Fang. Fang stopped with the rest of the group, and Kodi kept his head and eyes fixated on him. He wanted something, anything, to provide a distraction from looking at his father.

He heard the snow crunch underneath his father’s paws behind him. Slowly, like a rusty gear in a clock, Kodi moved his head to where his body was facing again. His eyes still looking at the ground, he could see Balto’s front paws entrenched in the snow in front of him. Without tilting his neck, he looked upwards and could see the breath steaming in the air in front of his father’s mouth. Balto’s feet shifted uncomfortably, to match Kodi’s state of mind. Kodi tensed his body at this preparatory movement. And then-

“Kodi?”

Kodi gasped at the sound of his name. He felt like a child that was dreading a vaccination from a needle; desperately wanting to avoid it, and dreading the inevitable moment when it would finally come to pass. It seemed to have arrived.

With an aching deliberation, Kodi lifted his head to come face to face with his father. The expression Balto wore was unlike anything Kodi had seen him adorn before. It was a look that showed a longing for joy, but bound by the chains of sadness and melancholy. Why did he look so unhappy? Kodi thought.

This is your doing, you know.
I know.
He’s so disappointed in you.
I know.
Look at his expression. He wants so much to be happy to see you, but he can’t bring himself to lie about it.
I know.
So what are you going to say to him?
I don’t know.

“Kodi? Are you alright?” Balto’s voice entered Kodi’s folded ears, sounding so distant. It was enough for Kodi to snap back regardless. He shook his head rapidly, and the depressed expression on Balto’s face was replaced by one of deep concern.

“H-Hi Dad…” Kodi eked out. He didn’t sound very enthused, or so he thought. Balto, on the other paw, looked positively delighted to hear his son say something to him.

“Kodi!” Balto sighed with relief. “I thought something was wrong. You looked like you were going to be sick…”

It wasn’t too far off the mark. “I’m fine.” Kodi said, more distinctly than before. His father’s good mood was catching.

Balto lifted his paws from the snowy fortress that they had sunken into to, shaking them off vigorously. “You… you didn’t look like you were very happy to see me.” He said directly.

That needle moment had definitely arrived. Kodi winced as though it had pierced through him. He struggled to come up with a reply.
“Well… it’s just that…I umm…”

Balto interrupted him. “I understand.” He said with a heartfelt soothing quality. Kodi immediately jolted back up to look at him, recovering from his imaginary stabbing. The look of melancholy had returned to Balto’s face. Only this time, Kodi could tell; it wasn’t his fault. “I said some things to you, Kodi. Awful things.” He admitted, the mildest twinge of self-loathing detectable in his voice.

Kodi remained silent. The sounds of the other dogs talking seemed so fuzzy, despite them being right behind him. Balto took notice of the distraction. He gestured to the alley next to them, the very same alley that Kodi and Dusty had confessed to each other in. “Please…” he begged, desperation so utterly apparent in his inflection. “…If you would, follow me. I’d rather this be private.”

Kodi nodded in agreement, and followed his father’s tail as it hung low around the corner, catching on the snow lightly like a brush on a canvas.

-----------------



“How is it going, Jenna?” Kirby questioned jovially. He nodded to Fang as the wolfdog slumped his way behind Jenna, and simply added Fang’s name to the question. “Fang?”.

Before any of them could answer, the door to the post office swung open once again, the snow shaken loose from before now cascading to the ground. Mr. Simpson teetered out, a large bag of dog food in tow.

“Alrighty gang, I think you’ve earned- WHOA!”

As he rotated his body to more easily see the step down to the street level, he caught a glimpse of Steele. In his surprise, he slipped and fell down into the thick snow pile that had built up from repeated shoveling. He was unharmed, but the bag of food spilled onto the street to his left. He quickly shifted his attention from the bits of kibble rolling across the snow to Steele. Only, it wasn’t Steele. But it looked just like him! Not only that, but the size of his paws… his tail that didn’t have that bounce to it… the teeth, apart from the wayward fang… all that, and the creature looked starved. Hungry.

“Shoo! Get out of here!” He quickly mounted to his feet, and waved at the creature as though he were a pesky smog that he was trying to usher through an open window. “Rosy!?” He motioned with his right hand, trying to coax the young girl away from the wolfdog. “Get over here, quick! That thing isn’t safe!”

Ralph could see Fang twitch at being referred to as a “thing”. He stepped forward, boot first, directly behind Fang. “Don’t even think about it, Fang.” He demanded.

Beside him, Kirby stood still for just a moment, contemplating what he should do. After some deliberation, he joined Ralph. Fang wasn’t going to be retreating anywhere, not if he could help it. “That’s right, Fang. I know it hurts, but please give him a chance.”

Kirby peered at Mr. Simpson’s confused expression, wondering why his dogs were rallying behind him.
“Because I’m sure”, he paused for effect, “he’ll give you one.”

Dusty came up behind Fang and put a paw on his shoulder. "It'll be ok, you just startled him is all," she said, trying to relax him, but she could hear him whimpering, scared and hurt. After all, Mr. Simpson was the only hope he really had to be a sled dog at present, if he wouldn't take him in, no one would. But she knew they'd find a way somehow to do it. She looked to Mr. Simpson and gave a bark, sitting next to Fang, doing her best to convey they were friends.

"No he's not," said Rosie, clearly and not a hint of fear in her voice at all. She pet Fang on the head. "He's not dangerous, I know he looks a little scary, but everyone in town was scared of Balto except me and you've had him as your lead dog before," she explained, not moving from her spot, merely scratching Fang behind the ears, getting him to calm down a tad. "I know he looks a lot like that mean Steele, but he's nothing like him. I was right about Balto, wasn't I?" she asked, being the only one in town who'd been able to see Balto was a good dog underneath all of it.

Fang wagged his tail in a friendly manner as Rosie stood up from him, trying to give as friendly a posture he could manage to show Mr. Simpson she was right.

"If it weren't for Balto, I wouldn't be here right now. He proved everyone wrong, didn't he?" Rosie asked. "And he's not a thing, his name is Fang and he's a good dog."

Mr. Simpson slowly returned from his poised position, the muscles relaxing in his shoulders. He stared long and hard at the situation in front of him. From out of nowhere, this markedly hybridized dog had appeared. Not only that, but he looked so similar to Steele, that for just an instant, he thought Steele had come back from wherever he had gone. The curious fang protruding from his mouth, in the blur of Simpson’s fall, looked much more menacing than it did now.

He jumped just a bit at Dusty’s bark, it was almost as if she was scolding him! Given how quickly the other dogs seemed to have befriended or accepted Fang (noticeably more so with Kirby, who wasn’t the easiest dog to acclimate to), maybe she was. At any rate, the young girl with the bold red hair made a solid argument. Aside from being shaken by Mr. Simpson’s own doing, this new dog appeared to be as friendly as could be. Not only that, but Rosy also had a good point about Balto’s story. In fact, it was Balto’s tale that helped him to appreciate the nature of all canines he met, regardless of purity or pedigree.

Mr. Simpson coughed sheepishly, and wiped away some of the bits of dry dog food that had stuck themselves to the sides of his damp snow trousers when he fell atop of the spillage.

“Fang, is it?” He asked sweetly, the tone of his voice clearly trying to admonish his harshness just moments ago. Still more than a little cautious, he held out his hand to him, waiting for Fang to perform the typical dog ritual of smelling his hand to make an acquaintance. “Sorry about that. You scared me just a little bit, that’s all.” He rationalized to Fang, hoping the dog would understand and accept his forgiveness more readily with a solid reason to back it up. Mr. Simpson kept his hand outstretched.

“Is he yours?” He inquired of Rosy, “Where did you find him?”

From behind Fang, Kirby gave a light shove with his large right paw to the nervous Fang. “Go on, kid! Introduce yourself!” He beckoned.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Ralph reassured him as best he could, his own advice striving to compliment Kirby’s urgings.

Fang gave a cautious look at the human, still a bit frightened and nervious. But he heard what Simpson said and saw his posture. He could tell that Mr. Simpson wasn't lying either. He slowly, carefully inched his way to Mr. Simpson's hand and sniffed it lightly, taking in his scent. He could smell the other sled dogs on his hand, something that showed him Mr. Simspon must pay them a great deal of attention. He finally licked Simpson's hand as a show of good will.

Rosie shook her head. "He's not mine, he was staying out on Balto's boat, they're friends," explained Rosie, smiling as Fang accepted Mr. Simpson. I guess he's living there now, I'm not sure," she said, admittedly not knowing much about Fang's origins or why he was living on the boat, but pretty certain of it. "If Balto lets him stay with him, he must be friendly," she continued, stating what was essentually common knowledge. Few in town now doubted Balto's friendliness or heroic personality, so it was rather clear he'd keep good company.