DISCLAIMER: All characters and elements in this story are the property of their respective owners.

Keeping A Promise

"You're going on alone?"

"It won't be the first time."

"Ugh... Here. I'm afraid it won't keep you very warm..."

"Yeah it will."

Jenna. Even in the raging storm, her voice in my head was as clear as day. It sounded so real, like she was running right along side me. But, she wasn't. She was back at the hospital with Rosy. At least, I hope she was. Boris, Muk, and Luk had a good head start on the storm, and Steele for that matter. My chest was burning and legs were tightening up. I've never run this fast for this long before. But... "Rosy.. I have to keep going. I will NOT fail you." The trees were starting to thin out, and I caught a scent of herring. "Muk, Luk... Nome! We are close!" I howled in excitement as we broke free from the stretch of woods to an open plane of ice. The rest of the team obviously understood it, because I felt the load ease up on the line. I turned my head to see Nikki, Kaltag, and Star looking towards me with priceless expressions of happiness on their faces. Even under these dire circumstances and waning weather conditions, they proudly held their own this far, and at that moment, I couldn't have asked for a better team of dogs to have been put on this mission. The trio barked at me happily, telling me to pick up the pace. They could tell we were close, too. I took a deep breath and kicked into overdrive. Being half wolf has its perks, and the extra stamina I tapped into started to show. The line tightened up again, and I was back to bearing the brunt of the load.

We ran for miles like this. I don't know how these other dogs were keeping up with me. But then again, we were on a very important mission. They were no doubt just as exhausted as I was, but we all knew that if we quit now, a lot of children would die. Including Rosy. My heart began to hurt at the thought of losing her. But then, I remembered something I said to a certain someone just two days prior.

"Hey...I'm coming back! With the medicine! I promise, Jenna." My adrenaline began to rush. The winds began to die down a bit, and I could better make out my surroundings, at least the outline of them. I noticed a large snow drift a ways off on my left side. There was a weird glow emanating from behind it. I didn't know what it was, but my heart told me to go toward it. I pulled slightly to the left so we were on track with it. Had the other dogs not trusted me to lead them back to Nome, they would probably be thinking I'm lost again. But, they followed my lead and we pressed on.

With the snow drift just a few hundred yards away, the glow began to fade into a brilliant ray of colors. "Is that what I think it is?" I thought. I had only seen those a few times in my life, and it looked just like when I showed- "JENNA!" That's got to be her! No other dog knew the secret of the polar ice caps, except her!

At that exact moment, a newfound strength exploded from within me. My adrenaline was erupting like a volcano now. I could not contain it. I threw my muzzle up into the air and let out a long howl, praying that somebody... anybody would hear it. The snow drift was close now. It was taller than I expected, but I was NOT slowing down for it. The other dogs knew what I was planning when I didn't slow down. As we got closer to it, we all braced for the impact.

Six dogs, a crate of medicine, a human, and a heavy sled were no match for the snow. We busted through it with ease, only to be met with a very familiar sight. Off the left, I saw the fishing trawler where I lived. I could barely see it through the heavy snowfall, but I could at least make out two polar bears and a goose jumping up and down and cheering. "Boris... Muk...Luk! I did it!"I turned back forward and was met with the beautiful blend of colors in their full display. My heart exploded with love for Jenna. "She must've done that to lead me home..." I could have gotten back with my sense of smell, but the fact that Jenna did.. that... For me... I could not describe how I felt with words.

"Jenna!" I breathlessly muttered, smiling."I have the medicine! I'm back!" I let loose a piercing howl, having to run on my front paws to keep it going. By this point, my tank was on empty, but the fact that I was this close to being with Jenna and Rosy again gave me a kick and made me howl in excitement a second time. As we passed the trawler, I saw a red beam of light appear on the edge of the town. It was the lantern that would guide the team back. People started to gather around it, and were glancing out in several different directions. To alert the budding crowd to our existence, I howled again, long and hard. I was winded, so it didn't sound right. But more people started gathering on the street. The lantern was getting closer, and I lined up the team to make a straight run down the middle of the crowd to the hospital. With one last push, we topped another hill and were met with earsplitting yells and shouts of joy from the people lining the streets. I couldn't contain the urge to smile as I glanced around. I ran until the crowd was blocking the road, and slowly came to a stop in front of the hospital. The doctor and several people rushed over to get the crate of serum, and to check on the injured musher. I sat down, breathing heavily, not able to stand any longer. At long last, I was a lead dog, and I had lead a team, just like I always dreamed of doing! Sure, it wasn't a sanctioned event, but it was a race of sorts; one to bring medicine to the sick children of Nome. A great race of mercy, you could say. I put my head down and shut my eyes, and let my conscience speak to me.

You did it, Balto! You did it! You got the medicine back!

I smiled. "I promised you, Jenna... I promised!"

A/N: This is the companion fic to "Coming Home." I suggest you go read that one if you haven't already. I wrote this one a few times in several different ways. My first rough draft version was pretty blunt and lacked details, so I made some edits here and there to fill in the gaps, so to speak. Enjoy!