Balto: Mate
Dec. 24, 2008
All characters belong to Universal Pictures.
Story belongs to Xaqtly.

Prologue

Soft, warm rays of light began to filter into the shed as dawn broke over the town of Nome, Alaska. Balto felt the warmth on the back of his neck and he began to wake up. He was perfectly happy to stay where he was though, and his eyes remained closed as he became aware of Jenna's softly breathing body next to his, and his paws draped around her.

It was on days like these that he wondered if he had died in his sleep, because this is what he imagined the spirit world would be like. He was always happiest in these moments, when everything was quiet and still, and all that was important to him lay right there within his paws. He smiled and held Jenna just a tiny bit closer.

He loved his life now. All he did was eat, sleep and sometimes go on walks with Jenna and Rosy, when she wasn't off at college. His bones ached a bit and his vision wasn't quite as sharp as it used to be, but he still felt fine. After all, it had been so many years since he became the hero of Nome after the famous 1925 serum run, and he was just happy that he was still healthy at the ripe old age of fifteen.

He heard a flock of geese flying overhead, and he thought about Boris. Ever since Balto had come to live with Jenna on a full time basis, Boris saw no need to stay in Nome all year round, and he began to fly south for the winter along with all the other geese. He still flew up to Nome in spring, but recently he hadn't been coming up every year. He didn't come up at all the year before, and Balto was hoping he would be up this year.

Balto remembered with fondness the day he was asked to come live with Jenna permanently. Their pups had all grown up and Balto still came to visit Jenna every day. Rosy had always wanted Balto to live there, but her parents just never felt comfortable taking in an adult dog, especially one that was half wolf. Even if it was Balto, the half wolf that had saved their daughter's life.

But as time went on and it was clear that Balto and Jenna would be together for the rest of their lives, Rosy's father finally gave in and agreed to let Balto live there as one of the family. It was one of the happiest days of his life, though Boris had been uncharacteristically emotional about it. He sadly declared that there was no longer any reason to stay in Nome, and he left that year with the other geese when it was time to go south. That was almost ten years ago.

He felt Jenna stirring slightly, and she took a deep breath. "Mmm... morning Balto."

Balto smiled as she stretched, then snuggled close to him again. "Good morning, beautiful," he said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

Jenna yawned. "Can we just stay like this all day today?"

"I was hoping you'd say that," Balto grinned, as he leaned over her shoulder to kiss her. She returned his kiss and smiled.

Later that morning, Balto had an idea. "You know what I'd like to do today?"

"No, what?" Jenna asked as she cleaned her face with her paw.

"I'd like to visit our spot again."

Jenna looked at him with slight surprise. "Really? It's been at least a year since we went up there last."

"I know, that's why I want to go back. I don't know how many more times we'll be able to go back there, and I want to see it at least once more."

"I'd like to go back there too, as long as you think we can make it," she said with a grin.

Balto chuckled. "We're not too old yet. We'll just go slow."

It was early afternoon by the time Balto and Jenna arrived at their favorite place. They were both winded from climbing and the journey up the side of the mountain had taken longer than they expected, but that just reinforced the idea that this might be the last time they would be able to make it up there. They walked to the edge of the cliff and lay down next to each other as they took in the view. It was a beautiful vista overlooking the forest on one side, and they could see all the way to the ocean on the other. They could even see a waterfall in the forest, and they could trace the river through the forest to the sea.

"Just like I remember it," Balto sighed happily. Jenna smiled and looked out over the forest, taking in the view.

"I don't think we'll be able to come back here again," she said after a few minutes. "I was really struggling to make it up here this time, and my legs are sore."

"I know," said Balto. "Mine too. But I'm glad we made it one last time. Look at that view."

"It's beautiful," said Jenna as she looked out over the forest.

Balto looked at her and smiled. "Yeah... beautiful."

Jenna laughed softly. "You've never stopped telling me that after all these years. But look at me now, I'm old. My coat is dull, I've got grey fur... I can't be as attractive to you as I used to be."

Balto's smile faded as he looked into her eyes. "Don't ever think that, Jenna. I loved you the first time I saw you and I've loved you ever since. You have always been beautiful to me, and you always will be."

Jenna closed her eyes and nuzzled him. "Really? Ever since the first time you saw me?"

Balto nodded. "Mmm-hmm. I may be old, but I will never forget a single moment of the day I first saw you. Every detail is burned into my memory, every sight, every smell..."

Jenna snuggled closer to Balto and rested her head on his side. "Tell me everything," she said. "I want our last visit here to be special. I want to remember our lives together."

Balto leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I wasn't much more than a year old the first time I saw you, but it was a day I'll never forget."

###

Chapter One: First Dance

"Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart"

Balto walked down the main street of Nome for what seemed like the hundredth time that week. The days ran together and they were all the same, nothing ever changed for him. He looked in trash cans for scraps, he begged for handouts, it was the same routine every day. He sighed and walked through an alleyway to an adjacent street, lost in thought.

He had often wondered in the year and a half since Boris found him outside Nome what his purpose was in life. No mother or father, not a wolf, not a dog, and nobody really seemed to like him except Boris. He spent his days wandering the streets, and the people of Nome had come to know him as a bit of a nuisance with his constant begging and foraging.

He was never unfriendly to any of the humans or any of the other dogs, but they all seemed to dislike him anyway. His half wolf pedigree had earned him distrust by everyone in the town, it seemed like. The dogs just didn't like half breeds, and the humans were afraid of his wolf side. He picked through the trash behind the butcher shop and found part of a sausage that had been discarded. He lay down in the snow and chewed on the sausage knowing that it would probably be the only food he would get today.

After he finished off the sausage, he sniffed around for anything else that might be edible, but he didn't find anything. He turned and continued his daily circuit of Nome, hoping to find something else to tide him over until tomorrow. Day after day he did this, and he was getting tired of the routine. He went down an alleyway to scale the broken down wooden fence at the end of it, and as he approached the fence, he saw her on the other side.

Balto's heart stopped. His mouth hung open and his eyes stared unblinking at the sight before him. She was a red and white husky, and she was beautiful. She wore a red bandanna around her neck, and she had a smile that made him breathe harder just by looking at her. His heart was pounding and his legs became weak as he watched her walk down the street with her friends.

He stared after her until she was out of sight, and he sat down in the snow, speechless. He gazed in front of him at nothing as the husky's face and her smile danced before his eyes, and he was enthralled. He played the scene back in his mind over and over, and each time he saw her walk by, he felt his stomach tighten and his heart beat faster.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when he finally came back to his senses, and he got up and began to run out of town to the old boat he called his home, his hunger completely forgotten.

"Boris! Boris!" he yelled as he ran up to the boat, out of breath from running all the way from town. He went to jump up onto the deck, but in his excitement he misjudged the height of the boat and crashed into the side instead. "Ow," he grunted, and picked himself up. He shook the snow off his head and jumped up onto the deck.

Boris the goose waddled out onto the deck where Balto was standing and breathing heavily. "Why do you attack boat, Balto? What did boat ever do to you?"

"Boris, I saw the most amazing thing today - I mean dog! I saw a dog!" Balto stammered.

Boris raised an eyebrow at him. "You see dogs every day. What is so special about this one?"

"You don't understand. She–"

"She? I think I do understand, Balto," Boris interrupted with a smile. He waddled over to put a wing around Balto's shoulder. "From what I have seen, not many things can cause a dog to act crazy like you are doing, with the yelling and running into things." He lowered his head to speak softly into Balto's ear. "But a pretty girl is one of them."

"I... Boris!" Balto whined, embarrassed. His face began to turn red and he could feel his cheeks heating up. "It's not - it's not like that. I... she..." he began to lose focus as the memory of her face came rushing back to him, and he stopped talking and just sat there in front of Boris, staring into space.

"Balto. Balto!" Boris waved his wing in front of Balto's face. "Snap out of it, you crazy mutt!"

"What? Oh... sorry Boris. I was thinking about, er..."

Boris folded his wings and tapped his foot on the deck, looking at Balto with a raised eyebrow.

"All right, all right," Balto said in defeat. "She's beautiful, Boris. I saw her today while I was out looking for food. I was behind a fence and I saw her, and she... she was just walking down the street." Balto felt his heart begin to stir again, and he took a deep breath.

"She has a beautiful red coat, and she's a husky. That's all I know about her. Oh, and she wears a red bandanna around her neck."

"You are sure that's all you remember about her? No other little details, perhaps?" Boris prodded him.

"Her smile," Balto said dreamily. "She had the most wonderful smile, Boris. When she smiled, it felt like she was lighting up the street."

Boris shook his head. "Puppy love," he said with mock disgust. He looked at Balto, who was still just sitting there with a stupid grin on his face. "Oy, this is all I need."

"Boris..." Balto said quietly as his smile faded. "She's more beautiful than the Northern Lights. And I'll never even get a chance to say hello to her."

"What? Why do you say that?" Boris asked, surprised.

"Because... because look at me, Boris. I'm a mutt, I'm a half breed. I live on a boat outside town and I have to beg for food every day. None of the dogs like me, you know that." He looked at Boris sadly and lay down on the deck with his head between his paws.

Boris lowered his head and sighed. "That is not your fault, Balto. You are better dog than any of those stuck up dogs in town, those mangy, fleabag–"

"She is one of the dogs in town, Boris," Balto interrupted.

"I, er... well you are too good for her," Boris responded, slightly deflated. "I know what will make you feel better. You just need some food, yes? Let me find something for you, and you will feel better in no time."

Balto got up dejectedly and padded over to his blanket. He lifted the blanket up with his nose and slid under it, curling up with his tail around him. "I'm not hungry," he said as he closed his eyes.

Boris stood on the deck and shook his head. "Poor Balto," he thought. "Is not fair to him. He deserves better life than what I have been able to give him."

He sighed and went to join Balto in the wheel house, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

###

"Did you really think that, Balto?" Jenna asked, gently smiling at him.

"Yeah, I did," Balto said. "I know it's been a long time, but remember before the serum run how the dogs made fun of me all the time?"

Jenna nodded. "I never did though. I was always embarrassed by how they treated you."

Balto softly nuzzled her face. "I know. Just another one of the thousand reasons I loved you then just as much as I love you now." He looked at her dulled red fur, the white that had turned to grey, and her body that had become more frail and thinner than it once had been. She was smiling at him, and her eyes still held that brilliant spark, and her smile was no less radiant than he remembered.

"Back then, I didn't know any differently," Balto continued. "I thought every human and dog in that town hated me. I didn't have any friends besides Boris. I just assumed you were like all the rest, even though we had never spoken. I didn't even know if you had ever seen me before. I know I had never seen you before, because I would have remembered. I fell in love with you that first time I saw you."

"I'm glad you did," Jenna lay her head down on Balto's neck.. "It made it that much easier for me to fall in love with you when I saw what a kind hearted and brave dog you were."

Balto closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of his mate's body against his own, her scent filled his nostrils and he was thankful once again that the girl of his dreams was his mate and lifetime companion. "I was so young and I had never been in love before. I didn't know what to do with myself."

"Well now I'm curious," Jenna said as she snuggled closer to Balto. "Did you ever see me again before that first time you spoke to me?"

"Oh yes," Balto smiled. "I would go into town just to try to find you, but I was always too nervous to approach you. You were with Sylvie and Dixie most of the time too, that didn't help. Oh, and that first time we spoke, what a disaster. I thought I had ruined my chances with you forever," Balto laughed. "But I just couldn't help myself. I had to say something..."

###

Next: Chapter Two - "Second Chances"