Chapter 4

The Realization

Kodi sat, watching the sun go down behind the mountains, seeing but not really caring about how the last golden rivulets of light were staining the white fluff around him in a color that could almost be classified as amber. He blew out a breath, almost a sigh, and looked down at the pound and a half of dried fish at his feet. His stomach growled urgently, but Kodi himself felt no particular urge to eat. Besides, the clamor of his innards seemed far away…unimportant at the moment. He was very confused. Normally, he would've wolfed down his ration with everyone else, and then they would've had a good romp in the snow before bed to let off any after-supper energy.

Yet this evening he'd taken his food over here, on some hilltop to watch the stupid sun go down, a sight he'd seen a million times or more. Why…why had he? With a slight shrug, he shook this little notion off, summing up all his preoccupation as simply an irritation caused by Forest's attitude. He didn't like that dog. No, not one bit. 'He may be a sled dog, and a good one at that,' Kodi thought in a darkly, 'but he's got a heart darker than the fur on a Kodiak bear.'

The unintended irony of this thought caused a brief flutter of chuckles to burst forth from him in a sudden rush, a smile playing it's way across his face. But the expression felt false, almost wooden, and he felt it slip from his face without much interest. This little show of unknown cheer apparently attracted attention, for Kirby came over to join him.

"What's so funny?" his teammate asked, his own small smile – that day's first and last Kodi noted – flitting across his features. He added to his overall feeling of curiosity by adding a raised eyebrow, his body relaxed.

"Nothing…" Kodi replied absently, still looking off into the distance, his own smile returning, though only briefly.

"Sure?" Kirby asked, the tinniest edge of a laugh working its way into his voice. "Cause if you're not, you mind sharing what's got you in such a good mood? The rest of us," he spared a single glance back over his shoulder to regard the rest of the team, "could use a good laugh after all the crap we've been puttin' up with all day…" his voice fell into an uncharacteristic tone of contempt as he finished.

"Forest?" Kodi asked. It almost wasn't a question. Who really needed to ask? All you had to do was look at the body language of the team to see that the white Malamute wasn't liked.

"Forest." Kirby confirmed dryly. There was the slightest tone of disgust in his voice. "I've never seen or worked with such an impudent mongrel in all my life pulling the line."

Kodi smiled bitterly. 'Pulling the line' was a term used only by their team, a sort of trademark saying if you will. It meant – in the most basic sense – running the mail. "I know how you feel. I don't care for him either. He's got a bad attitude." His smile which had already been faint to begin with, melted away to be replaced with an un-Kodi-like frown.

Kirby nodded in slight agreement. "You got it. But it's not just his attitude that's bad." Kirby turned his head to regard the younger dog sitting beside him. "It's his entire personality. I don't care what he's like even when he's not pulling; that Malamute's got a heart colder and harder than the Rocky Mountains."

Kodi was at a momentary loss for words. Kirby had put to speech what had been resounding in all their minds over the course of the day's work. Forest did indeed have a dark, almost contemptuous, feeling to him. 'Yeah, like someone who'd see a dog getting beaten in the street and not even twitch a whisker to help.' The thought, with its again unintended echoes of what'd befallen poor Dusty made him uneasy. He said, "I can't believe we've got almost three whole days left before we can dump him off again at Nome."

"Another few weeks, you mean." Kirby corrected him.

"What?" Kodi asked, ripping his gaze away from the now rapidly fading sunlight to stare unbelievingly at his friend. "What'd you – "

"You forgot about Dusty." Kirby said simply. "Even with her strength, it'll take her at least that long before she'll be good enough for the traces." Kirby's smile fell away and his face crumpled. "Crap…" he said despairingly, "I don't care what anyone else thinks, that Forest's a real son-of-a-you-know-what. I don't like him." He repeated.

Kodi's face likewise morphed, his eyebrows drawing together and his mouth turning down in another frown. "I agree, I hate working with him." He sighed heavily, "Our job used to be fun, until Dusty got beaten to a pulp and we got stuck with Forest," he said, the name rolling off his tongue as though the dog in question were something slimy he'd just discovered on the bottom of his foot.

"Speaking of Dusty," Kirby said, in an almost conversational tone, "you…miss her…don't you?" His eyes locked with Kodi's and the red and cream colored Husky next to him felt put out of place by the quality of that glance.

Kodi's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back at Kirby, ready to protest…But what for? It wasn't as though he was…well…it wasn't as though he was embarrassed by it or anything. So…why? His mouth opened, but instead of protest, what came out was the truth. "Yeah…I do…" Kodi said, eyes involuntarily lowering.

((()-()))

"Speaking of Dusty," Kirby said, in what he hoped what sounded like a 'just-passing-the-time' sort of voice, "you miss her…don't you?" He turned and gave Kodi a look that, he again hoped, said it was okay for him to admit it, that he wasn't going to tease him about it like Ralph may've perhaps done were he the one pose the question instead of himself.

Kirby was at first relieved, then strangely disappointed with Kodi's response. "Yeah…I do…" He didn't know why either. He hadn't expected anything else, save for protest, and Kodi was smart enough to know protesting would only make his feelings all the more obvious.

"Hey," he said, giving Kodi an understanding smile. "Don't look so embarrassed. She's your teammate, after all, so it's only natural. Don't forget, I've been doing this longer than you have, so I kinda' know how it feels."

"Do you?" Kodi shot back in a voice that surprised Kirby a little. Was that…annoyance or maybe frustration? Then Kirby realized what it actually was, not annoyance, but anger. In truth, Kirby was a little uneasy. Kodi wasn't usually the type who got so easily upset. So why –

Shutting the rest of these thoughts out – he was being foolish for a dog his age anyway – Kirby was helpless not to shrink back a bit at Kodi's tone. "Hey…you don't have to get so angry." he replied, in a voice that sounded meek even to his own ears. He'd never seen Kodi angry before. Annoyed, yeah. He'd looked and sounded annoyed whenever they were late with the mail, like those times before all that business with Duke and the Bush-plane. But angry…no, almost never. Well, Kirby allowed, unless you counted that time when Kodi had stormed out to help his dad find Duke when the rest – including Kirby himself – had thought it to be a lost cause.

Come to think of it…Dusty had been the first to follow him out the door, hadn't she? She'd also been the one to get the other six of them off their butts and on their paws to help Kodi too, hadn't she? Yeah…Kodi's concern for Dusty suddenly came to mind – from both just now and during the events of this morning with Forest – and he swiftly formed the connection between the two. They liked each other, but neither knew it yet.

'Ah, nuts,' Kirby thought distractedly, 'why is it that whenever two dogs have a thing for each other, everyone can see it but them?' That in turn got him going on what an unpredictable sort of thing Love was, but Kodi was speaking again and Kirby forced the thoughts from his head, hoping he hadn't looked too vacant. "Sorry, Kodi, I was thinking…what'd you say?"

Kodi looked slightly unsure of himself but went on anyway. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have gotten mad, it's not you fault. I wasn't only worried about her just now…I've been worried about her all day. And it's not just that," he went on, voice hardening slightly, "I'm…angry."

Kodi shook his head, as if dispelling the thought. "No…I mean, I…I'm the one who found her after she was beaten up and left for dead in the alley. And when she talked to me, the way she sounded…" Kodi's voice trembled for perhaps a second, then firmed, but Kirby caught it nonetheless. "I was mad, I mean really mad. I felt like I wanted to find the dog or the dogs that did it to her and rip them apart. And I still feel that way…" He turned a slightly puzzled face to Kirby. "What's happening to me? I usually never feel this way…"

Kirby was momentarily thrown completely off-kilter by the sheer oddity of this statement. They'd gone from belittling Forest to Kodi talking about how he'd felt all pissed off and ready to brawl when he found Dusty. Kirby considered his options. For a wild moment, he almost gave into the insane but powerful urge to push his face up to Kodi's until they were brow-to-brow and then scream into his face, 'You LOVE her! That's what's gotten into you! And she LOVES you! Are the two of you so blind that you can't see it?'

But then logic reared its head and reasserted itself. It wasn't his place to tell Kodi something like that. Kodi would have to figure something like that out on his own…or have Balto or Jenna help him out with it. Having Dusty help would be the best of all, but logic also told him Kodi's mother and father would be just as able and willing to explain all this to him. Besides, Kirby admitted to himself if to no one else, he was no good when it came to the Game of Love anyway.

What he said was. "Hey Kodi that's okay. You were mad, I mean really boiling. I would've felt the same way in your position, Ralph too for that matter." He smiled. It was slightly harder than usual to do, but he managed to pull it off. "You want revenge for Dusty. I'll be honest; so do the rest of us. But nobody knows who did it, so we can't chase em' down and make them pay, much as we all want to." Kirby smiled hopefully. "Now c'mon. Enough talk for tonight. Let's go and bed down for the night before all the good spots are taken." Kirby chuckled and was relieved when Kodi joined in.

"Yeah, let's." Kodi agreed and then as if struck by sudden inspiration, "Maybe we'll get lucky and Forest will catch a cold or something and be miserable for the rest of the trip."

Kirby snorted. "I like that a lot but I doubt it'll happen."

The two of them laughed as they made their way back to camp.

((()-()))

"Yeah…I do…" Kodi admitted. He felt embarrassed and knew not why. He lowered his gaze and could almost feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He prayed that Kirby wouldn't notice.

His older team member apparently didn't need to get a clear view of his friend's face to know how he felt. He said, "Hey, don't look so embarrassed. She's your teammate, after all, so it's only natural. Don't forget, I've been doing this longer than you have, so I kinda' know how it feels." He garnished the remark with an understanding smile.

"Do you?" Kodi retorted, the anger he heard in his own voice surprising himself as well as Kirby. He saw and was concerned at the look of slight unease he saw on Kirby's face. Kodi was now not only embarrassed by angry with himself as well. 'What's the matter with you?' he mentally scolded himself. 'You didn't need to get mad at Kirby! It's not his fault you're concerned about Dusty!'

"Hey…you don't have to get so angry" Kirby replied, and Kodi was dismayed to hear a touch of defense and submission in that voice. Had he really sounded bad enough to make Kirby nervous? He knew it to be true and it only served to make his embarrassment grow.

When he found the courage to look directly at Kirby again, he saw his worries regarding him had been for naught; Kirby was apparently lost in his own thoughts. "I'm sorry…" Kodi said, causing Kirby to snap out of his own head and back to reality. Kodi vaguely heard him mumble some apology and then went on, still a little unsure. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have gotten mad at you. It's not your fault. I wasn't only worried about her just now…I've been worried about her all day. And it's not just that," he went on, his voice hardening slightly with his anger at what'd happened to Dusty. "I'm…angry."

He shook his head. No, that wasn't it. Not all of it, anyway. . "No…I mean, I…I'm the one who found her after she was beaten up and left for dead in the alley. And when she talked to me, the way she sounded…" He heard his voice threatening to tremble and caught it before it could catch and forced his tone to firm. Besides, he wasn't done yet. "I was mad, I mean really mad. I felt like I wanted to find the dog or the dogs that did it to her and rip them apart. And I still feel that way…" He turned his slightly puzzled face to Kirby. "What's happening to me? I usually never feel this way…" He was at a loss for words now. He couldn't make it any clearer, even though the whole thing sounded like nothing more than a garbled mess to his own ears.

Kirby seemed to go through many thoughts in his mind, some of them apparently not what he wanted, for at times he shook his head, and stayed silent for several seconds. When he at last spoke, what he said was. "Hey Kodi that's okay. You were mad, I mean really boiling. I would've felt the same way in your position, Ralph too for that matter." He smiled. It looked to Kodi like it was hard work. "You want revenge for Dusty. I'll be honest; so do the rest of us. But nobody knows who did it, so we can't chase em' down and make them pay, much as we all want to." Kirby smiled hopefully, the gesture now appearing true. "Now c'mon. Enough talk for tonight. Let's go and bed down before all the good spots are taken." Kirby chuckled and looked relieved when Kodi joined in, their soft exclamations of humor carrying softly back to camp.

"Yeah, let's." Kodi agreed and then smiled. A sudden very-happy thought came to mind. "Maybe we'll get lucky and Forest will catch a cold or something and be miserable for the rest of the trip."

Kirby snorted. "I like that a lot but I doubt it'll happen."

The two of them laughed as they made their way back to camp. But part of Kodi's mind was still turning his feelings for Dusty over and over…whispering that what he felt was more than mere concern…it was Love he felt instead. And, as he dug in and lay down to let sleep spirit him away from the world…he realized, with a glad, but furiously beating heart…that what the voice had said…was true.

He, Kodi…was in Love…with Dusty…

He welcomed the fact, and embraced it with open arms as his exhausted mind drifted off to Dreamland…

((()-()))

Forest sat, far away enough from the fire so as not to attract the Master's attention, but still near enough to feel the warmth spreading along his back. He was lying on his stomach, head lowered onto crossed paws, eyes closed, looking to be deep in sleep. He was chuckling mentally to himself at the stupidity of his 'teammates'. Those other five losers over there thought he was asleep but it was only a sham; in truth, he was listening with all his might to what those other two, Kirby and Lover-Boy were saying, for they were talking about him if his ears served him right.

He had to use all of his willpower to keep from growling with rage as the two traded insults about him to one another. How dare they! How dare they! Those lowlife scumbag hicks! To think that they could talk about him in such a manner and continue to draw breathe…! It was infuriating, but he dared not move for fear of discovery. Besides, he was gaining valuable information.

He'd taken the time on the trail to give little personal insulting nicknames to the rest of his 'team.' Kodi was of course Lover-Boy. Dusty was – oh, and this was his absolute favorite, the one he'd brooded over the most – Little Miss Bitch. Kirby was Mr. Cocky and Ralph was Mush-Brain. The other two weren't important and so he hadn't wasted time in thinking up nicknames for them. They were just two Huskies who never talked, even to any of the others, loners, in other words.

While it was indeed true that Forest couldn't read minds – no dog alive could for that matter, none that he knew of anyway – his nose told him all he needed and more. With his eyes closed, he could practically smell what Lover-Boy and Mr. Cocky were thinking. And it brought him a veritable wealth of knowledge, even juicier than what he'd originally suspected. They didn't know it was he who'd done the horrible deed, him and his friends, but if they had, Mr. Cocky said the six of them would've hunted down and punished whoever had done it.

'Ha! Ha! Fat chance, half-wits!' he thought with the ghost of a smirk. 'The first thing Sabbath did was brain Little Miss Bitch so hard she wouldn't remember a thing!' He couldn't help but let lose an insane little titter of macabre giggles, despite the risks. It was just too damn funny! Wait, okay, wait, Lover-Boy and Mr. Cocky are talking again. Gotta be qui-et now, or they'll hear you and we can't have that, now can we? No, it'd spoil all the fun, fun, fun! No, we certainly can't have that! So just lie in wait, and listen.

What came next was so deliciously good, so enthralling, that the albino Husky almost yipped with glee. 'Looks like I was right! Lover-Boy and Little Miss Bitch do have the hots for each other!' He grinned, helpless to stop himself. 'Oh, this is gonna' be even better than I thought!' Already a plan had begun to take shape in Forest's twisted mind, one that involved both Pride and Sabbath, and the other two Lovebirds… But the timing would have to be just right for it to work! But that was no problem. The three of them were old experts when it came to action at the precise moment…

So thinking, Forest lay, pretending to sleep near the fire, listening…and scheming about the double murder he was itching to commit…

((()-()))

We've heard from our more interesting canines – not to mention the Peanut Gallery, ha, ha, ha – so now let us take wing and fly back with all speed to Nome, where we may find some more of our interesting little canine buddies…

((()-()))

Dusty sighed, a big and depressed 'whoosh' of air expelling from both mouth and nose. She'd been lying here for hours and she still couldn't get to sleep. Her tired mind ran itself crazy with nonsense, as anyone's mind will do when they are kept awake by loneliness or if they happen to be suffering an Insomnia attack late into the night. Fortunately for Dusty, this latter wasn't the case; it was loneliness. Which, she now realized, was somehow much worse. And the hell of it was, she didn't know why! That was the most frustrating part of all! She rolled over, wincing a bit as her wounded body grumbled at the sudden movement, and frowned, looking at the wall.

Maybe…if she could just remember what'd caused her to feel this way, she could put it behind her, at least for now, and get to sleep. She cast her mind back to the end of the day, a few minutes after Boris had left…

((()-()))

She went outside – she could manage that much at least, thank GOD for some small favors, can you say Amen – and watched as the last rays of the sun spilled over everything, the precursor of twilight hour, her favorite time of the day. As she stared at the sun with her blue eyes, the pupils catching and magnifying that dying brilliance, she felt such a pang within her that she actually felt tears close to the surface. 'What is it?' she asked herself, and finding no answer, repeated the question; 'what's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Am I sick…?'

She squeezed her eyes shut, searching inside herself, willing her distracted mind to come up with the answer. After a few minutes, however, she ceased trying… It was a waste of time anyway…

"…Kodi…" she sighed, the word barely audible even to her own sharp ears. "…I miss you…" She was startled by her own words. What'd she said that for? Yet she knew. Deep inside her, within her very being, inside her very soul, she sensed that some true, indisputable part of her knew the answer…the answer was…she missed him…missed Kodi…or, could it be something more than that…? She didn't know.

What a start it would've given her to know that almost 120 miles away, a certain Lead Dog was thinking almost those exact words, his eyes turned aflame by the fading light as well. Kodi and his team really had covered that amount of distance seeing as they'd been running almost flat-out the entire day

'You miss him…' a voice deep within her whispered. She thought it was the voice of Triksey, her mother.

'Yes…' she thought back, realizing what her heart and soul had already confirmed and had simply been waiting for her head to catch up on. 'Yes…I do miss him…God, do I ever…'

'Yet…mayhap, you more than miss him…' her Triksey's voice went on, '…maybe…'

"Dusty?" A voice asked, nearly making her jump right out of her fur in surprise. She gave a small yelp of shock and spun around, the quick movement proving too much for her still-recovering body, and her vision swam in and out of focus, first muddy, then clear, now muddy again. She teetered, on the edge of balance, scolding herself for acting so in her condition. 'This is it, I'm going to fall…' she thought with dismay. The last thing she wanted to do was make an even bigger fool over herself in front of whoever had crept up on her, albeit without meaning to.

She reeled…but did not fall. Instead, she felt herself steadied by a broad muscular back. She looked up, vision clearing, bringing the world back into focus…and she saw Balto, Kodi's father, supporting her, looking at her with concern blooming in his yellow/brown eyes.

"Balto?" she asked, sounding to herself like the world's biggest idiot.

"What're you doing out here Dusty?" he asked, and she saw a rueful smile grow on his face. "You should know better than to push yourself so hard in your condition…" He helped her to stand so she could sit down. Looking around, she was surprised to find she'd walked all the way out to the old trawler, Balto's off-and-on residence. 'I…walked all the way out here?' she thought, staggered by the distance.

"You okay?" Balto asked, concern seeming to rise.

Dusty's cheeks were immediately aflame, embarrassed by her little mishap. "Y-yeah, I'm okay." she replied, flustered.

Balto smiled. He could see easily why Jenna said Kodi might have a 'thing' for her. Though she was clearly badly injured, she'd managed to make it all the way out here. She had strength and determination, you had to give her that. But there was more to her than that, he realized. Even in the fading light, he could see how her physical beauty – as well as her free, all-enduring, relentless spirit – might've had something to do with Kodi's possible – make that probable – attraction to her.

'I've got to hand it to you Kodi,' Balto thought, still smiling, 'if you really do love Dusty like Jenna says, you've got excellent taste...but then again, you are my son!' His smile broadened to a grin as he thought of the look on Jenna's face and of what she would say if she only knew what he'd just thought! How embarrassed she'd be!

"Something funny…?" Dusty asked, her own smile appearing as she saw Balto's widening one.

"Nah…nothing in particular." He replied his tone dismissive, adding to the effect with a light flick of a brown forepaw.

Dusty giggled. "Sorry…I didn't mean disturb you or anything…" she began apologetically, but Balto's chuckles quickly quieted her.

"Disturb? Nah, you didn't disturb me at all!" he assured her, smile flashing out again. It was so like Kodi's, that smile…it was strangely comforting. Kodi even laughed like he did! It was all so…ironically silly in some strange and wondrous way. "I just got back to the trawler to check on Muk and Luk before I went home to Jenna when – "

At the sound of their names, the two polar bears came pounding out of the ancient naval structure; their simple faces alight with curiosity. Laughing, they came pelting down the gangplank calling "Balto! Balto! Batlo! You're back!"

Balto was helpless to contain himself upon seeing Boris, spitting curse after curse in Russian, come scrambling after them, calling "Idiot bears! Get back inside trawler this instant or Boris go crazy on you!"

"Hey, Boris!" a voice called disapprovingly, almost laughing in spite of the tone, "watch what you say! We've got a lady present!" a gust of laughter followed after. An even bigger surprise followed on Boris' heels. Kavik, a large three-quarter wolf/German Shepherd mix with blinding snow-white fur and faded blue eyes. They were scary at first glance, those eyes, but held infinite kindness and a boundless good nature in their depths once you looked closer. He wore a large stainless-steel silver crucifix on a thick chain around his neck that served as his collar. And – as if to top it all off – he was the largest dog in Nome; 3 and a half feet in height from the shoulders to the ground and a full head taller than Dusty herself.

Yet Dusty wasn't scared or even worried; she knew both Boris and Kavik – though the latter she'd know for her entire life as opposed to the recent meeting of the former. Muk and Luk, however, were completely new to her. Well, maybe that was a bit unfair; she'd never seen them in the flesh before but she'd heard plenty about the two from Kodi in his stories of trying to help the brothers overcome their fear of water – which to-date had only been marginally successful.

"Oh, Balto, you've brought a friend!" Muk cried in absolute glee, bounding forward and sniffing Dusty's nose with his own pink one. "What's her name? What's her name?" He sounded more than excited; he sounded hyperactive. Without waiting for an answer, he introduced himself. "I'm Muk and the big fellow behind me is Luk – he's my brother!"

"And a mute." Kavik added, coming to a stop alongside Balto, whom was still a head shorter than the white hybrid, even when sitting next to him.

"Your names be Pain and Suffering by time I done with you!" Boris called, trying to get to the two childishly curious polar bears, but was stopped – gently – by Kavik, who insisted Muk and Luk get to at least talk to Dusty.

"After all," he said, with a smile. "Since when do they get to see friends of Kodi's?"

"M-my name's D-Dusty!" Dusty managed between sporadic bursts of laughter. She couldn't help it. The two of them were just so sweet it was funny!

"Ooooh! Dusty! Her name's Dusty!" Muk said, positively delighted by this news. Luk enveloped the still laughing gray Husky in a bear hug and spun her around in lazy circles. (A/N: no pun intended people. That would be lame of me, and the last thing I'm sure you all know I am is LAME.). Dusty, who would've expected the action to be much more unpleasant, was delightedly surprised by the comfort it brought her. This was fun!

"Careful now, she's injured!" Balto called in a warning to the three blissfully happy new friends.

"Ooooohh! We know who you are, you're Kodi's friend!" Muk said, as thought this was the greatest thing in the world.

"Oh really?" Dusty asked. Her loneliness had dissipated for the time being and she was in good spirits. She tired to remember the last time she'd had so much fun and was a little amused to find that it had been during last spring, when she and Kodi had gone wrestling in a field while they and a few others had been playing tag.

"Yep, yep, yep!" Muk replied, grinning broadly. "He talks about you all the time!" he said as Luk released Dusty from the hug and the three of them began a game of Leapfrog, with Luk going over Dusty first so she wouldn't have to strain herself.

"Oh?" she asked, still laughing. "And what does he say about me?" she was wild with mirth.

"He says you're smart…and you're pretty…" Muk said, pausing to jump between phrases "…and you're the best girl doggie on the team" – Kodi's actual words had been 'best female on the team' but Muk was…err…'special' and couldn't remember exactly what his friend had said.

"Does he?" Dusty asked, leaping neatly over Muk.

"Mm-hmm!" Muk said, totally caught up in all the fun he was having with his new friend.

This unfortunately, meant he wasn't exactly aware of what he was saying.

"What else does he say?" Dusty asked, not taking much interest in thinking the question out but just asking whatever came into her head.

"He says you're strong…and that you have the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen…and you're more gorgeous than the Northern Lights and…and…" Muk suddenly became aware of what he was saying and Luk tripped over him, sending the larger of the two polar bears into the snow. Dusty was likewise thrown out of whack by the bland delivery of this statement, and so being she too stumbled and went sliding into the snow beside Luk.

Luk made a few grunting and mumble-like whistles as Muk – who Dusty had accidentally sent onto the other side of Luk – appeared over his brother's broad back.

"What he say?" Boris asked, beak hanging open in shock.

"Luk says 'He said one more thing…'" Muk interpreted.

"What's that…?" Dusty asked. Surely it couldn't be any worse than what she'd just heard. She bet you could've fried an egg on her face it was so hot. She'd never been so embarrassed…yet so pleased at the same time.

"…That we weren't s'posed to tell you that…" Muk finished, grinning sheepishly.

((()-()))

Dusty couldn't help but let out a tiny stream of giggles at the thought of Muk and Luk, but the thought of what Kodi had told them about her made her cheeks blaze and her giggles peter off. Well, at least she knew what'd been bothering her, she supposed, her feeling of loneliness…her missing Kodi, in other words…

She tried to make sense of it, even as her eyes began to drift slowly closed as sleep took her into its welcoming embrace. She gave up as she entered the land were dreams are made…and there, she saw Kodi, and the two of them rolled together in the grass again, playing tag and laughing…

'Kodi…' she thought as her mind kept filling her head with sweet dreams. 'I…I think I'm in love with you…'