This chapter was very hard to write…probably the hardest yet and the rest should come to me quite easily I think (I'm a bit of an old hand when it comes to Romance fics…with a splash of action/comedy here and there to spice it up.) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter a lot…sorry for the really long delay, but I've been very busy with Track practices (they take quite a bit out of me) and it's become a bit hard to find time to get this all written down what with School, Track practices and Church Youth Group meetings to attend to. Oh, and I'm also in the midst of producing an independent film with a few of my good friends. I've been drafted to write the screenplay, select the musical score, draw up the storyboards, direct, co-edit AND act (and the screenplay isn't even complete yet…but that's my problem, not yours so just forget everything I said, okay?) Sorry…my ramblings have gotten away with me again! Just read on I say!

Chapter 8

The Remedy

Dusty's head hung low as she allowed herself to be led away at a timely pace by her Master toward the small shed where the team spent their nights sleeping under its solid roof. She knew but didn't care where he was taking her; he could've been taking her to be euphemized and she'd have gone quietly. She was beyond caring at this point. How could she? Her mind was still reeling, still attempting to make sense of what had just happened. Kodi had…had…had rejected her… Was it possible? Could all this just be a bad dream that she would wake up from at any moment, only to discover that Kodi had not yet returned…? The actual likelihood of this foolish idea was made very plausible by her still grief-racked mind…and for a while, after her Master had made her comfortable in her little basket with her soft blanket draped over her trembling form, she considered that this might be just the explanation…

She tried to sleep, knowing that all of this would evaporate in the fantasy world occupying her dreams…but such a peace would not be so easily attained. Still she tried, rolling over and over in her small basket, squeezing her eyes shut against this cruel world that had seen fit to curse her with so much pain and misfortune… few minutes later, she discovered that this action had the opposite effect of the one she'd intended to achieve; instead of peacefully escaping her present condition of sorrow, she was forced to relive the look in Kodi's eyes every time she tried to close hers and drift into a silent slumber…

Finally, it became too much for her heart to bear and she simply lay there and started sobbing, trying to rid herself of the pain she felt in both body and heart. Her tears flowed like two identical rivers down the angelic slope of her cheeks to stain the wooden floorboards beneath her. 'Am…Am I not good enough for him? Is that it…?' she asked herself, looking through red-rimmed eyes out at the noonday sun, which was just now beginning its descent into the western edge of the horizon. She racked her brains feverishly…No, she decided, that couldn't be it…at least not on the whole….

Was it because Kodi was concerned that if they admitted their feelings and then let their emotions get the better of them and they started a family before proper plans were made, it would interfere with their jobs on the Mail Team? Her head sunk to the floor as she considered this newest possibility…Was his job really so important to him that he would sacrifice the one who loved him for just one more day to 'pull the line'? Storm clouds gathered on her brow. If such was the case…then she had made a serious mistake in judging his character! Was he…? Could he be so cruel as to do such a thing…?

'Stop it, Dusty,' she suddenly chided herself, 'you've no right to judge…as you yourself decided that you'd prefer to wait until you were through 'pulling your line' before you started looking for someone to settle down with…' And Kodi…she suddenly felt a flare of resentment spark in her heart. Who was he to make such a decision? Who was he to decide when their hearts should be open to one another?

The flash of anger that rippled through her wall of grief cleared her frazzled mind somewhat…enough for her to force her unwilling body to assume a sitting position so as to enable her to see out of one of the small windows facing the avenue of the main street, to check to see if Kodi and the others were coming…they were apparently still either celebrating or had not yet caught enough of their wind yet to start off for either the house or the boiler room, for she saw no one on the team coming in either direction. She sighed, hanging her head again, retreating into herself. What was she supposed to do? She felt like she was dying inside and she knew she was in the grips of a serious depression…

What should I do? She questioned herself once more. And, to her immense surprise, an answer actually came to her; talk to someone. But who was left to turn to? Any dog she trusted enough to discuss something of this magnitude was still celebrating with the team…except perhaps her mother. She hadn't been conscious of much when she was led back to the house…but now she remembered that her brother Nova had left only a few minutes before the 'falling out' between her and Kodi…so maybe they were home by now.

She felt a tiny sad smile rise to her lips. It was worth a shot…besides; she needed to get this off her chest. And who better to talk it out with than her mother? Who better to understand where she was coming from? Well, with the exception of Uncle Kavik, but he was probably still napping in front of the General's Store and that was too far a trip for her to make at this point, all else aside. So her Mother Tricksey would do just as well – if not better than – anyone else…

With her course of action decided, she forced her tired limbs to support her slender weight once more – hopefully for one of the last times that evening – and began her slow journey to call upon her mother for guidance…

((()-()))

Kodi trudged on down the street, never mind where his paws were taking him, as long as he was going somewhere…away from everyone else. His tears continued to course slowly down his russet cheeks. Why? Why, in the Name of God did the world have to be such a heartless place?

He had at first tried to forget Dusty immediately, to put her out of his mind; to dwell upon what had passed would only prolong his suffering, this he knew to be true. But…he couldn't. He tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, the he was better off, that it would've complicated his life far too much…but he knew all that to be bullshit even as he began to ascend a sizable snow-covered hill on the very edge of Nome.

He couldn't deny it. He still had feelings for her…Dusty. He still loved her, even if she didn't return his love….

His footing suddenly slipped and he had time for a single yipping curse before he tumbled, end-over-end down the snowy mound, sending the white powder flying in all directions as he did. He whined in frustration as he finally stopped. The world was a spinning mass of gold, orange and pale blues…he shook his head, trying to clear it, but this only made things worse and he was forced to simply lie there whilst he waited for his vision to focus again. When it at last did and he managed to roll over and pull himself into a sitting position, he saw that he was only a hundred yards or so from the Old Trawler, a decrepit naval vessel that had long ago grounded itself on the beach. He simply sat for a moment, contemplating the thing. This had been his Father's home for six years…this ragged, weather-beaten hunk of rotting lumber had served as housing for him up until he had met Kodi's mother. The whole story of his saving the town and becoming a legend had followed of course, and his dad had gotten his girl in the end too. The two had fallen in love and upon discovering that Jenna was pregnant with Kodi and his siblings, Rosy's family had adopted Balto.

Kodi scowled at the old place as he began to move towards it, meaning to take refuge from the world within its craggy interior – it had served his father well enough in such times as these, had it not? True, he had spent his fair share of nights sleeping on the derelict with his brothers and sisters during the summers when they were but yearlings and he had a bit of a soft spot for it….

However, all that had been wiped from his mind when he and his siblings had been but four months old. Following Star's – an old friend of his father – narrow brush with death following an encounter a mysterious wolf pack, there had been a meeting called by his Uncle Kavik and Balto. He, Kodi – along with his five other siblings and all six of Kaltag and Tricksey's own pups – had been left aboard the boat during the meeting in the care of Uncle Boris and Miss Sylvie.

Then, in the blink of an eye, members of the pack that had terrorized Star had captured their group. They'd fought as much as they could – which wasn't much at all; they'd been far too young – but had eventually been overpowered by the larger group who had then herded them into the bowels of the Trawler whereupon they were locked up. They had been rescued by the concerned canines of Nome…well almost all of them, he corrected himself as he paused on deck to survey the view of Nome from his new vantage point. He and Dusty had been forced to remain the captives of an evil and nefarious wolf named Juji, who had hoped to use them as a means by which to lure his hated enemy Kavik into his seeking paws. He had been thwarted of course, but not before his angelic Uncle had paid with a grievous wound which proved nearly fatal, courtesy of the iniquitous lupine….

Kodi smirked a bit in spite of his heartache as he padded into the splintered wreck of the ship's cabin and lay down in one far corner. Now this old wreck served only as a reminder of those dark days…and of the friends lost during Juji and Kavik's long and agonizingly brutal game of cat-and-mouse. His thoughts snapped back to Dusty again as he remembered those first terrifying moments with Juji's pack…he still couldn't believe any animal could do that to one of their own…such unbridled animosity… He unknowingly shivered as he recounted the fate that had befallen one of the wolves assigned to guard himself and the rest onboard the boat….

Dusty…she had been there too, hadn't she? Yes…she had. The two of them had watched with horror and had then buried their faces in each other's downy fur, trembling with fear and shock at the briefly witnessed execution. He could still remember how she had clung to him…and how he had clung to her for that matter. His eyes slipped closed as he tried to recall her scent back then…had she still smelled of vanilla and wild roses? He shook his head. …Nay, her scent had not yet ripened to such a heavenly aroma; back then she had still emitted the fragrant reek of wild flowers and…and something else…something sweet…sweet and somehow exotic…

"…Honey…" he breathed as he lay with his eyes closed. Yes, that unusually pleasing scent had still been hers…mayhap was hers still, though now less potent. He suddenly found himself remembering how she had looked at him back in Nome, the way her eyes had flashed…and how she had cried, how he had made her cry…

"Oh…Dusty…." He sobbed, his voice hitching and cracking as he began to cry once more. His eyes felt hot and prickly, the tears like liquid sulfur in his eyes before they streamed down his furry face. He curled himself into a small, shaking ball of fur, covering his face with his long bushy tail as his grief and depression took hold of him. Finally, when merely crying ceased to satisfying the pain within his heart, he lifted his head and voiced a long, truculent howl of despair which rang and carried on the wind towards Nome and the surrounding forest…

"Dusty…Oh God…Dusty…I…I love you…"

((()-()))

Balto had felt his heart twist and his soul cry out at the sound of Kodi's lamentations…Such sorrow…God, but in that single rolling howl of grief, Balto had heard and sensed more despair and unhappiness than he himself had ever felt. The only thing he could've compared the feelings he'd interpreted from that agonized wail of self-pity was how he himself had felt when his mother had died when he was just a pup…But Kodi had sounded (if it was even possible) worse than that…

He began to question his decision to come as quickly as he had; mayhap Kodi hadn't yet enough time alone to himself…only a few hours had passed since he'd gone lopping away from his team after the mysterious incident involving him and Dusty… As for himself, Balto would've preferred to have let Kodi alone for a longer period of time (maybe as long as two full days) before confronting him…but Jenna, having heard the sound made by her beloved son, had implored Balto to seek out the young canine and give him what counsel he could and, upon having heard a second howl of the same variety as before not ten minutes ago, Balto had agreed and followed Kodi's trail with both ears and nose to where he now stood before the gangplank leading to the poop deck.

Even from here, he could smell his son's tears and their salty scent stiffened his resolve somewhat. He was now glad that Jenna had insisted so earnestly; if ever there was a time when Kodiak needed him, now was it. He padded slowly up to the poop deck, following the paw tracks strewn over the snowy boards to where he found his son, curled in a ball in one corner of the old ship's cabin. He wasn't sobbing anymore…but the scent of his sorrow as still fresh and strong.

"…Kodiak?" he asked gently, slowly sticking his head into the cabin. "Son…? Are you-"

"Please…Just…leave me alone…" came the expected reply from the distraught young canine.

"Kodi…listen, I know how much pain you must be in right now…believe me, I understand-" He faltered as his son suddenly cut him off.

"Dad…Please!" Kodi cried, exasperated and grief-stricken voice cracking violently as he spoke, "can't you just…just leave me alone…"

"I just want to talk…"

"Well, maybe I don't!" his son suddenly ejaculated, turning to glare at his father with red-rimmed eyes through which tears were still seeping.

Balto sighed. "Fine then…have it your way…sit here in this dark, cold little room, feeling sorry for yourself…but just know, if this is the kind of dog you really are, then I just can't understand what Dusty sees in you for the life of me…." The heroic hero of old shook his shaggy head sagely, eyes downcast. "Are you just going to give up on her that easily?"

"What the hell's the point?" he retorted, glancing embarrassedly to the side for an instant. "I…I love her. I love her with all my heart, I'd die for her, but none of that matters because she…she doesn't love me."

"This doesn't sound like my Kodiak at all…" Balto said, and despite his son's request, he padded into the cabin and lay his great shaggy bulk upon the floor a few feet from Kodi. "That…sounds like a quitter to me…."

Kodiak's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in anger just as quickly. He, Kodiak, son of Balto and Jenna, a quitter? The nerve…! He would be damned before anyone – even his own father for that matter – ever got away with accusing him of ever giving up on anything! "What's that supposed to mean?" he growled defensively. "I'm no quitter!"

"Sure doesn't look that way to me." His father replied in that maddeningly calm and sensible tone that had always drove Kodi crazy when he was younger and had lost none of its effectiveness. "Quite the opposite, in fact." he said, getting up and moving a bit closer to his son, "I must say…I didn't expect something like this from you Kodi."

"I'm not giving up! I'm just…" Kodi started, then trailed off, realizing the truth in his father's words. "I just…I just don't know what to do!" He cried out, whining in frustration, his eyes screwed tightly shut in silent agony.

Balto allowed himself a small smile. Kodi might know a lot about running and pulling a sled but he had quite a bit to learn in the ways of Romance. "Kodi…" and when the hybrid received no answer, he repeated himself, his voice gaining a slightly steely edge to it now. "Kodiak!"

Kodi's head flew up and he jumped, literally jumped, his body hovering an inch or so above the deck upon which he lay. He looked at his father with alert, yet somewhat fearful eyes. Long experience had taught him when his father took that tone, you shut up and listened, and you did it in a hurry. "Yeah dad…?" he asked, his grief seemingly forgotten for the time being in light of the elder's abrupt change in attitude.

"What's you job?"

"Huh?" This question was so backwards from any he had been expecting that for a moment, Kodi found himself unable to do anything but sit an gawp at his father's expectant face. "My…my job?" he asked feeling his cheeks flare up as he realized that he was actually being forced to search his memory banks for the answer to a question the response to which said answer should've been inbred by now. "My job is to deliver the mail to Nome…" he replied. He had absolutely no idea where his father was going with this but decided to hold his peace for the time being.

Balto nodded, seemingly very pleased by this. "That's right. Your job is to deliver the mail to Nome…. Now, what do you have to do in order to complete that task?"

Kodi squirmed uncomfortably. "Uh…Run? Pull a sled?" he answered, his voice rising a bit at the end, turning the statement into something that was almost – but not quite – a question. His brain felt murky, his mind clouded, like he had given a wrong answer to a disapproving teacher.

His smile broadening the slightest bit, Balto raised a forepaw and twiddled it from side to side in the universal gesture for 'sort of'. "Close, but no cigar. What must you, as the Lead Dog of your team, do in order to see to it that you and your teammates do everything within their power so that your job is done properly? Think carefully…"

Kodi shook his head. He was now more confused than ever, and if this didn't start making sense soon, then he would be hard-pressed to simply make a bolt for the door to find a more private place. "Dad…I'm sorry…I don't – "

"You were almost right on you first guess. You're right, you must run…but" Balto added, again holding up one paw like a witness taking the oath, "you must also race, race against both time and yourself. That is what it takes to see that you do your job."

Kodi couldn't take it anymore. He groaned in exasperation and got to his feet and began pacing around the cabin like a caged beast. He shook his head, looking to his father with utmost befuddlement. "I don't get what this has to do with me giving up on Dusty? What's – " he began, but was gently interrupted by the older and more experienced canine.

"Think about it. When you started off, were you the best from the start? Did they make you Lead Dog on your first day on the job?"

"No, but – " Again, Kodi found himself cut off, albeit gently.

"Exactly. You had to work at it, let your muscles get stronger, let your body get used to some much movement for such a long time, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I did, but I still – " For the third time, his father's cool, levelheaded tone cut the rest of his sentence off.

"And on one of your first runs, you were late on a few of your deliveries weren't you?"

Kodi let out a moan of annoyance. "Yes but – "

"Did you give up?" his father asked, and Kodi – who had been on the verge of simply walking out the door – froze and simply gazed at his father.

"What? No, of course we didn't!" he retorted, in a somewhat indignant snort. "What sort of sled dogs would we be if you just decided to quit after missing one time?" He felt a small, thin smile slide onto his tortured face.

"My point exactly." Came his father's brisk reply, and when the flummoxed dog in front of him did nothing but continue to stare, eyes narrowed in confusion, the wolf/dog went on. "Kodiak, there's something you have to understand; love is a lot like what you and your teammates do; you race yourselves. When you fall down, do you just give up? Do you say 'Oh, well, I tried my best but I guess I'm just not cut out for this,' and go home?" Balto paused for a moment, giving his words time to sink in, to get through to his love-stricken son. "No, you most certainly do not. If you fall, you get up and you start over. If you fall again, you get up again. If you still fall, you get up on your paws and you do it as many times as you have to so that you get it right."

Balto rose to all fours and strode over to where his son now sat, starring at him, understanding just beginning to dawn in his chocolate orbs. "You try and you try and then you try some more, if that's what it takes, son." He allowed himself a brief grin. "Me, I was lucky; my first and only love was your mother, so I guess you could say that I really don't know what it's like to be rejected, to be told to get lost by a woman you love – "

"Dusty never told me to get lost…" Kodi interjected softly. He was suddenly looking very ashamed. How could he have been so stupid?

"What?" Balto inquired, inclining his ears towards Kodi "What do you mean she never turned you away?" His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Isn't that why the two of you looked so…well, so depressed when you left each other?" Now it was Kodi's turn to have the advantage over his father.

"Well…not exactly." Kodi replied, almost in a mutter, his cheeks burning high. "She…she never really said anything to me except to ask me how our run went…" He couldn't even bring himself to look at his father's dumbstruck face.

"You mean to tell me," Balto said, speaking very slow so as to be sure that his words were quite clear, "that you turned your back on her and she didn't even tell you she wasn't interested? Kodi…" he trailed off, at a temporary loss for words. "I can't believe you'd be so foolish…"

"Well, she was…she was giving me this look." Kodi replied, intensely aware of how lame this sounded, attempting to defend his integrity without being consciously aware of his actions.

"Did you…did you make any sort of move towards her? Something she'd take – "

"No."

"So she doesn't even know how you feel about her?" Balto asked. He half-sighed, half-moaned in disbelief as his son gave a short shake of his russet head. "Kodi, how can you even know she has no feelings for you if you haven't even told her yourself?"

"I…I guess I don't." Kodi said, as he himself reached this same conclusion within the confines of his own head. A change had been rippling through Kodi during this last part of their conversation. The burning sensation in his cheeks began to retreat, his eyes widening as they shone with newfound hope and joy. By now, his entire demeanor had undergone this slow but astonishing transformation and he now jumped up, tail wagging from side-to-side, his muscles jumping and twitching in anticipation, ready to be off in search of his love. "But, there's only one way to find out…." He said, risking a quick look back towards Nome. His composure suddenly slipped, and his face fell slightly.

"But…but what if she still doesn't feel the same about me?" he asked, looking to his father again.

Balto offered him a wide, comforting smile once more. "If you fall, you just have to learn to get back on your paws and start over…but I don't think there's much chance of you having to worry about that, son." He finished, giving the newly reassured Husky a loving nuzzle. As he pulled away, he looked deep into Kodi's eyes, trying to tell him everything was going to be okay, even if what Kodi had for a time feared became true. "Now, go get you girl, Kodi. Make me proud…"

Kodi returned Balto's nuzzle with one of his own, along with a quick lick. "I will Dad, you can count on it…" And he turned and started off towards Nome…and his future love, not bothering with the gangplank but simply leaping over the side of the Trawler to land in the powdery snow below before he sent it flying in all directions as he began to run with all speed towards Nome, following that heavenly scent of vanilla and wild Roses…

((()-()))

Dusty plodded ever onward, continuing despite the now steadily increasing blaze of pain in her leg. She didn't have much further to go, in any case. The home of her parents' Master loomed ahead, a large two story home composed of wood and brick, with a spacious front porch and large, inviting windows scattered throughout. As she began making her way to the backdoor, her leg gave a particularly nasty twinge that forced her to stop and lie in the snow, shivering in a mixture of both pleasure and discomfort as the snow cooled the white-hot appendage and began stealing much-needed heat from the rest of her. With an effort, she managed to gain her feet once more and began to trudge towards the backdoor again. She was unable to suppress a yelp of alarm as she nearly slipped and feel on a patch of ice that had collected adjacent to the welcome mat and was saved from a nasty tumble only by seizing the wooden doorframe with her teeth. When she was sure enough of her footing once more, she released her hold on the wood and half-stumbled through the doggie door and into the snug little room where her mother and father were kept.

She let out a sigh of relief as she allowed herself to sink to her belly before the woodstove, relishing the blaze of heat as it spread over her fur and into her body, warming her wonderfully. She had actually begun to doze – it really was that comfortable – and would've no doubt fallen asleep had not Tricksey come back from her little scavenger hunt in the adjoining kitchen to see her daughter lying in her midst.

Needless to say, Tricksey was – as can only be expected – extremely surprised. She'd been home for perhaps an hour or more and had seen her daughter's dreadful encounter with Kodi, having been spirited away by her master only minutes after the heartbroken youngsters had misled one another so badly. She gasped in shock, causing Dusty's head to jerk violently around, her own astonishment as great as her mother's. The two of them stood or lay in utter silence for perhaps ten seconds before Dusty gave a small smile and said, "Hi mom…"

"Dusty…" Tricksey breathed, coming forward to inspect her daughter, "You…what on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back with the others or at home? You're not nearly well enough to go – " The silver female found herself suddenly cut off by her daughter's somewhat earnest voice.

"I know…but I just…really needed to talk to you, that's all." Dusty said, looking up at her mother, eyes seeming to plead. "Please…?"

Her mother gave her a warm smile and a comforting lick to the muzzle and lay down before her, her emerald eyes soft and full of love. "I'd listen to you anytime," she said, and Dusty blushed slightly. "Now, what exactly is it that you want to talk about, dear?"

Dusty opened her mouth…and found, for a wonder, that no words would come forth. All she could do was lie there, open-mouthed in front of her mother as images of Kodi, of her dreams of being with him, visions of their chaotic conversation flashed through her mind in a blur and suddenly her mouth snapped shut and her tears began to flow again. Frightened, Tricksey moved closer allowing her distraught daughter to burry her hot, wet face in the soft, comforting fur of her neck, murmuring gentle consolations in her ears and trying as best she could to help.

After a time, when she felt as if she could cry no more – though even now that was uncertain; she had felt the same way back at the house, and look what had happened here for crying out loud – she raised her head, her cheeks now beginning to burn high with embarrassment. This wasn't the way she'd wanted to start this conversation at all…but better to get all the 'boo-hooing' out of the way right up front she supposed now. "Sorry Mom, I…" she trailed off, not knowing how best to summarize her troubles.

"No need to apologize, Dusty," her mother replied, giving her another of her warm smiles that had so captured her father's heart back when she and Kaltag had first met all those years ago. "If you want me to leave – "

"No," Dusty interrupted quickly…a little too quickly in her opinion. But what was done was done and anyhow, it wasn't like it was a big deal or anything. "I've got to talk to you…but I just don't know…" she suddenly growled in frustration, shook her head, struggled internally with herself and then burst out; "I love Kodi."

She watched her mother's face closely for the amazement she knew would be there and saw it…though not nearly as much as she might've expected. Her mother's smile was still warm – warmer than ever it seemed to her – but now held a somewhat confused quality to it as well. "I see…I though that might be it…." And although she'd been aware of her mother's knowledge of her love for Balto and Jenna's son, Dusty was somewhat confused herself.

"You – oh, well, I…Mom, I…I just don't know what to do!" she suddenly burst out. Had she but known that Kodi was having just as bad a time of this as she herself was, she may've taken some amount of comfort from this. "I mean…I don't understand…Why doesn't he love me?"

"Who says he doesn't?" Her mother asked, looking down at her daughter, eyebrows raised slightly.

"He…" Dusty began and then stopped. Her mother had just brought to light a vital point that Dusty, in her agony of grief, had foolishly overlooked. Now that her mind was cleared…she realized that neither of them had actually come out and denounced the other! Kavik's words hit her like a blow to the head; 'I've seen the way he looks at you out of the corner of his eye when he thinks nobody's looking…. And he always gets a far-off sort of look in his eyes when he tells me about how much he admires your spirit…. He even let it slip once he thinks you're more beautiful than the sunrise on the first day of spring and that you smell like Wild Flowers mixed with milk and honey.'

And, hard on the heels of this, came Muk and Luk's carefully – or maybe not so carefully – confided and guarded message; '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…' God, if THAT wasn't a dead giveaway then she didn't know what was! She looked towards her mother once more, saw that she was now grinning and knew in an instant that she had known just how to nudge her daughter just right so she would come to the conclusion that she herself had been aware of some time ago…

"Something wrong?" the crafty silver canine asked, eyes sparkling with the delight of seeing Dusty finally come to terms with what was broiling within her. She gave the gray husky another of her wonderfully bright smiles and was helpless not to let out a little giggle as Dusty licked her cheek in return, her own smile seeming to have finally found its way out to plaster itself to her face.

"No…not anymore…." Tears of gratitude first gathered and two or three spilled from her eyes as Dusty said. "Thanks Mom for…for everything…."

Tricksey just laughed and brushed her long bushy tail playfully over her face, doing away with Dusty's tears. "Hey, what else are mothers for if they can't be relied upon to console their romantically distraught daughters once in a while?" she asked. Dusty beamed up at her.

After a few seconds' awkward silence, Dusty – incredibly, almost miraculously – found the strength to force her battered body first into a sitting position and finally to all fours. She felt a little lightheaded at first, but her dizziness lasted only perhaps five seconds and then she was nuzzling her mother once more, wanting to say thank you over and over again but knowing that words weren't needed; her gesture alone conveyed her feelings far better than any mere phrase ever could have. She turned to leave…but found the way blocked by her quick-thinking mother, who had foreseen her plan of action and moved to prevent it, coming between her determined offspring and the doggie door leading outside.

"Mom…" she tried, but Tricksey interrupted.

"Dusty…you can't be serious. I can't just…" she trailed off, seemingly torn between the decision to allow her Dusty to follow her heart's desire and search out her lover and her concern for her still-healing body. If she were to push herself too hard in the state she was in… Tricksey's brow furrowed and she let out a low whine. Dusty came forward and nuzzled her once more.

Pulling back, she locked eyes with her. She had inherited their color from her father, and now they shone with a need so powerful and so pure that in them Tricksey saw expressed all the words Dusty would now never have to say; her face said it all. I have to go to him, it said, that look of utter exaltation that conveyed the message using not words, but the canvas of her offspring's already lovely face.

I've got to go and find him…set this all to rights…. More, I need him…and he needs me, and no way in hell is a little thing like some sore muscles gonna keep us apart…Please, mom…let me go…Let me find my love and let him find me…. Give me my chance for true happiness.

Seeing and reading all this in the quality of her gaze, Tricksey sighed, and smiled once more. "Dusty," she said. "I can't just…let you go out looking for him with out saying goodbye." She watched as Dusty's face flooded with relief and the two exchanged one last nuzzle before Tricksey helped her out the door. Watching her go, the 1/8 wolf crossbreed thought, 'Kodi…you really don't know how lucky you are…. All your friends will eventually grow up a bit more and have mates or their own…but you'll be the only one among them who will be able to say you achieved far more than they did as far as mates go…'

She smiled to herself. 'They'll all have beautiful, loving females at their sides…but you'll be the only one among them who can claim to have taken an Angel as your bride…'

((()-()))

Author's Note

Hmm…Well, not too much to say for this chapter… Except that it seems to not be one of my best in my opinion. Well, that's just me, and your opinions are the ones that REALLY count, so…tell me what you think! We've not far to go people – only one or two more chapters left! Sad, I know, but as they say; 'All good things must (eventually and after more than a little regrettable procrastination) come to (an equally regrettable) end.' But not quite yet…

Oh, yeah. One more thing: I've noticed that a lot of people have been saying something about how odd it is that I made Tricksey Dusty's mom, seeing as Tricksey's part wolf and Dusty doesn't look much like a wolf at all. Trust me people, there's a good reason for this; with her genetic makeup as it is in the fic, she would only be 1/16 wolf, hardly enough to show many dominant physical lupine characteristics. Just wanted to clarrify all this! Thankies!

LoL

BaltoLuver63