Chapter 14: The Things Worth Fighting For.
September 19, 1929.
"Well, I guess we'll see you in a week or so", Kodi said, as he glanced back at his musher. The man was currently loading up the last of the supplies in his sled, and any minute now Mr. Simpson would be ready to attach his dogs to their harnesses.
Two days had now passed since the town inn collapsed, and while John had already been discharged, the doctors insisted that Connor and Roger stay in the hospital for a little while longer, since they were the ones who had almost died of hypothermia. The result was that Kodi and his friends were now heading back to their families in Nome, and Roger's team would be joining them in a few days. Gunnar Kaasen would certainly be excited to see his old friend and his old dog again, and Kodi knew that Kaltag would be thrilled to know things really had worked out in the end, just like he said he would.
While Steele was in the hospital, staying by Roger's side like he had for the past few days, the rest of his team had stopped by to say good-bye to Kodi and his friends, for now anyway. Kodi and Dusty had already bid Jake, Ron, and Hal farewell (Kodi made sure to thank Jake for starting him on the path to becoming a sled dog all those years ago), and now there were only two dogs left, Blake and Griff. The couple were now fully recovered from their harrowing ordeal, and instead of suffering some form of post-traumatic stress, the two were closer than ever. After all, nothing helps you fight back bad memories better than a lover's embrace.
"Take care of yourselves", Dusty said, before hugging her fellow survivor, Blake.
"I told you he would come. He'll always come as long as you believe he will. You just have to remember that some things are worth fighting for", Blake said, smiling as he accepted the female's embrace.
"Our guys will never let us down", Dusty chuckled, remembering every word Blake had told her that night.
Meanwhile, Kodi was busying talking to Griff, a dog he had kinda disliked a first, but now felt he owed a huge debt of gratitude to. "Griff, thanks for helping me keep my cool. I don't know what would have happened if someone hadn't kept me from losing it", Kodi said, shaking Griff's paw.
"Oh, you would have probably gotten yourself and everyone else killed", Blake said bluntly, causing Kodi's smile to fade for a few seconds, before the husky laughed to let his younger friend know it had been meant as a joke. After his laughter had died down, the older sled dog did have a question for the hybrid. "So, there's no hard feelings about me roughing you up a few times?", Griff asked. Though the husky had tried to sound nonchalant, Kodi could still hear the anxiousness in his voice, and guessed that the sled dog still felt guilty about losing his cool too and lashing out at the half-breed while both their lovers were in danger. After all, he had spent the last three years trying not to be a brute, and just when he thought he had made loads of progress, turns out his anger management still needed some work.
"None at all. These things happen", Kodi said, smiling widely to let Griff know he meant what he said. And then Kodi, since he had already let them know on several occasions that he had no problem hugging another man, decided to give the dog a brotherly hug as his own way of saying good-bye.
Griff laughed, as Kodi hugged him around the waist. Steele wasn't kidding when he said Kodi had no sense of personal boundaries. Still, Griff didn't minded be hugged by another dude, not anymore anyway. A thousand cold nights spent cuddling up with his lover had gotten him used to that years ago.
Kodi winced as Griff returned his embrace. The husky had thrown his arms around him knocked the wind out of Kodi, before he quickly loosened up on his grip and allowed the youngster a chance to breath again. Even after all this time, Griff still had trouble controlling his strength. Either that or Blake was just a lot more used to bear hugs than Kodi was. After all, Griff had had plenty of time to break him in.
"You two take care of yourselves", Kodi said, looking over Griff's shoulder at Blake.
"Right back at you kid. You and Dusty make sure you watch out for that baby of yours. He's a born survivor, just like his old man", Griff replied, before patting the half-breed on the back and letting him go.
This time it was Kodi's turn to laugh, when he realized that in no time at all, he was not only gonna be a father, but his son's 'old man'. He had been called a kid for so long, the half-wolf had no idea how he was gonna get used to that. But maybe that was just another part of becoming a parent.
Kodi and Dusty stepped back, and allowed the rest of their team to say their good-byes to Steele's team. Kodi turned back to his wife, and whispered discreetly into her ear. "I still feel like I should do something special for them when they get to Nome. Something to thank them for the way they helped us", Kodi said.
"I know what you mean, and maybe there is", Dusty replied, before whispering something so brilliant and audacious into her husband's ear that he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face.
"Dust, you're a genius", he said, before kissing her on the forehead.
Behind them, Kirby and Ralph awkwardly approached Blake and Griff, much to the couple's amusement. "Hey, we'd like to thank you guys for the way you helped our buddy out and all. You didn't have to do that", Ralph said, gratefully, and a bit sheepishly.
"Yeah. I might not get why a guy would want to be with another guy when they can be with girls but…after what you two did for our team, you're all right with me", Kirby said, before extending his paw towards Blake and Griff.
Blake shook it of course, thankful that their friend's friends were just as accepting of them, while Griff did something that took them all by surprise. He shook Ralph's paw just like Blake had, but when it was Kirby's turn to shake his hand, the husky grabbed his paw, and pulled his forward.
Kodi, Dusty, Ralph, Blake, Ron, Hal, and Jake all watched in shock, as Kirby's face went flying, and landed smack dab in the middle Griff's chest. Before Kirby even knew what was happening, Griff's arms were suddenly around him, patting him on the back in a congratulatory fashion. "You're not too bad yourself", the husky chuckled, before moving his arms back to his side again, releasing the younger dog.
As quickly as the short hug had began, it was all over, and Kirby (who for one terrifying second was afraid he was about to raped or kissed on the lips or something), had been left completely unharmed by the bigger dog (not that Griff had ever had intentions of hurting him or molesting him in the first place, but that still didn't stop Blake from punching in the shoulder for teasing someone who was already clearly uncomfortable). But even after Griff had left go of him, the stunned Kirby was still just there standing there frozen in place, staring right at Blake and Griff like he even couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
Griff smirked, and placed his paw on Kirby's shoulder. "Relax, I wasn't hitting on you or anything, it was just a thank you for you thanking us. If hugging another man made you gay, you and your buddy Ralph over there would be more than just friends", the husky joked, getting a good laugh of Ralph (who had instantly relaxed once he saw his teammate wasn't in any kind of danger), while Kirby managed to crack a nervous smile.
"You…you've got a real sick sense of humor, you know that?", the husky said lightly, watching the larger dog's grin increase as he shook his head in reply.
"Sorry about that. I didn't scare you too bad, did I?", Griff asked, real concern leaking into the husky's tone now, not regret, just concern.
"No", Kirby said, causing both Blake and Griff to raise their eyebrows. "It's just, a big guy like you coming at me like that was a bit unexpected", Kirby said, quickly thinking of an excuse as he finally noticed all his friends were looking at him.
"If it's any consolation, it was a bit of shock the first time he did it to me too", Blake said,
"I'm sure it was. Well, you two have lots of fun with all your hugging stuff, and I guess we'll see you in a few days", Kirby said, rubbing the back of his neck as he not-so-subtly changed the subject.
"See you around kid", Griff replied.
"Take care", Blake added.
Kirby nodded his head one last time, and turned around to rejoin his friends, who by now all had the same look of amusement on their face as Blake and Griff. On the way back, Kirby shook his head for a few moments, as if he was struggling to understand what exactly had transpired in the past two minutes, while ignoring the Cheshire cat-like grin that was still on Griff's face.
Of course, when he made it back to his own little clique, Ralph was the first one to greet him. "Jeez Kirby, when he grabbed you I thought you were gonna have a heart attack or something. You were just standing there like you couldn't move", Ralph said. When his friend didn't reply, keeping quiet as he walked, Ralph kept on talking, his grin growing as big as Griff's as a funny thought popped into his head. "He's got a boyfriend you know. What did you think he was gonna do, lay one on you? Nah, Griff wouldn't do something like that. He wouldn't try to get in the way of what you and I have", Ralph said teasingly, as he walked alongside his friend towards John's sled.
"Shut up", Kirby grumbled. Though the grin on Ralph's face remained, the smaller samoyed obliged, and raised his paw to his face so he could pretend to zip his lips shut, just to annoy his friend some more. And that was the last either dog spoke on the subject again.
As they watched their friends leave, Blake turned towards his larger boyfriend. Even though he still didn't approve of what Griff had just done, he wasn't able to stop himself from laughing a little. "Was I that scared the first time you hugged me?", the smaller dog asked.
"Are you kidding me? You were twice worse. Your fur would have been drenched with sweat if you could sweat", Griff chortled. However, Blake knew his boyfriend too well now to be offended by his jokes like most would, so he only leaned up and kissed him on the cheek in reply. A small token of affection that was quickly reciprocated by his lover.
Kodi and his team returned to their respective positions in front of the sled just in time, as John had just arrived with their harnesses. Pretty soon, all the dogs on Kodi's team were strapped together again, and ready to set out for Nome. After being stuck in White Mountain for days, they were finally gonna get to go home. And the first thing Kodi wanted to do what he got back was find his parents and tell them all about Roger's decision. Not to mention meeting up with Bane again, and finally reuniting with his long-lost sister. But most of all, Kodi just wanted to get home so he and his wife could feel safe and secure again, something they hadn't been for days now. Those were the main things on Kodi's mind as John tugged on their reins and signaled the dogs to start moving. With some new motivation, it didn't take long for them to start picking up speed as they dashed down the street.
However, just as Kodi and his teammates really started to build up velocity, the lead dog turned around and saw something he never thought he'd see. Standing on the other side of the street was a familiar black and white malamute, watching them leave town from a distance. The last time Kodi checked, he was supposed to be in the hospital with Roger. What's more, he actually had his raised his paw in the air (though he seemed kind of embarrassed doing so), as Kodi neared where he was standing. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Steele had left Roger's side for a few short minutes so he could say good-bye to Kodi and his team before he left town. He actually grown to care enough about the hybrid to bid him farewell.
Normally, Kodi would have been touched by Steele's uncharacteristically kind gesture, but for once he didn't have time to be emotional, and he certainly couldn't wave in return without tripping up the entire team. So he did the next best thing. He barked in Steele's direction as the team passed him by, before turning his attention back towards the road.
To any humans in the area, Kodi's bark was insignificant. It was just another mutt getting all hyper and running his trap. But Steele knew what Kodi had meant. It was a greeting dogs had shared with each other for thousands of years. Though not in these exact words (canine lingo had changed over the years, just like human slang), the general gist of what the half-breed had told him was 'until next time my friend, and have a good life'.
The malamute grumbled something about how Kodi wasn't his friend (even though there was no one else around to hear him), before letting his lips rise ever-so-slightly around the edges. "You have a good life too kid", he murmured, as Kodi's team disappeared down the street, and vanished into the forest.
((()-()))
September 22, 1929.
Three days later, a wolf pack trotted anxiously across a completely different forest, following a scent that their leader claimed she recognized. Eventually, she requested that they stop where they stood, so she could continue on alone.
"Are you sure about this?", one of the wild dogs asked her, concerned.
The light brown female nodded in reply, and smiled at her pack to let them know she knew what was she was doing, before walking ahead of them. The alpha female had to admit, even she was wondering if she was insane at that moment. She had stopped their daily hunting party so she could follow a scent that could belong anyone, any animal in the world, and the chances it being her father was one in a million, especially since the wolf-dog had no idea where her and new pack had settled down. But while her common sense was telling her she was wrong, her heart was telling her to keep going, and if there was even a chance it was her dad, she wanted to meet him half way. After all, there was no greater tracker in Alaska than her papa, Balto.
After walking for what seemed like an hour, she felt like giving up, but again, her heart wouldn't let her. Just because she hadn't seen anyone yet didn't mean there was no hope. Balto's scent still covered the ground beneath, and it seemed to grow stronger and stronger the longer she followed it, she was getting close to the source.
And just when she had her nose down to grown, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what was ahead of her, she heard something that made her head snap up faster than you could blink. Standing right in front of her was a whole wolf pack, strangers that she had never seen before in her life. She didn't know who they were, or if they had any territory nearby, but she really didn't care about them. All her attention was focused on the three town dogs that were standing next to what she presumed to be the pack alpha, especially brownish-gray wolf-dog who was slowly inching towards her, a look of disbelief on his face that mirrored her own.
"Aleu?", he asked slowly.
"Papa", the hybrid's daughter whispered back. By this point, Aleu's muscles had all locked up, since the young alpha had no idea what to do next. It wasn't like a wolf to freeze up when approached by individuals who weren't members of it's pack, but it was exactly the kind of thing a daughter would do when approached by a father she never thought she'd see again.
This time, it was the second dog's turn to speak. Her red fur couldn't help but stand out in the snow covered forest, but Aleu didn't need the clashing colors of the woman's unique fur coat to recognize her own mother. "Aleu", Jenna said, tears flowing down her face as she approached her long-lost daughter.
Before Aleu knew it, her father and mother had reached her side, and threw their arms around her, holding the young woman close to them just like they used to do when she was a pup. And that was all it took for Aleu's state of shock to be broken. She wasn't daydreaming or hallucinating. Her family were real, and they were here with her now. It had taken them years, but they had finally found their little girl again.
"Mama", Aleu sobbed, as she finally accepted her mother's embrace.
Out of the corner of her eye, Aleu noticed the third dog approaching them, a young man who she hadn't seen since she was a puppy. Kodiak, the annoying, stickler-for-the-rules brother she had had fun teasing and riling up during their first months of life. He had grew so much since the day he was adopted. And so had she.
"Sis", Kodi said, before joining his father and mother in the group hug.
There were so many things she wanted to say to them, but the only thing she managed to get out was her most pressing question. "How can you all be here?", she asked breathlessly.
"A friend did us a favor", Balto replied, before glancing back at Bane, and mouthing the words 'thank you' to the wolf. His friend nodded back, and rejoined his mate as the wolf pack watched them from a distance. An old debt had just been repaid, and a family reunited. Just as Bane had promised.
((()-()))
September 24, 1929.
Another two days later, John Simpson smiled, as the eskimo read the front page headline in Nome's weekly paper. "Hey Gunnar, get a load of this", the musher said, tapping his older friend on the shoulder.
Gunnar Kaasen raised his eyebrow, but accepted the paper from his younger friend so he could find out what the big deal was. He only needed to read a few sentences of the main article to guess what John was excited about. "The inn in White Mountain's been condemned. Connor Birk, that's that hotel manager you met in White Mountain, isn't it?", he asked his friend curiously.
"Yes, but the man wasn't just the hotel's manager, he was it's owner. It had been owned by his family for decades. He knew the place was falling apart so he had insured. Since it's over a century year old, the sum of money he got from the insurance company is huge. Thousands of dollars. They guy's practically rich now. He's planning on tearing down the old inn and building a new one", John said happily.
"Good for him. Glad to know something good came out of last week's insanity", Gunnar replied, handing the inuit back his paper.
The two men were standing outside Nome's general, waiting for the third member of their group to arrive with his sled team. Roger had finally been allowed to check out of White Mountain's hospital the day before, and sent out a telegram before he left, telling his friends about his departure so they could greet him when he got to Nome. But since they had no idea of knowing exactly when he would get there, so there was a good chance they would be spend hours standing on Front Street waiting for him. Luckily, both men's careers had taught them patience over the years so they mind waiting. Their dogs however weren't so lucky.
Unnoticed by all the humans, Kaltag paced back and forth across the general store's porch, much to the amusement of his friends. Balto and Jenna (their spirits now lifted by their recent reunion with their daughter) grinned, but didn't say anything as they watched their friend brood.
"Geez Kal, give it a rest before you wear a big hole in the floor. I never thought I'd see you so excited to see Steele again", Star complained, after growing tired of seeing his bigger friend do the same thing over and over again. A few years ago, the smallish husky would have never even dreamed of calling out Kaltag like that about his bad habits, but the years had been good to Star, and after the serum run the underdog had gotten a whole lot braver.
Nikki, who was standing next to him, leaned over and whispered into Star's ear. "I never thought I'd see anyone excited to see Steele", Nikki chuckled.
While their comments had not gone unnoticed by Kaltag, the husky just grumbled to himself and complied nonetheless, plopping down in the snow and thinking quietly to himself. Normally he would have argued right back with Nikki and Star, but Kaltag wasn't going to let himself get worked up today. Besides, he was lucky his friends were even still his friends.
When Kodi returned to Nome five days earlier and told Kaltag about Roger's decision, Nikki and Star had asked him why he was so eager to be around his old boss again (new personality or not). At first Kaltag had thought of lying to them again, but eventually decided that they deserved to know the truth. Nikki and Star had been stunned of course (like Steele said, no one would ever suspect Kaltag of being a sodomite because he seemed far too manly for that kind of thing). But surprisingly it wasn't the fact he liked men that they couldn't understand ('what a man does in the privacy of his snow bed is his own business' Nikki had said dismissively), it was the fact he loved Steele. The idea of anyone, besides Dixie, spending years of their life pining over the former glory hound was just something they couldn't wrap their minds around.
They of course had asked him the most awkward question, if he and Steele had even been together, a question that Kaltag skirted over as quickly as he could. Eventually though, Nikki patted him on the back, and said that Kaltag was still his friend even if he had a crazy taste in men. Star's response had been pretty much the same. Balto and Jenna of course didn't mind, since they had suspected for years, and Kodi was the one who had persuaded him to come clean in the first place. Kaltag's relationship with his friends was changed forever after that, but it was actually a change for the better. He didn't have to worry about concealing parts of his past from his closest comrades anymore, and the show nothing between them was different, Nikki and Star (along with Balto, Jenna, Kodi, and his team) had volunteered to keep Kaltag company while he awaited Steele's arrival.
Kodi didn't even notice Kaltag's bad mood, since he was too business listening to the noises in his wife's rapidly-expanding stomach. "Whoa, it's only been less than a week and the bumping's already getting louder", the wolf-dog exclaimed.
"I told you, she's growing up fast. The doctor said my due date has been sped up by at least a month", Dusty replied.
"Thought of a name yet?", Kirby asked curiously.
"Victoria", Dusty replied.
"Victoria?", Ralph asked surprisingly.
"Yeah, Victoria. What's wrong with it?", Kodi asked, annoyed.
"It's just, it's kind of a boring name. It's simple and not very original", Kirby replied.
"Yeah, it doesn't really stand out", Ralph added lazily, as the samoyed laid down next to his friends.
"Oh, and I suppose 'Ralph' does?", Dusty asked sarcastically.
"Hey, I can't help it if my parents gave me an uninteresting name. Why do you think I'm such an underachiever? From the moment I found out my name was Ralph, I decided that I wasn't going to bother doing anything with my life. And that's just what your little girl is gonna do if you name her Victoria", Ralph joked, completely unfazed by his friend's comeback.
"Well Dusty and I think Victoria is a great name. We've been working on it for days now", Kodi replied, trying not to be offended by the fact his friends shot the name him and his wife had spent almost a week working on after only a few seconds.
Before Ralph and Kirby could make another joke, their musher suddenly spoke up, taking all the dogs on the porch by surprise. "They're coming!", John said, shaking Gunnar's shoulder to get the older musher's attention. Sure enough a familiar dog sled team was just appearing at the end of the street, lead by an more familiar man, Roger Greensborough. After traveling for years, Roger's homecoming had finally come.
Roger's dogs couldn't have ran away faster once they owner unhooked them, to the man's amusement. However, he hardly paid his canines any attention for long. As soon as he looked up, he became far too preoccupied looking at the man who was approaching him. Gunnar Kaasen. The best friend he hadn't seen in years. "Gunnar, you haven't changed at all", Roger chuckled, shaking the man's hand almost immediately.
"Are you kidding? All this gray hair came in as soon as you left. My hair's been getting old in patches for years", Gunnar laughed, taking off his musher's cap and rubbing his other hand through his hair.
"And I see this place hasn't changed that much either", Roger noted, lifting his head up to examine all the familiar faces and buildings that surrounded him. Front Street looked almost identical to the Front Street he had last seen two years ago.
"What did you expect? This is Nome, Alaska, not New York, New York. Progress comes slow here", Gunnar joked, the musher's good mood improving tenfold as he realized the town wasn't the only thing that had remained unchanged over the years. The Roger Greensborough he had just shook hands with was a carbon copy of the man he had trained with in his youth.
"Oh trust me, you couldn't pay me enough to go there. The whole country is going through some kind of crisis right now, and New York is the center of it all", Roger informed him, recounting all the news of the Great Depression that the world seemed to be panicking over at the time. Roger would have chalked it up as just a myth, or just something the press had come up with to sell papers if he hadn't seen the effect on the economy himself firsthand, while working as mailman for the past two years. "In fact, things here in Alaska haven't being going that great either. There are less jobs, less stuff being imported and exported, and hotels seem to be falling down left and right. I'd say it's about time me and my team return home and hang it up while we're still in our prime", Roger stated.
"Well, John told me about what happened last week. How you've kept your promise to me all these years and looked after Steele, and I just want to say thank you. And just for the record, I knew I had made the right decision when I handed his reins to you Roger. If I had any doubts about you, I would never have let Steele leave. But I never thought for a second that you'd let me down, and you didn't. You and I have been friends for two decades now, so don't going selling yourself again, you hear?", Gunnar requested, satisfied only when Roger nodded his head in agreement. With that clear up, the two friends patted each other on the back, and walked off to go find Steele. It was time the malamute got to reunite with his old owner.
"Steele!", Roger shouted, before whistling for the dog to join him. Steele ran up to the pair, and to their surprise, Kaltag was not far behind (humans were so blissfully ignorant to the world of canine love), while the rest of Kaltag's friends just watched with smiles on their faces. Jenna especially.
For years Steele had chased after her, tormented her, and tormented her boyfriend. But a small part of her always sort of felt sorry for him. Even then, she had guessed he wasn't an entirely selfish dog and wished someday he would get over and find a mate of his own. Now, after years of life and love screwing them over, everything was the way it should be.
"Look at him over there. Who'd thought Steele had our Kal wrapped his paws liked that", Nikki snorted, as he watched how closely Kaltag stood next to Steele as Gunnar reached down and rubbed the dog's head. "Still, if Kaltag is into creepy guys like that, I guess that's just him", the chow-chow admitted.
"And is better than seeing him so miserable all the time", Kodi added, him and his wife walking up to the chow-chow's side.
Meanwhile, Gunnar went beyond patting his old dog on the head, and leaned down so he could whisper into the malamute's ears. "Steele, Roger told me about what you did for him and the others in the hotel. A lot of the guys don't believe it, but I know it's true. I've always known you had it in you. Balto may be the dog who saved Nome, but you'll always be the dog who saved my best friend. And in my book, that makes you a hero", the musher congratulated, and for a small fraction of a second, he could have sworn that Steele's usual stoic face melted into what looked like a smile.
"I know you have a lot of catching up to do. Bones to chew, people to sniff, old dogs to see, whatever you dogs do when us people aren't around, so I'll leave you two to it", Gunnar said, glancing at Kaltag (who was still standing right by Steele's side), before standing up again. "Come on, let's go get a nice warm brew at my house", Gunnar said, patting both John and Roger on the shoulder before walking off in the direction of his home. They all had loads of stuff to do and plenty of stories to tell, Steele and Kaltag included.
"Come on fearless leader, let's go talk somewhere in private", Kaltag said, laughing as nuzzled Steele on the cheek. The malamute didn't need a second hint. The black and white canine, for the second time that day, smiled ever-so-slightly, before walking off with the tan husky in the direction of the Old Mill.
But before he walked inside, he looked back in the direction of his friends (old and new) one last time. They all looked perfectly content where they were standing, enjoying the truce they had made with the malamute and the peace and quiet that came with it.
Balto and his family were all smiling encouragingly at him, including Jenna, the woman who had been the subject of his affections for so long. Now she was just a friend to him, and that was all he really wanted her to be. Steele nodded at her, and nodded to Balto (not even frowning at the wolf-dog this time), before he opened the door to the Old Mill and followed his partner inside.
((()-()))
"Kaltag, I've already told you twice now to stop it", Steele grumbled, as the husky's large arm started pressing down on his back.
"And I already told you twice I sure as hell won't stop. I've waited my whole life for this moment. I've ran alongside you on all your crazy sled runs, and put up with all your crap for years, so you could at least try to return the favor and let me enjoy this…alpha", Kaltag teased.
Steele growled under his breath, but when he saw Kaltag wasn't going to budge on the matter, he sighed and relax under the husky's arm. The two were currently lying side-by-side on their stomachs in the Old Mill, with Kaltag's arm draped over Steele's back protectively. Apparently, holding each other was something men did when they slept with each other, but since neither of them were humans, they just had to improvise. Normally, Steele wouldn't have been normally this compliant, but Kaltag did have a point. The malamute had put him through hell for years, so the least he could do was indulge his traditional ways, at least just this once.
It had been hours since Steele returned to Nome, and surprisingly, all the licking and nuzzling between lovers hadn't turned into full blown sex as usual. Instead, they had just sat in the Old Mill, talking about old times and where they were going to go now. They had agreed their relationship wouldn't be all that different than it was before. For the most part, they would be just two regular dudes, who happened to have a thing for each other. And since they both had reputations in Nome (though Steele's was a bit worse for the wear), they weren't gonna do anything soft or mushy like all that hugging stuff Blake and Griff were into. But now, only an hour or two after making that promise to his boyfriend, Kaltag seemed to be breaking it.
"At least the Old Mill's empty tonight", Steele noted, sighing in relief.
But as much as Steele pretended to be annoyed by his boyfriend's teasing, and the clingy arm that kept his side pressed against Kaltag's, the husky knew Steele was enjoying every minute of this just as much as he was. After all, like John said, Steele was just a dog, no matter how cold or heartless he claimed to be. And no dog could resist the warm and fuzzy feeling of being loved.
((()-()))
"Now remember what I told you two, keep those eyes closed", Kodi requested.
"Alright, alright. I just don't know what's so special about this place you're taking us to. It's underneath a hospital, it's not like it's gonna be Niagara Falls or something", Griff complained, as the husky clenched his eyes shut and followed Kodi' voice, being careful to place his foot down gently as he did so. And behind him, he knew his boyfriend was doing the same.
Kodi and Dusty had appeared at the front door of Gunnar's house (the place where Roger and his team were staying until they could find a home in town), and pulled Blake and Griff out of their beds in the middle of the night so they could show them some 'surprise' they had had planned for them since they left White Mountain. But like Griff said, anything that was hidden inside a small, dusty corridor underneath a hospital couldn't be that great, and surely not worth waking someone up for.
Just when it seemed like Blake and Griff would be walking blindly forever, Kodi and Dusty put their paws out to stop them in their tracks, a sign that their short journey had come to an end. "Alright, you can open them now. We're here", Dusty said.
Blake and Griff, relieved, wrenched their eyes open, but were surprised to find that the only thing the darkness concealed was a few old bottles of tonic, broken beyond repair with dangerously sharp shards of glass scattered across the floor.
"Glass? You dragged us all the way out of bed to look at broken glass?", Blake asked in disbelief.
"Please tell me this is some kind of joke Kodster, cause otherwise you are one weird wolf-dog", Griff said, frowning at the hybrid and his wife who both had wide grins on their faces for some reason.
"That's because you're only the looking at the glass half-empty", Kodi said, chuckling to himself as if those words had some sort of hidden significance that only he and Dusty knew about.
Blake and his boyfriend watched in confusion, and annoyance, as Kodi and Dusty started to carefully sweep up the glass with their paws, and move it towards a beam of light that was coming in from the room above them.
Right before he moved the pieces into place, Kodi glanced at the pair standing next to him, so he could see the look on their faces when he did what he was about do next. "Let there be light", the boy said, right before the corridor lit up with multi-colored light.
A rainbow of colors surrounded the four canines, and all Blake and Griff could do was hang their mouths open in shock as they tried to take in the spectacle. "How?", the shorter dog stuttered.
"You've created the Northern Lights, underneath this place", the larger dog asked.
"It's an optical illusion, a little family trick that's been passed down from generation to generation. This is the place my dad took my mom on their first date, well, it wasn't really a date, but it was close enough", Kodi explained.
"And it's where Kodi took me the night he proposed", Dusty added.
"This was all her idea by the way. We figured you two deserved something greater than our thanks for the way you both helped us out. And since we can't really give you anything, we gave you two a night together under the Aurora Borealis", Kodi said, grinning in amusement as Griff and Blake's eyes followed the trail of colors that lined the walls around them.
"Which is pretty darn romantic if you ask me", Dusty proclaimed.
"Wait…so basically you're setting us up on a date?", Griff asked, surprised. But by the time he had managed to take his eyes off the lights to look at Kodi again, the boy and his wife had disappeared. They had only taken their eyes off them for a few seconds, but the canine pair were already on the other end of the tunnel.
"Yep, have fun you two", Kodi teased, before opening the tunnel door with his paw and walking back into the darkened street.
"Oh, and don't worry about falling asleep under here. The hospital has a furnace that keeps this place pretty toasty all night long", Dusty said, before following her husband and disappearing into the night. Once they left, Kodi and Dusty closed the door behind them, leaving Blake and Griff alone in the hospital's crawl-space. And the first thing they did with their endless amount of alone-time was burst out laughing.
"Who said wolf-dogs don't have a romantic bone in their body?", Blake chortled, as he relaxed on the floor, sinking into his boyfriend's side.
"I've gotta admit, that kid's got moves, just like his old man. No wonder his family's so lucky in love", Griff said.
So many couples in Kodi's family had shared special nights together in that most unlikely of lover's lanes, and the husky and his mate had been kind enough to clue them in on his family's get-away so they too could spend the night in each other's company, gazing contently at the Aurora Borealis until the sun rose the next morning.
They understood why Balto loved this place so much in his youth, and still did now. This was the sort of place you went to when you wanted to get away for the night. The kind of place you wouldn't mind staying at forever, just for the peace and serenity it offered. The place that was always waiting for you after a hard day's struggle.
This beautiful phenomenon was more than just an example of nature's splendor, it was one of the rare things in life that was truly worth fighting for. God knows Blake, Griff, Steele, Kaltag, Balto, Jenna, Roger, and Gunnar had all done their fair share of fighting in their lifetimes, and now it was time for the old friends and enemies to enjoy their reward. And the greatest reward of all was still to come for the latest generation. It was time for Kodi and Dusty to experience the gift of life.
Author's Notes:
Ah Kirby, bless his awkward little heart. Kirby's actually a pretty nice guy, a bit full of himself, but definitely a good friend. That scene in the beginning with Griff teasing Kirby was fun, and something that wasn't scripted in the beginning, I only just thought of it while I was writing it. Like I said, Kirby's a good friend. And even though he's never wanted to know what it means to be gay (made obvious by the fact he thinks being gay is like catching the flu, you can come down with it too if you're exposed long enough), he's willing to make an effort to be friendly since Blake and Griff had helped his buddies out. And his nervousness is the reason why he freaks out when Griff hugs him good-bye. Still, Kirby holds no hard feelings towards the dog, and actually seems him and Blake more as regular guys than 'the gay guy and his boyfriend' now that he knows they have a sense of humor.
Throughout most of this fic, the characters' opinions on homosexuality have been mostly blasé. When I decided to include gay characters in this story, I made the decision that homophobia would be mentioned (as a way of keeping Kaltag's crush on Steele under wraps), but wouldn't play that much of a role in this story. In this entire story, the only character who's ever considered homosexuality to be wrong or a sin is Griff, who of course turns out to be a gay man himself. The reason that issue isn't addressed here, and the characters are so open-minded is because the whole thing would have just been distracting to the plot of the story. After all, the point of this story was about moving on from the past and creating a better future for yourself, not whether or not being gay is wrong (trust me, you never want to start talking about religion in a fanfic unless you just have to). And the last thing you're thinking about when you're crushed under a hotel is whether the guy next you is a bit…you know.
Like I mentioned on my profile, homosexuality has been part of a life since life began (hence all the stories about gay cowboys), But while some people being attracted to members of the same sex is just a natural part of human nature, it wasn't always seen that way. People still consider it to be wrong today, and in the 1920s a man being with another man would have been an enormous deal, so the dogs of Nome wouldn't have been nearly as accepting of Blake & Griff and Steele & Kaltag's relationships as they are here (most likely they'd be targeted by the community and viciously attacked by their peers). But like I said, getting into the whole 'your soul will burn in hell' thing would have just been distracting from the main plot. Homophobia is used as a plot device in chapter 2, as a way of getting Blake and Griff together, and keeping Kaltag in the closet, but after that it has no real significance in this story.
Griff, Kaltag, and Steele do say stuff like 'fag', 'faggot', and 'queer' a lot in this fic, but that's mostly because sled dogs have an uncensored vocabulary (like I explained in chapter 5). A lot of these guys don't actually think being gay is wrong anymore (we know Steele doesn't, otherwise he wouldn't have hooked up with his right-hand man), but say stuff like 'fag' and 'queer' anyway because that was what they were raised to say as kids (unlike Kodi and his team). And as for the open-mindedness of Kodi and his friends, I actually came up with some explanations as to why they're so nonchalant about Blake and Griff being a couple, but I'll delve into that in the acknowledgments/afterthoughts section coming up.
On other notes, this story is finally wrapping itself up quite nicely. Everyone's getting the closure they need, they're all moving on from the things that held them back before, and they're finally at peace long enough to enjoy the company of the ones they love. Balto can spend the rest of his days with Jenna without worrying about Steele coming back to stir up trouble (he can also relax knowing his daughter is living up to her full potential in the wild, bringing her people salvation just like he did in the serum run). Kodi and Dusty can have that baby they've been talking about since chapter 3. Steele and Kaltag both of them claim that even though they're gay, there won't be any of that soft, gooey crap, like the stuff Blake and Griff love so much, in their relationship. But we all know that's not true. Kaltag loves having Steele in his arms, and Steele knows he likes it too (not that they'll ever admit it).
Connor's got a brand new business, that won't fall on his head at any given moment now, so he won't have to live in fear anymore. Gunnar and Roger, after years of service to their country (running back and forth all over Alaska for decades), can finally retire knowing that they both did good jobs in raising their dogs, and that the future generation is in good hands. As for Blake and Griff, well they can just sit back and enjoy the lights show for the rest of the evening. There's no both better way to spend the night than watching the northern lights (I'm grinning right now remembering all those good times Jenna had with Balto in "Salvation, Part 1". "Rose's Theme" by Murray Gold was just so beautiful). All these wonderful things I just listed, these are just some things in life that are worth fighting for.