Sorry it's taken so long, but enjoy guys!
It wasn't like I planned on getting lost or even being stuck in a cave during a blizzard, but these things seemed to happen anyways. It was supposed to be a little game of hide-and-seek, they were supposed to find me, Nii-chan should have found me by now, he should have found me right away.
"Mr. Bear, are you sure this cave is safe?" I ask the strange white bear again, he's resting over my lap to keep me nice and warm. I pet his soft fur trying to stay calm, Law will find me, he always does.
"I think so." He says in a small voice. At first I wasn't sure how a bear was talking, Nii-chan was always telling me that most animals can't talk, it wasn't possible. "Azalea, are you sure your brother is coming?"
"Nii-chan would come no matter what." I tell the bear, he's been a bit doubtful, but right after I answer he always apologizes. "Mr. Bear when Nii-chan comes you'll have show him you can talk." I demand as I scratch behind his ears.
Mr. Bear nods his head and lets out this sort of growl noise, but happy sounding. "Azalea, are you warm enough?" I'd made a big fuss to get him to warm me up.
I pat his head in response. I'm warm, but I'm afraid if he gets up that he'll leave. For a while Mr. Bear and I sit quietly, I watch the opening, a wall of white blowing past, the cold air nips at my cheeks slightly, so I hide my face in the warm fur.
Waking up I look around, and the first thing I notice is how cold I am, freezing in fact, I look around frantically for Mr. Bear, rubbing my arms I feel like crying, I'm alone. Getting up from the ground I walk to the cave entrance and peer outside, white. Everything is covered in snow, the storm seems to have passed, but it looks like it is morning now. Law, Sachi, Penguin and I were playing in the afternoon, Mr. Bear and I stayed awake until the cave got very dark. I made Mr. Bear promise when we first met not to eat me.
"Azalea, you're awake, I went out to gather some food for us." Mr. Bear says carrying a bunch of frost berries. "Are you okay?" He asks as I run up and hug him tightly.
"I thought you left me alone." I cry into his fur, his very warm fur. "I was cold and alone." I say pouting. "I miss home, my brother, mom, dad and even Sachi and Penguin." I whine trying to stop crying.
Mr. Bear lifts me up and sets me down on the ground and rests back on my lap to warm me up, he doesn't say anything, but he keeps me company.
"After you eat I can carry you so we can try to find your home Azalea." Mr. Bear offers kindly, I nod my head and eat the frost berries; they taste like sugary snow berries with a spritz of strawberries on them. I eat what I can and put the rest in my coat pocket.
Mr. Bear puts me on his back and trudges out into the snow, the air is still, but with so much snow and ice everywhere it's like being in freezer. Mr. Bear climbs over hills, across huge ravines with frozen rivers in them, through trees, and even blank fields. "Do you recognize anything, Azalea?" Mr. Bear asks as he looks around.
"Not really, but it's hard to tell with all this snow." I mumble sadly. I'm used to snow, to being cold, but all this seems so much worse, like a lot more snow, more places that I've never been to, to things I've never seen before. Mr. Bear continues to walk through the snow for a long time; the sun is up high in the sky before we come across another animal. "Mr. Bear, are you cold?" I ask suddenly.
"I like the cold; this is nice having someone to talk to." He dismisses easily. "Are you getting hungry again?" Mr. Bear asks worriedly. "We can stop and look around for more frost berries."
I shake my head; resting on my stomach I hug Mr. Bear's back, the warm easing my nerves. "Mr. Bear when we find my house, will you stay?" I ask nuzzling my face into his soft fur. "I think you'd like Nii-chan, and he'll definitely like you for helping me." I say feeling very tired.
Before I hear his reply I doze off, the tiredness from traveling all day, the cold air and how soft Mr. Bear's fur is makes it easy to just take a little nap.
"Azalea, wake up!" Mr. Bear shouts, as I open my eyes I see that everything is going by very fast, he is in fact running. "People like you are chasing me!" He says very distressed. I glance back in the direction that he's running from.
"Mr. Bear stop, that's my Nii-chan!" I cry pulling on his fur gently. "That's Law!" I say as Mr. Bear slows to a trot and turns around.
Law runs up to the side of the bear with a very relieved face, Penguin and Sachi aren't far behind either. Picking up a snail transponder he dials a number. "I found her mom." Mom sounds pretty hysterical, the snail mimics her crying eyes before Law hangs up and holds his arms out for me to jump into.
"Nii-chan, I knew you'd find me." I say feeling very happy to see his face again. "Mr. Bear has been helping me since he found me yesterday." I say patting Mr. Bear's head. He's sitting and watching us carefully. "Can we take him home with us?" I ask as Nii-chan glances at the white bear worriedly. "Oh Nii-chan I didn't even tell you the best part!" I say excitedly as Penguin and Sachi catch up. "Mr. Bear talks!"
The three of them all look at me funnily. "Azalea" Law says with his correcting voice.
"Azalea, these are your friends?" Mr. Bear says pointing to Sachi and Penguin worriedly. "They smell funny." He says sniffing the air around.
"He talks!" Penguin shouts wide-eyed while pointing from behind Sachi, he looks paralyzed. "Law it talks." He says again. Mr. Bear apologizes while hanging his head before he looks over at the four of us nervously.
"So he does." Nii-chan says while stepping close to inspect Mr. Bear. "Azalea we should get you home, Mr. Bear can come." He says nodding for us to all head off. I'm picked up very carefully and set on Mr. Bear's back, by him, the three watch him carefully. "So you have been with him since yesterday?"
"I have, he found me after I fell, and he even brought me somewhere safe when that blizzard started." I say patting his head appreciatively. "He brought me food, and kept me warm." I say scratching his ear. "Mr. Bear even promised not to eat me and that he'd help me find Nii-chan!" I cheer happily.
Law chuckles, he glances at the bear before he smiles thankfully. "Thank you for taking care of my sister." He says sincerely.
The walk home is long still, I ended up very, very far away from the house, though I'm not too sure how I got so far away, but I am thankful to be heading back home. Mom and dad come running out of the house with Sachi and Penguin's parents, the six of them all fuss over me.
Law quickly explains the presence of the bear, and it's unique ability. All the grown ups glance at him nervously, I carefully climb off Mr. Bear's back, though I suppose the name doesn't really suit him.
"She doesn't look like she's hurt or anything." Dad says doing a physical exam. "No signs of hypothermia, or that she'd been out during a storm." He murmurs, he looks at Mr. Bear. "You kept her very warm, thank-you."
"He can stay with us right?" I ask while Sachi/Penguin's dad checks my reflexes, Law is watching very carefully as I'm tested for any signs of being hurt or sick.
"Of course" Mom says fighting her way through people to hug me tightly. "Oh sweetie, I'm just happy you're home safe." She coos. I can feel her tears on my neck, I hug her back tightly.
"Bepo" I say looking at the bear with his new name, partly because, Mr. Bear is a silly name.
"What" said bear questions, everyone turn to look at the conversation taking place.
"Your name is Bepo.." I state with confidence. Somewhere in the crowd Shachi's voice rang aloud.
"Why Bepo? Where did that come from?"
"He's a bear. A polar bear. So 'Be' for bear and 'Po' for polar. Bepo!" I shout excitedly, feeling like a genius coming up with the name. There was mutters around and an "Aww" coming from Mom.
Before the bear could answer. "So from now on you are Bepo."
"Okay" the newly named Bepo sighed in defeat.