NOTE BY AUTHOR: BEFORE YOU READ THIS FANFIC, I want to clarify something. I have done almost no historical research on Nome, or Chester, Montana before writing this fanfic. So if there is anything about those two places that is incorrect in this writing, tell me and I will fix it to the best of my ability. Otherwise, it will stay the way it is. Plus, I did a little research on transportation in the late 20’s. That I can fix as well if there are any mistakes.

Also, I have done no research on dogs and how they can pick up scents. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can fix any mistakes on that note.

I have borrowed a few ideas from movie The Vow and the animated classic Anastasia. Mostly the idea of amnesia, and trying to live without your memories. But in no way did I intend on making this a copy of either movies.  If you feel that I borrowed too much from either movies, tell me, and I can still try to make the story work.

Any other references to any other animated or live action movie (past or future) are merely coincidental and the ideas were not intentionally borrowed. Thank you to anyone who reads this note, and I hope you enjoy reading this wonderful story I prepared just for you guys! 

Balto 5: A Forgotten Past

Prologue: Spring 1926

Balto was watching from the home of his boat under the massive brightness of the sun and the cloudless sky. The weather here has never been better in the summer. He was watching his children play on the beach right next to his home. It’s been two weeks since adoption day, and Balto’s fears of never seeing his children again are now long gone, and you could tell by his smile he was relieved by this.

Balto looked out further in the direction of town, because on the corner of his eye he saw the silhouette of someone walking towards the beach. It wasn’t Jenna or Boris. It was another dog. Balto jumped down from the boat, curious to see who this stranger was, and what the guy wanted with him or his kids. The dog went from walking to running when he saw Balto, a big smile on his face.

“Champ!” The dog shouted. And at that moment, Balto remembered. This guy was not some stranger. He was Yago, a retired sled dog who worked with Balto to help improve his performance since the serum run. Apparently, raw talent was not enough to Yago. But Balto did improve with sledding.

“Yago!” Balto’s smile was bigger than ever. Since the pups were born, they stopped training together. They haven’t seen each other in months. Both dogs collided in a hug and started laughing.

“What are you doing here?” Balto asked, curious.

Yago, the small wrinkles by his eyes rising with his smile, chuckled. “I wanted to see your pups. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten the chance to see them earlier this year, but ever since I became the new sled dog coach, things have been busy.”

“How is that going by the way?”

“Great! We have a wonderful addition to the Nome team this year.” He sighed. “If only there was someone else to, you know, give us a little more speed.” He nudged Balto with his hip.

Balto laughed. “Oh c’mon, Yago. You know what I did was mostly a one time thing.”

“I’m just saying you’ve got real talent! I mean, look at you! You’ve become the most famous dog in the world practically overnight.”

“I…don’t like to brag too much about that.” Balto lowered his head, blushing a bit.

“Oh, you’re always so modest.”

“Well, it’s who I am, Yago. Take it or leave it.”

Yago laughed. “I guess I have no choice but to take it.” He then looked out onto the beach where the kids were playing.

“Ahh, there are the little ones.” He said softly.

“C’mon, I’ll take you to them.”

Balto and Yago sat quietly by the beach, watching Balto’s children play and run around in the sand.

After a few minutes, one pup, Nannik, spoke out to his siblings. “Hey! Who wants to race?”

Three other puppies shouted, “Me! Me! Me!” They were Dingo, Aleu, and Kodi. The two others, Rayoni and Saba, stayed behind and watched by the water.

Nannik counted down until he screamed, “GO!” And off shot the pups.

Kodi was quickly dragging behind as the three others lunged foreword. After another few seconds, Nannik was starting to fall back, but Aleu tried to keep her pace steady. Dingo, however, was inching foreword more and more, picking up his speed. The distance between Dingo and Aleu became greater and greater until you could fit a whole full grown dog in between them.

Yago’s ears perked up at the sight of this. His smile was getting wider as he saw Dingo cross the finish line, 5 seconds before the others did.

“Wow…” he breathed. “That little pup has some speed! What is his name?”

“Dingo.”

“Well, that pup runs like an engine as far as I’m concerned. I mean, wow! True untapped talent!”

“Wow…um, thank you Yago. Yes, Dingo is the fastest of his siblings, as I found out recently.”

“You should consider putting him through some training. He could make an excellent sled dog. No, more than excellent. Spectacular! Astounding! Brilliant!”

“Really?”

“Of course! With a little training he could become the fastest sled dog in Nome. Maybe even Alaska!”

Balto stopped him. “Woah, hey. Don’t you think you’re rushing things a bit? I mean, we have plenty of time for Dingo to decide what he wants to do with his life.”

“It’s never too early to start training, Balto. I only want what’s best for Dingo. And with that talent he could be soaring through the stars...Metaphorically of course.”

“Well, I’ll think about it.”

“Alright.” He smiled. “I have to get back before I’m late for practice. See you, champ! Tell Dingo I look forward to having him on my team someday!”

Balto waved back to his friend as Jenna was approaching.

“Who was that, Balto?” She asked.

“Oh, hi Jenna! That was Yago. He came by to see the kids.”

“Well that was nice of him.” Jenna said with almost no expression in her tone.

“Yeah. We both watched some of the puppies race earlier and he was really impressed with Dingo.”

“Uh-oh.” Jenna’s eyebrows lifted in worry. “He didn’t force any offers on Dingo did he? You know how Yago gets carried away with those things.”

“No, but he did tell me that Dingo has untapped talent and I should consider putting him through sled dog training.”

“Are you going to?”

“I told him I’d think about it. But you know…maybe I should. Jenna, have you seen Dingo run, he’s incredible! The fastest little pup I’ve ever seen!”

“I know that, but I want to make sure it’s what he wants.”

“I’ll go and ask him then.” Balto said as he jogged to the water where Dingo was chasing a butterfly.

“Dingo, can you come here for a minute?” He called.

Dingo turned around and sprinted to his dad. Balto smiled again at his speed.

“Yes dad?”

“I watched you race before, and you were really fast! My friend Yago said you have real talent!”

“Really?”

Balto nodded. “Hey, you told me your