the fresh smell of the waves wafted into his nose. He noticed that the wind was rather fierce of here, which blew his fur in different directions.

   He walked around the sandy plane for a while, and was going to return to his mother before he was missed, until he heard a dog shout, "My bandana!" Stephen turned to where the voice had come from, and found that a female husky, was chasing after an orange cloth that had been blown away by the wind. Stephen, being the heroic type and always wanting to help any Damsel in Distress, bolted in the direction of the husky.

   As he ran up to the husky, he noticed that the wind had blown the bandana out to sea. "What's wrong?" He asked the dog, who had tears in her eyes. He noticed that this husky was different from other huskies that he had seen. She had fur that was a ruby red instead of black or orange.

   "I had taken off my bandana, but the wind was so fierce, that it slipped from my paws. I tried to catch it, but now it's gone." She unhappily replied. "My Father was right; I shouldn't have taken it off." She then hung her head in shame.

   The malamute felt bad for the husky, and replied "I'll get it for you," he offered.

   The husky looked at him, "But, it's pretty far out there." She pointed to where the bandana was, as it floated in the waves. Stephen had to agree, it was a few meters off from the shore.

   "Doesn't matter, I can do it." He replied proudly, and he took of his little suit, and ran straight into the water. As he went further out to sea, he could feel the water rising around him, and he was forced to dog paddle as he lost his footing. It didn't matter to him; his sights were on the bandana.

   Come on, almost there, He thought, as he neared the cloth, when a wave suddenly rose up, and crashed into the husky, and he went under. The husky on shore gasped as the dog disappeared beneath the waves. However, she gasped again, this time happily, when the dog emerged from the underwater moments later, her bandana in his mouth.

   Stephen got out of the water, and even though he was drenched from head to tail, he didn't mind. Of course, he knew his mother wasn't going to approve of this.

   "Here you go." He said, panting, placing the soaked bandana on the ground, "Safe and sound."

   "Thank you so much!" She ran up to hug the malamute, but noticed that he was completely covered with water, "Oh my, you're all wet." She said, giggling.

   "So are you," He replied, smirking.

   "What do you-?" The malamute then shook himself, as Jenna cried out, trying to cover herself with her paws.

   "Stop, you're getting water on my fur!" She cried.

   "Sorry, he he," Stephen chuckled, as he matted down his fur with his paws. "Say, what's your name?"

   "Jennifer Daae, but everyone calls me Jenna." She smiled warmly, "What's yours?"

   Before the malamute could speak, Stephen's mother suddenly came over to where the two youngsters were, and started yelling at him, and immediately dragged him away by on of his ears.

   "Hey, what's your name?" Jenna called after the husky.

   "It's Stephen!...ow!" He shouted back, as he was dragged away by his mother, his ear almost feeling like it was going to be torn off.

   The next day, Stephen tried to explain to his mother about his heroic act, but she didn't want to hear it. She merely said a young, upper-class dog shouldn't play with a dog from the middle-class section of France. Of course, this didn't exactly resonate with the young malamute, so he went against his mother's wishes, and would sneak out as much as he could to see Jenna at her home.

   That night, he went over to Jenna's house, and as luck would have it, he saw her looking out her window.

   "Jenna! Psst!" He whispered to the husky from behind a bush.

   "Stephen?" Jenna asked, "What are you doing here?"

   "Shh, I'm coming up," The malamute then threw up a rope that he had found, and Jenna grabbed it with her paws. "Don't drop it."

   "Ok," She answered, as she held on to the rope as tight as she could. Stephen clutched the rope with both front paws, and used his hind paws to walk up the wall.

   "Stephen, you…you're kind of heavy," Jenna grunted, as she pulled the rope back a bit, in order to sustain the malamute's weight.

   "Hey, I'm not that chubby!" Stephen exclaimed, as he tugged the rope with his paws, as he nearly reached the top of the window.

   At last, Stephen managed to make it to the top. "Whoo, I'm here. Let me- "

   Just then, the door to Jenna's bedroom opened, as Gustave called her name. Jenna turned around and jumped at the same time, accidentally releasing the rope from her paws. Jenna inwardly cringed as he heard Stephen yell and hit the ground below with a thud.

   Gustave had then asked Jenna as to what she was doing up, but she merely told him that she was just getting some fresh air. Gustave merely told her to go to bed, and left her room. As soon as she knew he was down the hall, Jenna ran over to her window to check on Stephen.

   She gasped when she saw that the malamute was on his back, his paws up in the air, a bit dazed from the fall.

   "Sorry about that," She whispered, "You know, you could just ask my Dad if you want to come over. He won't mind."

   "Ok, sounds good," Stephen groaned, as he laid his head back on the ground. Jenna giggled, bid the malamute goodnight, and closed her window.

   The next few weeks were the best time the Stephen had ever spent in their lives. Despite Jenna being 2 years younger than him, the two instantly became friends, and practically did everything together. During the day, the two would play in the fields, race each other on the beach and play in the water, and would play hide-and-seek in the nearby forest. During the night, Gustave would play for them on his violin, tell them stories of the curious little girl named Little Lotte, and the two would sometimes have picnics in the attic. It was an experience that Stephen had never felt in so long, as he was always pampered by his mother. Here, he felt like he could finally be himself, and just be a kid.

   However, as the days went by, the two realized that the more they spent with each other, without even knowing it; they almost seemed to fall in love. "Grand Amour" as Gustave had put it. They became inseparable, and would sometimes cuddle up next to each other, as they lay in the green grass.

   Of course, nothing lasts forever.

   It was night, and Stephen and Jenna were sitting up on top of Jenna's roof, as they gazed up at the moon. Stephen knew that what he was about to tell Jenna would definitely displease her, but he had no choice.

   "Jenna, I have something to tell you," Stephen said, looking down at his paws. The husky looked over at the malamute, and Stephen could see the moon reflected in her light brown eyes.

   "What is it?" She asked.

   "I'm…moving back to Paris." Stephen replied sadly. "I'm sorry that I can't stay here. I would if I could, but I can't."

   It was clear to Stephen that Jenna was upset when she heard this, but if she was, she didn't show it.

   "That's ok, Stephen…I…," Jenna looked at the malamute with concern, as Stephen seemed to be fighting back tears.

   "I-I just…I d-don't want you to forget me…I mean….y-you…you're the only friend I've ever had," Stephen said, as he struggled to keep himself composed. Jenna then pulled him for a hug.

   "Don't worry, Stephen. I'm not going to leave you, I promise. Just remember, whenever you're alone, or afraid, just think of me, and you'll be back here with me. " Jenna said, and suddenly, she gave the malamute a kiss on the cheek. Stephen's heart skipped a beat, as he felt his white cheeks turn red.

   "Haha, you're blushing, Stephen." Jenna giggled, as the malamute chuckled back. The two dogs then leaned their heads against each other, as they watched the moon rise up into the sky. It was an incredible experience, one that the malamute would never forget.

   Steele suddenly woke up with a start, and breathed heavily. He realized that he had passed out in the tub, and he shook as he got out of the now cold water.

   After drying himself off, he reflected on that dream he just had, which turned out to be a memory that he had been locked away inside the corners of his brain. Those long-lost days in Perros were almost completely erased from his psyche during his time in the service. In fact, he wondered as to why he hadn't remembered it until now.

   It's because of you, Jenna. I thought of you, and I saw you, and I remembered you. Steele almost felt like he was no longer the "Steele" that had come out of the burning fort. He felt like the Stephen that had once played with the husky so long ago. Not the spoiled rotten