Town is overjoyed. Stop. Team and musher are alright. Stop. Balto is a hero again. Stop. Tanana. Stop.» said the telegrapher.

Morris squeezed through his doggy door and barked the message to the town.

The teams and dogs of Nome were in the mill lying down, completely silent. Sage was lying down with Steele’s neck over hers. The dogs stood up and perked their ears when they heard the message. They barked and jumped around with joy when Morris finished the message. Jenna was the happiest of all, She jumped and barked as loud as she could. Every dog in Nome was celebrating. Except for Steele. He growled and walked out of the mill with his head hung low.

Sage stopped jumping and barking when she noticed that Steele was gone. She looked around and ran out side. She saw Steele slowly walking towards the team house.

«Steele!» Sage said as she ran towards him.

Steele stopped and looked back at her. «What?» he asked.

«Where are you going?» asked Sage

«To the team house.» Steele said as he continued walking.

«Why? What’s wrong? You should be happy, Balto made it to the town.» Sage said with a puzzled look on her face.

«Well I’m not! I used to be the lead dog and genuine here of this town! And now he is! No one even knows that I exist anymore!» yelled Steele. He trotted towards the team house.

«Well now you know how Balto used to feel! No one knew he existed either!» said Sage.

«Oh believe me, they knew.» Steele snapped.

«But still, you must know what it was like for him.» said Sage.

Steele stopped in his tracks and thought for a moment. He realized that Sage was right.

«And plus, he was teased by you, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and other dogs around the town! So he had it worse than you!» Sage yelled as she stopped in front of him.

She nuzzled him as he nuzzled back. «You don’t have it as bad as he did, you don’t live on a ship wreck, you’re not shunned by the town, your only friends aren’t a goose and two polar bear cubs. You’re the lead dog of a team. The only thing that’s different is that your not a genuine hero anymore.» Sage explained.

«And that doesn’t matter to me...because I love you.» she said.

Steele widened his eyes as if he’s had the biggest surprise of his life. He nuzzled her and licked her face. «I love you too.» he said. The dogs licked each others noses and walked into Steele’s empty team house. They walked inside and laid down in front of the fire. Steele laid down on her and licked her muzzle and eye. Sage laughed. She stood up as Steele hopped off. They pranced around the room, licked and nuzzling each other.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Day 5

The next morning, Gunnar harnessed the team, and they set off back to Nome. The grateful town of Tanana waved and cheered as the team left for home.

«Good job, dere, Balto!» Nikki said.

«You are the most heroic, the most fearless, the most amazing, the most epic, the most formidable, The most fidelital--» Kaltag was cut off again by Star.

«You’re the best!» said Star.

Nikki bonked Star on the back, since Kaltag couldn’t reach him. Star managed not to fall so the team could keep running.

About an hour later, the wind had picked up, and it was snowing much harder. The team could barely see 5 feet in front of them. Blaze, the last dog on the team, couldn’t even see Balto!

«Balto! Where are we?» Star asked loudly so Balto could hear him over the loud wind.

«I’m not sure, I can’t see anything around me!» Balto yelled.

«You mean we’re lost?» yelled Kaltag.

«I don’t think so, I’m following my senses, I think I know where we are. We just have to keep going straight for a while.» Balto yelled.

Just then, an extremely strong gust of wind came and lifted the entire team and the sled.

«WHOOOAAA!» yelled the whole team. The team and sled fell to the ground, and almost every bit of supplies strapped to the sled was unstrapped and fell off.

«Whoa, Balto!» yelled Gunnar.

Gunnar stepped off the sled and began tying all the supplies back into the sled.

Balto got up and Shook off the snow. The rest of the team got up and shook, and sat. But Kaltag collapsed shortly after he shook.

Balto ran up to Kaltag.

«Kaltag! Are you ok?» Balto asked

Kaltag slowly got up. «I-I think so, but my shoulder’s killing me!» he yelled.

«Can you run?» Balto asked

«I don’t know.» said Kaltag.

Balto looked at the team. «Ok, listening up! I’m not sure of where we are, and Kaltag is hurt, so we’re going to walk for a little while to get some rest and to be sure that we don’t bump into anything or fall!» Balto yelled. The team nodded at him.

Gunnar finished packing and got back on the sled. «Go Balto!» He yelled.

Balto trotted back to the head of the team, and continued on, walking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Meanwhile, Back in Nome, the teams and dogs of Nome were in the Old Mill talking about the severe weather that the team had to run right through to get home.

Steele and Sage walked into the mill to join the conversation. They lied down and looked at Jenna. She was sitting next to Doc.

«I’m sure he’ll be fine.» Sylvie said.

«Yeah, Balto can handle any kind of weather, he did it before, he can do it again.» said Duchess.

«I’m not worried anymore, I don’t know why I ever was in the first place.» Jenna said with a smile.

«All the dogs lifted their heads and smiled.

She looked at Steele and Sage who smiled as Sage rubbed her head up and down on Steele’s neck.

«What are you two smiling about?» Jenna asked

Sage picked up her head. «Nothing.» Sage said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Day 6

The next day, the weather was somewhat better. The wind calmed down, and the dogs could now see in front of them, but it was still freezing cold, and snowing pretty hard. Unfortunately, Balto didn’t notice that he was walking over a frozen lake. Star shuddered as he heard cracking below him. Nikki stopped when he felt water soaking his paws.

«Guys, come on.» Balto said.

Nikki continued. When the sled got to the ice, it started to crack. Balto and Star fell through the ice, and the rest of the team slipped and collapsed. The team yelled and barked the entire time they were in the water. Kaltag fell in, and the cracks made it’s way under the rest of the team. They fell in and struggled to keep their heads above the water. They swam to the solid ice so they wouldn’t pull the sled in. Balto climbed out, as Star was half way out. Star slipped back in, pulling Balto along with him. Balto got back out and pulled Star out onto the ice. They pulled the team out one by one and Gunnar pulled on the sled so it wouldn’t fall in. Balto led the team to land, and they stopped to cath their breath. 

«Balto, why did you lead us onto that frozen lake?» Kaltag asked.

«I didn’t know it was there!» Balto yelled.

Gunnar got off the sled and covered all the dogs with the powder snow. When it dried, Gunnar got back on the sled.

«MUSH BALTO!» yelled Gunnar.

«Come on, Mush!» Balto yelled. He continued to run.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Day 8

Two days later, the team was only a few miles from the town. The team cheered for Balto, for being such a good leader. When they got a visual of the town, Balto howled as loud as he could. The town’s people and dogs went rushing outside to the track where the team would come in. Jenna went running and saw Balto and the team. She barked and jumped with joy! The town cheered as Balto and the team entered the town. They stopped in front of the hospital where they were unharnessed and brought in from the cold. Jenna and Duchess ran up to Balto and Kaltag. They jumped around, barked and nuzzled each other. They all stood at the entrance of the hospital as everyone clapped and cheered.

The dogs of Nome walked up to Balto.

«You know, your not to bad for a wolfdog...good job Balto.» Steele said. He smiled at the hero.

Balto smiled back and looked at the crowd of cheering people. He was so happy to be home.

It was a miracle, Balto and Steele had finally become friends!

A few weeks later, Sage announced that she was pregnant, and Steele was the father! And to everyone’s surprise, Kaltag and Balto we expecting Duchess and Jenna to have their puppies too! Every dog was so happy for them. But Steele was the happiest, he was finally getting a lot of attention again. A few weeks later, the puppies were born, and Steele and Sage were one of the happiest couples in the world.

When the new puppies were 5 weeks old, it was time to introduce them to the teams and dogs of Nome.

Balto and Jenna had a litter of 6 puppies. There were 3 girls named Anela (ah-NAY-la) who had lighter fur than Balto, but most of her legs were light brown, and