neck. Using strength she didn’t even know she had, she dragged her brother through the water, and with one last ounce of strength she tossed him onto the bank before collapsing beside him.

Her sore leg muscles twitched and jerked from the unusual excursion. Lake’s eyes flashed open and he started coughing up swill with his chest heaving. Jenna shrieked and threw herself onto her brother, weeping a bit.

“Lake! You scared me! Are you alright? No, wait, that’s not what I meant, since you’re obviously not alright. Are you going to be alright? We were so stupid not to watch where we were going! I-” Jenna noticed Lake’s brown eyes glazing over. She stiffened. “Lake?”

“Jenna,” Lake mumbled, with his glassy eyes fixed on the sky above, “Is my bandana still on?”

“Yes,” she whispered, glaring at the small piece of orange cloth around Lake’s neck that had caused him almost to drown.

He took a quivery breath. “Put it on.”

“What?” Jenna stared at him, perplexed. Lake laughed shakily.

“Quit staring at me like I’m nuts. Just take it off me and put it on you!”

Jenna obediently untied his bandana and tossed it over one shoulder so it draped loosely over the back of her neck. Lake reached up and with trembling paws tied the bandana ends together and knotted them firmly. Jenna laughed nervously. “Where did you learn to do that?”

He grinned a sickly grin up at her. “It’s not that hard to do if you watch the humans carefully enough. Their thumbs sure would be useful to us dogs sometimes, though!” His grin faded to a serious expression. Jenna watched him anxiously. Lake looked a bit odd without the old cloth. He took a shallow breath. “Jenna, you know how Dad’s favorite color was orange?”

She nodded dumbly, then found her voice. “That’s why you wear it all the time.”

“Right…Jen, you gotta wear the bandana. It’ll remind you of Dad, and with those dreams of yours you need the reminder more than me. Maybe it’ll even make the dreams go away. And, hopefully…it’ll make you remember me.”

Jenna choked on sudden tears. “Lake, no! No! No way! You’re going to be okay! You’re not…you’re-you’re not going to go like Dad! No! Take your bandana back! You can’t die!”

“Jen,” Lake rasped in a sudden sandpaper voice, “I’ll always be with you, and so will Dad. Heck, he always has been! You’re the only one of the litter who’s having those weird dreams, and-and you were always his favorite, too. Remember?” Jenna nodded, sniffing, tears dripping down her cheeks. Lake suddenly grinned triumphantly. “I know you won’t ever forget me or Dad, but keep the bandana. It’ll always remind you that-oh, heck, we both love you. Alright? Think of it as ‘the power of the bandana’ or something. Okay?” He grinned up at her, and his brown eyes were laughing. “Besides…you look better wearing it than me.”

Jenna laughed, but stopped when Lake’s soaked body went limp, and his laughing eyes closed. “Lake!” She laid her head on his chest. Her heart leapt as she felt his own heart beat once, twice, but then there was nothing.

Jenna sniffed as she nuzzled her brother and felt the filthy bandana rub against her fur. “Lake.” She straightened up and looked into Lake’s still face, a grin frozen on it forever. Jenna had a sudden thought, and leaned down to whisper in a tearful voice into Lake’s ear. “Say hi to Dad for me.”

Jenna snaps out of her memories as without thinking she nuzzles Balto around the bandana, and he nuzzles her back. Images of Lake slip in and out of focus behind Jenna’s eyes. She wonders about her feelings for Balto, but before she can contemplate much, Luk’s crying pierces the atmosphere. Jenna and Balto draw apart and Muk rushes to comfort Luk.

“Well, of course Balto will come back! He’s…Balto, isn’t he?” Luk’s noisy sobbing continues, and Jenna looks to Balto sympathetically.

“Hey, I’m coming back. With the medicine. I promise, Jenna.” Another pang hits Jenna’s heart hard. Rosy. If Balto didn’t leave soon, she wouldn’t make it. “Go ahead, guys, take her home.”

Jenna climbs onto the leafy part of the branch and lays down to rest her hurt paw as Boris takes Balto to the side in concern. Jenna watches as Balto and the stubborn goose seem to argue. She can tell Balto is winning, and smiles a little, but winces when she accidentally moves her hurt paw. It will take a small amount of time to heal, but it still hurts. At least she doesn’t have to walk to Nome. She lifts her head when she sees Boris waddle back.

“Right! You two balls of fluff! Let’s move! Heh…two…three…four!” The two polar bears salute and start dragging Jenna on her branch back the way they came. As Jenna looks back she sees Balto walk off into the snow. She hopes he makes it back safe…and not just because of Rosy’s need for the antitoxin. She realizes with a start that she loves Balto, as much as she has ever loved Lake, or her father Ranger. That’s why she gave Balto her bandana; he loved her first, and now she loves him too. The bandana is a symbol of that. ‘The power of the bandana’, as Lake would say, and Jenna knows what that power is, too: love.

Balto becomes lost in the snow and the growing distance between them, and Jenna suddenly hopes he won’t die out there in the wilderness, like the two dogs she most loved. She can almost feel Lake and Ranger peering down at her from the sky, and Jenna prays silently: ‘Please, don’t bring Balto to join you. Please let one guy I love stay with me so I don’t have to go through heartache again. Please…’

Lake, Ranger, and Jewel © redwolf03

Balto, Jenna, Muk, Luk, Boris, and Rosy © Universal Studios

Beginning and ending script © Universal Studios