Dimitri shouted to Alexi as her ran to her.

Alexi ran toward him and nuzzled him. "I'll see you two later!" Alexi shouted to Saba and Sasha. Alexi walked off with Dimitri.

Saba and Sasha chatted for a long while, until Sasha had to go home.

It was sunset when Sasha left, so Saba went to the seashore to watch the golden sunset. She heard a familiar voice say behind her, "Beautiful sunset, isn't it?"

Startled, Saba jumped and spun around to see Shtiya. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Shtiya apologized.

"It's alright," Saba said.

Shtiya sat next to her, joining her in watching the sunset.

"Thanks for saving me in the alley," Saba said quietly.

"You're welcome, Saba," Shtiya said, scooting closer to Saba.

"The sunset's gold this evening...gold represents love...," Saba said looking at the sunset.

"Hm...that fits, doesn't it?" Shtiya said.

"What do you mean?" Saba asked.

"Well, the gold represents love, and we're...," Shtiya partly explained, trying to give Saba a clue.

"Oh, um...right," Saba said.

"You know, Saba, you look a great deal like your mom," Shtiya said, studying Saba all over.

"And you remind my of my dad...you have a similar build, and your eyes have a sense of humor in them," Saba said, smiling.

"Your eyes are like sapphires, and your fur is as red as a ruby...like rubies and cream combined," Shtiya said poetically.

Saba blushed and looked away, beaming.

Saba looked at a cloud above the bright yellow sun and saw that it was the shape of a heart.

"Look, Shtiya! It's a cloud shaped like a heart!" Saba cried, pointing to the cloud.

"Well, what do you know!" Shtiya exclaimed.

Having nothing else to say, Saba and Shtiya gazed at the sunset and were sprinkled with sea spray until the sky turned dark blue and the sun went down.

"I'll meet you at the pond in the afternoon tomorrow," Shtiya confirmed.

"Alright. Good night, Shtiya," Saba agreed.

The lights in the windows glowed brightly, and in their beams the snow sparkled and glittered.

As Saba walked quietly through the town, she saw Enzo appear through the shadows.

"Well, looky here!" Enzo cried cheerfully.

"Oh, hello, Enzo. How's the evening going for you?" Saba asked politely.

"Mighty fine, thanks," Enzo replied.

"So tell me Enzo, where did you come from?" Saba asked.

"I came from Idaho, and I just learned today that we're not just here for a visit...we've moved here," Enzo explained.

"I'm sure you'll like it here," Saba assured him like a tour guide.

"I'd better get goin' now. Nice talkin' to ya," Enzo said.

Saba continued walking home. She walked up the stairs of the porch and pawed at the door.

Evelyn opened the door in her pajamas, squealed in delight, and hugged Saba. Saba licked Evelyn's salty tasting face as a greeting.

Saba and Evelyn walked through the door. Saba considered sleeping on the rug in front of the fireplace, but decided to sleep by Evelyn's bed-she'd spent enough time away from Evelyn.

Saba and Evelyn climbed up the stairs into Evelyn's bedroom, where Mary was waiting.

Evelyn climbed into bed, and Mary pulled the blankets over her. Mary kissed Evelyn on the cheek and said, "Goodnight, sweetie."

Saba curled up on the rug beside the bed. Mary looked down at Saba, patted her on the head and said "Goodnight, Saba."

Mary turned off the kerosene lamp on Evelyn's bedside table and climbed down the stairs.

Evelyn rolled over on her side, reached her arm down to Saba, and stroked her until they both fell asleep.

                                                    *****

Saba woke up in the morning to the smell of bacon. Evelyn wasn't in bed, and assuming Evelyn was in the kitchen, Saba climbed down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Evelyn was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table, and when she saw Saba, she grinned and said, "Good morning Saba! I fixed up your breakfast today."

Saba trotted over to her food bowl, which was filled with dog chow. She didn't like dog chow as much as real meat, but it was good enough. Instinctively,  Saba ate the bowl clean in an instant.

Evelyn finished her breakfast, and got up from her chair to play with Saba.

First, Evelyn played dead. Sab stood over her pretending to be worried, until Evelyn blew in her face. It was like an amusement park for Evelyn, and after a few hours, they started playing leapfrog. Saba loved jumping over Evelyn and hearing her giggle afterward. Making Evelyn happy meant so much to Saba, and Evelyn seemed to feel the same way.

They sported and played until noon, and Saba remembered her meeting with Shtiya.

She walked over to the door, and looked back, gesturing that she wanted to go out.

Evelyn was about to get up and let her out, but James got up from his chair and said "I'll get it."

He opened the door for Saba, and she broke into a run. The pond was on the outskirts of Nome, and it would take a while to get there. Saba didn't stop to say hello or anything else. She had to see Shtiya.

She finally arrived at the pond, where she saw Shtiya.

"Am I late?" Saba asked, panting.

"No, you're on time," Shtiya assured her.

After the pain in Saba's chest was over, she asked Shtiya what they were doing at the pond.

"Swimming, of course!" Shtiya answered.

Shtiya smiled at Saba and said "Ladies first."

Saba, flattered by Shtiya's courtesy,said "Thanks," and stepped in. The ice water made her flinch for a second, but freezing temperatures were, of course, normal in Alaska.

Saba walked slowly into the water and started swimming. Shtiya joined her.

They just did normal swimming until Saba splashed Shtiya, soaking his head. "Splash fight!" she shouted. Saba and Shtiya splashed eachother and laughed playfully.

Suddenly, there was a plunge. When Saba could see clearly, she looked into the eyes of someone she didn't know.

"Darius, what are you doing here?!" Shtiya demanded angrily.

The stranger looked just like Shtiya, except he had black and white fur and a mischevious look on his face.

"I just wanted to join in the swim, bro," Darius said smoothly.

"I only wanted to swim with Saba," Shtiya said impatiently.

Darius turned his head to Saba and smirked. He swam very close to Saba until they were almost nose to nose, making Saba uncomfortable.

"Well, well, well, aren't you a pretty little...," Darius never got to finish his sentence because Shtiya aggressively pushed him and snarled.

"Leave her alone!" Shtiya shouted.

Darius slapped Shtiya across the face and said "Don't act like you have authority over me. I'm the older sibling here."

"By ten minutes!" Shtiya scoffed.

They started fighting. The water splashed in thin waves. Saba didn't want Shtiya to get hurt, so she joined the fight. She bit Darius on the neck and pinned him to the bank of the pond. She held him down with her front legs and let go of his neck.

"Look, pal! I don't know who you think you are, but you're not going to hurt Shtiya even if he is your brother! Now go away or it'll get ugly! Saba told him off very angrily.

She let him go, and Darius jumped out of the water, running away without saying a word.

"Th-thanks Saba. You sounded do scary you even started to scare me," Shtiya chuckled.

"No problem. I didn't want you to get hurt, and I just had to do something," Saba said.

They swam for hours and hours. They were so absorbed in their fun, they didn't even notice that the mail sled dogs had beat the plane in a race.

When the sun started to set, they stopped swimming and chatted small talk.

"Darius can be such a jerk. He always finds a bachelorette to drool over," Shtiya said rolling his eyes.

"I figured as much. I haven't seen my sister, Aleu, for a year. She leads a wolf clan now," Saba said.

"Leading a wolf clan, eh? Tough job!" said Shtiya.

"Yeah...sometimes I wonder if I'll ever see her again," Saba said sadly.

"I'm sure she'll visit you when she can," Shtiya said, trying to comfort Saba.

"Speaking of which, I'm going to Canada for 2 weeks," Shtiya continued.

"Why are you going to Canada?" Saba asked.

"I dunno, ask my owner," Shtiya said.

"In that case, I'll wait for you at the dock," Saba confirmed.

"Alrighty then, I'll be going home now," Shtiya said, getting up.

It was night now, and Shtiya disappeared in the shadows. Saba left for home as well, and when she was in the house, she curled up one the soft rug in front of the fireplace. She was still a little cold from the pond water, and she wanted to get warmed up.

The sparks danced, the fire glowed, and the shadows flickered all around Saba. She fell asleep with the fire's warmth.

                                                     ***

Saba tried to keep herself entertained, but she thought only of Shtiya. Not even talking to Sasha or Alexi or playing with Evelyn kept her mind occupied.

Two weeks after Shtiya left, Saba waited at the dock like she said she would. From morning to twilight, she just sat and stared out into the ocean.

It was night when she saw a ship in the clearing. "It has to be Shtiya," she thought to herself.

The ship slowly drifted closer and closer to the dock until it stopped at the dock. Shtiya came running out of the ship and onto the dock. Saba's heart swelled with happiness. She shedded tears of joy, and she nuzzled Shtiya lovingly. Shtiya did the same.

"C'mon, let's go to the meadow and run off some steam," Saba said cheerfully.

"I need to do that. I've been sitting in a ship all day," Shtiya agreed.

Saba and Shtiya hiked through