Summer. Her mother returned. "Someone's here to speak with you."

"Not..."

"Yes, it's Summer,"

"Mom, I can't face him right now! I feel terrible thinking such bad things about him!"

"Well, you're going out there right now. I will not have you keep him waiting, now scoot!" Saba pushed her daughter out the doggie door with her nose. Stunner lost her footing and slipped on the loose snow on the porch of her house. Summer exclaimed as she slipped and tried to keep her from falling, but both of them ended up slipping off the porch and landed on the ground. Somehow, Summer landed on top of Stunner and her surprised expression caused him to pick himself off her quickly.

"I-I'm sorry!" he stuttered.

"No, no, no, it's ok, it's my fault, I'm sorry," Stunner stammered, picking her self off the ground and brushing the snow from her fur with her paw. There was a moment of silence, until Summer began to speak the same time as Stunner. They ended up in a verbal tango, but it ended when Stunner stopped talking and Summer spoke up.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me?" he asked.

Stunner smiled. This would be the perfect chance to get to know him better and open up some doors to understanding. "Yes," she said.

Saba smiled as she watched the two young dogs walk off together and returned to her nap on Meg's bed.

Summer and Stunner walked in silence for a moment, travelling on the outskirts of Nome, but not far very away from the town.

"I wanted to apologize for my...comments...from earlier, about your friend. It was very uncalled for. I was kinda nervous at the time, cuz I had alot on my mind." Summer apologized. He explained what was going through his head at the time, with the exception of his thoughts on how marvelous he thought she was. Stunner was a bit shocked that he was apologizing to her and not Sadie. She didn't really care about her, but even so, she was surprised he was here instead of somewhere else.

"It's alright," Stunner smiled. "I understand. Sadie deserved it anyway. I mean, you and I never really talked until just now. I know the feeling of being nervous around someone you barely know."

"And the feeling of being nervous around someone you find extremely attractive." she thought to herself.

Summer took a deep breath. He was going to tell her exactly how he felt, whether she rejected or accepted him. He figured that if he was going to be rejected, he'd want it to be with Stunner. If he was going to be rejected, he would be turned down by the best. "I was nervous because for the longest time, I've been wanting to talk to you. To get to know you better, because I think I like you." he said informally. "And I was hoping you'd feel the same and want to get to know me."

Stunner smirked to herself, turning her head away to keep him from looking at her. He noticed she was looking away and tried positioning himself to get a better look at her reaction, but she wasn't letting him and was trying to stifle her laughter.

"I dunno..." Stunner said, slyly. "People may talk."

"That's okay, though, right? Who cares what they think? I don't! And I'm sure you don't either."

"You are right." she said, turning to him. She licked his nose and he blinked, very surprised about her bravery to do so. She broke into a run and he chased her across the snowy plain. Stunner wasn't as fast as Summer was, but she was when it came to turning. She cut turns so fast, zigzagging every which-way and it drove Summer crazy when he couldn't catch her. Stunner did manage to trip and Summer again landed over her and they laughed. They felt themselves being watched and they looked up to see a small group of dogs in the distance watching them, whispering to each other, probably about how weird or cute the two looked together. Stunner noticed Sadie looking at them in pure envy and she smirked to herself. In one swift motion, Stunner rolled onto her stomach, stood up, licked Summer's nose again, and ran off towards the woods, brushing her back against his chest in the process.

They ran into the woods leaving the others behind, playing a game of tag, barking and howling with joy. The loud exclamations of the two disturbed all animals around, who would gather to see what was going on. Summer was paying more attention to where Stunner was going than where he was going and his foot fell into a small hole in the ground, which made him collapse over his front legs and barrel over some rocks. He fell with a loud yipe.

Stunner immediately stopped in her tracks and looked back to where Summer was. She saw him slumped over some rocks in an odd position. She gasped and ran towards him, expecting the worst.

"Oh, my god! Summer! Are you okay?!" she shrieked.

"No..." he managed to whisper. "My front paw is killing me..." Stunner sighed, relieved he was okay. She checked his paw by licking it and Summer cried out. His paw was broken.

"Can you walk home?" she asked, trying to help him up.

"I think so," he groaned, struggling to stand. He cried again once he put weight on his hind leg. It was twisted terribly and was also possibly broken. "Great, guess I'm gonna hafta stay here." he said.

"No, we're going home to get you some help. Now c'mon." She pushed her body against him to give him a crutch. He hobbled along next to Stunner, leaning against her, trying to keep his stance. It felt like hours before they even reached the edge of the forest and they still had a few miles to go before they even reached Nome. Summer was not going to make it through the night walking. His energy would be drained before they got near home. Stunner stopped walking.

"What are you doing? We need to get back." Summer objected.

"We're not going to make it back tonight." Stunner said. "We need to take shelter." She looked around the edge of the woods for anything that would be suitable for the night. She was hoping to spot a cave, but she could not see one. The only thing around that would only but protect them a little bit was at the base of a fallen tree that was propped up by another twice its size. "Summer let's go over there." He limped at her side until they reached their tree. Summer layed down with his broken legs outstretched and Stunner layed next to him, licking his broken paw to try to take care of it some. Summer winced in pain the first time, but then relaxed. He was exhausted from running, being injured and trying to make his way back home. Even with Stunner's help, he couldn't stay awake much longer. Stunner noticed that his breathing seemed a bit raspy and put her head to his.

"Summer..." Stunner whispered, noticing that he seemed to be catching a fever. "You're not going to die, are you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," Summer replied, tired. "But don't worry...you'll be okay."

"The cold is making you talk nonsense," she said, trying to keep calm. "You'll be fine." Stunner was too skinny to provide a decent amount of warmth for the sleddog. She was certain he was going to be fine for the time being, but whether or not he'd last the entire night, she was not sure. The thought of them staying there together made Stunner very uneasy about Summer's safety. She needed to go get help. She stood up. "We weren't the only survivors of our litter for no reason. I'm going to go get help so we can get you home safely." He seemed to have been asleep, so she licked his face and whispered to him, begging him to stay alive. Then she set out towards Nome to find someone to carry him back.

She ran as fast as she could and made it back to Nome sooner than expected. By the time she neared to grandfather's boat, it began to snow. Stunner didn't really have any friends to ask for help, so her only hope was her grandfather. She ran up a plank into the boat.

"Grandpa?" she exclaimed, panting from exhaustion. She looked all about but he was no where to be found. She ran out of the boat and towards her house to find out where her grandfather was. She entered through the doggie door and her mother entered the room to see who it was.

"Stunner! Where have you--" Saba started.

"Momma, Summer's hurt! Where's Grandpa! I need him to carry Summer back, I can't do it myself!"

"I don't know where he is, hon, but he wouldn't be able to carry Summer anyway. He's much too old."

Stunner lowered her head, nearly breaking out in tears because throughout her frantic thoughts she didn't think about that. Summer was all by himself and she had no idea if he was still alright. His fever was probably worse and weakening him by the minute.

"Now, now...it's ok, Stunner," Saba whispered. "I know someone who can help."

"Who?" she asked, looking up hopefully. Saba told her to follow and she did. She was being led to the boiler room and as they entered, Stunner saw someone she did not want to even be near. Her fur stood on end at the mere sight of the dog. "Forget it, I'll take my chances carrying Summer myself." She turned around, but her mother stopped her.

"Stunner, please, I know you're mad at your father, but he can help you!" she pleaded. "He returned today while you were out and he was very sad to have missed you. He's changed."

Stunner didn't buy that for a minute. She grew to dislike her father because of what he did to her mother, but Summer needed help and that was all that mattered at the moment. She walked into the boiler room towards her father, Iron, and woke him up.

"Dad," she said. His ears twitched at the sound of her voice and he awoke. He smiled at her and went to nuzzle her, but she didn't let him. "There's no time to waste. Come with me, I need your help." She walked out the door, not saying anything. Saba had to explain to Iron the situation at hand, and he followed his daughter willingly. They ran across the field to where Summer was; No words were spoken; The snow fell harder, making it a little more difficult to see. Stunner fixed Summer's spot in her head, so that she wouldn't lose him. When they reached the

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