When morning arrived, Aleu got up earlier than everyone else, having been pestered all night by dreams of her father. In her dreams, he had been reaching out, trying to touch her face, but had been unable to reach her. “Come closer, Aleu,” he had said, repeatedly. “I love you. Come closer? Please?” She decided she was dreaming about the situation between them, that Balto was trying to understand her, but not succeeding, and that he needed her help. Trying to speak with him again about the problem was about the last thing she wanted to do, but she was sick of delaying it as well. She walked to the nest he slept in, sitting by it as she waited for him to awake. “I hope we’re close to working through this,” she thought. “I know I should have a better relationship with Dad than I do.” Balto stirred, then yawned as he opened his eyes. “Oh…good morning, Aleu.” “Hi, Dad.” Balto stretched and stood up. “Were you waiting for me?” he said. “Yeah,” she replied. “There’s something important I have to talk over with you.” “Is this about why you ran away?” “Yes.” Balto began to say something, but Aleu cut him off. “I know it hurts. Neither of us wants to talk about it, but we have to, okay? It’s important; we can’t just keep ignoring it.” Balto paused for several moments, and finally nodded reluctantly. “I know. Alright, let’s talk.” They went to a place that was fairly isolated from the rest of the pack, under the shelter of a few nearly-bare trees. “So where do we start?” Balto asked. It suddenly occurred to Aleu that she hadn’t thought about what to say when the time came. “Um…let’s see…when you first got here, and we were talking, you asked why I couldn’t talk to you…” “And you said it was because I didn’t understand you.” “Yeah. I think…we should try from there, about why that was the case.” “Okay. So you say I didn’t understand you…what part of you?” “Well…I think you didn’t understand why I wanted more freedom. I knew that you knew I wanted it, but you wouldn’t give it to me, and I think the reason you wouldn’t is our problem.” Balto nodded, and Aleu continued. “I wanted freedom because…there’s always been something inside me that wants to explore new things, make new friends, see new places…something that was never quite content with just doing the same old things. As I got older, I looked forward to having more responsibility and more privileges, because it would mean that my heart could get a little of that unknown that it was waiting for. But when the time came that Kodi, Saba and Dingo were given those privileges…I wasn’t. And it hurt, not just because I wanted it so badly, but because…I felt betrayed.” Aleu’s voice became thick with emotion. “I felt like you trusted the others enough to handle it, but not me. It wasn’t fair, and I could tell.” Balto shook his head. “Aleu, it wasn’t an issue of trust.” “Then why did you do it? What was the issue?” “It wasn’t because I didn’t trust you; it was because I didn’t trust others. I knew that if you went out and did the things I was letting the others do, you could run into problems because of what other dogs might think about you, seeing as how you’re part wolf.” At this, Aleu began shouting. “It’s not about being part wolf, Dad! That part never bothered me too much, because you explained it when I was little! What’s wrong is what you did because I was part wolf! You built a fence around me that I didn’t want, and you kept it there. I tried to let you know I didn’t want it, I tried to convince you to let me out, if only a little, but you kept me penned in, and it just got to the point where…I had to run.” She calmed down, looking Balto in the eye. “I never needed you to protect me in that respect. That’s why I ran; I couldn’t handle you thinking that was the issue and never understanding that it really wasn’t!” Aleu would have thought Balto would be more surprised, but in fact, he looked more guilty and regretful. “So you really did never care about that?” he said softly. Aleu nodded. “That’s right.” Balto sighed heavily, looking down. “I knew it.”

Aleu’s face took on a look of shock. “What? You knew that?” Balto nodded slowly, and Aleu gasped. “But…but…then why?!? Why did you pretend not to understand?” “I…um…” Balto started to lose control of his emotions. “I was lying, Aleu. I was lying to you, and I was lying to myself. It’s true that when you were first being rejected by humans, I was terrified that you were going to have to suffer the same way I did. But before long, it was different. I know humans didn’t trust you, but other dogs did, and even when they didn’t, I could see by the way you interacted with them that you didn’t care. I was proud of you for that, and I could see how strong your spirit was.” His voice began cracking. “But…when I saw that, I was afraid. I could see that your spirit wouldn’t let you stay in one place for too long, and when I saw how independent you could be…I knew it wouldn’t be long before you would want more than what your mom and I could give you, and that when that time came…you would want to leave.” A couple of tears made their way down his cheeks. “You’re such a big part of me, Aleu…I didn’t want to lose you, so I deceived myself into thinking that what I was doing was for the best because you were part wolf. Every time you brought your perfectly legitimate complaints to me, I willingly didn’t understand; I willingly stayed in denial about what you were trying to tell me.” He wiped his nose with one paw, sniffing. “Besides, I know that you’re capable of being independent, but you’re still young, and…you had a good point about my keeping you from the world for too long, but…I don’t know…if it’s really time to be letting you go.” Ordinarily, this final statement would have annoyed Aleu, but now, she felt differently. Now that Balto had laid his heart open for her, she finally understood him, understood what he had been going through. “I don’t blame him for not wanting to talk about this,” she thought. “This must have been so hard for him.” Balto took a deep breath and regained his composure. “Anyway, um…anything else?” Aleu shook her head. “No…that’s enough, at least for now.” She nuzzled him, and he returned it. “I’m sorry, Aleu,” he said quietly. Aleu kissed him. “It’s alright,” she replied. Balto smiled. “Thanks, darling.” They heard one of the wolves calling out that it was time to gather for breakfast, and went to join the rest. As Aleu ate, she wondered what the next step would be. “Now I know why he did it…but how can I convince him to let me go?”

Late that night, Aleu opened her eyes, feeling gentle kisses and a paw caressing her ear and cheek. She yawned and looked up, seeing Camyar standing there. She reached her head up and kissed him. “Hello,” he said. “Hi, Camyar,” she replied. He lay down and cuddled with her for a few moments, and they kissed. “Might you be interested in a swim tonight?” asked Camyar. “I like swimming,” Aleu replied. “I’ll come.” They walked for several minutes toward the mountain, arriving at a pool of water in the rocks. The water flowed into it from a wide but shallow cave in a rock wall next to it and out the other end, which was slightly lower. Although snow was on the ground, none was around the pool. “Oh, it’s a hot spring,” Aleu said. “I was wondering about temperature.” Camyar chuckled. “I suppose we could swim in regular water, but if we did not freeze solid in the water, we would in the air coming back. Speaking of which, we can drip dry on a ledge in that cave.” They walked up to the edge, and Camyar touched the water to make sure it wasn’t too hot. “How warm is it?” Aleu asked. “It is nice,” Camyar replied. “See for yourself.” He shoved into her, knocking her off balance, and with a startled yell, she plunged into the pool. She surfaced, getting her breath back, and looked at Camyar. He was laughing loudly. Oh, well. At least the water was warm. “You pushed me!” she said, but not angrily, knowing it was all in fun. “I know,” Camyar laughed. “I am sorry.” Aleu put her front legs up on the side of the pool, and Camyar walked over to her. He caressed her face slowly. “I’m feeling a bit warm, Camyar,” Aleu breathed. “And it isn’t this water.” Camyar lay down in front of her, and they put their paws around one another and locked lips. Then, Aleu tightened her embrace and pushed away from the side with her back paws. Camyar slipped and tumbled into the water, and it was Aleu’s turn to laugh. “Now we’re even,” she said when he surfaced. They were both laughing now. “Then I shall try something new,” said Camyar. He propelled himself through the water towards Aleu, and she squealed playfully and tried to swim away. He caught her, putting his paws on her sides and pulling her in to him, smiling wide. He stroked her body, and she laughed, but then she tipped backwards and her head went underwater. Camyar righted her, and she coughed and spluttered. “Forgive me, Aleu,” he said. “I did not mean…” Aleu suddenly hugged him tightly and gave him a hard, passionate kiss. “I was faking it,” she said. “Just a dirty trick to pay you back.” They grinned and began wrestling in the water, caressing and kissing each other, laughing all the while. Eventually, they stopped and just treaded water. They shared a slow, soft kiss and swam lazily for a while, talking. The talk was sporadic, however, because almost every time they looked at each other, their eyes would meet, and they would merely stare at each other without speaking.

After about an hour, Camyar asked Aleu if she was done, and she said yes. He climbed out first and chivalrously let Aleu bite onto his scruff so he could help her out. They went into the cave and lay down on the ledge. The water warmed the air, but it wasn’t hot enough to steam, so they dried just as quickly as normal. They didn’t leave when they were dry, though; the current situation was too appealing. The ledge was small and required the occupants to lie against each other, and the two had struck a