Sparkle In Your Eyes

(started 2/3/08 – ) 

Summary: Valentine’s Day is a week away and Balto wants to give his mate, Jenna, the perfect present to show her how much she means to him. After taking suggestions from friends and his own children, can he find the perfect gift – one that comes from the heart? (one-shot Valentine’s Day fic – Note: This story takes place the winter after the ending of “Balto: Wolf Quest” and over a year before the beginning of “Wings of Change.”)

Rating: G for General Audiences. Nothing bad here – it’s just a sweet, sappy one-shot romance story this time. 

Disclaimer: Any official characters and events from Balto and Balto: Wolf Quest are the property of Universal Studios Inc. The fan-names and personalities of Yukon and Denali are the property of Juuchan17 and should not be used without permission.

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Part I: Reminiscing the Past

February . . . 1927 . . .  

The medium brown-gray canine gazed at the calendar that hung on the wall inside his mate’s house. He didn’t really notice the painting of a horse and carriage gliding over the fresh powdered snowfall that lay above the boxes with numbers that symbolized the days. It was indeed February, a month that was filled with the cold and snow of winter, but something was different about this month this year.

I can’t believe it’s been that long already . . . He pondered in his mind as he sat down on the wooden floor of the room. What has it been . . . two years? I can’t even believe the change . . . 

Years ago, he never would have thought a human would actually let him step foot into their home; this was, of course, due to the fact that he wasn’t a purebred dog – he was a wolf-dog, half-husky and half-wolf. He was an unusual color for a mutt anyway, with his grizzly brownish-gray fur, light tan-white markings around his red eyes, around his muzzle, down his belly and tail, and on his ankles and large paws. His large gold-pooled eyes made him seem more wild than tame, as did his lack of grooming.

People and dogs alike shooed and shunned him with their actions and words, mainly out of fear of his mixed blood and the untamed wildness inside him, but he never thought about hurting anyone, even if he wanted to. The people had already judged him without getting to know him despite his breeding. 

Everyone . . . except for those two, mainly her . . .

Jenna . . . and her young human, Rosy, apparently could see something else instead of a hybrid mutt that the others saw; they saw him as an innocent soul, a dog who only wanted a chance to show everyone that he wasn’t just a wolf-dog . . .  

Unfortunately, they had to go through so many trials and tribulations in order to get him to get the townspeople to see him with new eyes.

“Balto?” 

The sound of a warm, loving voice made the wolf-dog’s ears twitch towards the source of the feminine tone. She was a bright burgundy-brown husky with white markings on her face, down her slender belly and tail and on much of her thin legs. Around her neck was a bright red-orange bandanna, tied neatly in a knot on her chest; despite the worn feel of the fabric, it looked rather regal on the young female, allowing her to stand out from the other dogs in town.

Balto’s face was automatically in a smile as the rest of his head turned towards the purebred creature that had called him. “Oh, . . . Jenna!” 

The two of them scampered towards each other like a couple of playful puppies and met in front of the calendar for a nuzzle. If you hadn’t noticed, the two of them were very much in love, and despite the differences of their breeding – him being a wolf-dog and her a purebred husky – and how much they were complete opposites in looks, they didn’t care who saw them together. If the two of them had even fallen in love years ago, the she-husky would have easily been exiled by all of the other canines in town . . . mainly because she was of such high-breeding, others thought it didn’t seem right for her to even be around with a dog as low-class as one with wolf blood . . . even if he happened to be only half-wild. However, that all changed after a series of events two years ago . . .

“How have you and Boris been lately?” Jenna asked him as they sat in front of the calendar. By the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she had no fear talking to Balto. “I know the weather’s been pretty rough within the past couple of weeks, and I was just a bit worried about you . . . Oh! And the bears too; how have they been taking it?” 

“We’ve handled things all right, I guess,” Balto replied. He, unlike Jenna, lived outside of town on a grounded old boat that had been long ago forgotten, away from the teasers and bullies that mocked his wolf heritage. Ever since he was about six months old and taken in by a Russian snow gander named Boris, he had resided there, knowing that no human would want him roaming the alleys of town all the time like other street dogs. “Muk and Luk have stayed on the inside of the boat’s hull, so they’ve been fine.” He sighed. “At least you’re warm inside here with Rosy, right?”

Jenna nodded. “Of course. She is my human, so she makes sure that I stay safe and warm at night.” She knew that he still wasn’t used to being around humans, so she liked to inform him on life with a human to take care of them. 

“That’s good to hear,” The hybrid commented. “Things have been much better for us since Rosy got better from that diphtheria scare, huh?”

“Yes, it has,” Jenna responded. “but it was all thanks to you in the end.” She gave him a sweet lick to the cheek, causing him to slightly blush. The husky giggled lightly as she began to point out something written on the calendar. “You know, it’s been about two years since you became a town hero and saved all those people.” 

Balto was silent, for his thoughts were on what she had just said . . . and what he was pondering on moments ago. I didn’t mean to be a hero, he thought. I only did what I felt had to be done . . . because, . . . because everyone else gave up hope . . .

I knew I had to try to save them . . .  

Two years ago, Rosy, as well was a lot of other children within the town of Nome, had begun to show symptoms of a deadly illness called diphtheria; however, the local doctor lacked the serum that would hopefully save those that were sick. There was a chance that all that were ill would eventually succumb to the disease, but thanks to a desperate request via telegraph, a shipment of antitoxin was on its way towards the tiny town, but the closest it could go was to the town of Nenana, which was many hundreds of miles away from the shore-lined town.

A sledding team, made up of what the humans saw as some of the strongest and fastest husky dogs in town, set out on its way to pick up the serum and bring it home to the sick people; however, after retrieving the medicine, the team got lost in the mountains and missed several vital checkpoints along the way. Once word of this reached the town, people – most especially the parents and pets of those children that were sinking closer towards losing their battle – began to lose hope of a miracle. 

But those townspeople and the local dogs didn’t know Balto.

He took it upon himself to find the team and lead them home safely, despite the fact that many other dogs saw him as crazy. With help from Boris, Muk and Luk, and even the bravery of the tame husky Jenna halfway through his quest, Balto was able to find the faith and strength he needed to complete the rest of his journey and find the team on his own. However, it would take the greatest courage to stand up to the team’s lead dog Steele, and get him to give up his position so that the mutt could keep his promise to the ones that trusted him to succeed. After a vicious attack, Steele fell over a ledge, and thankfully, the team welcomed Balto as their leader; despite a few setbacks a la’ Steele and some other natural obstacles, Balto was able to tune more into the wolf side of him that he was once ashamed of and use it to his advantage to find their way through the Alaskan wilderness and mountains. Within days, a long and loud howl was all the people of Nome needed to breathe sighs of relief and proclaim the once outcast Balto as a true hero by both humans and dogs alike. 

Because . . . I couldn’t bear to see you cry . . .

“Balto?” Jenna snapped him out of his memories of those times past with her calming tone. 

“Huh, what?” Balto shook his head, trying to get his mind back on what was important. “Oh, . . . oh yeah . . .”

“You do seem to remember that night, right?” The husky’s amber-hazel eyes burned into his heart. “You know, it was on that night that I knew I truly loved you.” 

A soft smile grew on the wolf-dog’s face. “Oh, I loved you long before then, Jen.” He looked down at his large paws, chuckling under his breath. When I first saw you at that race before Rosy got sick, you took my breath away . . . and stole my heart . . . “I just never expected what would happen to us next.”

About three months had passed before an amazing miracle took place: Jenna had given birth to a litter of six beautiful puppies – three sons and three daughters. Balto, being a first-time father, was a bit nervous to see them for the first time on his lover’s teats, but after a moment, he began to love them, knowing that he had a legacy to teach his wisdom to. For a new father, he easily fell smitten for the attention and love of his three sons – Kodiak, Dingo, and Denali – and his three daughters – Saba, Yukon, and Aleu. For once, they had given him a chance to be the perfect