Hey, peeps! Bet you didn't expect another story from me so soon, after barely finishing "The Return of Silver Fang" and all. My Kenai and Kia Fans forum members wanted more Kenai and Kia stories. I was so flattered that everybody wants more KxK goodness, so of course, there's no way I could say no.

Chapter 1- Snow Games

It was another cold, Winter's day at the Salmon Run and as usual, nobody was outside. All the bears were still in their caves, hibernating.

Nobody was up except for four little grizzly bear cubs who were peeking out from their cave. They stared in awe at the cold, white snow on the ground.

"What is it?" Asked one white cub. She had brown markings on her chest, paws, back, ears and around her eyes.

"I dunno." said another white furred cub. This one had grey spots on her feet, as well as a grey muzzle. These two cubs were none other than Aquene and Dania.

Two other cubs, Kodi and Cherokee, stepped forward and poked their heads out of the cave.

"It's..kinda cold." Cherokee said, shivering as she licked the frozen liquid from the ground.

Kodi did the same thing and had the same reaction. "You're right. Funny..it tastes like water." he said.

With brown fur and dark spots on their feet, chests, ears and around their eyes Kodi and Cherokee looked very much alike. The only differences were that Cherokee was lighter in coloring. She had black eyes, as well as a dark spot on her back, while Kodi had friendly brown eyes and no spot on his back.

"I wonder if Uncle Koda knows what this stuff is." Aquene said, pawing at the snow and shivering.

Dania's face lit up and she turned to Kodi and Cherokee. "Hey, we should ask him!"

The two cubs nodded their heads enthusiastically. "Yeah!" they said.

Cherokee turned and gave Aquene a sisterly lick on the cheek. "Great idea, Aquene!" she said.

Aquene smiled, happy that she had come up with such a good idea. "Thanks, Sissy!" she replied, nuzzling the light brown bear cub.

"C'mon, let's go get Uncle Koda!" Kodi suggested.

Giggling delightedly, the four cubs ran to the back of the cave, where Koda, Aika and their parents were sleeping. Kodi took a flying leap and jumped onto Koda's back. "Uncle Koda! Uncle Koda!" he cried.

The brown bear cub groaned and covered his face with a furry, dark brown paw, yawning sleepily. "Kodi...leave me alone..I'm sleeping." he mumbled in a sleepy voice, then rolled onto his side so he wasn't facing the cubs.

Kodi refused to give up. The cub raised his fore paws and began to push Koda's shoulders, saying, "Uncle Koda! You've gotta come see this! It's amazing!"

The only reply Kodi got was another yawn from Koda as he tried to get back to sleep. Kodi still tried to wake his Uncle, pushing his body into Koda's back.

"Come on, let's help him!" Cherokee said to her sisters, and they ran over to their Uncle, nibbling at his ears, pulling his paws and shouting for him to wake up. "Uncle Koda! Please get up! We need your help!"

Finally, after much prompting, Koda raised his head and sat up, groaning. "Okay. Since you four don't seem to care that I'm trying to sleep..I'm up."

Kodi and his sisters smiled sheepishly at their uncle. "Sorry, Uncle Koda..It's just that, we need your help with something." Cherokee said.

Koda yawned and scratched his neck with his hind leg. "Well, you got my attention now. So what's up?"

"Come and see for yourself!" Dania said. She, her brother and sisters ran to the entrance of the cave, beckoning him to follow.

Koda sighed, then he reluctantly got up and walked over to the four cubs, not as peppy or awake as them.

"Look out there!" Kodi exclaimed, pointing a paw outside the cave and staring in amazement again.

Koda rubbed his eyes and glanced around, but saw nothing really interesting. "Yeah...What is it?"

Cherokee groaned. "You mean you don't know what it is either?" she asked. The four cubs looked disappointed.

Koda blinked and did a double take. "Don't know what what is?" he asked.

Aquene pointed down at the frozen white liquid on the ground and then looked at her uncle. "That! What's all this white stuff, Uncle Koda?" she asked curiously.

Koda smiled and chuckled, starting to feel a little more awake now. "Oh that? That's snow. It falls every Winter while we hibernate." he explained to the cubs. "It usually melts away before we wake up, but you all got up a little early this year."

The brown bear cub smiled at his nieces and nephew. "Although, I guess that's a good thing. Snow is a really amazing thing, and since we bears sleep so long during Winter, we usually miss out on seeing its beauty. Thanks for waking me up, kids."

Kodi and his sisters returned their uncle's smile. "You're welcome, Uncle Koda." they chorused.

Dania's face suddenly lit up and she looked at Koda, eyes shining. "Uncle Koda! We should wake up Aika and let her see this snow too!" she suggested.

Koda felt his face warm at the mention of Aika, and his heart did a little flip. "Sounds like a great idea, Dania. You four wait here. I'll go get her."

The brown bear cub turned and walked to the back of the cave, where he found a white bear cub, fast asleep. She had brown spots on her paws, and a brown spot around her neck.

Koda moved closer and gently nudged the white bear cub's shoulder. "Aika...wake up. It's me, Koda."

Aika murmured something in her sleep then slowly sat up and groaned. "Koda?" she muttered softly, gazing at the brown cub through half opened blue eyes.

Koda smiled at her. "Come here! I've got something to show you!"

Aika blinked and looked at Koda, more alert now. "What is it?"

Koda grinned. "Trust me, you're gonna love it Aika." he replied. "Come on!"

Koda waited until Aika had gotten up and stretched, then together they joined Kodi and his sisters back at the entrance to the cave. Hey guys." Aika greeted sleepily.

"Morning, Aika." the four cubs replied. Aika turned back to Koda and looked curiously at him.

"Okay..you got me here. Now what's the big surprise?" she demanded.

Koda smiled at Aika and pointed at the snow. "Look outside."

Aika did so, and gasped in amazement. "Wow..."

All around them, trees and bushes were covered with a glistening white snow, that seemed to sparkle in the morning light as the sun started to rise into the sky. Nearby, a waterfall had frozen over, and was a steep ice slide, going down onto a frozen river, which also gleamed in the sunlight.

Koda fixed his gaze on Aika's face, and smiled, seeing her delighted expression.

Aika finally tore her stare from the snow and ice fantasy outside and rested her gaze on Koda. "It's..it's..." she stammered, struggling to find the right words.

"Breath taking?" Koda supplied, beaming as Aika nodded her head in agreement.

"Thank you for showing it to me." Aika said, nuzzling Koda happily.

Koda smiled and placed his paw around her shoulder. "Aw, it was nothing." he said, grinning broadly at the white and brown bear cub.

As the two sat there, gazing into each other's eyes, Kodi approached them wonderingly. "Uncle Koda...Can we play in this snow?" he asked curiously.

Koda turned away from Aika, removing his paw from her shoulder as he spoke. "Of course! As long as you can stand the cold that is." he said with a laugh.

Kodi bravely puffed his chest and said, "I can handle anything. No...We can handle anything! Right, girls?" the cub asked, and turned to his sisters.

The three female cubs nodded eagerly. "Of course!" they chorused.

"What's a little snow gonna hurt us?" Cherokee added with a grin.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go and play!" Dania cheered.

Koda quickly stepped in the way. "Woah! Wait just a minute, you four. We still have to check with your parents first." he reminded them.

"Aww..do we have to?" Kodi whined.

Aika nodded. "Yes, you do. We need to make sure your Mom and Dad know where you are, at least. Wait here a minute, kids. Your uncle Koda and I will go ask." she said.

Kodi and his sisters nodded, though a bit reluctant, and plopped down onto the ground while they waited.

---

Koda and Aika walked over to Kenai and Kia, who were still sleeping. "Kenai..Kia...you up?" Koda asked. He shook the white bear's shoulder, trying to wake her.

Aika did the same with the male brown bear, shaking his shoulder, first gently, then rougher as he wouldn't answer. "Kenai!" All she got was a deep yawn and a low sigh from the bear.

Aika crouched down and shouted again, this time in his ear. "Kenai!"

"What? What?!" Kenai quickly sat up, knocking the white bear cub over, and accidentally sitting on her. "Aika? Was that you? Where'd you go?" he asked, glancing around. The brown bear strained his ears for her voice, and could have sworn he heard muffled shouts.

Kenai felt a yank on his tail and quickly jumped to his paws...only to discover that he'd been sitting on Aika the whole time! The brown and white bear cub groaned and glared a bit at Kenai, who flashed an embarrassed, toothy smile at her. "Sorry." he muttered.

Koda by now, had noticed his brother was awake and quickly hurried over. "Kenai! Am I ever glad you're awake. The cubs wanted me to ask you, do you think they could go outside and play in the snow? Aika and I will watch them."

Aika nodded at this. "Uh huh! We will." she assured Kenai.

The male brown bear yawned and nodded his head slowly. "That's fine with me." he said through a yawn. "Just be careful and don't go far." he warned, laying back down beside his mate with another big yawn.

"Okay, we'll be careful!" Koda answered.

"And we'll stay close to the cave." Aika added.

Kenai nodded. "Okay..have fun..and don't be late for dinner." he mumbled, obviously half asleep.

Koda and Aika looked at each other in amusement and giggled. "Let's get back to the cubs then." Aika said once they'd calmed down.

Koda nodded his head in agreement and they raced each other back. Aika won as usual.

Koda growled playfully at the white bear cub. "I still don't know how you always manage to win like that!" he exclaimed.

Aika smirked. "I'm just good." she said in a teasing tone.

Koda rolled his eyes good naturedly and smiled at Aika. "Well you won't win next time." he said smugly. "I'll make sure of it!"

"What'd they say, Uncle Koda?" Aquene asked as she, her brother and sisters looked up at him hopefully.

Koda turned away from Aika and smiled at Aquene and the other three cubs. "Your dad says you can go play, but Aika and I have to watch you, and we can't go far from the cave."

"Yay! Let's go play!" Kodi cheered, leading the way out of the cave, his sisters running close behind.

"Can't catch me, can't catch me!" Kodi said in a sing song voice to his uncle. "Ha ha ha! Ha ha haaaa!"

Koda grinned and raced off after his little nephew, laughing. Kodi ran inside some bushes. Koda followed him, but when he got in there, he could not find Kodi. He had disappeared, that fast!

"Kodi? Where are you?" Koda asked worriedly, but got no answer. The cub walked out of the bushes, sitting under a tree. Just then, Koda could have sworn he heard footsteps behind him.

The cub turned around, just in time to be pounced on and knocked down into the snow by Aika! She put her front paws on his chest, pinning him down, and rubbed her nose against Koda's affectionately. Koda laughed and rubbed her nose back the best he could while he was pinned.

Then, all of a sudden, Koda shifted his body, so that he was on top, and Aika was on the bottom. "Ha! Gotcha!" he said gleefully.

Aika smirked at him. "Maybe, but not for long!" she insisted, as the two cubs continued this game, both of them rolling on top of the other. They were still doing this when all of a sudden, a big pile of snow fell right on top of them!

Stunned, Koda and Aika stopped their game and glanced around. "Who did that?" Koda demanded, shivering.

Aika paused. "Well, it came from above.." she pointed out.

The two bear cubs heard a giggle. They quickly looked up and saw...Kodi! He was jumping on a dead tree branch, knocking snow down.

The little cub kept doing this gleefully, until all of a sudden, the branch he was standing on began to break. Kodi screamed as the branch beneath him gave way, sending him falling down below.

Koda quickly got up and jumped up, catching Kodi in his paws. "Don't worry...you're safe now." he said. "Everything's gonna be alright." Kodi heaved a small sigh of relief.

A devilish grin suddenly spread across Koda's face. "The only thing you have to worry about now is me getting back at you for that stunt you just pulled with the snow!"

Kodi giggled naively. "Oh that was funny. You two should've seen your faces, especially you, Uncle Koda. Woah!"

Koda had grabbed the cub and was messing up the fur on his head. Then he laid him down in the snow and began to tickle him as much as he could.

Kodi laughed until his sides hurt, then he whimpered. "It doesn't tickle anymore. It hurts!" he cried and Koda stopped quickly after that.

---

Back in the cave, Kenai lay next to Kia, half awake still. He chuckled as he heard the laughter of Koda, Aika and his children outside.

Kenai nudged the white and brown grizzly who was by him, gently. "Kia..?" he said softly.

The white and brown bear groaned then opened one eye sleepily. "Yeah?"

Kenai smiled at her. "You about ready to get up?" he asked.

Kia raised her head up a little from the ground and groaned. "Why now, Kenai? It's early, and I'm still sleepy!"

Kenai laughed softly and nuzzled his beautiful mate. "Well, Koda, Aika and the cubs are already up. I don't know how long Koda and Aika will be able to tolerate misceivious little Kodi, so I think we should get up and help out." he explained.

Kia sighed. "Oh, alright then." The white and brown sow opened her eyes. She got up off the ground and stretched her paws, yawning.

Then she turned to Kenai, who had already gotten up. "Goodmorning dear." she said, softly nuzzling her mate.

Kenai nuzzled her back. "Goodmorning, my sweet." he replied. "How are you?"

"Sleepy." Kia replied and giggled. "But that'll wear off soon enough."

Kenai smiled warmly at his mate and nuzzled her gently. "That's good." he said softly. The two just stayed there for a moment, embracing.

Then Kenai glanced up as he heard another laugh and said, "Now that you're up, let's go outside with the cubs." He left her side and started outside the cave.

Kia nodded and started to follow. However, as she came to the opening of the cave, the white bear suddenly sighed and leaned against the cave, closing her eyes.

Kenai turned back to Kia worriedly. "Kia, are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

Kia opened her eyes halfway and looked at the boar. "Strange..I, I suddenly felt so weak." she muttered.

Kenai looked worriedly at the white bear. "Maybe coming outside isn't such a great idea after all." he said.

Kia shook her head quickly and opened her eyes all the way. "No, that's okay. I'm feeling better already!" she insisted.

Kenai eyed the sow suspiciously, and she gave him a slightly nervous looking, toothy smile.

"I'm fine, Kenai. Really." she said again.

Kenai looked unsurely at Kia, but shrugged and turned away. "Okay. If you say so. Come on, let's go see the kids." he said.

Kia got up and walked alongside Kenai, feeling strange. She felt so..tired. But this was just because she'd barely awoken from hibernation. Right? Somehow, Kia didn't think that was the only reason.

"Hi, mommy and daddy!" Dania, Kodi, Cherokee and Aquene greeted their parents happily.

Kenai and Kia smiled. "Goodmorning, kids." they replied, hugging each cub one at a time.

"You four sure are up early!" Kia exclaimed with a chuckle. She glanced around the forest feeling just as amazed as Aika had earlier.

All of a sudden, Aquene ran up behind her Mom and tagged her. "Tag! You're It!" she cheered giggling.

Kia snapped out of her fantasy and tapped Aquene on the shoulder. "No I'm not!"

Kenai followed suit and tagged Kodi, Dania and Cherokee as well. Kia laughed. "Now you're all It!" she shouted.

"Just try to catch your Mom and I!" Kenai challenged, breaking into a run with his mate as they hurried away laughing.

Koda and Aika laughed as they watched, but then Kodi said, "Let's get all of 'em!"

He and his sisters charged toward Koda and Aika, who laughed delightedly and hurried to catch up with Kenai and Kia.

The eight grizzly bears lumbered all over the Salmon Run, disturbing sleeping animals as they laughed. "We're gonna get you!" Kodi and his sisters yelled.

A squirrel poked his head out of a hollow tree. "Would you please keep it down!" he shouted irritably, waving his fist angrily at the four cubs. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"Whoops..haha, sorry." Cherokee apologized to the squirrel.

The squirrel rolled his eyes and went back into the tree, muttering under his breath, "Kids these days!"

Cherokee ran to catch up with her brother and sisters.

Kenai and Kia were in the lead, far from the cubs. They stopped when they came to a steep hill.

"Be careful, Kia. This snow is really slippery." Kenai warned as they started down it slowly.

Kia turned her head backward to look at Kenai. "Me be careful? You be careful. You're the klutz who always trips!" she teased.

Kenai rolled his eyes. Just then, he heard a voice nearby. "Come out, come out wherever you are!" It was Kodi. They were getting closer!

Kenai turned back to Kia, only to see that she had gotten further down the hill while he had stopped. The brown bear hurried to catch up to his mate. Then it happened. Kenai put his paw down on an extra slippery area in the snow- and went tumbling down the hill.

"Kia! Watch out!" Kenai warned as he rolled down the hill, but it was too late. He smacked into the white bear and they went tumbling down in a giant snowball!

They landed at the bottom with a crash, and the snowball broke.

Kenai took one look at the white and bown sow who was sprawled out across his belly and laughed. "What a ride!" he exclaimed.

Kia laughed too. "I told you! You're the clumsy one, not me!"

"Hey!" Kenai said, and bit Kia's ear playfully.

The two bears laughed. Just then, they heard two voices up ahead. The two bears glanced up to see Koda and Aika, who were sliding down the hill on their stomachs.

The two cubs hit a rock and went flying right onto Kia's back.

"Ughh!" Aika sat up and shook some snow from her ears, then she groaned and turned to Koda.

"Nice going, Koda! If you hadn't tripped on the rock and fallen into me, we never would have fell down that hill!" The white cub rubbed her snout. "My poor nose.."

Koda said nothing, he just smiled sheepishly. It was then that he noticed he was sitting on Kia, who was sprawled on top of Kenai.

"Hi Kia. Hi Kenai!" he said with a wave.

Aika got up and jumped down from Kia's back, sinking slightly into a pile of snow.

Koda tried to follow her, but once again he tripped and fell on top of Aika before she could move away, plowing the white cub deeper into the snow pile.

Koda glanced around. "Aika? Aika!" Then he quickly moved as he felt something under him. "Oops! Sorry." he said as Aika pulled herself up out of the snow.

She again shook the snow from her ears, glaring at Koda. The cub just gave her an apologetic, toothy little smile. "My bad." he said sheepishly.

Kenai and Kia laughed at this even more. Then Kia groaned and lifted herself up off Kenai's stomach, and plopped into the snow beside him on her back.

"Hey, at least the kids won't find us for awhile, down here." Kenai pointed out grinning.

Just as Kenai said this, however, Dania peeked down the hill and spotted them. "I found them!" she yelled to her brother and sisters.

Kia sighed and turned to Kenai, an amused smile on her face. "You were saying?" she teased in a sweet, angelic voice as Kenai smiled sheepishly at her.

"What do you know? I was wrong..They found us. Ehehehe.." he said, watching as the four cubs began to slide down the hill toward them.

Cherokee reached them first, and she raced over to Kenai, sinking her little cub teeth into his ear. "Tag! I gotcha Daddy!" she cheered gleefully.

Kenai picked the little cub up in his arms. "You sure did." he replied, kissing his daughter and hugging her gently.

Kodi, Dania and Aquene made it down now, and they tackled Kia, Koda and Aika too. "Tag! We got you!" they shouted, looking very proud of themselves.

Aika chuckled. "Okay, okay. You got us!" she said.

"Now..can you get off of me?" Koda coughed, his eyes bulging as Dania held her paw down on his throat.

"Whoops! Sorry!" Dania cried, moving her paw quickly, letting her uncle breath again.

Kia giggled and glanced at Kodi, who sat on her belly.

"Alright Kodi. You got me, good job!" she said, throwing her son up in the air again and again, catching him in her arms everytime.

Kodi laughed uncontrollably as his mother threw him. He loved this game!

After a few minutes, Kenai looked at everybody and said, "Let's get home. We need to find something to eat."

Koda was the first to agree with this. "Yeah! I'm starved!" he said, then grew red faced as his stomach growled loudly, apparently agreeing with him.

Aika placed a paw over her mouth and laughed. "I'm hungry too." she said. Then her stomach also growled and everybody laughed.

"We're hungry too!" Kodi and his sisters said at the same time.

Kia smiled. "So am I. So come on now. Let's get home." she said, rising to her paws and shaking some snow off her fur.

Kodi and his sisters laughed and shrieked delightedly as the snow fell down on them, covering them up.

Kenai glanced around, pretending to look for the cubs. "I wonder where my cubs could be." he said.

Then the brown bear pushed his face into the snow, uncovering Kodi, Dania, Aquene and Cherokee. "There you are!" he said, and the cubs laughed again.

"Were you worried Daddy?" Cherokee asked, crawling out of the snow and hugging her father's muzzle.

Kenai licked her across the face, making Cherokee giggle. "Yeah, I was worried you four got lost!" he said, playing along with the four cubs.

Kodi and his sisters laughed. "We were right here the whole time, Dad!" Kodi said, unaware that Kenai was only joking around with them.

Kia glanced back and laughed. "Okay kids. Enough playing around. Let's go home and get something to eat." she sid softly.

Kodi and his sisters agreed. They followed along behind their parents, with Koda and Aika walking behind them, as they started for home.