In the weeks that had passed since the Great Thaw in Arendelle, Anna felt things could not be going better for her. She had begun to heal her relationship with Elsa, she was dating Kristoff, and even her friendships with Olaf and Sven were also growing further.
When Anna first met Kristoff and Sven, Kristoff acted protective with Sven, and seemed unwilling to let anyone else befriend him. She especially thought that when he had told her that only he (Kristoff) could tell Sven what to do, and when he told Olaf not to talk to Sven in a baby-talk voice. But now that Anna and Kristoff had become a couple, Kristoff was warming to Olaf, Anna, and even Elsa taking a chance to befriend him.
It didn't even take long for Anna to realize just how much Sven meant to Kristoff. To him, Sven was more than a pet or steed; because Sven had grown up with Kristoff, they really were inseparable best friends, and were almost like brothers. Anna had always loved animals, so she was starting to develop an attachment to Sven, too, and wondered if she might have started to grow on Sven as well.
It soon became a routine of Anna's to visit Sven almost every night in the stables. Although Kristoff now had his own room inside the palace, he always made sure to spend time with Sven before he would go to bed. When he was gone, that's when Anna came to spend time with Sven, and now it was almost time for her to do that.
As she walked into the stables while carrying a bag, Anna looked in the direction where Sven was in the stable. She smiled widely before she called out to him, "Hey Sven!"
Once he heard his named said, the reindeer looked in Anna's direction and his face lit up.
"I have a surprise for you," Anna said as she walked over to him. When she stopped and lowered the bag, she reached in and pulled out Sven's favorite food.
"Carrots!" She held one in her hand and offered it to Sven. He excited grabbed and nearly popped the whole carrot into his mouth. But he stuck it halfway out of his mouth to offer Anna a bite.
Anna hesitated, knowing that the way Kristoff and Sven shared carrots wasn't very sanitary. But not wanting to hurt Sven's feelings, she said, "That's against my better judgment, but…just this once, okay?"
So when Sven bit down on the carrot, Anna took the other half and took a bite of it herself. She patted Sven's head, then she reached down into the bag. "Want another one?"
Sven kept his eye on the carrot, then his face quickly fell when Anna took a small bite. But it lit up again when Anna held the rest of it out to him. "Don't worry. You can eat the rest, boy. This is the way that you and Kristoff really should share carrots."
While Sven chomped down on a couple more carrots, Anna said, "I have something else for you."
Curious, Sven brought his head up to look into Anna's eyes.
"You've probably eaten most things like carrots, hay, and vegetation all your life, but I have something new for you to try." She reached down into the bag and searched until she found her desired item and pulled it out. Holding it out to show Sven, she said, "This is an apple, Sven. It's a fruit, so it has a sweeter taste than carrots. I've never seen a reindeer before you, but I have read about foods they like, and they do eat apples, so I thought you might like to try one."
Anna held the apple by her fingers and let Sven sniff it. Making sure to keep her fingers out of reach of his teeth, she watched Sven chomp on half of the apple. Sven wore an expression of deep thought as he chewed. After he swallowed, he let out a smile.
"So you liked it, buddy?"
Sven nodded, so Anna held out the rest of the apple for him, and he eagerly chewed it up. She picked up another from the bag and held it out. After he took a bite, he gestured it to Anna, which made her realize that he wanted to share the food with her, regardless. So she picked up the apple and carefully took a bite from the spot where Sven had bitten yet. When she felt she had enough, she gave the rest to Sven.
"You know, it is sweet of Kristoff to always let you take the first bite of carrots, Sven. But the truth is, what he does by taking a bite next is unsanitary and could make him sick. But if he hasn't gotten sick from sharing with you after so long, maybe he's immune to anything you might have. I'll have to talk to him about this, now that we're going together." She looked into Sven's eyes, hoping she didn't hurt his feelings. "I hope what I said didn't offend you, boy."
When Sven just smiled, Anna smiled back and stroked his head again. "You're so understanding, buddy. I can see why Kristoff loves you so much…and I love you, too."
Sven started panting and stretched up as much as he could to lick Anna's face, which made her giggle. She wrapped her arms around Sven's neck to hug him, and he was enjoying it.
"You know, Sven, you're the only reindeer I've ever met and befriended, and I don't if reindeer are really better than people…but you're the best reindeer I know."
After she said that, Anna rested her face on Sven's mug and kissed his forehead, while he nuzzled her affectionately.
After that night, not only did Anna continue to visit Sven at night, but she would bring him apples to eat as well as the carrots. He enjoyed both kinds of food and just Anna being there with him. She would always make sure he was comfortable enough in his stable, give him fresh water to drink, brush his fur to get rid of tangles and knots (as well as to keep him looking good for work with Kristoff the next day), and keep him extra warm with blankets if he wanted any.
As for Anna, while she had her horse, she never quite developed the kind of human-animal relationship that Kristoff did with Sven. Since she could see how special Sven was to Kristoff, she felt she was developing that kind of relationship with him. Even though Sven had never been cared for so much by a girl or a woman, he thought Anna was the best girl he had ever met, just as Kristoff did…and he hoped that Kristoff would let Anna be a part of their family one day.
One night, on another one of her visits, Anna decided to try something new. As she sat down in Sven's stable and stroked his back while he was lying down, she said, "You know, Sven, I hope all of the horses here have been nice to you, but I thought you must sometimes get lonely during the nights since you're the only reindeer here and Kristoff doesn't sleep near you anymore."
Sven lifted his head up from the floor and looked at Anna. "I thought so. So…I'll stay up with you tonight. Would you like that?"
In response, Sven opened his mouth and began panting excitedly.
"Great!" Anna exclaimed. She stood up from her spot and reached up to the shelf above Sven's stable. It was there that she found two blankets and pulled them off the shelf. She placed one over Sven while he laid down, then she wrapped the other blanket around herself.
After she unlit the lantern that was giving off the last night within the stables, she sat down and snuggled up against Sven. "Good night, Sven."
She heard Sven what was meant to be his reply, so she decided to act like Kristoff for the moment and speak in Sven's "voice": "Good night, Anna."
Anna giggled at her attempt, then she closed her eyes and placed a comforting hand on Sven. It didn't take long before the two friends finally fell asleep.
When the morning came, Sven was the first to open his eyes. He felt so much better sleeping in the stables since Anna was there with him. He looked over to her, and there she was, still sleeping on his side. He didn't want to move because he didn't want her to fall if he did, so he leaned over and gave her a small lick.
Upon feeling the lick, Anna started to stir. "Mmmm," she groaned, struggling to open her eyes. When she felt awake enough, she stated, "Oh, I feel hot."
Sven heard what she said and looked in her direction with a worried expression.
"Sven, I feel sick, and I feel too weak to stand up. Can you please try to find Elsa or Kristoff?"
Sven remembered the last time Anna felt very weak, and he knew he had to help her as best as her could. Right now, Anna felt she could barely move, so he carefully stood up and gently nudged to a corner of the stable. He gave her another lick to assure her that he would come back. Although the stable door was locked, he was able to jump high enough over it so he could run outside and find help.
Soon after Sven had escaped, Kristoff came walking outside from the castle and was heading over to get Sven from the stables to begin their day of work. When he saw Sven out and about, he was very much surprised.
"Hey, buddy! What are you doing out of the stables before I come to get you?"
Sven had stopped in his tracks when Kristoff saw him, then he tried to tell him about Anna by snorting and grunting.
"What's the matter, Sven? Is something wrong with you?" Sven shook his head and tried to motion to the stables since Anna was there.
"Is it Anna?" Kristoff guessed. Sven snorted, which Kristoff took to mean "yes." Then Sven ran back to the stables with Kristoff running right behind him.
Sven stopped once he got to his stable, making sure that Kristoff would see Anna when he arrived. When Kristoff finally entered, he saw Anna, and it was hard for him to not notice how pale and weak she looked. "Anna, are you okay?"
"No, I feel hot and cold at the same time. I just feel sick, and I felt that way when I woke up." Anna coughed as soon as she finished talking, and it felt painful for her to cough.
"Come on, let's get you into the castle." Kristoff bent down and gently picked Anna up, making sure she kept the blanket on. Then he walked outside and headed towards the castle. While he did that, Sven stayed behind, sadly looking at Anna until he could no longer see her.
Sven stayed in his stable for the rest of the day. Kristoff did not come down again, which Sven took to mean that he wanted to keep Anna company instead of harvesting ice. But since Anna was his friend now, too, Sven really wanted to see her and make sure she wasn't sick or in trouble like she had been the last time.
Having made up his mind, Sven rushed back to the castle gates, but with the guards there, he could not go in them unless he was allowed. So one of the guards went inside to find Kristoff. Before too long, he was there.
"Hey boy, what are you doing out here?"
Sven tried to give him a look that said, "How is Anna?"
"Oh I know," Kristoff said. "You want to how she's doing." After Sven nodded, Kristoff continued, "Well, her illness is more serious than we had thought. She has a very high fever and a bad cough. But the doctor has said that she will get through it."
Even though Kristoff assured him that Anna wouldn't be sick forever, Sven was still feeling (and looking) very worried about Anna. He desperately wanted to see her and keep her company, since she had been doing so much for him lately.
Kristoff looked at him and sensed just what Sven wanted. "Do you wanna see her?"
Sven suddenly started panting excitedly and his face just lit up when Kristoff asked him that question. Kristoff opened one of the doors to let Sven inside and he quickly scurried. After some effort to get Sven up the stairs inside the palace, the two finally reached Anna's room.
"Stay here," Kristoff motioned to Sven. Then he walked into the room, where Anna was lying down and Elsa was sitting in a chair next to her.
"Anna," he said. "I have someone who wants to see you."
Anna was so weak that she could barely open her eyes, but she made an effort to do so to see her visitor. When she saw the figure of a familiar reindeer, she smiled. "Hi, Sven. I guess you wanted to keep me company for a change."
Before she could say more, Elsa objected, "Um, Kristoff, why is he here? We can't allow animals like reindeer in the castle."
Kristoff was about to explain when Anna said, "Please let him in here, Elsa. He's my friend."
Seeing that it meant a lot to Anna to see Sven, she agreed, "All right, but just this once."
With that being said, Sven walked over to Anna's side. Noticing how she looked, he moaned sadly. He sat down as close as he could to her and rested his head on her bed.
"Thank you for helping me earlier, Sven. I wouldn't have gotten up here as fast if it wasn't for you. Just like how when you helped me get back to Arendelle during the winter." Anna smiled and reached out to pet Sven. "Thank you for it all, Sven, and for your loyalty to me as well as Kristoff. You really are the best reindeer I know."
From that point on, Sven only left Anna's room in order to help Kristoff with ice harvesting. Whenever they came back, Sven would hurry up to Anna's room in order to see how she was doing. Except for that, nothing else convinced Sven to leave Anna's side, even when Kristoff tried to bribe him with carrots or when Elsa and staff members tried to make him leave.
No, Sven was a reindeer that was loyal to those he loved. Anna had been doing so much for him, so he knew he had to do the same. By the time she had recovered, she and Sven had formed an even tighter friendship.