Never before in his life had Kristoff been so frantic. It had been days and no matter how far and wide he searched Sven was nowhere to be seen. He had looked high and low, for the big Pyrenean mountain dog, but to no avail. He was beginning to lose hope, his heart broken he was only thinking the worst.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bjorgman, but most shelters in our area follow the seventy two hour rule. If a pet is not adopted or recovered by its owner in seventy two hours many over capacity shelters will simply put the animal down, especially if it is an older pet."

Kristoff felt as if someone had shoved a knife in his heart, "You don't understand I've called everywhere I've done everything I can, lost posters, online pet finder sites, I've called every shelter in the phone book… look could you please check again… I…" He stopped for a moment, eyes welling up with tears, so choked up that he could hardly speak, " He's my best friend, he's a Great Pyrenees, really big loveable boy… white and grey fluffy fur and he had a collar on, his name is Sven. If you could just please…"

"Like I said Mr. Bjorgman, I'm sorry but he's just not here. I've checked all our records and there's no Pyrenees here, nothing even close. We haven't had any bigger dogs in a couple weeks." The woman did sound as if she was actually sorry, tired and wishing to be elsewhere, but yet genuinely concerned. "If you've called all the other shelters my best suggestion is to go out to the edge of town. Over on Stanley Road there's a newer shelter. A few of our old volunteers started it up, it's a no kill for older dogs. Maybe your Sven ended up there."

Kristoff expressed his interest though the woman maintained that it was highly unlikely and that it would be a miracle to find him there. Kristoff's shattered heart knew it was true, but he still had to try. After all Sven had done for him throughout the years it was the very least he could do.

Taking down the address the woman on the phone read off to him, and thanking her profusely Kristoff hung up the phone on its receiver. He sighed for a moment, tears still in his eyes as his hand combed back a pile of blonde hair. It was just his luck that Sven would run away. It was their first week in a completely new house, in a completely new town, and of course the big moose of a dog had decided to break free of his backyard run to go free and explore the town.

That would have been fine in their old home up in the mountains, but now that they had moved into the city below, that sort of action was much more dangerous. Not only were there cars here, but also dog catchers and those who would wish to do the loving dog harm. His guilt was overwhelming at the thought of his best and only friend getting hurt, and he even felt guilty for moving in the first place. However he knew he had to leave the woods one day. His adoptive parents had cared for him well and when they had set him up with a mountain cabin of his own it had been a Godsend, but he needed to work, and he wanted more than anything to catch his destiny.

Starting out by losing the one he cared for and about right off the back was not how he planned to do so however, and with the last of his faith Kristoff grabbed the keys to his old beat up pickup truck out of the kitchen drawer he had already designated for junk and ran outside in his jeans, hoodie, and boots, more than prepared to get his best friend back.

He tried to distract himself from the thoughts that plagued his mind in the truck, but it was to no avail. He had tried everything, maintaining perfect unbreakable eye contact with the road, listening to old rock and roll songs on the radio, nothing helped. Everything reminded him of Sven.

You ain't nothin' but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
You aint nothin but a hound dog
Cryin' all the time
Well, you ain't never caught a rabbit
And you aint no friend of mine

Kristoff switched off the radio wondering if the world was against him or if he was simply being sensitive. He couldn't decide which however because before he could think much on it he saw a sign that was his only hope of salvation. It was wooden, and freshly painted put into the ground on the side of the road. He was in the outskirts now, more in the country than in the city, more in a place in which he found comfort than the place in which he and Sven had moved.

The sign read, "Green Knoll Rescue and Rehabilitation" Below it was a well painted green paw and a short passage, "And then God made Dog and Man was Complete."

Kristoff, though trying not to get his hopes up, turned down the dirt driveway and thought for a moment that this was certainly the type of place Sven would run to. His heart was full of hope for that at the very least to be true as he went down the long driveway and glanced at the apple trees on all sides. It looked like home to him, and his hope was that it had to Sven as well.

One Kristoff had parked his big black truck beside a small silver car in the small dirt lot he walked in the front door of a small home like building that's front door boasted a red "always open" sign. Personally Kristoff wondered how they could be always open, but he didn't doubt it, when someone loved animals enough to rescue them and give them a home, they certainly were the type who was also willing to keep their doors open at all times.

Kristoff made a silent promise that he too would be more of a charitable heart once he found Sven, he would do anything to help another man, woman or child avoid the kind of heartbreak he was currently experiencing. "Hello?"

Entering the room completely Kristoff saw a young woman sitting at a desk smiling, "Hello." She said with a grin. "Can I help you find a forever friend today?" She asked, obviously she had experience with this before.

"Uh, well actually I'm hoping to find a forever friend that was lost." He walked closer to the desk where the woman sat, trying not to seem imposing as he often did due only to his height. He put his hands in his pockets and slouched down. "You see I've tried every other shelter in the city and I'm beginning to lose hope."

The red head frowned softly as if she could truly feel his pain, "Well I hope your friend is here then." She said, looking up to the large blonde man before her. She could tell from the moment he walked in that he was in pain. She was perceptive like that, and it killed her inside every time she saw anyone feeling that way. She knew the pain of feeling alone and broken inside. She knew the feeling of losing ones that you loved regardless of how long you lost them for it always broke a heart into shards.

Kristoff felt his heart strengthened a bit by the young woman's words. She seemed to be only a few years younger than him at most and she had such life around him that for a moment she almost made him believe that there was not a doubt that Sven would be there indeed. The warmth she expressed was like nothing he had ever felt before.

"So what can you tell me about your friend?" She asked, plopping a big blue binder atop the lightly stained pinewood desk. She hoped and prayed that the man's dog would be there.

"Uh well he's a male, approximately five years old." He paused for a moment as the lady flipped to the male section and moved to another area. "He's a Pyrenean mountain dog…"

He was cut off by her snapping the book closed and hopping out of her seat with a gasp. "Oh my goodness, Sven?" She asked, but did not give him enough time to answer before saying, "Why didn't you just say so, follow me!"

Kristoff nearly had a heart attack as she lead him through a door behind the desk to a large room full of cages in which a handful of dogs were being kept. He could find no words to speak, too in shock by the mention of his dog's name.

The woman whistled loudly and all the dogs in the room ran to the fronts of their cages, barking loudly with tails wagging, obviously happy and healthy as they could be. "Sven!" She exclaimed happily as she approached the cage at the very end, "I think there's someone here to see you."

Kristoff's heart leapt as he saw the first bit of fluffy white fur approach the cage door, and was even more over joyed as the woman unlocked the cage. It took Sven no time at all to race out of the metal surrounded space and into Kristoff's open arms. He had been kneeling down on one knee on the room's cement floor waiting for the dog, and had of course been knocked over with the dog's exuberant dash towards him. Plenty of licks were being made to his face before he tried to sit up only to hear the girl laughing.

"Yup, you're definitely his owner!" She said with a sad smile, "He's been a little bit shy to the other volunteers except me, and I'll admit I'll be a little sad to see him go." She tapped her hand to her outer thigh and within a moment Sven had jumped off Kristoff to approach her instead. "We've gotten to be good pals in the past couple days, huh big guy?" She said as she kneeled down to pet the dog between his ears.

Kristoff smiled fondly at the woman, her red hair shown in the light and her smile was bright and white. She had a blush on her face, obvious on her pale skin, which made her freckles even more obvious to his eyes. He saw in her everything which he personally held close to his heart, and within a moment he had formed his first crush. He blushed a bit as she played with Sven, Twenty One years old, just moved away from home, and his first and only crush was the woman who had saved his dog. He wondered again at the duality of the world. Had Sven come here out of fate, so that they would meet? Or was it simply because she had saved Sven that he was finding himself so attracted to this woman he had only just met?

"So before I turn him over to you I'm going to need your name." She said with a laugh as Sven licked her hand and the man sat up. "I can't just go giving dogs away to men I don't know the names of."

Kristoff smiled up at the woman, "Kristoff." He said as he began to stand up, "Kristoff Bjogman." He offered his hand to the woman, who immediately took it in for a surprisingly firm handshake.

"You can call me Anna." She said simply before leading him back to the office to fill out some minor paperwork.

Kristoff dotted his last i and crossed his last t before again shaking hands with Anna. "I don't know how I could ever even begin to repay you." He said to her as they shook hands, "Sven is all I have, and I don't know what I would have done without him."

Anna smiled, genuinely impressed by the love that Kristoff held for his dog. "Well you don't have to thank just me." She said laughing a bit, "There's a lot of volunteers who work here to make sure these older dogs stay out of kill shelters and find a home."

Kristoff nodded to her a scratched Sven between the ears, "Well I appreciate everyone who works here in that case. What you all do here is really amazing."

"Though I do have a small request if you did want to thank me." She said, a bit unsure but trying to be bold.

"Name it." Kristoff replied simply. She had given him Sven, he would gladly give her the world if he could.

"I get off at five." She said smiling demurely, "And I like to go out to Maggie's diner over in the Old Italian section of town for a burger."

Kristoff was taken aback for a moment before smiling, somehow someway she had caught his interest in her, and for some reason or another she was interested too. Before he could even say a word, Sven barked.

Anna winking at Kristoff chuckled, "It's a date."