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In a city that was dark and forever rainy, warmth was a luxury, one that most children of the Pale City simply couldn't afford.
Six knew that she was lucky to have found her yellow raincoat when she did while in that dark alleyway. She also knew that it was incredibly lucky for Mono to have his trench coat. Most other children she'd seen scurrying about the Pale City lacked such blessed protection.
As she stumbled along beside Mono, Six found herself wishing that she could reach for his hand. Despite the protection from the elements that their coats provided them with, they were both soaked to the bone as they navigated through the streets.
Their feet were bare for they'd both long learned that they could keep their grip better that way. Shoes that were slippery could cause them to fall, and to fall meant death in a world such as theirs. They were nearly always moving, even if it was by nothing more than a halfhearted crawl.
Six often preferred to be silent as they ran through the Pale City. She wasn't entirely sure where they were headed, but she could feel in her heart that they would likely wind up in the Signal Tower. It’d been weeks since Mono had rescued her from the Hunter’s home, and they'd just managed to survive many other horrors too: the Teacher and the Bullies from the School, the Doctor and the Mannequins from the Hospital, and the countless Viewers that lived in the Pale City.
“Hey!” Mono called her after slipping away to somewhere close by.
Shivering from the cold, Six ducked into the doorway of an apartment building and looked around for her friend.
Always thinking of where would be safest to rest, Mono had found a little room in an abandoned apartment building. “I found a place,” he whispered.
For all that Six sometimes thought of holding Mono’s hand, he certainly took a lot of the initiative in doing so himself. He reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together, as he tugged her forward.
There was no hum of television screens here, no telltale sign of crackling static.
The building was eerily silent, and Six supposed that whatever Viewers might have once lived here had long been claimed by the Signal Tower. As they walked through the entryway, they crept into an empty apartment with its front door swung wide open. They kept to the shadows as they searched their surroundings carefully.
Always thinking of her stomach, Six located the kitchen where they browsed through old cans of beans and boxes of long expired cereal. She hated being hungry. When she and Mono had finally come upon a decent meal, her hand slipped through his once more as he tugged her away from the kitchen and down the hallway.
Happening upon several lonely bedrooms, Six found blankets that were in relatively new condition, and Mono found four pairs of too-large socks for the night.
Stashing all the things they'd found somewhere close by, Mono and Six returned to the front of the apartment where they barricaded the entrance with two chairs and a table. If any unwelcome creature happened to stumble upon their little hideout for the night, they'd at least have some protection from it via the barricade.
Then, they both crept back to where they'd hidden their loot, swaying on their feet from exhaustion. Mono held her hand, and they anchored each other to the world as they crawled into a linen closet.
They used a pair of towels to dry off some since they were dripping with dirty rainwater. As Mono separated the pairs of socks, Six made a little nest for them of stolen blankets and old linen. They pulled off their coats and piled them in a corner of the closet.
Their clothing was tattered, but they both didn't mind much. The blankets were still very soft, and some of them were made out of a wonderfully fuzzy material. After they had eaten a brief meal, Six burrowed beneath the covers and relaxed all of her tense muscles; she waited for Mono to join her, but he hesitated, a curious look upon his face.
Without saying a word, Six motioned him forward. What was he waiting for? They stayed warmer together, and she was cold without him.
Even when he was about to fall asleep, Mono always wore one of his many hats. It was something of a habit for him; he'd found a nightcap several buildings ago and wouldn't even think of sleeping without it. After he had swapped out his rain hat for the nightcap, he hesitated still, not quite daring to join her in their little mountain of blankets.
“I just…” Mono paused before shaking his head clear of his thoughts. “I'm coming.”
And as he crawled onto the blankets beside her, Six allowed him to curl himself around her and grip her hand in his. She thought that that might have been the end of whatever was bothering him, but he sighed.
“Six… Do you ever think about the before?” Mono’s voice was small and tired as he asked his question.
“The before?” Six repeated in a whisper. For her, speaking was rather rare, and she could tell that he was a bit startled for her to actually reply aloud.
Mono nodded sleepily as his foot brushed lightly against hers. “Yeah. The before.”
Furrowing her brows, Six thought a minute before she asked, “But what's the before?”
“I… I don't know,” Mono whispered back. “All I can remember of my life before you is a shattered television screen in the Hunter’s woods.” He shivered and drew closer to her. “Does that mean that I didn't have a before?”
Six didn't understand, and she didn't know what to say either so she just remained quiet.
Squeezing her hand lightly, Mono continued, “Was there no me before you?”
That gave Six pause to think. What had been her before? It all seemed so blurry now, so distantly in the past. She remembered a rocking ship and a lady with a pale mask and a mansion full of dolls and a little girl in a yellow raincoat and a music box with a metal crank, given to her by a living nightmare of a man. She remembered so much yet so little.
“I don't remember anything of my life before,” Mono admitted. “All I remember is waking up to a broken television screen in the middle of the woods and seeing you before you were taken by the Hunter.” He sighed again and pulled away, turning over on his side. “I guess I've known you my whole life then… at least, all of my life that I can remember.”
Six shifted beneath the blankets so that she could have a better look at him. “I think I’d rather have no before than a bad before.”
That earned another strange look from Mono. “But even if you have a bad before, you still know where you come from.” He angled himself away from her so that she wouldn't be able to catch a proper glimpse of his face.
With a grimace, Six shrugged her shoulders. She didn't entirely know what answer her friend was searching for, and she was almost too tired to think. Her memories of her past were painful, sharp shards of glass slicing the soft skin of her feet as she tread through the Pale City. There was no point in trying to remember them.
Mono sighed and sank deeper into the sheets, rolling over to face her. “Maybe the before doesn't even matter.” His features were obscured by the darkness, yet he hovered close by her side.
Though she wasn't particularly good with words or feelings, Six didn't want her friend to be upset. She reached out of her own free will, lacing her fingers through his. The little cozy nest of blankets they'd made was a comfort, and so were the double layered socks that clad their cold feet. Somehow, though, Mono’s hand in hers was the most comforting of all.
The darkness of the night only grew deeper, and they could still hear the sound of rain and thunder just outside of their little safe haven. Their breathing became less shallow as they grew calmer and time passed. Somehow, in these quiet moments, the world seemed less scary and more reasonable. They were just two kids, surviving in a terrifying world that only ever wanted to see them dead on a dinner plate… But being together brought Six a sense of peace, one that she hadn't known in a long time.
“Maybe the before doesn't matter all that much in comparison to the now and the later,” Mono continued musingly. He stroked the inside of her palm with his thumb as their limbs tangled together comfortably. “Maybe all that really matters is where you are now, where you're headed, and who you're going with.”
“You have me.” Six reassured him softly. Then, she squeezed his hand, her own little way of letting him know that she agreed with him. And then, with their hands still entwined, they both finally let go of their consciousness, allowing their bodies to relax and slip off to sleep.