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It was only a couple of years after the warehouse when the coldest winter of the century hit. If Vander and Benzo were alive, they would have been delighted at the sight of gently falling snow. They would have run out together with Vi, Mylo, and Claggor, all bundled up. They would have thrown snowballs at each other and tried to make snow angels before the undercity’s grit turned the white to grey. Then, they would have run into the warmth of the Last Drop, where Vander would have whipped up something hot to drink.
But Vander and Benzo and everyone else were dead. What looked like a peaceful heaven for those lucky enough to have a warm home was death itself for two orphaned sump rats.
Ekko and Powder had been walking for hours. Their thin jackets and tattered clothes weren’t enough to stave off the freezing wind. Ekko was pretty sure if they stopped walking, they’d both freeze to death, but he was quickly getting exhausted. They’d barely had anything to eat today or the day before. He stopped suddenly, a feeling of overwhelming dizziness overtaking him.
“Come on,” Powder said firmly, grabbing his arm. “We’ve got to keep moving.”
At that moment he didn’t think he could take another step if he tried. He tried to gather up some kind of fear or determination, anything that might give him the strength to move on. For Powder, at least. But he came up dry. He had used every last ounce of courage or spite or any kind of emotion other than exhaustion.
He looked across the city, only vaguely aware that Powder was still talking to him. It looked clean for once, with all that snow. He had heard that freezing to death was actually quite a nice way to go. Your body just shuts down peacefully, and at the end you can’t even feel the cold anymore.
Without a sound, his legs went out from under him, and he sat down in the snow.
“What are you doing?” Powder demanded. “You have to get up.”
“Powder, I’m tired,” he said, and gods knew that was an understatement. “Let’s just rest here together for a few minutes, okay?”
“That’s a great way to lose all of our fingers and toes,” Powder said, still trying to pull him up.
It didn’t work. She was such a tiny little thing in comparison to him, and she didn’t exactly have a lot of strength left at this point.
“Ekko,” she said. “You’re going to die here if you don’t get up!”
“Okay,” Ekko said.
He felt a lot warmer now that he was sitting down. Actually, this felt really nice. If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend the last two years were a nightmare and he was curled up in Benzo’s shop—
A hard smack to his cheek jolted him out of his fantasy. He looked up to see Powder, her eyes full of tears.
“Don’t do this to me,” she begged. “Please, please don’t leave me. You’re all I’ve got left.”
He resented her, not for the first time either. He had tried so damn hard to keep her alive, constantly putting her first every moment of his life. How many times had she gotten them in trouble by being crazy? How many times did he lose sleep staying up to make sure Silco wouldn’t find her? They wouldn’t even be in this mess if it wasn’t for her. Why couldn’t she just let him do this one thing?
“Fuck you,” he muttered, before closing his eyes again.
“Fuck you!” Powder screamed.
She hit him again. When that didn’t get any results, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. He shoved her away, and she landed on her ass.
“Ekko,” she said, slowly and painfully getting back up. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to hit you. I just really, really need you to wake up now. Please, Ekko, I’ll do anything, I promise. Just open your eyes and get back up.”
Ekko didn’t respond, trying to regain that feeling of warmth and comfort. Then he heard the noise of something being unzipped and felt a sudden weight on his shoulders. His eyes flew open again to see Powder without her jacket, pulling off her scarf and mittens.
“What?” Ekko managed.
“I’m going to give you all my stuff, okay?” She said, barely able to get the words out from shivering so hard. “And then I’ll get help. Someone should be able to help you. I won’t be there, so they won’t be worried about Silco.”
The fear he had searched for earlier came back in full force as Powder put her scarf around his neck and her mittens over his threadbare gloves. For some reason the idea of living without her seemed far worse than them both dying here. What would he do without her? She was all he had too.
“Powder,” he said, struggling to get the words out. “No.”
“It’ll be okay,” she said, yanking off her hat.
“It’s not okay!”
He grabbed her hand before she gave him her hat. He didn’t even know someone could shake so hard.
“You’ll freeze to death.”
“It’s okay,” she repeated.
And she was smiling. Ekko didn’t think he’d ever be able to forget that smile. Jinx smiled a lot, especially when she was upset. It never looked quite right, not since that night at the warehouse. But this was genuine. The first real smile he had seen from her in two years.
“I love you,” she said. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
Then she pulled away from him and ran, letting her red hat fall to the snow. Ekko didn’t bother picking it up. He ran after her, feeling a sudden burst of energy. Powder reached a row house and began slamming on the door.
“Someone help me! Please. I just need a second! I just need you to take care of him.”
There was no answer, of course. Zaun was not a kind place. Ekko knew nobody would answer Powder’s cries. And without anything warm on, she’d freeze to death in a matter of seconds. By the time she reached the second row house, her cries of help were unintelligible. When she reached the third, Ekko caught up to her. Her lips were blue, and he could see the frozen tears beneath her eyes. He went to unzip his jacket, but she managed to grab his hand with a strength that surprised him. She shook her head, begging him to what—to let her freeze to death? He couldn’t do that. That was just cruel. How could he have ever asked that of her?
Powder suddenly went slack in his arms, and the entire world seemed to stop.
This couldn’t be happening. First his parents, then Benzo, then Vander’s family, and now Powder? She was all he had left. She was the only thing keeping him alive these last two hellish years.
“Please,” he said.
He didn’t know who he was praying to. He had long lost any faith in Janna or the Grey Lady. He didn’t think any of those he lost could hear him beyond the grave. He sure as hell didn’t expect an answer.
But he got one anyway. The row house door opened, and standing there was a bat-like Vastayn boy about his age. Ekko looked up at him in amazement, too shocked to feel any kind of hope. The boy looked over them and nodded.
“Come in.”
Powder was alive.
The Vastayn family was surprisingly kind. It consisted of about eight children, most younger than Ekko, and two elderly grandparents. They were all cramped together in the tiny little row house, but to Ekko’s surprise they still let the two of them in.
“Couldn’t leave two children to freeze to death,” the grandfather said.
They undressed Powder and put her in a basin filled with warm water. She was small enough to fit. Ekko watched them carefully, certain they would try to do something perverted with her. He didn’t believe in people just being kind anymore. But they seemed to prove him wrong. Once the water got cool, they dried her off and wrapped her in clean, if ill-fitting, clothes. Then they put her in front of the ancient kerosene heater with a mug of mint tea and a dry hunk of bread.
She was conscious at that point but didn’t seem completely there. She didn’t answer any of the questions Ekko or the Vastayns asked her. That was all right. Power got like that sometimes. And nearly dying would mess with your head.
He realized he didn’t really care what she was like or how broken she seemed sometimes. He needed her alive, and that was all. And she needed him alive.
“I’m sorry,” he said, knowing she probably didn’t have the capacity to understand him. “I gave up back there. I almost let you lose me.”
She looked at him, blank-eyed and slightly confused.
“I won’t do that again,” he promised. “I know I don’t have the right to die as long as you’re with me. But that goes for both of us, okay?”
“Don’t take off your jacket, Ekko,” she said. “One of us needs to stay warm.”
He sighed. Her mind was still back on the row house steps, freezing to death.
“It’s okay, Powder. I’m going to be okay. We both are.”
“Alright,” she agreed airily. “I’m going to sleep now.”
He carefully took the mug out of her hands before she spilled it and then wrapped his arms around her.
“Okay, Powder, get some sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
And he was