This is my intake on what could have happened to Mono before Wander's journey began. Enjoy.

It was mid-summer; the sun was bright and hot. The birds were singing and flying gracefully in the sky. The butterflies and the bees went from flower to flower and not too far off was a girl with long raven black hair wearing a white dress. As she ran through a meadow, her beautiful hair flowing and bouncing behind her; she smiled excitedly. This girls name was Mono who was only eighteen years of age and this was her last summer. But of course she knew this. She had known this ever since she was but a child. As you can imagine, it was very hard for her at first to accept her fate, but in order to save her village she was willing to give her life. The only people to know of her fate were of course her family and the village chief, Lord Emon. A ritual was usually taken place outside of the village; a secret place, one where no one would disturb them. Mono knew not where this place was though and often wondered where her fate would lead her. She had grown up in this little village and only had one true friend, Wander. They had been friends before she could walk. Wander was a year older than she and remembered better of their play time as toddlers, so he would always tell her funny stories of their past. Mono was meeting him soon at their secret place. There was a forest not far now from where she was. The end of the meadow met the beginning of a forest; a thick green luscious place with cute little bunnies, deer, foxes, humming birds and cute little mice. There was no danger here so it was perfect for Mono to come here alone or better yet, with a special friend. Mono stepped lightly, trying her best to sneak up on Wander. She never really did succeed and Wander usually jumped out from behind a tree to scare her. And suddenly she saw a lazy Wander sitting up against a tree, the sun shining on his red hair. She stared at him for a moment, enjoying the sight of how peaceful he looked. As Mono took one more step a twig snapped underneath her sandal and Wander turned his head around, smiling when he saw her. He got up quickly and brushed the dirt off of him. "Took you long enough." he smiled handsomely at her and she tried to hide her blushing face.
"Oh stop it." she said walking closer to him. "You know how it is to sneak away from my parents' house." Wander only laughed and the two started walking.

As they approached a hill Wander held out his hand to help Mono walk up incase she happened to slip. Wander had never made an inappropriate move towards her and was always very caring when it came to her. Then again, Wander never gave any hints of liking her more than a friend either. He was always just very kind and easy with her. Mono did not mind, though. She knew her fate and it would be selfish of her to let Wander fall into a hopeless love with her and so she kept her feelings of love towards him to herself, but each day it got harder and harder to hold them back. The touch of his strong grasp as he helped her made her blush again and so she put her head down. "Getting tired already? We're almost there."
"Me getting tired? Never!" she huffed. They soon reached the top and there laying out before them was the sea. "Oh, I just love the smell of the sea." Mono took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, imagining herself as one of the birds, flying over the ocean. Wander then swooped her off her feet and started to walk down the other side if the hill. He usually did this for her seeing how this side had sharp rocks. Needless to say, Wander was more than happy to do it. This usually never bothered Mono but seeing how she had developed feelings of love for Wander it was different for her now. She watched as he concentrated on looking down where he stepped, careful not to slip, not that he ever did. Wander was exceptionally good on his feet and also with his hands. Mono liked the look of concentration on his face as he made his way down the rocky hill. It was the only time she could be this close to him and not feel bad about staring at him and she wished for more moments like this. And then quite suddenly Wander pretended to slip, scaring Mono, of course, and when he started to laugh she lightly slapped him on the chest. "Oh come on, that was funny." he told her.
"No, it wasn't." She tried not to grin and pursed her lips together. And as they reached the bottom Wander set Mono down gently and they walked closer to the sea. They sat just close enough so that when the tide came in it tickled their toes. The two would sit there for the longest time just talking about nothing, laughing about everything and teasing each other back and forth. It was their favorite game. It was also the only time they ever truly got to be alone and say what was really on their minds. As Mono looked at Wander he talked about how he trained Agro when he was just a colt. He was smiling, happy as she ever saw him whenever she talked to him here. And then suddenly she imagined the look on his face when he would learn about her fate. She saw tear stricken eyes and his body rocking back and forth trying to comfort himself from the thought of her death. She couldn't bare it and almost came to tears then. Mono had to turn away from him and found herself standing up and walking closer to the sea.
"Is everything ok, Mono?" he asked.
Oh, Everything is so right yet so wrong, Wander, She thought. The wind picked up some and Mono closed her eyes Imagining herself as a bird again and taking in the salty stink of the ocean. It was a good stink and it reminded her of a home that was very, very far away. She built up her courage and said, "Wander, I want to thank you for everything. For being my friend. For being so kind to me."
Wander became a little serious now and stood up to stand by her side. "Mono, what's this all about? You don't have to thank me for anything. I enjoying doing things for you. Surely you know this? Mono?" Mono kept her face turned away from him. She was silent. "Mono what's wrong? You can tell me anything. I won't get mad. I promise."
She laughed this time a little under her breath. "Ah, Wander, it is impossible for you to ever get upset with me. Even if I try to annoy you."
"Mono…" Wander reached out to touch the tips of her fingers.
Mono could stand it no longer and felt a tear trickle down her cheek. "I'm scared, Wander."
"Scared of what?" he held on to her hand more securely now, trying to get her to turn and face him, but she refused.
"Of death." she answered him.
"Everyone dies someday, Mono." for the first time he wasn't sure what to tell her.
Mono wiped the tear away, leaving no trace of it ever being there and turned to face him finally. "But what if death comes too soon? Wander, you're my best friend." and just like that she wrapped her arms around him and held on to him for dear life, her head resting on his chest.
Wander was a little taken back by this and slowly put his arms around her. "What's gotten into you?"
"I'm so selfish." she finally said.
Wander had to laugh at this. "Mono, you are many things, but being selfish is not one of them."
Mono grew a little flustered and said a little loudly, "Stop holding back! I'm trying so hard, can't you see?" She held on to him a little tighter. "I'm selfish because I want you all to myself. I love you, Wander."
Wander's heart melted a little and he smiled. "Is this why you're so upset? Did you think I would turn you away over something like this? Ah, Mono, you are so wrong." he caressed her hair a couple of times before finally pulling away from her a little. He brought a hand to her face and forced her to look at him. "You can be as selfish as you want when it comes to me." he smiled and moved in for a sweet kiss, their first kiss. "I don't mind." he said as he finally broke away from the kiss.
In a low voice so no one but the two could hear Mono said, "I want more days like this."
"Everyday can be like this, Mono." Wander told her, brushing away the hair that got in her face because of the wind.
"You promise?"
Wander smiled and kissed her again. "I promise."
"How much time do we have left?" she asked.
Wander looked to the sky and thought for a moment. "Well, judging from the shadows and where the sun is at, I'd say its close to dinner time."
Mono pouted a little. "There is just simply not enough hours in the day."
"It's the summer though, so it gives us more time. You should be happy." he tried to cheer her up.
Mono looked down at her feet, resting her head on his chest again and heaved a heavy sigh. "We should start heading back." she took his hands in hers.
"Someday Mono we won't have to sneak little moments like this." he pulled her face up to look at him. "You know I'd take you away from here if you really wanted me to."
Mono smiled. "I know."
Wander suddenly got excited and swooped Mono off her feet again, twirling around. "I'd fight monsters and demons for you and even giants! I'd travel to far away lands just to save you!" they both laughed and got dizzy from all the spinning until finally they dropped with a soft thud to the sand.

After their laughing subsided Mono moved to lay next Wander. "Would you really fight all those things for me?" she asked.
Wander looked at her like she was half crazy. "Of course!" he sat up, getting ready to tell another story. "You know there is a land, a forbidden land with different kinds of temples and at each temple sleeps a giant." he paused for a second. "Don't you remember those stories as kids?"
"That's all they are, Wander, stories." she sat up next to him.
"But listen, Mono, just listen. People have traveled to this land. I even think the chief has a map of it in his home!" Mono couldn't help but smile by how excited he was getting and then very suddenly he became serious. "They say that if you awaken each giant, each colossi, and defeat them you can bring someone back from the dead. If anything ever happened to you Mono I would defeat every single one. I promise you."
"Oh, Wander. You shouldn't promise such things. Promise me you won't ever do something like that." but when Wander didn't answer Mono pressed on. "Wander promise me!"
Her gave her a little smile. "No need to worry, Mono. I won't ever let anything like that happen to you, I swear."
Mono stood up then and lent a hand to Wander. "Good. We should be getting back now. Walk with me, please?"

Before reaching the village their hands broke apart and they separated themselves from each other a little so they wouldn't look suspicious. Mono was of a higher stature than Wander. Her father worked for the chief and Wander's parents were the common people. Wander was more than that though. He might have been the son of a fisherman, but he was talented and kind beyond his years and had one of the biggest hearts. He trained Agro when he was only twelve and now he was giving riding lessons to the younger kids in the village. As the sun moved to the west bringing that soft orange glow over the village, Wander said his goodbyes and Mono did the same. Wander stopped though before returning to his home. He stood next to one of the big oak trees and watched Mono retreat to her home. She looked back once and saw Wander waving her goodnight and she smiled. It was hard for Mono. Wander had no idea what was going to happen to her and she felt so sorry. As she entered her home the smell of freshly baked bread filled her nostrils. There was fish cooking and even some vegetables stewing in a pot all ready to eat. Her mother welcomed her home and asked for her help to set the table. It was usually like this after she got home from her walk with Wander. And all through dinner she sat there quietly as her parents talked up a storm about how their day went. She hardly touched her food and even asked to be excused from the table early. As soon as she was out of her parents sights she bolted to her room and locked the door. Mono threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow, crying, wanting to scream. She was so stupid, so selfish. She told herself over and over again that she would never tell Wander how she felt about him and she did and she felt so selfish for it! After her crying had subsided she hugged her pillow tight and curled up into a ball. Wander did not know it yet but, Mono had already broken his heart.