Hmm ... just a cute little nothing I wrote. I thought that it would be something different from my depressing stuff ... so here ya go. : D

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.

Snapshot Memory

"Ooh, Ichigo, can we do it?" Rukia asked, bouncing up and down happily. Ichigo coughed, accidentally spitting some of his slushie out of his nose; pervert mind in oveload. Shaking his head, he followed her gaze toward the photo booth. He raised his eyebrows.

"Why?"

" 'Cause."

"Please elaborate."

"Nuh uh."

Ichigo sighed, watching as Rukia happily skipped over to the photo booth and stuck her head inside. She 'Oooh'ed again and Ichigo rolled his eyes, sticking his hands in his pockets and looking up toward the sky. Rukia continued to inspect the photo booth before coming back to him, grabbing one of his hands out of his pockets, holding it tightly in both of hers, and hauling him over.

"How does it work?"

"A camera, genious."

"What's a camera?"

Ichigo was glad that his family was away at another part of the Carnival; they would be very surprised to see that Rukia-chan, the new, 'homeless' girl living with them, didn't know what the hell a camera was.

"It's a ... well, it does ... " Ichigo sighed and ran his hand through his hair, pausing to scratch his head. "Actually, I don't know quite how it works."

"Well, can we do it?"

"Do what?" he asked, groaning and letting his head drop when Rukia happily pointed inside the booth.

"Take pictures, dope. It says, '25 cents for 1, 1$ for 4'. What's that mean?"

"That I have to spend more money."

"Oh."

She didn't seem to care much. She took Ichigo by the hand again and hauled him inside the booth. When the first picture was taken, Ichigo's eyes were wide and he was about to fall over, onto Rukia, and said midget was yelling at him. The second picture, Rukia was sitting on his shoulders and making a weird face at the camera, her thumbs in her ears and her tongue hanging out. Ichigo's arms were crossed over his chest and he was pouting.

"Ichigo, smile!" Rukia said, hitting him over the head. "When I leave-" Her eyes widened and she stuttered, "I m-mean, if I leave ... I want you to smile."

When I leave ...

Ichigo smiled, though sadly, as a million thoughts raced through his head. Maybe ... maybe that was why Rukia had asked him to take her here today. Maybe that was why she had said, as she hauled him onto the merry-go-round hours ago, 'Time is short and memories are precious'. Maybe ... maybe that was why she wanted pictures.

Maybe she was leaving.

In the forth and final picture, Rukia had removed herself from his shoulders and was standing beside him, her black hair framing her face nicely and her bright violet eyes glowing.

And now, three years later, he didn't regreat that dollar spent. Well, two dollars, actually; he had wanted copies and the grouchy woman had kindly told him to fork over another dollar. But still ...

She had left, and those four pictures were the only memories he had left of her. He hadn't seen her again ... but he wanted to. He wanted to see her bright eyes glow happily again and her soft voice laugh as he grumbled, pretending to be annoyed, but not really.

"Ah, Rukia, why the hell won't you come back?"

Sighing, he put the pictures under his pillow and turned around to where he was facing the wall. He would wait for her ... because she would come back, like she always did.

But until then ... all he had of her was a snapshot memory.

I had fun! Anyway ... whatcha think? Hmm? Hmm? Please, please, please, please tell me! And ...

Please Review!