OK, I wrote this out on . .. November 20th and was going to put it up then, but since then, I have been writing a new story everyday that I like better, so I end up putting that up. But I swore I would smack my head against a wall if I didn't post this . . . so here goes! Have fun!

A small bit of this might be AU because Ichigo did go the fireworks festival once in the Anime/Manga, so . . . yeah. Who cares? Not me. :D

Flames will be accepted, but ignored. I hope you like this!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or the characters.

For Her

Rukia held the small object up to her face, confused as to what it was and excited to learn. Just as she was about to chew it between her teeth to see what it tasted like, Ichigo plucked it out of her hands and said, scowling,

"You do not eat it, dope."

She stuck her tongue out at him but watched intently as he placed the small object on the cement ground, rolling his eyes when he saw her stick her nose up to it.

"What is it, Ichigo?"

"It's called a . . . I don't know the name, actually . . . but it blows up."

"I bet it's not as impressive as -"

Ichigo cut her off.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever; and it only makes a small explosion. If you want something big, you would have to go the fireworks tonight," he said, pushing her away from the firework, which he lit with a lighter then pushed her back further. She watched with wide eyes as the fuse began getting smaller and smaller.

Then, it exploded. Rukia's eyes widened even further as she watched from behind the metal panel Ichigo had set up. She asked,

"Why do people get such fun from making something explode on purpose?"

Ichigo laughed.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you, Renji and those other kids you grew up with didn't blow things up for fun."

"No, but we did do it like . . . as a distraction when we needed something."

"Whatever. Let's go inside."

"What's a sparkler?"

Ichigo stopped in his tracks and turned around; he was standing on the stairs leading up to his house, and wanted very badly to go inside, not to stand out there and educate Rukia in fireworks. But he could see she wasn't going to give up, so he dug around in the bag of small fireworks his dad had bought until he found one of the sparklers. He walked over to Rukia and pressed it into her hand, standing behind her to light it with the lighter.

But her attention was more on Ichigo, who was pressing into her back, than she was the sparkler. A small blush had spread over her cheeks, and when Ichigo yelled at her to pay attention or she would burn herself, she snapped out of it and watched as the sparkler lit up; its red and orange colors were spitting out in beautiful fountains in the air.

"Move it around," Ichigo said, covering her small hand with his as he showed her how to move it around in circles. She watched in awe as the colors now seemed to make beautiful shapes in the warm air. Ichigo said, "See? It makes it prettier."

"Uh huh," Rukia said simply, frowning as the light stopped. "Did it break?"

"No, stupid. It went out. They don't last long."

"Oh."

She was silent for a minute and they both sat down on the ground as Ichigo went through the bag, trying to find another sparkler for her.

"Can we go to the fireworks tonight?"

It was Ichigo's turn to be silent. He looked down at the ground, stuffing his hands into his pocket. He finally said, quietly,

"I haven't gone since my mom died."

"Why not?" Rukia asked gently, putting the dead sparkler down on the ground.

"Because . . . we all used to go together. Me, my mom, my dad and Yuzu and Karin. We tried to go one year after she died . . . but it just seemed . . . I dunno, wrong? But we didn't try again after that. I don't know if I could go."

"Could you try?" Rukia asked, picking up a flower from the grass and tearing the small, pink petals off in the awkwardness of the situation. "For me?"

Ichigo smiled sadly, finally finding the sparkler he was looking for. He stood up and Rukia followed.

"I could try."

She smiled, too, as he handed her the sparkler, his hand not leaving hers as he lit it and she began waving it around. The small pink flower laid forgotten on the grass, letting the wind pick it up and blow it across the lawn.

Traditions were hard to forget, Ichigo thought, his smile fading a little as he watched Rukia play with the sparkler, pure happiness on her face as the colors dripped off the small stick and died before hitting the ground.

But he could try and make new ones.

For her.

Well, whatcha think? This came to me when . . . ah . . . I don't know?

Please Review!