A/N: Mmk, so I wrote this for my friend Liz (Element Girls), based on this picture I drew, which can be found here: ameko-shadowsong(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Keep-a-Photograph-97986623

Seto and Mokuba Kaiba are (C) Kazuki Takahashi; the dead puppies lines are derived from Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, which you should go watch immediately if you haven't. ;p

-o-

He didn't know where she'd gone.

Intellectually, of course, he knew exactly where she was. He knew exactly what she was doing, and he knew exactly when he would see her again:

Never.

And it wasn't like he kept looking for her, either. He didn't turn around with an idea on his lips, or a complaint about those fools at the office. He didn't keep trying to talk to her, to find her. He merely went about his daily business in such a way that no one would have even guessed he cared.

But he did. And his brother knew.

His brother knew, and he worried, because Seto never came home from work anymore. Work was the one place he never saw her, so that's where he stayed to explain away her absence. If he ate at all, it was at the office. If he slept at all, it was at the office.

If he drank at all, it was stronger than anything he'd had before she'd left.

Mokuba was scared; he had no one to turn to. There had always been Seto, and then there had always been her, but he couldn't talk to either of them now. He never saw them anymore.

He just wanted to see them.

Seto wanted that, too. Maybe he wouldn't admit it to himself, but his greatest wish showed all three of them together, even if he did like to have her to himself once in a while. Together, they had the most fun.

"Shh, Moki, don't tell him."

"Tell me what, exactly?"

"See, that would be telling!"

"Mokuba, what is she talking about?"

He grinned, beaming. "You can never be sure, bro!"

"That was not particularly specific."

"That's the point, now come on!" She latched onto his arm, tugging him down onto the dock. Seawater sloshed a foot below, occasionally spraying up to spatter his boots.

"Don't fall in!" she warned, giggling hysterically. Then she pushed.

He came back up spluttering, trying and failing to keep his dignity as he struggled to stay afloat. "What. The. Hell?!"

She was eyeing him critically, laughter dancing in her eyes while she fought to keep serious. "Well, whatcha think, Moki?"

"Mokuba! What is going on?"

"I don't know," the boy responded solemnly, gazing at his older brother. "It's really hard to tell. Maybe we should just ask him?"

Grinning, she crouched down and leaned over the edge of the dock. He glared at her through the wood-brown hair washed into his sapphire eyes by the water. "This is not clean."

"We were wondering," she began, eyes glinting, "if the sleeves on your jacket are so big 'cause you have floaties hidden under them."

For a minute, he just stared at her, speechless. Then, growling slightly, he reached up and pulled her in, too. "You guys are gonna drown!" Mokuba declared—as, shrieking, she grabbed his sleeve and yanked him down with her.

Seeing Mokuba meant they were together now. And being together only brought memories of fun, of her. Of… death.

"Haha, I'm going to Lit when I die! No Heaven or Hell for me!"

He regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "And Lit is…?"

"Ten times better than Heaven! We have SoshiLee and the angels all look like Bakura!"

"…Yugi's friend?"

"Yeah! And when I die, you'll be there waiting for me, and when you die, I'll be there waiting for you."

"That does not make any sense."

"Haha, you're such a dork! Have some imagination, and a little bit of faith!"

He exhaled slightly, frowning. "When I die, they will put me in a hole in the ground and I will rot away until there is nothing left."

She rolled her eyes, laughing. "Fine, you do that. I'm going to Lit! And you'll be there whether you want to or not." Then she flung her arms around him, giggling uncontrollably. "You can't stop it, you dork."

"Please stop calling me that."

"But it's true!"

It was true that he wanted to believe her. But it was also true that he didn't. He knew what happened after you died: nothing. You rotted.

Still… he wished that she would always be happy. He wished she would never be hurt.

"—and so then we were like—OUCH!"

He turned back to see her sitting on the sidewalk, arms wrapped around one of her legs, the other stretched out in front of her. She bit down hard on her lip, then glanced up at him standing over her and flashed a smile through the tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Heh, I'm fine, give me a minute to get over the shock." She giggled slightly.

"Both your knees and elbows are bleeding," he said flatly. "Can you stand up?"

"Both?" She laughed. "I'm such a klutz. But it's just the sidewalk." Wobbling, she stood, blood trickling down her legs. "Look, I can even walk!" To prove it, she took two steps and tripped again. He grabbed her arm as she fell to stop her from hitting the ground.

"Do you need to go to the hospital?"

Without warning, she burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh! You're blowing this way out of proportion, Seto! I just skinned my knee!"

"And other knee, and elbow, and other elbow."

"Yeah, them too." She grinned. "Can we go back?"

"I'm not carrying you home."

"Hey!" More laughter bubbled out of her in an uncontrollable fountain. "I'm not the one treating it like a mortal injury! I'm fine."

Even so, she leaned on his arm the whole way back, a happy little smile on her face, the occasional further giggle bursting from her lips. Somehow, he didn't think she was using him as support because she needed to.

Mokuba walked in on yet another giggle fit as Seto wrapped her arms and legs in bandages. A frown of intense concentration pulled his brow down while she laughed hysterically, tugging on one end of the white material. "Gosh, Seto, all I needed was a band-aid! I can't believe you don't even know how to use these!"

"You're making it extremely difficult," he growled, glaring. "Can't you sit still?"

She burst more laughter as she spotted Mokuba. "Moki, make him stop! I'm gonna be a mummy and never move again!"

That was it. The house… The massive, elaborate mansion was so quiet without her. Nobody laughed anymore. Nobody.

So he didn't wonder where she'd gone, because he knew that. He knew it—andhedidn'tbelieveitwasLitdidhe? —so instead he wondered where the laughter had gone.

That was an entirely different question, wasn't it?

He was starting to forget what it sounded like.

Worse: He was starting to forget what she sounded like. What she looked like.

There was a photograph… A certain one he had in mind. Determined to find it, he finally left the office, urging the limo driver on faster and faster. Breathing erratically, he burst into the house—

Only to find that Mokuba had already tapped it to the refrigerator door.

"Smile, Mr. Kaiba?"

He scowled at the photographer. "Just do your job and take the picture, Kodenshi."

Cowed by the expression, the man's face paled. "Yes, Sir."

That would have been the end of it, too, if not for her. Of course she had to start laughing. It was just a little chuckle, sort of muffled; to be honest, it sounded like she was choking.

"Mr. Kodenshi, didn't you know that he can't smile?" The chuckles were escalating into hysterical giggles again. "Remember, every time Seto s-smiles—" She couldn't breathe around her laughter now. "—a—a puppy d-dies."

Both males were staring at her; she waved her hand and gasped, "G-go ahead and t-take the picture, I'll be fine." So she said, but she was doubled over; it wouldn't make for a very good photo. The photographer was grinning as he watched; Seto still looked frustrated with bewilderment. She couldn't stop laughing, and she didn't, not for a good five minutes.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened up, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "Sorry 'bout that," she said cheerily, breathlessly. "I—"

Then she caught sight of the very small smile at the corner of Seto's mouth. "PLUS ONE DEAD PUPPIES!" she cheered, and burst into more peals of laughter just as the camera flared.