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He took her to Vegas as promised.
They fumbled to take the picture that was already in her possession. “You have to pose like this,” she said, holding up the picture to his eyes, pointing at it.
He laughed and put his arm around her. “I don't have to do anything. It'll happen exactly the same. That's how things work.” The passerby they had recruited shuffled his eyebrows around on his face and then put the camera down, saying he hasn't got all day.
Alisha looked up at him quickly and said, “Just take the picture,” and she tilted her head at the right angle and smiled the smile she knew she was supposed to smile. The man handed her back her camera and she looked eagerly at the result.
“Shit,” she said, comparing the two. “You didn't do that thing with your eyes. You're not supposed to look at me!”
“I couldn't help it,” he said with a smirk, and then a puzzled expression crossed his face. “But they should have ended up the same.”
“This time travel shit,” she said, shaking her head. “Doesn't make sense.” She handed the camera back to the man and widened her eyes beautifully and asked him to take another. He sighed and agreed, backing up.
This time, Alisha blinked. The man walked away. “I think you look cute,” Simon said, but she only crossed her arms and looked off into the distance at all of the sparkling lights.
“Why can't we get it?”
“Alisha.” She looked up at him and he put his hands around her face. “It doesn't matter. I don't think we'll create any time ripples because we didn't take a picture correctly.” He didn't sound entirely certain on this last point, but he smiled all the same.
Alisha looked at the camera, flipping through the pictures and trying not to look at the already printed one.
“I think I like these better though,” she said thoughtfully, holding up the camera. A little smile crept onto Simon's face. “That picture you--well, your future self gave me--It wasn't my memory. It was a fantasy.”
She put the timer on the camera and set it on a bench nearby. She ran back to him, kissed him on the cheek, and said hurriedly, “And this--this is real.” The camera flashed and it took another photo of them. This time they weren't trying to be anything. They weren't trying to recreate anything. They were only being Alisha and Simon, perfectly in the present.