Blinded eyes do see (Willow and Jamie)

Jamie bumped into some of the chairs as he tried to make his way into a booth, holding his hands out ahead of him, one with a stick to make sure he didn't walk into any walls. One of the other patrons had taken pity on him, due to his obvious blindness, and guided him to the booth he wanted.

Sinking down into the seat, Jamie opened his eyes a little behind the black-out sunglasses. He wasn't blind but Satan had amplified his original 'gift' of seeing how to kill people tenfold. It was out of control, he saw every possible way to kill a person in flashes in front of his eyes. That's why he chose to become blind, so that when he was with Willow again he wouldn't have to see her death, over and over again, in his eyes.

When Willow had been asked to come to the Three Broomsticks by Jamie she was bouncing off the Walls and she had even straightened her hair so instead of being frizzy it was sleek and beautiful. With a giggle she grabbed her bag and apparated just outside the pub.

Pulling her black leather coat over her denim shorts, of course she wore tights under them because of the cold and her long sleeved White tshirt covered her arms.

Opening the door she peeked get head in and Willow saw Jamie right away but there was something wrong, why the glasses and the cane? No. It couldn't be. Quickly she walked over to him and Willow hugged Jamie close.

"Oh Merlin Jamie what happened to you?!"

Jamie had been tensing up as he felt someone approaching him but he relaxed into the hug when he realised it was Willow. He smiled a little,

"I've forsaken the devil Willow." he told her without any preamble, hugging her back, "I threw it all back in his face to be with you."

He paused a little and gestured vaguely at his face,

"But I paid the price."

Her breath caught in her throat...what did Jamie just say? He was no longer connected to the Devil? That was great! Willow leant down to kiss him softly on the lips but stopped, he was blind, because of her?

"W-w-what?"

Willow stuttered:

"You didn't do this only for me right?"

Her voice became strained and Willow slipped away to sit over on the other side of the booth.

Jamie thought about it for a moment before shrugging a little,

"I'd be lying if I said there was any other really important factors in the decision." he admitted, "I wanted to be with you Willow... and he would never allow that."

He chuckled a little,

"But the big guy upstairs will. So I swapped sides." he smiled a little, "I guess I'm an angel too now a days Willow."

As soon as Willow heard him say those words she looked in shock and awe at him, she just couldn't believe it. Why? Why did people she love always get hurt? Why did she always make them sick?

"But...but..."

Willows voice cracked and she started to sob a little not having cried in so long Willow could only cry in small amounts unless the floodgates completely opened...

"Why?! Why...? I...I made you sick too...I I'm such a horrible person...."

Jamie moved around the booth blindly until he reached Willow, where he carefully hugged Willow close to him,

"Don't you cry Willow." he told her softly, resting his head against her shoulder, "It's not good if you cry Willow."

He sighed a little,

"You didn't make me sick Willow, the devil did this to me. And I let him." he kissed her cheek, "It was either this... or kill you. And I refuse to kill the woman that has brought me so much happiness. The woman that I..."

He paused before laughing happily,

"Oh it's so great not to be joined with satan...! I can say it!" he laughed again, "I can say what I feel! I can tell you, Willow Hartman, that I, Jamie Curtail, love you!"

Just watching Jamie fumble around the table made Willow cry harder and when he hugged her close Willow pulled him down to sit next to her on the booths bench, she rested her head in his shoulder and tried to stop her tears.

"Jamie...I can't stop crying I just can't..."

She bit her lip to stop it wobbling and Willow took a deep breath stopping the shuddering sobs from coming out her throat.

"But, you did this for me....you didn't have to...I would have done anything to stop this from happening to you Jamie."

Willow heard him say he loved her and she sobbed happily wrapping her arms around Jamies neck and kissing him softly without fear of him getting hurt.

"I love you Jamie...I love you so so much..."

He frowned a little and squeezed her lightly in their hug,

"Don't cry Willow... please don't cry." he kissed her cheek, "I don't regret this. I don't think I ever will."

Sighing, he shook his head,

"It was either this or kill you." he shook his head more, "And that means that was only this option to me."

He wrapped his arms around her in return and laughed happily,

"Oh Willow..." he sighed contentedly, "I think I've loved you since the day we met. I just wasn't able to say it. But now... now I'm free to love you Willow. We're free to be together... if you'll have me."

Willow stopped crying so hard and merely sniffled into Jamie's shoulder, she nuzzled her head there and noticed that she was getting his shirt ever so slightly damp so she moved her head away from him, untangling herself from his arms and leaning on the table top.

"You could have just left, gone away, never seen me again. I would have preffered that for you...Jamie...I just...I can't believe this."

She stuttered placing her head in her hands and sobbing again.

"You're never going to be able to see me again, you wont be able to tell me how beautiful I look or anything like that, and your eyes, I loved your eyes..."

Trying to stop the flow of tears Willow gulped softly, playing with a strand of her smooth hair and winding it around her finger.

"Of course I'll have you."

She whispered.

Jamie sighed a little and closed his eyes behind his black-out glasses,

"Well Willow I'm sorry but this was my own, selfish, fault." he shrugged a little, "I wanted to come back to you and I was willing to accept this. I realise now that you were probably never going to be comfortable with the idea. So I'm selfish for still wanting to spend more time with you."

He sighed a little and reached up to his glasses, pulling them away to reveal his closed eyes. He set them down on the table top. Blindly, he patted Willow on the back,

"I'm not actually blind Willow... I just choose to be." he smiled a little, "Look in my direction. I want to be able to tell you how beautiful you look."

Jamie smiled widely,

"You have no idea how happy that makes me Willow."

Willow sniffed and stopped crying for a moment, she realised just how selfish she was being, Jamie had turned blind to be with her and she loved him more than anything in the world she should be happy to have him, whatever state she'd made him get in.

"Jamie, I'm sorry, I'm acting like a right foul GIT."

She giggled and threw her arms around Jamie's neck and kissed him deeply like she had never done before just showing the love she felt for him through her lips.

"Why would you choose to be?"

Willow asked, turning to face Jamie properly.

"Jamie Curtail, I, Willow Hartman love you very much and I am sorry, for being a grade a twazzok."

He chuckled a little and shook his head a little,

"No matter what you do Willow..." his smile softened, "You'll always be my angel."

Kissing her back, Jamie braced himself for a few seconds before opening his eyes, looking up at the ceiling to let his eyes adjust to the light again. Once he was sure that he wouldn't be blinded by anything, he looked down at Willow. His smile grew and he kissed Willow lightly on the forehead,

"I choose to be blind because - Willow lying face down in a pool of her own blood, a knife in his hand descending again and again and again! -..." he paused and closed his eyes as the vision flashed through his mind before opening his eyes again, "Because satan has made it so that I - Willow with her hair on fire as he poked his wand down her mouth, shooting fiendfyre down into her! -...so that I must see various ways for the person in front of me to - Willow's eyes losing their light as he violently smashed her head into the tabletop until blood gushed out! -... to die."

He closed his eyes tightly,

"I choose to be blind because being forced to see your death... repeatedly and apparently at my own hands..." a single tear came to his eye, "I couldn't live like that, I'm sorry."

Willow bit her lip as Jamie took off his glasses and she looked at him in the eye with a smile, at least he could still see, at least his eyes were still working in case he ever wanted to leave her and see someone else.

"Jamie, thats...thats just horrible. So even now?"

Closing her eyes and trying to stop herself from crying again Willow took the glasses that Jamie had taken off and slid them back over his eyes.

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone, let alone the man I love, I understand why you've done what you've done now, and I'm sorry I didn't before."

Kissing his lips softly once more and moving her lips from his own up to the tear that had begun to roll down his cheek.

He shook his head a little,

"He made it worse when I left him." he sighed a little, "I was always able to control it before but now it's like someone's opened the tap fully and the tide is rushing against my mind everytime I open my eyes."

Taking the glasses greatfully he opened his eyes behind the blackout glasses and breathed a small sigh of relief,

"Well I'm glad that I was right about something..." he smilled as she kissed his tear away, "I still love to look at you. I think I might even be able to manage open my eyes more than once a day if I'd be seeing your beautiful face."

Willow bit her lip, she found herself cursing herself mentally, why did she have to be Russian? If she went to Hogwarts then this wouldn't have happened to poor Jamie and he wouldn't hae been effected like this now.

'Well then you mustn't open your eyes. However much I want you to, if it hurts you then don't do it."

Reaching her head up to kiss Jamie's lips softly Willow stroked his hand with her thumb as she held it within her own.

"Yes, you're right about one thing Jamie, more than one in fact..."

Blushing a little Willow tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks Jamie."

He smiled sadly before shaking his head a little,

"You know I would never be able to honour that request Willow." his smile widened, "Because to say I would never open my eyes again would be to agree to never look at you again. And if I refused the Devil's demand to do that I'm pretty sure I can deny yours. No offence."

Smiling happily now, Jamie nodded a little,

"Don't worry about it." he kissed her back a little, "I love you Willow. I'd do anything to see you again. That's why I made another deal. This time with the man up top. We agreed that if I could be a better person, I would be able to see you again."

Willow smiled at Jamie as he told her about this other deal that he had made, a little worried about all these deals she frowned just a little she didn't know why Jamie couldn't just live the life he had been given after all, he had messed with it once now why do it again?

"I am curious how you get to make all these deals while others must live their life with no help from divinity at all..."

She trailed off, sounding more than a little annoyed.
After all she had gone through her fair share of hardship and yet she lived with it and made no deals, took everything as it came to her and never questioned it. Why didn't she get to have a good life?

"I wonder what he means by a better person, he works in mysterious ways after all."

Jamie sighed a little before shrugging helplessly,

"I don't know Willow. I don't know why they're so interested in my life." he leant back, facing the ceiling, "I'm the worst kind of human being Willow. I'm a freaking spongue. I have been given so much and others are given so little. Of course I've paid for it but it still doesn't make it any better."

He shook his head a little,

"I don't know Willow. I just don't know."

Willow shook her head, she didn't know what she was thinking, she couldn't be mad at Jamie it wasn't like it was his fault that they didn't help other people as much as they did him and Willow smiled, she did have a good life, she had a job, a home and a loving boyfriend.

"Oh! Jamie guess what!"

She tried to change the subject from the slightly more morose one that they had just been talking about.

"I've got a new job! So now I'm going to have enough money to keep the shop going and afford my apartment how great is that?"

Thankful for the change in conversation he smiled slightly,

"What?" he guessed dutifully with the same wistful smile. He should have known. Willow would always be Willow, ready to help and love anyone who needed it. Of course he was very glad she loved him more than everyone else, it was the selfish core of his.

"Wow! That's great Willow!" he agreed, pleased for Willow, "What's your new job?"

Willow smiled broadly and wound a strand of hair around her finger as she continued to rest it against Jamies chest listening to his heartbeat within his chest.

"Can't you guess?"

She winked practically jumping in her seat with excitement she had surprises planned for them too.

" I'm the new Flying Professor at Hogwarts! The very job I came here for!!"

He chuckled lightly and rolled his eyes behind the blackout glasses,

"Of course I couldn't guess." he stuck his tongue out at her, "But that's why I asked."

Jamie reached out and held her head loosely in his hands to help him know where to kiss her when he kissed her soundly on the lips,

"That's great Willow! I knew you'd get what you came here for!"

Willow giggled as Jamie stuck his tongue out at her and she wiggled her own right back before she remembered that he wouldn't see it, then she got an idea and started to make funny faces wondering if he would be able to tell.

"I have a steady income now! I'm so very happy."

She smiled as Jamie tried to find her lips and Willow kissed him back soundly when he had found them, Willow pressed her lips together with his and kissed him back just as soundly.

"I feel bad for the poor Professor who left the position."

He frowned a little before chuckling,

"I think I'm right in saying, judging from the silence there for a bit, that you were making faces at me." he stuck his tongue out, "If the wind changes your face will stay like that."

He smiled a little as he pulled away from the kiss slightly,

"Don't feel too bad Willow." he told her, giving her a quick peck on the lips, "You get what you came to this country for... the job you've always wanted!"