Great Minds (OPEN)

Willow was very glad that she had managed to move from Russia to Germany, after all even though they were in the middle of a magical war they looked like they were beginning to solve that and hopefully things would be dying down soon enough.

She just couldn't pass up the oppertunity for two, well paying and wonderful jobs, she was just so blessed with the chance to do well in the area's she loved and she could not pass them down. Luckily her father had understood and she had managed to move him from Russia to Germany.

Slowly she walked through the halls of the Academy, it was a nice place she thought, it seemed to have so much life to it and Willow couldn't help but smile as she listened to some of the speeches.

Perching on a nearby bench, she let herself soak in the sun, a happy smile on her lips.

Leopold wandered down the halls in a small daze. He'd been trying to think of ways to kill Konig so as to take his place by his Mistress Raven's side. In his search for answers he'd come to Der Akademie. Great minds came here to think apparently.

He had asked many people around here their opinions of his options, as he saw them, and had been slightly depressed by the answers. More often than not they advised him to not seek Raven's affections. One of them was so bold as to suggest he needed to seek help for wanting them. That particular man had found it difficult to remain breathing after Leopold had torn his throat out.

As he walked through the sun he saw a woman sitting on a bench. Deciding to talk to one more person, Leopold sat down on the bench beside her,

"I was wondering if you could help me." he told her, tilting his head curiously to the side, "I need someone's advise and I'd like to have yours if you'll give it."

Willow turned as she heard someone approaching, and when they asked her for some help, she couldn't help but feel oh so very flattered, she didn't think that she was a very wise person, but she supposed that her fathers wise words, might have just rubbed off on her.

"Of course you can have my help, with anything you want." she said happily, patting the empty space on the bench next to her, so that he felt welcome to sit down and talk to her about whatever he wanted help with.

Holding her hand out to the man, so that he could shake it, Willow smiled gently and introduced herself;

"My name is Willow Hartman, what's yours?" she asked politely.

Leopold could tell that the woman sat on the bench was glad that he had asked her about this. It was strange, she was the one who was going to be telling him things after all. Shouldn't he be the one who was glad? Having her accept his request he grinned,

"Why thank you." he bowed slightly before sitting down when asked. He paused when she held her hand out for him to take. Curious, Leopold took her hand and examined it, "This is a nice hand. I can see why you're proud of it."

Having missed the point of a handshake, Leopold blinked once before grinning,

"I am Leopold Kraken!" he declared before looking at her. When she didn't run away screaming he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. This was new. Shaking it off, he continued, "I have a problem. It is a... romantic problem you see. Can you help with that sort of thing?"

Willow smiled gently and she blinked when the man merely looked at her hand and said that it was a good hand, that she was proud of it, she wondered if he had missed the point of the handshake, or if he was just one of those people with a strange sense of humour.

Regardless Willow laughed gently and she nodded her head; "I guess it is a pretty good hand, I must say I like yours too."

When he told her who he was, in a little bit of a strange fashion, Willow smiled softly and she nodded her head, but the problem that he was going to ask for her help on made her smile widely, she could definately help with this!

"Oh of course I can help with those sorts of problems Leopold, in fact people have told me that I'm rather good with problems like that so fire away." she prompted.

Of course she was good with them...she had to deal with Gervais after all.

Leopold was actually rather confused when Willow laughed a bit at his statement about her hand. Was she confused about it? He had complimented her hand because it was a good hand. A hand to be proud of. When she said she liked his hand he grinned,

"Really?" he gave his hand a slightly disappointed look, "Mistress Raven doesn't like it. She says that it's too big."

He was getting confused now. She didn't know who he was? Did she not read the papers? Apparently not. He blinked a little bit when she smiled widely,

"You are good at sorting problems such as this?" he looked relieved, "You must be very wise then! For this problem confuses me greatly... are matters of the... heart... hard?"

He shook his head a little bit,

"The problem is that my Mistress is in the hands of another!" he told her, incensed, "But when I attempt to liberate her she defends the pitiful creature! What must I do Willow?"

Willow laughed a little bit and she held her hand up and pressed it against Leopolds, showing that although his hand was big, her hand was also pretty small for a ladies hand. She had always thought that but, never really dwelled on the fact.

"Well I think that it's a splendid hand, although I have never really thought about it, I really like bigger hands on men, otherwise they look a bit strange." Willow smiled gently.

Matters of the heart, to Willow, were one of the most complicated things that could ever be, it was so hard to come up with the right answer when people feel the opposite.

"In my opinion they're the hardest things to deal with, because your heart sometimes doesn't agree with what your brain tells you...and it's so difficult to chose which one to follow." Willow stated, with a happy tone.

Listening to Leopold's problem, Willow smiled gently; "Ah, unrequited love...I would say...that it was best to tell the lady you love that you do love her, have you ever told her?"

When Willow pressed her hand up against his he blinked a few times and took note in the difference in size. He closed his fingers over her's, not needing to stretch them at all while hers were still fully extended. Leopold shook his head and removed his hand,

"Well then with the size of my hand I should be one of the manliest men in the world by your estimation." he paused before shrugging a little bit, "I have not thought of that before. I think only that it is large enough for my needs."

Leopold made a small disgruntled noise before pouting,

"Why can't the heart just be sensible and do as it's told?" he pouted crossly, crossing his arms over his chest, "It should be a good little squishy thing and pump blood and nothing more. Shouldn't be messing with the brain."

Leopold blinked a few times before shaking his head vigourously,

"No! Not unrequited! Mistress loves me too! I just know it! I just need to get rid of the pretender for her to see it." he assured her cheerfully, "I tell her quite often Willow. But then my Mistress always returns to the pretender! When he is not worthy of her affections!"

Willow smiled gently and couldn't help but hold back an 'Awww' when Leopold crossed his arms and pouted, she knew that is Gervais was as attentive and loving as this man appeared to be then there would be no problems at all with them being together!

But it wasn't really her fate to be with a man like Leopold, who loved someone with such rapt devotion.

"I don't know why it can't do as it's told Leopold." she smiled gently, with a tinge of sadness "Perhaps it's just made that way, but we wouldn't have it any other way when things begin to go right."

When he denied the fact it was unrequited, Willow began to see the problem and she bit her lip gently, how would she deal with this then, she had heard of Leopold...and she didn't want to make him mad, but how could she lie?

"Leopold...I...I suppose that if you've told her, and that you have tried all you can to show her how much you love her, there's nothing else to be done. Maybe you should try and distract yourself from your feelings, try and find another person to direct them towards?"

Leopold saw the expression on Willow's face and he didn't like it. It was the expression he'd seen some people giving children when they had done something... something... cute! Even thinking about the word made him shudder slightly,

"They go right? When do they go right?" he asked her with, ironically, nothing but innocence in his question, "Is there a date when they go right? Perhaps I should mark it on a calender of some sort."

Seeing that she was somewhat hesitant to continue talking, Leopold was tempted to just shout at her to tell him what to do. But then again she looked kind of frial and frightened. If he did that she'd become a gibbering wreck. And in his experience those kinds of people didn't give good advise. He'd tried it before,

"Nothing else to be done...? But then how will she shake off the affections of the pretender?" he asked her, a touch of whining in his voice before he pouted, "But only my Mistress accepts me..."

Willow smiled softly at Leopold, from what she had heard of him which was mostly bad things, he didn't seem the type of man to have these sorts of problems, it wasn't what she would have expected, but she was glad to see that he had some human side to him.

Laughing gently Willow shook her head and moved a little closer to Leopold, placing her hands on her lap she looked up into his eyes while she spoke to him;

"No, things start going right when your love is returned! You begin to have a relationship and things start going your way, but there's no set date when that will happen."

With a sadder smile on her lips now, Willow continued to speak, hoping that her advice would actually help Leopold feel better about himself;

"In love, people have to make their own mistakes, like...how would you feel if I told you that your feelings for your mistress were misplaced, that you shouldn't love her?" she asked, kindly.

Leopold was rather unnerved by this whole thing if he was honest with himself. He was not the kind of guy to ask for advise on these sorts of things from strangers. Or people he knew. Or even have these sorts of problems in the first place. He had thought his heart was dead, he'd done enough to bury the troublesome thing after all. But it seemed the heart was a tricky thing. Very slippery.

When she moved slightly closer to him, Leopold simply watched her move before looking at her again, slightly puzzled. He looked back into her eyes,

"If there is no set date then when do you know it will come? When do you know if the love is returned?" he asked, his head starting to hurt now, "What if they return the love... of another?"

When she suggested that his love for his Mistress was misplaced he snarled angrily at her and his eyes flashed black,

"If you were to suggest it I would be very...!" he paused and his eyes returned to normal as he pouted, "Unhappy."

Willow looked at Leopold a little bit sadly, he seemed so niave when it came to things like this and she hated to be the one to crush his feelings like this, but hopefully she would do so in such a way that would help him rather than hinder him.

"Leopold...I'm sorry to say but there is no set date, you could be waiting for years and years and it might never come, but your Mistress might be in love with the man she is with now, and that wont change if she is."

Biting her lip she squeezed his hand softly and she tried to comfort him the best that she could, after all she did not want him to be upset about this, there was nothing that she could do.

"So, maybe thats how your Mistress feels every time you tell her that she doesn't really love the other man, or that he doesn't really love her? Maybe...maybe she'll push you away entirely if you keep telling her and keep pushing her, and you don't seem to want that."

Leopold didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear that his Mistress wasn't going to just suddenly fall in love with him like he loved her. It hurt to hear it. It hurt! It hurt so much! He didn't want to feel the hurt anymore! Why wouldn't it stop? Why couldn't it just stop? His chest felt like he'd been stabbed. He shook his head madly,

"No... NO!" he screamed, holding the sides of his head in pain as he whimpered, "No she can't love him! She has to love me! She has to! She's the only one who can love me! I need her to love me!"

He shook his head madly like a wild dog and howled in anger and pain. Leopold hated this feeling! If this was what came from having a heart he'd sooner rip it out than feel like this again! Why couldn't his Mistress just love him? He shook his head,

"No she doesn't love him! She can't love him! She needs to love me!" he cried out, black tears running out of his eyes, "It's all his fault! He's stolen her heart from me! She can't love me while he lives... so I'll make him not living!"

Willow jumped, startled by Leopold's outburst and she suddenly found herself very angry at whoever his mistress was, it was so unfair the way that she seemed to keep him on a string, dragging him along with her in case she needed him, throwing him tidbits of affection.

Unsure of what to do Willow placed her hands on either side of Leopold's head to stop him from shaking it so much, and she gently wiped away the tears, black as they were, with her thumbs. It was so strange to be comforting a near stranger like this.

"Leo...Leo shhh shh shh it's okay." she comforted, hugging him gently, it was never a nice thing to hear that your feelings were not returned, but maybe he could start moving on after that?

"I don't think you should do anything to the other man, Leo, your Mistress would hate you if you ever did such a thing, imagine if someone else killed your mistress, you'd feel so angry, so upset. It wont make her love you Leo, it'll make her hate you..."

Leopold didn't know if he had ever felt any pain worse than the pain he was feeling right now. His entire insides hurt. Like there was some kind of disease attacking him from the inside out. Was that what love was? Something that nested inside you until it tried to burst out of you? Maybe it was. Or maybe it was just that other type of love Willow had mentioned. Unrequited love.

When Willow's hand held his head still his first instinct was to snap her arms at the wrists. But he couldn't do it. He just whimpered at the pain in his head and placed his hands over Willow's. Her touch was cold against his boiling pain,

"It's not okay!" he wailed as he scrunched his eyes tightly shut, "It's not okay! I give her everything! She is my life! She gave me life! Before her I was nothing and if she doesn't love me... then I am nothing!"

Leopold whimpered against the pain and the logic that Willow was using to destroy his image of his Mistress,

"But... it's all I know how to do..." he told her, pleadingly, "It's solved all my problems before... why not now?"

Willow smiled gently and she tried not to let herself get upset when Leo did, she often got upset when other people cried, especially men because she didn't get to see many men cry, so she didn't really know how to handle it except cry herself.

Biting her lip she ran her hand across Leo's cheeks again, collecting up all the tears, before returning it to lie on his own, in an attempt to comfort him. She wasn't sure if she was actually managing to do it though, or make things worse.

"You're wrong Leo!" she said with a gasp "You are not nothing! You are a wonderfully devoted and caring man, and you will find someone else to give that care and love to, and they will be so so lucky."

Willow ran her hand through his hair and hugged him to her, like you would do with a child that was upset, tucking his head under her chin as she stroked his hair.

"I'm sorry Leo...it's just not the answer this time." she whispered "You can turn your life around, become good at other things, meet new people, make new friends...eventually your heart will forget your Mistress, I promise."

Leopold wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be strong enough to be a true horror of the world! He killed for the fun of it! The thrill of it! He was a monster and he revelled in the fear he was given! It was like nector to him! But here he was, crying his eyes out, because his heart had decided that it wasn't dead yet. He'd kill it again and make sure it never bothered him again!

When she was wiping his tears away he wanted to move, to make her stop with such gentle touches. They were making him cry even more god damn it! Why was she showing him tenderness? Even his Mistress never showed him tenderness,

"I am nothing and when I die I will return to the nothing!" he cried out with a growl, "I would welcome it rather than to live with a heart that gives me nothing but pain! Why would my heart have me love someone who can't love me?"

Leopold wanted to fight but when Willow hugged him close he couldn't fight it. His strength just gave out and he leant against her,

"But I don't know how to change..." he whispered quietly before shaking his head, "And I don't know if my heart can change at all..."

Willow couldn't believe that Leopold was so upset by this that he would want to kill himself, she had never felt such a feeling before, or at least, nothing so serious as what he himself was proposing to do, of course she had felt that bad in the past...but the way Leo was talking he might just actually hurt himself.

"Leo please don't talk like that, please." she said tenderly "I won't have you hurting yourself because of this, I want you to be able to be happy, to start life over no matter what you've done."

Gently, Willow kissed the top of Leopold's head and wiped her own tears away with a small chuckle at herself; "Now look at me, you've gotten me crying now."

When he said that he didn't know if he could change, Willow nodded her head, and with the sternest tone she could muster, which wasn't very stern, she said;

"I will help you, if you want me to, I know...I know what the pain your going through is like Leo and I know it's hard, but, I really do want to help you change, to help your heart to heal even a little."

Leopold wasn't sure why he was still here, existing as a human being again. Everything had made much more sense when he was a wraith. There was no heart to deal with when you were a spirit of pure evil and anger after all. There was only killing, maiming and general torment. It was what he wanted his entire life to be but it seemed that it was not to be,

"No! I don't want to hurt like this anymore!" he told her in a weak growl, "If I return to being nothing then my heart won't follow me! I'll be free from this damn pain!"

When she kissed him on the forehead he blinked in surprise and looked up at her. True enough, she was crying, "Why do you cry Willow? Is there something in your eyes?"

Leopold was tempted to accept Willow's offer of helping him but stopped when she spoke about healing his heart. He growled,

"Why must I have a heart?" he asked her, honestly curious, "All it's done to me so far is cause me pain... why keep it?"

Willow shook her head sending her hair flying and she squeezed out a few more tears, she really didn't know what else she could do to convince Leopold that he should not hurt himself like that, that he shouldn't give up just yet.

"I know you don't want to be hurt anymore, but I promise the pain will go away, I know it will, you're a strong man Leo I know you can wait until things look better, and your heart stops hurting." Willow almost pleaded.

Smiling sadly Willow answered; "I just don't like seeing people I like upset, or anybody upset really, especially when they say that they want to...hurt themselves."

When he asked why he had a heart Willow smiled and smoothed some of his hair back from his face, moving some tears from his cheeks as well;

"Because one day you'll find the person that makes you feel on top of the world, then, your heart will make you feel the best you've ever felt. You just have to wait until you find them."

Leopold looked at Willow and was surprised to see her so upset about this whole thing. As he understood it the only time people cared about other people's lives continuing were when they were precious people to them. He was not one of Willow's precious people. He couldn't be, they'd only just met. It confused him but what confused him even more was a gnawing feeling in his gut that told him that he should make her stop being so upset. Seeing her upset was hurting his heart even more,

"Do not be upset Willow." he urged her, "It hurts my heart to see you upset for some reason so please do not be upset. I'm sure that being upset hurts your heart as well."

He paused for a second, "Would it help if I said that I didn't want to hurt myself anymore?"

The way she smoothed his hair back and wiped away his tears was distracting with it's tenderness. He was unused to it so he was not sure how to react for the most part,

"How do I find them Willow?" he asked her with a touch of eagerness, "How do I stop my heart from hurting?"

Willow smiled gently and she felt a little glimmer of happiness when Leopold seemed to be cheering up, she didn't like to see him upset and even if it took her to be upset to make him stop then that was what she would have to do all of the time he got this way.

"It does hurt my heart." she said quietly "But I'm used to it by now Leopold, lots of things hurt my heart after all, sometimes things that shouldn't as well."

Nodding her head happily Willow wiped at her own tears and tried to smile once more; "Oh yes, that would help me be happy so very much."

When Leopold asked her how he was going to find the person meant for him, Willow didn't know how to answer. How could you answer a question like that for certain? Biting her lip she kissed Leopold's forehead once more.

"You make new friends, maybe go out and spend some time with new people, you'll know when you meet them, they'll make you feel better even when you think you wont be able to. As for dulling the pain, you just stick with me, I'll help you, if you want."

Leopold was beginning to bring himself back under control and he was honestly more than a little bit ashamed about breaking down in front of Willow like this. It was strange, he had completely broken down in front of her, a stranger, and yet he felt better for it. While not worldly by any stretch, Leopold found this a bit odd,

"What kind of things hurt your heart Willow?" he asked her curiously, "A woman as nice as you would not have many I would have thought. As thoughtful as you seem I'd think many people would wish your heart well, not bad."

Seeing that it would make her feel better to know that he was feeling better, Leopold decided that now was the time to use one of those 'little white lies' he'd heard about, "Then you can be happy again Willow for I am alright again now."

Leopold sighed a little bit. Was it always going to be this difficult to live with a heart? He nodded a little bit before smirking,

"I warn you... I make friends differently to you." he told her, licking one of his canine teeth, "But I think I will stick with you. If you're alright with that."

Willow smiled happily when he told her that he was now alright again, Leopold really did seem better and it would appear that it was actually working her conversation with him, and now that he had let all his feelings out he was feeling much better.

Biting her lip a little Willow's hand rubbed at her lower arm, almost instinctively, after all that was where the latest sets of bruises lay, hidden under her tshirt.

"You aren't the only one who is having a little bit of a problem with the person that the love." she said with a sad smile "But I'm sure it will sort itself out soon enough."

When Leopold licked his canine, Willow almost blushed but she merely giggled a little bit and shook her head as if dismissing Leopold's comment;

"You'll make friends just fine Leo no matter how you do it, I'm so glad that you've accepted my help!" she said happily, hugging Leopold tightly "I'll make sure that I do my best to make you feel nice and happy."