Chapter 3: Meeting and Learning
Sitting with her back leaning up against a tree, Lilly wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sunglasses was enjoying her day. It's not uncommon for blind people to wear sunglasses. It would surprise most people to know the reason why blind people actually needed to wear sunglasses every now and then.
In Lilly's case, the sun glaring into her eyes was an irritation and it affected her ability to identify colors. Without colors, she was lost. She hated that feeling, the feeling of being lost, and having nothing around her but complete darkness. It was a terrible feeling that Lilly never liked experiencing.
After readjusting her sunglasses, Lilly went back to her book. She let her fingers trace over the brail, identifying each letter and word, until she had formed the sentence and paragraph on the page. She closed the book when she heard footsteps approaching.
"Hey Spencer, you finally got here. It took you long enough."
"Sorry I'm late. What are you reading?" Reid asked upon noticing the book.
"Just something I picked up at the library. Nothing all that interesting." Lilly said stuffing the book into the messenger bag that lay beside her.
"Right." It was then that Reid realized the team was looking at Lilly rather weirdly. It wasn't because of her age or anything, then again it might have been. No. It was because they thought she was ignoring them. "I am sorry. Lilly… Um… I thought you should meet my coworkers—friends?"
"Oh jeez! You should have said something. I have my sunglasses on. Everything is dim. Will give me a hand up?"
"Yeah sure." Reid gave Lilly a hand and pulled her up. Since Lilly was skinny and tall, she wasn't that hard to pull up. "Right. Lilly this is Agent Gideon, Hotchner, Morgan, Garcia, Jareau, and Prentiss. Everyone this is Lilly."
There was an awkward silence as the other agents looked upon the sixteen-year-old girl. It was if they were studying every detail of her. It was only to be expected since they were profilers. Gideon was still the only one who knew what the teen had done for Reid.
Morgan put out his hand. "It's nice to meet you Lilly." When she did nothing the group exchanged a few strange looks. That is everyone did except for Gideon. He had already pieced together that Lilly was blind.
"Left Hand." Reid muttered under his breath, but it was enough for Lilly to hear.
Lilly got the hint and immediately offered her hand to Morgan who took it. "Sorry. I guess Spencer forgot to mention to everyone that I am blind. Usually I can pick up people, but the sunglasses tend to makes everything dim."
It was then that Emily's curiosity got the better of her. "I'm sorry to ask this, but if you're blind then why are you wearing sunglasses. I mean if you can't see anything. It's not like the sun is hurting your eyes."
Now it was time for Reid to kick into genius mode again. "Actually, Emily that often a misconception. You see some blind people wear sunglasses for protection or because their eyes are sensitive to bright light. There are two 'levels' of blindness: legal blindness and total blindness. Legal blindness covers everything from low vision to being able to see no more than shadows. Total blindness just means that you cannot see anything as if you're surrounded by darkness."
Lilly smiled. "Basically, Spencer just summed everything up. Usually, I don't wear sunglasses, but the sun is just bothering me today. Now, all I have to do is teach him brail and explain colors to him." Lilly then resumed her seat on the ground. "Please sit."
"Yeah. I still don't get how you can see colors. If technically you have total blindness." Spencer asked as he took a seat on the ground.
"I don't have total blindness. I'm legally blind, but can suffer from total blindness spells."
"What does that mean?" JJ asked as she followed Reid lead in sitting down.
"Ms. Jareau?" Lilly asked making sure; she was talking to the right person.
"It's JJ actually."
"Okay then. When I was little I suffered from total blindness, but my eyesight has somewhat improved. I can now see shadows of color. However, every once and a while I go through a phases when I don't see anything; like today the light is hurting my eyes so much that I cannot see. As a result I wear sunglasses, letting me to see dim shadows of colors."
"Wait, does that mean you could someday fully see?" Morgan asked.
Lilly's smile was rather sad. "No. There's too much damage to my eyes. I will always be blind, but it's okay. I just see the world differently than you and have to use a long cane to get around."
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After eating a picnic type lunch outside under the tree with Lilly, they still had a little time before needing to get back to work. They had gone into the conservatory upon Reid's suggestion and had found an empty music room.
"Lilly would you mind playing for us?" Reid asked.
Lilly made her way over to the piano and sat down. Reid sat down in one of the chairs and motioned for the others to do as well. "What do you want to hear?" Lilly asked as she revealed the piano keys.
"Whatever you feel like playing." Reid replied. He knew that Lilly always chose the best songs to play. It was as if she had sixth sense about music.
She smiled. "Then I'll play Song for Amadeus better know as Sonata No. 2 in F major (Adagio) by Mozart." Lilly let her hands gently glide over the keys and her foot press down on the petal.
Reid smiled as he let the music take him over. Gideon couldn't help and smile as he felt tears come to his eyes. It was just like the time he listen to Sarah Jane's son play the cello. It was absolutely beautiful and amazing. Emily, JJ, Garcia, and Hotch were in amazement at the music and Lilly's ability at playing the piano. She was obviously talented.
As for Morgan, he was impressed, but his attention was on Reid. This girl, Lilly, and her music were the reason Reid was back to normal. He didn't know where or why Reid had gone on vacation, but he felt like there was a deeper reason to everything. He focused on listening to the music. Morgan wasn't a fan of classical music, but it was then he understood it. He understood how people could get lost in the music. How the world could disappear and everything was okay, even if it was just for a few moments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A/N: Sorry in the delay for this chapter. Since I'll be travelling around and be at camp for three weeks, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. If by some miracle I can get to a computer and update I will. Till then thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
