A/N: The romantic in me is basically forcing me to re-write the ending to "Sweeney Todd". So, the following is how I would have ended the movie. In my mind, this is the version with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter and how they portrayed the characters. (it's rated M for upcoming chapters).

It's not completed yet, but I'll slowly be cranking 'er out whenever I have the time. If you've stumbled across my first fanfic EVER and are reading this, feedback would be completely appreciated. Please review so I can make this fic absolutely awesome! Reviews also motivate me to keep writing...

I'm a perfectionist, and am not completely happy with everything I've posted thus far. (particularly Ch. 2) So I'm constantly updating and reposting various sections throughout.

DISCLAIMER: I am not and never will be the owner of Sweeney Todd or any of its affiliates.

Mr. Todd threw open the door to the dimly lit bake house; the scent of death hitting his nostrils like a stone wall. He had only been down there once before, but the smell still remained the same. The blazing inferno of the bake oven cast eerie shadows on the walls of the dark enclosure.

His surroundings temporarily dazed him, until Mrs. Lovett's scream echoed through his subconscious. He looked to the pile of bodies; his victims, to see Mrs. Lovett attempting to drag one of the corpses closer to the oven for disposal.

"Wot's 'appened? Why did you scream?" Mr. Todd asked of Mrs. Lovett.

"Oh, i's nothin' love, jus' one 'o' your victims held on to life a bit longer than the rest, is all. You've 'ad a rough night, Mr. T, why don't you go upstairs and pour yourself a nice spot 'o' gin, eh? Jus' let me clean up this awful mess," Mrs. Lovett responded.

She stood up straight and brushed herself off. She rose her hand to her forehead, wiping away beads of sweat and leaving traces of spilled blood behind. She then gazed over at Mr. Todd, looking the man she loved in the face after all that happened.

All the blood gruesomely splattered across his face initially shocked her, but she was relieved to see he was still her same old Mr. T. Nothing in his eyes had changed.

"No. Open the oven door," he commanded of Mrs. Lovett. He hated the way she had to be in control of every situation, how she felt everything needed a sufficient explanation… She faltered, seeming not to want to move from her location.

He felt the intensity of her wide, doe-eyed stare, a mixture of fear and reluctance pouring out of them.

"I told you to OPEN it! Now!" He yelled at her. She knew that look in his eyes, and knew better than to be told once more; she had the bruises to prove it… She opened the door to the oven, the great heat of it splashing across her face.

The light illuminated the room, and made clear the faces of the bodies lying lifeless on the cold, blood-moistened stone. Mrs. Lovett's eyes quickly fell upon the one woman Mr. Todd had ever taken the life of, and prayed he wouldn't step closer to her… It would ruin everything…

Her eyes quickly darted back to him. She simply couldn't help it. Even with his grotesquely blood-painted face, he was still so handsome, especially with the light hitting him the way it was. She felt the familiar waves of desire rush through her body, the same way they did whenever she looked at him.

Mr. Todd scowled at Mrs. Lovett; he hated it when she stared at him like that. He didn't know why, but whenever those big brown eyes settled on him, he felt so… exposed to the world. He hated the honesty behind them; they were almost like those of a child. Whenever he looked into them, it was like his soul; his entire being was reflected back at him in the most hauntingly honest way… The way her innocence, her genuinely gentle heart shone through them, quivering with fear…

No. He couldn't think about that woman's eyes right now. He pushed Mrs. Lovett from his mind. He simply needed to see the Judge's lifeless face once more before he disposed the evidence of his past. He stepped closer to him.

As he did, the lunatic-beggar woman, lying lifeless in the firelight caught his eye. Despite the dirt and grime that had overtaken her, he could tell she had had, at one point or another, lovely yellow hair… Yellow hair.

With dexterity and grace he descended to his knees near the body's face… That familiar face, present in so many of his memories… Could it be... Could it really be her? He gently swept the hair from her face, allowing the light to play across it completely.

With the madness out of her limbs, gone out of her eyes… He realized he was staring into the face of her.

His wife. His Lucy.

His eyes became full of sorrow and his mouth opened slightly as he came to the realization that he had unknowingly killed his own wife.

"Oh my God…" he muttered, barely audible to anyone but himself.

He gently raised her head to his lap and lightly brushed his fingertips against hers.

"What have I done?"

His sorrow quickly changed to anger. This emotion was familiar to him, but… never quite like this. Never before with this burning intensity that he felt welling up behind his eyes; bubbling up inside his throat…

Mrs. Lovett remained standing near the oven, and her heart felt as if it was slowly sinking into her feet. Everything she had hoped for, her greatest dreams shattered to shards in that instant. He wasn't supposed to find out about her like this, if at all...

It brought tears to her eyes. Although she had never cared for Lucy; always felt as though she was never good enough for the Benjamin Barker she knew… Her love for Sweeney Todd made her instantly regret every ill-wish she had ever thought towards Lucy. But it didn't matter anymore.

"'Don't I know you?' She said to me." Mr. Todd said, his fingertips now tracing over Lucy's since-forgotten lips…

A little part of him died when he realized that he had forgotten her face completely, and remembered it now only because it was right in front of him. Gazing into her lifeless face brought back the last day he was with his Lucy, with his beautiful baby girl… She had been living this dreadful way for fifteen years, suffering a fate worse than his own, with her life brought to a close by her husband's hand. The irony of it all was too much for him to handle in that moment.

But… he had thought she'd taken a poison…

"You," he growled. Mrs. Lovett remained motionless, but her eyes began to grow wide with fear. This was exactly the thing she had been trying to prevent all along, since the day he showed up in her shop. She braced herself; she knew this was going to get really ugly really fast…

"You knew she lived! YOU LIED!" He was no longer in control of his actions; he was racing towards Mrs. Lovett's retreating body. "YOU FILTHY WENCH!" He screamed as he slapped her across the face. She was so taken aback by his sudden movements she fell to the floor, shaking with terror.

"No, sir, I never lied to you, I said she took a poison, never said that she died, poor thing…" She clambered back onto her feet, and he clenched his hands around her throat as he slammed her frail body up against the wall. Her head made a sickening thud as it hit the stone. Her eyes fluttered wildly, seemingly unable to focus. The stench of the blood made her feel lightheaded and sick to her stomach as she opened her mouth, gasping for air.

Mr. Todd lowered one hand to where he kept his razors as he looked at her with fury in his eyes… He raised the precious silver above his head, catching the light and making it dance about the room.

"Wait Mr. T! Please sir, I was only thinkin' 'o' you! I didn' think you'd want to see 'er like that! I only did wot I did because I love you!"

Finally. She had admitted it. There was no turning back now.

"I love you..."

She, who had always prided herself on being strong, was on the verge of tears. Her entire life was flashing before her in the reflection of Mr. Todd's knife, terrified that her life would end at the hands of the man she was in love with. It couldn't end like this, not now…

He pressed the blade to her neck with force, but not enough to penetrate her porcelain skin. She closed her eyes and held her breath, waiting to die as just another one of Sweeney Todd's victims.

"We all deserve to die, Mrs. Lovett," he grumbled at her, with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. He could feel her trembling underneath his blade; felt her rapid pulse quicken and felt her warm, shaky breath against his face.

His lips contorted into a demonic grin as he slowly drew the blade across her neck, making a slight cut in her paper skin. She sharply exhaled; obviously surprised he had actually drawn her blood. He watched it slowly trickle down her narrow neck…

But somehow... the sight of her blood didn't bring him relief like the others' had, leaving him with a feeling of unease.

"Mr. Todd, please, 'ave mercy…" she whispered fervently, her voice barely audible and faltering from holding back tears. His musky, delicious scent intoxicated her even further, making her attempt grasp on to every last bit of consciousness she could muster.

"The Lucy you knew- died when she- took that poison. I didn't lie-" Mrs. Lovett pleaded, her windpipe still constricted by Mr. Todd's strong hand.

"You know what, Mrs. Lovett?" Mr. Todd said, still in his sickeningly sarcastic tone of voice, his face dangerously close to hers. Her eyes grew even wider, much to his surprise; he didn't think it possible...

He released his grip on her neck and she instantly stumbled away from his presence, massaging her neck and gasping for oxygen. Never once did she take her eyes off of him, however. She wasn't about to be caught off guard again; she couldn't just give up now... Her already wild hair was coming undone, and some of her brown and ratty curls fell down around her shoulders.

"You're absolutely right, Mrs. Lovett! Life is for the alive. And like you've said countless times, my pet, there's no point in dwelling on the past!" He put his barber knife away, and was practically shouting at her now. She looked at him with fear in her eyes; not for her own life, but fear for the possibility that he really had finally lost his marbles.

"Come here, my love! You're a bloody wonder, Mrs. Lovett and appropriate as always!" He said, and Mrs. Lovett, entranced by his words; his motives... and moved closer to him with curiosity in her heart. In what direction was he taking all this?

"Not a thing to fear my love, what's dead is dead!" He swept her up in his arms as they danced their oh-so-familiar dance from happier days before. He looked down into her eyes, which were sparkling beautifully in the firelight, reflecting the joy within them in light of recent events.

"Oh, Mr. Todd, I'm so 'appy, I could eat you up, I really could…" she said. Her heart felt like it was about to burst; unable to contain the perfect bliss she was currently experiencing. This was the moment she had been waiting for for so long. He twirled her around the bake house, keeping them in perfect time. She could feel the heat, the passion radiating between them as they danced.

Maybe they really could get a house down by the seaside, just like she'd always dreamed of, and they could maybe still be married… It all just seemed too good to be true. She felt so safe in this place, behind the walls of his strong arms. This was so right, they were so perfect it was almost horribly wrong...

He picked up the tempo and swirled her around, a clear destination for her in his mind. She felt the heat increasing, and as she tore her gaze away from his onyx eyes, she noticed the oven was growing ever closer.

She gasped, whipping her head back up to meet his gaze. The happiness his eyes had been emanating just moments before had suddenly reverted back to the bloodthirsty, vengeful look she had grown so accustomed to. No, they weren't dancing anymore; he was only spinning her around for the distraction… He slightly tightened his grip around her waist.

She held her breath, swearing to herself that she would hold on to him, no matter what. She knew that the moment she let go would be her last.

"And life is for the alive my dear, so let's keep living it! Just keep living it! REALLY LIVING IT!"