Warning: Self harm

A/N: I've been wanting to write a Sweenett fic for ages but I could never think of one that hasn't already been done, or was similar to another one. I was listening to Fix You by Coldplay, and sitting by the fireplace, and lighting candles, and matches, for the sake of watching the flames, and then i got slightly burned. So I was thinking about Sweeney Todd, and the idea for this just came to me, so this is inspired by Fix You by Coldplay.

Disclaimer: Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention puuuhhleeeeaaaassssee! Do you wake every morning in shame and despair, to discover, that you still don't own Sweeney Todd? I do...

And sadly, I also do not own that disclaimer either, I am ashamed to say that I copied it from someone... Yeah...

Enjoy ;-)


Embers - Prologue

Eleanor had tried her best, but didn't succeed.

She felt so tired, but she couldn't sleep.

She loved him, but it would go to waste.

She was too in love to let him go.

She'd got what she wants, but not what she needs.

Lights, would guide, her home.

She stared at the flames of the fire, watched, how they danced, and sent patterns across the dark walls. She stood up and lit a few small candles, placing them around the fire that had burned to embers.

Her eyes subconsciously drifted to the ceiling. Where above her the barber was, no doubt, pacing. That seemed to be all he ever did, he'd brood, and plan, and mourn for his wife, who was, though he didn't know it, still alive. She had tried to tell him, but she couldn't – she would loose him.

She was a cheery person, mainly she tried to cheer Sweeney up, but he was emotionless, on the outside.

And the tears came streaming down her face.

She'd loose him, he can't be replaced.

If she never tried, she'd never know.

Lights, would guide her home.

She hadn't exactly been subtle, about her love for him. She'd even sung a song, imagining their future together, not that he had been entirely focused on that at the time. If he would only see how much she loved him, she'd baked people into pies for him, for goodness sake, if that wasn't love, then Nellie didn't know what was.

The room grew gradually darker, so she lit a few more candles, they were all around her. Soon she just took to lighting the matches, and watching them burn, and only when she felt the flames on her fingers would she blow them out. Her fingers would be burnt the next day, but she didn't care, it was a good kind of pain. It numbed the pain in her heart that she felt constantly, all day, all night, every day, and every night. It had never dulled down, until now. She struck another match, and watched, as the flames worked their way down the stick, turning it black as they went, and then onto her fingers, and burnt them. She blew the match out, before lighting another one.

She wondered, if she burnt herself more, then her heart might stop hurting for even a second. A week of painful burns would be worth it, for even a second without her heart aching with every breath she took, every thought that she would think, and every move she made.

She placed her hand, over a candle, the flame gently warmed it. She dipped her fingers into the flame, and felt the heat, penetrate her hand, as she moved her fingers around the flames of other candles. She found that it slightly numbed the pain, so she did the same with her other hand.

She soon found sleep finally trying to take her, so she moved a few candles, and laid down right there, before closing her eyes, her fingers still dancing around in the flames.

{xxx}

Nellie opened her eyes slightly, and squinted, looking at the bright room. She looked around, and saw Sweeney Todd pacing, as usual, but he wasn't upstairs, he was in her room, with her.

He looked around and came over to her. A few tears slid down her face, she couldn't loose him, but she knew that she had to tell him some day. With his thumb, Sweeney wiped the tears off of her cheeks, his face still expressionless and emotionless.

'Mrs. Lovett,' He said softly. Nellie started to try to speak, but she couldn't talk, she only coughed. Still emotionless, and expressionless, he rubbed her back, until she stopped coughing.

'Nellie, what on earth were you thinking, going to sleep surrounded by candles, surely you realised that your dress could catch fire?'

Nellie gave a small shake of her head, and a few more tears slid down her cheeks, this was very unusual for her, tears would only come in moments of weakness.

She looked at her hands and saw that they were covered in bandages, and so was most of her body.

'The doctor said that you have too keep them on for a week or two, and stay in bed, you can't talk for a while, you inhaled to much smoke. I'm surprised, that the fire didn't spread. I'm to look after you.'

'You can't harm the willing,' she whispered, she wasn't sure whether he heard or not.

'What was that?'

She shook her head, and gave him a grateful smile, and was secretly pleased that this had happened. If it hadn't, how would she have explained the burns on her hands? She could have done it on the oven, but burns like the ones that she had, only came from burning repeatedly, and for long amounts of time, she must have had her fingers in flames for at least an hour.

He poured some medicine out onto a spoon and told her to open her mouth. She looked at the medicine warily, but did as he said, and swallowed it. She grimaced, it was awful, he smirked, and pulled the cover over her, before lighting a candle, and closing the curtains. It was almost pitch black, but the candle, slightly illuminated the room.

Once Sweeney had gone out, to give Nellie some rest, she took the bandage off of one of her fingers, and dipped it into the flame of the candle. She whimpered in pain, she hadn't been expecting that, how could something that had felt so good, now hurt so much? She tried again, this time putting her finger in the flame for longer, it hurt very much, and she cried out in pain.

Sweeney came in just as she put the bandage back on her finger, and he asked what was going on, she just smiled sheepishly, and shrugged. He sat by her for a while, and as she started to fall asleep, he swept her hair, off of her face, with his hand.

As sleep engulfed her, he watched, as she smiled in her sleep, and a tear escaped her closed eye, but judging by her smile, it was a tear of happiness, he carefully brushed it away. Maybe it didn't matter that Lucy was alive, Benjamin was gone. He looked over at the candle that was flickering, and blew it out.

Lights would guide her home.

He would try to fix her.

But maybe, they both, needed to fix each other.


A/N: Soooooo? What did you think? First Sweenett fic? Please tell me!

Please review!

-Lissa xxx