Hola, todos! This is a belated Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Yuletidemas present to all—a Sweenett Christmas one-shot.
Disclaimer: Sweeney Todd is not mine. He belongs to the wonderful Mr. Tim Burton, and the actor who beautifully portrays him, Mr. Johnny Depp, is also not mine. But enough of that; I promised a story…
Sleigh Ride
All of Burtonian London was very confused.
Johanna looked out her window at the cold city below. "I don't believe it!" she murmured.
Anthony Hope glanced out the window of the grimy boardinghouse he'd taken up residence in. "Oh, my…"
Mrs. Nellie Lovett had put on an elegantly cut wool coat over her usual off-the-shoulder black dress. "Blimey, it's cold…."
It had snowed.
A legitimate two inches of snow had fallen onto the city overnight. Children were running about outside, Toby among them, slipping around on the ice and tossing snowballs at one another. More snow was steadily beginning to fall as Mrs. Lovett left her shop and stepped out into the street.
"To-byyyyyyyyyyy!"
Toby looked up from where he played with a group of children. There was his mum, standing at the door to the pie shop. She's not really my mum, of course, he sadly thought. "Yes?"
"I 'ate to interrupt your play, love, but the customers'll be comin' faster than this snow is fallin'. You can go back an' play later, I promise!" Mrs. Lovett called. Toby sighed, his breath fogging the biting winter air.
"Sorry, mates. I've got to go to work. But I'll be back in a bit!" Toby said to the pack of children. Frowns sagged at their rosy cheeks, but they all nodded, and Toby went on his way.
"Mum, when can I go back an' play with 'em?" Toby asked. Mrs. Lovett smiled at him, tenderly dusting snow from his brown tweed coat.
"Love, I'm closin' up the shop for a couple of hours. You, me, an' Mista T—we're goin' to Hyde Park. There's enough o' this snow that we can go for a sleigh ride. "
"A sleigh ride!" Toby exclaimed. Mrs. Lovett kissed him on the forehead and pulled her wool coat tight about her. She set off down the hall and upstairs, to the tonsorial parlor.
Sweeney Todd was sitting in his barber chair, absently polishing a razor and staring out the great glass window. Of course, he was unable to see much due to the snow sticking to the glass.
"Mista T?"
He didn't need to look over at the door to know it was Mrs. Lovett. She had a nasty habit of coming upstairs just when he was starting to enjoy the cold solitude he confined himself to.
"Mista T, seein' as it's been snowin', Toby an' I invite you to come with us to the park." Mrs. Lovett began. Sweeney looked over at her, scowling.
"And what if the Judge comes?"
"I'm closin' the shop for a few hours. You can close your shop too, an' that way, if he sees that you're closed, 'e won't come." Mrs. Lovett said. Sweeney inwardly sighed. Eminently practical, she was.
"C'mon, Mista T. We're goin' out, an' I'd like you ta come with us." Mrs. Lovett said. Sweeney frowned, but placed his razor back in its red velvet nest all the same.
"All right, Mrs. Lovett. Let's go.
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Around a half-hour later, Toby, Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett had queued up for a sleigh ride in Hyde Park. The snow was falling a little faster now, and Mrs. Lovett was brushing flakes from Toby's scruffy brown hair. Sweeney stood solemn and silent as always, a thick gray wool scarf wound about his white throat. He was finding it increasingly difficult to ignore Mrs. Lovett's prattle about all her Christmas memories.
"…an' when I wos thirteen, I 'ad me first kiss with a shy young lad—not much older than yourself, Toby—named Daniel. Daniel Yates. Cor! an' wot a sweet little thing 'e wos, too. 'Twos under the mistletoe at me Uncle Jeffrey's annual Christmas party…"
Needless to say, Sweeney was more than grateful when the sleigh, pulled by a pair of brown stallions in bell-studded harnesses, pulled up.
The driver was a pleasant, portly man in a checked waistcoat and tall silk hat. He smiled cordially with a cheery, "Good afternoon!" as Mrs. Lovett handed him tuppence for each of them. The threesome settled at the back of the sleigh, with Mrs. Lovett sandwiched between Toby and Sweeney. A furred rug was draped over their knees, and the driver sat up on his perch.
"Git up, my good horses!" the driver cried, cracking his whip. With a tandem whinny, the horses set off at a light trot.
Mrs. Lovett sat back, putting her arms around them both and pulling them closer. She smiled, her sigh hanging briefly in the air before melting away. There was something so pristinely romantic about the first snow of the season. It was so soft and bright and magical; like it could cover up all the grime and sorrows of London, if only for a few days. It was so very lovely…
Sweeney glanced over at the starry-eyed woman beside him. Her brown eyes had misted over, and her lips were set in a sweet, enraptured smile. Mildly concerned that she had finally lost her mind, Sweeny gently nudged Mrs. Lovett. "Pet?"
Mrs. Lovett looked at him, taking one of his hands in both of hers.
"Oh, Mista T! Isn't today jus' the loveliest you've ever seen?" she asked.
Sweeney took a look around. It was true—the new-fallen snow seemed to make London look much less unforgiving. It actually was rather pretty.
Lucy, he suddenly remembered, had loved the snow.
"Yes, Mrs. Lovett, the snow is lovely." Sweeney agreed. But he wasn't entirely sure she was listening. Her head was propped on his shoulder, and she was happily staring off into the distance. He recognized that look as her 'fantasy look' and expected her to burst into song any moment, like she had done back in the autumn when they went on a picnic. One minute she'd been yammering about plans to fix up the shop with their hefty new income and the next minute she was kissing his cheek and singing and singing about how she'd love to live by the sea.
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Trotting up a snowy path was a large sleigh pulled by two strong racehorses. A golden-haired dog ran alongside the sleigh, leaving tracks in the snow. The sleigh pulled up to a small stone mansion on a hill overlooking the icy winter sea.
Mrs. Lovett got out of the sleigh, assisted by her loving son Toby. Ever since they'd had him legally adopted, there seemed to be a brighter look in his hazel eyes and cheeky smile.
"Mum, it's a lovely house!" he said happily, taking her silk-gloved hand. "Can I go play with Benny?"
"Oh, of course, dearie!" Mrs. Lovett said, and the boy scampered off to play in the snow with his dog. Mrs. Lovett pulled her black velvet cloak around her and waited for her fiancé to exit the carriage.
Suddenly she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her tightly corseted waist. A man whispered, "This is the perfect house, Nellie dear." Mrs. Lovett turned in the arms of Sweeney Todd, her soon-to-be husband. Ever since being rid of the bloody old Judge and Beadle, his eyes seemed less tortured and he no longer whiled away the hours pacing.
"Didn't I tell you you'd love it, Mista T?" she asked, sliding his hands up the fine damask waistcoat on his chest. They had earned enough money for not only a new house, but fancy new clothes as well. She herself was clad in a red velvet gown with ruffled skirts and all-new petticoats beneath. Mr. Todd had taken to wearing dark suits that he just looked so handsome in…
He pecked her on the lips. "To our new life together."
Mrs. Lovett smiled. "Yes! To our wonderful new life together." She kissed him again, thinking of their upcoming wedding and all the joy in the years to come.
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"Mum! Mum! Mum?"
Mrs. Lovett sat at rapt attention. Toby was looking at her curiously, and Sweeney was sitting up stiffer than usual beside her.
"The ride's over, Mum." Toby informed her. Indeed, the sleigh had just stopped parallel to a long line of people.
Toby, Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney departed the sleigh. With a "Merry Christmas!" to the driver, the three of them set off to Fleet Street.
Sweeney looked over at his landlady. The ecstatically happy look she had worn just minutes ago was now replaced by a wistful and crestfallen countenance.
"What's wrong, Mrs. Lovett?"
"Oh, Mista T! I wos jus' 'avin the loveliest o' thoughts… D'ya think that when we get enough money—an' you get your revenge, o'course—we can buy a lovely stone 'ouse out by the sea an' hold parties at Christmas?"
He put his hand on the back of her neck and walked her back up the street towards the shop.
"Of course, Mrs. Lovett. Of course."
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I hope you enjoyed it. Remember, a review is the equivalent of a present at this festive season of the year… =]
~Mirei