Author's Note:
Let's pretend that Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney got arrested after the Judge and Lucy were killed. And that they were accused of murder and sentenced to death… dundundun
And on a side note, for the sake of the story, I changed it so that Mrs. Lovett never knew Lucy survived and thought she was dead as well, until Sweeney discovers she wasn't after he killed her.
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"Mr. Sweeney Todd, charged with the murder of the most honorable Judge Turpin…"
Honorable indeed.
Sweeney Todd stood, facing a crowd of about fifty people who were all gathered around the small wooden stage where he was standing. They were in the center of London, and Sweeney was just taking in his surroundings. He looked up and saw the grey sky that they all stood under. He looked around him and saw police officers next too him, holding him in place.
He also dully noted the noose hanging to his left.
Judge Turpin, Sweeney thought. How he had yearned for the day that had now come and passed, that day that had ended Turpin forever. The moment kept playing in his head, as if it were a movie. Sweeney wanted more than anything to go back and relive that moment, again and again, have it be his only reality.
The Judge had been the thing that drove his very existence. Revenge was his only reason for living. It had been his purpose, and now it had gone. He had killed Judge Turpin.
Sweeney felt detached from everything since. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness, as if life had decided that it was satisfied and was slowly pulling out if him. And with his feeling for revenge finally quelled, he felt empty. There was nothing left to think about. Nothing left to feel.
"… The murder of Mrs. Lucy Barker…" The guard continued. Sweeney snapped back into reality.
Lucy, he thought. His wife, his true love, was gone forever. Because of Judge Turpin.
No, a voice in his head said.
Because of you. Sweeney had been the one that had killed her. It was his fault that they would never be together…
But, he was going to die soon too, apparently. Maybe they could be together in the after life, finally… after all this time. Sweeney pictured Lucy, surrounded by clouds, waiting for him to join her in Heaven.
But, the voice in his head said, you're not going to Heaven, not with what you did. Then it slowly dawned on him that he would surely be going to Hell for all the blood he had spilled. And Lucy would be waiting up there for her love that would never arrive.
And he would be in Hell, all alone. No, not alone Judge- the Judge would certainly be there as well. Sweeney Todd, stuck for eternity with the man that had turned his life into Hell in the first place-
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" Sweeney heard a voice yell. He opened his eyes and found himself on his knees, sweating and shaking. Had it been him that screamed? He felt two hands yank him back to his feet.
"Do that again, you loony, and it'll be a bullet in your head," Sweeney heard someone whisper in his ear.
There was silence for a while, and then Sweeney saw a guard continue reading off a roll of paper.
"Mrs. Nellie Lovett, accused of the assisted murder and disposal of…" So Mrs. Lovett was here too. But of course, of course Mrs. Lovett was here, she was everywhere. He could never find peace with her around. Although Sweeney never paid any attention to her anyway. It was just that every time he saw her, thoughts of Lucy and of Judge Turpin would always come flooding back. Revenge pushed all other feelings out. Always.
But revenge was gone, and it had been taken. So what's left? Lucy… Mrs. Lovett had said she died. She had died, in a way. But Sweeney had killed her. Shouldn't Mrs. Lovett have known? She could've just done a little searching, and have found her… So really it was Mrs. Lovett's fault. Yes… anyone's fault but his.
It wasn't her fault, it was yours, and you killed her, after all… said the voice in his head once again.
"I know, I know, damn it!" Sweeney whispered to himself. Lucy was gone; everything was gone. Mrs. Lovett popped into his mind once again. Why can't I stop thinking about her? Even now, she seemed to be making her way into his consciousness, filling up the emptiness left behind by grief and revenge.
Sweeney could feel eyes on the back of his head. He looked up and saw Mrs. Lovett staring at him. Sweeney stared right back at her, looking into her eyes…
And he smiled.
He couldn't help it. It was like he was seeing her for the first time. It was like all the things that had been clouding his vision for so long were gone. It was like love at first sight. She was… beautiful. Why hadn't he noticed before? Her frizzy hair, tied up in sloppy pigtails, looked even crazier than it usually did. Her skin was so pale, just like his. And her eyes, her big brown eyes. They looked so innocent, warm, even after all that had happened.
Sweeney blinked and saw Mrs. Lovett start blushing like mad. He turned his head away before she could do anything else. Just the way she had always looked at him, the way she would put her hand on his arm sometimes, and the way she had always been talking to him sent his mind reeling now. And he had been so oblivious before!
Mrs. Lovett gave off a certain energy. Full of life, she was. Sweeney's stomach gave an unpleasant lurch when he thought about how different they were. He was always ignoring her, preferring silence to conversation. But she had always been there, making him meals that he never ate or talking to him about things he never listened to. Sweeney was angry, to say the least, of how he had treated her in the past. But he had been so wrapped up in his tortured world, and had pushed everything else aside. But he knew how happy she had been just to have him there.
Mrs. Lovett probably thought that all her efforts were to waste, and that he didn't care about her at all.
But it's true, said the ever recurring voice. You don't care.
"No," Sweeney said aloud, and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to think like this anymore, he felt so guilty for not caring all this time… Now, Mrs. Lovett was a constant presence in his mind, filling his consciousness…
What about Lucy? The thought rang in his head.
What about Lucy?
No, she would have wanted him to be happy. But he wondered if she would have even wanted him to have killed the judge, if she had known. Sweeney tried to think about what Lucy was like, but it was like she was a dream, a distant memory that was fading with every second.
"No, I don't want to forget…"
Lucy. The reason Sweeney had gotten his revenge. She was the reason he had killed Judge Turpin. Hot tears welled up in Sweeney's eyes when he thought for the last time about what the Judge had done to him. He had hurt Lucy, and he had torn Sweeney's family apart. Turpin had ruined his life.
We could have a life, us too… Mrs. Lovett's voice echoed in his head. She had always had that dream of moving out to the sea with he and Toby. Maybe someday, they could all move far away, away from London, away from everything.
But Sweeney remembered the noose swaying in the breeze just feet from where he stood. And his heart sank.
No, why now, he didn't want to die now! He wanted to be with Mrs. Lovett, and maybe be happy again… He wanted to tell her how her felt, how he- loves her…
No, don't say that… Lucy… What about Lucy! The voice was almost screaming in his head. Sweeney was going crazy, he was being torn in two, and he didn't know what to do…
You're just going to forget your one true love…
Sweeney couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop it, STOP IT!I can never escape what happened. Lucy will be in my heart forever, but… Lucy is gone, she is part of the past, and- Mrs. Lovett is here. Mrs. Lovett is now. No, I don't want to forget. But I CAN'T dwell on Lucy anymore!"
The voice stopped. Sweeney felt empty again. But his head was clear, and he was at peace with himself for the first time… in a long time. And he knew what he had to do.