A/N: So, I was just flicking through some old folders on my computer and found out that I had Sweeney Todd. News to me.

Anyway, I tend to analyze things—sometimes overanalyze—and started wondering about the thoughts behind each expression. Eventually, I came up with this. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: none

Disclaimer: Not mine. Never mine. dying whale sound

Summary: "She's gone…. We could have a life…"—and suddenly, he saw it, just as she'd described.

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"Mr. T, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"What did your Lucy look like?… Can't really remember, can you?"

"…She had yellow hair."

"You got to lay this all behind you, now. She's gone. Life is for the alive, my dear…. We could have a life, us, too. Maybe not like I dreamed—maybe not like you remember—but we could get by."

He stared out the window, letting her words wash through his mind—"She's gone…. We could have a life…"—and suddenly, he saw it, just as she'd described at their picnic the other day.

A home by the sea, walks along the sand, salt air washing over them on the front porch of their new house. Even that boy—Toby—was there. Though Mrs. Lovett never mentioned him, he knew she'd want him to come along, just as he knew he'd let her bring him. She was his only friend in the world, his only constant in his chaotic storm of a life, his only connection to a past he tried so hard to forget and so much harder to remember. He knew he would do what he could to make her happy, including put up with the kid.

It wasn't what he wanted, what he needed, what he'd longed for as he curled up in the dark of the hell he'd been thrown to, but it would be… nice. He wouldn't be happy—he wasn't sure that was an emotion he could feel anymore—but he could be content.

Content.

"We could have a life…. Maybe not like I dreamed—maybe not like you remember—but we could get by."

They could get by.

He turned to her, her face expressionless to any who knew her less, and saw the hope in her eyes.

Hope. He'd almost forgotten it.

He could do this. He could make her happy, at least. Could give her a life. Could give Toby a home.

The door burst open.

"Mrs. Lovett, ma'am."

"What is it, Anthony?"

"He has her locked in a madhouse."

"Johanna?"

"Fogg's Asylum. I've circled the place a dozen times—there's no way in. It's a fortress!"

But first, he would have his revenge, and he would free his daughter.

"Got him."

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A/N: So, what'd you think? Drop a comment—now easier and more convenient than ever—and I will love you forever. Also, (shameless plug) feel free to check out my other works, which includes some Harry Potter, (including crossovers with Glee and Twilight), a Glee fiction, a couple of Wizards of Waverley Place stories, and a few Merlin fics. I'm particularly proud of my Merlin fics.