Sweeney's purpose for life was simple now. He looked over and saw Mrs. Lovett standing there, silently crying. Sweeney knew what he had to do. He had to save her so she could escape. He didn't care if he survived, as long as she lives. He had to do something, because if he just let her die, without ever telling her how he felt… he just couldn't live with himself.

Then Sweeney heard a voice next to him, Mrs. Lovett's voice. He turned his head slowly and saw her talking to the guard in front of her. No, she wasn't talking, she was pleading with him, and crying harder than ever…

"No, I don't want to die, not now, I want to 'ave a life, I 'ave dreams…" she said. Sweeney wanted to go comfort her, just to be near her would be enough. He wanted to live as much as she did now; he wanted them to be together-

The harsh, angry voice of the guard broke Sweeney's train of thought.

"Did you ever stop and think about all the peoples dreams that you were killing in tha' bakery?" Then he hit Mrs. Lovett across the face. The sound reverberated in Sweeney's ears and made his head spin.

SMACK.

Sweeney looked around. Everything was crystal clear all of a sudden. He could feel every inch of his body rushing with adrenaline. It was as if everything was in slow motion, and some outside force was controlling his body.

Sweeney saw Mrs. Lovett, her face turned to the side with her cheek growing red. He saw the guard standing over Mrs. Lovett, looking like he was going to hit her again. And Sweeney saw himself throw off his captors and rush towards the man in one swift motion.

Right before Sweeney reached the guard, he saw the man's face turn towards him, looking surprised. But his face was also full of malice and disgust, probably from what Mrs. Lovett had said to him. The guard probably couldn't wait to see them both die. But what did he know? He didn't even understand! And in that moment Sweeney realized that he hated that man with so much intensity that he felt like he was going to burst.

Sweeney tackled the man with full force and slammed him to the ground. Hot rage filled every part of his body and made him want to scream. Then he started hitting every part of the guard he could reach.

"Don't touch her… Don't- ever touch her!" Sweeney heard a voice say. It must have been his. He could feel blood on his hands now. He barely noticed the other guards trying to pull him off of the man. All Sweeney wanted to do was to cause him as much pain as possible.

If only he had his razors with him!

But could he really kill the man? Those razors had been his outlet for all the pain and grief he felt. But he didn't feel like that anymore. Could he really use those razors again?

Could he really kill again?

Sweeney hesitated for a moment. Could he really kill anyone again? All those people, they all had lives. His reasoning had been that they didn't deserve to live. But who does? Certainly not himself, but he still wanted to live more than anything. What right do these guards have to decide whether he lives or dies?

But what right did Sweeney have to decide whether all of his victims lived or died? He looked down at his hands, covered in blood, as they had been so many times before. He had taken his feelings out on so many people, who hadn't even had anything to do with his sadness… And he had ended their lives, just like these guards will do with him.

But he deserved it, didn't he? Didn't everybody? Sweeney closed his eyes, thinking of all of the lives he had taken. Did we all really deserve to die? No one has any right to decide that, he thought, especially not himself. Wasn't it immeasurably selfish for him to want to keep on living, even after all of the people he had killed? But he wanted to live now… He felt an inordinate amount of sadness for his victims now. They were just like him, they all had wanted to live, but it was taken away from them. He wanted to say sorry. But was sorry good enough?

Then Sweeney heard a scream, a woman's scream. It was Mrs. Lovett's scream. Sweeney looked up from the guard for the first time since he had attacked the man.

He saw Mrs. Lovett struggling with yet another guard, trying to escape- maybe she would get out alive! But no, she wasn't trying to escape at all; she was trying to pull something out of the guard's hands. But what was he holding? The guard threw Mrs. Lovett off and Sweeney finally saw what they were fighting over. It was a gun. But why-

Oh.

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AN: Just to let you know, I already have the whole fanfic written, I just have to type it up. That's why I'm updating this so fast. I didn't have like a giant burst of creativity or anything.

And this next chapter will be the last one. There will be an epilogue too, but it will be really short. And thanks so much to the people who have reviewed! You don't know how happy it makes me, especially since this is my first fanfic. So thanks!