For this chapter I want to thank She-Elf4 for helping me edit this and hope you all enjoy! Please review me to let me know how I'm doing thanks!
It had been four days since the contest, and the more Beadle did not come for his shave, the more irritated Sweeney became, causing him to pace back and forth in the shop excessively. During his excessive pacing, Mrs. Lovett was sweeping the floors while Azrael was baking. When a poor beggar woman came inside the shop, Azrael looked up at the woman with sympathy, but Mrs. Lovett looked extremely irritated. "Alms ... alms ..." the beggar woman said in a very weak and weathered voice.
Mrs. Lovett started to mock the poor woman and tried to shove her out of the shop. "Alms ... alms ...How many times have I told you? I'll not have trash from the gutter hanging around my establishment!" Azrael glared at Mrs. Lovett and rushed up towards them, accidentally pushing past Sweeney, causing him to stop his pacing and watch them.
"Mrs. Lovett, let the lass alone!" she said with a frown on her face.
The woman looked up at Azrael, gave her a faint smile for looking out for her, and held out her hands to Mrs. Lovett. "Not just a penny, dear? Or a pie? One of them pies that give the stomach cramps to half the neighborhood?" she asked. Mrs. Lovett started laughing. "Come on, dear. Have a heart, dear."
Mrs. Lovett glared at the woman and started to shove her towards the door. "Off. Off with you, or you'll get a kick on the rump that'll make your teeth chatter!"
Azrael glared at Mrs. Lovett, stepped up, and grabbed the old beggar woman's arm. "Come, luv. I'll give ya one of my fresh baked pies. It'll do your belly good for such weather," she said kindly as she ushered the woman to a booth.
The woman smiled at Azrael and hugged her. "Bless your soul, child! You and your good heart! Tis truly an angel."
Azrael couldn't help but giggle as she helped the woman sit down. She walked off to grab one of her pies and placed it right in front of her. "No luv, I am no angel, just a lass who likes to help out the lesser fortunate, when they are in need." The woman smiled as she continued to eat her pie. Azrael smiled at this, but felt herself forcefully yanked away from the booth.
She was face-to-face with a very irritated Mrs. Lovett. "That pie is coming out of your food rations tonight, you hear me! If we keep feeding the beggars, they will loiter my place, do you understand? I do not want to have my establishment ruined by them!"
Azrael sighed and slowly shook her head. "That's fine, Mrs. Lovett. I'd rather see her have a good meal than myself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to check on my other pies," she muttered as she stormed away from the older woman. The beggar woman ended up finishing her pie and left, thanking Azrael immensely for her kind gesture.
Once the woman left, Mrs. Lovett made sure to find a proper punishment for Azrael, since Azrael had disobeyed her. She forced Azrael to scrub the entire shop for her disobedience. Azrael did not care though; she had so many thoughts rushing around in her mind that she didn't mind the peace and quite. However, as night came, her back did end up minding.
Once Azrael was finished with her chores, she weakly walked up the stairs. She was going to head to her room until she saw Mr. Todd's door slightly open and a light glowing in the room. Azrael sighed and figured the man had forgotten to blow out his candles. She decided to do it for him, so she gently opened the door to his room and stepped inside. She ended up seeing him staring out the window. Azrael frowned, knowing that his mind has been somewhere else for the longest time. She couldn't blame him, for her mind has also been in another realm itself.
She gently walked up next to him and just stood there, staring out the window and crossing her arms. "What are you doing up so late?" Sweeney asked, not even bothering to turn his head to face her.
Azrael shrugged her shoulders and continued to stare at the dark streets and buildings. "Other than finishing my punishment chores?" she said softly with a little bit of amusement in her voice. "Just allowing my mind to wonder is all… I was never one to be able to sleep well by myself. I used to hate it when Gerry had to go on business trips and it would be just our dark house and me. It may sound silly, but even though he is gone, I can still feel him, ya know? Like he's actually watching out for me, guarding me, and guiding me through all of this," she said with a little bit of hope in her voice.
Sweeney finally looked over at her, his arms still crossed, giving her a very nonchalant look. "I wish I felt what you felt."
Azrael looked up at him, not realizing that her eyes were starting to water. "What?"
Sweeney fully turned his body and stared at her with his deep, penetrating eyes. "I wish I felt Lucy's presence. I wish she was here to guard me and guide me, like your husband is for you."
Azrael smiled and turned to face him fully. "What makes you think she's not there?" she asked softly.
Sweeney sighed and turned his head to look away from her. "Because I would be able to feel her… I would be able to know that she was around… she's gone, Azrael, and I just wish I could bring her back."
Azrael smiled at the man before her and gently placed her palm on his cheek. "That's where you're wrong, Mr. Todd. She is around, and you want to know how I know?" Sweeney sighed and slowly nodded, giving her permission to go on. Azrael smiled at this and gently placed her hand on his heart. "It's because she lives in you. She is around because she is in your heart, and she will never be gone. She'll always be apart of you, just like Gerry will always be apart of me; even though we can't see them nor hear their voices anymore, they will always live in us. They live in our hearts, and our souls; just remember that and you will feel her around. Trust me; she will never stop looking after you. Just like my Gerry will never stop looking after me."
Sweeney sighed, slowly moved away from her, and started to clench his fists, feeling his anger seep through him. "How can you be so sure! How can you possibly know that they would even care to look after us! They probably blame us for allowing them to die!" he shouted.
Azrael frowned and slowly moved up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder while his back was facing her. "Because that's how I make it through the day, Mr. Todd. I have to believe that, or I won't be here. I'll never make it through my days if I didn't feel such a way."
Sweeney sighed and slowly turned to look back at her. "Do you really think she's here? Watching me?"
Azrael allowed a small smile to form on her face and gently nodded her head. "I don't think, Mr. Todd, I believe that she is. After all, you were the love of her life. How can she not want to watch you and protect you? It's foolishness to believe in anything else."
Sweeney, nodded, the look of depression morphing on his face. "I miss her, Azrael. I miss her and Joanna."
Azrael sighed, still having that small smile on her face. "I know, luv. I know. I miss my Shannon every day. The only thing I have left in me is hope. Hope that I will finally seek the revenge that is deserved upon that man, so my family can finally rest in peace."
Sweeney nodded and looked down at her. "He will receive it, Azrael. I'll make sure of it."
Azrael smiled at this. However, she noticed how much closer he was to her; it made her, for some odd reason, feel like she should move away from him a bit. "Thank you for helping me with this," she said softly while she crossed her arms around herself.
Sweeney gave her a ghost of a smile and gently bowed his head. "Thank you for listening to an insane man mope about his deceased wife."
Azrael could not help but giggle at this and quickly shook her head. "It's the least I can do, after you had to put up with my craziness with attempt suicides, and me assaulting the bloody hell out of your chest that one night."
Sweeney then smirked at her and shrugged. "I didn't do it to save you."
Azrael arched her brow and crossed her arms. "Really. Then way did you do it, Mr. Todd?"
Sweeney's smirk grew even bigger and he started to walk away from her. "I didn't feel like cleaning up the bloody mess that would have been left on the rug," he stated innocently.
After hearing this, Azrael scoffed at him while she walked up and swatted him in the back of the head. "Oh! You bloody, mangy, maniacal git!" she muttered irritably. However, as soon as she was just about to swat him again, Sweeney grabbed her arms like lighting and pinned them to her sides.
He was staring at her intently, noticing that their bodies were severely close. Sweeny had a look of seriousness on his face as he looked down at this young woman, seeing the fear in her eyes. He then gently leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "Never threaten a man who can easily dominate you, my dear. It won't turn out into your favor, I can promise you that." He then leaned back and gently released her.
Azrael quickly moved away from him and cleared her throat, trying her hardest to avoid his gaze on her. "Well… I won't be plannin' on doin' such a thing anytime soon," She said rather fast for her own taste, and quickly started to walk towards the door. "I hope you have a good evening Mr. Todd."
Sweeney smirked at her and gently nodded his head. "And to you as well, Mrs. Rowena." Azrael nodded and started to walk out of the room. Once she left, Sweeney could not help but smile. The woman was so oblivious to the world's intentions. He couldn't help but be somewhat intrigued by her. Sure, she would never be his Lucy, but the fact that it was nice to have someone to talk to about his wife and child, and actually understand where he was coming from, was nice. It helped preventing the loneliness he was bearing. It also amazed him how she could get right into his heart like that and say things that actually made him hope were true. He supposed that, most the time she was talking, it was when she was trying to convince herself that what she was saying was true; but the gesture of her trying to prove to him that his Lucy was still around, watching him, did give him a little hope. In addition, the fact that this young woman, who was in a room away from him, was able to do that blew his mind tremendously. However, who knew, maybe things would turn out for the better. All he knew was that he was really starting to value this so called friendship he attained with this young woman. Maybe they will be able to help each other through their pain, and maybe, just maybe, they both will eventually start to heal together.