IMPORTANT NOTICE: So I had planned to get this out on Friday at the latest but a lot of things came up including my now having a boyfriend (squee!) and my having to go through twelve hours of training for my upcoming summer internship. I have finals next week so I might have time to update once more before I leave but I leave on May 8th and I have no idea if I'll be able to update over the summer as I'll be working 75+ hour weeks with only Sunday off so depending on what we do on those days I may still be able to update. If not I'm sure I'll be able to find five minutes to post an author's note to let you know, or I'll just put it up on my profile.
Thank Yous: xBelekinax , fivesevenshuffle , A-Creature-of-Darkness , Haruna Uchiha , ULTIMATE-OTAKU-47-11 , justsukiya , and Alfirin-Lover for the reviews that made me smile :)
Thank you and huggles: ThePurpleness (for all the help when I was freaking out lol)
Huge Thank You and Huggles: HadleyConlon who not only went and reviewed every chapter of this story but did the same for Burden of Desires, sorry I couldn't keep my promise for this update but hopefully the length makes up for it :)
Author's Note: Not really too happy about how this chapter turned out because no matter how I wrote it, it came out rushed or just not completely invested. Hopefully you all like it better than I do though, don't forget to leave a review and let me know!
The will to succeed is important, but the will to prepare is vital.
~ Vince Lombardi
Sweeney awoke feeling more refreshed than he had in years. He sighed in content as he felt comforted and warm. He felt something shift closer before arms tightened around his waist and a head snuggled into his chest and smiled. Linnet seemed to be the most adorable in sleep. Sighing once more he encircled her own waist and relinquished his for once peaceful mind to a bit more sleep.
It was in this entwined position that Linnet awakened. She smiled as she breathed in the masculine aroma of her companion. Some sort of mix between the scents of his trade, namely pomade and shave lather, and sandalwood – his preferred scent of bathing soap. She placed a chaste kiss against his lower jaw before beginning the work of freeing herself from the confines of his sculpted arms. Once she was free to stand she lifted her arms in an almost feline stretch and moved to freshen up in the privy, unaware of a certain barber watching her every step with a smirk plastered firmly on his face. He closed his eyes just as she returned, remaining stoic and feigning sleep as she leaned over him, shaking his shoulder gently in an effort to wake him. Suddenly he smiled, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto the bed as he rolled over to hover above her.
"Good morning." He smiled.
"Good morning to you too, may I ask what has you in such a playful mood this fine day?" Linnet replied smiling affectionately.
"It seems the heavens have graced me with an angel who has chased away the demons of the dark. She had blessed me with a peaceful mind that I have not had in years and look! Here she lies before me, not having fled in the shadows of night." He dramatized.
She giggled and winked in return, "And where would I go, good sir? This is my house."
He gasped at her coquettish answer, "You wound me fair angel; I am deeply affected." He hung his head in mock sadness.
"Well we can't have that can we?" She replied, kissing his cheek.
"Thank you Linnet." Sweeney answered in all honesty, the playful tone of the morning gone, "You really are an angel."
"I am no such thing Sweeney; do not hold such high expectations of me. Just know that I will never abandon you, that I will always be there when you need me." She smiled gently and cupped his cheek as he knelt down to kiss her for the first time. She grinned into his kiss as she accepted it and soon the two found themselves tangled once more in a heated caress of lips.
"Netty," Sweeney began as he traced kisses gently along the line of her neck, "I seem to find myself in a predicament."
"And that would be?"
"I do not wish to stop." He replied, pressing his lips deeply into the crook of her neck. Linnet's thoughts ran rampant. She could easily give into Sweeney's caress but would she be taking advantage of him? Here was a man who had been deprived of compassion and feminine touches for almost two decades. He felt indebted to her for being the first to truly reach out and he was pulling his emotions from her past with Benjamin. This was not Benjamin. With this thought she gently placed her palms against his shoulders and pushed, as much as he was not ready, neither was she.
"Sweeney, believe me, you have no idea how much I want this. I'm just not ready, and frankly my love, I'm not too sure you are either. Think on that." She kissed his cheek warmly before slipping out of the bed and moving to the kitchen to start breakfast for them both.
Sweeney sat, albeit dumbstruck, on the bed as he contemplated her words. How stupid could he have been? Of course she wasn't ready! The woman had been brutally ravaged years ago and had not experienced a man since! The likelihood that Sweeney would have been able to resist his animalistic urges once the act had begun was slim to none. He was a man after all and he too had not experienced the touch of a lover for years. He was quite selfish indeed, he would have to apologize.
He rose from the bed and made himself presentable, borrowing a fresh shirt from the late Mr. Reynolds. Upon entering the kitchen, he moved swiftly behind Linnet, bringing his arms around her from behind and his lips to her temple. "I'm sorry." He whispered.
Linnet's movements stilled and she turned to look at him in confusion, "For what?"
"Well this morning, it was entirely inappropriate and I shouldn't have tried to take-"
Linnet placed her fingers gently over his lips to still their movement, "Sweeney love, there was nothing wrong with what happened this morning. The only thing wrong is it may not be the right time." She continued as she saw his mouth attempting to open beneath her hand, "Sweeney you're not quite you just yet. Not completely anyway, you've still got the judge on your mind and I…" Her voice trailed away. She wasn't too sure how she felt. A few honest kisses were fine but anything further just seemed to horrify her at the thought of Michael Rueben. She was ruined. Spoiled.
Sweeney seemed to understand her pause as his arms tightened around her, "Listen, I've got an idea for something in the shop. I might need some help though."
"What is it?" She asked as she wormed her way out of his embrace and set the table for two.
"Just a slight modification I'd like to make to ol' Albert's chair." He smirked as he thought of his plan.
"Alright, why don't we head over there after breakfast? I'll just clean the dishes and be right there."
Sweeney nodded as he finished his porridge. Clearly the cheery mood he was in when he woke up was dissipating and he was reverting back to the everyday Sweeney. Linnet made a note to be careful before she was the victim of an emotional whiplash. In less than an hour she was climbing the steps to Sweeney's shop and walked in to see him sitting cross-legged in front of the chair with a large parchment open before him.
"What is that?"
"Blueprints. I've planned to reengineer the way this chair is made to make it easier and inconspicuous to transport the bodies."
"And how would you have the knowledge to do that?"
"I know a few things."
"Well who would have thought Sweeney Todd would turn out to be a Jack of all trades? Here I thought you were a master of one and a dabbler of none." She smirked, choosing to ignore the fact that he was continuing with Lovett's insane plan. "What can I do to help?"
"I ask for a wrench, you hand it to me." He replied before lying on his back and moving under the chair. It took the entire morning and most of the afternoon but the chair was finished, complete with trap door to the bake house. Sweeney could only smirk as he watched the chair return to its rightful position and close the door. The people of London would not know what hit them.
Linnet was still cautious about this plan. She couldn't understand how a man who had lost his own family was willing to desecrate others. Thankfully she observed that he would shave the men who walked in with their families and watch them leave though she wasn't sure if that was out of heart or out of fear he would not be able to catch them all before they ran. Lovett's business was booming now as apparently the taste of human was a delicacy to be savored. Linnet was disgusted, she hated going to the pie shop every day but she couldn't stop going. She had nothing else to do as both she and Sweeney were still wary of her reopening her own shop with Reuben still in town.
She prepared herself as she walked up the steps once more to the barbershop to find the splattering blood or to find Sweeney cleaning up after a kill, to find the body sliding down and hearing the squelching thud as it hit the stones below. She was not prepared to hear Sweeney's haunting voice singing to his sweet child.
"And if you're beautiful what then
With yellow hair, like wheat.
I think we shall not meet again,
My little dove, my sweet,
Johanna"
Linnet's heart went out to him, he had not been speaking of the revenge he had planned or the emotions he kept inside. He was not opening up to her the way he had previously and now he was singing to the bodies he killed. But why would he think he would never see his angel again?
"Goodbye, Johanna!
You're gone and yet you're mine!
I'm fine, Johanna
I'm fine.
And if I never hear your voice,
My turtle dove, my dear
I still have reason to rejoice,
The way ahead is clear
Johanna!"
Sweeney was planning on paving the way for her freedom, whether he ever saw Johanna again or not was not the point, the point was; he would free her from the clutches of Judge Turpin once and for all. He would free the world of all the prospective Judge Turpins and he would make sure another poor little naïve barber would not be annihilated the way he was.
"And in that darkness when I'm blind
With what I can't forget.
It's always morning in my mind,
My little lamb, my pet
Johanna.
You stay, Johanna
The way I dreamed you were!
Oh look, Johanna!
A star!
A shooting star!"
Linnet's eyes watered as she listened beneath the window. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She walked quietly into the barbershop as he continued and forced his hand to put down his friend. There was no one in the shop anymore, just the two of them, and the blood of the previous customer. She put her arms around him and he rested his head atop hers as he continued, gazing into the distance barely processing who he was holding and his words changed just slightly from its vindictive tone.
"And though I'll think of you I guess
Until the day, I die.
I think I miss you less and less
As every day goes by,
Johanna!"
His hold tightened, squeezing her as close as he possibly could.
"And you'd be beautiful and pale
And look too much like her.
If only angels could prevail,
We'd be the way, we were
Johanna!
Wake up, Johanna!
Another bright red day!
We learn, Johanna
To say…
Goodbye."
His voice softened and Linnet felt a small wetness trail down from her hair and down the side of her face before dropping to the floor off the end of her chin. Sweeney was crying. He was letting his daughter go. He was letting his hope go. He planned to pave the way for Johanna to lead a full life and then who knew what he would do? She had to help him realize it wasn't the end but she didn't know how.
"Sweeney darling things must always get much, much worse, before they have hope of getting better. But they will get better. They always will." She said as she gently pushed him to sit in his demon chair, making sure neither of their feet were anywhere near the peddle. She sat across his lap, brushing his hair with her hand and holding him to her.
"Under the snow,
Beneath the frozen streams, there is life.
You have to know,
When nature sleeps, she dreams there is life!
And the colder the winter,
The warmer the spring.
The deeper the sorrow,
The more our hearts sing.
Even when you can't see it,
Inside everything, there is life."
Sweeney nestled his head into the crook of her neck and let her song sooth him once more. He closed his eyes and listened to her voice take him to a calmer place with her and for yet another moment in time with her, he felt at peace.
"After the rain,
The sun will reappear, there is life.
After the pain,
The joy will still be here, there is life!
For it's out of the darkness,
That we learn to see,
And out of the silence,
That songs come to be.
And all that we dream of,
Awaits patiently,
There is life…"
Linnet pulled on Sweeney's chin, forcing him to look her in the eye and see the sincerity of her words, "There is life." She finished and brought her lips to his.
"I have to end this somehow Netty. I have to end it. I can't live the rest of my life in this rage that consumes me. Everywhere I go, everyone I see, I see him! I have to end him; I won't feel this peace until I do."
"And I understand that love; just don't lose faith in your Johanna. You'll see her again. You'll be a family again."
"How could she want to be mine after all that I've done? How could she forgive me for what I'm doing now? Her father is a monster."
"I thought her father was dead." Linnet replied sympathetically, "You told me yourself that you've witnessed his passing. Little Johanna is truly an orphan, with me as her godmother. Sweeney Todd has no wife, he has no daughter. His only family consists of me, Mrs. Lovett, and I suppose Antony if he likes. I'm sure Antony would like a father." Linnet smiled, "And then of course Antony is quite taken with a lovely little blond girl named Johanna. I suppose she'll one day be my daughter-in-law. Hopefully yours as well."
Sweeney smiled at the thought for Linnet was right. Benjamin Barker was dead. Sweeney had yet to build his family, but with a little help from his angel, he could easily build one he would grow to love, cherish, and protect for the rest of his life. "I rather like that idea." He said quietly, "But first," his smile retreated, "we need to take care of the two bastards that ruined everything in the first place." He stood up slowly, making sure Linnet's feet were planted firmly on the ground and returned to wiping down the blood. She sighed and slumped her shoulders as she fought to tell him something she had been contemplating for a few days now.
Was killing Rueben and Turpin this way really justified? Turpin perhaps but what about Reuben? True he took the one thing of value she had and ruined any chance she had of a real family but she felt conflicted. In an odd sort of way, she was thankful for what happened. She had given up hope of having a family long before the event had even happened and while it left her with no husband, she received a son who loved her as much as she cherished him. Was it really so bad?
As she was mulling about these thoughts on her walk back from the market one morning, she came across a familiar alley and the sounds of fabric ripping accompanied by the muffled whimpers of a frightened female. Linnet's eyes widened and she peaked around the corner to find the man of her nightmares wreaking horror upon another unfortunate soul. All thoughts of forgiveness ran from her mind. Her anger and rage was back as she witnessed the life of Justine Fletcher – a rather beautiful and vivacious young woman – ruined. Her mind settled upon one path and one path alone.
She marched up the stairs and burst through the door, for once uncaring of the throat recently slit. She walked up to Sweeney and held his bloodied hand, still clutching the razor, by his wrist and looked into his eyes determinedly, "Teach me." She whispered.
So it's not a sexy green rectangle anymore but it's got a cute little speech bubble...click it?