A/N: And you thought I had given up, didn't you?
I owe a lot (and I mean A LOT) of credit to the wonderful NellieTodd for helping me out with this chapter. Without her, I fear that Tourniquet would have been utterly abandoned. She was gracious enough to give of her valued time to help write part of this chapter for me and help get the ball rolling again. I cannot thank her enough.
Me no own, you no sue.
Tourniquet- Chapter 9: Romance
A thin beam of sun shone through the clouds and into Sweeney Todd's shop. The feeble ray reflected off of the razor Sweeney held in his hand, making the silver sparkle. He sighed contently to himself as he continued to sharpen his friends. It was a Sunday. The shops were closed. He set the razor back in its case and walked downstairs.
Mrs. Lovett and Toby were sitting in the parlor with a large, leather bound book sitting between them. Mrs. Lovett flipped through the pages.
"'ere, try this one." She said pointing to a page and handing the book to Toby. He sat the book on his lap and cleared his throat.
"From childhood's hour I 'ave not been," he began,
"As others w-were - I 'ave not seen
As other saw - I could not b-bring.
My passions from a common spring
From the same source I 'ave not taken
My s-s-sorrow; I could not awaken
My 'eart to joy at the same tone;
And all I lov'd -I lov'd alone."
Here he paused and took a deep breath. He turned to Mrs. Lovett who nodded, urging him to continue.
"Then - in my ch-childhood - in the dawn
Of a most st-stormy life - was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which b-binds me still:
From the t-torrent, or the f-fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that 'round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold -
F-from the lightning in the sky -
As it pass'd me flying by -
From the thunder and the st-storm,
And the cloud that took the form
When the rest of 'eaven was blue…
Of a demon in my view."
He finished the final line and looked up from the book. When he lifted his eyes, he meet those of Sweeney Todd, who was eyeing him intently from the doorway of the parlor. Toby jumped, startled, and dropped the book which hit the floor with a dull thud.
"M-mr. Todd!" He stammered. Sweeney narrowed his eyes towards him. "I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean t-to, I m-mean I didn't mean t-to imply th-that… it's j-just th-that… I was only…" He then quickly picked up the book off the floor and clutched it to him.
"You're becoming a rather good reader, Tobias." Sweeney said, walking across the room.
Toby sighed. He was glad that Sweeney had not taken the last line offensively. He was just starting to patch things up with him and he didn't want it all to be ruined by a single petty line in a poem.
"That he is." Mrs. Lovett said, smiling. "He's gotten so far in his lessons. 'aven't you, dear?" Toby nodded, smiling slightly.
"'ow 'as you morning been, my love?" Sweeney asked. He leaned towards Mrs. Lovett and kissed her on the lips, which lingered for a moment. Toby rolled his eyes and got up to put the book back on the shelf.
"Fine, dear, fine," Mrs. Lovett answered. Sweeny gave a slight nod of his head and began to walk out of the parlor. Before he could, she spoke again. "Love, it's such a beautiful morning."
Sweeney turned back to look at her. His lips twitched upward in what would be a smile. "That it is." He watched the baker saunter forward, wringing her hands.
"Yes, in fact, it's so lovely, why don't the three of us…well, go on a picnic?" Her heart fluttered in anticipation as she examined his unsure expression. Sweeney didn't answer, but instead left the room. Mrs. Lovett's heart sank. Perhaps it was too soon to ask him to do such a thing; after all, him and Lucy went out for picnics all the time. The last thing he needed was a reminder of his other life. Tears welled up on the brims of her eyes, her stomach twisting in guilt and failure. She then felt a small hand clasp hers; Toby was standing by her side, silently comforting his adoptive mother.
"Mrs. Lovett, did you get rid of the old picnic basket?" Sweeney's sudden question made both Mrs. Lovett and Toby jump. The barber was standing in the doorway behind them, apparently after having just looked through the pie shop.
"Um… it should be in the closet in my bedroom." Her legs were wobbly as she went off to search for it.
The breeze was gentle, but strong enough to allow Toby to fly a kite with ease. It was just after noon. The lunch that Mrs. Lovett had prepared of her pies ("Purely fruit, I swear." she had chuckled after Toby looked at them, ready to hurl.) had been long since eaten.
The baker watched Toby fly his kite for awhile before the wind died and the kite came crashing down, the line draping all over him.
Before she could say anything, Sweeney got to his feet and made his way over to help the boy.
Toby cringed slightly, still a little unsure, as the barber assisted him in getting him untangled from the string. His touch still made the boy shudder; memories of that dreadful night came flooding back to him in fast motion - the bodies, the blood, the pies, Mrs. Lovett and Mr. Todd hunting him down, him being caught, Sweeney breaking his arm and holding the razor to his throat.
The boy blinked a few times to rid himself of the horrid memories which had flashed before him like a hellish nightmare.
No. Not this time. Mr. Todd was going to be around for quite awhile. What was he going to do, keep running and hiding until he moved out of the house? He had to stand his ground and keep strong.
Seconds became minutes for Toby until Sweeney had untangled the line and the kite flew back into the air. The barber walked back to his beautiful Mrs. Lovett.
She had her eyes glued to the clear blue sky, her expression showing her absentmindedness, until the barber sat down next to her and placed a hand on her knee. She turned to him and looked at his eyes. Something about them seemed different. Inching closer and making eye contact with him, she could see something had changed. His face was calmer, his eyes, usually aflame with anger and vengeance, now softer and kinder.
Sweeney studied her curiously. Something about her, too, seemed different. Normally she was chattering away, yammering on about who-knows-what.
No, that wasn't it. (Even though she was uncharacteristically silent for once.) Maybe it was the new view he had of her; not a necessary evil, but someone he cared about. Someone he knew he'd hurt deeply; his heart burned to correct what he had done.
For a moment, Lucy's face was just a blur in his head. In fact, he wasn't even thinking of her name now; or Johanna's for that matter. Only one name in particular stuck out from all the rest he'd ever learned.
Nellie.
His heart aflutter, the sentence tumbled from his mouth. "Nellie Lovett, will you marry me?"
Toby overheard. The boy was in such a shock that the birds in the sky were soon joined by his colorful kite, carried away by the breeze.
The baker searched the face of the barber, scanning the depths of his dark, liquid brown eyes. Her heart seemed to leap out of her chest and the breath from her lungs was sucked out. The moment that she had fantasized about for over a decade and half was now taking place. Any grudge that she still held against him drifted off on the changing breeze. Her lips trembled.
"Y-yes. Yes." she said, a large smile gracing her lips as tears of pure joy began to brim up in her eyes.
Sweeney brushed away a tear from her cheek with the back of his calloused hand and caressed her face, tracing his index finger along her delicate jaw bone. He then cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her, passionately.
"Erm, mum? Mr. Todd?"
The couple broke free of each other and looked up at Toby, who was staring at them wide-eyed.
A blush settled on Mrs. Lovett's cheeks and she cleared her throat. "Come sit down, darling." she said and patted the empty space on the picnic blanket next to her. "We 'ave something to tell ya."
Toby plopped down beside her and glanced back and forth between his adoptive mother and the "demon" barber. Mrs. Lovett tilted her head towards Sweeney and smiled at him. He inched as close as he could to her and put his arm around her waist.
"Well," she said, clasping her hands, "I am very happy to announce that Mr. Todd and I are going to be married." She was grinning from ear to ear as she looked intently at Toby, waiting for his reaction.
The boy wasn't quite sure of what emotion to exhibit. He was glad to see his mum so happy; the happiest he had ever seen her. On the other hand, he was still a little uneasy about the prospect of Mr. Todd holding a permanent residence on Fleet Street. He was beginning to see Sweeney as less and less of a threat to him, but it all seemed so sudden. The proposal had fallen out of the clear blue sky. He looked over to the face of the smiling barber. He didn't seem at all intimidating. He looked…happy. They both just looked so happy.
"Is something wrong, dear?" Mrs. Lovett said. The boy shook his head and smiled.
"No, mum. Nothings wrong. I'm really happy for you. I'm just happy that you're happy."
She hugged her adoptive son to her. "Now we can officially be a family." she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
A family. The impression was a foreign one to Toby, as much as it was a once abandoned fantasy or fading memory to Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd. The child had never had a family to call his own before. He remember how back in the days of preaching the benefits of the bogus elixir of Pirelli's in the markets, he would watch groups of happy, smiling families walking about, wondering it would be like to be with people who loved you and cared for you no matter what. He felt rather jealous of them all. Now, he supposed, he had it. It was not exactly the type of family he had fondly dreamed about, but it was a start. He sighed and thought to himself: I suppose Mr. Todd really is going to be sticking around for quite a while.
A/N: The poem that Toby reads in this chapter is titled "Alone" and belongs Mr. Edgar Allan Poe.
Well, was that worth the wait? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Statements of utter disgust? Review, or I shall send Sweeney to give you the closest shave you will ever know. How is that so? Well, because he is simply one hell of a barber. ;) (Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system.)