Mrs. Lovett hurried down the stairs. She was worried about Toby, she hadn't seen hide nor hair of him in the cellar. She didn't have time to worry about that now. She walked to the far wall where Beadle Bamford, Judge Turpin, and…

There was a loud gasping. Mrs. Lovett felt a tugging on her skirts. Before she could stop herself, she was screaming. Judge Turpin, still oozing a rich ruby red, was gasping and pulling on her dress.

"Die!" she screamed. "God in heaven, die!" Turpin's hold ever so slowly relaxed as the gagging noises grew louder. She backed up quickly, as soon as she was able to break his hold. She closed her eyes, and took several deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, they fell upon yellow hair.

"You," she whispered. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. If Todd were to discover the body… she shuddered to think what would happen. She walked quickly to the body and dragged it towards the furnace.

The bake house door creaked open. Todd stood there, clutching his razor, his shirt stained with blood, and his face streaked with it. He managed to look pleased and angry all at the same time.

"Why did you scream?" he asked her. She was already moving bodies towards the furnace. She was dragging the beggar woman, having slight difficulty.

"Oh," she said, nervously. "He was clutching onto me dress," she said, nodding towards Turpin. "But he's finished now." Mrs. Lovett's fear didn't have any effect on Todd; it only pleased him that Turpin suffered. It would in no way amount to the fifteen years of pain that he had to endure, but where there was pain for Turpin, there was pleasure for Todd.

Todd stepped forward and grabbed the corpse's arm.

"I'll take care of it," he said, not intending to be kind, but to make quick work of getting rid of the evidence. "Open the door," he instructed Mrs. Lovett. She hesitated to step away, fearing that Todd would discover. Everything would be ruined then!

"Open the door, I said," he growled, that fire returning to his eyes. Mrs. Lovett did as she was told, and walked towards the furnace. She pulled open the door. The cold cellar was bathed in the warm glow of the flames. Todd's eyes flicked to the woman's face. His angry expression softened. He dropped the woman's arm, and squatted next to her still frame.

Mrs. Lovett tried to look away. She didn't want to see the look on his face when he recognized the girl. But there was nowhere else to look; except forward. At her doom.

Todd gently brushed back the yellow hair that had hung in the woman's face. He immediately felt sick to his stomach. It was her. It was unmistakable. She had changed, but he knew his Lucy when he saw her. He could never forget her.

"'Don't I know you?' she said," he whispered, grief stricken. He looked up at Mrs. Lovett in disbelief. "You knew she lived."

Mrs. Lovett's vision was blocked by tears. She hadn't killed Lucy; Todd did that on his own. But it was just as much her fault as it was his. And she would be treated no better than Turpin. If only he would understand her motives. Maybe he would forgive her. Maybe they could still be together.

"I was only thinking of you," she told him. And it was true. However, Todd's pained expression did not falter.

"You lied to me," he accused. To hear him mutter those words was the most painful thing Mrs. Lovett had ever endured. She had never intended to hurt him. She didn't lie…

"No, no, not lied. I never lied," she said. "I said she took a poison, and she did. I never said that she died!" Her explanation fell on deaf ears. Todd was hugging his wife close to his chest, whispering her name. Mrs. Lovett didn't stop talking. "Poor thing, she lived. But the arsenic left her weak in the head. She should have been in a hospital, wound up in Bedlam instead." Todd was still ignoring her, drowning in his own grief.

"Yes! I lied," she admitted loudly. She took a cautious step forward. "It was better that you think she was dead, than see her the way she was. Yes, I lied because I love you! Could she ever care for you like me?" Mr. Todd stood, backing up slowly from his wife's body.

"Lucy," he repeated. "What have I done?" he cried out in anguish. He turned quickly on his heel, to face Mrs. Lovett. She saw a hellfire gleaming in his eyes, one so fierce and burning so bright. Hatred that she had never seen in his eyes before. Then, all the fire was extinguished.

"Mrs. Lovett," he said. "You're a bloody wonder." He took a step towards her, and she took a step back. She wasn't sure she should trust him. Her instincts were screaming at her to run. "You've always said there's little point in dwelling on the past. You're right. I have to put all of this behind me."

"Do you mean it?" she asked. He nodded. "Everything I did, I swear, I thought it was only for the best. Please believe me," she pleaded.

"Come here, my love," he said, his arms outstretched. She hesitated. "There's nothing to fear," he assured her. He'd never lied to her before. She stepped forward, placing herself in his arms. It felt heavenly; as if she belonged there. "What's dead is dead," he whispered into her hair. She looked into his deep somber eyes, there was an expression there. Love, was it? She smiled. The Fates were favoring her at last. Finally, she and Todd could live her dream.

Todd was certain he'd gained her trust. She wasn't near as hesitant as before. This woman, this Nellie Lovett, he trusted. She lied. He had actually begun to see himself ending up with Mrs. Lovett, but the tables had turned. And now his sweet Lucy was dead. By his own hand. He couldn't believe he'd been so foolish, again. It made him lose Lucy for a final time.

He slowly spun her around the room. Her movements matched his perfectly, and she rested herself against his chest. She was trusting him. Just as he trusted her. And she was going to get burned for it. As they neared the open furnace, Todd used all his strength to shove the fiend in the fire. Mrs. Lovett collapsed on top of the flames, immediately being consumed. There was a look of deep hurt, betrayal, sorrow, and a flicker of love. Still. After all the hurt, the lies, the treachery. She still loved him.

Todd ignored her screams of pain, and closed the heavy door, latching it shut. It muffled her screams, only a little. He walked back over to Lucy. He knelt gently taking her limp form in his hands. He pressed his lips to her cold cheek, and let out a soft sob. There he knelt, holding Lucy, for several minutes.

He heard the shifting of a sewer grate behind him. It must be Toby, he thought. He had, no doubt, heard everything. He heard Toby's footsteps approaching him, and the scrape of his abandoned razor against the cement. Todd knew what was coming. He had killed so many for Lucy, to avenge her. And it turned out he was the one who had drained her sweet life from her veins. Everything he had done, everything he had lived for was in vain. His Lucy was still lost to him.

He didn't deserve to live, and he knew he wasn't going to. He wasn't frightened, knowing he had mere seconds left, yet he wasn't calm. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head back, offering his bare, pale neck. Though expected, the sting of the razor hit him unexpectedly. Its cool metal burned his skin, and he could feel the life slowly draining out of him. Growing cold. He looked down at his sweet Lucy. Her pretty, pale face, stained with his blood. He kept his eyes open for as long as he could, relishing in the pain. Knowing that, this time, he deserved every second of it. His throat began to fill with his own thick, warm blood. He couldn't breathe. His vision faded to black.

Thus, with the death of Lucy Barker, ended the life of Sweeney Todd. In the end, Lucy was the only thing Todd had to live for; the only thing that kept him going. It was the only piece of Benjamin Barker he had left to hold on to; the need for sweet revenge. The only thing the cold, merciless Sweeney Todd held in common with the meek, naïve Benjamin Barker was Lucy. It had always been Lucy.

Fin