Hey guys! I'm so sorry for the long break! I won't drown this note out with excuses, just one announcement. This is the final chapter of Another Man Saw She Was Beautiful! It's been a great four years now, and I'm so thankful for all of you who have stuck around since the beginning and those who joined in just now. The story is rather short for having taken so long, and I do apologize for that. My only hope is that you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thank you all!

The walk down to the jail was a cold one, despite the tepid weather. Each step Ben took on the cobbled stone path was one moment less that he had to think about what he was going to say, what he was going to ask. So many different scenarios passed through his head, but they all came to one conclusion, and it was a conclusion he knew had been coming for a while. The thought made his heart race. Could he really go through with it? As the jail entered his sight, his palms became sweaty and the nerves of his anticipated conversation got to him.

He entered the old building. The inside was dirty and even from the lobby he could tell it was crowded. It smelled of musk from the many sweaty bodies crammed into the cells.

The police officer at the front desk was not so young; his hair was receding and he had a slight pot-belly. The man looked up from the newspaper he was reading.

"Can I help you?"

Ben cleared his throat and approached the man. "I'd like to visit a Lucy Barker."

The officer put his paper down.

"Follow me."

Ben followed the man down the hall. The cells lined either side of it, each holding five or six prisoners.

"Here we are. Ms. Barker? You've got a visitor." With that, the plump officer left. Ben peered inside the dark cell until he saw Lucy's yellow hair come forward.

"Ben? You're out? Wha- why? How did ya get a trial so quick?" she clung to the bars, getting as close to her lover as possible.

"I'm not too sure, myself." He looked at his wife. Her hair wasn't the vibrant yellow it was two days before. One night in prison and she already had dirt in it. It hung limply around her face. She reached to touch him, but he flinched backwards slightly.

"Is it true? What Nellie told me? You attacked her?"

Lucy shifted her gaze to the dirty floor. "Maybe."

"Lucy, I must know. It's all I ask." He pleaded, "Just tell me the truth."

Lucy giggled madly; it was strange to Ben's ears. The sound was not sweet anymore. No, her laugh was more deranged than anything else. It was something he wasn't used to. "I did it, Benny, I did it."

Sadness washed over the barber. "But why, Lucy? Didn- Didn't ya trust me? Didn't you know that I would never betray you? There was no need to-"

The mad woman looked up at him. "O' course I trusted you, darlin'. I just didn't trust that, that HARLOT!" Her voice silenced the once noisy cell block.

"She's no harlot! She's my friend!" Ben gritted back angrily. "I've told you all this time-"

"Always defendin' her, you are! Always! I knew you loved her when I saw you two together, even before we was even married! You ALWAYS loved her Ben! You say she was jus' your friend but I knew-"

"Stop! Just stop. All that time you 'knew' this, did you not stop to think that I had still chosen you?"

"Only because ya couldn't have her! She was already taken wasn't she? Forced into something she would have rather had with you." The blonde spat out venomously.

Ben stayed silent for a while.

"Nevermind that," he spoke softly, "it's not why I came to speak with you."

"Oh then, what should we be speaking of , Ben dear?" Her changed falsely sweet tone sickened him.

"With your behavior the way it is" he started carefully, "I don't think this family is going to work. I don't want you to have another tantrum, and instead of Nellie, you could lash out a Johanna. It wouldn't be fair to her."

Lucy glared. "Benjamin, she's my daughter too. You can't take her away from me."

"So you should want what's best for her shouldn't you?"

"And what does that mean?" she asked icily.

"No child should grow up with an abusive mother." He said objectively, willing the emotions that flooded him inside to leave him, and make this easier for him.

"So what are ya saying?"

"We-Lucy, we need a divorce."

She laughed. "And where do you think you'll get the money for that?" She asked sardonically.

"I'll find a way." Ben's tone was both hopeful and self assured, but a hint of worry could be detected.

"Sure you will." Bitterness coursed through her words.

"I'm sure Nellie would help me, maybe some other friends too…"

Lucy's eyes rolled, "And why do you think Nellie would be so willing to help ya? Finally realized she loves ya too, have you?"

"Stop that now Lucy." He glared at her. "I want nothing to do with you anymore. I don't even need your say in the divorce. If you ever are released, and that doesn't seem too possible, you are going to stay away from Johanna. Stay away from me. I'll keep her safe from you."

And with that, Ben walked away. Lucy screamed out of her cell behind him. "SHE'S BRAIN WASHED YA! YOU'LL COME BACK TA ME! MARK MY WORDS BENJAMIN BARKER! YOU LOVE HER FOR NOW, BUT YOU'LL LOVE ME IN THE END! SHE'S ALL WRONG FOR YA!"

Ben exited the prison with a quick thank you to the man in uniform at the desk. He never looked back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 MONTHS LATER

Johanna became a handful to take care of. She wasn't attention seeking when she cried, actually she seemed to do just fine on her own, but she frequently needed a diaper change or a feeding. Luckily, with so much practice, diaper changing became second nature to Ben and Nellie.

One month after Ben's talk with Lucy, Johanna caught a cold that lasted for a week. During that time, Ben and Nellie decided it would be best if they shared a room to keep an eye on her together, but when the week was over, Ben never moved back to his old room. Soon, a shared room became a shared bed. It was far too crowded for two beds in that small room after all.

So, on this beautiful Sunday afternoon (it had actually been sunny out), Ben sat on the floor in the parlor playing with Johanna as she crawled about, slowly.

"Ben, love." Called Nellie's voice from the pie shop. The click of her boots told him she was getting closer. "the post man jus' dropped this off for ya." She handed him the envelope bearing the address of the London courts. Ben opened it quickly, his eyes lit up. "It went through," he whispered excitedly. Mrs Lovett cocked her head.

"Wot was that dear?"

"It went through! The divorce! They accepted!" Ben got up, off the floor to give Nellie a sweeping hug as he spun her around. She smiled.

"Well I would have hoped they would, wot with amount of money they wanted." She laughed.

"Thank you so much. It wouldn't have been possible without your help." She told her through a smile as he put her feet back on the floor.

"Wot are friends for?"

Ben paused a moment. "Nellie, remember when you asked me if I had feelings for you?" She nodded. "Well, I think I'm ready to have that conversation now."

There it is! Ready for the epilogue? It'll be up soon! Thank you so very much again!

In commemoration of this end, only just a beginning for the characters in our imaginations, who is your favorite character from Sweeney Todd?