Author's Note: Alright, before anyone asks...no, I didn't die. And definitely not at the hands of our dear barber (thank goodness!). I've just been reading, working, dealing with screaming brothers and sisters, experiencing writer's block...no big deal. But, I got into a huge Sweeney mood, so I figured that I should update this story! So, that's where this chapter comes in!

I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to read this story. Huge thank you's to those of you who reviewed, these individuals being: Malfoygirl18, linalove, dionne dance, and ElleWillBite. You are wonderful people. Group hug, because you're all awesome!

Now, this chapter is pretty short, but I blame the flashback, so...yeah...Hope you enjoy it anyway :3

Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own Sweeney Todd (sad face). *sighs* And it's never going to happen. What can you do? But Madeline is of my own creation.

Chapter Three

"Help me with this chair, won't ya dearie?"

Madeline turned away from sweeping the shop to see Mrs. Lovett struggling with a large chair. She quickly put down the broom and opened the side door. She picked up the other side of the chair and managed to help the baker get the chair up the stairs and into the barber shop.

Upon seeing the barber, Mrs. Lovett asked, "Where would ya like this, Mr. T?"

Mr. Todd barely looked over his shoulder, and merely grunted, "There is fine." He roughly gestured his sharpening block towards the middle of the room.

The two women carried the chair to the indicated spot and set it down, centering it before the baker sat down in said chair. It was intricately designed. The seat and back of the chair were cushioned and covered in a red leather, while the rest of it was made entirely of wood. The tips of the armrests were covered by silver lions' heads that, with a bit of polishing-up, would glisten in the sunlight.

Madeline took a seat on the chest next to the door and looked out of the large window across from her, the very same window that Sweeney was standing in front of. As she stared out the window, she couldn't help the wave of nostalgia that went through her at that moment. She heard nothing of the conversation that went between the barber and baker. Madeline only thought of the first time she had walked into a barber shop; the first time she met Benjamin Barker.

xxx

"Is it scary there, Papa?"

"No, Madeline," her father said. "I'm just going in for a quick shave and then we'll be out. Alright?"

Young Madeline nodded. "Alright."

The young girl held tight to her father's hand as they walked up to the small tonsorial parlor off of the corner of Aldwych and Drury Lane. It didn't look like much, but better than the other shops that were set up on Fleet Street.

Her father, a lean man of two and thirty years, opened the door to the shop and led his daughter of ten years inside. Upon entering, an older gentleman, maybe ten years older than Mr. Hayes, was seen sweeping off his barber's chair of excess hair. Hearing the tinkling of the bell, the barber looked up and smiled, seeing who his next customer was.

"Ah, Mr. Hayes!" he exclaimed. "I was beginning to wonder when you would be coming back."

"I always have time for you, Charles," the younger man said.

"Your usual, then, I presume?"

"As always."

Richard Hayes sat in the chair while Madeline sat on a bench next to the door across from her father and the barber. She watched as the older man whipped up some shaving lather and set to wiping it across her father's stubby chin. The barber noticed her and smiled.

"And who is this lovely young lady?" he asked.

"Barker, this is my daughter, Madeline," her father said.

"Ah, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Madeline!"

Madeline smiled, one of her teeth missing. "The pleasure is mine."

"I see we're missing a tooth, miss. Has the Tooth Fairy visited you already?"

She nodded. "Yes. I received a whole pound!"

"My! That's quite a bit for a tooth."

Madeline smiled, pride filling her at how valuable her tooth was. She looked away from Mr. Barker for a moment when she noticed a flower pot on the window sill behind him. Inside the pot were her favorite flowers. Delilah flowers.

"Your flowers are really pretty," she said.

"Thank you, miss," Mr. Barker said as he finished shaving away the last bit of hair from her father's chin. He was known to be the best barber in London. Looking back to his best customer and friend, he added, "Well, Richard, you're all set."

Hayes rubbed his now clean-shaven face with the cloth that Barker had handed to him. "Thank you, Charles. The usual rate, I presume?"

"Now, Richard…"

"I insist, Charles," Hayes argued. "After all, a man has to make a living."

The older gentleman chuckled. "Alright, you win, my friend."

As the young lawyer stood from the chair, a boy around Madeline's age, maybe older, walked in carrying a broom. He walked up to Mr. Barker.

"Ah, Benjamin!" Mr. Barker exclaimed. "Right on cue! Just near the chair, son."

The boy, as she now knew as Benjamin, did as the barber asked. When he was done, he placed the broom next to the vanity desk and picked up one of his father's razors. They were silver, polished just enough that they gleamed as the light caught them.

"Careful, Ben," the barber warned.

Benjamin carefully placed the razor back, smiling sheepishly as he did.

"That's young Benjamin?" Hayes asked. "Why, I almost didn't recognize him! You've grown young man."

Madeline got up from her spot on the bench and walked up to her father, grabbing his hand. She quickly hid behind him.

"Ah. I see someone is a bit shy," Barker observed. "No need to be afraid of him, Miss Madeline."

"Indeed," her father said. "Madeline, this is Benjamin Barker, Mr. Barker's son."

Very timidly, Madeline peeked around her father and extended her hand. "Hello," she managed to say.

"Hello," Benjamin said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Benjamin is the one who had planted those Delilah flowers," Mr. Barker explained. "He helped his mother with them."

"They beautiful," Madeline told Benjamin.

"Th-thank you," he said, finally letting go of her hand.

After that small exchange, father and daughter said their good-byes and left the small shop, knowing that the Barkers would have more customers soon.

Madeline returned to the barber shop with her father every visit he made. And Benjamin Barker and Madeline Hayes started what became a beautiful friendship.

xxx

Where has the time gone? she wondered. What happened to the days when Benjamin Barker and Madeline Hayes could go about their day normally, without a care?

She knew what happened. Just the thought of the Judge and Beadle Bamford made her blood boil. To think of all the things that Johanna had been put through made it boil even more.

Sudden movement out of the corner of her eye caused Madeline to break from her thoughts. She looked up to see Sweeney standing next to her, razor in hand. In a split second, the door opened, and a boy of no more than eighteen burst in.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "Excuse me."

"Mrs. Lovett's, sir," the baker said.

"A pleasure, ma'am."

The boy looked around the room, and seemed to find exactly what he was looking for. Upon seeing the barber, the boy closed the door to the shop. Looking at Mr. Todd, he said, "Mr. Todd, there is a girl who needs my help. Such a sad girl and lonely, but beautiful, too and…"

"Slow down, son," Sweeney said, leading the boy to sit in the barber chair.

Taking a seat, the boy apologized and continued. "Yes. I'm sorry. This girl has a guardian who keeps her locked away, but then, this morning she dropped this." The boy dug into his pocket and pulled out a key with a ribbon on it. "Surely a sign that Johanna wants me to help her. That's her name, Johanna. And Turpin is her guardian. He's a judge of some sort."

At the mention of Johanna and the Judge, Sweeney and Madeline looked up, making eye contact briefly with each other and Mrs. Lovett. All three continued to listen to the boy.

"Once he goes to court, I'm going to slip into the house, release her and beg her to come away with me tonight."

"Oh, this is very romantic," Mrs. Lovett said.

The boy turned and face the baker with a smile. "Yes," he said. Turning back towards the barber, he added, "But I don't know anyone in London, you see. And I need somewhere safe to bring her 'til I've hired a coach to take us away. If I could keep her here just for an hour or two, I'd be forever in your debt."

Madeline looked at Sweeney, who seemed to be contemplating the plan of keeping Johanna here. Seeing his slight hesitation, she said, "Bring her here, lad."

"By all means," the baker added in agreement.

This made the sailor smile. "Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Todd?"

The barber looked at the sailor and barely nodded his consent.

The boy shot out of the chair and shook Mr. Todd's hand. "Thank you. Thank you, my friend." He turned away, running towards the door, adding in a "Thank you, ma'am!" to Mrs. Lovett and Madeline before heading out of the door.

Once the door closed, Mrs. Lovett said, "Seems like the Fates are favorin' ya at last, Mr. T." Noticing the tension coming from the barber, and his even gloomier (if it was possible) expression, she added, "Wot is it? You'll have her back before the day is out. And ya've got your friend back. Everythin' is workin' out for ya, isn't it?"

Mrs. Lovett had become aware of the friendship between Madeline and Sweeney Todd three days ago. Madeline had come running down the stairs from her small reunion, excited about finally remembering who the barber was. This made the baker a bit more anxious, but the girl had said that they were only friends, so there was no reason to worry.

"What about him?" the barber asked, pulling out a sharpening belt and putting it on the new chair.

"Him?" she asked, breaking from her thoughts. "Oh, well, let 'im bring 'er here. And then, since you're so hot for a little," she paused, bringing her index finger across her neck from side to side, as if slicing it open. "That's the throat to slit, my dear."

Madeline was appalled by the baker's statement. "Now, I don't think we need to resort to that. He hasn't done anyone any harm," she argued.

Mrs. Lovett shrugged. She set a teapot on to boil and then stared off into the distance. "Poor little Johanna," she mused. "All those years without a scrap o' motherly affection. Well, I'll soon see to that."

As the baker went on, Madeline joined Sweeney at the far window, hoping to talk him into leaving the sailor be. However, she was distracted by the sight of a rather overdressed Italian and small boy walking onto Fleet Street heading towards the shop. Mrs. Lovett joined the two and saw what caught their attention.

"'Ello. Wot's he doin' here?" she wondered out loud.

Sweeney looked at the two women. He then locked eyes with Madeline, and he ordered, "You and Mrs. Lovett keep the boy downstairs."

Without hesitation, the two women nodded and headed out of the shop.

A/N: *listening to the movie going on in the background* Oh, the chapter's done. Like I said, it's short. In my defense, it was that flashback, I swear...and I though where I stopped was a good stopping spot. *shrugs* Eh, so sue me! It's a short chapter!

ANYWHO...I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Liked it? Hated it? Let me know! I love feedback, as it keeps me on my toes. Besides...the more feedback I get, the quicker I roll out these chapters. And they make me very, VERY happy. Reviews are my only payment, ya know.

And don't forget, I'm on Facebook, too. Come join the madness by pressing the link on my profile. And those of you who have already done so, please PM me who you are on FB so that I know who you are. I say PM, because I'm sure that not everyone here wants everyone to know who they are...for privacy's sake. I'm at 14 likes, and looking to add on more. Is it too much to ask to see if we can make it to 25 likes? Is it? I hope not O_O Sorry guys, I'm tired, hyper, and it's 3:05 am where I am in the world. So...yeah...time for me to hit the sack.

GOOD NIGHT, EVERYONE! Or, I guess it's good morning...hehehehe...

~Xanthe :3