Disclaimer: Does not belong to me, belongs to Stephen Soundheim/Tim Burton. Funny how I got this idea, actually. When you think of Sweeney Todd, school should be the farthest thing from your mind, right? Wrong. I got this idea at school. Enjoy! Reveiws are appreciated!

Mrs. Lovett smiled at Sweeney, who was waiting for her at the top of the cement stairs. She was walking up from the basement with a tray of freshly baked pies. All of a sudden she stopped, as if her feet were frozen to the step.

"Mrs. Lovett?" Sweeney said curiously, puzzled. What had made her stop so suddenly? Mrs. Lovett said nothing and continued to stare at him. Well, in his direction. She had a distant look to her eyes, something that said she wasn't really seeing him. Her body seemed to relax, and then she was falling backwards, rolling down the stairs. The tray flew out of her hands, sending the pies flying.

Sweeney was too far away to catch her, but he did attempt to catch up with her to stop her fall. Alas, he failed. Mrs. Lovett landed on the basement floor with a sickening thud. Sweeney rushed down the rest of the stairs, slipped on one of the pies, and nearly fell on top of her. Their faces just inches apart. Sweeney could see that her eyes had rolled to the back of her head.

"Toby, Toby!" Sweeney called. Toby threw the door open at the top of the stairs.

"Yes, Mr. Todd?"

"Mrs. Lovett seems to have lost consciousness," Sweeney explained, softly carressing Mrs. Lovett's cheek. "I want you to fetch me some water, maybe that'll wake her up,"

"Right away, sir," Toby said, the door slammed shut. Sweeney looked back down at Mrs. Lovett's unconscious body. He gently lifted her upper half, cradling her against him. Please, he thought. Let her be alright. If he lost Mrs. Lovett too he'd - he'd kill himself. He'd discovered that, if it wasn't love, that he has very strong feelings for her, and was about to tell her when she went into that trance-like state and fainted. If she didn't survive, he couldn't live with himself. He could barely live with himself now.

Toby returned with the water.

"Be careful coming down the stairs," Sweeney warned him. "There's a few slippery pies hanging around," Toby slowly advanced down the steps. When he got to the bottom he handed Sweeney the pail of water. Sweeney gently placed Mrs. Lovett back on the ground.

"Stand back, boy," Sweeney ordered. Toby did as he was told. Sweeney stood up and poured the pail of water slowly onto Mrs. Lovett.

Mrs. Lovett's eyes came back into focus as she gasped and coughed. She sat up. Sweeney was relived. He threw the empty pail behind him and Toby luckily caught it. Sweeney knelt beside Mrs. Lovett. Her eyes found his.

"Mr. Todd - what - what happened?" Mrs. Lovett asked. Sweeney held her hand as he answered,

"You were walking up the stairs to talk to me, when all of a sudden you stopped, then seemed to space off and pass out. I - was worried." Mrs. Lovett's head seemed to clear. Her eyes widened.

"Epilepsy." she said.

"What?" Sweeney asked, confused.

"Epilepsy, bad case of epilepsy. Had it since I was a child. Rarely happens, though." Mrs. Lovett answered. "Wait. . .you was worried about me?" she asked. Sweeney nodded.

"I was going to tell you, then all this started. I've been thinking, and I've come to find that I do love you, or something close to it."

"Mr.T, are you sure you didn't hit your head or get a fever?" Mrs. Lovett asked, pressing the back of her free hand to Sweeney's forehead. It felt normal.

"Yes, I'm sure." Sweeney said, surprisingly calm. Normally if Mrs. Lovett said something like that it would piss him off. This time it didn't.

"Mrs. Lovett, how I've lived without you all these years I'll never know," Sweeney said. Mrs. Lovett smiled, then began to cry. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"What's wrong?" Sweeney asked, subtly playing with a lock of Mrs. Lovett's hair. Mrs. Lovett slowly leaned against Sweeney's chest, burying her head in his shoulder.

"I'm afraid," she whispered quietly, muffled.

"Of?" Sweeney asked, encouraging her to continue.

"Waking up to find this is all a dream," Mrs. Lovett answered.

"This is not a dream," he assured her. "Now how about we go back upstair and get you a fresh change of clothes?" Sweeney suggested. Mrs. Lovett shook her head and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'd rather stay here, hugging you, savoring the joy of this long awaited gift." Mrs. Lovett said. "And talk." she added. She then noticed Toby, standing near the stairs. "Oh, hello there, love. Didn't notice you, quiet as a mouse," she said.

"I'm glad you're okay," Toby said.

"Me too. Now, could you be a dear and let me and Mr. Todd have some alone time?" Mrs. Lovett asked sweetly.

"Yes, Ma'am," Toby said, he turned and started walking up the stairs. Mrs. Lovett pulled away from Sweeney, just enough to look at him. "You look troubled, something on your mind, dear?"

"I just find it amazing that I can move on." Sweeney answered. Mrs. Lovett sweetly, softly kissed him.

"I must be honest with you," she said, looking him straight in the eyes. "Lucy's suicide attempt failed, just made her more insane. One day she just left. When the judge came to take you daughter, he forced me to give her up, even though I loved her and didn't want to." Tears began sliding down her cheeks. "He raped me, he did. When he asked me where Lucy was and I told him what very little I knew he tied me up and stuck me in a closet for three days, 'till Albert found out, rescued me, and sacrificed his life," she was shaking now, her body tremblong with sobs. Sweeney hugged her close to him, burying his face in her hair. "Lucy's still out there, somewhere. Where ever that may be," Mrs. Lovett said. Sweeney pulled away slightly and looked at her. Eyes full of unshed tears. "You hate me now, don't you?" she asked wondering if she was now as good as dead.

"No, no," Sweeney answered, cradling her against him. "Thank you for telling me, but. . .why did you wait?"

"I figured that all that plus what you already knew would be too much to take in one sitting," Mrs. Lovett answered.

"Right you are, Mrs. Lovett. Right you are. I will always love Lucy. but that doesn't meant that I don't love you now, too."

"Oh, Mr. T. . ." All the sentiments made Mrs. Lovett wish nothing had ever happened. Wished, in a way, that he and Lucy were still a happy couple. But, this was fate, whatever that meant. "Life is a cruel game that no one can win nor lose,"

"Then why is the world trying to?" Sweeney asked.

"If I ever live to see the answer, I'll let you know," Mrs. Lovett said.

And so they sat, holding each other, drowning in a pool of their own empathy, symptahty, and love for each other, wondering why life was so cruel.