OMG IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG!!! A million and two apologies for my laziness, but life has been pretty interesting lately haha xD And I’ve been totally stuck into Romeo & Juliet lately due to a bloody English assignment ¬_¬ XDD
And I have re-fallen in love with The Movie of my Youth, The Parent Trap (12 year old Lindsay Lohan!! :3). It’s so sad that one of the stars, Natasha Richardson, died a little while ago :\ (RIP)

ERM. Yeah. (/random chattering)

:)

So, yeeeeah, new chapter tiem! XD

Johanna

Part VIII: Confrontations, Johanna

“Your filthy son was manhandling my ward?!”

Nellie’s voice, full of unrestrained anger, echoed all round the bakery – heck, they could even hear her halfway down Fleet Street. Her usually alabaster skin was flushed a furious red and she stood, fists clenched and ram-rod straight, before Mr and Mrs. Markcroft.

Sweeney Todd had come into the house mere minutes before, pulling along an indifferent Eugene and a trembling Johanna. After quickly whispering the situation to Nellie in hopes of keeping it quiet, Nellie had leapt into a full blown rage, leaving Sweeney exasperated.

Agnes’s mouth fell open at Nellie’s candid language, scandalized. Jack turned so he stood half in front of her, as if to protect his wife from such words.

“How dare you speak like that?” he exclaimed, angry, “And in front of my wife and boys?”

Indeed, James was standing behind his parents, biting his lip as if suppressing a smile, and Eugene had leapt for cover with his father as soon as Sweeney Todd had released his death-grip on his arm.

“I’ll do what I want and be proud!” Nellie snapped, “Mista Todd ‘ere just told me that ‘e caught your lad groping Johanna!”

Here, she turned her gaze on Eugene and snarled, “You stay away from her, you son-of-a-bitch.”

“Madam!” came the mortified rebuke.

“Don’t MADAM me!!” Nellie all-but-shrieked, “You have two minutes to tell me your reasons for what you did before I make sure you will not be carryin’ on your family’s name, gedditt?”

“Mrs. Lovett,” Jack interrupted, stepping in front of her, “Listen. There has long since been an…understanding, if you will, that if Judge Turpin did not make Johanna his bride, Eugene would. And, although they are not married yet, you cannot blame my boy for trying to take what is rightfully his.”

Johanna, who had been standing quietly beside Mr. Todd, gave a horrified cry, and buried her face in her hands. Sweeney stood awkwardly beside the crying girl for a moment, hands in pockets and eyes averted, then he saw Nellie’s glare and stepped closer to his daughter, awkwardly putting an arm around her shoulder and patting her back.

“There…there?” he said unsurely. Johanna turned and pressed up right against him, burying her face in his shirt. Sweeney winced slightly at the contact.

“Rightfully his?” Nellie repeated, “’e was trying to rape her – ”

At Eugene’s protesting cry, she added, “—or could well’a done. And you think that’s okay?!”

No-one answered, so Nellie continued, slower and calmer, but with the same amount of anger, “You listen ‘ere, and you listen good. Judge Turpin…is gone. We can’t except him to come back, and that is just why the court are gonna be swearing me in as her official guardian in a few days. Me; not you, or any other weasel-y relation of him. And now that she is mine, she has no obligations. She can marry whoever, and if she wants to marry your Eugene, she can go home with ya right now,”

Nellie turned to Johanna, eyebrow arched, “Tell the truth, luv; what do you want?”

“Yes, Johanna,” Jack intercepted, “You have three Markcrofts here who only want what’s best for you, and what you deserve.”

Johanna raised her head from Sweeney Todd’s shirt, large blue eyes shining with unshed tears, and she looked from Nellie, to the Markcroft family, and back. Happiness, or all she was raised to believe she wanted.

Anthony.

The name rang suddenly, and powerfully, in her mind; her vision was suddenly clouded with images of him. He was still out there. God knows why he hadn’t come back to her, but she never doubted his love for her; it was in every move, every glance and every promise.

Marriage to Eugene offered her position, money and status, all Judge Turpin had said she’d ever need or want. But how could she marry him when marriage to Anthony was what she really wanted? Happiness and all she wanted, rolled into one.

“No,” she breathed, “I can’t marry Eugene. I c-can’t and w-w-won’t!”

Johanna broke down in tears again, her head returning to its position against Sweeney’s shirt, the barber looking more and more uncomfortable by the moment. Jack and Agnes exchanged looks, before simultaneously breaking into action. Agnes scooped up the youngest two boys, who were both still asleep, and Jack grabbed James by the arm, dragging him towards the door without a glance back. Agnes followed, more slowly and she stopped to thank Nellie for a ‘lovely’ time, her voice edged with sarcasm. She then followed her husband back, Eugene trailing behind, not even slightly embarrassed or agonized over the pain he’d caused Johanna.

He stopped at the door and took a step towards the girl who had been raised as his cousin, grabbing her arm and yanking her to face him, pulling her in front of himself in a way that stopped Sweeney getting to him.

Eugene raised her head to look him in the eye, his gaze cold.

“You are an ungrateful wretch.” he said coolly, “Judge Turpin, my uncle, raised you well, offered you the best chances in the world and was a better rather to you than you deserved. You were practically a bastard, for all the good your real father did. And, when he became indisposed, I offered to take his place, and look what you do. Drive us half mad with desire, with your beauty and innocence, then throw the offers back in our faces.”

His icy smile grew slightly, “Oh well. I imagine you will be most popular in London’s brothels.”

Johanna’s eyes widened and Sweeney pushed past her, grabbing Eugene by his neck and throwing him out the door, as Johanna threw herself in Nellie’s arms, sobbing.

Poor Johanna!! Haha xDD Well, please review! Loves :)x

Disclaimer: I own a house, a ship, David Tennant, a crown, your mother, a T.A.R.D.I.S., various movie rights, a laptop, and a cookie, but I do not own Sweeney Todd. -siiiiigh-