He brushed her hair back and smiled at her.Never looked in a mirror? He kept her gaze with his own black eyed one. The one thing nobody could crack was his eyes. His eyes were piercing, deep and fear ridden. He kissed her forehead softly.You are beautiful.

"And you are handsome." Rosetta whispered with a small smile. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, a light blush across her checks suddenly shy.

He laughed and shook his head.I was once. Before... His expression was suddenly pained. He looked down.

Rosetta gently cupped his check with her hand. "You're handsome to me." she whispered, her emerald eyes concerened seeing his pained look.

He leaned into her hand and covered it with his own. Johanna watched out her window at the birds.

Rosetta smilled at Sweeney and leaned forward to kiss him gently on the forehead. She finally noticed Johanna and blushed as she realized she had just kissed the girl's father not far from her.

Johanna smiled her sweet smile and opened the window to let a bluejay fly into her hand and settle there. Sweeney looked at her and sighed. She was so much like her mother.

Rosetta watched Johanna and the bluejay, before glancing at Sweeney. Her eyes went wide when she suddenly remembered something. "Micah! Is he-? Did he...?" she trailed off as she thought of the blood on Mrs. Lovett's knife, shuddering.

Sweeney layed his hands on her lap.Stay here.He disappeared downstairs.

Rosetta watched Sweeney leave before moving off of the bed. It was a little difficult to stand up, but she managed it. She held her side tenderly as she moved over to stand not far from Johanna. She glanced from the bluejay to the girl. "It seems it likes you." she told her quietly, a small smile on her lips.

She smiled and lifted her hand to let the bird fly away.The birds like me. They used to be my only company. She said in her soft voice. Sweeney saw Micah slumped against the wall and knelt by his side. He took his pulse and checked his breathing before he was suddenly hit on the head with a very weak shot. He turned, rubbing his temple and saw Mrs Lovett standing there. His eyes widened when she shoved a chair into him, pinning him to the wall, and began to crawl up the stairs.

Rosetta watched the bird fly away with a peaceful smile. "Sometimes animals are the best kind of company. They do not judge like other people." she told Johanna, her voice quiet. She turned her head to smile at the girl. "They also used to be my only company when I was a very young girl, but it was my own fault. I chose not to be like the other girls who played with dolls and clothes. You see, at a very young age I would get these glimpses...glimpses of feelings from the people and occasionally the animals around me. They were what you call a being's aurora. The worst part was that even though it wasn't something I could control, I was judged for it. I was judged for it by everyone, but the animals." she told Johanna. It was the first time she had ever told anyone about her childhood and, as she looked at the girl, she felt like she could trust her with one of her oldest memories.

She sat up straighter, interested.You can feel other people? My father, what is he like?Mrs Lovett had made it halfway up and continued to climb with astounding swiftness. Sweeney struggled against the chair that held him.

Rosetta thought for a moment. "Your father...He confuses me a little. From the glimpses that I have recieved from his aurora his emotions are always mixed. It's hard for me to tell them apart. Normaly I can sense one main feeling such as happiness, worry, or even pain." she told Johanna.

You love my father, don't you?Johanna looked at her with hopeful eyes. The only love she had ever known of was in books. Mrs Lovett was at the top. She fell to her knees at the door, exhausted. Johanna opened the door to see what the commotion was. Mrs Lovett smiled and stuck her knife into the girls leg. Johanna screamed.

Rosetta was about to reply to Johanna when she heard the girl scream. She spun around to see Mrs. Lovett stabbing Sweeney's daughter in the leg. She let out a startled scream at seeing the woman who she thought was dead before fear suddenly left her. She let out a cry of outrage as she leaped at the woman. She wasn' t going to let anyone hurt Johanna.

She was up and down the stairs pretty fast for a half dead woman. She stumbled over to Sweeney, who was still straining to get free, and held her knife against his throat.

Rosetta helped Johanna over to the bed before following Mrs. Lovett down the stairs as fast as she could. She froze on the last step when she saw Mrs. Lovett hold the knife to Sweeney's throat. "No, no, no..." she whispered. Without even thinking she started to move towards them.

She growled and press the knife harder against his pale skin, causing small beads of blood to dribble down his throat. He struggled against the chair that was holding his arms to his sides.Get out of here! Go! He yelled.

Rosetta's eyes flashed fiercely when she saw the knife draw blood. She barly even heard Sweeney's words before she screamed and threw herself at Mrs. Lovett, sending them both to the floor and away from Sweeney.

Sweeney struggled violently against the chair, hurting his arms and legs in the effort. Mrs Lovett gasped as her collerbone creaked and split her skin, blood gushing. She lifted her hand in a last attempt and threw the knife.

Rosetta cried out as the knife lodged itself in her upper arm. She barely hesitated before she ripped it out and leaped on Mrs. Lovett. She screamed as she brought the knife down at the other woman, tears streaming down her face. She wasn't crying from the pain. She was crying because she hadn't been able to protect Johanna, even after everything Sweeney had done for her.

Sweeney kicked as hard as he could, almost breaking his foot in the process, and the chair came free. He threw himself down on Mrs Lovett and grabbed her hair, jerking her head back so hard that there was a crackling noise like somebody crumbling paper, and blood sprayed from the woman's neck and chest. She jerked as she felt a sharp pain in her left thigh. Sweeney then pushed her head back, grabbed one of the bones sticking out of her skin and snapped it in half. She screamed and went limp. He threw the bone down at her and got up.

Rosetta looked at Mrs. Lovett's body and turned away and fell to her Knees. Her body shuddered and she threw up on the floor. She stayed bent over, her hair sticking to her sweaty neck and face. Blood flowed down her arm and she coldn't stop herself from getting sick again.

Sweeney reached out to help her but drew his hand back. She had just seen him at his worst, and he was certain that he had scared her out of her mind. He hesitated and then kneeled down by her and touched her shoulder gently. It's okay. It's over, your okay.He soothed.I won't hurt you.