At first, Thomas could not figure out why he had woken up from his deep sleep so early in the morning. The sky had not even begun to light with the first rays of sunrise, and the air was still cool with the night. Most of the other engines were still sound asleep, Gordon was running the night-time express run, Percy was pulling the mail train, and Henry was pulling the Flying Kipper. So it was just Thomas, Emily, Edward and James in the shed that night. Thomas looked over at the clock inside the shed. 12:30 am, it read. Why had he woken up at 12:30 am? He wasn't due to start work on his branch line for another five and a half hours. He hadn't had any bad dreams, nor had he heard Emily or any of the other engines have any either.

Then, Thomas noticed that Emily was not sleeping next to him. Confused and slightly worried, he looked outside into the night, to find her standing just outside the shed. Her steam rose gently around her as she rested on her track, apparently doing nothing except looking out at the scenery around them. She was silent and still, standing so delicately outside. Thomas was looking at an angel in the night.

Very quietly, Thomas edged forwards to stand next to his love. Emily seemed oblivious to his movements, as well as everything apparently. As Thomas got closer to her, he saw that she was smiling peacefully and breathing steadily.

"Emily?"

Emily looked over at him, beaming brightly, her eyes were full of gentle passion. "Oh, Thomas..." she whispered. "Did I wake you?"

"No," replied Thomas, "I just wondered why you were out here. You didn't have any bad dreams did you?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"No, Thomas, I didn't...I just wanted to be able to see this beautiful sight...oh, Thomas..." she whispered. "Look at it. Just look at it."

"Look at what, my love?"

"The sky, Thomas, look at the sky...it's just so beautiful tonight."

Thomas looked up at the sky and gasped, there were hundreds of stars in the sky, casting a beautiful light all over the Island of Sodor. Thomas was utterly spellbound by this incredible sight, he had never seen so many stars in all his life, they all looked so beautiful, like a luminous veil.

He looked back at Emily, and to his surprise, she was crying. They weren't tears of sadness, they were tears of pure happiness. "Isn't it beautiful?" she whispered. "There are so many things in the world that we just take for granted, but I will always treasure beautiful scenes like this."

"It is beautiful, my emerald angel..." replied Thomas, he was now glad that he had woken up. Hearing Emily talk about taking things for granted made him think. Before he met Emily, there were so many things he took for granted, love being one of those things.

It wasn't because Thomas didn't believe in love, it was more that he didn't fully understand it. He loved all his friends, especially Annie and Clarabel, like family members. Yet he also loved the Island of Sodor as a home. But there was one type of love he didn't understand at all and that was romantic love. He would always see married couples together holding hands, hugging, kissing or just saying 'I love you', all while being happy as they did so. He just couldn't see how doing all those things had anything to do with love, hence why he took it granted.

But then of course, Emily came into his life and from the moment he laid his eyes on her, he got his first taste of what the other type of love was like. Naturally the little tank engine had no idea what these feelings were, but once he found out and accepted these feelings, he started to understand the concept of love more and more.

But because Emily changed her ways, Thomas' feelings for her caused him pain, thus causing Thomas to lose control of his emotions and let them take over his judgement when he was pushed too far. Anger, hatred, sadness, loneliness. All of these deeper emotions he gained, whether they were good or bad, helped him to further develop his feelings for her. All of those emotions were made because of Emily and his wish to end her years of torture, yet he knew that Emily felt that she was responsible for him gaining them.

He went so far to save her because he loved her. Thomas loved Emily more than anything and after he had restored Emily's happiness, Thomas finally understood the meaning of love. A strong feeling of affection and concern toward someone else, as that arising from close friendship and to have passionate desire and longing for. He and Emily met those requirements, from being the closest of friends and longing for their love, finally releasing their passionate desires once they properly began their relationship.

Thomas turned his attention to the love of his life beside him and began to find himself mesmerized by her. The majesty of the stars was reflecting off of Emily's flawless shiny paintwork, making her look even more beautiful than ever.

"Do you remember that beautiful night, all those years ago?" she asked, quietly.

Thomas smiled, he knew exactly what night Emily was referring to. "How could I forget?" he replied, as he looked up at the stars again, remembering when they had to share a shed during the reconstruction of Tidmouth Sheds. After thinking that she had thrown him out because of her constant complaining, Thomas returned to an overjoyed Emily, after they both spent a lonely night away from each other. Wanting nothing more than to be with the engine he loved, he took her outside to look at the stars. Everything about that night was perfect. The atmosphere was calm and peaceful, they felt no worries, no grudges, just pure happiness and love - even though they didn't know they loved each other at the time. The night sky was absolutely beautiful, making Thomas and Emily admire each other closely. Even though it was during the darker years, it would always be one of their fondest memories.

He found himself admiring her incredible beauty once again, from her buffers to her funnel, her wheels and her tender. Emily looked back at Thomas and saw him admiring her, just like he did on that lovely night. Even though she was crying, she couldn't resist giving him a sly, seductive smirk.

"See anything you like?" she purred in a low seductive tone.

"I think you know the answer to that question yourself, my love...when I saw you out here, you looked just like an angel. I know I've said this countless times, but I can't help it. You don't need to be a different shape in order to be special. You're already special. You're my angel, my love."

"I know, my love. I know. Please, don't ever stop calling me your angel."

"Don't worry, you will always be my emerald angel..."

For a while, the two of them simply stood, taking in the majesty of the scene around them, just like that night all those years. Everything was peaceful and calm, simply perfect in the still night. They felt like they were reliving that wonderful night all over again, only this time there were no secrets being hidden. There was just their love.

Soon Emily found herself slowly turning her gaze towards Thomas and started admiring him, just like he did to her. His signature blue paint that she loved so much, always looked dazzling at night, like a majestic cobalt, but tonight, under the beautiful veil of stars, he looked even more handsome than he had ever been. And he wasn't doing it intentionally either. Thomas turned his attention to Emily again and chuckled when he saw her admiring him.

"Now you're doing the same thing to me, Emily."

"I can't help it Tommy...whenever I see the stars at night, I always think of you, and how lucky I am to have you," said Emily.

"Emily..." murmured Thomas.

"I came out here tonight because I wanted to think about how grateful I am for everything you've done for me. How grateful I am for all the happiness you given me, even if you put yourself at risk. Even when I look up at those beautiful stars right now, I know that there will always be one star who won't ever disappear when night turns to day. I know that there will always be one star shining everyday and night, spreading joy and hope to everyone. That star is my star. My cobalt star. You're my star, Thomas...I love you so much..." weeped Emily happily.

Thomas' eyes began to fill with a few tears as he stood next to his love, feeling so deeply touched by Emily's sweet, loving words. "...I...I...I don't know what to say, my love...I really don't..."

"Hold me, Tommy. Please? Hold me tonight."

Thomas turned himself around on the turntable, moving closer to Emily. Her eyes sparkled with tears as she smiled a genuine, bright smile that made him weak. He moved even closer, touching her and holding her as much as he could. "Oh, Emily…my emerald angel…you're so beautiful…everything's so beautiful tonight…it's perfect...you're perfect. I love you, Emily."

Emily kissed Thomas very softly upon his lips, trembling as she kissed him with great restraint and passion. Inside the shed, Edward slowly to stir as he heard voices coming from outside the shed. When his eyes opened fully, he saw Thomas and Emily kissing. He smiled at his young apprentice, he had seen him grow from being a cheeky, eager, yet kind little green engine, to becoming the Fat Controller's No. 1 blue engine and earn his branch line. He had seen him gain the love of his life, and he thought there was no better engine for Thomas than Emily. For although Thomas struggled to control his emotions at times, his everlasting love and devotion to Emily, was proof of his growth. Emily gave him happiness, and Thomas gave her happiness, and Edward was truly happy for his young apprentice and his love. With that, the wise old engine went back to sleep.

The two lovers slowly pulled apart, gazing into their tearful eyes with love, not wanting this perfect night to end.

"I love you, Thomas...my cobalt star."

"I love you too, Emily...my emerald angel."

"Thomas, don't let me go. Hold me for the rest of the night. Please?"

"Of course I will, I don't ever want to let go of you, my love," Thomas whispered as he kissed Emily's quivering lips once more. He refused to let go of his beloved angel, so he gently pushed her back into the shed, all while still kissing her. When he felt Emily touching the buffers at the back of the shed, he stopped and removed his lips to see that Emily had fallen into a peaceful slumber. Thomas kissed her cheek gently, causing her to smile in her sleep, before he started to fall asleep too, never once letting go of his love...

OK, I got some important news for you all. On the day I upload this, the 24th of January, it marks one whole year since I joined this site, however my first story, *Fortunate Circumstances* was uploaded on the 25th. Now I know I said *Sleep Whistling* was going to be the next story I publish, but because of my schedule that's being held back. Also this story is not made to celebrate me being on this site for a year, no that story is going to have to be posted on a later date, because again schedule. If you're wondering about the name of this story, I named it off of the love theme from *Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones* I just think that love theme fits my interpretation of Thomas and Emily's relationship perfectly. Listen to it if you haven't, it's amazing.

So I want to thank each and everyone of all of you who have been so supportive of my work, I cannot thank you enough guys, it's been a very hard year for me but seeing all your support has made it worth all the struggles I had to deal with. I promise that the next story I upload WILL be *Sleep Whistling* so please leave a review and once again, I love you all, thank you so much everyone!