Making Changes

Authoresses' Note: Well here's the prequel to Understanding and Promises. Yes it is up earlier than I expected. I just realized that as I was going through the revisions for all the chapters in Understanding and Promises I kind of need this to lead into it before I finish my revisions. The story doesn't necessarily need this as a preceding piece, but I personally think there can never be too much STS fanfiction and it might make the other stories more enjoyable!

This story takes place between the Family Special "Once Upon a Time" and the specials that aired after it, with Understanding and Promises following. It's basically to bridge that gap between the major events in Once Upon a Time and lead into Understanding and Promises. I felt that the reconciliation after Once Upon a Time wasn't sufficient and needed something else.

Anyways, I hope you all like it and that you're enjoying the updates that I've been making to Understanding and Promises. If you have any questions about what the specific changes to any chapters were, please don't hesitate to PM me and ask. I'll explain what was changed. And as always, please don't hesitate to review or leave criticism or comments :)

Schemee's train pulled into the Station at around noon. He managed to arrange a ride on a train that would bring him home a few hours earlier. Camp was fun but he was eager to get back and catch up with everyone. He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked into the Station. Frowning, he looked around as he entered. Where were all the people clambering to ask him about his trip? Or begging to show off his new baseball moves? Where were his friends? Where was his Uncle? He didn't bother telling him that he was coming home early because his Uncle always worked on Tuesdays. He shrugged off his bag and dragged it over to the bench. Waiting was his only option now. His Uncle would probably be around soon. If not him, than someone else.

He didn't have to wait long for the door to open. Looking up, he caught the eye of Billy and Stacy as they walked in from whatever work they had been doing outside. Stacy gave him a quizzical look.

"Aren't you supposed to be at camp until tonight?" She asked curiously.

He raised an eyebrow. "Hello to you too. And yes, but nothing was going on for the rest of the day and I wanted to get home sooner." He explained with a smirk.

"Oh, that's good. I'm sure that... Never mind. How was your trip?" She asked him with a smile.

Schemee did catch her slip but didn't understand what it was about. He figured if it was important, he'd find out soon. "It was a lot of fun, I liked it. I learned some tricks that I think will help the team out. I'll teach them once practice starts up again." He said with a smile. "How were things back here?"

To a stranger, Stacy and Billy would've seemed perfectly normal. But to Schemee, who was used to them and had picked up on their nervous habits, they seemed to radiate discomfort. Stacy's face fell by a fraction and Billy's eyes darted nervously to Stacy. Schemee frowned slightly.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, feeling slightly worried.

"No, well, I, um, have to go do some work!" Stacy stammered quickly before briskly walking back outside.

Schemee turned back to Billy, who now looked quite serious. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home. I think there's a few things you need to know." He explained as he picked up Schemee's things for him.

"Need to know? What sort of things?" He asked with a frown.

"There was an incident..." Billy said as they reached his truck.

They had pulled into Schemer's driveway but Schemee felt slightly worried. The incident wasn't exactly easy to take in. Billy turned to him again.

"I know it seems crazy. Fortunately no one was hurt so there's no real punishment. I think Mr. King will probably add a condition or two to his lease or issue some sort of training but nothing serious..." Billy explained calmly.

Schemee sat in the truck dumbfounded. "But I don't understand, how could this happen? What could possibly possess him to do that?" He asked with genuine worry.

Billy sighed. "I don't know. I went to visit and talk with him yesterday to try and find out. I have some ideas but nothing really solid to work from. He's fairly... upset with himself. I can't really reach him and something IS bothering him but I can't find out for sure. I'm hoping he might open up to you so he can get back to normal." He said worriedly.

Schemee looked down thoughtfully. "So is he on some sort of probation? He hasn't been to the Station since then, has he?"

"No, he hasn't been back. But I think he's almost holding himself on some sort of probation. Like I said, he's not happy and probably doesn't want to remind himself of what happened. Look, can you pretend that you don't know what's going on? I mean, don't bring it up to him at all. Wait for him to talk to you." Billy requested.

Schemee nodded. "Sure thing, thanks for the ride and for telling me ahead of time."

He walked up to the porch and after some hesitation opened the door. Dropping his bag at the front, he stepped inside. The house didn't look particularly lived in, there wasn't any real indication that anybody was home.

"Uncle Schemer?" He called out, feeling slightly anxious.

A sudden movement from the couch made him jump. He whipped around to see his Uncle's hand lifting himself up, using the back of the couch. He must've been lying down because Schemee hadn't seen him there. He looked a little dazed and Schemee figured that he must've been sleeping.

He did a double take when he saw Schemee and jumped to his feet with a severe lack of grace. The sudden movement caused him to fall over immediately. Schemee winced at the thud and moved over to him.

"Uh, are you okay?" He asked with concern.

Schemer pulled himself to his feet quickly, and more carefully, this time. "Schemee!" He exclaimed worriedly. "Why are you back? I mean, how did you get back? What time is it? Did I forget to come get you?!" He shot out all at once, he was pacing back in forth now.

"Whoa, calm down Uncle, it's okay!" Schemee exclaimed, taking in his Uncle's nervous behavior. "I just got an early train and Billy gave me a ride to the station, you didn't miss anything."

Schemer finally calmed down and turned to face his nephew. "Ah okay, that's good. I thought I messed up ag... Well, never mind." He said, echoing Stacy's dismissal back in the station.

Schemee frowned thoughtfully but Schemer took notice, "Sorry, how was your trip? I'm glad you're back." He said honestly.

"It was good, baseball camp went well. I've got some good tricks to use with the team." Schemee said, hoping it would pique his Uncle's interest.

Schemer just gave a sad smile. "Sure, I'm sure they'll like that." He gave up and walked over to the kitchen quietly.

Schemee gave another frown, taking in this very subdued version of his Uncle. "Well, I thought you'd like it too. I mean, you are the coach." He called after his Uncle. There was a crash from the kitchen and Schemee rushed in.

Schemer was picking up the pieces of a glass that had broke. "Sorry, it slipped from my hand." He mumbled as he threw out the larger pieces.

Schemee sighed, "Did you hear what I said?" He asked patiently.

"Yes... Yes, I did." Schemer mumbled again. "And I do like it, it's nice you got something out of your experience. But uh, I'm not going to..." He trailed off into mumbles as he crouched on the ground picking up the smaller pieces.

"Not going to what exactly?" Schemer pressed, sounding a little annoyed.

Schemer cleared his throat and tugged at his collar nervously as he rose to stand once more. "Not going to be the coach anymore." He confessed.

Schemee's mouth twisted and his eyebrows rose. Schemer seemed to wince, expecting an explosion out of his nephew. Schemee placed a hand over his mouth and looked up thoughtfully.

"Okay." He said finally.

Schemer looked taken aback. "Okay? You're fine, and not upset?" He asked carefully.

"No, I mean, why would I be upset that my Uncle quit his coaching job? Oh yeah, because it's STUPID!" He whirled around angrily and marched back into the living room. Sure, he was actually angry, but he was hoping his Uncle would take the bait and start blabbing. Schemee's methods were a little unconventional, but he knew how his Uncle worked and how to make him talk.

Schemer stormed after him, taking the bait without question. "It is not stupid!" He exclaimed angrily. "I quit for a good reason!"

Schemee turned around victoriously, "So you did quit! I'd say it is stupid, think about it, you're a coach who is giving up! What kind of message is that to the team?"

"Hey! You don't know why I quit!" Schemer shot back.

Schemee shrugged, "Okay, so tell me then, why did you quit?"

"Fine!" Schemer snapped at him. Schemee inwardly smirked. "I quit because... Because I almost killed the whole team." He confessed gravely.

Schemee frowned and lowered his voice. "You didn't almost kill them, everyone was fine." He said quietly, to try and console his Uncle.

Schemer sighed sadly. "I figured you might have heard by now. It doesn't matter that everyone is fine. The point is that I put a lot of people in danger, not just the team." He turned away from his nephew.

Schemee put his hand on his Uncle's shoulder. "It's okay, and I know that sounds cliched, but you need to accept that things happened and that they can only get better from here."

Schemer straightened his posture a little bit. "It's just so hard to feel okay about it all though."

"It's okay, we'll get through it, just don't worry too much about it. Baseball season is practically over anyways, so maybe put off any major decisions about that on hold until next season." Schemee suggested.

Schemer nodded but wasn't fully convinced. "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Sure Uncle Schemer."

"Can you run the arcade for a little while? I'm not quite ready to go back." He confessed sadly.

Schemee thought about it for a few seconds before responding. With a sigh, he said, "I'll watch it, but only for a week. That's my offer, take it or leave it." He extended his hand.

Schemer stared at him for a brief moment, "Okay," he finally agreed, "a week and then I'll take over again."

They shook on it.

Schemee's week at the arcade was fairly uneventful. Though Midge Smooch came in a few times and tried to dig for information. He brushed her off each time and continued about his business. Apart from her, however, there wasn't too much gossip regarding the incident. It seemed to be a bigger deal within the actual railroad community, and less so with the passengers. It seems that the details regarding what happened weren't actually released and that most people believed it was a publicity stunt.

The attitude within the station was something that had changed considerably. Perhaps it wouldn't be something that an outsider would notice, but to someone who spent a lot of time in the Station over his lifetime, Schemee noticed immediately. Stacy was a little more withdrawn and Billy seemed to have a forced cheerfulness about him. They still talked to him, and each other. But it just seemed that not everything was right within the Station.

His Uncle seemed to be doing alright, and was a little less mopey than he was when Schemee first got home. Although Schemee could tell he was anxious over his return to work. Schemee wanted to find out what exactly was bothering him so that he might be able to smooth a few things out before his Uncle returned.

Stacy seemed to have a new friend who would come visit her at the station. He went by Andrew Kincaid and seemed to flirt with her every time he would come in. Sometimes they'd go out to lunch together or he would pick her up from the station. Schemee found this interesting, given that he had never really seen her go out with anyone before, but also because this man was quite new. He had honestly never seen him around before. He was more concerned about his Uncle though, and wanted to talk to her and see what he could do to help his Uncle's transition back.

On the last day of Schemee's week as his Uncle's replacement he approached Stacy. Andrew didn't seem to be coming in to see her today so it seemed like a good time to talk. He approached her desk as she was filling out some paperwork. "Hey Stacy, is it alright if I speak to you?" He asked.

She looked up abruptly but gave him a small nod. "Sure Schemee, but don't mind me. I've just got a lot to fill out so I'll be talking while working."

"Okay, thanks. I'll be quick so that I can get out of your way. I just wanted to know, and he didn't put me up to this so please don't blame him, if my Uncle isn't welcome here anymore." He said, feeling awkward. He mimicked his Uncle's habit of running his hand along the back of his neck.

"Oh Schemee, he's perfectly welcome here." She looked a little distraught at his question. "We've already spoken about the incident and I think we're okay, as far as I know anyways. He hasn't been around since then so I haven't been able to actually talk to him since then. Is he still upset?" She asked with concern.

Schemee breathed a sigh of relief. "No, I mean yes. Kind of? He's still moping and I think he is upset, but he hasn't asked about how people feel about him or what they've been saying. I think he's blaming himself for a lot of things right now. Are you still upset?" He asked curiously.

She looked away, looking sad. "Yes, not at him though. Just at... another part of it." She looked back to him. "It's okay though, no need to dwell on it." She said with false cheeriness that Schemee picked up on immediately.

"Okay, well if you need anything let me know. I can pass on any messages to him, although he'll be back in tomorrow." Schemee said, pretending that he didn't notice the fake-happiness yet filing it away mentally.

"Thanks Schemee, and it's okay because I'll see him tomorrow anyways."

"So, he gave you all his winnings?" Schemee asked in shock.

"Yup, everything. It covers the rest of our field trip easily." Dan replied. "It was nice of him."

The two friends were sitting outside Barton Winslow's store after Schemee finished his work at the arcade. He had wanted to catch up with Dan and hear his side of the story.

"Yeah, it was... Did he say why though?" Schemee asked.

"Nope, Ned instructed that the winnings go to Schemer, who then gave them to us." Dan shrugged.

"Wait, who's Ned?" Schemee asked.

"He's the guy that Aunt Stacy was seeing for a short amount of time. He left after saving the train, but no one saw him leave and Aunt Stacy was upset when she found that he left without warning." Dan explained.

"That seems mean." Schemee said with a frown. "Why would he leave?"

"I don't know, I think Mr. Conductor might know something but he's not spilling the beans. Besides, this new Andrew guy seems to be cheering her up." Dan explained.

"Hmm, I'm not sure I would say she's been cheered up. She still seems very... sullen. At least when she thinks no one is looking." Schemee said, remembering her behavior at the Station all week.

"Probably, I think she really liked Ned. Andrew might just be there to help get her mind off of things. But that's all I know about that, she isn't really saying much either." Dan said with another shrug.

"That seems to be the trend I'm noticing around here lately." Schemee said sadly.

"Looks like it's time for you to head back to work." Schemee said.

"Yup." His Uncle said simply from behind his desk at the office in his house.

"You know, it won't be so bad. No one is taking about it for starters, and no one has said anything about not wanting you back." Schemee explained from his seat on the couch in the office.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Schemer grumbled from the desk, he was reviewing some expenses and getting the business side of things out of the way before his return.

"I'm serious, Stacy said that everything is fine between you two and Billy didn't seem to have any problem when he drove me home last week." Schemee protested.

"You spoke to Stacy about it?" Schemer asked, sounding curious.

"Well, yeah. I wanted to make sure you weren't coming back to any surprises." Schemee explained.

"How thoughtful of you, did you have a nice chat behind my back?" He asked sarcastically.

"It wasn't behind your back, and I was doing it to make sure everything would be okay for you." Schemee retorted.

"Okay, thanks, I do appreciate it. How is she doing anyways?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I think she's good? A little over cheerful at times and then sad looking at others, she seems to be coping. I heard about Ned, that kind of sucks. But there's this new guy Andrew that seems to be trying to date her." He said, trying to be helpful.

Schemer had dropped his pen to the ground and was under his desk trying to reach it. As soon as he heard what Schemee said about some guy named Andrew he jerked his head up without warning and smacked the back of it off the edge of his desk. Rubbing it gingerly and wincing, "No surprises, eh? Wonderful." He said grimly.

Schemer's first few days at the Station went uneventfully, similar to Schemee's week. He worked considerably harder though and complained a lot less than he normally would. He was trying to make a genuine effort to "grow up". The incident had struck a lot of fear into him and he wanted to make up for both the incident, and some of his past behavior. His relationships with both Billy and Stacy had changed, to his displeasure. In fact, all three of their relationships seemed strained. They barely spoke, compared to the days before Ned where they would spend countless hours in conversation, and regarded each other with cool politeness.

And like Schemee had unintentionally warned him, there was this new guy Andrew to contend with. However, unlike with Ned, Schemer purposefully avoided conflict. He had learned his lesson with competing for Stacy's affections the last time. Every time Andrew came by he left the station or ducked into Billy's office for a moment. He wasn't getting involved, despite his past feelings he knew there was no chance of anything happening between him and Stacy. But he also had no desire to see her with another man, the wound was too fresh and it was only a week ago when Ned was there. He couldn't stand to see this constant parade of men around her, knowing that he had no chance.

Andrew had just walked in and Schemer walked into Billy's office. Unfortunately, Billy was occupying his office and Schemer didn't know until he shut the door behind him.

"Something I can help you with Schemer?" Billy asked politely.

"Oh geez, sorry Billy!" Schemer exclaimed. "I just needed to stretch my legs a bit." He laughed nervously.

Billy frowned and approached the door. Schemer shrunk down a bit where he stood, intimidated by Billy's size. But Billy had no qualms with him, he merely opened his door a crack, peered outside, and closed it again.

"You've never had any reason to fear me before, Schemer, why start now?" He asked sadly.

Schemer looked away, embarrassed. "I just don't know how people here are going to react anymore." He admitted.

Billy clapped him on the shoulder, ignoring Schemer's flinch. "I know, and I'm sorry things have been a bit strange." He gestured to his again closed office door. "I'm guessing you came in here to escape the sight out there?"

Schemer nodded solemnly. "Yes, I just can't really see it right now."

Billy nodded, he felt sorry for Schemer. He had seem how hard he was trying and he knew he felt bad for everything that had happened. Not to mention that Billy, Schemer, and Stacy were normally very close friends. And that Schemer's feelings for Stacy had become quite obvious, even more so than before the Ned incident. He was taking it all so badly, and Andrew coming around all the time wasn't helping matters.

"You can come in here anytime you need some space, or quiet time. Whether I'm here or not." Billy offered. "And you can talk to me about anything, I'm still your friend and I want things to go back to normal as much as you do. You and I can at least go back to where we were."

Schemer gave him the first real smile that Billy had see in awhile. "Thanks Billy." He looked over his shoulder to the closed office door again. "Do you think that sometimes people do things out of loneliness, rather than what's good for them?" He asked vaguely.

Billy knew what he was referring to though, "Yes Schemer, I think that's exactly it. Although as much as it hurts to see our friends hurt themselves unintentionally, I also think that there's somethings that we have to let them find out for themselves." He advised.

"I just don't want to see her get hurt again. I hated seeing her the way she was after he left." Schemer said bitterly.

Billy nodded, "I don't like it any better than you do, trust me. I just don't think there's much we can do at this point. We'll have to help her when she comes to us for help, otherwise she might resent us instead of allowing our help."

After pause Schemer sighed. "Okay. I don't like to have to stand around but okay."

After their talk, Billy and Schemer's relationship had improved immensely. Unfortunately, Stacy was still keeping herself at a distance and not trying to communicate with them. Andrew would still visit and Stacy would still accompany him to lunch or elsewhere, but they didn't seem terribly serious to Schemer. He still didn't want to have to see them together, but it was at least nice to not have to witness Stacy throwing herself at Andrew the way she did with Ned.

He knew that he was wrong to hate Ned and Stacy's relationship as much as he did while it was happening. He was very selfish at the time, and very jealous. But Stacy wasn't an object, and not someone that belonged to him in any way. If she wasn't interested in him, than it wasn't his business who she saw unless she told him. It just hurt because he hadn't realized exactly how deep his feelings went until Ned arrived and she started seeing him. It left him full of regret and anger for not acting on them sooner.

But even if he had acted on them, would she have reciprocated? Probably not. She didn't seem too impressed with his schemes before, so why would she want to be romantically involved with him? It didn't feel good to think about it like that, but it was humbling.

He had come to two realizations. The first was that Stacy Jones would probably never reciprocate his feelings. And the second was that he needed to get his act together or else he'd be lonely for the rest of his life. This was the first time in his life that he had wanted to change, and he was going to do it. Maybe not for Stacy anymore, but certainly because of her.

He walked outside, around the back of the Station to the storage shed to pick up a box of cheese diggles, when a noise startled him. It sounded like crying. He whirled around and saw Stacy duck into a train shed. She hadn't noticed him and was moving quickly. He abandoned his quest and followed her quietly. As he reached the door to the shed, he saw her climb into a familiar engine.

It was the engine of the train that Schemer had unintentionally started, the one that Ned had saved all the people in. He sighed heavily and saw her crying into her hands in the front seat. He debated turning back, but didn't want to abandon his friend. "Stacy?" He asked quietly.

Startled, she looked up from her hands, tears were streaming down her face. "Oh, Schemer, I didn't see you there." She swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, sorry. I saw you come in here and wanted to make sure you were alright." He spoke up to her from the ground. "Mind if I come up?" He asked.

She said nothing and he was worried that she would tell him to get lost, but finally she spoke up, "Okay, come up."

He climbed up slowly, and deliberately, not wanting to accidentally start an engine again. He sat in the seat beside her.

"Sometimes I come up here to be alone." She confessed.

He nodded, not really sure how to respond to that.

"It's just that, this was the last place that he was. At least as far as I know. I have no idea where he went afterwards." Tears started forming in her eyes again.

"Stacy... I don't really know what to say, but if it upsets you so much to be here, then why come up?" He asked with genuine curiosity. When ever he saw Andrew and Stacy together, it upset him, so he left to find a place where he didn't have to see it.

"Because, somehow it helps." She choked back a sob. "Maybe he'll come find me here, maybe he'll return." She started crying again.

Despite being close to her before, he no longer felt comfortable putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her even. "I'm sorry Stacy." Was all he could say.

"I am too." She said with a sniff. "Andrew is a nice guy, but I just can't like him in the same way I liked Ned. How can I possibly start a relationship, knowing that there's a man out there that could have been my soulmate? He was the most caring and nicest man I've ever met and Andrew just can't compare. And he hasn't even done anything wrong, it's just not fair!" She started crying again.

To Schemer, her words cut deep, because he knew that there was no hope for him whatsoever. But he still wanted to help her.

"Stacy... I have an Uncle, and he's a retired therapist, if you need someone to help you..." He started but she cut him off angrily.

"Therapist?! Do you think I'm crazy or something?" She snapped, her temper flaring up.

He rose his hands in surrender. "Whoa, no. I don't think you're crazy. Not one bit. I just think that you need someone to talk to, someone who might have a solution to help you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Some friend you are! I'm trying to open up to you and you're passing me off to some stranger!" She snarled.

"No, that's not it at all!" He snapped back, starting to feel frustrated. "And it's not 'some stranger', it happens to be my Uncle."

"You know what Schemer? Just go, I can't handle this right now." She grumbled. "Just get out."

Deflated, he felt his anger dissipate. "Fine... Fine, you want me gone? Then I'm going." He climbed out of the engine and didn't look back.

Long after Schemer had left, Stacy finally left the engine. She was too angry to go back to work though. She went back to her desk and wrote a note for Billy that she was leaving. Schemer was back in his arcade and they both ignored each other, neither really wanting to speak to the other again.

She exited the station and decided that she needed a long walk into town. As she started off, she noticed the hill down the road from the, the hill that she first met Ned on. She sighed wistfully, and decided to go revisit that memory. It had been only a week and a half ago that he had come into her life, and exited again, but she needed to feel that happiness again. As she made her way up the hill, she looked on at the wild flowers, the very kind she had been picking at the time. Just before Ned fell off his horse and she had assisted him.

Shaking her head sadly, Stacy realized that this wasn't helping. Still, she continued up the hill. As she reached the top, she stood in silence and looked down at Shining Time and the Indian Valley. She was about to turn around and get back to the main road that would lead her into town, seeing how her shortcut wasn't helping her feel better, but something caught her eye.

There, in the next field over, was a horse. For a brief moment, her heart soared, but disappointment came crashing down quickly. The horse was alone, and it wasn't Ned's horse she realized almost immediately. It was smaller, and a pale grey colour. She walked down the hill a little bit further, and realized it was just Ginny's mare grazing in her enclosure. The disappointment hit her hard, and she almost turned around once again, when an idea struck.

If I met him while on his horse in this field, maybe he'll somehow come back if he sees me riding a horse in the same field. He came to my rescue once before, maybe he can rescue my heart this time.

Schemer had decided that he too needed a walk after Stacy's cold dismissal of him from the engine. He followed the road out of the Station, the one that led into town. He was lost in his own reverie, and walking with his hands clasped behind his back and his head down, when he heard an abrupt scream. He snapped his head up and realized it had come from over the big hill. The one that led to Ginny's farm.

"Oh no." He thought to himself, yet urged his legs to carry him as fast as possible up the hill. As he crested the top, he saw a figure in red barely hanging onto the mane of the horse she was riding. They were climbing the hill quickly, with the horse trying to remove it's rider by making sharp turns.

Realizing immediately who it was, he rushed towards the horse and rider, yet trying to avoid spooking the horse further. When he was within arm's reach, the horse made a sharp turn away from him, which sent it's dazed rider flying directly towards him. He tried to catch her, but she was thrown off with too much force. As such, she flew directly into him, knocking them both down.

Momentarily winded, Schemer recovered quickly, and lay Stacy on the ground beside him. She was conscious but looking very stunned and breathing heavily. "Stacy, come on, you've got to get up." He urged.

She blinked a few times, and seemed to snap out of it. He breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back from his position over her. "Geez Stacy, what were you thinking?" He asked worriedly.

She groaned and held her head, "I don't know. I just thought it might be good idea." She said wearily.

"Well it wasn't," he said, sounding angry, "you could have hurt yourself!" He chastised her.

"Oh yeah? Like you haven't done anything like that in the recent past." She growled.

"Yeah? We're going to get into this here?" He asked, sounding irritated. "Well go ahead, take jabs at me, I don't care. Just say whatever you have to say to get over it!"

She seemed shocked at his outburst. But he didn't care.

"Do you think I like seeing you like this? Do you think Billy and I like seeing you like this? You have been acting crazy. This is no different from me and the engine. I had no business being up there, you're all absolutely right, but you have no business trying to ride a horse, bare back I might add, without any experience!" He snapped.

"Fine then Schemer, fine! You're right, I've lost so much control of my life that the great and mighty Schemer has grounds to criticize me! What has the world come to?" She asked sarcastically.

"Good! Let it out, keep insulting me, I hope it helps you get better!" He said while gesturing with his hands to 'bring it on'. This only proved to be more infuriating to her.

"Why do you even care?!" Stacy asked, her cheeks flushing in anger.

"Because I care about you!" Schemer shot back intensely. She continued to give him a hard stare but quieted down for him to continue.

"Because... Because I care about you." He stammered this time. "I don't know what it is, but after everything that happened recently it made me realize what I'm idiot I've been. I can't lose you, not as a friend, not after all we've been through together. You... You make me want to be a better man." He confessed sullenly.

Her gaze softened and her eyebrows rose, giving her a solemn expression. He looked at the ground, unable to meet her eye anymore.

"You haven't lost me." She said quietly. Without warning, she took a step forward and collapsed into his arms. His face registered his shock but he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She clutched her arms around his torso and began crying into his chest. Tightening his grip, he rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Why did he leave me?" She gasped between sobs, with tears spilling from her eyes.

"I don't know." He confessed sadly. "But he's crazy for doing it."

Her only response was to cry harder

"I'm sorry Stacy." He whispered. And he was, for everything. For acting immature, for the near disaster at the station, and for Ned leaving her.

She eventually settled into quiet sniffling. He let go and she wiped her eyes and produced a tissue from her pocket.

"I'm sorry for that." She said, looking embarrassed.

"Don't apologize." He said with a small, sad smile.

With a gentle sigh she said, "Okay, I'd like to see your Uncle."

"Not a problem, how soon did you need to see him?" He asked, happy that she was finally accepting his help and friendship.

"As soon as possible." She said grimly. "I need to get this all sorted out before I go back to work."

He offered her his arm. "As you wish." He said gently. She looked at the pro-offered arm thoughtfully and after a brief moment, accepted. She settled her arm into his and allowed him to lead her to where the horse was standing. He grabbed the mare by the reins with his other arm and the three walked back to Ginny's farm together to return her to her enclosure.

A week had passed between the horse incident and Stacy had actually followed Schemer's example and took a week off. She hadn't spoken to Schemer since he introduced her to his Uncle, and he was respecting her privacy so he didn't call up his Uncle to check up on her. Still, he was nervous for when she returned. Billy hadn't heard anything from her either and was equally curious as to how she was doing.

Schemer and Billy were busy fixing a machine in Schemer's arcade, and didn't hear the door to the Station open. They were bantering back and forth, and lightly arguing about who was better qualified to fix the machine, and didn't notice someone enter the arcade.

"I'm sorry, but who's the Engineer here?" Billy asked sarcastically.

"I didn't realize Engineers were qualified to work on antiques." Schemer said, "That's like letting a bull loose in a China shop."

"Shut it you!"

"No, you shut it!"

"I told Andrew that I couldn't see him anymore." A delicate voice sounded from behind them.

Both men turned around to see Stacy leaning against the side of the railing, look much better and happier than she had a week ago.

"Stacy, you're back!" Billy exclaimed, and moved to hug her.

Schemer was a little hesitant given all that had happened between them, but Stacy moved first to hug him. He reciprocated, and slowly registered what she had said.

"You sent him packing? When?" He asked with confusion.

"Just this morning, it wasn't fair of me to string him along like that. I just didn't have feelings for him, and it was only hurting me and and would eventually hurt him worse. He took it well." She explained.

Billy nodded, "That's very wise, how do you feel now?"

She smiled, "Much better."

Schemer smiled as well. "I'm glad you're doing better. And that the three of us are back to normal."

"Of course we are!" She said with a smile.

"I'm really glad, but unfortunately I hear the express coming into the station, and I was informed that I had to fix a loose coupling." Billy said as he moved to leave. "We'll talk a little later!"

Leaving Schemer and Stacy alone, the two looked at each other.

"So, did my Uncle Alcott help you?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes, very much. I have to thank you for a lot. For saving me from being thrown off the horse, I could have been seriously hurt." Her eyes glittered sadly. "And for helping me see how wrong I had been. It's all thanks to you Schemer."

"It's okay Miss Jones, anything for you. You're one of my best friends!" He said with a smile.

"I've been a terrible friend to you though. I owe you a lot." She admitted.

"Let's call it even, how about that?" He asked, and extended his hand. "Friends?"

She smiled and accepted. "Friends."

"I'll avoid engines if you avoid horses, okay?" Schemer joked.

"Ha, ha. Very funny!" She surprised him by wrapping her arm around his waist. He placed his arm around her shoulder and they walked out of the Station together.

"One really good thing I realized from all this is that Ned wasn't my soulmate, and that I had extremely over-exaggerated my feelings. It still hurts, but it just came out of nowhere and was so intense that it took me by surprise. But that's over now so I just have to deal with that and learn to cope. That's why it couldn't work out with Andrew, it was too soon, and not to mention I didn't have an attraction to him. Not romantically." She explained.

"Hmmm." Was all Schemer said.

"I'm just going to focus on me for awhile. I'm not looking for my next relationship because I just need to figure things out first. But when I do get into one, I'm going to have it be on my terms I think." She looked up at him with happiness, and something he couldn't quite determine.

"I'm happy for you, really I am." He said truthfully. And maybe a little hopefully. But like she said, maybe he should just focus on figuring things out too. His reactions to that whole Ned debacle had been so over the top that it made him question how ready he was for a relationship.

"I think you're on the right track, and I think I need to gain a little more stability in my own life too. Maybe we can help each other be the best that we can be? And truthfully tell the other when they're being unreasonable? Future relationships in out lives depend on it!" He suggested.

"You've got a deal Schemer. I'm holding you to that." She said happily.

Wow, okay so this is 17 pages long. Definitely too long to make into a single prologue chapter, so I'm posting it separately. Please review, I'll love you dearly for it! Once I'm done all the changes to Understanding and Promises this prequel should flow nicely into it. So this "prequel" leads into not only Understanding and Promises, but the Family specials that followed Once Upon a Time. So just to reiterate, the timeline is 'Once Upon a Time' into 'Making Changes' into 'Other Family Specials' and finally into 'Understanding and Promises'. The kids have just finished Grade 10 (Sophomore) and it's summertime. Understanding and Promises will take place approximately a year after the events of all the family specials and this prequel. Just to clear things up :)