It was a late evening. The sun had set and the stars and moon were beginning to shine through the darkening sky. That day, Thomas, Emily and James all worked together to prepare a funfair for the children in which the Chinese Dragon was shown yet again. Molly watched the funfair and enjoyed seeing the dragon too.
Now the funfair was done and James was taking the dragon away to keep safe again, with Molly by his side. Thomas and Emily had finished their long day's work and were now preparing for something they really loved doing together.
"Well, Emily," said Thomas. "I'm off to enjoy a good wash. If only you could come with me…"
"Oh, Tommy," smiled Emily. "Doesn't the same thing always happen between us? I'm taking a bath with you."
"Oh…" blushed Thomas. "Of course."
Soon, Thomas and Emily were on their way to the washdown to enjoy a relaxing soak together, but James was worried. Thomas and Emily certainly deserved to enjoy each other's company, but there was also the chance of other engines needing a wash as well…and therefore, invading, accidentally or not, on the engine couples' privacy. He hid the flatbed with the dragon in a siding then expressed his worries to the couple, who had now found a washdown to enjoy their time at. Molly watched what he did with interest and wonder.
"Ohh, this is not a good idea, you two. What if other engines pass by and tease you?" James asked nervously as the workmen started preparing the soap and water.
"All engines must wash down, James. And doing it with someone you love isn't wrong…even if it can be a little…excitable," said Thomas.
"Just because we're taking a bath together doesn't mean we have to hide ourselves like people do," said Emily.
"So what if people hide behind shower curtains? They're not engines like us!" said James. "We don't have much to worry about through privacy…except maybe some of your beauteous features, Emily. Not to mention, some of Molly's beauteous features too."
Suddenly, James heard a splashing sound. When he looked, Thomas and Emily were already covered in foamy white bubbles and were being scrubbed everywhere with warm, bubbly water. As Thomas looked at Emily, his boiler bubbled excitedly as he saw a line of soap suds slide down the sides of Emily's smokebox, and drip off the bottom. More soap suds slid down her large wheels, making him buffer up and kiss her little nose. Emily giggled excitedly as she saw soap suds thrive on Thomas' blue paintwork.
"Lovely, isn't it, my angel?" smirked Thomas. "Being covered in warm water and fluffy suds…Nothing I love more than an evening bath with my beautiful emerald angel."
"Mmm…I love it, Thomas. Like you said, bathing together is much more fun than bathing alone. Ahh…" Emily sighed happily.
"OK, I get the idea. You two want to enjoy yourselves, but how you're comfortable with me seeing it is beyond me!" said James.
"James, if you're so worried, go stand watch," Emily smirked before kissing Thomas' cheek and she began to sing to her bath, along with Thomas.
"La-la-la, la-la. La-la-la-la-la-la. De-dee-de-de-de-dee, la-la-la-la, la-la…" she and Thomas sang together.
James begrudgingly imitated Emily with a high voice as he left to look out for other engines, and Molly heard what he said. "Yeah, yeah. 'Stand watch, James, while we blow another secret. First our nicknames, now our love-baths!' Pfft. Hygiene," he groused.
But then he suddenly stopped abruptly. Molly did not look happy with James' immature comment. She was about to tell him off, when suddenly, five more engines came whistling past them, hoping for a wash too. In sequence, Gordon, Percy, Donald and Douglas, and Henry all huffed past James and Molly.
"Me first!" called Gordon.
"Nae! Us first!" called Donald and Douglas. James gasped with horror, fearing what the engines would all say upon seeing Thomas and Emily sharing a bath.
"Ohh! OHH! We're DOOMED! There are a couple of things I KNOW they're bound to notice!" And James took off after the twins. But only a few seconds later, he stopped and remembered the siding. "Ahh…" he thought.
At the washdown, Thomas and Emily's singing was cut short with fear and surprise when they suddenly heard multiple whistles and looked. Gordon, Percy, Donald and Douglas all came by and workmen started washing them too. Just behind them, Henry was hiding just behind another water tower. It was dripping with water every few seconds. Henry had certainly overcome his fear of the rain, but just to be funny, he cautiously huffed underneath the dripping water tower and let one drop fall on him as if he were a person testing their toe before swimming. Then…
"Whoo-oo!" he called as he was hosed with water along with the other engines. All the engines were soon covered with water, and had a few workmen with buckets of water working hard. But unfortunately, much too soon, one of the engines saw who was enjoying a wash together.
"Hey! Emily!" called Douglas. Emily's heart jumped and she looked up. Thomas shut his eyes bashfully. When Emily saw the five engines all staring at her and Thomas, she blushed so profusely, her cheeks went purple. There was no more hiding. She and Thomas were caught in the middle of a bath together…by five engines, all looking inquisitively at them. She and Thomas had no idea what to do now. Emily tried a desperate move to stay calm and get out of there.
"Oh! Hi, Donald and Douglas. I didn't know you we're here!" she exclaimed quite quickly. She started to move, still covered in bubbles. "Thomas and I were just bathing, now we're clean, and we're gonna go. Bye-bye!"
"Come back here!" grinned Donald. "I know we were unfair fools to you last winter, so let's start over. Hi. I'm Donald," he said in a very well-mannered, respectful gesture.
"And I'm Douglas," said the No. 10 engine.
"Hello, Douglas," chirped Emily. "We've already known each other since our Arlesburgh visit."
"I knew that," said Douglas. "I'm just continuing to be a loving brother to you. Besides, you couldn't tell us apart last time."
"However, you two are in the middle of a wash, I see," said Gordon.
"U-uh…yes," Percy said awkwardly. "Thomas and my mother figure, having a wash together…"
Thomas heard Gordon and Percy and had blushed almost as purple as Emily did. He sighed loudly and with defeat.
"Alright, everyone: it's true, Emily and I often share a bath together…not for the pleasures. We share baths together because of how much we love each other…but I'm more than sure you'll tease us both about it. After all, you're only staring at us because you're wrongly excited…"
All five engines felt bad at what Thomas said. They had no intention of teasing them at all. If anything they were touched by what Thomas said.
"Thomas…don't feel that way for one moment," said Henry.
"Certainly not," said Douglas.
"We were only looking at you and Emily because we were very touched by what we saw," said Gordon.
"Aye, my sister," Douglas winked to Emily. "I think you and Thomas sharing a bath together is most lovely."
"Yes, Emily," said Percy, blushing a little himself at what he saw. "You don't need to feel ashamed of being seen by us."
"We can assure you that you will NEVER be teased by us, Emily. Doing anything with a loved one is perfectly alright," smiled Donald.
Thomas and Emily's blushes disappeared and they felt very touched in return.
"Aww…thank you, everyone," smiled Emily. "You're all so well-behaved, considering what you saw. Now…what do you say we all enjoy our own wash?"
"Well said, Emily," smiled Douglas. "So we shall." With that, all the engines' washes resumed, and Thomas and Emily looked back to each other with relief.
"That was beautiful," whispered Thomas.
Emily kissed his cheek with a giggle. "It certainly was, Thomas. Now we don't need to feel ashamed about being seen…however, I would much prefer it if we still had privacy."
"Next time, perhaps," said Thomas. But at that moment, someone bumped Henry from behind and away from the water tower, right into a nearby siding.
"Hey!" called Henry. "Who did that?! I'm Henry and I was in the middle of a wash!" Then a distinctive voice split the air, to everyone's mild chagrin. Emily sighed with exasperation and shut her eyes while Thomas frowned to himself.
"And 'I' am Diesel. King of the water tower! And there's NOTHING you steamies can do about it," he said, smirking at all the engines. Donald and Douglas hated diesels exceptionally, compared to other engines, and they did not want Diesel to tease Thomas and Emily's current position.
"Really, you smelly ol' diesel?!" challenged Donald. "I think we and the lassie can take you on our own!"
"I really don't want to take him anywhere," said Emily, getting back to enjoying her wash with Thomas.
"Emily, he's a diesel! We HAVE to oust him from your lovely wash!" said Douglas.
"No, we don't," said Emily. "We can just relax and…have our baths."
Donald huffed right beside Emily, trying to coax her towards Diesel, but suddenly got lurched forward from behind. "Come on. Don't be such a-OUCH! Something bumped me!"
"GO! Away from these special engines!" bellowed a gruff and heated voice. "Away with you now!" Gordon and Henry saw it was James putting on the voice. He had snuck in from the other side of the washdown…with the Chinese Dragon. Neither Donald nor Douglas had worked with the Chinese Dragon before…and when Donald saw it, he almost jumped out of his paintwork.
"DRAGON! AAAAHH!" Donald squealed with alarm as Douglas shunted him and himself away from Emily and joined the other engines. Diesel got into a panic too.
"It's the dragon! He's come to get us!" he wailed.
James winked to Thomas and Emily. Emily then winked to Gordon and Henry, signaling them to pretend being scared. Gordon and Henry winked back and started their own panic, buying time for the couple to go somewhere private to be rinsed down.
"Ohh, Dragon!" Gordon whistled with alarm.
"Dragon! DRAGON!" shouted Henry.
While the screaming and panicking was going on, Thomas and Emily quietly snuck away from the washdown and huffed swiftly along the line, looking for a different water tower. On their way, they went past Molly, who looked intently at them too, since they still had some leftover white suds on their paintwork. Emily's expression told Molly that something happened and they were trying to avoid too much excitement. Then a moment or two later, James came along the same line with the dragon, winking to Molly as he passed her by.
Molly carefully huffed down the line and peaked down the line…and she saw several engines at the washdown. They had all calmed down now that the dragon had passed. Diesel seemed to be shaking with fright after seeing the dragon…until someone broke the silence with a mocking.
"Some King of the water tower," gloated Donald. Diesel gave him a rough bump under the water pipe and Donald got soaked in water yet again. Molly decided not to question the matter anymore that evening and made her way to her own shed to sleep in.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Emily happily found their own private water tower where they could finish their wash together. Some workmen were now rinsing them down, revealing their new-looking paintwork. Emily's heart was flipping a little within her as she still comprehended what happened back there.
"Cinders and Ashes! That was close," said Emily.
"Maybe so, Emily," smiled Thomas. "But I actually think what happened this evening is very good. They may have stared at us…but they really showed heartfelt admiration for what we do…especially their composed respect. That much is accepted. What they said to us really was beautiful."
Emily agreed by kissing Thomas' lips ever-so softly and warmly. When she let go of his lips, she smiled happily.
"I love you, Thomas," she bubbled.
"I love you too, Emily," murmured Thomas.
"And between you and me…I NEVER want to see a diesel at a washdown again," said Emily, giggling again. Soon after that, their wash was done and they went on their way back to Tidmouth Sheds.
Once they were there, they saw that James was there too. "Hello, James," said Emily. "Thomas and I are done for the night…what you did back there…that was clever."
"No! That was VILE! You owe me one!" grumbled James. "They should not have intruded on your privacy!"
"But when we explained that it's what we do, they didn't tease us," said Thomas. "They were all touched by the facts, and they assured us that they'll never tease us. So some good came from being seen."
"Well, don't look at me, I'm bumping no more twins," James huffed to himself. Thomas and Emily chuckled to each other and spent a while staring at the stars, very happy after having another heartfelt evening together.
This isn't what was supposed to come next. OK, so this was Jeremy's idea, apparently this is meant to be a parody of a scene in Disney's "Mulan" with the scene where Mulan, disguised as "Ping," encounters the three main soldiers, Ling, Chein-Po, and Yao in a close call that they don't realize she's a woman in the army. Granted I haven't watched "Mulan" in about a good ten or fifteen years, since I'm not really into Disney all that much, but I still remember that film's plot, which is pretty much sexism. Like this was originally meant to come after *Be My Valentine* but since this has no relation to that story I'm putting this up now. The next story will be *Thomas the Scoundrel* as it was originally intended to be. Leave your reviews and we'll see you next time.