"Maybe I shouldn't have to tease Gordon to feel important."

As he slowly puffed away, Thomas began to think about what had happened earlier. He had been so cheeky to the point that Gordon ultimately paid him back. The payback from Gordon was brutal to say the least.

His wheels were still aching tremendously from what happened, and he knew why that was the case.

Why did I have to tease Gordon like that? he wondered to himself. Teasing him like that to feel important isn't the way to go.

He continued down the line, still in deep thought to try to distract himself from the aching pain in his wheels. His cheekiness to someone who didn't take it too well was bound to end badly. Thomas was certain that he was at fault, not Gordon

Maybe I should apologize to him, he thought. It was my fault after all for being so cheeky and waking him up.

The journey back to Tidmoth Sheds felt longer than it was for Thomas. The pain in his wheels and his exhaustion from the torture earlier made it harder for him to keep going but he had to in order to be back at the sheds.

At last, he made it into Tidmoth Sheds, trying to grit his teeth to ignore the excruciating pain. Despite this, he wanted to apologize to Gordon for being cheeky.

He slowly puffed up to the turntable, then the turntable turned to Gordon's direction. Gordon was surprised to see the small blue tank engine still up and not yet asleep.

"What are you doing, Thomas?" asked Gordon. "You should get some sleep."

"Not right now," replied Thomas quietly. "I want to apologize to you for being cheeky. I shouldn't have to tease you like that to feel important."

Gordon was surprised to hear this. However, he did smile at Thomas because he understood the blue tank engine. He knew how it all started, though he also knew he had to apologize for retaliating in such a brutal way that made the other engine look like he was barely keeping it together from the pain he received.

"I accept your apology," he replied. "I'm also sorry for doing what I did to you."

Thomas couldn't help but smile back, showing he accepted the big blue tender engine's apology. He however had to ask Gordon one more thing, making his smile falter a bit just to refrain from giving himself too much hope

"Friends?"

"Friends."

Thomas smiled again, feeling much better. He did the engine equivalent of a nod then backed up to the turntable. The turntable turned to the last empty berth, allowing Thomas to back into it. Now, it was time for him to get some sleep, but he couldn't go without saying one more thing to his now newly formed friend.

"Good night, Gordon."

"Good night, Thomas."

The two friends smiled to each other one last time then they closed their eyes, falling into a deep sleep. All was forgiven and they knew not to cause trouble among each other like that to make each other feel important and to not retaliate in a way that physically hurt.

That was when the friendship between Thomas and Gordon began. There was some occasional teasing from them to each other later, but that didn't hinder the growing friendship. It took reflection on both ends over what they did to each other, pain from hurting one another either physically or mentally, and apologies that solidified their friendship after discussing their wrongs to each other. No one could tell them otherwise.