"Here we are, Barrow-in-Furness. The last stop before Sodor."
Raymond chuckled as the rest of the Steam Team puffed happily behind him. It has been a very long and tiring day, and the journey prior was exhausting, but they were all happy to finally be heading home. This time, they slowly took their time, with Raymond steaming along the line with them.
"Thank you for helping us home Raymond." Thomas peeped happily. Raymond just chuckled at the young tank engine.
"It's a pleasure my friend." He replied, "Know you'll always feel welcome here in Barrow-in-Furness."
"How much further is Sodor?" James asked.
"Our wheels are aching." Percy admitted.
"Not far." Raymond chuckled, "Just that one hill, the station, and then over that other hill and you'll see the Vicarstown Bridge."
Thomas then giggled cheekily, "Last one to the station is old iron!" He laughed as he steamed ahead. The rest of the steam team just laughed at the challenge and sped up.
"I may be old – but I'm not slow!" Edward whistled excitedly, speeding ahead.
"Catch me if you can!" Henry taunted cheekily.
"Gordon the Grand coming through!" Gordon boomed, speeding ahead without trouble.
"Haha! I'm the fastest red engine on Sodor!" James laughed as he sped ahead, only to look in confusion as Percy overtook him.
"Can't catch me!" Percy peeped eagerly as he took off.
"Ladies first!" Emily cried as she sped on!
Raymond just watched in amusement and chuckled as he tailed along behind the Steam Team. They didn't speed, but they playfully overtook each other!
"I'm gonna win!" cried Thomas!
"No you're not!" everyone else laughed playfully, and they soon reached the station-
"I DID IT!" Thomas whistled excitedly! All the engines laughed, even Gordon had to admit the race was fun – even though it wasn't a real race. Raymond just smiled at the sight of the younger engines playfully making the most of a long journey.
"That next hill, and you will see Vicarstown Bridge." He reminded, "This is my stop now."
The engines all looked at Raymond with proud smiles, "Thank you for helping us home Raymond." Thomas said, repeating what he said not to long ago.
Raymond just gave a smile, "It's a pleasure little tank engine – just don't steam off exploring on your own from now on, okay?" he laughed. Thomas blushed in embarrassment as all the other engines laughed a bit. They all slowly began to make their way to the hill, thanking Raymond before they left.
Edward stayed behind, looking next to him to Raymond, and smiled, "Thank you for helping us Raymond." he said softly, "If...If Edith comes back...tell her I miss her, and I love her for me."
Raymond gave a comforting smile to his old friend, "Of course I will. She talks about you non-stop. Who knows – maybe you can visit her one day."
"I'd love to do that." Edward chuckled to himself quietly, "I'm sure my controller won't mind that – maybe some of my friends would like to meet her, especially Thomas."
"Know you and your friends are always welcome here Edward." Raymond soothed, "I promise to let Edith know. Now chuff along, don't want to be left behind."
Edward couldn't help but smile, "I will my friend – please take care, and good luck with your preservation." Edward whistled and steamed ahead to catch up with his friends – a few emotional tears falling from his eyes.
Soon, Edward caught up, as the engine parade slowly made it up to the hill. As they made it to the top, they saw their final destination – the Vicarstown Bridge, and more importantly – Sodor!
The engines beamed excitedly as they all puffed their hardest and fastest to get to their destination, forgetting the pains and close-calls they encountered on the long, terrifying journey. They puffed faster, and faster, as the bridge came closer and closer!
Meanwhile, Blake was approaching the Vicarstown station with Annie and Clarabel, finishing her last journey for the day. She was also carrying the Fat Controller to the station, in any hope of seeing the engines puff in.
"Almost three days sir..." Blake muttered sadly, "What if something's happened..."
"I hope something hasn't happened Blake." The Fat Controller sighed, "We can only just wait and hope for the best."
Blake sighed sadly, she was wondering if she'd ever see Thomas or any of the other engines again.
Then, they all looked ahead – they could hear distant whistling!
Blake could quickly recognise the whistles, they were feint, but clear enough for her to recognise – Henry's, then Gordon's...then James, and then Percy...and Emily! She looked and saw steam rising over the trees and gasped excitedly.
Then they could all hear a whistle they were hoping for, and they heard it loud and clear-
"THOMAS!" Blake squealed excitedly, whistling loud and proud!
Soon, all the engines slowly emerged to the station, and everyone cheered for the safe return of their engines! Thomas beamed happily – he was so excited to be back home where he belonged.
"Thomas!" Blake cried excitedly. Thomas gasped and quickly buffered up to her in relief!
"Blake! Oh Blake, I'm so sorry, this was all my fault, I-"
"Thomas, forget about it now." Blake smiled softly, "You're all home, and that's all that matters."
Thomas laughed a bit, blushing bashfully at Blake's unique smile. He then looked to the side and saw the Fat Controller and looked down sadly, "I-I'm so sorry sir, this is all my fault, I-I almost got Blake in trouble and I put everyone involved in danger, b-but-"
The Fat Controller just smiled, and stopped Thomas, "Don't worry about it now Thomas." He said, "It was wrong of you to journey into the Mainland without telling someone, but I am just happy to have you all back. We were all worrying something terrible happened. Remember – I will never find another Thomas. You are my number one."
Thomas chuckled quietly to himself. Everyone smiled in relief, and they all whistled loud and clear – proud to be back home.
The next few days, the Steam Team told their unbelievable stories to all their friends. Thomas would tell Annie and Clarabel about his journey for days at a time, even commenting about meeting his old friends Jonathan, Heather and Charles in Brighton, and told Bertie about winning a race against the other engines.
"It was majestic! I can't explain how beautiful it was! Oh! And I met my old friends from Brighton! They said they could visit one day! Oh! Oh! And I won a race!"
Whenever Edward visited Brendam Docks, he would tell Salty and Porter all about Raymond, and how he saved Thomas from falling into molten steel.
"It was an amazing time, and it was better that I got to meet my old friend Raymond too. It's been decades since we've seen each other. And I also saved Thomas from a terrible fate...someone had to do it, so I did."
Whenever he and Hiro did long journeys together, Henry would tell Hiro all about the long journey, and even mentioned Lorelei from time to time.
"You would've loved the Mainland! I think my favourite part was visiting Lorelei at Crewe – it seemed like forever since we last spoke to each other."
Whenever Spencer would visit, or whenever Anastasia was nearby, Gordon would talk to them about meeting other famous engines – in a boastful manner – and talk about his brother Flying Scotsman, and even spoke about his little sister Penelope.
"I suppose the National Railway Museum wasn't so bad – at least I got to see other grand engines like me. Shame my brother keeps calling me 'little brother' – we're exactly the same size! At least my new sister Penelope understands me."
Unfortunately, James would often boast about meeting the Duchess of Hamilton – but he never forgot about polite she was about him.
"Of course, she's a red engine – she's practically a princess. We red engines are the smartest engines around. She even mentioned how splendid I looked!"
Percy would often talk to Toby about these adventures – the first time he's actually explored the Mainland. Toby would listen in shock and surprise.
"It started from Barrow-in-Furness, but then it went to York – then it even went to the big city of London! Then we had to go south to Brighton! It was exciting!"
Emily would often talk to the Welsh twins, Mariah and Matthias about it. The twins, who use to mostly work in Wales before arriving on Sodor, had to admit it sounding amazing – however they'd still say Wales was much better.
"It was so lush! I've never seen valleys so green! And the towns and villages looked so beautiful – especially at night! It looked just like a dream world!
A few days later, Thomas was puffing into Knapford Station to collect some passengers. Gordon was on another track beside him. They whistled good morning to each other – still remembering their time on the Mainland. Just then, they heard a whistle – a whistle they recently remembered.
They both looked ahead and gasped in wonder. Approaching Knapford, was a large purple engine – she had 3 big wheels, lovely golden stripes, and her nameplate on her cab.
"Hey Thomas! Hey Gordon!"
"Penelope!?" Thomas and Gordon gasped in surprise. Penelope just giggled as she approached them.
"Hello!"
"W-What are you doing here!" Thomas asked, a smile appearing on his face.
Gordon was still visibly shocked at the sight of his sister on Sodor, "I thought you were working back in London."
Penelope just giggled excitedly, "Was! After all that happened, my driver and fireman had a word with my manager – who then spoke with your controller!" she squealed excitedly, "And they agreed that I can now move here! So now, I work here! On the Sodor Railway!"
Thomas just beamed! "Oh Penelope! That's-"
"Amazing news!" Gordon finished, he was surprisingly more happier than normal, and he laughed along with his sister. Penelope just beamed at her big brother – so happy to finally be with him again.
"I better be going – see you two later!" Thomas whistled as he left to go on his branch line, leaving the two siblings to finally talk to each other after all these years.
Thomas steamed along his line – even though he would love to see the world one day, right now, he is just happy to be home, as part of the Sodor Railway.
"I want to see the world – but now, I have a branch line to run, and friends to talk to. I will see the world on another day!"
Thank you for reading my story 3 Now, this was the first story I wrote when I got back into the TTTE series almost at the beginning of last year, and I haven't written a fanfic in a LONG time.
I AM thinking of rewriting this story at some time, because this looks way too...childish to me. If anyone has any questions, or any suggestions, do let me know :)
Thank you again!