I'd like to thank my friend and online sister, suicuneluvr, for helping get these next two chapters written, she is awesome! And i'd like to thank you for reading. Any reviews would be appreciated!

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"I do." Thomas said wearily, realizing he still has nowhere to stay. At least, not on Sodor.

And he feared he would be found and recaptured if he goes back to the Mainland, which he desperately wants to do, to find his Father and flee there for good.

"Edward…?"

"Yes, Thomas?" Asks Edward.

"Could I stay with you? I… have nowhere to go…"

"Yes, of course you can stay, Thomas. Please, stay with us as long as you need." Edward replies warmly, though his worry multiplies when he realizes that Thomas is in a very unusual situation.

"Do… do you have family, Thomas?" He asks, gently.

"Just… just my Father," Thomas replies quietly. "But… he… he had to send me away."

Edward's brow furrows in concern, which Thomas mistook for disapproval. "I know it sounds bad," he garbles, frightened. "But he had no choice, we were facing a really hard time, and"-

"Well, I'm not sure I agree with what's going on here, but I won't judge," Decides Edward. "You're more than welcome to stay with us, Thomas. We could even help you find your Father."

"You will?" Thomas asks hopefully.

"Of course." Smiles Edward. "I know how hard it is being separated from family, even if our reasons differ. It's a horrible feeling, not being able to hear from them."

Thomas nods quietly, trying not to cry. Edward squeezes his hand in a gesture of solidarity and comfort.

"My friends and I will make you feel at home, though," he promises, kindly. "I know it might not be the same as you're used to, but…"

'Well, barring my Father's kindness, whatever you guys have will be a lot better than what I had before,' Thomas thinks to himself, but is hesitant to voice his opinion, for fear of being asked more questions.

…

A few minutes go by with Edward telling Thomas about Sodor; from the festivals, to restaurants, to the forests and the beaches. Thomas silently nods, a slight smile on his face as he listens to him.

Thomas slows to a stop as he saw an engine in front of him. A long, blue FR21/K2 class steam engine with 14 wheels resting on a siding. The light blue livery glistened in the sun and the bright red stripes stood out beautifully. Steam slowly blew out from under it and out of the funnel as the brass whistle shimmered. Edward smiled as he looked at the boy, seeing his eyes sparkle with fascination as he stared at his engine. Chuckling a bit, Edward gently squeezed his hand, making Thomas look up at him.

"Ready?" Edward smiled as he gently led him towards his engine's cab.

"I... I get to ride in it?" Thomas asks softly, a bit hesitant to ask.

"Of course, you can." Edward chuckles kindly, gently lifting him up.

Thomas immediately stills when he is lifted up, his tail wrapping around his leg. Soon, he feels his feet touch the bottom of Edward's cab as he looked around. He watched Edward climb in as well and watched how he started to shovel coal into the firebox.

Even though his father told him how engines work, it was interesting and intriguing to watch it happen with his own eyes. Edward closes the door of his engine's firebox; he wipes his brow and took the brakes off. Thomas hesitantly walked over to the side of the cab, waiting for Edward to close the doors before looking out of it. He jumped a bit when Edward blew his engine's whistle before watching the scenery. The soft chuffing sounds became louder as the engine picked up speed.

Thomas watches curiously and in fascination as the scenery went by, slowly leaving the yard and head into the countryside.

Edward smiles as he watches Thomas' tail twitch excitedly as he saw the smile slowly get brighter as they passed a field full of wildflowers. He felt sorry for the boy, knowing full well how hard his life is given his appearance, what with people looking and pointing, talking behind your back on how they are freaks given their ears and tail.

It was another reason why he wanted to find Gordon soon, to protect him from those people. He knew that people would talk badly about him, and his anger wouldn't help him either. He wanted to protect his little brother, even though they had a falling out. He still loves Gordon despite what happened and was worried about him. He can also tell that Connor is deeply worried about Gordon as well. He saw how upset and worried Connor was, always staring at his phone and trying to call and text him.

About half an hour had gone by before Edward's engine turns down a side-track at a junction, leading into the woods. Thomas became a little scared, seeing the forest surrounding them as Edward's engine travels further into the forest.

Edward gently held his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Thomas slowly calms down as they leave the forest behind them. Soon, Thomas' eyes widens at the sight coming into view.

A large stone mansion looms in the distance, the sun glistening on the many windows. To Thomas, it looks more like a castle from a fairy tale; and despite seeing some mansions with his father on the Mainland, he has never seen a mansion as big as the one in front of him.

A marble statue of a magnificent Asian dragon stands proudly in front of the massive front doors like a sentry of stone, water shooting up around it and water streaming out of the mouth and into the fountain. Plants of every kind decorate the front of the mansion, the blossoms standing out against the bright green bushes. A cobblestone pathway leads from the front doors, surrounds the fountain, and leads down to a massive engine shed close by. The shed had a large turntable in front of it, and about 20 berths with most of the doors closed.

Five of the doors were opened, one being empty and the other 4 each with an engine parked in it.

Next to the empty berth was an LMS Stanier Class 5 "Black Five" engine with an apple green livery and red stripes. To the right of it was an Avonside 0-4-0ST tank engine with the same colour scheme as the large engine. Right next to it was an JNR Class D51 tender engine that was black with gold stripes and the inside of the wheels a bright red. The last engine in the shed was an NER 66 Aerolite tank engine with a dark green livery and black stripes that were outlined in a pale yellow.

"At least Whiff is back from his jobs." Edward hums as his locomotive starts to rotate on the turntable.

"...You live here…?" Thomas asks softly, still staring at the massive mansion.

"I do." Edward chuckles softly, his tail wagging a bit. "My friends, myself and Gordon live here together." He said softly, his voice lowering a bit from mentioning Gordon's name.

Thomas flattens his ears against his head, believing it was wrong of him to mention it.

Edward smiles warmly at him before petting his head a bit, gently reassuring him once again as he backs his engine into the empty berth. He watches as Thomas' ears perk up and he leans into his touch. Edward smiles as his tail began to wag again, glad to see Thomas slowly open up. Since he first met him, he felt a strong protectiveness over him, like how he feels protective over his twin younger brothers.

Climbing out of his engine's cab, he gently lifts Thomas up before gently placing him on the floor of the sheds. Edward watches on as Thomas gently walked towards the other engines, inspecting them as his curiosity grew. He has seen engines up close with his father, but not this close and the sizes of them were outstanding.

"Come on, Thomas." Edward chuckles softly as he walks out of the sheds. "Let me show you around."

Thomas looks at him and nods before walking over to him. His heart is racing with both anxiety and excitement as he walks next to Edward, looking around.

The front yard of the mansion has the most beautiful and fresh green grass he has ever seen, dotted with massive trees. The birds chirp as they flew around, butterflies and bees flying to and from the multiple flowers scattered closed to the massive building.

Jogging over to the fountain, Thomas stares at the dragon statue with awe in his wide eyes. The details gone into the statue make it look realistic and the water below is as clear as crystal. He gasps when he noticed the bottom of the fountain is covered in sand and aquatic plants. Multiple goldfish happily swim around or hide within the plants, some even playing where the water splashes from falling from the dragon's mouth.

Thomas gently placed his hand against the dragon's head, feeling the coolness of the marble and his ears twitching at the sound of the water. Slowly walking away from the fountain, he stares at it a bit more, in awe of its beauty and majesty, before turning his attention to the mansion itself; a large balcony looms over the front entrance, tall marble pillars holding it up with stone steps leading up to the large oak doors.

Edward opens the door, moving away to allow Thomas in.

Thomas gulps as he slowly walks into the mansion, keeping his tail wrapped around his leg. He gasps in surprise and awe as he enters the Main Hall, his eyes widening even more as he looks around him. The floor was a beautiful marble that sparkles in the light with two massive pillars on each side of the room. Two grand staircases start at each side of the room, both curving upwards till they met in the middle. The balcony had astounding black railings that also surrounded the stairs with a large crystal chandelier. Soft music seemed to echo in the room as Thomas cautiously walked around, too scared to touch anything. He never was inside a building as beautiful as this, more used to the small and simpler things that his father provided for him.

Lowering his ears sadly from thinking about his father, Thomas turns around to look back at Edward. The number 2 engine driver hums softly as he removes his blue work jacket, hanging it on the long coat rack and putting his black shoes in a cubby. Walking a bit closer, Thomas notices how each hook and cubby had a small name tag over it. He vaguely recognises the names but is unable to match them to faces. To Edward, however, they were his closest friends and housemates.

"Bark, bark, bark, bark!"

Thomas instantly hides behind Edward as he hears the barking, the sounds of something tapping against the floor echoing in the room.

A very fluffy golden retriever barks as it runs out of a room on the left, skidding on the floor. Its golden fur seems to shimmer as the retriever runs over to Edward, jumping up and licking his face. Edward chuckles at the dog's affections as he gently holds him back, petting his head as he gently lowered him. The dog barks again before trotting around him, sniffing at Thomas. The boy remains perfectly still, too scared to move around the hyper dog. Biting his lip, Thomas hesitantly looks up at Edward with a scared look.

Edward smiles warmly as he gently pets his head, nodding. "He won't hurt you, Thomas," he assures him gently. "I can remove him if you prefer, but he really just wants to make friends."

Thomas gulps before looking back at the retriever still sniffing him. He hesitantly holds his hand out, his tail staying wrapped around his leg. He decides that he'll try pet the dog, knowing that Edward will intervene if needed.

The dog sniffs his hand before he happily starts to lick his face, whining excitedly as his body seems to twist from his tail wagging so hard. Thomas giggles softly from the retriever's kisses, gently petting his head and feeling how soft his fur is.

"Alright, Lucky, time to calm down." Edward chuckles as he gently moves the retriever away from the boy. Lucky barked happily once again before running towards the room he left, sliding into a pillar before going back to running.

"He's cute." Thomas giggles, his face a bit wet from Lucky's kisses.

"Indeed." Edward laughs softly as he kneels, taking his handkerchief out to wipe Thomas's face. "But he would never do any harm to anyone he trusts."

"Does he trust me?" Thomas asks quietly, blushing from embarrassment.

"He does." Edward smiles warmly as he gently pets his head. "He can easily tell if a person is good or bad quickly. Along with the other pets."

"Other pets?" Thomas asks curiously, slowly following Edward to the room Lucky ran in.

"All my friends that live here, each family has a pet, but some have two." Edward explains warmly as he walks into the massive living room. "Although, most of them are with their owners while they're out working." He grins.

Thomas looks around the living room in fascination, it alone being four times bigger than his own living room back home. A large stone fireplace is in the front wall with three long couches in front of it in the shape of a U. To the right, is an archway that led into what looks like a library with a grand piano in the corner. On the other side of the room is a large flat screen TV with two couches surrounding it, and a beautiful grey coffee table in the middle. A large grey rug adorns the hardwood floor, the fibres soft under his feet. Lucky is now laid on a large dog bed, happily chewing on a bone.

"Are the others here?" Thomas asked softly as he walks over to where Lucky is laying, gently petting his head.

"Henry and Percy are probably asleep at the moment since they worked all night." Edward hummed softly. "Hiro is probably out in the gardens reading and Whiff is more than likely in-"

BBBOOOMMMM!

"...lab." Edward sighed softly, a soft smile on his lips. "That'll be Whiff."