David walked towards Tidmouth sheds to start his shift. Roger, the freshman turntable operator, was already there waiting for him at the second berth to the right, since David had the padlock for it. The other doors were also locked; had Roger found an open berth, he would've entered that way to get to the engines.

"Morning Roger." David greeted his colleague, "How long you've been waiting?"

"Not too much. The other berths were also locked and I have to remind myself you're always the first one's to get up and running." Roger replied, "Honestly, why don't you drivers don't give me spare keys to your engine's berths?" he asked.

"Being a station pilot is more tedious than doing local or mainline work, but Nia's eager to do it anyway." David faced the door to unlock it. Once opened, it revealed a sleeping orange tank engine. Roger got on board the engine's cab to start its fire while David stood in front of the engine to wake her up. The other engines were still asleep; they wouldn't have to leave in the next hour.

"Morning Pumpkin." David caressed the engine's cheek, causing the latter to shudder in ecstasy. "We gotta get to work now."

"Mmm." she moaned, her lips cracking a pointed smile, "C-can we not go in early?"

"As much as I want to, we've got trains to sort. Ms. Hatt is just as strict in schedules as Sir Topham was before her." David could only chuckle at his engine's antics. He kissed her cheek and immediately, her eyes lit up. Roger was still shoveling coal into her firebox when her boiler pressure went in the red suddenly. He rectified the problem by leaving one of her ejectors open to let out the excess steam.

"Woah, easy there girl!" Roger yelled from the cab, "You might blow a piston!"

"Oops, sorry Roger!" Nia blushed. She turned to her boyfriend, "You slept well, babe?"

"Not really," David groaned, "But it'll pass since we're gonna have a busy day ahead." He took out a spare key for the lock from his set of keys and gave it to Roger.

"Thanks mate. I better ask the others when they arrive for these." Roger smiled, returning to the turntable. Once he was out of earshot, David sat on Nia's bumper, his face inches apart from hers.

"How about we start this day right?" he said.

"I love the sound of that." Nia purred as she pressed her lips on his.

After their little make out session, Nia and David headed to the shunting yard at Knapford, where they act as the station pilot. David first refueled Nia's coal bunker and added water to her tanks. Afterwards, they shunted some cars to build a couple of empty trains for the mainline engines. Just then, Mavis rolled into the yard with loaded cement tankers. Nia blew her whistle to greet the Class 04.

"Morning Nia!" Mavis greeted. Her driver/lover George got out of her cab to pass the paperwork to the yardmaster's office, leaving the two shunters to chat for a bit. David also left the orange tank engine to join his friend.

"Hey Mavis! How are you and George?" Nia said.

"Still going strong. I realized that true love is when all the giddy feelings fade for your significant other and its a test on how committed you are for each other."

"True enough!" Nia beamed, causing Mavis to frown in confusion.

"Wait, I thought you were..." she trailed off. The African engine nodded.

"Yup! I've been in love for almost 2 decades now." she said proudly.

"How did that happen?" Mavis asked, still dumbfounded at Nia's revelation.

"I could tell you too, but I'm sure David's telling George about it as we speak."

. . .

Meanwhile in the office, David and George were chatting about their usual jobs. Kelsey and Marty, Percy and Thomas' respective drivers, were also present to get their manifests and job orders for the morning.

"And I thought Mavis and I were the first engine-human couple on Sodor." George pouted. David and Marty chuckled.

"I didn't tell any of my colleagues for over a decade." David said, "Because at the time, I don't know how y'all react to me in a relationship with an engine."

"Then there's Gina and Connor, oh god, when those two make out..." Marty said until the lone female in the room cut him off.

"Let's leave it there, Marty." Kelsey said bitterly, "Percy has had of a slight crush on her and he doesn't wanna be in earshot when the subject of Gina is concerned."

George rolled his eyes, ignoring his two colleagues. Returning to David, he continued his story. "That's exactly what I felt when Mavis and I first started dating. Only Jane and Mr. Taylor knew about us, before we came out 6 months later." he said, "But enough blabbering about my lovelife, how did you win Nia's heart?" he asked.

"Yeah, was it love at first sight or..." Kelsey suggested.

"Shut up!" Marty snapped, cutting Kelsey off.

"Ugh. You two need marriage counseling or some shit." George placed a palm on his forehead. Though he wasn't the oldest of the four drivers, he was the most level-headed among them. David, who was in his mid-40s, could only laugh at his younger friends.

"Well," he started, making sure that everyone's all settled. "It all started with a heavy breakup and a trip to the heart of Africa."

*Suddery, 2000*

David's life had taken a turn for the worse. His girlfriend Valerie, whom he dated for nearly two years, had dumped him. David felt levels of depression he hadn't thought possible. Her reasoning was he's a rich guy, who would never appreciate things, and she wanted someone who really valued her, and their life. He did value the young woman but... as much as it pains him to admit it, David almost always put his job first for the money.

He was a lawyer, and even got hired by Sir Topham Hatt as his defense attorney when the NWR went through a bad rep. Because of this, David was a high level attorney who had won hundreds of cases, and had an extreme amount of money. He really enjoyed the job, but it got to the point where he'd rather work than spend time with his girlfriend. David tried to get Valerie to reconsider, to no avail.

I would never let myself love someone again. David kept telling to himself. The pain was far too great to handle a second time. He also quit his job at the law firm, the very reason why Valerie dumped him. He had enough money to live off of for the rest of his life, but David's dream was to travel the world, and see how others lived. And so, he decided to sell everything he had ever owned: home, cars, and other possessions that aren't considered essential for his traveling. He'd keep a handful of cash onhand, with the rest stored into his bank account; he wanted nothing to remind himself of this place, and start anew elsewhere.

. . .

Once David sold his house and two cars, he packed the bare essentials of what he had left. Two trolley bags and a backpack later, he took a bus to Wellsworth station. After buying a train ticket to Manchester, David saw a travel agency that sells plane tickets departing from all British airports – right next to the ticketing booth. There were countless destinations, mostly going to eastern Europe and the United States, but David settled for Africa. He's always been fascinated at how people with nowhere near as much money as him live; it might change his view on life.

After buying a one-way ticket to Algeria, which is a North African country, David waited for Rebecca to arrive with the Sudrian Flyer. He'd ride until Barrow, where he'll connect with a high speed diesel train bound for London's Heathrow airport. He took out his phone – a flip phone model, to play some games while waiting for his train. He didn't have to play long because ten minutes later, the yellow steam engine pulled into the platform with the Sudrian Flyer.

The trip to Barrow came and went, with David ignoring the people confined in his coach. He made his way towards the other platform, where the Manchester bound HST was boarding its passengers. Six hours later, he arrived at the departures terminal of Heathrow. After passing the initial security check, he lined up at the check-in counter for Air Algérie bound for Algiers to present his ticket. He was quite shocked at how long the lines are bound for this North African country, noting that most of them must be tourists coming home. When the check-in clerk printed out his boarding pass and his check-in luggage taken, David went to the final security check and immigrations to get his passport stamped. Afterwards, he waited at the gate where his plane was due to board.

After a few hours of waiting, the gate attendant called in David's flight now boarding. He went in line, showed his boarding pass, then proceeded towards the jetway leading to the aircraft. The plane was a modest sized Boeing 767-300, capable of seating 250 passengers in two class configuration. Since David had the money, he chose to fly on business class as one final splurge for himself. He knew once he got to Africa, he would have to rent a van and convert the back into a sleeper – as there would sometimes be several hundred miles in between towns or villages.

As the plane began its takeoff roll, David saw this as the start of his new life – a life of travel and experience. No one place would be my home, at least not for a while. I'd always wanted to see what the world had to offer, and after what I had just been through, I saw no better reason to start it now. But I could only help but wonder what things I would experience along the way, the stories I would hear, or even the people I might meet. He reflected.

. . .

David was busy reading the in-flight magazine about places to tour around Algeria and the history surrounding them. He looked at the window to his right and saw the sun setting below the clouds, painting the sky a brilliant orange against the clear blue sky. While he wasn't a first time flyer, he never appreciated these small details in flying before, hell even in life. He could only whistle in awe at the sight of a sunset from 35,000 feet in the air. He could also see the right wing and engine of the plane, and being in business class, David saw the plane's turbofan spinning. He was actually hypnotized by how slowly the center of the fan spins, when in fact it's spinning near the speed of sound.

He was lost into watching either the sunset or the spinning turbine when someone tapped his shoulder. David didn't notice initially, since he had a headset on. When that someone cleared their throat, he turned around to see one of the business class flight attendants standing, holding a food cart.

"Oh, sorry about that." David grinned.

"No worries sir." the FA smiled, opening up the seat tray. "Would you like some coffee or juice?"

"Juice please." He looked at his watch and saw that it was 5:30 PM. The plane took off an hour ago and according to the on-board navigation map on his screen, it's another 5 hours before landing in Algiers. The weather is expected to be cool, but dry – since it's in a desert. After the flight attendant served a cup of orange juice to David, she informed him of their dinner service.

"Dinner would be served in an hour. I understand that you have an allergy to salmon?"

"Yes." he nodded.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure. Enjoy the flight." the FA smiled and David smiled back before the former went to attend another passenger. He opened the back of chips and ate to his stomach's content, gazing at the sun slowly setting. He took out his phone and captured the beautiful scenery. You weren't allowed to use your phone at all on flights back then, but David could sneak it out once in a while.

When he got bored, David looked at the audio/video display in front of him to see if there are any movies he could watch. He found one and got hooked into it until the flight attendants began serving dinner. For David's meal, he got a beef steak with a small salad and some mixed fruits for dessert. He was also offered some wine, which all business class passengers have, to which he accepted graciously. He smiled at how his life was taking a drastic turn for the better – one day, he was depressed with his breakup; the next, he's sipping wine up in the air heading towards greener pastures.

Alright self, this is a toast to exploring the world. He thought.

Unknown to him, the flight attendant who served David's dinner observed his facial expressions. She noted that when he first boarded the aircraft, he looked anxious, as if he desperately wanted to leave London. When they were in the air, his face was less tense and felt more comfortable with himself. Maybe he just wants to live a new life, after something that had happened. She thought. Little did she know, she was almost spot on with her observation on David.

As for him, he was getting bored with the movie he's watching after dinner. Just then, the plane's main cabin lights dimmed, only emitting a warm white light from the overhead bins. He reclined the seat until it went fully flat, then pressed the call attendant button to ask for assistance in setting up. When she arrived, carrying a pillow and blanket, she was a bit surprised that David knew his way around operating fold-flat seats – a plus owing to his frequent flying.

"Here's your complimentary pillow and blanket." she said.

"Thank you." David smiled. He checked the navigation map again and they were now flying above central France, over three hours to touchdown. David knew that was a short time to get some sleep, but at least, he'll feel somewhat rested when they arrive at Algiers. He already booked an airport hotel to spend the night, then come the morning, he'll go on from there.

He went to sleep with a dream to find a purpose in life through traveling.

A/N: So far, I haven't seen a fanfic with Nia paired to a human. This fanfic was written in collaboration with Emerald Omen, one of my friends on DA and here. He started work on the intro (which I'm gonna split into two chapters) and decided to let me adopt the story. I put in a little easter egg from one of his stories, can you spot which one it is?