Duck had been rather silent since the previous night. He had wanted to spend time with Tasha one last time before she had to leave for the Rolling Hills Railway, but now he couldn't. All he could do was wait until Tasha decided to come back for a visit.

"And who knows how long that will be?" he moaned. "Why did Emily have to be done with her repairs so soon?"

The pannier tank engine was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't focusing on where he was going.

"Cous!" cried Oliver. "You nearly took out my trucks."

"Sorry…" murmured Duck as he backed away from the train.

"Are you feeling alright, Mr. Duck?" asked Toad in concern. "You've been quite distracted for the past two days."

"I… had trouble sleeping," Duck sighed, going off to find Old Slow Coach.

"Doesn't sound like he's had sleep problems," said Oliver to Toad. "He looks more glum than groggy. And I think we both know why."

Toad silently agreed with his engine.

Later, on his passenger run, Duck was puffing along the branch line with Old Slow Coach. He was so lost in his own thoughts, he accidentally overshot the platform at Arlesburgh.

"Duck!" cried Old Slow Coach. "That was our stop!"

Quickly, Duck braked to a stop and reversed to the platform.

"Sorry…" he sighed. "Must not have been paying attention."

"Are you still thinking about-"

"I'm fine, Old Slow Coach," Duck insisted. "Just hadn't fully woken up, that's all."

The guard's whistle blew and Duck puffed away.

"Sounds like he's awake to me," said Old Slow Coach worriedly.

Later on, Duck was arranging a goods train to take up to Tidmouth harbor.

"Okay, no more slip ups," Duck said to himself. "Just focus on what you're doing, and don't…" He took a deep breath. "You can do this, Duck. Just calm down."

"Hey, look, lads! The quacker here's causing mishaps for the railway!" said Rickety.

"Is it because he's lost his 'true love'?" mocked Old Bennett.

"Yeah," said the U.L.P. van. "Turns out the Dean single didn't love him, so she ran away."

"Just… SHUT UP!" Duck screamed, bumping the trucks hard. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking where he was shunting them.

CRASH!

"Losh sakes, Dook!" cried Douglas. "Whit wis a' that aboot?"

"Oh dear…" Duck surveyed the wreckage. None of the trucks were broken, but his trucks and Donald and Douglas' trucks were in a tangled mess. "What will Sir Topham Hatt say?"

He found out soon enough.

"Well, Duck, I've never known you to act this recklessly before," Sir Topham Hatt said sternly. "But now you've delayed Donald and Douglas' train to the mainland and your own train."

"I'm terribly sorry," sighed Duck. "I'll get Judy and Jerome and clean it up."

"And once you're finished," instructed Sir Topham Hatt, "you will shunt in the yards with Diesel until I can trust you again."

"Yes, sir," said Duck. He was thankful he was shunting in the yards with Diesel now and not several years ago.

For the next few days, Duck helped Diesel in the yard arranging trains for the other engines. But each time Emily came by, Duck merely scowled and kept his distance from her. And it wasn't long before Diesel noticed this too.

"Okay, I understand your anger at me a few years ago," said Diesel, "but what did Emily do to you directly?"

"She drove away the only engine I truly loved," grumbled Duck. "It's thanks to her being back in service that Tasha had to leave Sodor. Emily's much older than Tasha, so why couldn't she go to the heritage railway instead?"

"So, you think that things can change on whim just because another engine's been found a few months ago?" retorted Diesel.

"Well, I mean, Tasha enjoyed being here too-"

"Think about it, Montague. Tasha was left in a shed with only her driver for company. But Emily had been out of commission for years with no one for comfort. Now she's finally getting a new chance at a better life. But you weren't thinking about Emily. You were only thinking about yourself, and what you wanted. Emily is not to blame for Tasha leaving. Her repairs being finished sooner than expected was simply a case of bad timing. Besides, what if Tasha were here right now and heard you say that? Would she be proud of you for holding a petty grudge on a fellow engine? Because clearly, that would not be 'the Great Western Way'."

Duck was silent as Diesel finished his speech. As much as Duck hated to admit it, his former rival was right.

"N-no…" he admitted sadly. "She would be ashamed of me. But it's not fair. I loved her, and I never got a chance to tell her." A small tear trickled down his face. "I didn't even get to tell her 'goodbye'..."

"Oh…" Diesel felt a rush of sadness hit him when he heard that. "She left the day I told you to go for it?"

"Y-yes…"

What Duck didn't know was that Emily had overheard the entire conversation.

"Now that's two tank engines I've upset…" she sighed. "Why can't I do anything right?"

"Twas nae yer fault, lassie," came a voice. It was Donald.

"Oh, hello there… er, Douglas, was it?" Emily hadn't had enough time to tell the Caledonian twins apart.

"It's Donal'," corrected the older twin. "Douggie is nummber ten."

"Oh, right," said Emily. "But why do you say it's not my fault?"

"Come wi' me," advised Donald. "That wey Ah kin tell a' three o' ye."

Emily followed Donald and joined Duck and Diesel at the sheds.

"Donald," asked Diesel, "what's going on?"

"Tis a bit o' a lang story, bit…" And Donald began to tell the tale.

A Few Days Ago

Tasha had finished a passenger run with Old Slow Coach and met up with Donald at Knapford.

"Donald!" Tasha called excitedly. "Did you hear about some good news?"

"Whit wid that be?" he asked.

"Dilly and Dallas are having some ducklings!" she explained. "Duck showed me the nest earlier."

"Och, congradulations tae thaim!" Donald cried. "Thay wull be even cuter than th' lest ducklings they've hud."

"Yes, I've heard they've had ducklings a few years following them becoming mates," said Tasha. "I can't wait to see these newly hatched ducklings. Duck and I are planning on checking their nest again tomorrow."

Just then, Sir Topham Hatt came out of his office.

"I've just received word from the Steamworks," he explained. "Emily's restoration has been finished ahead of schedule."

Tasha felt rather disappointed.

"So does this mean I have to leave right now?" she asked sadly.

"Not right now," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I'm thinking we should have a sendoff party for you tomorrow."

"That sounds lovely," said Tasha. "I'll have time to give everyone a proper goodbye."

"Splendid," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "You two go and spread the word. And Tasha, after you go, Donald can go back to the Little Western." He hurried back to his office.

"Ah bet yi'll waant tae gie Dook an extra special goodbye," teased Donald to Tasha as he was about to leave.

Tasha let out a giggle. "I sure do. Monty has been quite a gentleman since I was found."

With that, the two engines left. But while the two engines were heading back to work, Sir Topham Hatt heard a ringing noise.

"Oh, what now?" He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Bertram, is that you?"

"Mandy," gasped Sir Topham Hatt. "Yes, hello. How are you today?"

"I'm afraid I've got some bad news," Amanda Hatt explained through the phone. "Nicole has just broken down on one of her heritage runs."

"Oh, botheration!" sighed Sir Topham Hatt. "I suppose this means you want Natasha to arrive sooner than expected?"

"Yes," said Amanda Hatt. "Nicole's repairs will take a few days, and we're getting quite a few tourists."

"Oh dear… We were going to have a sendoff party and all too…"

"I'm terribly sorry, Bertram," said Amanda Hatt. "I'm afraid there's little that can be done about it."

"It's alright, Mandy," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I hope Nicole gets repaired soon, and I'll find Tasha to tell her the news."

"She will, Bertram," said Amanda Hatt. "I'll make her feel welcome and so will the other engines. I'll talk to you later, Bertram."

"You too, Mandy." He hung up the phone and sighed as he got into the car. "She's going to be a hard engine to let go of…"

At the yards, Tasha was just about to get Old Slow Coach to go on another run when the yardmaster raced in.

"Tasha, there's been some urgent news," he said. "Nicole's broken down on the Rolling Hills Railway and they need you right away."

"Right now?" asked Tasha. "But I won't be able to say goodbye to my friends!"

"I'm sorry, Tasha," sighed the yardmaster. "But breakdowns cannot be helped."

"If yi'll waant, Ah cuid tell Duck whit ye wur aff tae say tae him," Donald offered, having overheard the conversation on his way to the sheds.

"I'd like to tell him myself," said Tasha. "But thanks anyway, Donald. I'll… miss all of you very much, but… I'll miss Monty most of all."

"Hopefully ye'll be back soon," said Donald. "We'll miss ye tae."

Tasha sadly puffed off, and Donald knew he had to get back to his jobs on the Little Western; Emily would take the main line jobs from here.

Right Now

"So… you and Tasha were in love, Duck?" gasped Emily. "Why didn't you tell everyone?"

"Well… at first, I wasn't quite sure where Tasha and I stood as being a couple," said Duck, "so I brushed off the teasing from Oliver, Old Slow Coach, Toad and the twins. But as the months went by, I started to realize this was more than a crush, and I think Tasha felt the same."

"It was pretty obvious in hindsight," said Diesel.

"I feel worse knowing that I unintentionally played a hand in Tasha leaving," sighed Emily. "I'm so sorry."

"If anyone should apologize, it's me," came a voice. The engines looked, and there stood Sir Topham Hatt. He had been listening in. "If I had known how much you and Tasha meant to each other, Duck, I would have let her stay long enough for her to tell you how much she felt about you and vice versa. Why didn't you say something?"

"I knew Tasha was going to leave at some point," said Duck. "Plus, now with Donald telling me that he heard about Nicole breaking down-"

"Now that I know what's going on here, we can try to set things right," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Though Tasha was always willing to go to the Rolling Hills Railway, I can't see why she can't come back for a visit every once in a while. You can even keep in touch with your crews sending letters to each other."

"Oh yes, that is a good idea," said Duck.

"I usually would invite her back during the summer rush," said Sir Topham Hatt. "But in this case, I'll see what I can do for an earlier visit for the two of you."

"Oh, thank you, sir!" cried Duck, a happy tear pricking his eye. "I'd really appreciate that."

"I'm glad that this is getting resolved too, sir," said Emily.

Sir Topham Hatt smiled and walked off, leaving Duck feeling more content as he headed back to shunting the trains with Diesel, and Donald headed off to his next train. Emily, however, still felt worried. While she had resolved the issue with Duck, there was still the subject of a certain blue tank engine…

Author's Comments

I knew that joke with the title was inevitable. Anyway, aside from the prologue chapter at the start, this is the only chapter that's not based upon pre-existing material. This is where the Duck subplot of the special comes into play, with the pannier tank engine upset over Tasha's sudden departure and taking his frustrations out on Emily, even if she had nothing to do with it. Emily just seems to be a magnet for trouble even without intending to, isn't she? Still, it won't last for very long.

Next time, All's Well That Ends Well for the finale!