A/N Thomas and his friends find out The Thin Clergyman died.

Sir Topham Hatt had some news for his engines. "The Thin Clergyman's gone to his reward, as in he's no longer alive.". The last was for the engines who didn't believe in the afterlife. "As a vicar, he believed in the afterlife, but some of you don't believe in The Big Railway In The Sky."

The engines who knew The Thin Clergyman were saddened, finding friends to press buffers in an engine hug and cry with. Even ones who didn't usually cry, or at least not in front of others were unable to blink their eyes dry, of that group. The more emotional engines were sobbing.

Thomas let out a big sob and sniffled. His driver pressed a cloth to his eyes as the tank engine began a speech.

Thomas said in a sob-filled voice, "I know The Thin Clergyman wrote about us and gave us our fame. I met him and communicated with him enough to form a bond. My friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Duck, along with me, are very sad and upset as he meant so much to us. Even so, we must carry on being Really Useful Engines in this dreadful time." His words were often punctuated by sniffling. After finishing the speech, his sobbing and sniffling continued, big tears coming out of his eyes until he could cry no more. His driver did his best to comfort the sad tank engine.

After Thomas finished his cry, his crew gave him a drink and they got on with the rest of the day. Part of that was going to Edward's station. Thomas could see his friend was sad, so he gave him a buffer press. They both began to cry, due to shared grief. Their drivers comforted the sad engines.

Edward sniffled, "I don't let just anyone see me cry, but I trust you, Thomas. This is a rather serious situation. That, and you're also an old friend, my first Sodor friend. I just need to cry. I'm quite sad about what happened". His voice trembled with sadness as his driver held a cloth to his teary eyes as an act of comfort.

"There, there, Edward," his driver said. "Let it all out. I know the news you engines got today was beastly saddening to you.". Edward allowed his driver to keep drying the tears from his eyes.

"Driver, can you dry my tears?" Thomas said. His voice quivered with his sadness and he sniffled. The blue tank engine then said, as his driver climbed out of the cab in response to his engine's request, to his friend, "The Thin Clergyman's death's so ghastly to me, even if he was old. It breaks my heart to lose him. He loved us so much he even had a model railway with us as models on it."

"There, there, Thomas," his driver said, softly wiping away his engine's tears with a cloth. "Cry your eyes out if you need to."

Thomas sniffled again, crying more and said, "I need to do that. It's how I feel."

His driver said as he continued to wipe the tears away, "I get you're sad and broken-hearted, so it's fine to cry."

Thomas finished his cry, had a drink and was otherwise readied for his next train.

When Thomas arrived in Knapford, Henry was there to meet him and pressed his buffers against his friend's.

"Thomas," Henry said. "I've got tears I can't hold back. I don't want Gordon and James to see me. Even if they're sad now, they don't cry how I do. I know you understand better than they can." He began to cry and was comforted by his driver and, as they cried together, his friend as well. Shared sorrow helped him feel less sad.

Thomas had a drink and went to his shed. Percy arrived, pressed his buffers hard against his best friends and they cried together. Thomas cried himself to sleep with his driver's comfort, then Percy went to his berth and cried himself to sleep.

Percy's driver said as he dried Percy's tears with a cloth, "I know you, like your best friend, miss The Thin Clergyman very much. Let it all out." He comforted Percy and then when his engine cried himself to sleep, left for the night.

Toby cried himself to sleep with his driver and his coach, Henrietta comforting him at his shed that night. He was so sad about The Thin Clergyman dying.

The next morning, Thomas's fireman came before his driver and found his engine in tears.

Thomas sobbed and sniffled, his face wet with tears. He was too sad to speak.

His fireman climbed on the sad tank engine's buffers. He said comfortingly, "There, there, Thomas. I get why you're sad. Cry as much as you need to.", then he pulled out a cloth hanky and gently dried his engine's tears.

Thomas finished his cry, then his driver, who had now arrived, and fireman got him ready for his first job of the day. As they went on with the day, Thomas had some sad times, but not always with his crew.

Thomas was on a siding with the saddest look on his face, his crew on break. He saw his old friend Janie. Though she was now an older lady, she had yet to forget her blue tank engine friend, as she still rode the rails at times. She picked up on his pain.

"What's the matter, my old friend?", she asked Thomas.

Thomas burst into tears, saying through his sobbing and sniffling, "The Thin Clergyman died yesterday and it made me very sad.".

She slowly climbed onto his running board, walked to his face and comforted her friend, saying "There, there, Thomas. Just let it all out.", as she hugged his face. Then, she took out her handkerchief and gently dried his tears.

Thomas remembered, as she wiped his cheeks and eyes, all those other times with her, including after his siblings died and said to her in a shaky voice, "You might be older now, but you can still wipe my face and dry my eyes as you did after I lost all my siblings." as he cried more.

She said, as she continued to wipe the tears away, "I may not be just a girl anymore, but I still believe it's the most comforting thing to do.".

He replied, "I always appreciate a friend's love and comfort when I get sad. Even if I'm not afraid of emotions, I still want to feel better.".

She said, "I believe in being caring and understanding, as an empath. Though some people are annoyed or uncomfortable with someone's emotions, that's not me. I just want to listen and comfort those who are sad, especially my friends." and comforted Thomas until he felt better.

Thomas's crew came back, gave him a drink and the rest of the day went on. More time passed and with the comfort of each other, their drivers, Sir Topham and Lady Hatt, along with their other friends, the engines recovered.

A/N Not sure when this would be set, but The Thin Clergyman's real-life counterpart died years ago and that inspired this.