A/N I read it somewhere Brendham Docks was inspired by Southampton docks, which comes into play here.
One day, Thomas was at Knapford Station after a pulling a train on his branch line. Someone there wanted to talk to him.
"Hey, Thomas," that someone said. "Did you know Brendham Docks is a lot like Southampton docks, where your siblings used to work?"
Thomas began to cry, small sobs coming from his mouth as he sniffled, a big tear falling followed by more. The mention of his siblings was why. His driver comforted the sad tank engine.
"I know it hurts to hear about your siblings," he said, drying Thomas's tears with a cloth. "That was not very nice of that visitor. There, there. It's okay if you need to cry."
Thomas sniffled again, fresh tears falling from his wet eyes. "I shall always remember them," he said.
Erica came along and gave him an engine hug, pressing her buffers against his. She asked her "brother" why he was so sad.
He said in a sob filled voice, "Someone mentioned my siblings and it made me miss them."
She said to Thomas, "It's okay to feel sad and cry it out in that case. Your real siblings may not be here, but your friends are."
His driver said as he continued to wipe the tears away, "That visitor didn't know how much it would upset to mention that and probably wouldn't even care. He's not someone nice and doesn't know how emotional you are."
Thomas finished his cry after a while and smiled at his driver and "sister". He had a drink and was otherwise readied for his next train.
Erica went back to the yard. She thought, I helped cheer my "brother" up. I hate it when he cries. It makes me feel so bad.
When she got back to the yard, she told her friends there about how mean a visitor was to Thomas. She added, "But I helped him feel better, along with his driver." and then went on to say, "I'm angry about Gordon! He's rude to me and has upset me with his loud whistle. He hurts my feelings!" Then, they got to work shunting the cars in the yard.
Later on, Thomas pulled an evening train to Knapford and while he was leaving Knapford Station, a storm blew in. Due to it being nighttime, there was no one available to clean up the damage the storm caused, including a tree blocking the branch line.
"Driver, are we stuck here?", Thomas asked.
His driver said, "Looks like it. The line's got a tree on it and it's too dark for anything to be done about it. However, you can stay at Knapford Sheds tonight."
Thomas smiled, thinking he could be with his "little sister."
His driver knew his engine was happy and said, "So you found a reason to smile even after a more minor hurricane hit our island, little Thomas."
He replied, "It's being able to stay with my "little sister.".
Thomas found Erica and let her know he was unable to leave Knapford due to a fallen tree on the line and would be staying with her.
Erica smiled a smile that filled her face, dark eyes shining and gave a happy whistle. Thomas returned the smile, sharing in her joy.
His "little sister" said, "It may not be the best reason, but every cloud has a silver lining. I don't like that a hurricane hit our island, but I enjoy having a night with my "big brother."
Her" brother" replied, "I like seeing you happy. Now, I need to be prepared for night."
"Me, too," she said. In Erica's thoughts, as she was prepared for the night, she thought of her "brother" being so sad about his siblings earlier. I don't know for sure, but I still think they were all scrapped. I know he's an emotional engine, but still, his degree of tears seems to indicate loss. He can talk about it when he's ready. Then, she and her "brother" were put in the shed for the night.
Erica and Thomas were talking at the sheds that night.
"I just live in the moment", she said. "Some are all into theories and possibilities, but I don't think about the future that often."
Thomas said, "I've got my wheels on the ground myself."
They talked a while longer, until it was time to sleep.
A/N This little end scene's an engine equivalent of pillow chat. I read a magazine article once in which the writer's aunts cried over his grampa's death and that's how Thomas is with his siblings in my Thomasverse. If you haven't read my fic Thomas Tales, there's a story called The Vision in that collection and that shows how much it was heartbreaking for him to know. If you're into personality types, his personality's the type to have strong emotions.