FRIENDS TOGETHER TO THE END

Based upon "Forever and Ever" by Andrew Brenner

Following the confrontation at Tidmouth sheds, Gordon had become unusually distant from the rest of the engines. To be fair to him, Rebecca couldn't blame Gordon for acting this way. Apart from Nia, it looked as though the engines weren't ready to forgive him just yet. The big blue engine was at Vicarstown station when he noticed Flying Scotsman pulling in. Fortunately for Gordon, Scotsman had not heard about his recent behavior, which was probably just as well.

"Hello, little brother," Scotsman greeted.

"Buzz off," Gordon grumbled. "I'm not in the mood for your teasing."

Scotsman was taken aback. Usually Gordon just ignored his teasing, but he never knew his brother to be so grumpy or bitter.

"What's the matter with you?" the double tender engine asked. Gordon explained to his brother everything that had been going on recently. Flying Scotsman was most surprised to hear his own brother stooping to such a low as making another engine feel so unwelcome.

"I can't believe you would do such a thing, Gordon," he said. "Usually you tease little engines. But never would you ever go as far as that."

"I know," Gordon sighed. "I regret ever saying those things to Nia. I want to take it all back, but I can't, and none of the engines have any intentions of forgiving me."

"Surely they can't stay mad forever," Scotsman insisted. "Name one person or engine who has ever benefited from holding onto a grudge."

Neither Gordon nor Scotsman said anything for what seemed like an eternity; the former thought hard about what the latter had just pointed out. The famous engine knew that his brother could be pompous at times, but he wasn't that much different either when it came to knocking Gordon's ego a peg or two. That being said, Scotsman never abused his status as a famous engine; he was humble and down to earth, treating fellow engines from other railways like they were on the same level, but there was no engine he respected more than Gordon, his closest brother. Family always stood by each other, no matter what, even if they weren't blood related.

"You have a point," Gordon admitted. Just then, the guard blew his whistle.

"I'll see you later, brother," said Gordon, pulling out of the station. "Clearly, I've much to think about." Scotsman watched as Gordon departed. He hoped that things would get better for his brother soon.


The rest of the week was fairly uneventful for the engines of the North Western Railway. Rebecca pulled her trains to time without setting off too early and Nia was getting a better handling on how things operated on Thomas' branch line. Sir Topham Hatt came to speak to both engines.

"Your work has been wonderful these past few days," he said. "Er, despite a few slip ups, of course. But how would you like new coats of paint?"

"Oh, thank you, sir!" cried the engines.

"What would you like to be painted in?"

"I'm... not sure," Nia admitted.

"Neither am I," added Rebecca. "Truth be told, I never imagined myself being anything but green."

"Yes, no offense to those painted that color," added Nia, "but I think there are enough green engines on Sodor."

"Very well," said Sir Topham Hatt. "When you decide on a new color for yourselves, let me know." The engines promised.


A little while later, Nia and Rebecca were setting off back to work.

"We've already ruled out green," said Nia, "and I don't think black would suit you either. But what other colors could we be?"

"What about blue, like the Sodor flag?" suggested Rebecca. "I remember Thomas once saying it's the only proper color for a really useful engine."

"Ooh, that comment nearly ruined his friendship with Percy," Nia insisted, having been told about the coal ordeal.

"Oh my..." trailed Rebecca. "That's kind of petty..."

"You're telling me," the Kenyan engine agreed. Just then, the pair saw James pulling in with a stopping passenger train, showing off as he did so.

"Another passenger run on the dot," he smirked.

"Definitely not red," Nia and Rebecca said to each other.

"What?" James blinked, confused. "Er, someone enlighten the subject please?"

"We're thinking about what we want for our new liveries," Rebecca explained.

"Oh, that," James hummed. "You've been here a while and still haven't decided."

"Well, we already decided we don't want to be painted red," said Nia. Then, with a cheeky smirk, she added, "Not unless we wanted to go through the back of the shed or need a bootlace for our trains!"

James growled at that remark. "I'll never hear the end of this..." Both female engines giggled to each other before they had to split up to do their jobs.


Nia was taking a goods run down Thomas' branch line. She had to pick up some fruits and vegetables from the farm to take to the market.

"The farms sure have been busy lately," Nia said to herself.

"You're telling me!" said a voice from nearby. "This could be Farmer Finney's biggest market season yet!" Nia glanced to the side to see an orange tractor plowing the field.

"Oh, hello there," Nia smiled. "You're Terence, right? Thomas said you rescued him from a snowdrift once."

"That's right," the tractor smiled. "That was after he was foolish enough to damage his snowplow, all because he didn't want to wear it."

Nia giggled. "Yes, he did mention that. He was quite embarrassed about the ordeal."

"No surprise there," Terence chuckled. "Oh, what's your name?"

"I'm Nia."

"Pleasure to meet you, Nia," said Terence. "I believe the others mentioned you a few times. How are you liking the island?"

"It's pretty good," said Nia. "This branch line is just beautiful, and everyone on the branch has been very kind and welcoming."

"Glad to hear it," said Terence. "Try and be careful though; life down here can be full of surprises."

"I don't need to be told twice," said Nia, recalling her incident with numbers. As Nia set out, she began to think.

That orange color on Terence looked quite nice, she thought. Perhaps I could be painted that way too...


Meanwhile, Rebecca was on her way to Crovan's Gate with a passenger run.

"So many people like touring the Skarloey line," she said to herself. "Must be because of the lake and the waterfall."

"Yeah, that seems about right," her driver nodded. "My sister took some photos of those places just last week and showed them to me."

The engine waiting to take some passengers wanting to go down the line was Duncan, who, as usual, was complaining.

"I get no rest!" he grunted as he let off steam.

"Whoa... uh, what's with him?" Rebecca asked quietly.

"Oh, don't mind him," called Peter Sam as he came into the yard. "He just likes having a grievance." Duncan just scoffed in response to the little green engine's comment.

"You know, you're painted yellow," said Rebecca. "It's a very bright, cheerful color, after all."

Duncan blinked as he glanced at Rebecca. "No one's really commented on that before," he said quietly.

"But it's true," smiled Rebecca. "It's not often engines are painted like that."

Rebecca then beamed as realization dawned. "That's it!" she cried. "Oh, wait until Nia hears this."

"Wait, what did I do?" asked Duncan, but Rebecca's guard's whistle went off.


Sir Topham Hatt was most surprised when he heard what Nia and Rebecca's requests for new liveries were.

"Are you sure those colors are the ones you want?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Rebecca smiled. "Yellow is such a cheerful color."

"Terence's orange livery brightened up my day too," Nia agreed.

"Hmm, I see," said Sir Topham Hatt. "If those colors truly are what you want, I can't stop you from going ahead with your choices."

"Thank you, sir!" smiled Nia. "Come on, Becky; let's get to the Steamworks."

"Erm... right behind you," said Rebecca, a bit nervously.

"It's alright," whispered Nia. "I'll be going with you. I've only seen Victor a few times when I was passing through Crovan's Gate, but he is really nice."

"I-if you're sure," Rebecca stammered, and the two headed off together. "I suppose that sooner or later, I'll have to face my fears..."


Two days later, Gordon was puffing anxiously along the line. His cylinder had been feeling much worse lately, and to make matters worse, his regular driver had called in sick, so a relief man was on the footplate instead.

"Never you mind, Gordon," assured his fireman. "Once we arrive at Crovan's Gate, I'll phone for another engine to take over the express while we get your cylinder looked at."

Sadly, Gordon's fireman would never get the chance. They had to stop at Maron station as Gordon's water tank was almost empty.

"We'd better refill here," said the fireman. "We don't want Gordon to run dry."

"Alright, mate," said the relief driver, and he turned on the tap which began to fill up Gordon's water tank. He was supposed to pay attention to the water flowing until the tank was full, but unfortunately, he had gotten distracted.

"Come on, it can't take that long to fill up the boiler," the relief driver said to himself. Just then, he noticed a stream of water dripping down the side of Gordon's tender.

"Oh my..." The relief driver quickly turned off the water tower.

"Has it started raining?" asked Gordon to himself.

"No, just topped off your tank," said the relief driver. "We should be good to go." The fireman joined the relief driver on the footplate and Gordon started away.

However, it wasn't long before Gordon began to feel his wheels starting to slip.

"Huh, what's going on?" he gasped. He began to feel very uncomfortable in the boiler.

"Drop the sand!" cried the fireman. But instead of listening to the fireman's instruction, the relief driver instead reopened the regulator. This proved to be a big mistake, as Gordon's boiler had begun to prime, which resulted in the regulator getting jammed wide open.

"Ouch!" Gordon yelped. "What was that for?!" Suddenly, he felt his wheels spinning faster than they had ever gone before; the relief driver had re-positioned the reversing gear to full forward. Suddenly...

BANG!

Gordon let out a great scream of pain, and had disappeared in a cloud of smoke and steam! To make it even worse, there was the sound of metal being disintegrated.


Meanwhile, Henry was puffing by further up the line.

"At this rate, I may get to visit my forest when the day's work is over," he hummed to himself. "I wonder if Nia or Rebecca have seen my forest at any point yet..."

Just then, his driver noticed that there was a signal up ahead set at danger. Henry slowly came to a stop and the signalwoman went to speak to his crew.

"Gordon's had a very severe accident," she said. "His cylinder covers blew off after slipping at dangerous speeds and his motion's disintegrated. His relief driver's been taken to the hospital by Harold, but the express needs to get to its destination as soon as possible."

Henry was horrified at what he had heard; despite his falling out with Gordon, this was a very severe situation.

"Hurry, driver and fireman!" he ordered. "And get the signalwoman to call up the Steamworks!"


By the time Henry had arrived at the scene of the accident, Gordon's boiler had cooled down so it would be safe for him to be moved, but the big blue engine was still in great pain after the initial shock. Henry felt sorry for Gordon, seeing him whimpering in pain and with tears in his eyes.

There was no time to turn Henry around, so he had to pull Gordon and the express to Crovan's Gate tender first, but at a slow and careful pace to prevent further damage. After the express had gone, the rails where Gordon had slipped on had to be replaced as deep grooves had been worn in.

"Go-Gordon..." stammered Henry. "A-are you alright?"

"N-no..." moaned Gordon. "But thank you for asking. Also, I wanted to apologize. For everything these past few weeks."

"Rebecca mentioned that you were coming around," Henry said quietly. "Tell me... what started this whole debacle?"

"Well..." Gordon sighed. "Ever since I first came to the North Western Railway, we've always lived at Tidmouth together. Always talking long hours into the night, sharing stories and secrets. And then... one day, you and Edward both moved out. I've always belittled Edward for being old-fashioned, and I was even made fun of you before and after your crash with the Flying Kipper. But I never realized until then how much I really considered you two close friends, you especially since, in a way, we were almost like brothers."

"I suppose in a way, we kind of are. Well, more like we were half-brothers," Henry chuckled lightly. "My old shape was inspired from an early draft of your design."

"And whoever it was that stole those plans," said Gordon, "I suppose we'll never know for sure."

"Sometimes things can be blessings in disguise," Henry agreed.

"You could say that," Gordon sighed as they pulled into Crovan's Gate. Despite the intensity of the incident, his talk with Henry had helped Gordon to forget his pain.


Henry had left Gordon at the Steamworks and proceeded to go ahead with the express.

"Gordon, what on earth happened?!" gasped Victor, puffing over anxiously. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better," the big blue engine groaned. "Even going through a station wall wasn't that bad..."

"How exactly did this happen?" asked Kevin. Gordon quickly gave them a brief insight as to what he went through.

"Ouch..." Victor winced. "Don't worry, we'll get this sorted out."

Nearby, Gordon saw Nia and Rebecca in for their repaints.

"Uh... hello, Nia and Rebecca," he said quietly, unsure how the former was going to respond.

"Are you alright, Gordon?" Nia asked with concern. "You look like you've been through a serious accident."

"Uh... yes," Gordon admitted. "Henry had to bring me over here, though I can't put my buffer on how this happened."

"Did anything strange happen before your accident?" asked Nia.

"Well, I did feel some water running off the side of my tender," Gordon admitted. "I thought it may have been rain, but it's more likely that my boiler was overflowed with water."

"Water overflowing?" gasped Rebecca. "That would explain it. I heard a story about an engine on the mainland with an experience like that."

"I did have a relief driver today," Gordon concluded. "He must have not been concentrating on what he was doing. Not sure he'll be staying on after today..."

"Indeed," agreed Nia. "I'm just glad you're going to be okay."

"As am I," said Gordon. The big blue engine paused before looking down at his buffers in shame.

"Nia," he said, "since you arrived on Sodor, I've been unfairly hostile towards you. It's just that throughout the years I've lived here, Edward and Henry were almost like brothers to me, and I took that for granted. I was so upset about them leaving Tidmouth that I took it out on you, saying things that I shouldn't have. I'm very sorry I treated you like a piece of scrap, Nia; you certainly deserved better."

Nia was a little surprised by Gordon's apology and she almost cried when he gave his reasons for his actions.

"I think I'm beginning to understand," Nia said quietly. "I felt bad with leaving all my friends behind in Africa, and I miss them too."

Now it was Gordon's turn to stare in shock. In all the commotion, he had been thinking of himself. At least with Edward and Henry, they were still on Sodor, and he could talk to them if he happened to be doing a job in the same area as them. Nia's friends were all the way in another part of the world.

"It... would be difficult to contact your friends in Africa," Gordon said truthfully.

"Indeed," Nia sighed. "But I know they are at peace now, with a new manager and everything. That at least eases my mind."

"That's a relief at least," said Gordon. He figured now would be a good time to change the subject. "Oh, you two are getting repainted, I see."

"We sure are," said Rebecca. "I bet our new colors will brighten up everyone's days."

"Indeed," agreed Nia, "New colors for a new life."

"That's what I said too," chuckled Victor. At long last, Gordon's pride had been brought down to earth, and peace between him and Nia had been made.


That evening, Rebecca and Nia returned to Tidmouth sheds with their new liveries. Rebecca was now painted bright yellow and navy with white lining and wheel rims, red and orange stripes along her sides, and the number twenty-two and the initials for the North Western Railway on her cab sides and tender, respectively, in white. Nia had been painted orange with yellow lining with her old African pattern still painted on her tanks and dome, green and yellow lining on her cylinders, green stripes on her boiler and brake pump, and the number eighteen on the sides of her cab in yellow within black squares.

"You two look great," smiled Thomas. "Yellow and orange really suit you."

"I see you've kept your old patterns too, Nia," said Percy.

"I've had them since I was first built," said Nia. "I couldn't bear parting ways with them."

"That's fair enough," said Emily.

"I personally wouldn't picture any of us in those colors, but they fit the two of you very well," said James. "Where'd you get the ideas from?"

"I saw Duncan down at Crovan's Gate," Rebecca explained.

"And I met with Terence near Hackenbeck," added Nia.

"That would explain it," smiled Percy. There were light chuckles from the group before Rebecca spoke again.

"Did you hear about the accident today?" she asked seriously. The other engines (barring Nia) tensed up at her words.

"What accident?" asked Emily.

"Gordon's cylinder covers blew off and his motion was destroyed."

"WHAT?!" The other four engines exchanged anxious glances.

"To make it worse for him," Nia added, "he won't be back in service for at least a couple of months. That accident was very severe."

"How did that happen?" asked Thomas.

"Boiler priming after being overfilled with water," said Nia.

"That... sounds scary..." gulped Percy. "Is Gordon going to be okay?"

"He will be," Nia assured. "We just have to be patient."


Nia was right. Towards the end of November, Gordon's cylinders and motion had finally been repaired, and he arrived at Tidmouth sheds that evening feeling apprehensive. He was surprised (and relieved) to see not only Thomas, James, Percy, Emily (having recently been painted back into her normal livery), Nia and Rebecca there to welcome him home, but also Edward, Henry, Toby, Rosie and Philip.

"Welcome home, Gordon!" cried Rosie.

"How are you feeling?" asked Edward.

"Physically, I feel fine," Gordon answered truthfully. "The Steamworks does a great job as always."

"That's good to hear," said Emily. Gordon then went quiet, trying to collect his thoughts.

"I... I want to apologize for what I..."

"We already know," Thomas cut in, his voice firm but gentle. "Nia and Rebecca explained to us about what happened."

"And we want to apologize as well for turning our backs on you," added Percy. "We should have given you a fair chance to explain your half of the situation. But we were so upset with you for hurting Nia's feelings that we didn't think."

"Well, I brought it upon myself," Gordon insisted. "I let anger and pride cloud my judgement."

"Edward and I are sorry too," added Henry, "for not giving you time to process the fact that we were moving out of Tidmouth. Before your breakdown, I never realized before how much you considered both of us close friends."

"No matter where we go on Sodor," Edward said, "our bonds and friendships will stay in the same place."

"It's alright," Gordon smiled. "We'll still see each other around. I understand that now."

"Gordon?" asked Rebecca. "Now you're back, are you back on express duties tomorrow?"

"Actually, Rebecca," said Gordon, after a brief moment of consideration, "why don't you take the first express tomorrow? It's as much your duty as it is mine. Besides, I could do with the rest after being at the Steamworks."

"Then maybe you won't mind repaying Henry by taking the Flying Kipper for him?" Nia smirked.

"Why yes, I wouldn't mind taking the Flying K... Just a minute! Did you just imply-?!"

"You might be one of the biggest engines on Sodor, Gorodn," Nia smirked cheekily, "but in the end, we smaller engines always get the last laugh!"

Gordon groaned with indignation and rolled his eyes while Nia and some of the other engines laughed. "I swear, she's spent far too much time with Thomas!"


These days, Nia and Rebecca are happy as can be on Sodor. Nia still thinks about her old friends in Africa, but those on Sodor have become close enough to her that she doesn't feel lonely anymore. Rebecca still feels saddened by Miranda's demise, but she knows that as long as Miranda was remembered by her, she was never truly gone. Their new liveries also sparked interest and discussion among rail enthusiasts, with many commenting that an engine painted in yellow or orange was quite the novelty. That didn't stop others from dismissing their new liveries as garish and out of place, but as long as Nia and Rebecca did their work, hurtful comments about their liveries meant nothing to them. What they wanted was their way of expressing themselves.

But what happened to Gordon's relief driver? Well, he did make a full recovery in the hospital, but he never worked for the railway again after Gordon's accident, and he now had a few scars as a reminder not to be so reckless in his work in the future. I hope he's learned from this terrifying experience; do you?

THE END

Gordon's incident was based upon what happened to LNER Peppercorn A2 60532 Blue Peter on October 1, 1994, when during the first run of a preserved steam locomotive from Edinburgh to Newcastle and York, the engine suffered extensive damage during a catastrophic uncontrolled wheelslip. The driver's arms were severely injured and it took eighteen months to repair the locomotive following the incident.


Author's Comments

Well, here we go! That's the end of this fourteen (originally twelve) story saga! I didn't intend for this to become a secondary rewrite to Forever and Ever, but that's how it turned out. I also didn't plan on this chapter being as long as it ended up becoming, but overall, I think it makes for a pretty solid conclusion to the saga with Nia and Rebecca being painted into their current liveries and Gordon being re-accepted at Tidmouth sheds.

Plus, throughout this saga, nearly every Steam Team member - past and present - has had a big role to play. Thomas, Gordon, Emily, Nia and Rebecca were all the main players, but Edward, Henry, Percy and Toby also had their own part in the saga as well. Only James didn't have much to do, but still, it's pretty impressive. My take on Nia thus far is that she retains the sassy part of her personality from the film as opposed to being dropped as soon as season 22 happened; I think that's more worthy for storytelling potential than being stuck in the "kind and helpful" box that Edward was taken out of, not to mention it makes Nia stand out more from him. Rebecca is just about similar to her TV series portrayal - a bit klutzy, optimistic, sometimes shy or anxious, occasionally gullible, but honest and far smarter and more perceptive than she seems. The only major difference is a tragic past in losing part of her family, which Nia can understand and relate to, giving them a close friendship.

Is there going to be more books for The International Railway Series? Yes; I got one planned for Duck, another for the Skarloey Railway, and a third for the diesels of Sodor, each with four stories to bring the total to 26. After that is (hopefully) a feature-length special of sorts. We'll see where it goes in the future.