A/N: Dear readers, I see that the last sentence of the previous chapter caused a misunderstanding and I would like to clarify it. When I said Emily was 'ready to show her own teeth' I just meant that she was going to show her defects, not that she would become cruel or something like that. So, sorry for the confusion. :(

Among the characters who suffered a big personality change in the dark era, I think the most harmed was Edward. Episodes like *Edward Strikes Out* (aka "The Worst Episode Ever"), *Edward and the Mail* and other revolting ones like those just don't exist for me, because there is no way to justify the character's mistakes in them. But as for Emily's mistakes, I think we can find some 'sensible explanations' and that's what I want to do in this fic.

Guest 4: another heartwarming comment from you. Thank you, my friend. Emily will keep her sweetness above her defects.

Guest 55: Thanks for your comment. Emily will want to take the Express at some point, indeed.

Oh, another thing I want to do is to compensate the non-existent Edward-Emily interaction in the series. So I hope you all like the little moment between the two Sodor's sweetest souls in this chapter. :)

CHAPTER VI

FIGHT AND LOVE IN THE SNOW

"That motherly love is the most sublime virtue you have... It would be a terrible mistake to get rid of it." -Edward

It had been a year and a half since Emily arrived in Sodor. Many things had happened on the island during that time; some good and some bad. Fortunately, most were good. But the few bad ones were enough to annoy Emily a lot.

Emily already knew that her friends had their defects. She tried to justify them thinking that everything has a sensible explanation. But when those defects hurt others, she felt very upset. For example, when no one believed that Henry was sick and Thomas and Percy played a trick on him, she just could not understand it. Even so, she decided to ignore that incident by thinking that it was something unusual and that everyone had learned the lesson.

But she was wrong; no one had learned the lesson. Just some weeks after that incident, Thomas had played another sick joke on a newcomer. This one was a tank engine named Arthur and had a spotless record. When Arthur received the order for his first job with the troublesome trucks, these began to sing. Then Thomas told Arthur that Sir Topham Hatt does not like the trucks singing, and that he should tell them to stop. Arthur believed Thomas and obeyed him, and the result was that the troublesome trucks got angry and caused an accident...

A few weeks later, Thomas and Percy had teased another engine and this time Emily had to intervene: they made fun of Salty because of the way he spoke. Emily was so cross that she went to look for them to give them a reprimand. "It's not nice to copy the way others speak!" she exclaimed on finding them. "You hurt Salty's feelings." The two tank engines were ashamed and apologized to Salty.

Emily had a weakness for Thomas and Percy, whom she viewed as 'the kids of the railway'. The affection she felt for them was great and she did not like when they got into trouble because of their pranks. She always tried to warn them in a friendly way, and fortunately they always acknowledged their mistakes and apologized.

But then winter came, and Emily found out that Thomas did not like using his snowplough... That was the last straw for Emily. It's totally against the rules for an engine to go out into the snow without the snowplough. So Emily thought that maybe Thomas needed someone to tell him how to behave so he would not get into trouble.

Now it was winter again, and Emily was more determined than ever to watch over Thomas and tell him what he was doing wrong.

In one of those cold mornings, Emily was in Tidmouth Sheds when Sir Topham Hatt arrived with the weather report.

"There's snow on the way," say Sir Topham Hatt, "you must all have your snowploughs fitted."

Emily got worried about Thomas, because he had left the sheds early in the morning to collect trucks from the quarry and take them to the Docks. "Excuse-me, sir," said Emily, "but Thomas has already left for the quarry."

"Then you must find Thomas and tell him Sir Topham wants him to wear his snowplough."

"Yes, sir."

So Emily puffed away to get her snowplough fitted, and then she set off to find Thomas.

Emily was eager to tell Thomas what to do. In fact, the previous day she had giving him so many orders to the point of making him cross. She wanted to make sure that Thomas was doing everything right, and she became bossy because of that.

Thomas was taking on water at Maithwaite Station when he saw Emily approaching. "Here comes the bossy one," he thought. "I bet she'll give me more orders."

Emily stopped near Thomas and blew her whistle, but Thomas did not say hello. So Emily went straight to the point. "Thomas!" she called. "You must go and get your snowplough fitted!" Thomas just looked away, as if he had not heard. That made Emily cross and she tooted even louder again. "You must go and get your snowplough fitted!" she repeated.

Now Thomas got angry. "Bother snowplough!" he said. "And bother Emily! Anyway the weather is perfectly fine!" And he puffed away as fast as he could, leaving Emily open-mouthed. "What's gotten into him?" thought Emily. "He's going to get stuck in the snow!" Emily wanted to have the pleasure of seeing that Thomas had finally obeyed an order from her, so she did not say that the order was given by Sir Topham Hatt…

Thomas delivered the trucks to the quarry, and then set off to collect the cream from the dairy. On the way he met with Edward at a junction.

"You should use your snowplough, Thomas," said Edward, "there's snow on the way according to the weather report."

"Maybe those people who give the weather report are wrong," responded Thomas, "because the sky is clear."

"But a snowstorm could be formed in a short time."

"I know. But without the additional weight of my snowplough I can go faster and finish the work in a short time. I'll return home safe and sound, Edward. Don't worry." And Thomas went on his way.

"Oh, Thomas," thought Edward, "as if the snowplough was a GREAT additional weight..."

Everything was going well and Thomas thought he was being very clever. But soon the clear blue sky was eaten away by dark clouds. "They look like snow clouds to me," said the driver. Thomas saw that his driver was right. "Then we must accelerate," he responded.

But the storm also decided to accelerate, and soon big flakes of white snow began to fall. Now Thomas got worried. "Oh, no…," he thought. "I wish I can finish my work and return to Tidmouth with no problem." Thomas' wish did not come true. The snow gathered into drifts and covered the tracks, making his wheels slip. "Cinder and ashes!" he cried.

Not far from there, Emily cut safely through the drifts with her snowplough. "Thomas will be in trouble now," she said. "I must find him. I bet he is regretting not having obeyed me."

Emily was right that Thomas was in trouble, but Thomas was not regretting having disobeyed her. "I am never going to listen to Emily ever, ever again," Thomas had sworn the previous day.

Snow fell without stopping all over the island. Thomas was working harder and harder, but he had to go more and more slowly. "We can't go on," said his driver. Thomas pulled to sad, slow stop by a signal box, and his driver went for help.

Soon, Thomas' fire went out and he felt very cold. The snow was accumulating more and more around him and threatened to cover him completely. "What a disaster!" he thought. "Those people who give the weather report were right."

Some eternal minutes had passed when Thomas heard the sound of an engine. He was delighted, until he saw who his rescuer was. It was Emily.

Emily got angry on seeing Thomas about to disappear under the snow. At the moment she did not see him as a friend who needed help, but as a disobedient son who deserved a reprimand. "I told you to get your snowplough!" she said. "Now look what has happened!"

Thomas was so cross with her that he forgot the snow and the cold. "You should say sorry for bossing me about!" he responded.

"I am sorry," said Emily. "Sorry you didn't listen to me!"

Emily's answer made Thomas even angrier. Thomas wanted to reject her help, but he knew he had no choice. So he remained silent while Emily moved to his track to get him out of the snow.

"If you had obeyed me, this wouldn't have happened," said Emily as she pulled Thomas. "If I give you an order, it's precisely so that you don't get into trouble. I hope you've learned the lesson."

"Oh! Could you close your mouth and make this uncomfortable journey in silence?!"

"And could you accept that all this was your fault?!"

"I said to close your mouth!"

"You're a silly little engine!"

"And you're a big bossy boiler!"

Thomas and Emily argued all the way.

After the uncomfortable journey, they chuffed into Tidmouth Sheds. Sir Topham Hatt was there waiting for them. He did not look happy. "Emily, you must take Thomas to get his snowplough fitted at once!" he said sternly. Then he looked at his Nº 1. "Thomas, you must learn to listen! The orders I give are to be obeyed!"

"Y-yes, sir," responded Thomas, feeling very bad. He did not know it was Sir Topham Hatt who wanted him to wear his snowplough.

But Emily felt even worse than Thomas. Only now she realized that it was her own fault that Thomas got into this trouble... "I-I'm sorry, sir," said Emily ashamed, "I forgot to tell Thomas it was your idea..."

Sir Thopham Hatt raised his eyebrows. "You mean I have two engines who don't listen?!" he boomed. "Well I never. Emily, you must take Thomas to get his snowplough fitted at once!" he repeated the order.

"Yes, sir." And Emily puffed away, taking Thomas with her.

Edward had heard the conversation from his shed, and he looked sadly at Emily as she left. Edward already knew that Emily has become bossy to Thomas and he did not like that attitude of hers. For some time now he wanted to talk to her about that, but he did not find the appropriate moment to do it. But on seeing that Emily had gone too far this time, he thought he could no longer remain quiet. So he decided that he would talk to her that same day.

Emily was taking Thomas down the line, and this time the journey was completely silent. Neither of them dared to say a single word. Both of them recognized that they behaved badly and felt hurt in their pride.

Soon they arrived next to the workmen, and these fitted Thomas' snowplough.

Thomas and Emily were side by side looking at each other. They wanted to apologize, but they were still a little cross and had no courage to do it. But soon Thomas decided to speak. "Thank you for owning up," he said. "You're a very good friend."

"That's all right," responded Emily. "You're a good friend too. But next time, if you want to stay out of trouble, just do what I say."

Thomas did not like Emily's answer, but still so he could not help but laugh. "Okay!" he said afterward. "I'm already wearing my snowplough. We've to keep working."

They both left to continue their work. And during the rest of the day, they did not talk to one another again.

Thomas was somewhat resentful at Emily because she had not said that who gave the order was Sir Topham Hatt. If she had been honest, he would have obeyed without any problem. Thomas did not want that Emily was his boss; but his friend.

For her part, Emily had admitted her mistake and was sorry for having argued with Thomas. But still so she thought that Thomas was a stubborn child for not wanting to hear her order.

At nightfall, the weather was very cold and all the engines quickly went to their sheds. Emily got into her shed in Knapford. She was sleepy, but the memory of her heated argument with Thomas did not let her sleep despite the fact that they had supposedly made peace. "I don't feel well," she thought. "My relationship with Thomas became tense these last months... I just wanted to help him keep out of trouble..." Emily looked up at the sky. "If someone is listening to me up there; please give me advice... I want to fix this situation, but I don't know how to do it... I need some advice..."

Obviously, someone was listening to her from Heaven. In fact, the help for Emily was already on the way. The Heaven was only waiting for her to acknowledge her powerlessness and ask for help. The prayer of a humble soul comes faster to Heaven.

As Emily was still looking at the sky, she heard the puff of an approaching engine.

The engine reversed into the shed beside Emily and looked at her. "I hope you don't mind if I spend the night here," said the engine. "It's very cold there outside and I'm a bit lazy to go to Tidmouth..."

Emily smiled. "I'll be honoured to have you at my side this cold night, Edward."

"O-oh… well."

Edward let off a little of steam and relaxed. Then his crew members got out of his cab and helped the workers to close the doors of the sheds. There would be another snowstorm during the night according to the weather report, so all the sheds had to have their doors closed in order to protect the engines.

Edward had been thinking of how to start his conversation with Emily. He did not want to go straight to the point and make her feel uncomfortable, but he wanted her to talk at ease and with confidence. "They say there will be another snowstorm this night," said Edward.

"Oh... I just hope we have no problem to take our passengers tomorrow," responded Emily. "There are many people coming to the island to spend Christmas with their relatives."

"You're right. In fact, Sir Topham Hatt already asked Thomas to clear the tracks tomorrow morning for us."

Emily sighed. "Poor Thomas... He'll have to do what he doesn't like; to use his snowplough..."

With that, Edward thought he could already talk to Emily about her incident with Thomas. "It seems that Thomas was a bit stubborn today, wasn't he?"

"I think so."

"I met with him on his way to the dairy and he didn't want to listen to me when I told him about the weather report. It was very silly from him."

Emily looked down. She felt suddenly ashamed in front of Edward. She remembered that she had seen him at Tidmouth Sheds when she arrived with Thomas, so it was obvious that he already knew what had happened. "It was my fault, Edward…," she said. "I didn't tell Thomas that the order was from Sir Topham Hatt... I wanted him to obey an order of mine at least for once… I admit that I became bossy to him, but it's just because I don't want him to get in trouble." Emily looked at Edward again. "It's hurt me every time that Sir Topham Hatt scolds him and punishes him... I would like him to understand that and accept my help... But it seems like I'm only making him get away from me… It seems like I became a beast that shows its teeth... What can I do, Edward? I want to be a good friend to Thomas."

Edward looked at Emily caringly. He wanted to tell her a lot of things at this point, but he knew he had to carefully choose his words so as not to hurt her feelings just now that she looked so confused. "I think I understand what you're going through, Emily, for I experience something similar. Do you remember when I said to you that I love Thomas like a son?"

"Yes."

"Well. On one hand, that's something nice and gratifying. Hearing Thomas calling me 'dad' and knowing that he trusts me makes me feel very happy. But on the other hand, this kind of love can be a struggle."

"Why a struggle?"

"You see, many times I am tempted to give him order when he acts like a fool. For example; today I wanted to forcibly take him to get his snowplough fitted. But I knew I couldn't do that, because actually I'm not his father, but his friend. So I had to let him go."

Emily raised her eyebrows. "But, Edward... you shouldn't have let him go! What does it matter if you love him like a son or not?! A friend must give orders when someone acts idiotically."

"I'm sorry to disagree with you, Emily," said Edward in a calm voice. "A father can give orders, but a friend... just must transmit orders and give advice... That's why you're making Thomas get away from you... You're not acting like a friend to him. You're acting like... Sir Topham Hatt. You said yourself that you wanted Thomas to obey an order of yours at least for once… I know you just want to help him, but the one who gives orders over here is Sir Topham Hatt. He is our father, while we are friends."

Emily felt that Edward's words hit her like bucket of cold water. She noticed that Edward was right. "Then... I was the one who was acting idiotically," she said sadly, "and I thought I was being a good friend to Thomas... But, actually I was just being a... big bossy boiler."

Edward smiled. "Don't get sad, Emily," he soothed, "I know what's happening to you… You've a maternal heart... You love others like a mother does… You became bossy to Thomas because your motherly love makes you feel responsible for his security, and then you want him to obey you at all costs to stay out of trouble… That's something noble, but the problem is that Thomas is not your son… That's why I said this kind of love can be a struggle... It's hard to keep a balance between giving advice as a friend and giving orders like a parent."

Emily was speechless. She had the feeling that she already heard the same words somewhere else. "Maternal heart...," she thought, "love... struggle... keeping a balance…" Those words rolled around in her mind, and she thought there was only one way to fix things up with Thomas. "You're absolutely right, Edward," she said. "I let my heart speak louder than my mind and I became a nuisance to Thomas. Now I know what I should do... I must stop loving like a mother."

"For heaven's sake, Emily!" exclaimed Edward. "That motherly love is the most sublime virtue you have; it's what makes you so charmingly feminine... It would be a terrible mistake to get rid of it. What you should do is let Sir Tophan Hatt give the orders, nothing else."

"Oh... I... I didn't think of that..." Emily smiled. "I feel better now. I really don't want to stop loving like a mother."

Edward looked at her with deep affection. "Please don't hold back that love, Emily… If you want to see us all as your children; do it. Just remember that Sir Topham Hatt is the one who gives the orders… I'll tell you something… Some days ago Henry said to me that he feels more secure since you arrived, because you always intuit when he's sick and you try to encourage him each time he's worried… What do you think? Your motherly love makes a giant engine feel secure."

"Oh, Edward," said Emily sweetly, "that makes me feel so happy." She sighed with emotion and closed her eyes. She remembered the child who hurt one knee while playing football and healed with a single kiss from his mother. "A mother can do such a miracle, Emily," had said her driver. And now Emily had done the miracle of making a giant engine feel secure thanks to her motherly love. Undoubtedly, it would be a terrible mistake to get rid of it.

Emily opened her eyes and looked at Edward. "If only I had known how to take care of Thomas without becoming bossy…," she said. "I can't wait to speak to him and make peace with him... I want us to be friends again. I even want to give him some surprise as a token of my affection."

"Wow… He'll love that."

"But what could it be? It must be something he likes."

"Well, um... he likes kids… Christmas decorations… fireworks…"

"That's!" exclaimed Emily. "He'll enjoy seeing a big Christmas tree with many ornaments and many kids around. What do you think?"

"Great idea! He'll enjoy it indeed. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll invite the children while you and the others take care of the ornaments."

Emily felt a great fondness for Edward at this moment. She noticed now that Heaven had sent him to help her. She noticed now that Edward was not only the kindest engine on Sodor, but the wisest as well. At all times, Edward had spoken to her with gentleness and respect, making her see her mistake tactfully and providing her his fatherly guidance. Emily felt indebted to him. "You don't imagine how this conversation made me feel good, Edward," she said. "I had asked for guidance to Heaven this night, and you arrived a few minutes later. I was quite confused before your arrival, but now I see things clearly and I already know what to do. How can I thank you for your help?"

Edward smiled. "Just show me your teeth," he whispered.

"What?!... Oh... Hee! Hee! I get it." Emily showed a toothy smile.

"My goodness…" Edward sighed. "Explain to me how you can be so beautiful, Emily. It's an order from Sir Topham Hatt."

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Emily blushed deeply.

It was getting late. The two friends kept talking until finalize the details of the surprise they would give Thomas, and then they said goodnight to each other.

Emily fell asleep happily in Edward's comforting company.

The next night, Emily was at Knapford Yards waiting for Harold's arrival. She was worried, because Thomas was missing and Edward had asked Harold to find him.

During the afternoon, Thomas had discovered that his friends were preparing a surprise and he wanted to find out what it was about. But, as his friends refused to tell him, Thomas felt left out and got cross. He did not imagine that the surprise was for him. Now it was time to ask him to take the children from Wellsworth Station to Upper Brendam to see the surprise, but no one knew where he was.

Finally, Harold arrived at Knapford and approached Emily. "Good news, my friend," he said. "I found Thomas in a siding. He was cross because he thought we left him out. But I told him about the surprise and he felt very happy. Now he's already on the way taking the children."

"Thanks, Harold!" responded Emily. "I'm going to meet up with him right now."

Emily left the yard full steam ahead and set off for Upper Brendam, eager to see Thomas and talk with him. On arriving at the village, she saw the big Christmas tree that had been placed in the middle of the square. The tree was full of ornamentes and at the bottom of it there were lots of presents. The children that Thomas had taken were delighted.

Emily stopped beside Thomas, who was parked near the tree. Thomas had a big smile on his face, and his smoke-box was decorated with a golden tinsel. "Hello, Thomas," said Emily.

"Hello, Emily! Thanks for the surprise. Harold told me that this is a special thanks from you all for I've kept the lines clear of snow today."

"Yes. Thanks to your help, we've done all our jobs on time. You deserved a gift for being a really useful engine."

"I'm glad I've been useful, Emily. And I'm honoured to have you all as my friends."

Thomas and Emily looked at each other with a sweet smile.

On seeing Thomas so happy, Emily felt no courage to tell him about 'the other reason' of the surprise. She was afraid he would get cross by remembering how bossy she had been the last few days. So she wanted to wait a little longer.

In this moment, the children placed themselves in a circle around the tree and began to sing.

O Christmas tree! O Christmas tree!

Thy candles shine out brightly!

"Wow…," whispered Thomas, "this is wonderful… Let's sing with them, Emily."

Emily agreed, and they both joined the choir. The party could not be more beautiful. At the end of the song, the children applauded and the two engines blew their whistles. The children were so happy that they started to sing another song.

Thomas looked at Emily. "This is the best surprise I've ever had," he said.

Emily smiled. "Glad to hear that." Then Emily decided it was time to say the truth. "Thomas…," she whispered.

"Yes?"

"I… I've something to tell you… You see, there was another reason for this surprise… This was an idea of mine... I wanted to give you something as a token of my affection, for you to know that you've a special place in my heart… I noticed that I wasn't a good friend lately. I was acting like Sir Topham Hatt by being so bossy and I became a nuisance to you... I thought I was helping you to stay out of trouble, but actually I was being a beast showing the teeth... I'm very sorry, Thomas... I don't want our friendship to end... Could you forgive me?"

Thomas remained silent for a while. Then he smiled. "Do you refer to being bossy as 'a beast showing the teeth'?

"Yes."

"And did you think our friendship would end because of that?"

"Well… I think so."

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, Emily! If you knew how many times that big blue beast called Gordon showed me the teeth, you'll wonder how I dared to accept being his ally."

"Oh..." Emily chuckled. "Then, do you forgive me?"

Thomas looked deeply into Emily's eyes, smiling tenderly. "Wait a minute," he said. Then he called his driver and asked him to place some ornaments on Emily. The driver took a golden tinsel, colorful globes and a red ribbon. He placed the tinsel over Emily's smoke-box and the globes over her running-plate along with the ribbon. Thomas held his breathe on seeing how beautiful Emily looked. "Accept them as a token of my affection," said Thomas. "You also have a special place in my heart and that will never change. You don't need to ask me for forgiveness. In fact, I wasn't a good friend either lately, and I regret it. I would like us to forget everything bad that has happened between us, and may our friendship be stronger every day."

Emily felt a lump in her throat. "Thank you, Thomas," she whispered. And a tear of joy shone on her cheek as Thomas winked at her.

The two friends kept listening the children's singing. Soon Emily began to feel tired, since she had worked hard during the afternoon by taking care of the preparations for the surprise, so she already wanted to go home. "I would like to continue enjoying the party, Thomas," she said, "but I already feel tired. I must go home."

"Oh... Could you wait a little longer, Emily? Only until the children finish this song, please? I want to accompany you to Knapford. A lady shouldn't be out there alone at this hour."

"Aww, Thomas... How could I reject a proposal like this from such a sweet gentleman?"

Thomas blushed.

As the children finished the song, Thomas' driver asked them to take their presents and board the coaches. So Thomas took them to Wellsworth Station, and then he accompanied Emily to Knapford Sheds. On arriving there, Emily invited him to stay with her that night, and Thomas gladly accepted.

Emily was happy. She had fixed things up with her sweet gentleman and now she slept peacefully at his side.

But Emily still had to fight against another defect: the lack of patience.

And this time, the battle would be more painful for her.