A/N: This is the chapter I was most looking forward to writing, for it's the heart of all this fic. What Emily does here is the same thing that Caitlin did in the Chapter V of *A Kiss at Midnight* (although it stayed as a lost detail into Connor's story), but here the reason for this 'strange power' is explained. I hope you enjoy it.

Guest 4: Thanks for the beautiful review. You're right that Emily and Gordon's relationship didn't seem so simple at the beginning. But it's good to see that Gordon was respectful to her in the last seasons. Just remember Gordon's sweet gaze as he spoke with her in *Emily Saves the World*. That was priceless.

Guest 105: Thanks for reviewing. I must make it clear that Edward did forgive Emily. He explained to her that he didn't even feel offended.

jriddle41: Thanks for comment. Although there's no romance in this fic, it has hints to suit the tastes of the majority.

Happy Earth Day! :)

CHAPTER VIII

SWEET MATERNAL EMBRACE

"When I said that you're a gift from Heaven to us… I didn't lie." -Thomas

"I must find out what's going on...It could be something serious; otherwise she wouldn't be making so much scandal."

"Then we should go a bit faster, Thomas."

"Clarabel is right. You must speed up."

"No, I must be careful. There is debris everywhere, besides we're already close."

Thomas was puffing through his branch line from Toryreck towards Dryaw Station. He had just heard Emily's whistle blowing harder than ever and he was worried about her. During the night, a storm sweeped across the island causing a lot of damage and letting debris and fallen trees on the tracks, so Thomas thought Emily could have been crashed into something and derailed. In fact, Thomas had already encountered some obstacles in front of farmer McColl's farm, where the storm had blown off the roof of the cow barn.

A little further ahead, Thomas could see Emily and he breathed in relief on seeing that she was not derailed. Emily was only parked while waiting for her track to be cleared, since a water tower had fallen on it. But Emily was arguing with the one who should clear the track; Elizabeth the lorry. Elizabeth was refusing to move despite Emily's complaints, and Thomas supposed that that was the reason why Emily had made a 'scandal' with her whistle. "Oh, no," thought Thomas, "Emily is being bossy... and precisely to Elizabeth... I've to do something to stop her."

But Thomas knew he should be kind on telling Emily what she was doing wrong. Actually, he had the obligation to be kind to her. It was an order. An order from... Edward.

Edward was the engine who knew Emily the best so far; thanks to the conversations in private he had had with her. After her incident with the Express a few days ago, Emily had stayed somewhat sensitive, so Edward had a conversation with Thomas about it. "We must be understanding with her," said Edward. "She's struggling against impatience and you know that that's not so easy. If sometimes she acts in a bossy way it's only because she wants to do her job well and help others not to get into trouble, since she has the same goal as all of us; being a really useful engine. Anyone who wants to judge her should remember that she has as many virtues and defects as everybody. Besides, she's a gift from Heaven; the answer to our prayer. The least we can do to thank for this blessing is to be kind to her." This speech could be regarded as a friendly advice if it were not for the fact that Edward was frowning as he spoke. Thomas knew that this gesture had only one meaning: Edward was giving him an order from father to son.

And this was the time when Thomas had to obey the fatherly order. So he approached Emily with his best smile and greeted her cheerfully. "Hello!" But Emily just complained about Elizabeth. "She doesn't do what I say!" she cried. "I've got an urgent delivery and she'll make me late!"

Thomas did not want to say this, but it was necessary. So he kept smiling and spoke in a kind way. "That's because you're being a... big bossy boiler again. You should try asking nicely."

Those words had such an impact on Emily that she immediately became sad. She did not want to be a bossy boiler again; she just wanted to make her urgent delivery on time. But she realized that Thomas was right. Then Emily took a deep breathe and looked at Elizabeth. "I'm sorry I was rude...," she said sadly, "but could you help me get to farmer McColl's farm, please? I'm bringing the timber to fix the roof of the cow barn... If I arrive late, the baby calves are going to feel cold tonight..."

Now Elizabeth smiled widely. "Why certainly!" she puffed. "I'll get your track cleared in no time!"

"Oh… Thank you, Elizabeth!"

Emily's track was soon cleared and she pumped her pistons to keep on her way. She looked down as she was about to pass beside Thomas, for she was embarrassed. But Thomas understood her. "Don't be ashamed, Emily," he whispered tenderly, "we all love you." That made Emily feel better, and she gave Thomas a sweet smile.

Rain clouds covered the sky and it was getting late, so Emily puffed as fast as she could. "Poor baby calves...," she thought. "If I had not been bossy, I would already be at farmer McColl's now." When she finally reached her destination, she apologized to farmer McColl. "I'm sorry I've got late, sir," she said, "but I had some incidents..."

"No problem, Emily," replied McColl, "I know there is debris on the tracks. Besides, you arrived just on time. The roof of the cow barn will be repaired for bedtime."

The timber was quickly unloaded from the flatbeds and the workers began to work. Emily stayed watching the baby calves while the barn was being repaired. The baby calves were snuggled against their mothers' belly, who were lying down on the ground to protect them from cold. "Being a mother is so beautiful...," thought Emily. "It's very sweet to see when they pamper their children..." Emily remembered the times she had seen a mother carring her baby. "I suppose that hugging a baby and singing to put him or her to sleep is the best sensation in the world... I would like to know what it feels like..."

A soft, perfumed breeze blew at this moment, and Emily could clearly hear a whisper. "Tonight," said the whisper, "you'll know what it feels like."

Emily gasped and looked from side to side trying to find out where the voice came from, but she did not see anyone. Then she looked up at the sky, and there she could see a cloud of golden dust vanishing between the other ones. "Oh, my goodness," she thought, "what was that? Was it you, Lady?"

Soon the roof of the cow barn was repaired, and the cows and their baby calves entered it. Now they could snuggle down on soft, warm hay. Farmer McColl thanked Emily once more, and Emily set off for Knapford.

On the way, Emily was thinking of the whisper she heard. It was a voice she thought she had already heard before, as if it was in a dream. But what intrigued her most was the golden dust she saw in the clouds. They had told her that the Angel of the Engines used to make itself visible that way, but few had the privilege of seeing it. Emily thought that perhaps the whisper was actually the voice of that angel, but she would not be sure of that until it was fulfilled what the voice had prophesied.

As Emily arrived at Knapford, she left her flatbeds in the yard and went to her shed. A few minutes later, the rain began to fall and the temperature dropped. "Luckily I was able to get to McColl Farm on time," Emily thought with satisfaction. "Now the animals will sleep protected in the cow barn." But the satisfaction she felt soon gave way to an unpleasant feeling of defeat as she remembered that she had almost been late to the farm because of her impatience and bossiness. Emily got angry with herself. "Will I ever learn from my mistakes?!" she exclaimed. "I'm sick of being embarrassed because of them!" Emily backed up to the back of the shed and started crying disconsolately. And her weeping mixed with the sound of the rain that fell now with greater intensity.

Emily cried for a long moment, remembering her seemingly useless struggle against impatience. When her crying finally ceased, she tried to relax to sleep. But she was so angry that she could not do it. She urgently needed to vent to someone. Then she felt something pressing her buffers. Immediately, Emily opened her eyes.

The one who had touched her was Thomas.

Thomas saw Emily's swollen eyelids and felt a pain in his heart. He smiled sadly and spoke softly. "We're in the springtime..." he said, "but it seems that the flower of our garden is sad... Can I help?"

Emily felt she could finally get the anger out. "I'm not a flower!" she exclaimed. "I'm just an useless engine that doesn't learn from her mistakes! I'm... rubbish! And don't tell me it's not true!" And she cried again, even harder than before. But now her tears did not fall into the void, but there was someone there to calm them.

Thomas moved even closer to Emily, pressing her buffers completely. And he did not say a single word even though he wanted to scream that she was wrong. He knew that Emily had the right to feel bad and explode to get her pain out.

As Emily stopped crying, she opened her eyes and sadly looked at Thomas. "I'm sorry..." she said with a trembling voice, "I shouldn't have screamed at you... I've nothing against you... it's just that I'm angry with me... Please don't go, Thomas... I don't want to be alone... Besides, it's raining a lot... Please don't go..."

"Easy..." whispered Thomas, "I'm not going to leave you alone in this situation."

Emily smiled slightly. "Thank you... You're a great friend."

Thomas gave her a compassionate look. "If you want to talk about what's bothering you, I'm all ears."

"No…" Emily looked down, "I want to forget all about today… I want to forget the rubbish I am."

"Okay, I understand." Thomas thought for a few seconds what he should say. He wanted Emily to know that she was not 'rubbish', but he knew that a wrong word could hurt her even more. Then, it came to his mind to begin at the beginning. "Emily, would you let me tell you about the time I made Edward lose his patience because of my bad behaviour?" he asked.

"Wow…" Emily was surprised. She could not imagine Edward losing his patience. "That's something I would like to know."

"Well. It was one night at Tidmouth Sheds, a few months before you arrived on Sodor. I was teasing Gordon and laughing so much that no one could sleep. Edward told me a lot of times to stop laughing but I didn't obey him, so he got angry. Then he thought perhaps listening to a story would make me quiet." Thomas smiled. "He looked at me frowning and said 'Do you want to hear a story or a scolding?'"

Emily chuckled. "You really made him lose his patience. And did his idea work?"

"Oh, you don't imagine how well it worked. He told us the story of the Angel of the Engines."

"You mean Lady and little Nigel's story?"

"Yes. Do you know it?"

"My designer's brother told me about it. It's an amazing story."

"You're right. After listening to it, I wondered why the engineers never designed a female steam engine. Then Henry suggested me to ask Lady to send us one in the case they already exist."

Emily raised her eyebrowns. "And did you ask her?"

Thomas looked deeply into Emily's eyes and swallowed hard. He was about to cry on remembering the prayer he made. "Yes, Emily…" he whispered. "When I said that you're a gift from Heaven to us, I didn't lie. You're the answer to our prayer… You're here because Heaven decided to send you to our garden... and Heaven never sends rubbish, it just sends blessing... So you're not rubbish, Emily... you're a blessing… Remember it every time you're sad or angry... You're a gift from Heaven."

Those words elevated Emily's mood and she felt a great happiness in her heart. "Oh, Thomas...," said Emily with her eyes full of tears of joy, "I didn't know I was the answer to a prayer… That's a whole revelation for me."

"You're Sodor's precious jewel, Emily," said Thomas between tears of joy as well. "Perhaps someday other flowers will arrive at our garden… but I'm sure no one of them will be as special as you… Please don't be so rude to yourself because of your mistakes… They're part of life… Besides, you've virtues that overshadow all of them, and we all love you just the way you are."

"Oh…" Emily smiled, "and I love you all, Thomas… Let me tell you something... From the first time I saw you and Percy, I imagine that you two are the kids of the railway, because your cute faces remind me the human kids, and I love to think that I am as a mother to you... I hope I didn't bother you with this revelation... I've wanted to tell you this for a long time."

Thomas giggled. "Why does it would bother me?" he said. "That's precisely your bigger virtue, Emily; that sweet motherly love that comes from your heart and envelops us all."

Emily looked at Thomas affectionately. His words made her remember what Edward had said to her the previous winter; "That motherly love is the most sublime virtue you have... If you want to see us all as your children; do it." Emily also remembered what her 'big kid Henry' had said; "You're an angel to me." Her heart flamed with love at this moment, and she thought it was time to find out if the whisper's prophecy would be fulfilled.

"Your words make me so happy, Thomas...," said Emily, "I'm sure that Heaven decided to send you to me this night... Ever since the moment you mentioned the Angel of the Engines, I've the feeling that the bigger mistakes I made have had a purpose, as if they formed part of a higher plan... After having being bossy to you for you didn't want to use your snowplough; I had a heartwarming conversation with Edward and the following day I enjoyed a Christmas party with you... Some days ago, after I've made a fool of myself by pulling the Express; I spent a funny moment with James at the wash-down and Gordon encouraged me with nice words... And today, after my incident with Elizabeth; a mysterious voice whispered to me that a certain dream of mine would come true, and then I saw a... cloud of golden dust in the sky, which made me think that the voice was from Lady."

"Wow…" Thomas was surprised. "It's good to hear all of that, Emily… I also think that everything formed part of a higher plan, and I'm sure that the whisper you heard today was from Lady… And speaking of it, if you wouldn't mind telling me... what is that dream of yours?"

Emily smiled. "I wish to know what hugging a baby and singing to put him or her to sleep feels like."

"O-oh... That's a sweet dream from a sweet mother... Perhaps tomorrow a woman will place her baby against your cheek and you'll sing a lullaby until he or she falls asleep."

"It could be… But the voice said that my dream would come true tonight."

"Oh, well... Then I think it could happen at any time. We've just to wait."

But Emily could not wait. Something inside her was saying that the time had come. She even believed to see particles of golden dust in the air. "Thomas…" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to be… my baby? Just for this night… I want to hug you… If you don't mind…"

Thomas smiled. There was so much innocence in Emily's gaze and so much tenderness in her request that he was deeply touched. He was about to tell her that engines could not hug to each other, but if Lady had said that her dream would come true, then he could not discuss. "Of course I would like to be your baby, Emily..." said Thomas, "It'll be a privilege to fall asleep by hearing you sing."

"Aww…" Emily blushed.

And then, as if guided by an inner voice, Emily began to let off steam.

The steam moved mysteriously towards Thomas as if they were human arms, mingling with the particles of golden dust. Then, Thomas felt the 'arms' enfolded him... and Emily felt she was caressing Thomas' tanks.

"Emily..." whispered Thomas in surprise.

"Can you feel it?" asked Emily excitedly.

"Y-yes... It's like a... hug..."

"I feel so too." Emily could not believe it. She was hugging Thomas...

This little miracle was a gift from Lady; an ability that allowed the engines to use their steam as human arms to embrace one another, as long as there is affection between them. And between Emily and Thomas there was a pure, innocent sibling affection. Emily felt blessed by this miracle, and she noticed that everything that happens in life, whether good or bad, is really part of a higher plan and destined to a happy ending. Now she knew the whisper she heard was Lady's voice.

"Are you comfortable, Thomas?" whispered Emily.

Thomas smiled shyly. "I-I feel like… a baby in his mother's arms…"

"Then… relax and sleep, my baby…" Emily looked sweetly at Thomas' eyes and began to sing softly the world's most famous lullaby…

Lullaby and good night

With pink roses bedight

With lilies o'er spread

Is my baby's sweet head

Lay thee down now and rest

May thy slumber be blessed

Lay thee down now and rest

May thy slumber be blessed

Thomas stayed open-mouthed before Emily's voice. It was the sweetest one he had ever heard. He felt Emily enfolded him in her sweet maternal embrace, and his eyelids soon became heavy. Then, Thomas fell asleep.

Lullaby and good night

You're your mother's delight

Shining angels beside

My darling abide

They will guard thee at rest

Thou shalt wake on my breast

They will guard thee at rest

Thou shalt wake on my breast

Emily's heart was filled of tenderness for Thomas. She saw that he had closed his eyes and his breathing was deep and slow, so she stayed humming the lullaby for a while. Emily wanted to keep this moment forever in her memory; this moment in which Thomas slept as a baby in her arms. Now she already knew what hugging a baby and singing to put him or her to sleep feels like. Emily's dream had come true. She continued hugging Thomas until she ran out of steam.

"Thank you, Lady…," whispered Emily as the particles of golden dust began to disappear. And she heard a soft voice in response. "You're welcome, daughter of mine."

Emily smiled as a tear of joy rolled her cheek. She looked at Thomas' cute face once again, still unable to believe what had happened. Then, she also closed her eyes and fell asleep.

And the sound of the rain was as a lullaby for her.

Emily and Thomas' sweet friendship would last forever.