The Fat Director was in his office tending to some paperwork. The stationmaster knocked, and came in.

"There's somebody here who wants to see you," he said.

"Who would that be?" asked the Fat Director.

"That, Sir Topham," said an unfamiliar voice, "would be me."

A well-dressed gentleman stepped out from behind the stationmaster.

"I am Ronald Delagourte, Mayor of Lasigar, the main town of Lasigar Island off the coast of Norramby. And I've come here to ask you to do something."

"Well, come take a seat and we'll talk," said the Fat Director. The Mayor did so, and the stationmaster left them alone. "Now then, what is it you want to talk about?" asked the Fat Director.

"Transportation of course," said the Mayor. "Our island is inaccessible without means of boat and it's proving to be way too inconvenient for us when we want to go to Sodor. I've come here because I want you to extend your Norramby Line so your railway actually goes to Lasigar."

"Ah yes, a railway to your island could be beneficial for both of us," said the Fat Director. "Unfortunately, our funds are currently not the best to allow for building a bridge between the two islands. The Admiralty already paid for half the price to double the Ballahoo Line, and in return, we're building a line to Harwick for them. I doubt they'd be willing to pay for another line, especially one that won't be so beneficial for them. A bridge connecting both would be too expensive right now. I'm sorry, Mayor Delagourte, but I have no choice but to decline for now."

The Mayor sighed sadly.

"It's alright," he said. "I know war is difficult for everybody." The Fat Director couldn't help but feel sorry for the Mayor.

"I'll tell you what: when the war ends, come back to my office. In the meantime, I'll have one of my engines take special boat trains from Norramby that will connect with ferries going to Lasigar. Both ferry and train will be guaranteed connections."

"That will be delightful!" the Mayor said happily.

While this was going on, Conan found himself rather distracted: he was thinking about Jewelie, particularly how close they had been to each other when they woke up. He really wished they had done more. It proved to be really distracting, as he couldn't help but think about her all day. It wasn't long before the other engines began to notice.

"Uh, Conan, is that a bone in the middle of your pants?" asked Luci. Conan looked down, blushed, and covered his downstairs.

"Sh-sh-shut up!" he shouted, and he ran off.

"Real smooth, Luci," said Olive.

"What? I just asked why he had a bone in the middle of his pants," said Luci.

"That's where you went wrong," said Edward. "That wasn't a bone."

"What was it, then?"

"Well," said Edward, "it was, er, how do I say this?"

Meanwhile, Jewelie was also distracted. Try as she might, her mind drifted back to the position they had been in that morning. It reminded her of a novel she'd once borrowed from her mother. And while it was unladylike, she wanted it to have gone further too.

"Where are my goddam tickets?!" a passenger shouted. Jewelie snapped out of her trance.

"SORRY!" she called, and quickly handed the passenger his ticket. Unfortunately, it turned out to be for a different train.

At around the same time, 98462 entered the station, wheezing heavily.

"I really think we should tell the Fat Director about this," said his driver.

"And what good will that do? He'll think I'm lying," 98462 pointed out. "After all, I did fake being ill last year."

"Do your wheezes sound fake this time?" asked the driver sternly.

"It's probably nothing," said 98462.

"Doesn't sound like 'nothing' to me," said the Fat Director, walking over. "I know when wheezing is serious and that was serious wheezing."

"Come on, sir! I'm fine!"

"Well I'm not risking it," said the Fat Director. "Return to the shed right now: I'll have an inspector come look at you."

"Yes sir," said 98462. He steamed back to the sheds and Emily took over.

"You!" said the man. "This bitch gave me the wrong ticket!"

"Jewelie's not a bitch," said the Fat Director sternly. "And there will be severe consequences should you call her that again."

"Never mind consequences, what about my ticket?!"

"I'll deal with it!" the Fat Director stated. "Now, either calm down, or bugger off!""

"I'll bugger off…once you give me my ticket, and twice as much money as I paid for it!"

The bodyguards took him out of the station and threw him onto the street.

"AND STAY OUT THIS TIME, YOU DRUNK!" they shouted, before walking back.

"That man didn't look drunk to me," the Fat Director pointed out. "Not this time, at least."

"He might as well have been," scoffed a bodyguard. The Fat Director sighed and went to talk to Jewelie.

"How did you manage to give one of the passengers the wrong ticket?" he asked her.

"I…I don't know!" she confessed. "I was just distracted and…"

"WHAT distracted you, Jewelie?"

"Err…It's complicated."

"We have time."

"Well, see, uh, well…" Jewelie hesitated, trying to think of an excuse.

"Jewelie?" insisted the Fat Director.

"My head was in the clouds."

"And why was it in the clouds?" asked the Fat Director.

Luckily for her, the stationmaster came running up before she could answer.

"Emily's had a derailment near Battlefield Bridge," he said. "You're needed to attend the scene."

"I guess I have no choice," said the Fat Director, and he turned back to Jewelie. "We'll talk about this later."

And with that, he walked off. Jewelie sighed with relief.

At the same time, Conan was trying to clean up some coaches. Emphasis on trying: he wasn't doing as good of a job as he usually did, and some of the coaches still had dirty spots. Others…

"Watch it! You're scratching my livery!"

"Sorry!" Conan shouted. Thomas quickly took notice.

"Everything OK Conan?" he asked. "Something seems to be distracting you."

"It's…eh…nothing." Conan had forgotten there was no use in lying to his partner.

"My firebox started burning before it was even lit this morning," Thomas said. "What was that all about?"

Conan froze: it was clear from what Thomas said his heart had been racing.

"Look, if something happened between you and Jewelie, you can tell me what it was," said Thomas. Conan sighed.

"Well, this morning, uh, how do I say this? Well, we woke up and I was on top of her."

"On top of her? What exactly do you mean?" asked Thomas.

"Exactly that: I fell on top of her: we rolled off onto the floor while we were sleeping. And…I've been unable to stop thinking about her ever since."

"I see…"

"I was close enough to kiss her, and I felt like we could've done that, and more…"

Thomas started to feel grossed out.

"Yuck! No need to talk about kissing near me!"

"Not just kissing," said Conan, oblivious to how sick Thomas was getting. "We could've…taken off our clothes, felt each other…"

"ALRIGHT I GET IT, YOU'RE A PERVERT!" shouted Thomas. "Just please. Stop. TALKING!"

The E2 began breathing heavily as his safety valve blew off all the excess steam.

"How do you know what a pervert is?" asked Conan.

"That's not the point!" snapped Thomas. "The point is I don't need to hear all this stuff! If you want to talk to somebody about it, talk to Jewelie, just leave me out of it! PLEASE!" The E2 steamed back to the sheds before Conan could say anything else. The boy went into thought: perhaps he should confess to Jewelie how he felt about her. Only one question: where and when would be the best place and time?

On a siding outside the sheds, 98462 sat in annoyance. As it turned out, this time, there was genuinely a problem: excessive ash had built up in his smokebox the day before. The Caledonian 55 sat there fuming as men cleaned it out. Eventually, Thomas came puffing alongside to the coaling stage.

"You seem to be in a bad mood," 98462 remarked. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Conan, and teens, are just…gross!"

"Yeah, teens are like that," said 98462. "Now how exactly was he being gross?"

"Something about taking off clothes," said Thomas. "He's a pervert!"

"How do you know what a perv is? And also…were you having a conversation that led to that being brought up?"

"He just told me what he and Jewelie had been doing this morning in the coach they slept in," said Thomas. "Or more like, what he wanted them to have done."

"Well, of course it was gonna end in such a way! They're teenagers!" 98462 pointed out.

Meanwhile, Conan was heading over to the Fernby Mansion to do his bi-weekly duties there. But when he got to the front gate, he saw Rebecca hugging another boy around his age. The boy went away after they broke the hug.

"Who was that?" Conan asked Rebecca.

"That," said Rebecca, "was my new boyfriend, Isaac."

"You found a boyfriend?"

"Why, yes, I did," said Rebecca. "And know this Conan: as of today, your services are no longer required."

"Uh, ok, thanks."

Conan turned around and walked away. Once he was sure he was far enough so Rebecca couldn't hear him, he began cheering. Finally, he no longer had to see Rebecca! He ran back to Vicarstown Yard with a spring in his step.

Once there, he ran into Thomas…quite literally.

"Wow! I didn't know you were so desperate to see me," chuckled Thomas.

"I've got great news! I've gotten rid of Rebecca!"

"You did?! Awesome! Wait, how?"

"She found a new boyfriend."

"I don't think you should let your guard down," Thomas warned. "It could be a trick."

"To make me jealous? Please!"

"All I'm saying is, maybe she's still planning something?"

"Since when did you become so much of a thinker?"

"Well I'm thinking one thing," said Thomas. "It's time you confessed to Jewelie: she definitely feels the same way about you, I can feel it. And even if it turns out I'm wrong, at least you'll have closure."

"This is revenge for me mouthing off, right? I'm sorry, I swear."

"No, it's genuine," said Thomas with a smile. "Go out there and tell her."

"I guess…" Conan prayed silently, and then went to search for her.

At around the same time, Jewelie was talking to herself…or so she thought.

"You're in love with Conan?"

Jewelie jumped and turned around to see Conan standing behind her.

"C-C-C-C-CONAN?!"

"Yeah, it's me," said Conan, walking up to her. There was an awkward silence.

"W-well…remember that kiss?" Conan asked.

"Yes, the one that…was meant to…"

"That may have been when I fell in love with you, Jewels."

Jewelie went red, and looked away.

"You…you…you….love…me?!"

"Yes…I'm in love with you."

"Me too…Conan."

"That's… Good to know."

Both leaned closer, but a whistle interrupted then before a kiss happened.

"Dammit," muttered Conan. "Ah, screw it."

He grabbed Jewelie's cheeks and smashed his lips onto hers. Her eyes went wide, but then she closed them, enjoying the kiss.

Lack of oxygen forced them to part eventually.

"I'm guessing we're a couple now?" asked Jewelie.

"W-well… It-It's kind of sudden…" stammered Conan. "I mean…" He was interrupted by Jewelie planting her lips onto his.

"You're my boyfriend now. Got it?"

"Of course," said Conan with a smile. "I'll write to my brother, he's gotta know this."

(Author's notes: thank you all for reading this story so far, thank you for giving our story a chance. Any criticism will be appreciated. Also,this story takes place around the same time Emily had her derailment, but before Lily apologized.)