A/N I wanted to include the engines on the king's coronation day, so there's no time change when Autumn goes to Sodor to speak of. Remember her British dad for plot convenience.
Autumn was playing in her room quietly. Her dad was watching the coronation of King Charles III and her mom had the flu. Because her mom was unwell, the girl's father had given her favorite hanky of his to her for the day to save the tissues for her mom.
The coronation was of limited interest to Autumn, other than wondering what her engine friends thought of it. She went to her room, sat with her Thomas toy at her side and daydreamed her way to Sodor.
Autumn landed and found Thomas having a drink. She sang The Island Song and, when Thomas was done with his drink, said "Hello" and hugged her friend, who was having a rest on a siding before his next train.
"Today's the day our new king shall be crowned," Thomas said. "All us engines were told this morning and some of us, the more emotional ones, cried, remembering the Queen. I sobbed quietly, as her death made me very sad, but Driver wiped all my tears away and cheered me up. As one of the engines who met her, remembering her death, I reacted quite like I did when she died. I sobbed softly and shed a great many tears then, too sad to feel anything else, even sobbing and sniffling my way through a tribute to her. Today, I plan to sing God Save The King."
Autumn said, "Like you, I feel things deeply. You've seen me wipe my eyeballs a few times, so you know."
He said, "I'm not afraid of emotions and I know they don't scare you either.", as Autumn left on her rounds of the island.
Autumn went to various places on Sodor, including the miniature railway, where Mike, Rex and Bert were. Rex was on a siding, sobbing his mechanical heart out. Huge water droplets poured from his eyes, leaving his face covered in tears. She was unsure how long he might have been crying, but his streaming face was tearstained.
"What's wrong?", the girl asked, pulling out the hanky she put in her pocket back home. She felt overwhelming empathy for Rex and wondered why he was so weepy. "Let me wipe your eyeballs,", as she climbed on his buffers to dry his tears. She rubbed his cheeks and wiped his eyes.
"I-I r-remember th-the Qu-Queen b-because i-it's h-her s-son's c-coronation d-day," he sobbed, fresh tears welling up. He was sniffling hard, coughing, choking on his tears and hiccupping.
She said, as she continued to wipe his tears away,"Let it all out, as I'm here to wipe your pain away.". She pressed the hanky to his eyes and wiped all his tears away as best she could. "Like me, you clearly feel things deeply. Though I'm a sunny person, usually, I'm extremely emotional, whatever I feel. My joy and sadness are big, for example. My emotional switches are either on or off, so I get overjoyed or have a crying jag. I can tell, like me, you're not scared of emotion." She thought of anything to inspire him, perhaps, as she did her best to dry his eyes.
Rex's sobs subsided after a while, his emotions spent. Autumn dried his last tears away, dabbing his face and wiping his eyes dry of tears. She gave him the inspiring words she thought of. Then, she did more visiting, including a return to Thomas.
When Autumn returned to Thomas, he was in Knapford. It was time for the engines to sing God Save The King, excluding the U.S. engines , like Rosie and Porter. After they sang, Autumn said, "Good-bye, your little friend must go back home. We shall meet again, though."
Thomas said, "Good-bye for now." to his friend and she left with his whistle sound in her ears.
Autumn arrived back home, finished her day and then her dad read her a bedtime story. She fell asleep hugging her cuddle Thomas.
A/N The more emotional ones are the ones my FanFiction buddy types as F types and the coronation reminded them of the Queen being gone. My fic last fall, Thomas's Tribute To the Queen, was referenced here. Autumn's emotions are based on autism and emotions, so if she does feel, she feels it strongly.