After a rather rough night, Sandy awoke the next morning to the soft sound of rain on the shed roof. A few other engines were awake already, but the majority were still asleep as it was rather early.

She sighed, thinking, 'At least the weather matches my mood… I hope work won't be too tough today.'

Next to her, James was stirring, mumbling in his sleep and – to her surprise – drooling slightly. She raised her eyebrows, trying to suppress a chuckle as she hadn't seen that before. A few minutes passed until he woke up, glancing over to her and smiling slightly. Sandy tried to hide her frown, but it was too obvious to go unnoticed.

"Is everything alright?" James asked anxiously with a low voice.

"Yes, I just had yesterday's events on my mind and I don't know what to make of it," she whispered, "Especially what my old friend said before he left."

"And what would that be?" the red engine wondered.

"He told me to always stay true to myself. I am not sure what he means exactly as I never acted not like myself…" Sandy concluded, looking to the ground as if the answer was there.

James frowned, not knowing what to reply. He only knew he was ready to help her find out what this meant. He glanced at her, letting his mind wander back to that wonderful evening they had shared two days ago, a warmth spreading across his boiler, making him blush slightly. Her reaction to that special moment when his driver tied the red rose to her shunter's pole had really moved him. And there it was, still tied to her and surprisingly remaining in bloom. James wondered if this was a sign, a hint of fate the bond he was trying to slowly build was meant to last.

Deep in thought, he didn't notice the crews slowly arriving one after the other to prepare the engines for the day. Only when his fireman wiped his buffer beam, shaking his head, did he realize he had been drooling in his sleep. He didn't remember his dreams exactly, but apparently it had been something nice. Another sigh next to him brought him back to reality.

James looked at Sandy worriedly, "Are you sure you are alright?"

"I guess work will help me get my mind off overthinking," she replied, trying to put on a smile even though she was absent-minded.

She looked down to her buffer beam, only now noticing the red rose was still tied to her and looking nearly as fresh as it did when she had received it despite the long trip and heavy weather the previous day. This did cheer her up a bit, but couldn't fully stop her thoughts from wandering.

Minutes later, everyone was steamed up and the Fat Controller arrived at the sheds to assign jobs. Tina would take some Flying Kipper trucks to the works for maintenance, Henry was to take a non-stop goods train to the mainland, Cally was assigned to Thomas' branch line for the day, Duck and Percy were the station pilots at Tidmouth and Knapford and had to keep the yards in order, Gordon would run his usual express duties, James was ordered to Brendam docks to help Edward, Aindrea was to stay behind on call in case someone needed help and Sandy was assigned to run a special VIP service with her new coach as well as 4 of her blue and cream express coaches in between Gordon's runs.

Once everyone had left the sheds, there was still time for Sandy for another hour before she was to go on her first run. Aindrea was there to keep her company, but he noticed her uneasiness as well. He stayed silent for a while, but thought of a way to lighten the mood.

"Ye ken tis ferr unusual fur an engine tae receive sic a special gift thae days. Ah haven't seen anythin' o' th' likes sae far," he tried to strike up a conversation.

Sandy looked at him, raising her eyebrows, a bit confused, "What did you just say?"

"Ah said tis ferr unusual fur an engine tae receive sic a special gift thae days," he repeated, putting on a smile.

"Oh sorry, I wasn't listening properly the first time. Well, I thought everyone was rewarded once in a while for good work, at least back home it's handled that way. Every time you prove yourself really useful, you'd get a little something," Sandy replied, thinking back to the early 1920s when even working a double header was seen as reward.

"Aye, bit hee haw lik' this coach. It mist be something gey special fur ye sin th' Fat Controller haes even scheduled a special train fur ye tae pull wi' it," the Caledonian River Class noted.

"Yes, sort of. I used to pull a coach like this back home along with 6 more, called the Imperial Royal Train. From 1908 onwards, I was the Emperor's private engine until his death in 1916," the Austrian recounted, "From then on, it sadly only went South. Less and less work was carried by my sisters and me. Newer, stronger and faster engines came and took our place with the express service. I befriended one of them shortly before World War II broke out, I still remember his name being Erich. He was the last of the 13 BBÖ class 214 engines built, holds the speed record for the fastest Austrian steam locomotive to this day as well as the longest connecting rod ever designed for an engine. He was different from his siblings, not so snooty and stuck up, but rather the opposite. I wonder where he is now…" Sandy trailed off, looking into the distance as if the answer was there.

The two sat there in silence for a while, until Aindrea spoke up again, "Ah think it micht be time fur yer train awready. Best git gaun, Duck is likelie awready waiting. Th' waither is getting better noo tae, hawp ye'll hae a crakin' 'n' bricht day. Ah will see ye 'ere in th' forenicht."

"Thank you for the lovely conversation, you really helped me get my thoughts elsewhere. Wishing you a very nice day too!" Sandy whistled, steaming off towards the station to fetch her coaches.

In the meantime, James had arrived at Brendam to collect a delivery bound for Wellsworth. He grumbled, complaining about how he wasn't suitable for goods work but had no choice anyways. His mind wandered to Sandy and how she was getting along. Ever since he had left the sheds in the morning, he was wondering if he could somehow cheer her up with another surprise. But even he knew it was hard to find anything better than the present she had been given the day before. Passing through Suddery, Edward came down from the scrapyard with some empty trucks, whistling as they passed each other. He noticed the frown on James' face, but associated it with the fact he wasn't pulling coaches. As the red engine ran along the countryside, he asked his crew if Knapford sheds were empty again that night. His driver offered to call the stationmaster once they reached Wellsworth as he didn't exactly know since it wasn't a weekend anymore. Wondering about this unusual request, the fireman asked James why he wanted to stay at the big station's sheds when everyone else was at Tidmouth. The Mogul blushed, explaining he wanted some alone time with Sandy to figure some things out. His crew started sniggering and joking about how they haven't seen him lovestruck before, but also being supportive of the idea as it kept his thoughts away from causing trouble or being vain.

As they arrived at Wellsworth, there already was a new line of trucks waiting to be taken back to the docks. After being turned around, James' fireman coupled him to the Southbound train as his driver was away to call Knapford's station master. Upon returning to his engine, he gave James a thumbs-up to indicate the sheds were empty that night. He had also asked the station master to inform Sandy's crew about the change of location for the evening but telling him not to let them know why.

'Now I only need to think of what to do. Oh I hope this works out alright,' James thought, worried that she may not be in the mood or ready for more advances from his side yet.

He was nervously chewing his bottom lip all the while they were going back to Brendam, knowing he would possibly need the help of his crew which would most likely be a rather uncomfortable situation for them. Once at the docks, he was uncoupled from the train which Edward started to take apart to shunt the trucks in their corresponding sidings. James had collected some empty trucks in the meantime to take to Vicarstown before he was to head back to Knapford to wait for Sandy. On their way to the East coast, the red engine was carefully striking up the topic of the evening with his crew, asking them if they would help him with what he had in mind. Since this was a rather unusual request, they looked at each other questioningly, but soon shrugged it off their minds and agreed to help as it was something James couldn't do on his own since he was dependent on his crew to move around.

In the meantime, Sandy had departed Knapford with her last run to Vicarstown for the day, only the return trip to be made afterwards. Everything had gone rather smoothly so far and her mood had somewhat brightened as work really did take her mind off wandering too much. As she reached Crovan's Gate, James was on his way to Knapford already, whistling as he passed through the station. A small smile played around Sandy's lips before she took her train onwards to Vicarstown. She was looking forward to some better rest this night than it had been previously, but also wanted to talk to James some more. There's still so much she wanted to tell him, but couldn't quite find the words for. Deep in thought once more, she nearly overshot the platform, but was managing to come to a stop in time for the passengers to still be able to disembark the train. It was also now that her crew told her she would be staying at Knapford sheds that night which made her wonder what she would be doing there alone, apart from the fact she would probably get some undisturbed sleep. After being turned around and having taken on water, the guard came running towards her, carrying something under his arm. He told her crew to take this emergency parcel with them as it was of high importance. Sandy raised an eyebrow, but there was no more information for her or her crew other than the station master at Knapford was aware and knew who it was for.

After a smooth run despite a faulty signal at Crosby, Sandy arrived at the big station where Duck was already waiting to take her coaches away. The station master was there too to pick up the parcel she had brought with her, they were informed it was a new wool coat for Sir Topham Hatt in preparation for the upcoming winter as his old one was already quite worn at this point. She then made her way towards the sheds where she was surprised to see James already sitting in a berth.

"So are you the reason I was ordered to stay here?", she questioned him.

"Well, yes… You see, I wanted to know if all this is serious or not. I really enjoyed your company two nights ago and wanted to talk to you about it," James replied, a little insecure.

Sandy had been backed into the berth next to James in the meantime. The red engine's crew signalled her crew to come over to them. They explained what their engine had planned and they needed their help for it too. Georg and Franz looked at each other, scratching their heads but agreeing. They walked back to their engine to stay ready when they were needed.

"So, uh… first of all, thank you for coming here. I am happy to see you're much better than you were today in the morning. The reason I asked to have you here tonight is I really enjoyed last time we've been here and I wanted to sort of continue from there," James explained with a slightly shaking voice.

This was the cue for his crew to turn him around and face Sandy which also indicated for her crew to back her further into the berth until she was resting at the buffers in the back.

Slowly coming up to her, he continued, "I know you had a rough past from what you have told me and I'm aware it is not easy to gain your trust, but I hope I am trustworthy for you. After all, you did open up to me a little bit last time we were alone. I truly care about you and really hope you're not thinking about me in a negative way anymore."

Sandy listened intently before slowly coming up with a reply, "You can be quite vain, yes. Hell, even I don't always have good days, as does everyone else but you have also shown a different side, a much more gentle and loving side. I really appreciate your honesty and, truth be told, I want to see more of that," she paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing, "The rose you have given me, nobody has ever done anything like that for me. I know the meaning of this small yet expressive gift and, being an old romantic, I really love it. Especially after it still seems to hold up pretty well which is very unusual after the weather I went through yesterday."

By this time, James had gotten so close their noses were almost touching. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, smiling at each other and enjoying the moment in peace. James knew it was now or never that he had to try and see if she was ready for more or if she still needed time. Sandy, now clearly aware of his intentions, couldn't back away anymore, even if she wanted to. But did she actually want to get out of this situation? She parted her lips slightly, her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes, blushing. This was all it took for James to close the gap between them, softly touching his lips to hers. It felt like electric bolts shooting through him, even more intense than that first time it had happened by accident. Sandy's frames felt like they were vibrating, a warmth spreading across her she had been secretly longing for. Her breath became uneven as she suddenly felt the tip of his tongue against hers, begging to deepen the kiss. She slowly gave in to his plea, shuddering at the intensity.

After a while that felt like an eternity, James drew back, his face as red as his boiler. Sandy softly bit her bottom lip, savouring the taste. Yes, she could get used to that, even wanting more of it. They both needed a couple minutes to regain their composure, their minds still dazed.

Sandy was the first to speak up, barely a whisper, "Please… never ever take advantage of me. I have been shortchanged so many times I don't think I could bear it again."

"Ohh dear, I would never think of anything like that. Please rest assured I only have good intentions. I have been hurt in the past too, you know, not by an engine, but by humans that meant a lot to me," James explained calmly.

"Danke… I guess time will tell where this will lead us. But for now, I think we could continue where we left off before?", she bravely suggested, a slightly sultry look on her face.

Quite surprised and blushing even more, James stammered, "A- are you sure? I mean I didn't want to come off as too forceful tonight, I rather take it slow and build…"

"Shh… bitte…" Sandy whispered, interrupting him mid-sentence.

'Oh god, what have I gotten myself into? I wanted to take it slow so as not to scare her away and now she's the one to take the lead… damn those soft approaches! If she wants it, she can have it. Hell, she can have everything from me by now…' his thoughts ran wild.

Without a second thought, James went for a more passionate kiss this time, pushing Sandy into the buffers at the back of the shed. She let out a sharp gasp which he used the chance to push his tongue into her mouth a little more violently.

'Gott im Himmel, was passiert hier mit mir?' Sandy's thoughts raced, trying to grasp what was happening.

She was aware she didn't have feelings as strong as they were for James before, he brought something in her to the surface she didn't know about until now. He made her feel as if she was in heaven, but it also scared her slightly. She was still afraid to get hurt again, afraid to have her heart broken once more as the stronger the love was, the harder the heartbreak resulted to be. Though soon she was drawn back into reality by James gently nipping her bottom lip before entwining his tongue with hers again. Sandy moaned into the kiss softly, expressing how much she enjoyed it. Suddenly, steam shot from her cylinders, making her blush furiously and engulfing them in a cloud. Apparently her driver had forgotten to shut her priming cocks and regulator properly which now had resulted in this little mishap as their make-out session had caused the steam pressure to rise enough to have an effect on her.

She quickly parted with James, muttering, "S- sorry… this hasn't happened before…"

He swallowed and blinked a few times in disbelief, "You mean…?"

"Ja…" came her response after a moment of silence as she ashamedly lowered her gaze.

James looked at her, smiling gently, a soft blush still on his cheeks, "But why didn't you tell me? I wouldn't have gone that far if I had known before."

"It's okay, really, it had to happen at some point. And, truth be told, I rather prefer someone who is honest and… means something to me," she whispered, smiling at him.

"My god, you are so pure and sweet! I wish I could've met you earlier in life already, would've given us a lot more time to spend together," James replied longingly.

"We are steam locomotives, we have all the time in the world, maybe even eternity if we're well cared for," Sandy pointed out, followed by a yawn, "And I think we should get some sleep now, it may already be rather late. Besides, our crews really need to sleep too, even more than we do."

James agreed and so did their crews. They prepared them for the night, locking their brakes in place so they could exchange some more affectionateness should they feel like it. Since neither drivers nor firemen had ever experienced anything of the sort before, they were rather bemused but shrugged it off as they left for their accommodations. Sandy and James sat there, only the moonlight illuminating their shapes. They whispered their good-nights and shared one last kiss before they fell asleep, exhausted but happy.