A/N Sophie's the one sad this time because of her granddad, but Linus offers comforting words.
One day, Linus was about to pull a train from one end of the main line to the other and there was Sophie, waiting with her parents, her extremely hyperactive little brother Patrick and Imogen, who was a toddler, but Sophie called her baby sister.
"Linus," she said sadly. "My granddad's dying." and her eyes grew moist with tears, so she pulled out her handkerchief.
Linus said, smiling sympathetically, "Cry, Sophie. Let it all out. Here with me's a safe place to wipe your eyes, if you want."
Sophie, dabbing her eyes, said, "I-I'm n-not a-afraid o-of e-emotion, b-but I-I cr-cry s-so m-much. I-I'm a-a s-sensitive s-soul, d-deeply f-feeling.". She wiped her nose, then went back to dabbing at her tears. "I-I've g-got s-several h-hankies p-packed, f-for dr-drying t-tears. I-I k-know I-I sh-shall sh-shed a-a gr-great m-many.", then boarded the train.
Sophie and Patrick sat in front of their parents and Imogen. Patrick, constantly moving, cried with his sister and wiped his tears. Even Imogen cried, joining her siblings, so their mother wiped the little girl's eyes.
Sophie and her family climbed off the train at Tidmouth, the children's father holding Patrick's hand with their mother carrying Imogen on her hip. The children saw their grandmother, sobbing into her hanky. Sophie thought, You and me both, Grandmum and wiped under her eyes, red and swollen from crying on the train. Sophie's family would be with Grandmum and dying Granddad during the day, but spend the night at the inn. After his funeral service, they were going back home.
At the inn, Sophie said, "It was a 5 hanky day for me. I shall miss Granddad dreadfully, but the vicar at home said he's going to heaven.".
After the funeral, which Sophie spent crying into her favorite hanky, her family went back home on Linus's train. The girl said, "Linus, I dreadfully miss Granddad. I've got no tears left in my body, so I feel. I'm an emotional wreck, due to my grief. I hurt in my heart."
Linus said, "It's okay to feel like that, Sophie. I was broken-hearted when I lost my engineer." He shed a big tear, which his driver saw and wiped with his sleeve. "That's how drivers handle a single tear. My engine friends, like Thomas, give me a buffer press, an engine hug when I'm unhappy around them and they're in steam."
Sophie and her family boarded the train and then got back home and settled in once more after their journey. Sophie knew Linus was a friend she could cry to, if her human friends were too busy and she wanted someone to comfort her. There's nothing better than a good cry when I'm unhappy, she thought. Gulping, heartfelt sobs leave me with a sodden handkerchief these days, but I feel better, so it's worth it.
As the day passed, Sophie recovered as much as she could from her grief. Her friends, new and old helped her through. Linus, her newest friend, could use his grief over his engineer/driver Henry, to understand how she felt. Engines like Edward, if they had grief, ever, like old crew dying or their siblings being scrapped, also could be supportive in their way. Her family and human friends could do things her engine friends were unable to, but she appreciated any understanding and compassion offered.
A/N Imogen's a budding empath perhaps, crying when her older siblings do like Prim with Katniss in The Hunger Games. Respect my Thomasverse. The inspiration for this chapter was just a mish-mash of things.