ROSIE IS RED

Based upon the episode by Davey Moore

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

While Percy was away in China, the engines were taking it in turns to take the mail train in his place. Tonight, it was Nia who was delivering the mail across the Island of Sodor.

"Oh, wow," she said quietly. "Sodor looks beautiful at night."

One of Nia's last stops was at Vicarstown station. The sun was starting to rise over Sodor, and the orange tank engine saw Rosie shunting.

"Good morning, Nia!" the red tank engine called with a blow of her whistle.

"Hello, Rosie," smiled Nia. "Taking the mail was a nice change."

"Oh, I've done that before too," said Rosie. "Say, Nia, do you know what day it is today?"

"No, what?"

"It's Valentine's Day!" explained Rosie. "It's a day where people send cards or parcels or other gifts to the ones they love."

"Oh, yes!" Nia exclaimed. "That's why there's a surplus of mail tonight." She chuckled. "It's a bit silly to reserve it all on one day though. I mean, I hear Duck and Tasha send letters all the time to each other. Duck had his driver post one last night."

"Ah, yes, they've been in a long distance relationship for years," Rosie smiled. "A fair number of engines have been in relationships on Sodor too. Take me and Stanley, for instance."

"You and Stanley?" asked Nia. "I know Rebecca's got feelings for Gordon, but I… don't really feel that way about anyone."

"Then why are you blushing?" Rosie asked innocently.

"Er… it's hot tonight?"

"It's February, Nia; you know you can't hide how you feel about Henry."

"Oh!" Nia flushed with embarrassment. "Okay… maybe I do like him. B-but he probably won't feel that way about me."

"You never know until you try," said Rosie. "Besides… Stanley and I wouldn't be together now if either of us didn't act up on our feelings last year."

Nia was growing curious about how Rosie and Stanley got together. "How did it happen?"

"Well, it was exactly one year ago, a couple of months before Thomas found you by accident in Africa… "

Past

I was making a trip down to Brendam docks as Porter had recently gotten involved in an accident. "Something about 'flour power'," Sir Topham Hatt had said. Don't ask me what that was about. Cranky accidentally dropping a bag of flour or something? I don't know.

"Argh, thanks fer helpin' me out here, Rosie," Salty smiled.

"I'm just glad I could help out," I said; years ago, I'd have resented working alongside Salty. My class had been superseded by his at Southampton docks, and I'm one of five survivors out of my siblings who've worked in the United Kingdom…

But I digress. As Cranky was helping load some cargo into my trucks, I was surprised to see Thomas heading to the docks.

"Thomas?" I blinked. "I thought the Ffarquhar branch was short staffed."

"Well," said Thomas, "long story short; Tasha's on the railway for Valentine's Day and was spending time with Duck, so Daisy decided to rejoin the Ffarquhar branch for a few days. Then Porter was out of commission, so…"

"Yes, there were originally going to be three of us until that happened," I said. "But it is good to see you, Thomas."

"As it is to see you," replied Thomas. Much like I did to Salty, Thomas resented me because my own siblings had superseded Thomas' at Southampton. However, all of Thomas' siblings were scrapped. I couldn't imagine just how grief stricken Thomas would have been to hear that… but now, we are good friends.

"We've also been missing you on the Ffarquhar branch," Thomas went on. "Mavis found your help at the quarry fantastic, and I do like looking out at the sea with you, Percy and Toby."

"I've been missing it too," I admitted. "But working at Vicarstown… Well, I feel like it's made me rise to my full potential. Why, just yesterday…"

As Thomas and I were chatting away, we both heard two high pitched whistles.

"…I was able to shunt some heritage coaches for Neville to take on a railfan excursion."

"Oh, wow!" Thomas smiled. "When he comes back, do give him a hello from me."

The two of us smiled broadly, and without us realizing what was going on, Bill and Ben were looking on from the other side of the docks.

"What is Thomas doing here at the docks?" asked Bill. "Isn't the Ffarquhar branch low on engines?"

"That's what Edward said," Ben replied. "And… Rosie's also been asked to help with the dock work."

At that moment, Cranky was unloading some crates of roses onto some trucks. However, the crate wasn't attached to his hook properly, and the lid slipped open.

"Uh oh…!" he cried.

The petals flew everywhere, completely covering Thomas and myself. However, despite, or perhaps because of, our crews frantically trying to brush the petals off of themselves, Thomas and I found ourselves in a massive giggling fit. Unfortunately, there couldn't have been worse possible timing.

"Do you see that, Ben?!" cried Bill.

"I do, Bill!" cried his twin. "It seems Thomas had come here to get closer to Rosie."

"What?!" we both cried at once.

"That's not what's going on!" Thomas tried to explain.

"We'd better find Emily at once," said Bill, and both of them sped right out of the docks.

"Oh, by Brighton's name," grunted Thomas. "They've really done it now!"

"I don't think I want to see Emily right now," I agreed.

"I think we'd better either stop them, or tell Emily about this before this escalates," Thomas said firmly. Still covered in rose petals, Thomas raced off with some trucks to take to Wellsworth.

But it was already too late.

"Th-this isn't possible…" stammered Emily. "M-my Thomas would never…"

"Oh, we saw it with our very own eyes," said Ben. "They were covered in rose petals!"

"And they were giggling together when they realized what happened," added Bill. "As engines, you can't get more lovey-dovey than that."

"How could he?" sobbed Emily, rushing away. Stanley was in the yards when he overheard the conversation, so he came over to speak with the twins.

"Last I checked," said Stanley, "Rosie and Thomas seemed to be more like siblings than a romantic couple. And why on earth would Thomas cheat on Emily?"

"Er…"

"Well…" Truth be told, Bill and Ben had no clue as to why Thomas would do such a thing. What they'd done was take what they saw with the two of us and came to a false conclusion.

Stanley sighed. "Look, you two; I admit your hearts were in the right place. But I just don't know what kind of effect this will have on the three engines."

Meanwhile, Thomas and I were trying to find Emily together to talk things out, but no matter where we looked, she didn't seem to be anywhere.

"It can't be that hard to find her," I noted. "Among the green engines, her emerald paint makes her easy to spot."

"I hope we can find her," sighed Thomas. "Oh, darn that Bill and Ben! How dare they ruin my relationship with her!" In hindsight, they didn't mean any harm, but you can imagine just how cross Thomas must have been right then and there.

"Thomas! Rosie! Am I glad to see the both of you!" We both looked over to see Sir Topham Hatt addressing us.

"Er, what do you need us for, sir?" asked Thomas.

"You're to pick up some very important passengers and trucks and take them to Ulfstead Castle," he explained.

"Sir, we're trying to find Emily to–"

"Thomas, you can talk to Emily later," interrupted Sir Topham Hatt. "This is urgent."

"Don't think we don't have urgent things to do either!" I cried. "There's been a–"

But Sir Topham Hatt had driven away.

"…huge misunderstanding…" I groaned. "Well, that's just great. Sir Topham Hatt chose whatever errand he had over this." I swear, there were times I wished Sir Topham Hatt would get a boot to the head for his obviousness.

"Okay, new plan," said Thomas. "We split up. You try on the eastern side of the island, and I'll try the west. Meet back here in half an hour or so."

"You got it, Thomas," I said.

But it wasn't either of us who found Emily. Stanley was helping Lexi down at the airport at Cronk when he found Emily picking up some passengers in Martha, Julian and Gladys.

"Emily, thank goodness I found you," sighed Stanley. "I overheard what Bill and Ben were saying earlier."

"So you heard that Thomas was cheating on me?" growled Emily. "Well, I plan on giving Thomas and Rosie a piece of my mind when I see them this evening!"

"That's what Bill and Ben believed, but I don't," insisted Stanley. "You were very lucky to find an engine who loves you."

"He does have a point, Emily," said Gladys. "Remind me, how did you and Thomas get together in the first place?"

"He… never, ever gave up on me…" Emily sighed. "Not even when I went into that bossy phase. And I… never took advantage of his popularity or kindness. We just clicked…" She bit her lip. "When I heard he was with Rosie earlier, I…"

"Perhaps you should talk it out with Thomas and Rosie," suggested Stanley. "They are both good engines…" He sighed. "And good friends…"

"Are you alright, Stanley?" asked Martha. "You sound as if you're the one going through the wringer."

"I…" Stanley bit his lip. "It's nothing, really. What's important is that we find Thomas and Rosie so we can clear up this mess."

"That didn't sound like 'nothing' to me," muttered Julian. Regardless of her coaches' arguments, Emily and Stanley set off to find us.

"Any luck in finding Emily?" I asked Thomas when we met up again.

"No, I haven't found her at all," he said. "What about you?"

"Afraid not," I sighed. "I asked everyone I saw on the way. Some engines said I 'missed her by that much'."

Thomas sighed. "I hope we can fix this… My Em is the love of my life, and I don't want to lose her…"

"We will find her," I assured him. "Maybe she's up at Ulfstead Castle."

"That must be it," Thomas decided. "Emily loves the Valentine's Day decorations there."

"And we have some passengers and trucks to take up there," I pointed out. "I swear, if Sir Topham Hatt doesn't listen this time, I'm going to tear him a new one."

Well, I think I got more than I bargained for…

When we ultimately arrived at the station outside of Ulfstead Castle, Sir Topham Hatt was pacing the platform nervously.

"Ah, Rosie," he said. "Could you turn around on the loop, please? And Thomas, you come on the–"

"So you're behind this whole setup?!"

"Oh, cinders and ashes…" groaned Thomas. I couldn't blame him for being so nervous right there; when Emily's peeved, it's never a good sign.

"You tried to set up Thomas and Rosie so they'd come together and date, didn't you?!" scowled Emily. "Of all the scandalous things in this world, I never expected you to be behind it, Mr. Hatt!"

"Emily!" I snapped. "That is not what is happening! I would never make any attempt at stealing Thomas from you!"

"It was all a misunderstanding caused by some silly rumor," Thomas added. "And I can't believe you'd blame our own controller for such a scandal."

"Would somebody please explain to me what's happening?" asked Sir Topham Hatt. "There must be something there that I'm not understanding!"

"Thomas and I tried to tell you before," I sighed; by this point, I was feeling exasperated over the whole day. "We were trying to find Emily to clear up a misunderstanding that Bill and Ben suspected at Brendam docks. They assumed Thomas was cheating on Emily with me."

Sir Topham Hatt bit his lip, and put his hand to his head. "Ohh… I didn't realize it was that serious."

"Of course you didn't," muttered Martha. Emily, for once, didn't reprimand her coach, for she felt she had made a point.

"What really happened was that we were laughing because our crews were trying to dust off the rose petals that had gotten all over their suits," added Thomas. "We couldn't help ourselves because it looked so funny!"

"Funny to you, maybe," my driver said, "and I still think I've missed a petal or two in my hair!"

Emily felt a rush of shame wash over her. "I… I'm sorry…" she sighed. "You are so important to me, Thomas. And I shouldn't have felt these insecurities, or assumed the worst from you… I… I love you so much…"

"I love you too, Em," Thomas said quietly.

"And Rosie," added Emily, "you're still one of my best friends. I'm sorry I assumed you were making a move on Thomas."

"It's alright," I smiled, thinking back to when Emily, Mavis and I… Oh, I'm going off track there; sorry.

"Well, thank goodness that's been sorted out."

"Stanley?!" Thomas and I asked at once.

"Ah, yes," said Emily. "I'd almost forgotten that he'd come with me to sort things out."

"That's really nice of you, Stanley," I smiled. "Well, now the happy couple are together, maybe we should leave the two of them alone."

"Actually, Rosie, could you stay here a minute?" asked Sir Topham Hatt. "This is very important."

"Oh, yes, sir," I said; in the midst of this resolution, I'd forgotten that me and Thomas still had a task to do for Sir Topham Hatt. I went round the loop as Thomas and I came face to face. It did feel a bit awkward, especially because Thomas' girlfriend and my soon-to-be-boyfriend were standing there, but a string orchestra came out to play their instruments.

"So, Charles," said a female voice, "what was it you dragged me all the way here to…" Lady Amanda Hatt gasped as she heard the orchestra. "Oh, how beautiful!"

Sir Topham Hatt cleared his throat. "Rosie is red, Thomas is blue, and my darling Amanda, I love you." He opened a carrier he had with him, and out popped a little tabby kitten, which meowed.

"Aww!" cooed Amanda. "Hello, little darling."

"Is the cat a boy or a girl?" asked Emily, curiously.

"It's a girl," said Sir Topham Hatt. "What do you want to name her, my darling?"

"I'm thinking… Sprinkles," Amanda smiled. Sprinkles purred in Amanda's arms. And then, Sir Topham Hatt opened the box van. Inside was a new assortment of flowers. "Oh, Charles, you shouldn't have. But I love it, and I love you." She lovingly kissed her husband, as Sprinkles pawed playfully at the buttons on Sir Topham Hatt's coat.

"What a cheeky kitty," chuckled Thomas.

"Sounds like a certain tank engine I could name… Tommy," Emily playfully winked. Thomas' face went so red that I thought his safety valve would go off with excitement.

"I think it's time we left," I said to Stanley. Respectfully, the two of us puffed away. However, it didn't escape my notice that Stanley still had a lot weighing on his mind.

"Are you alright, Stanley?" I asked him.

Stanley sighed. "Well, Rosie… I just… you know how I can be a bit too… ambitious sometimes?"

I paused to think about this for a moment. "Yeah… I remember when you first arrived here. You saw how Thomas had his own branch line, and were striving to try and run the Great Waterton branch. But when you broke down…"

Stanley gave a sad look. "Yeah… I didn't end up becoming part of it. Don't get me wrong, I do like being a station pilot at Knapford. But… I sometimes feel as if I'm not really recognized for all the things I do."

I gave Stanley a smile. "I do. Stanley, without you at Knapford, many of the trains wouldn't leave on time. Even before I became Vicarstown's pilot, I knew you were very important to the railway's running."

Stanley's eyes widened in surprise. "You do?"

"Of course," I replied. "In fact… you were partly the reason I decided to go to Vicarstown. And I can safely say that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I've changed a lot for the better because you were here."

"Oh… er… thank you, Rosie." Stanley replied, looking at his buffers. "I've admired how you've been working at Vicarstown too. And on the Ffarquhar branch. The railway wouldn't be the same without you."

My eyes widened as I saw Stanley's face. It was as red as my paintwork, and he was giving me a bunch of compliments. I could only make one educated guess.

"You… are in love with me, aren't you?"

Stanley bit his lip and flushed an even deeper red. "I… I… o-okay, yes…" he sighed. "But if you don't feel the same way, I completely understand."

I let out a giggle. "I'm in love with you too. I guess I've been so busy getting into everyone else's romances that I… didn't think to focus on my own." I sighed. "I guess I've been a bit silly, huh?"

"We both have been," Stanley chuckled. "But let's make up for it, starting now. How about we pick up some passengers and take them to the Valentine's Day celebration at Knapford?"

"It's a deal."

Present

"…and so, we've been together ever since." Stanley finished explaining his side of the story to Rebecca at Knapford station.

"Aww!" Rebecca smiled. "That's the sweetest story I've ever heard… well, aside from Bill and Ben getting involved. They nearly tore Thomas and Emily apart."

"I know," sighed Stanley. "And Thomas, Emily, Rosie and I got a chance to speak to them afterwards. They were really sorry for the trouble they ended up causing, even if it was a misunderstanding. But… put it like this – if Bill and Ben had the slate cleared right away, Rosie and I wouldn't have helped Thomas and Emily reconcile or Rosie and I wouldn't have come together."

"That does make sense," said Rebecca. "Speaking of love… I wonder how Nia will go with admitting her feelings for Henry." She giggled. "Oh, it's so cute whenever they go to the forest together."

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with your own crush?" joked Stanley. "I heard something about you and another express engine–"

Rebecca immediately felt flustered. Thankfully, she heard the guard's whistle. "Er… I think it's time for me to get going. Bye, Stanley, and thanks for the story."

Stanley just chuckled as he watched the yellow engine steam away. "Someday, Rebecca. Someday…"

THE END

Author's Comments

Our second Valentine's Day story for the year, as well as the first standalone story for The International Railway Series! Rosie is Red is right up there in my personal top five for the most underrated episode of the original show's history (maybe top three), and I don't really understand the dislike the episode gets. I mean, it's not like children's media hasn't included romance since 1937 (maybe earlier), so why is it an issue when Thomas and Rosie agree that they're better off friends? It has a strong message that anyone can relate to regardless of age, and it's one of twenty episodes throughout the show's history that I feel defines the spirit of what made Thomas good to begin with. Moving on from that (and to avoid this rant from going on any longer), this rewrite did change up quite a lot from the original episode, more than what I had originally intended! It was, however, nice to give Stanley a more active role (it's also a partial spoiler for a rewrite on The Great Discovery, as well as Journey Beyond Sodor) as we hadn't done much with him up to that point. I plan to do more with Stanley as we get to Between the Lines: Set 3 later in the year.

Next time, Percy makes his comeback to Sodor in Yong Bao and the Tiger!