A/N This is the first request, so if it's not quite my typical Autumn thing, many ideas are from the guest who used a review to make their request. Autumn's about to turn 10. Some stuff I'm uncertain of, like how long unloading a moving van takes, so I time hop. When I was one grade younger than Autumn, I believe the new girl, Ashley started on the first day, so Sawyer follows that. My school when I was that young's (~9, that is) in a town near me, with different neighborhoods covered by the same school due to being a village school.

Autumn was about to start a new school year. We're in fifth grade this year, she thought, referring to her and her 2 friends she saw only at school because her neighborhood wasn't theirs, along with the rest of her class. She looked out the window and saw a moving van come down the street. She then went outside and saw a car with a New Jersey plate, then watched as the van and car went down to a house that had been for sale that summer. In the time to come, Autumn watched the moving in and saw the new girl's bike unloaded. The bike told her the new family had a girl in it. I wonder if she might be in my class, she thought. The size of her bike indicates we might be the same age. When the moving van was all unloaded was the day before school began.

Autumn woke up the next morning to have breakfast. She grabbed her backpack and her Thomas lunchbox and got ready for school, then the school bus came, Autumn gave her parents a kiss and hug goodbye and hopped on the school bus.

When she arrived to the class with all the kids, their teacher, Mrs. Philmore told them, There's a new student named Sawyer who'll be joining our class.". Sawyer, the new girl with bright red hair with two ponytail braids, white shirt with a rainbow on it, a dark pink skirt, and light pink under her skirt came in. Mrs. Philmore asked Autumn, "Can you show her around the school?", indicating she meant the new girl.

Autumn wasn't sure but said "Yes.".

Autumn showed Sawyer around school, then there some kids came by in the hallway somewhere and teased Autumn about Thomas the Tank Engine,saying mean things. Autumn covered her ears, frozen and then started to cry after her freezing passed.

Sawyer wasn't happy to see this, so she stood up to the kids and told them to leave her alone or she will tell the school principal and her teacher, and the kids did and they left without a word. Sawyer comforted Autumn, saying, " There, there. Don't listen to them. It's okay to cry if those mean kids hurt you, though. I'm a Thomas fan myself. I can listen if you want to talk."

Autumn wiped her tears with her hanky as her new friend comforted her. "I-I h-hate st-stuffy n-noses," she said, loudly blowing her nose in her hanky. "I-I've b-been c-called au-autistic b-but d-don't kn-know wh-what i-it i-is. I-I h-hate k-kids b-being m-mean t-to m-me."

Sawyer said, "Me, too, on being autistic. I don't like tissues for sensory reasons, so I always have a handkerchief in case I need to wipe away my tears or blow my nose."

"I-It's a-a b-backup f-for m-me t-to h-have m-my h-hanky, f-for wh-when th-there's n-no t-tissue, a-at l-least n-not s-sandpaper. I-I o-only l-like s-soft t-tissues," Autumn said, crying into her hanky.

Sawyer said, "I'm not annoyed or frustrated with you, but I'm distressed by how much you hurt. Cry it out, as I don't mind if you need to let tears fall like rain. It's your right to cry your eyes out if you're hurt."

Autumn's tears slowed to a stop and she dried her last tears from her red face and eyes, the latter sore and swollen from her weeping. She loudly blew her nose and put her wet hanky away.

Autumn smiled and thanked Sawyer for standing up to the mean kids and comforting her. Then Autumn asked Sawyer if she wanted to be her friend.

Sawyer said, "Yes."

Autumn was happy, now she found a new friend to play with.

Sawyer said, "I like it when others are happy. I'm extremely sensitive to the world around me. I'm also an imaginative and creative girl."

Before time to go home, Autumn thanked Sawyer for everything but Sawyer thanked her for being a good classmate and after saying goodbyes they went home. Sawyer thought, I like Autumn, because she loves Thomas.

When Autumn arrived home, she told her parents that, "I made a new friend named Sawyer, and Sawyer stopped the bullies from picking on me.". Her parents were happy that Autumn found a new friend. At dinner, Autumn's father ordered the pizza and they had to wait for twenty minutes. While Autumn was waiting for the pizza, she decided to go to Sodor.

When she arrived, she found Thomas at the washdown to clean up.

Autumn said, "Hi, Thomas."

Thomas said, "Hi, Autumn.".

Autumn explained to Thomas, "My new friend Sawyer, stood up to the bullies, and we became great friends. She's your fan, just like me."

Thomas said, "I'm glad to see you have a new friend."

Autumn said, "Yes, now I won't be lonely anymore. Sometimes, I've been getting lonely because my 2 friends don't live in my neighborhood, so I mostly see them at school. Maybe I'll ask my parents if Sawyer can come over to my house to play, or maybe Sawyer can ask her family if I can come over to play."

After Thomas was clean, Autumn hugged her friend.

Autumn and Thomas talked a long time until the sun was setting.

Autumn said, "Oh, I have to go home now to have dinner. I'll see you tomorrow, to you."

Thomas said, "Bye."

Autumn said, "Bye, see you tomorrow." She gave her friend a hug and left, hearing his whistle as she left.

After she left, she arrived home just in time when the pizza came.

After dinner, Autumn brushed her teeth and took a bubble bath, during which she went back to Sodor. She looked at her Thomas toy, which she had taken to the bathroom for this purpose and floated away.

Autumn arrived and saw Thomas. She heard a diesel who was there say "I thought all the E2s were scrapped and here I found the one that survived. They deserved to be scrapped." and the diesel listed all the reasons why they were so scrap-worthy and that his driver told him this. She ran to her friend.

Thomas began to cry at the mean diesel's words, wailing his broken heart out, grieving his siblings all over again. His face was wet with tears and he was unable to speak due to wailing sobs and sniffles.

Thomas's driver knew Thomas was unhappy and comforted the tank engine. "There, there, Thomas," he said, taking a cloth from his pocket and drying his engine's tears. "Let it all out. Go ahead and cry." He tuned into his engine, to pick up his values and be attentive to his cues, as he rubbed the tank engine's cheeks and pressed the cloth to his eyes, letting him sob into it.

Autumn was overwhelmed with empathy for her friend as he wailed. She thought, It's just like when he lost his siblings and I wiped his eyeballs, like his driver now. I dried my eyeballs when those kids were mean to me and I soaked my hanky, wiping all my tears away as best I could. She said, "Thomas, it's so sad for me to see you in pain now, but I'm glad you've got your driver to comfort you."

Thomas let another wailing sob out, fresh tears filling his eyes. He was sniffling hard, coughing, choking on his tears and hiccupping. He gasped and gulped, shaking as his tears came, not once stopping and allowed his driver's comfort.

He said, as he continued to wipe the tears away, " No judgment from me, just care and compassion as you weep. Cry it out, as I'm here for you, not to fix your mood, but to dry your eyes.". He wiped all his engine's tears away as best he could.

Thomas cried and wailed, huge water droplets constantly pouring from his eyes until he could cry no more. His driver dried his engine's last tears away, wiping his face and eyes dry of tears. Thomas, though his sore, swollen eyes and face were red from his cry, he smiled, feeling better. Autumn hugged his face after his driver went back to the cab with the sodden cloth.

"I'm making my rounds now. That cloth is like your hanky, in a way, because it's for when your driver dries your tears." Autumn said and Thomas agreed with her about his crying cloth. She made her rounds and then went back to Thomas.

"Good-bye, Thomas," Autumn said and hugged him.

Thomas said, "Bye.", and Autumn left as he whistled.

Autumn's bath was over, so she went on with her bedtime routine.

Autumn's mother read her a bedtime story. Autumn asked her if she can invite Sawyer to come over to play.

Autumn's mother said, "Yes if that's okay with Sawyer's parents." Then, she kissed her daughter on the forehead goodnight and Autumn fell asleep with her Thomas plush doll.

A/N Sawyer's not anything to do with LGBTQ or anything in my head-canon, just a girl who likes rainbows. There's a link between liking TTTE and being on the spectrum, so I made Sawyer have Asperger's type autism, like Autumn.