A/N: Dear readers, this is the last chapter of the current fic. I really enjoyed to write this story because I learned many things thanks to the investigations I made, and I also realized that you can never take for granted how many chapters a fic will have or what things each one will include, since ideas come to the mind while they are being written. When I decided to write this story I only thought of a maximum of three chapters, but this is the time when I am surprised to see that it has ten, and I feel happy about that.

But I must also say that not everything was a bed of roses, since there was something I did not like to write at all: the other side of Emily. It was really frustrating not to be able to ignore certain episodes that we all hate, but my consolation is that it was not my fault that the writers have portrayed Emily totally out of character at that era... Even so, I apologize to the readers who were left with a bad taste in their mouth after reading certain events of this fic. Fortunately, Brenner (the true Angel of the Engines) brought us back the sweet Emily we all love.

Thank you all for having supported this fic!

Guest 4: I love to read your beautiful comments and I am honoured to know that you enjoy my stories. Thanks for being a loyal reader.

See you in the next fic. :)

CHAPTER X (Final)

HOME AT LAST

"From now on, she'll stay at Tidmouth Sheds." -Sir Topham Hatt (CAE)

The first time she saw Tidmouth Sheds when she was new on Sodor she had been delighted with the home of her dearest friends. And it is supposed that she should be even more delighted now, since the building looked beautiful with its new paint and even seemed larger than before. But Emily was sad. Very sad, indeed.

Emily and her friends were in front of the sheds, watching them from the other side of the turntable while Sir Topham Hatt inspected the building with a satisfied smile.

The building of Tidmouth Sheds had just been rebuilt after it was totally demolished a few weeks earlier. The engines did not know why Sir Topham Hatt had taken such a drastic decision, as the previous building had no problem. But they knew that their boss only did what it was convenient for the railway and its engines, so they were all now happy with their new home.

All of them, except Emily. She only sighed sadly.

The previous days had been very hard for the engines. In addition to having to find other places to sleep while the sheds were rebuilt, they had to endure a pitched battle against the diesel engines...

Summer was coming close and an airport was being built in Sodor to attract more tourists to the island. Sir Topham Hatt assigned tasks to all his engines, but the steam engines did not want to work along with the diesels and vice versa, so the confrontations between them began. And things only got worse when a storm wreaked havoc on the island and the engines were forced to work harder so everything was ready for summer. The confrontations became so hard that repairs were delayed instead of advancing, to the point where Sir Topham Hatt announced that the island probably could not receive tourists that summer. The engines shuddered at the news and they knew that they were to blame for the delays, but it was impossible for them to work properly while fighting with each other.

Thomas in particular was very concerned about the situation, and that left him so stressed that while sleeping his whistle blew involuntarily in an attempt to release tension. And since he spent the nights at Knapford Sheds during those days, poor Emily could not sleep because of his whistles... This caused Emily to be angry with him instead of enjoying his company. But deep down, Emily was worried about his well-being, because she came to understand that this behavior of him was the result of the stress he was suffering.

One of those nights, when things were worse than ever, Lady appeared in a dream to Thomas and told him what to do in order to stop the confrontations with the diesels engines: forget their differences and work together as a real team. That angelic advice made Thomas completely change his attitude towards the diesels. So, with the help from Mavis; the beautiful female diesel engine, Thomas called all the engines to a meeting and told them about Lady's plan. As a result, the battle was over and everyone worked together happily. The damages were repaired and the island could be ready just in time to receive the tourists.

And of course, the rebuilding of the Tidmouth sheds could continue. Thomas was more relaxed and Emily enjoyed his company at Knapford during the following nights.

Now, the engines finally had their home rebuilt and they could return to it.

And that was precisely the reason for Emily's sadness.

It was not that Emily wanted her friends to keep sleeping in different places and suffering discomforts, but she felt sad because now Thomas would no longer spend the nights with her at Knapford. "I'm going to miss you, my cute little brother," she thought, looking at Thomas, "but I know this is your place and I'm no one to stop you coming back here."

Emily sighed on seeing Thomas so happy. Then she took one last look at the sheds before returning to Knapford. The new building really seemed larger than before, and it looked splendid with the sunset's reddish clouds as background.

Emily was about to leave when Percy caught everyone's attention.

"There's an extra space!" exclaimed the little Nº 6.

And it was true. The building not only looked larger, but it was really larger. It had now seven sheds instead of six. Everyone was surprised, wondering who this extra place would be for. Then Sir Topham Hatt uttered a few words that not only answered their question but made their boilers bubble of happiness...

"The other space IS FOR EMILY. From now on, she'll stay at Tidmouth Sheds."

"WOW!" screamed Emily and burst into tears. She could barely believe what her controller had said.

The engines blew their whistles with all their strength and they also shed tears of emotion. Sir Topham Hatt caringly looked at all of them, especially at Emily.

After a few noisy seconds of celebration, Emily managed to speak. "Sir...," she said in a breathy voice, "was that why you commanded to do the building larger... so that I could move to here?"

Sir Topham Hatt smiled at her. "Yes, Emily," he replied as he walked towards her. "When I heard about the emotional tribute that your friends made to you I was left pleasantly surprised, for I never imagined that they loved you so much. So I decided that you should be here with them."

"But... it must have cost... a lot of money..."

"That's right; it really cost a lot of money. But for me, the happiness of my engines is priceless." Sir Topham Hatt placed a hand on Emily's buffer. "I hope you'll be very happy in your new home, Emily," he said. "You deserve it."

"Thank you, sir... thank you...," Emily could barely speak, "you are a wonderful person... I... I..." Emily could not continue. She closed her eyes and wept again. Her soul was full of happiness. Her greatest dream had come true.

As Emily stopped crying, Henry called her sweetly. "Emily… precious," said the Nº 3, "come into your shed... Allow us to see you there."

Emily smiled between her tears. "Okay," she replied and puffed onto the turntable. As she reversed to her shed, Sir Topham Hatt's words were rolling around in her mind, "The other space is for Emily... From now on, she'll stay at Tidmouth Sheds..." Emily felt that those words had just marked a before and an after in her life.

When Emily stopped at the door of her shed, the engines and Sir Topham Hatt looked at her tenderly.

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" shouted Thomas.

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" replied everyone.

Emily could not believe what was happening. She smiled widely as her friends cheered at her. She had never felt so happy. "My dears," she said afterward, "come here with me… I have something to say."

One by one, the engines entered their sheds under the sweet gaze of Emily. Then, Emily looked up at the sky and made a touching prayer…

"Oh, Angel of the Engines… This is a moment which I never thought would come; the moment of moving into Tidmouth Sheds to live with my beloved friends… They had asked you for a female steam engine, and I feel very blessed to have been the answer to their prayer... My heart is simply full of gratitude for everything I had the privilege to live… Please tell sir Patrick Stirling that I thank him for having designed me... Tell his brother James that I thank him for having received me so kindly when I was born, and that I always remember both of them with affection… Oh, Lady… I thank you very much for sending me here... and I ask you to help me to overcome my defects in order to be a really useful engine for my controller and a good sister for my friends... Amen."

"AMEN!"

At that moment, a shooting star crossed the sky leaving behind a trail of golden dust, and all the engines smiled between tears before the vision. And Sir Topham Hatt too.

Emily's life could not be better. While her friends addressed words of fondness to her, she thanked Heaven for each of them.

That night was one of the most beautiful at Tidmouth Sheds.

The flower was in her garden.

The queen was on her throne.

Sodor's precious jewel was at home.

...

THE END

...

Songs used in the fic:

"Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" (Silent Night) - Joseph Mohr, Franz Xaver Gruber

"O Tannenbaum" (O Christmas Tree) - Ernst Anschütz

"Wiegenlied" (Lullaby) - Johannes Brahms

"There's No One Quite Like Emily" - Ed Welch, Robert Hartshorne

"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" - Ernest Ball, Chauncey Olcott, George Graff Jr.

Instrumental musics:

"Brian Boru's March" - Traditional Irish tune

"Waltz of the Flowers" - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky