A/N: Alright, back with another rewrite, set in 1998 or 3 years after the events of Love Me Southern Roots! Heads up, if you've read A Journey of Finding Love and Home before LMSR, the events here and that story are not interconnected; this two-part story is a different AU. Any OCs that appear are owned by me, unless stated otherwise. Also, shout out to Emerald Omen for beta reading this once again!


It's a cool, Autumn morning on the Island of Sodor, and Thomas and Rebecca have been together for three years now. During this time, the Southern pair have been through everything, easy and difficult, happy and sad. In this peak season, Sodor is expected to have a lot of tourists coming for Christmas. Passengers bustling about the cities and countryside across the island, and cargo shipments going back and forth from the various ports to anywhere in Europe. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for this year.

When Sir Topham announced his retirement earlier in the year, everyone was dumbstruck. He had been the controller of the North Western Railway for almost four decades and no one could ever replace him, but he was at the mercy of father time and he didn't want to die while being the controller so he retired. The new controller – Timothy Wilkins, never took into consideration the rich past of Sodor's history into managing the railway. He was competent at his job – being a former administrator on the Mid-Hants Railway, however he could never match even half of Sir Topham's production. He wanted to turn the NWR into a heritage tourist line like the Mid-Hants, instead of running like a conventional revenue-making railroad in order to minimize losses incurred by operating expensive steam and diesel engines and making little profit out of them.

As a result of this new arrangement, the engines and crews' opinion on Mr. Wilkins was bitter, to say the least. Tourist numbers plummeted by around twenty percent, which had only been amplified with the fact there was no snowfall this year; businesses slowed down due to lack of clients and the public morale of the locals diminished. Some left the island altogether to search for greener pastures, whether it was people or engines. To add insult to injury, the newly-elected mayor of Sodor supported the idea of the NWR being a fully tourist line, which only upset the engines and crews even further.

At Tidmouth sheds, Thomas, Rebecca, Donald, Nia, Mavis, and Percy came together to discuss their situation. They were the ones who are staying at Tidmouth after most of the main line crew such as Gordon, Henry, James, among others, have left the island. There were also other engines scattered around the island sparingly – only about 25 engines remained, including 4 from the original Steam Team. Those members were the aforementioned Thomas and Percy; Toby, who was in Ffarquhar; and Emily over at Crovan's Gate.

"Sodor has never been the same without The Fat Controller in the helm." Donald started. The other engines nodded in agreement; Sir Topham's style of leadership was something that cannot be taught to anyone and there would never be another one like him.

"Yeah, and now that Henry's left, we don't have an express freight engine anymore." Mavis added.

"It's all coming to an end. Sodor is in its downfall." Nia sighed. So far, no one had an idea how to solve this problem. There are only two possible ways to their dilemma: first, they try to talk some sense into Mr. Wilkins about running the railway or second, leave Sodor in search for a new home somewhere. The older engines didn't want to take the latter route, so that leaves talking to their new controller their only option.

"I think leaving Sodor might be our best shot at getting over this shit." Percy suggested.

"Leave?! Are you nuts?" Mavis retorted, "I lived here more than 40 years and I ain't leaving Sodor."

"Count me in Mavis." Thomas chimed.

"Aye, me too." Donald also agreed.

Nia and Rebecca, being the newer engines on the island, were silent at the elder engines' comments. They knew better than to argue with them about what's the most feasible thing to do in their situation. After everyone had cooled down, they went about with their jobs, except for Thomas and Rebecca. The former was on the latter's track, face to face with each other, talking about whether or not they should leave.

"Are you sure you don't want us to leave?" the West Country engine looked at her lover. She had a pleading look in her face indicating that she doesn't want to be there anymore.

"You know Becca…" Thomas started, "I'm actually having second thoughts on whether or not we should leave Sodor. Call me selfish, but I'd rather be somewhere else than here." He also wanted to leave but he didn't say it aloud earlier knowing his friends would be disappointed that Sodor's Number One engine wants out.

"The reason I came here in the first place was to get out of the heritage line." Rebecca added, "Don't get me wrong, I loved the tourists, but pulling the same trains for months on end is boring."

"I know babe, we'll see how it goes in the next couple weeks as Wilkins has only been our controller for barely a month. When you really want to leave, I'll be right beside you in doing so." Thomas declared, giving his girlfriend a kiss in the lips. Rebecca melted when his lips met with hers; after three years as a couple, she still went head over wheels for the blue LBSC E2 tank engine.

Once they pulled out, Rebecca sighed lovingly at her special friend. "Whatever happens to us Tommy, I'll always love you to the end."

"I love you too Becca." Thomas replied, nuzzling her cheek.

. . .

Meanwhile, in the controller's office at Knapford station, Mr. Wilkins was in financial trouble and it was only his second month as the new controller. He had just got the news that Henry left the island the night before, further depleting the railway's fleet of engines. To add on to his problems, the railway's freight customers were protesting the removal of freight service from its system and the tourist operators that want to start business on Sodor had troubles with acquiring permits to operate.

He needed to do something to convince the engines not to leave but getting them to bite with his reputation as it is won't be easy. He simply can't bring in new engines otherwise the railway would be bankrupt and that would further complicate things. Slamming his fist on his desk, Mr. Wilkins made a call to the mayor about the permit issues. The mayor responded that the permits would be immediately granted so that the railway would get back on track as they envisioned it.

Once his phone call ended, he heard someone knocking on his door. "What is it?" One of his assistants came in, holding a clipboard.

"Sir, Rebecca is looking for you outside." she said.

"Oh..." Mr. Wilkins got out of his office to greet the yellow SR West Country engine. "Good day, Rebecca. What can I do for you?"

"If you don't mind me asking sir, but how exactly do you plan to run this railway?" she inquired. Mr. Wilkins smiled.

"You see Rebecca, I respect what Sir Topham did with this railway and the regular jobs you did. But me and my staff figured out that if we continue to operate like a regular railroad, we'll incur more losses, especially with maintenance to you steam engines." he said.

"So you're saying you're going to scrap us in favor of newer diesels?"

"Of course not!" Mr. Wilkins shook his head. He then explained how he would convert the NWR into a heritage line just like the Mid-Hants Railway and how the engines would mainly be pulling tourist trains.

"But what about all our freight contracts?" Rebecca pondered.

"I'm afraid that would be sold to trucking companies. No offense, but trucks can bring freight anywhere faster than trains." Mr. Wilkins said. Rebecca remained silent for a moment, taking in all the information her controller told her. "But if it makes you better, you'll still be the ones collecting coal and diesel fuel to power yourselves, as well as MOW equipment." he added.

"I see..." she simply said.

"Don't worry Rebecca. I'll see to it that no one of you guys would be scrapped, I promise." Rebecca nodded and puffed out of the station, wondering what to do in this predicament. She would have to take time and see how it goes with the new jobs first.


Over the next few weeks, the remaining engines did their usual jobs pulling excursion trains. Though tourists have once again returned for the holidays, it paled in volume compared to Sir Topham's final month as controller. It's already December and the engines expected to have loads of tourists coming to the island but instead, it felt like a ghost island. One day, Rebecca pulled in at Barrow feeling more down than usual; seeing the station glimmering with lights and Christmas decorations only amplified her sadness.

'When will I ever see Sodor as bright and festive as before?' she thought.

As Rebecca was having a refuel of coal and water, she couldn't help but think of Timothy Wilkins' personality. He wasn't an abusive controller, where he threatened the steamers to be scrapped in favor of diesels and electrics. Instead, he thought realistically and that the NWR would be more profitable if it were a heritage railway. He knew what he was trying to pull off but without getting a second opinion from his employees and engines, he stuck to what he believed in. The words 'heritage railway' were the reason the yellow engine left the Bluebell railway to be useful in mainline freight and passenger service; to return to that life just three years later was something Rebecca couldn't bear to relive anymore.

"I think I don't want to be on Sodor anymore." she declared. Her driver Alex was on top of her tender, disconnecting the water hose.

"Is it because of Wilkins?" he asked.

"Didn't you hear what he told me a few weeks back?" Rebecca retorted.

"Of course I heard him!" her driver shot back, "He does have a point though, that doesn't mean I fully agree with it. But what about Thomas?"

"I'll talk to him later in the sheds." the yellow engine sighed, realizing she has yet to tell her lover about the NWR's future.

. . .

Later that evening at Knapford, Rebecca told the E2 tank engine about the predicament they have with their current controller, from the heritage railway conversion to the loss of all their freight contracts. She knew if they talked at Tidmouth, the other engines would flip out, so with the sheds all to themselves, Rebecca was confident no one would eavesdrop on their conversation.

After hearing his girl's piece, Thomas made his decision. It would mean he'll be shunned by his other friends but he didn't care. "I can't take this nonsense anymore, love. I'm leaving Sodor and unless Sir Topham comes out of retirement, I ain't returning."

"That's good, because I'm coming with you." Rebecca added.

"Wait, you're not mad that I wanted out too?" Thomas raised his eyebrow.

"Tommy, I fell in love with Sodor. I fell in love with the environment here and I fell in love with you..." Rebecca smiled, then pouted. "But this is not the Sodor I fell for back in '95."

Thomas started to have a panic attack, overthinking already. "B-but Becca, I… I don't know if I could do it... you know, I've never been out of this country before..."

"I'll be right here every step of the way, my love." the West Country engine cooed. A while later, Alex and Marty came with some news.

"Great news." Alex announced, "The port manager told me there's gonna be some foreign ships docking later around midnight. If we're lucky, we can make it out of here."

"We got to sneak this one out. Most of the guys are asleep, so Carly's the only one still awake at this hour." Marty added. Thomas and Rebecca looked at each other with worry and desperation.

"I would gladly go anywhere that's not Britain." the blue tank engine said.

They left their sheds for the last time and headed towards the harbor at Brendam. Sure enough, Carly was expecting them but the docks were still clear. The ships haven't arrived yet. Cranky was knocked out of action as he was undergoing a major overhaul and Big Mickey, although awake, didn't really pay attention to anything besides his job.

"Are you sure we're accounted for on those ships?" Thomas looked upwards to the yellow gantry crane.

"Of course!" Carly reassured him. "I'm going to unload them first before you guys can be loaded in."

"The ship would arrive shortly and I can easily load you both." she smiled down at the pair.

About an hour later, two American registered freighters, the Evil Slacker and the Jessalyn 14 arrived. Once they were tied down, Carly started to unload the smaller Evil Slacker while Big Mickey unloaded the Jessalyn 14. After reloading the Evil Slacker with new cargo, she rolled beside the Jessalyn 14 to load Thomas and Rebecca, with the former going in first. He was good to go as well as Rebecca's tender, but as the yellow crane began lifting Rebecca herself, she realized that the couple wouldn't fit in the hold. They would have to split up in order to make it work.

"Damn it! I can't load you both on the same ship!" Carly said, returning Rebecca back on the tracks.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"This freighter can only hold one big engine and barely enough space for an engine like Thomas to squeeze in. She's still got containers to carry." the crane replied. The Jessalyn 14 was a hybrid RORO/container ship; it holds Intermodal containers in the middle as well as rolling stock in the front. It has three tracks on its front deck but two of them are occupied, leaving the single track fit for Rebecca, but not with her and Thomas together.

"Would there be a train ferry from the US coming soon?" Thomas asked, "I really don't want to be separated from Rebecca."

"Same here." Rebecca agreed.

"Not sure but I'll ask." Carly tuned her on-board radio to speak to the port manager. "Do we have any inbound train ferries?" she asked.

"Not until next week. After that, the next one's gonna be in January as the operators would shut them down for Christmas and New Year." the manager relayed back.

"They wanted to go to the US and these two freighters are the only ones bound for that direction tonight." Carly reasoned.

"Tell them we ain't got any train ferries bound for America as all of them are headed for Mediterranean countries."

"10-4, copy that." Carly replied, then returned her attention to Thomas and Rebecca. "Sorry guys but you'll really have to take a chance by splitting up here. Rebecca, you'll be riding the Jessalyn 14."

Rebecca sighed, watching Carly unload her boyfriend out of the big ship and into the smaller freighter. The Evil Slacker is designed to carry land vehicles on two decks. However, it didn't have a dedicated rail on deck like the Jessalyn 14, so Thomas had to be placed on a lowboy trailer with a small length of rails to support his weight. After her tender was loaded, it was her turn to be loaded, courtesy of Big Mickey. Once Rebecca was secure, she was getting nervous as she'd never rode a ship before.

"It's time for a new chapter, a new life in a new place." She then turned her thoughts to Thomas. "I hope Tommy's doing okay there by himself..."

"He'll be fine. He's got Marty and I'm still here." Alex said, patting Rebecca's bumper.

"Thanks Alex."

Over at the smaller freighter, Thomas was worried not just about the new world they're about to discover, but also if Rebecca's ship would dock in the same port as his. The only thing he knows for certain is that they're headed to the United States – as for where exactly, he can't tell.