A/N: This little story takes place when Helga and the gang are around 25. The rest speaks for itself, I hope. Any questions just leave a comment. :)

The cold December air wound in and out of Helga's pink jacket, causing her to shudder. She quickened her pace as she walked towards the park near her home; the same park that she used to go to when she was in the 4th grade. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail, with a few loose ends framing her face. Gerald had called her earlier, telling her to meet him at the park. When she had asked him why, he simply stated that it was important and hung up. Annoyed, Helga agreed to go anyway, mostly for the fact that he was her best friend's husband and was glad that he gave Phoebe her deserved happiness.

She arrived in about five minutes, the wind still blowing gently. As she stepped into the park she looked up at the trees, their dark branches holding the nests of many birds, she was certain. She saw an empty bench and sat down, pulling her jacket tighter around her to avoid the cold. She grumbled a little, becoming impatient. Gerald had said at eight specifically...

She glanced around her again, and her eyes rested on the sandbox in front of her. She looked around, making sure that the park was truly deserted, without any last-minute couples or run-wild children. She walked to the box, sat down, and let her fingers play with the sand. She let her mind wander a little, questions of why she didn't just leave the town already filling her head, but she always knew the answer to that question. No matter how much her parents insisted that she move on to see the world, go to a city, or travel for a while, Helga knew she just couldn't bear to leave the town that held the memory of him. She could almost feel his presence in the sand that slipped through her fingertips. Helga closed her eyes, her mind traveling back.

12 Years Ago

Helga ran as fast as she could, trying to escape the voices of them. She didn't know or care where she was going, only that she knew she wanted to be rid of Bob and Miriam. And their perfect daughter Olga. She spit their names in her head, making them sound like a curse.

She continued to run, staring at the floor as she ran. When she felt tired enough, she stopped and leaned against a nearby fence to regain her breath. She took in a few deep breaths and finally looked up. She realized that she was near the park, the one she used to go to a few years ago when things felt better. Looking around her, she noticed that there was no one here. It was July, and it occurred to her that most families were away for the summer. Glancing cautiously around her again, Helga stepped slowly into the park and walked towards the sand box.

She looked around at the trees, their leaves a bright green and shaking with the sounds of birds. She saw flowers growing in the grass, and even though she felt the urge to rip them out by the stem, she just couldn't. No matter how angry she was, she didn't want to ruin the pretty picture that was spread out before her. There were no people around her to mess up the scenery, littering soda cans and potato chip bags against the sidewalk, and for once, the place was clean.

When she arrived at the sandbox, she checked again, not wanting to be spotted, and sat down, staring at the sand as if it had the answers to her problems. Sighing, she began to pick at the grains, dropping them anywhere she pleased. Soon, she was scooping up handfuls and plopping them around her in the form of a circle. She made a few snail trails in the sand and wrote her name as well. Suddenly, she heard someone call it.

"Helga, what are you doing here?" he said, his blonde hair brighter than the sun to her. Quickly, she shut her mouth before it could be recognized, and spat back at him.

"Nothing, Arnaldo, I was just, uh, trying to relax," she said in a very difficult attempt to not have her cover blown.

"Oh. You looked lonely. Mind if I sit with you?" he asked, hands in his pockets. He had been taking a walk when he had spotted the blonde girl sitting in the sand. At first he thought she was crying, but then realized her look of concentration was because she was drawing in the sand.

"Uh, well," she stuttered, wanting very much for him to sit with her, but not wanting to seem too eager. "Screw it, we're alone, might as well enjoy it" she thought, staring at the floor again.

"Whatever you want, s'not up to me," she grumbled, but Arnold took it as a good sign and sat down with her. He slowly began to trace small patterns in the sand as well, not sure what to do. He didn't know how to make small talk with Helga, since she always had her guard up. She was better then she used to be in the 4th grade, but she could still be fierce when she wanted to.

"So what were you doing around her anyway?" she asked, her eyes not leaving the sand.

"Um, nothing much actually. I was just sort of bored, and decided to take a walk," he said, surprised that she had asked. He suddenly noticed how gold her hair appeared in the sun and the length of her lashes as her eyes were cast towards the ground. She had plucked her unibrow in the sixth grade, when Rhonda's teasing had gone too far. Actually, Arnold was surprised that Helga hadn't just beat Rhonda up for it, but he'd always heard how people changed.

"Oh," Helga replied, her eyes still looking down. She knew it was only a matter of time before he asked her the same question...

"So, why are you here?" he asked, right on cue. Helga debated, wondering whether it'd be okay or not to say why, more for herself then him. Would it be okay to trust him now?

"Well, my parents were arguing again, so I decided to get out of the house for a while," she said simply, grabbing a fistful of sand and sprinkling it over one of the snail trails. Arnold was shocked for a moment, trying to understand why Helga had let him in for a moment. He looked into her eyes, and for a fraction of a second, saw the real Helga, the girl who disliked her parents, and was afraid of their separation. The girl who was upset about her sister, and really did care what her parents did.

"Oh, that's too bad," he said simply, not wanting to pry, but really curious. He wanted to help her, at least that much was obvious.

"This one wasn't that bad, just about a money thing, how Miriam's been spending a lot on some special wine, and how Bob is investing too much in the beeper crap..." she trailed off, fearing that she would begin to cry, and there was no way in hell that she would cry in front of him.

Arnold sensed her distress and let the subject go, not wanting to push her too hard. He got the general idea anyway.

For another few minutes, they just sat there, staring at the sand and saying nothing. In a way, this was enough for both of them, especially for Helga.

"Hey, want to go get an ice-cream?" Arnold asked, offering her a gentle smile. Helga thought for a moment, before slowly nodding her head yes.

"Okay then, let's go," Arnold said, standing up and offering her his hand to help her up. Helga stood up by herself, knowing that this would be her limit. She could only go so far, no matter how much she wanted his warm hand covering hers...

Arnold understood, miraculously, that she wasn't really in the mood for any heavy chatting or friendliness, especially after her small confession. They walked slowly out of the park, the wind erasing the snail trails from the dirt.

She kept her eyes closed, enjoying the memory a little, remembering how kind he had always been to her. The sand became less scratchy to her, seeming more like feathers the more time it spend in her hands. If she thought carefully, she could still remember the day when things felt right...

10 Years Ago

"Hey Helga," Arnold called to her, grabbing her attention. As he was rushing to fall into step with her, she noticed how his dark blue jacket went nicely with his cap and colored eyes. She attempted to hide the red that was warming her cheeks as she stopped walking for him to catch up, noticing that he was gasping in a few breaths.

"Sorry, I just wanted to walk with you," he said, his eyes looking into hers. Helga gulped quietly, not sure where he was going with this. Sure they had become closer since freshman year, but were they close enough that he would want to walk her home?

"That's okay. How're your classes going?" she asked him, wondering if he could hear how loud her heart was beating.

"Good, I guess. Art class is great, it's just English class that I have a problem with," he said, grinning.

"What's wrong with English?" she asked, curious. He seemed so perfect to her, she had forgotten that that couldn't actually be the case with him.

"It's just that it's hard sometimes to put what you want to say into paper. You know what you want to give out to people, but it's hard to find the right wording," he said, looking at one of the trees.

"You don't say?" Helga said, smiling at his confusion at wording.

"Yes, I do say. Like, look over at that tree. You could think of a lot of words to describe it, but it's hard picking the right word," he said as he gestured to the tall tree a few feet from them.

"I can think of one: tall," Helga said, smiling. He returned her smile.

"I know that, Helga, but what's the perfect word to describe it?" he questioned her, wondering what she would say. He knew that she thought deeply about things, he just needed her to say it out loud.

"Well," she said, thinking a bit. The tree had bright orange and red leaves, and if you looked carefully, you could tell that it looked a little like fire, especially when the wind blew at it. She could also imagine a few animals claiming it as their home, high from dangerous things, like humans and dogs.

"I think of fire," she stated, knowing that would be her conclusion. She looked at Arnold, and she could see that he agreed as well.

"You know, you're right. But it'd be a lot harder if you had to find a word describing the entire tree," he said, laughing. Arnold looked over at her, and saw that she was laughing as well, her eyes bright. He liked her smile, because it showed a peek of who she really was, just a normal girl. Well, at least to other people. To him, she was something different.

"You know, it'd be hard to find a word to describe you," Arnold teased. Helga abruptly stopped laughing, and gave him a confused look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, anger replacing confusion. Was he saying that she wasn't normal?

"I mean, you're a lot of different things, and you act in different ways too. Sometimes you're good, other times you're bad, and when you feel like it, you can be normal," he said, smiling again. She resisted the urge to smile back, even though she really wanted to.

"Geez, will you stop trying to analyze people?" she asked, still a little angry.

"Well, I think it's true," he said, not willing to let the subject go.

"Alright then, bucko, if you think you're so clever, think of a word for me," she challenged him, wondering what he would say.

"Well, you're smart, you like to mock people, and you're defensive, and secretive. In my opinion, I'd say you're different," he stated, obviously happy.

"So, I'm different," she repeated, confused by his word choice.

"Yeah, but I always like different," he said, smiling at her again. Helga felt her heart skip a beat, and she bit her lip nervously. Was he doing what she thought he was doing? Arnold continued to gaze into her bright blue eyes, enjoying the color more and more. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He just had to tell her.

"Uh, Helga?" he asked, nervous. He stopped looking into her eyes, reluctant of her answer.

"Yes Arnold?" Helga asked, her voice a bit high-pitched.

"I was wondering, if you're not busy and all, if you'd like to, you know, see a movie with me on Saturday," he said, obviously nervous. Helga shrieked in her head, wanting very much to just reach out and hug him.

"Sure, I'd like that," she said simply, not wanting to scare him away. She smiled at him as he looked up, and he smiled back, no words to describe how he felt.

"Okay then, I'll see you on Saturday," he said, as they neared her home. She gave him one last smile as he walked away, and when he turned the corner, she ran upstairs to her room, slammed the door, and screamed in happiness.

"Helga, what are you screaming about?" asked Miriam, knocking on the door.

Helga continued to run her fingers across the sand, making wave-like patterns. The sudden change in her patterns brought back another memory, the one that had caused her to go back to her hard shell. Why it happened, she never did understand. Most would have thought that things happened for a reason, and that it happened to signify that she needed to let go, but she just couldn't. She knew she never would.

7 Years Ago

The waves crashed against the shore, the seagulls taking whatever food they could find. Helga and Arnold watched them fight over the food, and walked along the beach, hands entwined. Helga noticed two particular seagulls fighting over a piece of bread. One of them eventually won, leaving the other without food. Helga tore a piece of bread off her sandwich and tossed it to the bird. Arnold watched in wonder, smiling.

"What are you staring at?" Helga asked, teasing as she finished her sandwich.

"You," he said, squeezing her hand. Helga smiled at him and squeezed his hand back.

They continued to walk, looking occasionally at the beautiful sunset. Arnold's thoughts turned from the happiness of being with Helga, to the sadness that he didn't want to tell her.

Suddenly, he stopped, staring out at the waves. Helga turned to him with a confused look. She noticed that he looked worried, and sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, turning to face him.

His expression didn't change, and he looked at her slowly.

"Helga, you know that the senior year is almost over," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"Yeah, I know that," Helga said slowly, her fear worse.

"Well, you also know that I want to help my grandparents to go into retirement, so that they don't need to worry. Before I scare you anymore, I need to tell you that I'm going to an out of state college," he said, wanting very much to just say that he was lying, but he wasn't.

Helga froze for a moment, the words sinking in. He was leaving her? He was going to go far away, and leaver her here?

"Helga, I'm sorry, but you know that I have to leave for college," he said quietly, still not meeting her beautiful blue eyes.

Helga still didn't answer, her eyes glaring at the ocean. Her thoughts raced from sadness, to fear, and finally, to anger.

"How could you do this? Why don't you just break up with me now? Save you a lot of trouble. That way you get to leave me here to rot without you, and you get to go find some other girl to love!" she screamed at him, ripping her hand from his. Before he could protest or reply, she ran away from him, running back to the bus stop, ignoring his cries as he called her name.

Helga bent her head towards the sand, trying to stop the painful memory from hitting her too hard. She stopped touching the sand, but laid her hand against it, feeling sadder by the minute. She suddenly realized why she was there, and grew more annoyed. It'd been over half an hour, and Gerald still hadn't shown up. Aggravated, Helga rose to walk back home, when she heard someone call her name.

"Helga, Helga wait," she heard a voice call. With a sudden pang, Helga realized who that voice sounded like, and slowly turned around, afraid that it was just her imagination.

She turned around, and was greeted by him, his blonde hair still spiked up in its usual hairstyle. He looked the same as he had when he left; his eyes still that beautiful blue. He looked at her excitingly, wanting to hold her, but not sure if she still felt the way she originally did.

As he grew closer, Helga mentally slapped herself a few times, wondering if this was just another dream, or actually serious. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, he was in front of her, his eyes burning into hers. She gasped, surprised. He continued to look at her, drinking in every detail that he hadn't seen for years. He remembered her sweet-smelling hair, her scent, like roses and chocolate, and the smoothness of her skin under his fingertips. He wanted very much to feel it again, but her expression didn't say whether she wanted him to or not. Actually, her expression was blank, her eyes, seeming to stare at no one. Arnold was about to call her name again when he felt her lips press against his softly.

His eyes widened as he realized what she had just done. Then, his mind felt soft, his heart beating faster. He closed his eyes slowly, placing his arms around her waist. He kissed her back, his lips moving gently with hers. She locked her arms around his neck, and then slowly pulled away, her eyes distant.

"You came back," she stated, not letting go. She continued to look into the eyes, which she hadn't seen for over five years. She held the body which she hadn't held for over three years, and smiled at the kiss which she hadn't had for over six years, after he had left.

"Yeah, I did," he said simply, holding her closer. Her scent was as good to him as ever. He leaned in for a kiss, but Helga stopped him with her finger. He was about to protest, but she spoke first.

"Why did you come back?" she asked him, her eyes wide. She knew that he could have found someone else, anyone else, to be with instead of her.

"Because I love you," he replied, pressing his lips to hers once more, showing her the love that he had held onto for seven years.