Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!

Time Goes On Without You

By Moonlight

Epilogue

She really couldn't believe it. It all had felt like a sweet and soft-lit dream. A dream too pure and too beautiful to have been real.

Helga sat up straight in her bed. The covers falling gently into her lap and she lifted her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes. Her hair falling in a slightly tangled mess, framed her round face and shielded her from the daylight streaming through the window of her dorm room. She fought the urge to curse the blinding light and instead let her mind be filled with the memories that she was sure had just been all in her head.

SPLASH!

The couple hit the water gently enough for it break their fall without hurting them. The fountain pouring over the two as they laughed through the adrenalynn that had filled them both. It was exciting. It was thrilling. It made their hearts race like they'd never experienced before.

Arnold stood up onto his feet and looked around cautiously, making sure no teachers or staff had seen what they'd just dared to do, before turning towards Helga who was still sitting in the fountain with a serene look on her face. Leaning over, he held out a hand to help her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked, a large smile spreading across his face once more and chuckled, "Your dress is a complete mess. I'm so sorry."

She took his hand and stood up, a smug look on her face, "It was a stupid dance, remember?"

"Right." He agreed, pulling her out of the fountain and pulling her close to him for a kiss.

Helga hummed softly as she wrapped her arms around him.

It seemed like an eternity before he finally pulled away and stroked her cheek softly. "Let's go back to my place?"

"Alright, but I demand pizza."

Arnold chuckled softly and took her hand to walk her down the Redwater courtyard, "Whatever you say, Helga."

And yet... she awoke in her room without any other 'memory' of being at the boarding house. Her room was incredibly, and oddly tidy. All of the dresses that had been on the floor were nowhere to be found.

Groaning, Helga stood up and paced the room a couple of times before catching her reflection in the mirror. Placing her hands on the dresser-top, she leaned into her image to press her forehead against the glass.

"So it was all a dream, huh..?" she said to herself, sadly. Her eyes staring back at her solemnly, "I guess it was too good to be true."

Her hands balled into fists against the wooden structure as she trembled with sudden anger at her realisation. "Of COURSE it was a dream! What else would it have been, Helga?! How DELUSIONAL can you be?! How- ah...AH…ACHOO!"

Slamming her head into the mirror from the force of the sneeze, several items from her dresser dropped to the carpeted floor.

"No-no-no…" she dropped to her knees to pick up a bottle of perfume, a water bottle, and her locket. "Criminy!" After setting the items back on the dresser, she noticed a small piece of paper had fallen with the rest of the items. She looked over the folded piece of pink stationary before opening to reveal very neat handwriting which wasn't hers, but was obviously written with the pink fountain pen from her desk.

'Helga,

I'll be at the gate when you wake up.'

No name was signed. Just the simple note, which left Helga with a million questions to be answered.

Without wasting more time, she hurried to throw on a pair of pants and her pink sweater. Slipping on her shoes and sliding her phone and the note into her pocket, she fled through the door and down the hall.

Was the note left by who she thought it was? Was the dream she had really a dream? Why was she running so fast? She asked herself as she turned the corner towards the exit.

SLAM!

Falling back onto the marble floor, Helga watched her cellphone and note flew out of her pocket and slid down the hall.

"Seriously!" an annoyingly high-pitched voice called out from in front of her, "Again?! What is your problem?!"

Helga looked up to see Liana beaming a glare down upon her. She was dressed nicely, it seemed. A short, purple skirt and collared white top to match the cutsiness of her neatly brushed hair which was pulled up into pigtails.

Resisting the urge to punch her pretty little face in, Helga stood up and dusted herself off. "Why are YOU in such a hurry anyway?"

Flipping her hair over her shoulder cooly, Liana placed a hand on her hip, "Well, if you haven't noticed… I'M going on a DATE today."

'Who would want to go on a DATE with YOU?!' Helga asked herself while collecting her things from the floor. "Ah. Well isn't THAT amazing?" She responded sarcastically, "And with WHO, may I ask?"

Liana's eyes lit up brightly, "Someone you so obviously turned down."

"Eh?"

"He was just so sad, I couldn't help but swoop in and snatch him up before you changed your mind. As I was SURE you'd do. I mean, who WOULDN'T want a guy like-"

Silently fearing Liana would say that name she didn't want to hear, Helga straightened herself up and prepared to run past the girl before her in an attempt to reach the from door before she said anything else. However, her attempts were foiled before they could be executed.

"Hey cutie!" Harvey's voice echoed through the hall as he came up behind Liana and embraced her.

Dumbstruck, Helga watched with her mouth agape. "Uh…"

The tall boy looked over at Helga happily, "Good morning! I trust you're feeling better today?"

Liana glared at Harvey very obviously.

"Uh… yeah…?" Helga stared in confusion, "Wait. What IS this?"

Harvey laughed lightly and held up Liana's hand, which was joined in his, "Well, last night, I was dancing a little too hard, and slipped on the dancefloor and-"

"And I caught him! I saved his life." Liana said smugly.

"-Liana broke my fall."

"Hey!"

"So I thought I'd repay her for sparing me some serious injury. Also, her wrist took a beating…" Harvey motioned to the wrap around Liana's left wrist. Helga hadn't noticed it before, but it looked really swollen.

Cringing, she chuckled "Ouch… Well, I guess that's better than a broken hip or some-WAIT." Helga paused to process things, "Dancefloor?"

"Yeah. At the dance last night? I could have sworn you were there, blondie." Harvey eyed her with a bit of concern.

As if being brought back to life, Helga sprung up and ran down the hall and out the door. Behind her she could hear Liana whining loudly "You're not allowed to give other girls nicknames, Vee-vee!"

'Pffftt! Vee-vee… I'll have to remember that one for later.' she thought as she raced towards the gate. A familiar figure could be seen silhouetted through the elegant lattice.

Her heart raced as she grew closer and closer.

"Arnold!" she called out happily, a twinge of sadness in her trembling voice as she wrapped her arms around the boy and buried her face into his shoulder, "Wh...what happened last night?"

He laughed in amusement, "We were heading out, but it seemed you got really sick from being drenched in the fountain. You collapsed on me before we even made it to the gate, so I had to carry you back to your room."

Running her fingers through his hair, she let a small laugh escape her lips. "I thought it was all a dream. Last night, I mean."

Pulling her closer, Arnold hummed "It wasn't a dream."

Taking her hand, he walked her down the long road that lead back to the city.

Moonlight: Hey all! This is it, I swear. :) Thank you for sticking around, and for supporting me for so long!