Title: In Harmony
Category: Cartoons » Hey Arnold
Author: Dreamsinger
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Published: 02-06-01, Updated: 07-18-2016
Chapters: 2, Words: 8,059

Chapter 1: Teamwork

Note: The final Hey Arnold movie, The Jungle Book, is in the works, coming in 2017, according to Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett's press releases. Finally-at last we loyal fans will see the end of the series cliffhanger! And what will Arnold do, now that Helga confessed her love in the first movie?

Hey Arnold is owned by Craig Bartlett. I have tried to keep as much of the original
spirit as the TV show. Some of you who have read my story 'Discovery', will notice that this story isn't quite as serious, with more humor and fun bits. Happy reading! -Dreamsinger

IN HARMONY

Teamwork

Helga made a face at her reflection. Criminy, she thought. It's bad enough we have to do this lame Christmas concert. But do we have to have one at an old folks' home?

Frowning at herself in the long pink dress, she thought back to a month before, when their teacher Mr. Simmons told her fourth-grade class… "I have a very special announcement. Today we're going to begin work on our annual Christmas concert. Isn't that exciting?"

Dead silence greeted him, of course. Helga ignored the man, intent on a new love poem about her favorite football-headed subject.

Mr. Simmons was nothing if not plucky. "Well, maybe you'll be more enthusiastic if I mention there's a prize for them best group. Of course, no matter who wins, each and every one of you is wonderful and special in your own way, no matter what-"

"What's the prize?" Harold demanded.

"Yeah, what's in it for us?" Sid chimed in.

"Well, I don't actually know yet, boys, but remember, the real prize is what you learn on the journey."

Most of the class frowned, except for Stinky. "Maybe whoever sings the beyst gets his own solo. As I recall, I never did get me a solo in our last concert…"

"Well, that's a rip-off," Curley griped. "I see what's going on, it's a conspiracy to get us to do the work first, dangling the proverbial carrot in front of our noses."

A round of general grumbling by most of the class followed. Helga paid only scant attention as Mr. Simmons began reading aloud the names of the kids in each group of singers. To her non-surprise, she and Arnold were in the same group, along with Phoebe and Gerald. She chuckled evilly.

What Helga Pataki wants, Helga Pataki gets. It's a good thing Simmons is soo
careless about locking up his notes-and not very observant about a few "changes"
here and there. Mwah-ha-ha.

Over the next few days, Helga's group spent more time arguing than they did
practicing. First they fought about which song they should sing (Helga complained that
most Christmas songs were unbearably sappy). Once that was decided, the four kids discovered they were having a lot of trouble blending their voices together well. Gerald's unusually deep voice, caused from his tonsillectomy operation earlier that year, sounded hugely impressive when he sung solo, but trying to blend it with the voices of three other nine-year-olds made their voices sound pitifully thin and weak.

Helga was even more cranky than usual, and kept up a constant stream of
complaints and verbal abuse. She even managed to insult Phoebe, who was usually the most even-tempered of the group.

After one particularly bad afternoon, Arnold finally lost his patience. "Look, this isn't
working out. Maybe we're not the best singers in class, but at least we're trying.
But if you'd rather not sing with a bunch of 'losers' like us, maybe we should ask
Mr. Simmons if you can transfer to another group."

He looked toward the far corner of the school gymnasium. Lila, the girl he had a crush on, was practicing with her group there. As they watched, she laughed at something Sid said to her and daintily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Or maybe switch places with someone..." Arnold murmured, smiling a little.

Helga was shocked. He really means it, she thought in panic as Arnold started to walk across the gym toward Mr. Simmons, who was listening to Lila's group.

Panic seized the blonde tomboy, threatening to freeze her feet to the floor. Move it, Helga! She slapped herself hard on the face, then followed after the boy she loved, gathering together her courage to do one of the most difficult things in the world for her-apologize.

She caught up with him just as he reached the center of the gym (a good twenty
feet from the nearest groups) and called quietly, "Hey, Arnold-wait a minute."

He stopped, turning to look at her with half-shut eyes. "Yeah?" he said with uncharacteristic rudeness, clearly not eager for more abuse.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Arnold," she said sincerely, twisting her hands together behind her
back. His eyes widened in surprise. "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately. I don't
really mean to be, it just comes...out. And I know I take my anger out on you
sometimes..."

It never occurred to her that she never would have been able to say something like this to him before she started seeing her therapist, Dr. Bliss. Dr. Bliss would have told her favorite ponytailed client that she was proud; that it was a real breakthrough.

"And I really, really hate singing in front of people, because I'm such a lousy
singer." Helga surprised herself with that last admission. She hadn't meant to say
that to him, but looking into his clear green eyes, so full of caring and understanding, had suddenly compelled her to be completely honest. She blinked, tearing her eyes away from his gaze before she said something even more embarrassing. Whoa! Gotta watch that, she thought.

She actually looks like she means it, Arnold thought in surprise. "What are
you talking about, Helga? You sound fine. If anyone has a lousy voice, it's me."

Hesitantly, Helga looked up at him. Arnold gave her a wry little smile. "Look.
Why don't we get together after school somewhere? We can do some extra
practicing, since both of us seem to feel we need it."

It was all Helga could do to keep from dancing with joy. "Oh, okay. I guess so," she said with forced casualness. "Your place okay? If we try to practice at my house my dad'll thump on the ceiling with a broom and tell us to 'pipe down'."

"Sure. If you don't mind a few "interruptions"..."

After school Helga and Arnold walked together to the boarding house run by his grandparents. Helga kept wanting to reach out and hold Arnold's hand, as they walked side by side, and had to keep clenching her fists at her sides to stop herself.

After a while Arnold noticed this, and her strange silence. She sure looks mad
about something. I wonder if this was such a good idea?

Officially invited to the home of my beloved… Helga sighed happily, about to let herself drift into a fog of romantic fantasies, but at the sight of the decrepit old building Helga's brain was bombarded with all her stupid, embarrassing misadventures here. What if one of his grandparents says something to me about breaking through the floor? Arnold will know I've been there! Stupid parrot...well...they didn't say anything to Arnold as far as I know, and after that sleepwalking business I'm pretty sure his grandma doesn't even recognize me. I'll just try to keep out of his grandpa's way.

For once, luck was with her. Arnold's grandpa was out running errands. They went straight up to Arnold's room, where Helga looked around the familiar room, trying to keep her face expressionless.

"Nice room." she said, mostly to break the silence. She didn't realize until later
that it was probably the first non-sarcastic compliment she had ever given him.

"Thanks," Arnold replied, sounding pleased. "Okay, I've been thinking. Gerald's new voice is so much deeper than the rest of ours' that I think he should just sing solos, instead of trying to harmonize with the rest of us."

Helga tried to drag her attention back to what Arnold was saying, instead of remembering the time she'd accidentally caught a glimpse of him here in his
underwear. "Uh, yeah, right. That sounds sensible," she managed to say.

"And Phoebe has such a high soprano; she ought to lead us in the main melody, okay?"

"Uh-huh, okay."

"And that leaves the harmony for you and me, riiight?" Arnold was watching her a little suspiciously. I wonder why she's being so agreeable all of a sudden?

Helga scowled at him, correctly interpreting his expression. "Hey, I can be cooperative if I decide to be! Remember the Egg Assignment? I wasn't the one who got all belligerent before we even started, was I?"

Arnold looked a little ashamed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Hmph," she muttered, trying to hide her surprise. He makes it sound so easy. She didn't receive many apologies. "Okay. Um, so do you have the tape Mr. Simmons lent us?" she said, struggling to sound businesslike.

After a few unsolicited offers of "help" from the boarders, (which Helga had no trouble refusing, unlike the tender-hearted Arnold), they settled down to practicing in earnest. They spent the next several days rehearsing, gradually learning to blend their voices so that neither one sang louder than the other. They worked on perfecting their timing so that they both started and stopped simultaneously, as one.

There were also other, deeper changes going on under the surface that were less about the song and more with how the two kids related to each other-changes that were welcomed by them both. By the end of the week, their piece sounded like a different song. Not only did their music improve; they were actually enjoying spending time together. And without realizing it, they had also begun to think of themselves as a team.

Helga was so ecstatic that she couldn't maintain her usual sarcastic act; it was all
she could do to refrain from reciting poetry. (Arnold's grandpa never mentioned
the Parrot Incident, much to her relief.) And, to her delight, she discovered that
singing together with Arnold was a lot of fun. She could spend hours with him
without having to watch every word that came out of her mouth. It was wonderful.

As for Arnold...It's a relief to be able to work with Helga and actually accomplish something without a lot of arguing. At first surprised by her "good behavior", then pleased, he even got Helga to laugh now and then when her guard was down.

"I always have a hard time hitting that note," Arnold said one day with a slight frown.

"Oh, really? Well, we could do a remix-you know, substitute a different set of notes for that set," Helga suggested.

"You know how to do that?" Arnold sounded impressed, and Helga's soul soared inside at his approval even as she smiled casually and said, "Oh, I've picked up a few things watching Phoebe at her cello lesson. For example, we could sing this line in another style; hip-hop, maybe."

"Or maybe jazz?"

Helga actually laughed at his hopeful expression. "What is it with you and jazz?"

"It's all about taking life one step at a time," he crooned in his best radio announcer's voice, smiling at her with half-closed eyes.

Helga rolled her eyes, then chuckled. "Oh, man, this I've got to hear…"

One night, while on the phone with Gerald, Arnold had a sudden notion about Helga's much-changed behavior. "I wonder if she's ever been truly relaxed around me before. I mean, I always wondered why Phoebe decided to be her best friend, but I never guessed she could be so much fun to be around."

"Fun? Helga?"

"Yeah, Gerald. She's really smart, and musical, too. Some of the best changes in
our song are the ones that she came up with. And she notices all sorts of things-
about everything-that I somehow seem to miss. No wonder she always accuses me
of having my head in the clouds..."

Phoebe and Gerald also chose to practice together, to the amused understanding
of both Arnold and Helga. For the most part, they willingly went along with the
proposed changes, and during rehearsal at school their group was rapidly becoming
one of the best.

Then, a few days before the school concert Mr. Simmons announced that their class
had been chosen to sing at the local retirement home. "Think of it as a practice
run," he told his groaning class.

Now, on Concert Night, Helga stood scowling at the long pink dress in the mirror. As yet another hand-me-down; there was really nothing wrong with it except that it had come from Olga. It was a good thing Helga's favorite color was pink. But it really wasn't appropriate to wear for Christmas.

Man, I really hate singing in front of people, she thought grouchily. But my valiant sacrifice will be worth it. After all, it gave me the excuse to spend time alone with my beloved... ohhh...

Helga came out of the bathroom into such noisy chaos that she was tempted to slip out the back door. Only the fact that Arnold and the others were counting on her made her push her way through the mob of excited kids and parents. Somebody bumped her from behind and shoved her right into a kid who was carrying a large cup of punch. It spilled down the front of her dress, leaving a long purplish-red streak.

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry!" the kid said, and ran off before Helga could deck him.

"Oh, great. Just great!" she griped.

"What's wrong, Helga?" Arnold asked as he appeared from the crowd, handsome
in a dark gray suit and red-and-green striped tie.

"Arnold?" she squawked. Just perfect. He gets to see me looking like this!

"What happened?"

Helga angrily explained the situation. Arnold thought for a minute, then said, "Well, we'll just have to borrow something else for you to wear."

"Now wait just a-" she protested.

Arnold didn't let her finish. Grabbing her wrist, he towed her behind him.

Helga felt her resolve weaken as soon as he touched her. Resisting his pull just enough to encourage him to hang onto her, she thought, Oh, well. Every now and then one of Arnold's loony plans actually works. If not, at least I get out of the singing. The thought cheered her. But I refuse to wear a hospital gown!

Arnold asked several people for help, and eventually tracked down a nice grandmother named Mrs. Cape who had a spare set of clothes handy that belonged to one of her granddaughters. Helga let herself be taken to Mrs. Cape's room and fussed over, while Arnold went to tell Mr. Simmons what had happened. If necessary, the schedule could be rearranged.

Mrs. Rosemary Cape had an accent as thick as Stinky's. Much to Helga's surprise she produced a beautiful, trendy outfit; which, she explained, belonged to her granddaughter Kerri, who was in the sixth grade. "Ackshully, the same sorta thang hap'ned ta her-somebody done went an' spilled soup on her new outfit. But it cleaned up jus' fahn, if Ah do say so mahself."

Cool. Sixth grade clothes! A few minutes later, Helga blinked and smiled at the girl in the mirror. Not bad. She wore a short dark green skirt, a stylish red blouse, and a white belt. A Christmas outfit, obviously.

Somehow she looked a little older, more…sophisticated.

But Mrs. Cape frowned thoughtfully. "Darlin', Ah don't mean ta be critical, but
Ah don't think yer hair ribbon goes with the outfit."

Helga blinked. Long ago she'd vowed to always wear the large pink bow that
Arnold had admired, but the girl in the mirror looked so...good. Well, maybe I'll
just see how it looks...

Helga felt a real pang at removing the bow, but it was worth it to see the results. Mrs. Cape helped her brush out her hair. Freed from its ponytails, her thick blonde hair
swirled around her.

"Kerri would be so jealous. You have lovely hair, mah deah," the old woman said as
she brushed Helga's hair with gentle strokes. Helga couldn't help smiling at the compliment. "There. How does that look?"

The girl in the mirror actually looked...softer, prettier somehow. I wonder what Arnold will think when he sees me like this? Helga smiled, and watched her reflection grin back at her.

"It's great, Mrs. Cape! Thanks!" Helga turned to leave.

"Oh, wait, deah." Mrs. Cape went over to her bureau. "Ah thought ya math lahk to wear this." Mrs. Cape held out a pretty heart-shaped locket on a delicate gold chain. It was much smaller than her own locket; more feminine, more dainty.

"It's lovely!" Helga had never seen such a beautiful locket.

"Every girl lahks ta dress up now an' theyn." Mrs. Cape smiled gently, with a knowing wink. Grinning sheepishly, Helga thought again of Arnold as she allowed the elderly lady to fasten the locket around her neck.

As they walked to the door Helga said, "Uh, Mrs. Cape? You go on ahead. I
need use the bathroom."

"Okay, honey. It's down the hall on th' left."

"Okay. Oh...and Mrs. Cape?"

"What, darlin'?"

"I promise, I won't let anything happen to your locket." Helga said sincerely, putting one hand over it where it rested against her chest.

Mrs. Cape smiled gently. "Ah know ya won't, deah."

Helga quickly used the bathroom, smiling at her reflection as she washed her
hands afterward. She was still smiling as she came out, closing the door gently behind her.

"Helga?" came Arnold's surprised voice.

"Arnold?" Helga spun around. She got all set to yell at him for sneaking up on
her when she noticed the astonished look on his face and remembered just in time that she wanted to impress him with her new look. So instead, she smiled charmingly at him and twirled in a circle, letting her hair and skirt flow out around her. "How do I look?"

Arnold blinked. "Wow, Helga, you look great!" he said enthusiastically.

Helga's smile widened, and her cheeks grew pink with pleasure. She didn't get
many honest compliments.

"Thanks, Arnold," she said shyly.

After a few seconds, they began walking toward the concert room, glancing at
each other from the corners of their eyes.

He looks so handsome in that suit. I hope nothing embarrassing happens on stage. Not tonight! Helga thought, concentrating on walking gracefully.

Arnold was pensive, thinking about how different Helga seemed. It's not just the way she looks; she actually seems...nicer. He glanced at her again. And she's smiling again. You know, she really has been a little nicer lately. I don't think she's called me Football Head in days. Maybe all along I should've been trying to get to know her better, to really be her friend.

His thoughts grew less focused as they walked, running along the lines of how the people who push you away the hardest are the ones who need your help the most...

"So, when are we on?" Helga asked, to break the silence as they walked down
the deserted hallway.

"Oh, that's what I came to tell you. We're on next."

Helga stopped. Why didn't you tell me that before, stupid? she almost yelled, but for once managed to stifle it. She didn't want anything to ruin the mood.

Arnold caught the look on her face. "Don't worry. We've got enough time-
Eugene's group just started "The Twelve Days of Christmas". He grinned at her.

"Oh." I wonder if any of the audience will be awake when we go on, she
thought wryly.

As they neared the end of the second hallway, Helga tried to think of something to say, anything to lengthen the amount of time spent alone with this special boy. What came out of her mouth surprised her as much as it did him. "You look so handsome in that suit, Arnold," she said in a soft tone of voice.

What am I saying?

Author's Notes:

*Yes, I'm aware that Helga used the bathroom twice in a half-hour time frame. The first time she was just checking her appearance.

*I assume pink is Helga's favorite color due to the fact that I don't think it's ever occurred to her to wear other colors, ever since toddler Arnold once commented that he liked her pink clothes, so pink is her favorite color by default.

Hope you're enjoying the ride as much as I am,

Dreamsinger