Authors Note: Well I must say this is a fan fic Genre I never thought I'd write on, but when inspirations strikes… ^_^ Hope you like it.

A Dark Past

Chapter One:

New Beginnings

A girl made her way quietly down familiar city streets in a daze. It had been so long since she'd walked these roads; it almost didn't seem real. She hadn't truly realized how much she missed her home until now. It was good to be back… but could she make her new beginning work. Pushing down a ball of anxiety that had somehow made its way into her throat she paused at the sight of her destination. 'I hope I can do this,' she thought to herself, oblivious to the gradually rising sun assaulting her thin frame, just missing her eyes. It was insanely early to be approaching school grounds, just now reaching dawn, but she just couldn't face everything at once. Returning after an unexplained year away and being thrown right into a crowd of old friends was just too overwhelming.

It had only been a year, and she had changed so much. Her thin female body had finally developed to it's fullest, her rich blond hair hung lose from its former pigtails, falling just short of her waist. Instead of her trademark pink dress she now adorned a dark blue pair of boot cut jeans, worn in while, blue, and gray sneakers, and, with nostalgic remembrance, a bright pink sleeveless turtleneck. With a shaky breath in the cold morning air she made her way towards the all to familiar entrance.

Her appearance hadn't been the only thing that changed…her personality had also undergone a shift. She was far less aggressive, though only to those who really knew her, and filled with more fear than she'd ever had to hide before. She made her way bravely through the quiet playground to the schools front entrance, her fingers over her hidden locket for reassurance. 'You can do this,' she told herself over and over again, 'You can do this.'

~~~

Arnold, who hadn't slept well in the longest time, a year maybe, was once again walking to school early. Admittedly he was better than before, he now succeeded in arriving only fifteen minutes or so before the rest of his classmates. A great improvement of the hour it used to be. In removed analysis he guessed it was the puzzling disappearance of one of he closest friends. Well, maybe he was crazy for thinking of her as close, but she'd definitely softened a little after elementary school. And any sign of friendship from Helga meant you were very close to her. It wasn't as though it had greatly disrupted his life… her disappearance just left so many unanswered questions…

He sighed to himself, not really needing or wanting to pay attention to where he was going. His feet knew the way well enough. Right now, a morning tradition, he needed to think back. Try to analyze and figure out exactly what could've happened to account for her leavening. Lets see… she'd warmed up to everyone considerable in middle school, sure she was still aggressive, but it was accepted as affectionate abuse by all parties concerned. If that even made sense… Maybe lack of sleep was getting to him… Anyway, high school had come and every one of them was still as close as their odd bunch had ever been. … But… she'd changed in sophomore year… She still had the "Ice cold bitch" personality, as those who didn't know her called it, but… she seemed so preoccupied. He saw her less and less, until he didn't see her at all. It was only through doggedly questioning Phoebe that he'd learned her parents had sent her away for 'a little while' to visit her aunt in the upper mountains of New York. He'd gone over everything he knew many, many times, and he still didn't have a clue…

"Wah!" two people cried out as Arnold, who hadn't noticed anyone sitting on the steps, crashed into them, sending the two of them to the ground. One on top of the other. Arnold hardly had time to get his bearings before he heard a small sound, like a whimper of fear, and whoever it was, aggressively pushed him away. Sitting up, blinking and shaking his head to clear his vision, he tried t think why that felt so familiar.

"Arnold?" Came a familiar yet oddly uncertain voice to his ears.

His head snapped around and his eyes grew as big as dish plates. "H-Helga?" he asked after studying her for a moment.

She smiled meekly and nodded. "What's up football head?"

His mouth hung open, uselessly numb to all the questions he'd been contemplating only moments before. She was… different… no more pink bow, just hair clips ect., but there was still that friendly/aggressive tone in her voice mixed heavily with the insult/pet name. There eyes studied each other for a moment, it was definitely her. Capturing her in a warm embrace he said, "Helga, it's great to see you again! Where have you been? Why did you leave?" Although he was overjoyed to see his friend, he didn't miss the way she stiffened when his arms came about her, or her sharp intake of air. He pulled back and looked at her questioningly. "Is something wrong?"

She took a deep breath looking almost… panicked? Before she regained her composure and her typical arrogant grin/scowl. "Of course not football head. Just don't get too cozy ok?" Again he didn't miss her voice had half its usual force, but the essence was still there. Maybe she'd just gotten over a cold… or something like that.

He smiled casually. "Whatever you say Helga, whatever you say." There eyes met again, for a split second, until a sudden commotion at the school gates caused both of them to turn their heads. "Looks like everyone's here," said Arnold getting up, helping Helga up with on hand. "Come on, lets tell them all you're back." he said tugging her hand slightly with a grin. He could tell something about his questions made her uncomfortable and he let them drop… for now. 'You can't hide forever Helga,' he thought to himself, glancing at her out of the side of his eye as they walked forward hand in hand. Again not missing a trace of discomfort in her eyes. 'What happened to you Helga? …. What happened?'

Authors Note: Well that's it for chapter one. ^_^ Confused? Unanswered question? Excellent. ^_^ Stay tuned for the answers! ^_^