A/N: This story is post FTI and post TJM. I'm hoping to pick up on Craig Barlett's idea of the "Patakis" spin off. I'm going to follow the plotline C.B. envisioned as closely as possible. Reviews, suggestions, and comments are welcome! Please do not take any ideas with asking me first, because I am more than willing to share! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters from this awesome show!

Helga Pataki

(10 Years old)

The rain beat against the window of my room as I quietly cried into my pillow. A shot of lightening illuminated the darkness of my room, but failed to reach my heart. Truth be told, I was falling apart. I couldn't bring myself to get up and face the day, not without him, not without my beloved. 'Arnold is gone, criminey, I can't believe he's actually gone! My love, my heart, my soul, is now thousands of miles away from me!' I screamed inside my head.

A strong sob welled up within me and wracked my body as reality set in. 'What am I going to do without that football headed loser? He was my best friend, he was my crutch, he was my savior, he-he was my… my boyfriend!' I sobbed. 'I've spent my whole life obsessing over the guy, building shrines to him, writing poetry about him, and stalking him! And now? Well now he was gone, and I'm not sure if I'll ever see him again, or if he even wants to see me again," I thought sadly, 'And the worst part of all of this? I never even got to say goodbye.'

'And even worse than him being gone, and me not being able to say goodbye, Arnold and I left off on the worst possible note. The day before Arnold was set to leave, we got into a humungous fight…and we broke up.' I shut my eyes as flashes of memories flooded my mind. Clenching my fists, I fought to swallow the tears that burned within my throat. 'Maybe this was all for the best? Arnold was so happy when he was reunited with his parents, so maybe it was for the best that he left with them to San Lorenzo. After all, that football headed do gooder would be helping out those who needed it. Helping the Green Eyes and the villagers of San Lorenzo just screamed Arnold.'

'But what about me?' I thought sadly, 'Did that jerk even think about how I would feel, getting left behind while he moved on to bigger and better things?' I sighed, 'Well of course he thought about it. He was Arnold after all. Even a blind man could see the heart ache in his eyes the day he told me he would be leaving. It tore me apart inside to see him in such a heart breaking state.' But even though I felt this way; mean, bully Helga managed to rear her ugly head and instigate the fight between Arnold and I the day before he left.

"Helga, I know you!" Arnold exclaimed, "You're really not this mean, angry person you put yourself out to be. You're actually a sweet, kind girl who cares about me a lot. So why are you acting this way? This is our last day together, let's make it a happy one! Please, just stop acting like this!"

"Who's acting?" I quipped.

"Helga please… I know that this isn't easy for you, but it isn't easy for me to. I'm sorry. But we'll write each other, I'll call, I'll visit as often as I can," Arnold promised.

"Criminey, just forget it!" I yelled.

"What? Forget about what?"

"Forget about us. I want to break up."

I clutched my head in my hands and sat up in my bed. The moment I uttered those words, I knew things would never be the same. Arnold was headed to San Lorenzo, and I was stuck in Hillwood. 'Criminey, get it together Helga ole girl!" my mind screamed. 'Just one more day till your next session with Dr. Bliss, maybe she can help you get over this slump… Oh who am I kidding? Arnold wasn't a slump, he was my life.'

'Just get up Helga ole girl. Get up and go for a walk. You need to clear your mind! And for the love of creation, for once in your life, DON'T THINK ABOUT ARNOLD!' I screamed to myself. Slowly, I dragged my body out of bed and got dressed. As I headed down the stairs of my house and headed out the door, I didn't have the energy to tell Miriam or Bob I was leaving. But it's not like they would have noticed anyways.

I pulled my hood over my head, to shield me from the rain and I took a deep breathe. Heading down my stoop, I looked both ways before crossing the street. And then, BAM! As soon as my feet hit the pavement, I ran. I didn't know where I was going, or what I was doing, I just ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Tears stung my eyes as a bolted down the street.

I felt the feeling of despair and sadness consume me. My tears mixed with the rain and for the while, it looked like I wasn't crying. However appearances fool, because my inner turmoil was eating me alive. As I was running, I tried my hardest not to think about Arnold, but I found that I just couldn't. The sadness was too strong, the hurt was too strong, but most of all, my love was too strong,

'Criminey, I'm an awful person! Maybe him moving, our fight, and my loneliness is just karma paying me one back. It's not like I ever deserved the honey sweet boy with the cornflower hair. Always looking on the bright side, always seeking the good in others, oh my love, why must you view your cup as half full while I see mine as half empty? Why must cruel fate separate us and mar our otherwise perfect relationship? Why has this black hole been allowed to consume my sunshine, my beloved, my sweet Arnold?'

'Ohhh,' I swooned, 'my poor beloved, forced to live out our last day together alone and wrought with pain. Cruel fate! Curse my inability to allow change! Curse my anger and bully ways which reared her ugly head and tore me from the patient arms of my beloved. Oh, but I deserve it; it's retribution for my cruelty and unkind ways to poor, undeserving Arnold and all the others. I have made my bed, and now I must lie in it! Forever away from the one I love most; forever away from my heart's true desire. Tis a sad life, but it is my own. And I must suffer the consequences…'

'Oh, if only I had thought before I'd spoken! If only the warmth in my heart hadn't ignited the burning flame of my rage and anger! I was only upset with him because I love him! I couldn't bear to see him go, leaving me behind in the wake of his absence, just a distant memory of the past. He even offered to write me, to call me, to visit me, oh poor, forgiving Arnold…Alas! That's it! I'll take him up on his offer! Oh my beloved, I vow to write to you everyday! I will provide detailed accounts of my life as well as our friends' lives. I'll send you poems, soliloquies, sonnets, all testaments of my undying love for you! I'll-'

"OOOf !" I exclaimed as I suddenly slipped in a mud puddle, "Criminey! Could this day get any worse?"

I stood up and dusted myself off. I was soaking wet and my legs ached from running? "Where am I?" I wondered out loud, struggling to see beyond the pouring rain. I walked a few more steps and suddenly found myself sitting on a familiar stoop and staring at a familiar sign.

Sunset Arms

No Kids

Pets Ok

'Oh boy, maybe Big Bob's right. Maybe I am a funny farm. Out of all the houses, I end up at Arnold's!' I propped my head up on my hand and sat in silence as I sobbed. No matter how many times I would walk past Sunset Arms in the future, Arnold would never be there to greet me. I would never sit near him in class, or eat lunch with him ever again. No more Arnold. The notion hit me all at once.

"No more Arnold," I whispered.

And for the first time in my life, Helga Geraldine Pataki wasn't strong. I felt as weak as could be. I stared at this new girl facing me in the reflection of a puddle. Was this girl really me? I was always strong, always confident…but something in me broke that day. I could feel the cold, lonely girl I truly was overcome me. And for once, I didn't know what to do.

A distant sound finally pulled me out of my deep thought. OINK OINK!

"Abner?" I said as the pig emerged from the house and sat next to me. His sad brown eyes pierced my soul. He hung his head low, unlike the proud little pig I'd come to know in my short time with Arnold. I could feel my heart breaking at the sight. So I picked Abner up and held him in my arms.

"I know Abner," I whispered as I petted him softly, "I miss him too."

And together, we sat in the rain.