It had been a few weeks since the P.S 118 gang had returned from their trip. Things were finally starting to get back to some feeling of normalcy. Arnold had stayed home for most of the summer, not venturing out much. He had too much lost time with his parents to make up for. Mostly, they sat around and talked. His parents had so many stories from their past adventures to share with Arnold. He had already heard most of them, from his grandpa's bedtime stories. But they were so much more in depth and lively coming from the source.

He shared stories from the countless times he had saved the neighborhood, or helped the people within it. He told them how he saved the boarding house from being torn down and turned into a historical landmark. There were so many stories to tell between them, and they loved telling each other.

Grandma and Grandpa were having a great time having them back, too. It had been a bit of a challenge, realizing that not only were they their kids, but also Arnold's parents. Having raised Arnold for the majority of his life, it had definitely been an adjustment letting Miles and Stella take the reigns. It was a learning curve for all of them.

Gerald had spent a fair amount of time coming over throughout the weeks. It was nice for Arnold to be able to have his parents meet his best friend. He couldn't get a certain blonde girl out of his head though.

He hadn't seen Helga since they all got back to Hillwood. She went off with her parents before he had a chance to talk to her about the exchange they had in the village. He had had a lot of time to go over his thoughts regarding the two of them and desperately wanted to speak to her. But he acknowledged that they had both been busy. Him, getting to know his parents, and her with establishing an actual relationship with hers.

He was getting pretty restless, however and decided to try and get in touch with her. He didn't know the number to her house, so he thought the best course of action was to just walk there and speak face to face. So he gave a hug to his dad and grandpa, and gave a kiss to his mom and grandma and was off.

It was amazing how such a dramatic event in someone's life could change things so tremendously. Just two months ago, Helga's parents barely knew she existed. Yet, now, they had spent almost every night having family dinners and talking to each other. Bob had only slipped up and called her 'Olga' twice since they got back from san Lorenzo. Miriam had cut back substantially on her smoothies and had actually noticed Helga.

She asked Helga is she would like to do some shopping with her. Helga considered it to be really far too girly for her, but decided if her mom was wanting to spend time with her. Well, heck why not. So Miriam bought her a whole new set of clothes. Some shorts, pink skirts, and new tank tops for the year. She even let her mom take her to a makeup counter, where the women there gave her two, nicely shaped eyebrows. Looking in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself without the one brow across her face.

Summer was almost over, and things had been pretty uneventful throughout Hillwood in the last few weeks. Most of the gang was too overwhelmed with happiness over being home in the first couple of weeks that no one really did anything together. As the weeks went by though, they all started getting together for some baseball and kickball games. Everyone except Arnold.

Helga was really overthinking everything since she had gotten home. Was he avoiding her? She made sure to go out any chance she got and hang out with the other kids, in hopes that he would be there, too. But he never was.

She spent many of her days admiring her shrine to her love. She tried to understand. He had his parents back, after all! He was busy. But after everything that had happened between them… Surely, she thought they would have spoken by now. But she gave him his space.

Crimeny was that hard.

"Oh Arnold, my love" - she began, while sitting in her closet with her many candles lit around her - "I would give anything to be certain that you are happy as can be. Even if it means giving you the time and space to connect with your parents. I shall be as patient as the female dove, waiting for her love to return home to her. Anything to ensure your true happiness is full and grand. I will wait for you, my sweet."

Suddenly, Miriam was knocking at her door. "Helga, sweetie. Your friend with the weird shaped head is here to see you. Can I let him in?"

Helga jumped up. "Uhh. Just a minute!" She hastily blew out all of her candles and pulled all of her hanging clothes back into place, shutting her closet door behind her.

"Oh, the fates have answered my call and brought you to me, my love."

Helga opened her door, and ran downstairs, skipping every other step. There he was. Her football-headed soulmate. Everything she had been waiting for had lead up to this moment. And yet, suddenly, she felt so nervous. Butterflies welling up within her stomach.

"What do you want, Arnoldo?" - She asked from the foot of the stairs.

"Helga" - He said,as if seeing her for the first time. She was wearing one of her new outfits, and as she had not been expecting anyone, had her hair down. It was much longer than he had ever noticed, down just past her shoulders. She looked exactly like Helga, and yet… So different. More mature. More… Womanly than before.

"I-I was hoping you and I could go for a walk." - He said, rather sheepishly, while running his hand on the back of his neck.