Helga woke up and stretched, noticing a missed call from John. Ah, crap.

She checked the voicemail he left.

"Hey there Pataki, just wanted to let you know I got the dates mixed up, you don't have to come back for a few more days. So enjoy your vacation cuz you're getting your ass handed to you when you get back with training! Hope you're still jogging, ya lazy ass! Talk to you soon! Oh and by the way, went ahead and rescheduled your flight. Don't have too much fun!"

Helga shook her head, laughing before tossing her phone on the bed as she stood up. She looked in the mirror, noticing how tired she looked. She didn't really sleep well last night. She looked at the clock on her phone, 7:30.

Oh screw that, she could jog later tonight. She fell back on the bed, sighing tiredly. Her dreams were filled with stupid mushy dreams of her and Arnold once more, much to her annoyance.

She snorted, remembering a dream she had when she was a kid about her being the president and having to save Arnold from Lila. Oh Lord, she really needed to go back to bed.

Phoebe noticed it was almost noon and Helga hadn't come out of the guest room. She quietly knocked on the door before opening it slightly. "Helga?" she squeaked.

Helga just grunted, a clear indignation that she was not ready to get up.

"Come on lazy bones." Phoebe giggled. "It's almost noon."

"Man…" Helga groaned before pushing herself off of the bed. "I slept like crap." She touched her forehead.

"Well, I have to head to work soon, so help yourself to anything while I'm gone. I've got to go change." She said, shutting the door.

Helga looked around, thinking of something she could do today. Maybe she could just stroll around the park or something. Yeah, that wasn't a bad idea.

She threw on a t-shirt and a jacket along with some jeans and her boots and headed out the door.

She stuck her headphones in as she strolled around, her hands stuffed in her pockets while she looked around.

A few people seemed to recognize her, but chose not to say anything much to Helga's relief. She really didn't want to deal with fans and questions today. Plus she didn't bring her trusty hot pink pen for autographs.

She turned the corner by a coffee shop, rather close to the boarding house. Oh, a coffee sounds good right about now. She stepped inside the coffee shop, catching a few side glances of recognition to which she ignored. She ordered her coffee and rushed out before people bugged her.

She blew in the cup to cool it down before taking a sip and continuing on her walk.

Arnold stared at his phone, debating on if he should call or not. He wanted to talk to Helga. He had even called Phoebe to get her number. He sighed, screw it, he'll call.

Helga noticed she was coming up on the boarding house. Her mind traveled to thoughts of Arnold. She missed the little group she, Phoebe, Gerald, and Arnold had in high school.

She sighed, she missed it. She missed what they had.

Her thoughts were cut short by her phone ringing. She pulled it out, not recognizing the number.

She reluctantly answered it. "Hello?"

"Helga?" The voice on the line said.

"…Yeah? Who is this?" She asked, cutting to the chase.

"It's Arnold." Well speak of the devil.

Helga stopped walking, a little surprised. How did he get her number?

"Oh, what's up?" She asked awkwardly, not really knowing what to say after the other night.

"I was going to see if you wanted to meet up and catch up seeing as our last conversation wasn't the most pleasant." He said, rubbing the back of his head. Why was it so weird talking to her like this?

"Oh uh…sure. Where did you want to meet?" This was awfully random.

"How about Hillwood Park?" He asked, seeing as that was the main place that hadn't changed much since she left.

"Sure. I'll see you in a bit then." She said, hanging up the phone. She took a deep breath, why was she suddenly nervous about meeting up with Arnold? Oh well, she agreed, so now it was time to suck it up.

Arnold got ready rather quickly and hustled out the front door, he was anxious. He wasn't quite sure why. He couldn't help but wonder that it was because of the feeling he was having that maybe his and Helga's story wasn't quite finished yet.

Helga sat on a park bench, watching for Arnold to show up. After a few minutes, she saw the familiar blonde mess of hair come around the corner. He saw her and she stood up, heading towards him.

"Hey." He said, feeling a little shy now.

"…Hey." Helga said, rubbing her arm.

They walked around in silence for a little bit, before Arnold coughed and broke the silence. "So…MMA, huh?" He said, looking at her with a smirk.

Helga smiled. "Heh, yeah, crazy I know."

"No, not crazy." He said, and she looked at him. "Impressive."

"Helga smiled again. "Thanks. Not what I was expecting to do with my life, but hey, it pays the bills." She laughed.

"I saw your fight with Martel." He said. "You won after the second round. You're good Helga. Really good."

Helga looked down, almost embarrassed. "Thanks."

"How have you been?" She looked back at him. "Other than…you know."

Arnold sighed, he didn't really want to talk about him, but he knew it'd be brought up eventually. "Well, I'm alive, I guess." He scratched his head, trying to find words. "You pretty much know everything already."

Helga nodded quietly. That was true, she had heard stories, and Phoebe had kept her a little updated when she moved.

"But," He said, trying to lighten the mood. "I'm thinking about going back to school."

That caught Helga's attention. "That's great Football Head!"

Arnold chuckled at the familiar nickname. "Yeah, grandma and grandpa had left me money for it, so I figured I should use it."

"What would you go to school for?"

"Psychology probably, I'm thinking about being a school psychiatrist maybe."

"You'd be good at that." She smiled, looking up at him.

Arnold couldn't help but smile too. It was amazing how almost nothing had changed between them once they calmly talked.

They walked in more silence, glancing at each other every now and again.

Arnold was about to say something before the ring of Helga's phone cut him off. She noticed it was Phoebe. "Hello?"

"Hello Helga! I was just calling to let you know I'll be getting home in about an hour."

"Oh okay, I'll see you then. Bye Pheebs."

"Bye!" Phoebe hung up and Helga stuck her phone back in her pocket.

She stopped, sighing. Arnold stopped too and looked at her.

"Phoebe's going to be home soon, so I should probably get going." She said, almost sad.

"Oh...okay." Arnold almost seemed sad as well. "I'll walk you back if that's alright." He said, a bit hopeful she'd say yes.

Helga smiled. "Sure, I'd like that."

Arnold smiled and they both left the park, talking and laughing about various things.

It seemed that almost too quickly they reached the front of Phoebe's apartment building.

"Well…" Helga said, shuffling her feet. "I'll see you later I guess?" She looked up at him.

"Can I see you before you leave?" He asked.

Helga smiled, nodding. "Sure."

Arnold felt his heart jump almost out of his chest with her answer. Why was he acting so giddy?

"Well," Helga broke the silence. "I'd better head inside." She opened the door, but before she could step inside, she felt a hand around her wrist and before she knew it she was turned around to face Arnold.

"Arnold, what-" She was cut off by a sudden kiss by him.

He backed her up against the wall without breaking the kiss.

A muffled grunt came from Helga before she gave up and returned the affection. She couldn't deny she was loving this feeling.

He took her face in his hands and deepened the kiss. He broke the kiss to hug her tightly, burying his face in her neck and taking a deep, steadying breath.

Helga's head was reeling from the sudden kiss.

He hugged her for a moment before she heard a sniffle. "Arnold?" She asked, still tightly gripped in his hug.

"…I missed you Helga…so much…" He said, a clear sound of pain in his voice.

Helga shut her eyes. "…Arnold…" Her arms snaked around his shoulders. "I was always a phone call away you dumby." She said, her lip quivering from holding back her tears that she felt forming. It killed her to see Arnold cry, this was the first time she'd ever seen it too, so it made it even harder to bare.

Arnold's arms tightened even more around her. "…I know, and I'm sorry…" He said, sniffling again.

"Hey…stop." She finally broke the hug with a little effort. "It happened, in the past." She tried to reassure him.

"Please let me see you before you leave." He almost pleaded. "Please Helga…"

"Arnold…I said I would, so I will. I promise." She took his face in her hands, kissing him swiftly. "I've got to go inside though Arnold."

Arnold reluctantly gave her one last hug before she headed inside and shut the door. Helga hadn't even noticed her ragged breathing until now. What was that just now? She wasn't sure, but she loved it. And she knew that even after all this time that she still had feelings for him. She leaned against the shut door, slowly easing herself down as she smiled and shut her eyes.

Arnold stared at the door for a moment before walking down the stairs. Why did he do that? He was surprised by his actions himself, but he knew it was what he truly felt. He really did miss her. Maybe that was why he was so snippy when she first came back. He wasn't sure, but deep down he felt a twinge of hope that maybe, just maybe…

Something more was happening between them again.

And this time, maybe it would work out.

*here it is, chapter 3! I know, I know, it's a little on the short side and I'm sorry. BUT, there's a good reason, because I was juggling between typing this and...the epilogue for Find the Light! Thaaat's right it is officially in the works! I'm pretty excited about it too. And of course I'm still very excited about where I'm taking this fanfic as well. SO, Arnold stole a kiss from tough little miss Helga G. Pataki, so now what's going to happen between these two love birds? Will they rekindle something? Or will the stress of Helga's MMA career and Arnold's struggle with sobriety get in the way of these young lovers being together? As always, please leave questions, comments, and reviews because I read them ALL. and thank you all for not only taking time to read this story and Find the Light, but also taking time to let me know what you think and any ideas that you may have, because I really do take them into consideration. Love you guys! 'Til next time! (:*