A/N: I am so proud of myself for meeting my own deadline! The odds were very likely but still it's a victory. I'm great at keeping promises, just not so much the ones I make to myself. Weird, huh? But the fact that I had you awesome readers to hold me accountable was probably a big reason why I met my deadline. So thanks, peoples! :D

Anyways, here it is, the last chapter, which is actually more of an epilogue than anything else. This is for all you readers who are sad to see this fic go and are expecting an amazing ending! Hope this doesn't disappoint!

But before you read on…

ALL THINGS "HEY ARNOLD!" DO NOT BELONG TO ME. THE ONLY THING I HAVE TO MY NAME THAT ORIGINATED IN MY CRAZY AND DELUSIONAL MIND IS THIS STORY IDEA, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHERS I HAVE OR WILL HAVE IN THE FUTURE. BUT THE IDEA IS NOT EVEN REALLY MINE TO BEGIN WITH, SINCE IT'S BASED LOOSELY OFF OF AN EPISODE THAT ALREADY HAPPENED! THEREFORE, I TECHNICALLY OWN NOTHING. SADNESS.

Chapter 10 – Oh Criminy, Not Again!

Epilogue

~8 years later~

It was early fall, the beginning of the school year. Seventeen-year-old Helga was walking home from school, alone. She was in a particularly foul mood that day for whatever reason. She figured it had something to do with going through yet another day without Arnold. She tried to get over him but realized that that was pretty much a lost cause. She was kicking pebbles while grumbling phrases like 'stupid football head running off to live in the stupid jungle for the past six years'. She continued on her little rant until she passed an alleyway, in which something written in chalk on a wall caught her eye. It was several feet away so she couldn't fully make out the words from where she stood, but she could easily recognize the white chalk heart. Piqued with curiosity, Helga walked towards that wall to get a better look. Once she was right in front of it, Helga immediately recognized the names that filled the chalk heart and she was instantly filled with dread.

"Oh criminy, not again!" Helga groaned out of exasperation and annoyance, as she slapped her palm against her forehead.

But then Helga really took the time to read the chalk message and she noticed that something was different about it, or in this case more similar. She realized that the two names that she originally wrote on the wall during that crazy week back in the fourth grade were there and in the correct order.

'This is some serious déjà vu, like when I first wrote the message before everything erupted into complete chaos,' Helga thought to herself with a combination of confusion, dread, and a hint of interest. Yes, the chalk heart she was now looking at read 'Arnold Loves Helga' as clear as day.

Suddenly, Helga could tell she was being watched. It was the 'writer', who was staring intently at her.

'If it's Brainy again, I swear I will-' Helga started her thought as she was preparing to turn around to see who was watching her from the shadows. But she never got to finish that thought because it was then that the mystery person came up to her from behind and enveloped her in a warm hug. This of course freaked Helga out so she grabbed ahold of one of their arms, pulled it outward, and used that arm to flip the person over so that they were now lying flat on the ground.

"I think I now know why you kept warning me to stop sneaking up behind you. I guess I should've listened," a familiar voice groaned jokingly. Helga's eyes widened upon realizing who the voice belonged to.

"Arnold?! What…? Who-? Why-?" Helga was still stunned, so much that she was struggling to form a complete sentence. She had no clue what he was doing back, although part of the reason seemed like it was to see her. Actually, that was pretty obvious. Still, she wanted to be sure so there was now one big question that was swirling all around in her mind, even though the answer seemed pretty clear. After all, Arnold was the dense one, not her!

'Who told him?! Wait…I know who! Ohh…I'm really going to get him now…well, depending on how this works out of course!' Helga thought, a plan beginning to form in her head.

"Hello to you too, Helga!" Arnold greeted rather cheerfully with a goofy grin spread across his face. There was a strange casualness to his voice as if lying flat on his back from being abruptly flipped over by his old childhood bully was a normal occurrence.

"Football Head! You're back!?" Helga was flabbergasted and was only half aware of her surroundings and actions. She only partially remembered helping Arnold up. That's how out of it she suddenly was. And there she was, face to face with the very person responsible for that, who was suddenly giving her a knowing smile.

"Nice to see you again too, Helga!" Arnold replied with a chuckle, his eyes were hooded and he was grinning goofily. His expression made Helga freak out a little more but in a different way. She knew that look but she just couldn't believe he was doing that around her, possibly because of her.

Meanwhile, Arnold couldn't believe it was possible for Helga to become even more beautiful but it happened. He was already really biased to begin with though. Her personality seemed generally the same, although maybe toned down a little bit. The most obvious changes were exterior ones. Sadly, she was still taller than him but only by a few inches. She abandoned her pink jumper dress and instead wore a plain pink T-shirt, holey jeans, a pair of worn-in pink sneakers, and lastly she still had her pink ribbon but this time she wore it as a headband with the ends tied into a bow that was tilted to one side of her head. Her blonde hair was so long that it almost reached past her back and instead of the pigtails, she wore her hair half up that day. To Arnold, the biggest change was probably her unibrow, or more accurately the lack thereof since there were now two eyebrows instead of one. Arnold was also a little surprised to see Helga wearing makeup, even if it was just eyeliner, which was probably to make her look tougher.

'As if she needed help in that department,' Arnold thought jokingly as he remembered how she flipped him not too long ago. All in all, he thought that she really blossomed over the years.

'Beauty, brains, and definitely full of brawns. She's definitely the total package,' Arnold thought with a dreamy look threatening to appear on his face.

"Oh, knock it off, will ya? Ok, ok, you got me. Ha ha, good one. Now onto more important matters, like what are you doing back? Did you get kicked out of the jungle or something?" Helga asked in mock accusation, her voice snapping Arnold back into reality. Luckily, Arnold didn't notice that Helga's voice was a little shaky at first or that she basically brought the focus back on him just to change the subject. Arnold was also lucky since Helga was preoccupied with her own thoughts and as a result she wasn't aware of Arnold practically marveling at her beauty. Arnold wasn't the only one to notice changes though.

'He still knows how to push my buttons. And how is it possible for him to get even more handsome?!' Helga thought as she internally gushed over the view that was right in front of her. Arnold looked about the same as he did the last time they were face to face as sixth graders. However, he was like a taller and older-looking version of that sixth-grade kid, if that made any sense at all. It didn't seem like he changed a bit personality-wise. Like Helga, his apparel was one of the major changes, although the changes were subtler in Arnold's case: plain teal T-shirt instead of his sweater, one of his red plaid shirts that was once constantly mistaken for a kilt/skirt thing was worn over the T-shirt and was completely unbuttoned, a pair of worn-in red sneakers, and khaki cargo shorts instead of jeans. Honestly, Helga thought his outfit resembled a lot like what he wore when the entire class was in the jungle. She cringed a little after making that connection because she realized she almost sounded like Rhonda just then! Shaking her head out of that thought, Helga continued with her observations. She noticed a few other changes that included the fact that Arnold looked tanner and slightly more muscular, both of which were causing Helga to internally swoon a bit.

"Haha, nope. Well, I want to go to college in the states so my parents figured it would be a good idea for me to come back in time to finish my last year of high school here first," Arnold replied simply with a small, secret smile on his face.

'And the other reason is because of you,' Arnold thought to himself smugly.

"Wow, so your parents sent you back just like that? By yourself?" Helga asked incredulously.

"Actually, my parents felt that we restored things in the village well enough for us all to leave now so my parents are back too," Arnold explained.

"Whoa, that's really great! Took you all long enough!" Helga exclaimed half-teasingly with a small smirk on her face, as she casually shifted all her weight to one side and crossed her arms.

"Haha, true but I guess my parents wanted to be completely sure before leaving again," Arnold replied with a small nod. He then used one hand to rub the back of his head sheepishly. Being so close to Helga again made all those nervous feelings return, to which Arnold had previously pushed them down just so he could do that little stunt with the chalk.

Meanwhile, Helga was mesmerized with the fact that they haven't spoken to each other in about six years and yet they could still keep up this kind of exchange like they just saw each other yesterday. It was true that they wrote letters to each other but it was not the same.

Actually, Helga stopped writing Arnold about two years ago. That was what prompted Arnold to try to figure out why she stopped writing and then later he was trying to determine why he cared so much. Then it hit him. The answer that had been right in front of him for years and yet he didn't do a thing about it. Until now.

"Yeah that makes sense…" Helga replied as she trailed off. Something was obviously on her mind and Arnold was just patiently waiting until she felt like telling him, which he knew she would soon enough.

"Ok, so what was that all about?" Helga asked after finally summoning the courage and the right words.

"Do you mean my entrance or the wall?" Arnold answered, slightly confused with what she was specifically referring to.

"Both, but one thing at a time. Let's start with the entrance. That was a pretty daring thing you did, like you forgot just who you were dealing with. Guess all those years in the jungle made you forget," Helga joked with a smirk. Despite her attempts to hide it, Helga's tone sounded a little nervous.

"Like I could forget," Arnold muttered sarcastically.

"What was that, Football Head?" Helga asked, feigning confusion but in a mocking sort of way. Her tone made it evident that she heard that little remark.

"Nothing," Arnold denied, faking innocence and chuckling softly before continuing, "But about the entrance, well I figured that along with the wall, it was the very thing to get your attention," Arnold replied honestly, his gaze was steady as he looked into Helga's blue eyes knowingly.

'I could get lost in those beautiful blue eyes. Actually, I think it's too late for me,' Arnold thought.

Helga gulped a little in reaction to Arnold's response.

"And the wall?" Helga asked rather timidly.

"Well, I heard about a young girl writing that on a wall because she hoped in her heart that that would be true one day. So here I am, eight years later to prove to that girl that that 'one day' is today," Arnold said rather matter-of-factly with half-lidded eyes as he got closer to bridge the gap between them. However, there was something in Helga's neutral expression that made Arnold stop for a second.

"Unless, I'm too late?" Arnold asked quietly. He didn't want to think of the possibility of that but he figured that that could've happened, especially since it took him quite a while to sort out his feelings and not to mention that he had to spend that time being thousands of miles away from Helga. He already knew from a very reputable source that Helga had a few brief relationships here and there. That apparently started the same time she stopped writing, which was a year or two after their almost relationship never really developed since Arnold was staying in San Lorenzo at the time and the timing just wasn't right because he was still unsure about his feelings. But the most recent relationship ended about a year ago, or so he thought. It was possible that there was now someone else. Someone new.

Arnold did not have to spend too long mulling over that possibility though, since Helga finally responded with a small shake of her head a few seconds later.

"Then, what's wrong?" Arnold asked with emerging concern.

"So this is not a dream?" Helga asked quietly, her voice trembling slightly. Arnold blinked in response. He didn't expect that but looking back, he probably should've. Helga was so untrusting that he should've seen an answer like that coming.

'Classic Helga,' Arnold thought as he silently promised himself he was going to do everything he could to resolve those trust issues once and for all.

Out of happiness for there not being another guy Arnold had to worry about, he began to chuckle softly. It was Helga's turn to blink in response. Unlike Arnold though, her blinking was immediately followed by Helga going into a bit of a rage.

"Oh, this is just one big joke to you, huh? You know, you got some nerve to do this after all these years and I-mmm!" Helga's annoyed rant was interrupted in the sweetest way possible, by none other than Arnold's lips. The kiss itself was brief but very passionate, just enough to make its intended message loud and clear to Helga. Helga was grateful that Arnold still knew just how to silence her silly insecurities, but this time he was actually trying to. Helga wasn't finished with him though. After all, she had a message of her very own that she wanted to give him.

"Is that answer enough?" Arnold smirked as he asked rather jokingly. Helga's silence and rather pensive expression started to concern him though. Unbeknownst to Arnold, Helga was just planning out in her head the best way to make her next move.

'Should I say something? Do I need to say something? Aw, forget it! I've waited this long. I'm just gonna go for it!' Helga decided, her mind firmly made up.

"Helga? Are you-mmm!" Now it was Arnold's turn to be interrupted, sweetly interrupted that is. His eyes bulged a bit in response, at least in the beginning. When he realized not even a second later that Helga grabbed his cheeks and pulled him to her so she could stop him mid-sentence with her lips, his eyes immediately closed as he moaned softly into the kiss. His arms began to wrap around her and he pulled her in closer. It was Helga who then gave a soft moan of her own as she pulled him even closer to her by clutching his upper back tightly. A few seconds later, Helga removed one of the hands on Arnold's back to hold the back of his head. She could hear Arnold taking a deep breath through his nose as she moved that hand through his hair while simultaneously massaging his scalp.

Helga could've let this gone on forever and she very much wanted to but they were in public for goodness sakes, although they were actually in a pretty secluded part of the neighborhood. Upon realization of this, Helga made a silent reminder to herself to thank Arnold later for choosing this location.

Despite the fact that the two teens were definitely alone and were probably not in any danger of somebody coming around here anytime soon, Helga still needed some answers to a few things. She was certain she knew the answers already but she needed confirmation from Arnold first. And so, a very reluctant Helga began to pull back so she could ask the one question that was weighing pretty heavily on her mind.

"Brainy told ya, didn't he?" Helga asked up front, not wasting any time at all. She stepped back a little but her arms were still around Arnold. Helga was definitely aware that Arnold didn't seem to be in any hurry to let go either.

"Huh? Uh…oh, yeah. He did," Arnold replied with a small sheepish smile. He felt slightly embarrassed that he was lost in some sort of daze and that Helga noticed it. Luckily, the moment was very brief and he was able to snap himself out of it on his own. However, no matter how brief it lasted, Arnold knew that Helga was probably not going to let him forget it!

'Looks like I already have an effect on him,' Helga thought with a silent chuckle, 'I'll bug him about it later though. I got other things to attend to first,' Helga reasoned in her head.

"When?" Helga asked quietly but with determination in her voice.

"About a year ago, when you two were a couple for five seconds. Somehow he figured out my feelings before I did and he felt guilty that it was him and not me that you were seeing at the time. And so, one day he told me the full story of that time in the fourth grade," Arnold paused to motion his head towards the chalk heart as a reference, as if Helga didn't know what he was referring to anyways, "And all I knew from that time was that Lila was randomly rather forceful with you and that caused me to crush on her, she let me down gently, and then you fell out of a tree, tried to make me feel better about Lila not returning my feelings, and then agreed to be my friend. Apparently there was more to the story than that," Arnold explained honestly but rather smugly, his gaze never leaving Helga's. Helga could've sworn she detected a hint of jealousy in Arnold's voice when he mentioned the fact that she and Brainy briefly dated. Naturally, this made Helga a bit giddy, which she was doing her best to keep such feelings under wraps. It was true that she and Arnold were basically dating now but all these feelings were very new and foreign to Helga after all. As a result of her trying to suppress those emotions, the only response she was able to give while maintaining her composure was just a small nod.

After a few brief seconds of silence, a new thought popped into Arnold's head, which caused him to grin rather smugly yet again.

"You know, if it wasn't for Brainy, I might not have developed a crush on Lila when we were in the fourth grade," Arnold added with a knowing smirk.

"Ugh…don't remind me!" Helga exclaimed and groaned with a tone that was more sarcastic than harsh. Helga shook her head a little though as a new thought occurred to her, which caused her to change her expression to one that was more rational before continuing.

"But still, it's not like we can actually know if anything would've changed if things turned out differently. If Brainy didn't intervene, maybe you still would've had a crush on Lila but it would've happened a little later and for some other reason. But if something like that happened instead, I doubt that we would be where we are now. Maybe we would have but there's no way to know that for sure. So I am actually kind of glad Brainy did what he did, because that was just the push I needed to allow us to become friends…and now here we are!" Helga added, both her tone and expression were generally pretty firm and sincere. She couldn't believe how much she was giving away to Arnold already. It was freeing to finally feel comfortable enough to be so open and honest with him but Helga definitely did not want to reveal everything all at once. All in due time.

'But that's all he's getting for now,' Helga thought rather stubbornly.

Helga's answer caused Arnold to blink a bit. She hadn't been this honest with him in a few years and he had to admit that he really missed it. He always felt honored when she would trust him enough to let him in on some of her true feelings and opinions that she believed she had to keep hidden from the entire world. The words themselves that Helga just spoke also gave Arnold other things to think about. Now that he knew the whole story of what happened in those couple of days back in the fourth grade, Arnold could see that Brainy's bold actions probably were the driving force behind Helga being more open to Arnold's attempts to be friends with her. In fact, her demeanor around him had begun to change, in which those changes were only considered to be monumental if the way she treated him in the days before the incident was compared to how she acted around him just a few days later. Little by little, Helga's walls were crumbling and she began accepting Arnold's help every now and then, like helping her carry groceries to her house. She even vented to him occasionally while he mainly just listened. For Arnold, fighting the urge to give advice was no easy feat but he resisted, since he knew that Helga would not respond so well to that because she was not opening up so he could try to fix everything. And so he held his tongue and only offered his opinion on bigger-scale matters or when she actually asked for it. Helga still kept up her 'I hate Arnold' routine when they were around their classmates but when it was just them, she showed more and more of her true self. In a short while, Helga and Arnold went from being frenemies to acquaintances to friends. The friendship continued for the first half of those six years Arnold spent living in San Lorenzo. Of course, there was a brief period of awkwardness that followed that random kiss in the jungle, which didn't really have the chance to develop into anything anyways so the two pre-teens just pretended it didn't happen.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't think about it like that but it makes sense. I guess we should be thanking Brainy," Arnold stated both jokingly and seriously. The summary of all those memories he had playing in his mind like a movie reel had just ended.

"Go right ahead, Football Head. I technically already did. The way I see it, the fact that I haven't punched him in about two years and then later agreed to go out with him last year could both be considered an implied thanks," Helga reasoned with a small smirk and a shrug. Arnold chuckled at Helga's answer and slowly shook his head, a knowing smile forming on his face.

'Yeah, I guess that's the 'Helga G. Pataki version' of showing gratitude,' Arnold thought with another chuckle. 'And I don't expect or want anything else,' he added to himself, a goofy smile threatening to reveal itself yet again.

"Ya wanna fill me in on the joke, Football Head?" Helga asked after hearing Arnold laugh. Her question was far more curious-sounding than it was aggressive like it would have been years ago when the two of them were children.

"It's nothing really," Arnold shrugged and smiled before continuing, "I just almost forgot about how feisty and passionate you are. I missed it and I missed you," Arnold concluded his explanation as he slowly tightened his hold on Helga, resulting in the gap between them to get smaller and smaller. He then proceeded to lean his head into the crook of Helga's neck, which was followed by him sighing softly. Helga's breathing hitched in reaction. That quickly returned to normal though once everything sunk in.

"I missed you too, you sappy Football Head," Helga sighed sweetly in response as she tightened her own hold on Arnold with one hand and massaged Arnold's scalp with the other.

They stayed like that for several seconds. That was when something entirely unrelated to their previous conversations had just randomly entered Helga's head.

"Hey, have you seen any of the gang yet?" Helga asked curiously as she leaned back so she could look at Arnold.

"Nope. I wanted to make sure I saw you first," Arnold answered honestly. His eyes were hooded and his mouth was formed into a knowing smirk.

"Good boy," Helga praised jokingly while giving his head a little pat for good measure. Arnold chuckled and smiled warmly in response.

"They'd probably never forgive me if I kept you all to myself today, even though the idea is very very tempting! Still, we should go meet up with them now. They're probably hanging around Gerald Field," Helga added as she broke free from Arnold's embrace only to then take one of his hands in hers. She then started walking towards said vacant lot with Arnold in tow, who did not seem to have much of a say in the matter. However, she knew he wanted to see his old friends again and that was all the answer she really needed.

"Yeah, Gerald told me it was still around," Arnold replied simply while following Helga until he matched her pace. He chuckled at Helga's comment, to which he would be lying if he said that that idea wasn't tempting for him too.

"Yep, and we still play ball on it sometimes. Other times, it doubles as a hang-out-slash-make-out spot," Helga replied with a suggestive wag of her eyebrows. The sudden blush spreading on Arnold's cheeks told Helga that her hidden message was well-received.

"You know they'll start talking," Arnold warned with a smirk and a teasing eyebrow wag of his own.

Helga knew Arnold was teasing her but he had a point, even though he wasn't trying to make one necessarily. It's true that things were moving pretty fast in just a matter of minutes but did Helga want to change anything? Heck no! Yes, she was going to have to get used to acting like a couple with Arnold whenever they were in public, especially since she acted like she hated his guts for the longest time. Then again, she hadn't done that in years since he wasn't even here so hopefully the urge to revert back to her old bully self wouldn't be as strong. And besides, her dream was suddenly staring her in the face. About two years ago, this was the one dream that she believed would never become a reality, which was why she stopped replying to Arnold's letters and tried to have an open mind while dating other guys, all to to try to get her mind off of Arnold. Now that Arnold reciprocated her feelings, Helga realized that she didn't have to hide that part of herself ever again, nor did she want to. It was the end of an era and her mind was firmly made up. A new road laid out before her and she was not turning back now, or ever for that matter.

"So? Do you see me caring? Everything's different now. All that unrequited love nonsense is long over now so why hide it? Besides, if anybody thinks I've gone soft or anything just because you have returned my affections, they're going to have to answer to 'Ol Betsy and the Five Avengers!" Helga exclaimed giddily with a devious gleam in her eyes as she made a fist with her free hand and began to shake it in the air to capture the full effect. True as her word, she did not let go of Arnold's hand as the two continued to walk together.

"Whatever you say, Helga. Whatever you say," Arnold replied with a heartfelt chuckle. He lifted up the back of Helga's hand to his lips and kissed her hand softly. Helga blushed and flashed Arnold the most dazzling of smiles, which literally caused his heart to skip a beat.

'I could get used to this,' Helga thought to herself happily as she and Arnold continued walking. Together.

THE END

A/N: Just to clarify in case you were curious about the timeline, I was going with the confirmed timeline from TJM, so most of the class were about 11 when they went to San Lorenzo to help Arnold find his parents. Therefore, if Arnold came back at 17, he was in the jungle for 6 years. And 8 years prior would be when they were fourth graders.

By the way, I'm always listening to music when I'm writing. While I was working on this chapter, I was flip-flopping between a few songs by Cake, like "Pretty Pink Ribbon", which made me think of Helga and how if Arnold wasn't there to compliment her on her bow when they met, her life probably would have been much darker and stuff. You can give that a listen if you want to!

And that, my friends, is the end of "The Wall Knows All"! I may be working on a one-shot before starting the fall semester but in case I can't get that started I might as well make this little announcement now:

In case anyone is interested, in a short while, like less than a week, I won't have any time to write anything new and make updates in a timely manner so I decided to take a break from writing fanfics. That's pretty much why I wanted to finish this story, so I wouldn't leave anything unfinished. I won't be posting anything new until December at the earliest. However, it could be a whole year until I'm able to publish anything because I decided to wait until I have written at least the first few chapters of a new story before posting it, that way I can post more periodically or whatever!

If I'm able to write the one-shot then I will be on hiatus right after that. I'm upset to be doing this but I have to. I'm not quitting though, just taking a break!

Thank you all for your kind words about this fanfic! It makes me so happy that you enjoyed this and my writing! See ya around!

-Livyloozer