Arnold approached the window looking into the living room and realized it was too tall for him to reach, which he assumed. He looked around and found a solid- and full-trash can and stood on it. He pulled a variety of tools out of his coat pocket: a screw driver, wrench, credit card, wire hanger, and anything else he thought he'd need to break in.

He placed the screwdriver along the edge of the window, but hesitated. He forgot to check if they had a home security system… He jumped off the garbage can and went to the front door, peeking in with his hands cupped around his eyes. He didn't see any blinking lights or other indicators of a system. He looked around the house through the glass door, thinking about all the times he was in there when he was younger…

"You're really the biggest loser I know, I hope you are aware," Helga said, rolling her eyes as she forced the front door open. She slid her back pack off her shoulders and tossed it on the floor in the entry way.

"I'm just saying, aren't we here to do the project?" Arnold asked, embarrassed. Helga cast him a look and shook her head. "Then what are we here for?"

"Oh relax football head, I'm not going to take advantage of you or anything," She said, walking down the hall and flicking her hand, brushing away his concern. He didn't think she was going to take advantage of him, whatever she meant by that, but nevertheless he blushed. "We'll get to the project eventually, I'm just saying it's way too nice of a day to waste indoors. Let's do something first."

Arnold smiled and followed her into the kitchen. She was in the fridge, bending over and looking for something to drink. She had a pink sundress on with converse sneakers and he thought it was funny how she twisted her feet, tapped her toes, and scratched the back of her calf while she perused the fridge. When she stood up, she had two bottles of soda in her hand and placed on the counter for Arnold.

"Our project is supposed to be on a political topic of our choice, right?" She said, heading for the front door again. Arnold followed without question. "Well let's go walk around the park and think about it. There, that's the perfect compromise. I get to enjoy this warm day and you get to nerd out and start our final project two weeks early…"

Arnold smiled as the memory flooded him, filling him with warmth. His heart hurt a little, thinking back on such a simple time as high school. He missed being genuinely happy, genuinely carefree. He leaned on the door and the knob twisted- it was unlocked!

He fell forward into the entry way, grabbing onto the door before it slammed into the wall. He braced himself and waited, his breath caught in his chest, for someone to hear him. After a few moments, he realized no one was coming and he proceeded into the house.

He walked into the living room, his eyes scanning. He saw the urn sitting on the mantle, that green vase with the gold detail shining in the moonlight. He walked over, keeping his steps quiet, and stared at it. He almost expected it to burn him, or if he picked it up a boulder would come out of the ceiling and chase him out of the house Indiana Jones style. When he put his hands on it, it was cold. He lifted it up and it wasn't as heavy as he expected. Maybe it was because her ashes had been shared with the rest of the family, or maybe she was so heavy on his mind he expected her to have a little more substance in real life. Either way, he pulled a plastic bag out of his pocket labeled "HELGA" and opened it, pouring her ashes into it. He sealed the bag and put it back in his pocket, patting it as he did to make sure it was secure. He went into his other pocket and pulled out the bag labled "DECOY" and poured the ashes into the urn to replace the ones he had stolen. When he put the delicate glass jar back on the mantle, he felt a surge of emotion. Pride that he had done it and not gotten caught, anger that he had to do it, and sadness that he felt it had to be done. He stared at the jar, remembering her funeral.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to say this yet," He whispered, tears forming in his eyes. He wiped them away, putting his hand in his pocket and closing his fist around the bag containing his friends burnt body. "Goodbye."

He kissed his other hand and put it on the lid, closed his eyes, and turned around to see Helga standing right behind him, staring at him. Arnold fell backward into the fireplace, scraping his hands on the brick as he slid down the wall, sitting on the floor. She stared straight forward, the same tears falling down her cheeks, mixing with blood from her lip.

"Oh god," Arnold whispered, feeling his chest tighten. Was he going to have a panic attack? He tried to steady his breathing, staring up at the girl who stared blankly in front of her. She closed her eyes and turned her face to the ceiling, a smile forming on her lips, though she still looked so sad. She put her hands on her face. He saw her eyes clench in a painful cry behind her fingers. She dropped her head, face towards the floor as she cried. She tensed her hands, pushing her rigid fingers through her hair in frustration.

"Oh, god," She whispered, eyes still shut. The tears Arnold had in his eyes earlier were falling down his face as he watched her. Did she hear him? Was she repeating him? Where was she?

She let go of her hair and wrapped her arms around her middle, her fingernails digging into her flesh, holding herself in. If she let go, she would surly fall apart. She gasped and opened her eyes, locked her gaze with Arnold. She was staring at him with such intensity; Arnold could feel his chest tightening as he sat on the floor, terrified.

"Find me."

Arnold stumbled out of the house, pulling the door shut behind him and locking it. If he left any trace of himself there when he had fallen over, he hopped a locked door and no sign of forced entry would keep the Pataki's from thinking they had been robbed of their dead daughter. He practically ran down the stairs, stumbling at the bottom but catching himself on the railing. The car was next to him and he heard Maria jump out of the car. She ran over to him and grabbed him just as he slid down to the ground again, panting.

"What happened?" She asked, concerned. She was on the ground with him, pushing his drenched hair out of his face as he tried to get control of his breathing. He couldn't talk, he just shook his head. She looked scared. "Come on."

She lifted Arnold of the ground with more strength than he was expecting. She supported him to the car and opened the passenger door for him. He collapsed into the seat feeling like he had run a marathon. His body was tired. She got in the car next to him and drove, no words, no hesitation. They made their way back to the city before she asked him anything. "Where do we go?"

Arnold didn't answer her; he couldn't find his words yet. He had his head against the window, watching lights pass by. She didn't ask again but took him to the diner. It had been closed for a long time, the windows dark and the parking lot empty. She turned off the ignition and waited.

"Sometimes…" Arnold said quietly. She didn't look at him, but sat perfectly still looking out the windshield and he could feel the tension as she waited for his explanation. "…sometimes I think she can hear me."

"What did she say?" Maria asked.

"She was in the living room. She was right behind me," Arnold said, talking slowly. "She keeps asking me to find her."

"So you think…" Maria started, testing the water. "You think maybe…maybe she's not dead at all?"

Arnold took the ashes out of his pocket and put the bag on the dashboard. "This bag says otherwise. This bag says I'm wrong."

"I didn't ask what that bag things," Maria said with a hint of attitude. Arnold looked at her and she was smiling slightly. "I didn't ask what anyone thought except for you. What do you think?"

"I think her parents said goodbye to the wrong girl," Arnold said. "I think someone took her. I want her to be alive, but my gut is telling me she's gone. Why else would she haunt me?"

"So what are you trying to do, then?" Maria pried.

"I guess I just want to know the truth," Arnold said with a shrug, putting his forehead back on the cool glass window. "I want to find out what happened to her so I can find her and the real Helga can come home, or at least her story can. I just want to honor my friend."

All of a sudden there was a pressure on Arnold's hand. His instant reaction was pull away, but he fought that feeling back. He didn't want to offend Maria, who had placed her hand on his and was smiling at him. "That's a really lovely thing to do for someone. She's lucky you care so much."

"Thanks," Arnold said, not sure how to respond. "For everything."

"No worries," She said, squeezing his hand once and letting go.

For some reason, in the dark with this practical stranger, Arnold suddenly, finally, felt like talking. "No, you don't understand. Most people think I'm insane. I've changed so much in a year… maybe it started before that, I don't know, but I feel like everyone's given up on me. It's nice that you just let me…let me do this I guess. No one else would help me, not like this. They wanted me to forget and move on. I don't want to forget."

"If people wanted you to get better, really get better, they'd listen to you," Maria said quietly. "Sometimes you just have to do what you gotta do to get better. Just as long as you don't lose yourself in the process."

"It's funny, I feel more like myself right now, today, than I have in a long time," Arnold admitted.

"Good," Maria said with a laugh. "There's little in this world worse than losing yourself."

"The way you talk, sounds like you know how that feels," Arnold said off-hand.

"Not personally," She said, and Arnold was surprised to hear her slide the key in the ignition and start the car back up. "Another story for another day though. Where are we going now?"

"Not the station, my boss would fucking end me if he figured out what I just did…" Arnold said, pushing his hand through his hair, thinking. "I think my place is best to be honest."

"Lead the way," She said, cranking the wheel and turning out of the parking lot.

Arnold opened the door to the apartment as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake up Sid. He poked his head in, scanning the room to make sure his roommate didn't fall asleep on the couch or something. When the coast was clear, he walked into the apartment and beckoned Maria to follow. They went to his room and he closed the door with a quiet click.

"So what are you going to do with the ashes?" Maria asked as Arnold cleared a space on his cluttered desk and threw the bag of ashes down. He shoved his hands in his pockets, staring at the stolen body in front of him.

"That's a great question," he said with a sigh. "I've been told the DNA gets destroyed when a body is cremated, but I'm hoping there's something in here to prove me wrong."

Arnold stepped forward and opened the baggie and Maria let out a groan. "Oh, gross."

"Excuse me?" Arnold laughed, looking back at her standing there with her arms crossed and a look of pure disgust across her face.

"Are you going to…you know…touch them?" She asked, pointing to the bag.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to, you know," Arnold said with a roll of his eyes. He started rifting through his junk to find a good vehicle to place the ashes in. He settled on an old baking sheet- why it was in his room he had no idea, but it worked. He sat down and prepared himself for the task at hand while Maria made a gagging noise. "I'm serious, you don't have to sit through this if you think it's gross."

"Nah, I'll get over it," She said, crossing the room and sitting cross-legged on his bed. It made him a little uncomfortable. No one had been in his room, let alone his bed, in ages. He was self-conscious about the condition of his sheets, but she didn't seem to mind. "Besides, I'm sort of involved now, I feel like I have to see what you find."

"Alright, if you say so," Arnold replied before turning back to the bag. He decided to just fucking do it, and he dumped the bag on the tray. He understood Maria's disgust when a small cloud of dust puffed up from the tray and he tried his best not to inhale. The thought of breathing in dead body ashes was a little much for him. He found a pen on his desk and began sifting through the dust, looking for any evidence at all.

"Do you think you'll find anything?" Maria asked. She sounded tired.

"Not really," Arnold replied, suppressing a yawn. "But it's worth a shot.

Time passed. His back ached from being hunched over so long. Arnold set the pen down next to the pile of ashes he was diligently working on and sat up straight, stretching his back as best he could. He looked out the window to see the pale line of day break peaking around the buildings of the city. He realized Maria hadn't said anything in a long time and looked back to see her slumped against the wall, still cross-legged and asleep. He watched her for a moment, wondering if he should wake her up or not. He decided to let her sleep a little and got back to work. A voice in the back of his head nagged him. "Don't you think it's weird you basically met this girl three days ago and she's asleep in your bed?"

He shook his head and concentrated on the girl in front of him, the one he was trying to rescue. He sifted through the ashes, wishing he had come up with a better plan before jumping in like this. He blamed the lack of sleep as he used the pen to dig little circles in the ash, trying to get anything to surface that looked out of place. He slid he tray back and forth like a sift, creating a thin layer of grey matter in front of him. He pushed, pulled, dug through the ash until he saw it.

"Maria wake up," He said in a hurried voice. She stirred but didn't wake. Arnold grabbed a hoodie from the floor and threw it at her. When it made contact, she jumped awake. "Come look."

She stood up slowly, stretching. Arnold was too excited to wait. "Today would be nice."

"Geeze, nice to see you too," she said coming to the desk. "What?"

"Look," Arnold said, pointing to the tray. There, at the top left corner, poking out just a little bit from the edge of the pile was a bit of hair that had somehow, miraculously, survived the fire. It was blonde.

"Is that…?" Maria said with squinting eyes.

"Yeah," Arnold said, excitement fueling him and he completely forgot how tired he was. "I think there's a chance we could get some DNA out of it."