Author Note: As always, I'd like to take the time to thank all of you who take the time to read and/or review my story. It has meant a lot – and it has been such an encouragement.

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters (except for Sandrine Mortimer, Mr. Dale Bryan Dimmertry, Maureen Bruiser, Asra Asimah, and Nathan Bruiser) – for they are all from the mind of the genius that is Craig Bartlett, his team, and nickelodeon. No copyright infringements intended.

As always thoughts are emphasized through the use of italics.

Enjoy

Senior Year – Two Weeks Later – The First Week of November

Stinky smiled contently as he collapsed backwards into the softness of the lush blanket that Patty had spread earlier.

He glanced over at Patty – who was laying next to him. Her face seemed relaxed but pensive.

"You know what I like most about the stars?" she stated quietly.

"What?"

"You look at them…at all of them up there…and you just know that there's gotta be something more than…" she trailed off uneasily.

"Life," Stinky finished knowingly.

Patty nodded.

"Are you scared," he asked quietly.

"Not of dying," Patty informed meekly, "really it's more that I'm afraid of time. And not having enough of it. Time to figure out who I'm supposed to be…to find my place in the world before I have to leave it. I'm afraid of what I'll miss."

Stinky swallowed hard, "…Thanks for… uh…sharing this with me."

Patty turned to look at him a sneezed lightly; she smiled bashfully, "Your welcome."

Stinky frowned, "I think we should head back. It's kind of chilly and you still have the flu – we could have done this some other time."

Patty laughed lightly, "yea – whatever dad…I'm fine Stin."

"You're dating who?" Helga screamed despite herself; as Olga took a step back seemingly frightened.

"I'm sorry Helga, but … you se-…this is exactly why I was afraid to tell you!" Olga stated exasperatedly, "I was afraid of your reaction!"

"This family has gone postal?" Helga replied skyward, as she shook her head in disbelief, "not that we weren't a train wreck before."

"Helga," Olga warned, "Robert happens to be a great guy!"

"Olga this has Oedipus complex written all over it!" Helga stated offhandedly.

"Helga…"

"He's old, he has Bob's name, and he's my teacher for crying out loud!"

"He is not old he has a scalp issue; he's only five years my senior, and I thought you liked Robert," Olga questioned.

"I like Simmons," Helga informed, "Simmons! – As in my teacher! My teacher Olga!"

"I love him," Olga revealed desperately.

Helga froze and stared at her sister incredulously.

Olga sighed defeatingly, "…baby sis…"

"I need some air," Helga replied stoically as exited the room, and then the house.

Harold entered Dolly's and headed towards the front counter to place an order.

Patty had called him fifteen minutes prior and he had wanted to surprise her with a box of her favorite delicious pastries once she arrived home.

"I hate this town," Maria droned as she handed some blonde girl an iPod.

Harold found himself listening in on their conversation despite himself.

"You're welcome," the blonde stated sarcastically.

Maria sighed, "I'm sorry Connie…it's just that I feel so suffocated lately…I mean I barely see you anymore."

"Well since Hilwood is totally harshing your mellow come with me back to Rhode Island. You could bee-atch there," Connie responded with a smirk.

"Tempting," Maria replied easily, "but I'd have to give two weeks notice, and Earl is already short on staff. One of the waitresses quit last week, so I'd have to resign in about a month."

"Here's your order sir."

Harold whipped his head away from the chattering girls and focused it upon his server.

"Uh thanks," he thanked lightly, as he grabbed the bag.

"Okay jot this down," Sandrine instructed as Sheena grabbed her notebook as told; Arnold however seemed to be on another planet.

"The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s," Sandrine informed as she highlighted her article.

Sheena nodded as she wrote down every word; signaling for Sandrine to continue.

"His identity remains unknown. The Zodiac killer coined his name in a series of taunting letters he sent to the press. His letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved. The Zodiac murdered five known victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women between the ages of 16 and 29 were targeted. Numerous suspects have been named by law enforcement and amateur investigators, but no conclusive evidence has surfaced. In April 2004, the San Francisco Police Department marked the case "inactive" but re-opened it some time before March 2007. The case also remains open in the city of Vallejo as well as in Napa and Solano Counties. The California Department of Justice also has maintained an open case file on the Zodiac murders since 1969."

Sheena frowned as she again nodded for Sandrine to continue.

Arnold eyed the green-eyed girl uneasily, as she continued, "In August 2008, a Sacramento man claimed he had discovered evidence that pointed to his deceased stepfather being the Zodiac Killer named Jack Tarrance. A black hood, a knife encrusted with blood, writing samples, and rolls of photographic film were collected by the FBI. The FBI has not said when it will release the results of its tests. To date, those tests have neither concluded nor ruled out the suspect as the Zodiac Killer, and the FBI continues to collect more evidence to build a DNA profile. The last SFPD investigators of the case were Homicide Detail Inspectors Michael N. Maloney and Kelly Carroll. They were the first to submit DNA evidence from Zodiac's letters for analysis, which resulted in a partial genetic profile. DNA testing seems to have conclusively ruled out their lead suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen. In April 2004, the SFPD marked the case "inactive", citing caseload pressure and resource demands. They reopened the case some time before March 2007 and returned evidence to Vallejo police for additional DNA testing, where the case has remained open. The Vallejo Police Department website maintains a link for providing Zodiac crime tips. The case is also open in Napa County and Riverside."

Sheena put down her pen and notebook, and shook her right hand dramatically to emphasize her hurting wrist.

"This dude was totally brilliant," Sandrine stated admirably.

Sheena turned to look at her and narrowed her brows disapprovingly, "you're kidding right…there's nothing cool about psycho bastards that kill people for sport."

"I didn't say that it was cool," Sandrine informed airily, "of course murder isn't cool, but I'm just saying that the thought and calculation this guy put into orchestrating all of this was genius – I mean he had to have been a genius…its such a shame that he didn't put his brain to better use…like for science or something."

Sheena rolled her eyes despite herself, and turned to look at Arnold, "You okay?" she questioned sympathetically, as she eyed her blonde friend.

He nodded timidly, "I'm just worried about grandpa that's all."

Sandrine waved her hand airily, "Your grandfather's a rock Arnold he'll be fine."

"He suffered a heart attack Sandrine," Arnold snapped angrily despite himself, "I'd highly classify that as fine – if he was fine they would have released him by now."

Sandrine flashed him a hurt look.

Arnold sighed in response, as Sheena patted his back lightly, "I'm sorry," he apologized as Sandrine nodded easily," I'm just on edge…"

"Where are you going?" Shelly questioned as Phil nearly jumped out of his skin, and froze in his spot. Oh no! He had been caught. Gathering up as much courage as he could muster he turned around and faced his worrisome doctor within the empty hospital hallway.

"I was just taking a walk," he replied breezily, "I couldn't sleep."

"Well, you know you're not supposed to," Shelly responded disapprovingly, "it's against the rules."

"Yeah, I know," Phil admitted quietly.

"You weren't really going for a walk, were you?" Shelly pried despite herself, "you were going to see Gertie, weren't you?"

Phil looked down at the ground sadly.

Shelly smiled weakly, "Since its against the rules I can't let you go…so, you're gonna have to go back to your room."

Phil nodded and quietly turned around on his spot and began to head back to his room.

"As for me," Shelly continued happily, "I'm gonna go downstairs and get myself a cup of coffee. I won't be back to check on you for a while, so don't do anything foolish.

Phil turned to look at her with a big smile plastered to his face.

Shelly flashed him a wink before exiting the hallway.

"It went straight to voice mail," Lorenzo informed, as Katrinka twirled around happily in her spot in the centre of the Grande hall.

"Can you ever imagine living in this place," Katrinka gushed as she stopped her clockwork dance out of sheer dizziness.

"Well what would you expect a Grande Duke and his family to live in," Lorenzo smirked.

"I can't believe that you were able to arrange all of this…Simmons better give us A's – I mean we came all the way to freakin Poland to get the down low on our assignment," Katrinka noted excitedly.

"Where did that tour guide go?" Lorenzo fretted distractedly.

Katrinka smiled easily as she began to examine portraits of the family, "Wilhemenia was beautiful," Katrinka breathed as she pointed towards the ten year old girl in the picture that hung upon the Grande wall.

Lorenzo sauntered over to her to get a better look of the oldest Arillya daughter. She had flowing flame red hair and piercing blue eyes.

"She would have grown to be quite the looker," Lorenzo exclaimed easily, as his eyes fell upon her necklace.

"That's an interesting symbol," he noted as he pointed to the necklace that the young girl wore.

Katrinka squinted to get a better look of the symbol Lorenzo spoke of.

"It's the Arillya family crest," a man's voice boomed from behind the duo, "The Claddagh."

Katrinka jumped in her spot; startled by his sudden appearance. She tore her attention away from the heart shaped symbol, that was donned by intertwining hands and a crown."

Lorenzo turned to face the elderly man easily, "Bernard there you are!…ugh…what are those words written on the crest?"

Bernard smiled easily, "Raz Na Grudzień," he stated simply.

"What does that mean?" Katrinka inquired curiously.

"It means Once Upon A December," he finished quietly.

"Interesting words," Lorenzo commented, "do they hold any significance."

"Once Upon A December is a Polish Lullaby created by Empress Brygida Arilliya. She was Wilhemenia's grandmother. December was the only time she would see her grandchildren for she lived in Denmark most of the time. The lullaby was created in so that they wouldn't forget her. Her son and his wife would lull the children to sleep by singing that song."

"Do you happen to have a copy of the song?" Katrinka questioned hopefully.

Bernard nodded, "follow me."

"Sid I'm ever so sure that this classifies as breaking and entering," Lila whispered heatedly as Sid led her into Maurice Podalecki's house.

"This is for research Lila," Sid informed breezily; "We'll send him good thoughts when we leave."

Lila huffed despite herself as she followed Sid up a large staircase within the darkness, "Sid we're gonna get caught!"

"No we're not."

"Yes we will," Lila whined anxiously.

"No we're not," he dismissed arrogantly.

Almost as if on cue the staircase was illuminated by bright lights, as a large chandelier began to shine with all of its fury.

Sid and Lila glanced up the large staircase to find Maurice staring down upon them disapprovingly, "yes, you are."

"Piękny sen wrócił znów, Ktoś z daleka mnie woła, Słyszę znów tamtą pieśń, Świat radosny dokoła. Ktoś swe ramię daje mi, Głos dzwoneczków leciutko drży, Konie pędzą w srebrną dal, Znów porwał mnie ten bal. Ktoś w ramiona bierze mnie, Serce oddać mu swoje chcę, Niech nie kończy się ten bal I niech nie boli żal. Piękny sen wrócił znów, Ktoś wynurza się z cienia, Porwał mnie tamten walc, Znów wróciły wspomnienia. Serca głos budzi znów. Tak uśpione marzenia."

"It was a really beautiful song," Katrinka informed giddily from within the Colletti private jet, "Too bad we couldn't understand a word of it."

"Don't worry about," Lorenzo stated breezily, "I'll get someone to translate it soon."

Phil opened the door to Gertie's room timidly.

"Hi," he greeted quietly as he stepped into the room fearfully. Fearfully for he was not sure if she was his Gertie or the Gertie that had forgotten all about him.

"Phil!...Oh Phil!" she greeted happily, and somewhat relieved.

Phil smiled gratefully. She was definitely his Gertie.

"Hi, sweetheart," Phil greeted sheepishly, "…I'm sorry I haven't been able to be here to read to you."

"I didn't know what to do," Gertie babbled nervously, "I was afraid you were never coming back."

"I'll always come back," Phil hushed quietly, as he took a seat next to her within her bed, and wrapped her into a protective hug.

Gertie buried her head in his chest, "What's gonna happen when I can't remember anything any more?" she sobbed lightly, "What will you do?"

"I'll be here," Phil lulled quietly, "…I'll never leave you."

Gertie wrapped her arms around him tighter, but her sobbing stopped. Phil smiled lightly, that was obviously the answer she wanted to hear. She looked up at him, but her hold around his chest didn't waver, "I need to ask you something?"

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Do you think that our love can create miracles?" Gertie questioned in an almost whisper.

"Yes, I do." He answered quietly as he kissed the top of her head, "That's what brings you back to me each time."

"Do you think our love could take us away together?"

"I think our love can do anything we want it to," Phil replied knowingly.

"I love you," Gertie bidded quietly as her eyes began to close limberly.

"I love you, Gertie," Phil concurred lightly, "Good night."

Her grip around his upper chest tightened happily, as they both drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

The phone rang suddenly within the boarding house; which presented a short distraction for Arnold momentarily.

He however ignored it, and decided that he'd let his mother get it – for he very well couldn't get up in the middle of Helga's emotional breakdown.

"She's dating Simmons!" Helga screamed for the hundredth time, "SIMMONS!"

Arnold cringed despite himself, but it was more because of the tone of her voice rather than the subject matter.

"Look Helga may-"

Arnold turned around and to face his mother who had stepped into his room suddenly unannounced.

Stella's face was streaming with tears.

"Mom!" Arnold yelled despite himself, as Helga suddenly became mute.

"What's wrong?" Arnold questioned once more.

Stella stifled a sob, "It's your grandparents…"

Arnold's face fell as she continued, "They've – Their gone."

Author Note: Some of you might have noticed that I deleted the prequel to this story. I realized that things were just going to become repetitive so I did way with it.

Things I can't take credit for:

Information about the Zodiac Killer was taken directly off of wikipedia.

The Patty/Stinky scene was taken from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

The Phil/Gertie scene was taken from The Notebook.

Once Upon A December – Is from the movie Anastasia.

The Claddagh ring.

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