Title: Helga's Big Change

Chapter/Episode 3: Bonding.

Enjoy. I don't own Hey Arnold.

With Arnold and Helga...

Both of them were silent most of the way to the boarding house. Arnold was being quiet because he had a lot on his mind. Helga on the other hand was giddy and nervous around him. She was also wondering what he had wanted to talk to her about. Could it be that he was interested in her? The thought did bring along some doubt because it was only the first day of middle school. How could he have developed a crush on her that quick? Pushing these thoughts aside, she shook her head.

Soon they reached the boarding house and he turned to Helga.

"Ready to go in?" He said.

"Yeah" She responded and went up the steps to turn the knob open on the door.

"Hey wait-!"

Before she knew it, a bunch of random animals had ran into her, causing her to fall down the steps. Arnold gasped and ran, kneeling down next to her. He gently held the back of her head.

"Helga, are you okay?!"

"Of course, don't worry about me I'm fine-argh!"

He looked down at her hand to see it was bleeding a lot. His eyes looked into hers with genuine concern and he held onto her hand gently.

"Your hand is bleeding. C'mon and I'll fix that up for you inside."

Her hand really did sting so she nodded in response and he stood her up, helping her inside of the boarding house. Arnold's grandpa was walking out of the living room when he saw his grandson and a blonde girl who he wasn't sure he'd seen before.

"Hey Arnold! You're home from school! Who's your friend-"

"No time to talk grandpa, I have to fix her bleeding hand first! C'mon, I have a first aid kit in my room."

He pushed a button, which let down the staircase leading up to his room. Then he raced up with her. From downstairs his grandpa was left confused and curious. Phil put a hand up to his chin.

"I could've sworn I've seen that young lady before...but I just can't put my finger on it."

He walked off into another room.

Meanwhile, with Arnold and Helga...

"You sit here on the couch and wait while I find my first aid kit." Arnold said to her.

She nodded and tried to ignore the pain radiating from her hand. Soon he found the first aid kit and sat down next to her on the couch. She watched as he cleaned the wound and bandanged up her hand. It made her heart flutter to see him being so kind.

"There you go. Is your hand feeling better?" He said with a small smile.

She stared at the bandage that was now on her hand and blushed. Then she gave him a small smile in return and nodded.

"Y-Yeah. T-Thanks for that Arnold."

"You're welcome." Arnold got up and placed his first aid kit next to his bed. Then he went over to sit back down next to her.

"So...what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh that. I...uh...wanted to know what you were going to say in the hallway earlier. Also, I wanted to catch up with you and talk. Maybe we could also study together if you're feeling up to it." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Helga blinked. "You said you were wondering the reason why I hadn't been picking on you like usual or anybody else really. Then I told you it's because I don't see things the same way anymore."

Arnold raised a brow. "Yeah, I was wondering what you meant by that."

Helga thought for a minute and shifted on the couch a little more to face him.

"Well...over the summer I realized how much I really wanted to improve myself and my social life. I knew that everyone thought of me as a mean, cold-hearted, bully and I couldn't argue with them. I guess I'm saying that the point is I wanted to turn all of that around so I could show my kinder side towards people." She rested her chin in both of her hands, sighing and looking away.

Suddenly, Arnold felt guilty remembering his conversation with Gerald about Helga the day school was out last year.

'Oh no...we were completely making fun of her, not thinking how it would actually affect her. This is bad. VERY bad.'

"I...guess I can understand where you're coming from, but..."

"But what? You can say it."

Arnold took a deep breath in and then exhaled before he spoke again.

"What made you want to change your appearance?"

Helga frowned and looked away. "What, you don't like it?"

"What? No! I didn't say that to be mean-"

Before he could finish she started laughing while holding her stomach.

"A-Arnold! Relax, I was just joking with you. I knew you didn't mean it that way."

"You...knew? How?"

"Because you're Arnold. Doi. I've known you long enough to understand that you're just concerned, which is fine."

He blinked, feeling a bit relieved. "Oh..."

"By the way...about my appearance, I changed the way I look because I'm growing up. It's about time I tried something new. I did this and I'm comfortable with how I look now."

"Well...I think you look very pretty Helga. I kinda thought you looked pretty before too. Especially with the pink bow on your head."

Helga put her hand up to her head with her eyebrow raised. "You mean this pink bow?"

Arnold looked up and smiled at it. "Yeah that's the one. You were even wearing one during preschool."

She blushed. "This...is actually the same bow I wore when we first met."

His eyes went wide. "You mean...that's the bow?"

"Mhmm, I remember it like it was yesterday..."

Flashback...

(Little Helga is walking by herself in the rain when suddenly, an umbrella, held by Little Arnold, age 4 or 5, is held over her head. She looks up at it and then at him)

Little Arnold:Hi. Nice bow.

Little Helga: Huh?

Little Arnold: I like your bow, because it's pink like your pants.

End of flashback...

Helga closed her eyes and smiled. "Ever since then, I haven't stopped wearing my bow."

"So you wore it, because I said I liked it? I can't believe it." He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I can't believe it took you 6 years to notice Arnoldo." She laughed and playfully shoved him with her free hand.

"Ouch. You know Helga, I find it cool that you kept something for so long that's valuable to you. You can't part from your pink bow, just like I can't part with my little blue hat. I was beyond happy when you found it again a while back. Now I know that we have something in common. If you didn't know, my parents got this for me before they..."*sigh*

"I know about your parents, you don't have to go into that yet if you don't want to. Talk about it with me when you are ready." She put a hand on his shoulder, smiling sympathetically at him.

"Thanks Helga. I also understand about your family, but if you need someone to talk to, my door is always open."

She nodded and removed her hand from his shoulder. "Don't worry Arnoldo, I will."

"Ah, Arnoldo. You've called me some very amusing names before." He said while shaking his head with a grin.

"What? I totally don't remember doing that except for that one time I said yutz, geek, paste-for-brains, shrimp, football-head, Arnoldo, bucko, goody-two shoes, hair boy, loser haha. You must be tired of them all now right?"

"On the contrary Helga, I didn't mind it when you called me football-head. I actually found it amusing."

"You'll be okay with it if I still called you football-head?"

"C'mon Pataki, lay it on me!" He yelled while standing up.

She stood up to face him with her hands on her hips.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh, I'm sure."

They both leaned in with their hands on their hips, narrowing their eyes at each other.

"Hey football-head, you up for a challenge?"

"I'm down, you scared?"

"No way I'm gonna pass this up..."

"3...

2...

1...

Go!"

"LET THE PILLOW FIGHT BEGIN!" Helga yelled while cupping her hands.

"EAT MY DUST!" Arnold yelled, managing to get a head start.

They both raced to grab a pillow from off of Arnold's bed and started to wack each other.

Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Chapter 4, The Pillow Fight. Coming soon...