Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or it's characters.

Chapter 24,

Arnold gathered his lunch and looked around the crowded cafeteria. He saw all of his friends talking amongst themselves and it all looked so... unpleasant. Right now, Arnold didn't really want to be so sociable. He spotted a table on the far corner of the room, by one of the windows, and sat there.

Today his lunch was a simple hamburger. He figured it was perfect since he could eat with one hand and scroll through his phone with the other. He wanted to enjoy this moment, since he still needed to survive the rest of the school day without Helga's diary. He savored both the burger and her words.

Dear Diary,

Normally when this time of year rolls around, I get tremendously excited for the haul of gifts I will receive from my parents. It's one of the few times of the year when Bob and Miriam are both happy, present, and unusually giving and attentive.

Arnold's eyes widened, but continued.

Of course, part of their joy is seeing my sister Olga home from college; I forget which one, because I guess she transferred out of Wellington college... I don't even remember why she transferred. Like this new school had a better arts program, or Wellington gave more school funding to the football team then all the arts programs combined- something to do with the arts program. But I'm not that mad at my sister coming home for Christmas. After all, she provides a nice distraction so I can hang out with friends, and she brought me presents this year too.

Arnold couldn't help but smile. He knew that Helga's relationship with Helga was rocky at best, so it was nice to hear Helga enjoyed Olga's company, if only for a brief time of the year.

The one big present I've been wanting this year was a pair of Nancy Spumoni Signature imported leather, gold embossed hand-riveted, zigzag thread, steel toed snow boots. Rhonda mouthed off about how all the stores were sold out of those shoes and I told her how I've been dropping hints to my folks for weeks and if they blow it, I'll show them some real Christmas spirit.

Arnold did a half-scoff as he remembered how popular those stupid shoes were. If you didn't have a pair by Christmas, you couldn't get a pair until July at the earliest.

When I walked away, Phoebe reminded me that Christmas was really about giving and sharing, family and friends, and holiday spirit. It was a time when the whole city transformed by something as simple as snow and decorations. All that cheerfulness got to me, she was so much happier after playing around with her parents and their goody-goody family bonding traditional crud she always does.

So I corrected her, saying that Christmas was really about getting as much stuff as you possibly can before the other guy gets theirs. I don't think Phoebe really approved of my answer, but she didn't say anything.

Arnold paused a moment. He knew the feeling of other people with their happy families having such a perfect time with one another. Perhaps that was made obvious when he and Helga avoided their families during thanksgiving. All they wanted was a traditional celebration, where they could be happy with the people around them. Well, was that quiet accurate? After all, Arnold loves spending time with his Grandpa and Grandma. Arnold shook these thoughts from his brain and continued reading.

Besides, we got stopped by this really cool looking computer store. Phoebe went inside, but I got distracted by my beloved goof, Arnold. I couldn't help but be reminded of his brave, if misguided, concern for those less fortunate; and I knew right then and there, that I needed to find the perfect gift for that sweet holiday fool. Obviously it needs to be big and flashy, so that he will fall in love with me, the way I always loved him. I think Phoebe is doing some holiday stuff tomorrow, so I guess I'm free to search every shop I can for Arnold's Christmas present. OH! I wonder what it will be.

Arnold got confused. Helga didn't get him a Christmas present. At least nothing that he could remember of the top of his brain. Did she change her mind or something?

Dear Diary,

I am so mad at Olga. She plopped me out of my bed and had us singing carols all day. I managed to do a little browsing while she passed out hot chocolate to the other carolers. I threw myself into the toy bin, but there wasn't anything special there. I considered a new kite, one that actually flies as opposed to his, which needs a balloon tied to it; but that's too cheap. I thought a unicycle could work because then he and Eugene could ride together and be on equally dangerous grounds, but that's not very flashy. I needed to get him something big and the biggest thing in the toy store was the Deluxe 240-piece Train Set; complete with autumn foliage, collapsible bridge, and one-legged Bob (the affable railroad tramp)... then I noticed how many little kids were surrounding this thing and I realized how many little kids were surrounding this thing, and I realized Arnold was too mature for a train set like that.

I thought I had the answer when I found this killer purple skateboard with lightning across it. But then Stinky appeared out of nowhere and climbed right over the skateboard display case in order to talk to me. He said the skateboard was very keen, and he should know because Arnold had an awesome skateboard just like it- it was even the same color. Other then being creeped out by how close that idiot was getting to me, I was crushed that I was still on my shopping journey. I shoved the skateboard in Stinky's hands and I went back to Olga.

Not that I wanted to, but I think we both knew that Olga would have tracked me down- and I seriously didn't want to explain that I was shopping for a gift for a boy in my class. She would automatically assume that I had a crush on him, which... well, it's right, but it's rude to assume that... I swear I'm gonna sleep till noon... well, whenever... I have one more day to go shopping before Christmas, and if I don't find a gift for Arnold then I'm toast! How would he ever love me if I don't get him something expensive and flashy?

Arnold's expression fell a bit. It was actually kinda sad that Helga believed that the only thing that he could love about her was her taste in presents. A small part of him wondered if Helga still felt that way. That she was not good enough to be loved unless she spent a lot of money on someone. She spent so much time simply thinking of a great present to give him, and yet he didn't even stop to think about getting a present for her that year. He got something for Gerald, and a little handmade something for his grandparents, but mostly he focused on Mr. Hyunh. Actually, how many presents has he even given to Helga? How much time has he spent on figuring out a nice gift for Helga? But he did his best to be nice and kind to Helga, no matter how rude she was to him. It seems like, for Helga at least, Arnold's continuing kindness and treatment of others was enough for Helga. But was it enough for him?

Dear Diary,

Criminy... what a long night... Merry Christmas by the way. I would have written something last night, but I haven't gone to bed yet. I'll skip ahead to the video game. I saw the final copy of 'The Frozen Tundra Death Warrior 7000' which is certainly the jewel in the crown of video games. I was so convinced that Arnold would become so overwhelmed by the gift, become so full of joy that when he saw my name, he would start thinking of me when with admiration and possibly love. It felt like a Christmas miracle. I was ready to checkout with the game when I saw Arnold and Gerald walking right towards me.

Arnold's eyes widened as he remembered his.

instinctively I hid the game behind me until Arnold asked me what I was buying. I asked for an opinion and Gerald told me he wasn't sure if it was a very good present because it's an expensive and flashy gift, but it's not really personal or express any real feeling or understanding of whoever the gift is for. Then Arnold wished me a Merry Christmas and left.

A small part of me feels like Gerald was saying that in a very specific way because he somehow knew the gift was for Arnold. Of course that's ridiculous, right. The only way he'd know that, is if Phoebe told him, and she wouldn't dare; so it must be my paranoia.

What? Arnold looked over at Gerald talking to Phoebe. He knew that Gerald found them kissing back in the Jungle, and he didn't seem that surprised. Looking back, it did make sense that Phoebe would have told him this. If not for Helga's sake, then because they trusted each other so much. Aside from that, occasionally they did speak in code or shared a cocky look, which suggests they always knew.

I put the game back, and I noticed a shopping list on the ground. It had to be Arnold's, since they had so many gifts with them, and I saw one of the items was a pair of Nancy Spumoni snow boots. My heart leapt at the possibility of Arnold buying me a present this year, so I decided to follow them... You know, at least until I figured out who the boots were for.

Arnold rose an eyebrow at this.

I watched Arnold go to 4 different stores and laughed at by 7 different people. Then Arnold talked about the Federal Office of Information and how it was gonna close soon. Gerald said 'let's go back and tell the guy we can't find the snow boots'. So, of course, by this point I knew the boots weren't for me, but this whole thing was so bizarre, I just had to stick around a little whole longer.

Arnold needed to give the snow boots to so he could try and find this chick named Mai Hyunh. I guess she's the daughter of that boarder Mr. Hyunh and all Arnold wanted was to bring them together for Christmas; a man whose alone in this country. It was late, so they just went home. I took a moment and stared at that shopping list I had found. Arnold really tried everything he could to make Mr. Hyunh happy this Christmas, and I had no words to properly describe the sadness I was feeling. This guy hasn't seen his daughter since she was a baby, Arnold did his very best to bring them together, but his best wasn't good enough and the perfect gift for Arnold was to see Mr. Hyunh and his daughter reunited. The whole situation sucked eggs, and I dragged myself home.

Arnold furrowed his brow. There was still so much left, but... what more could Helga say? It was Christmas Eve, it was late, and she didn't find the gift she was looking for. So why were there still several pages left for Christmas?

My family was singing more off key Christmas carols and drinking eggnog, I didn't expect anyone to notice; but oddly enough Miriam did. She said I looked depressed and she gave me one of my presents to open early to cheer me up. They were a pair of Nancy Spumoni Snow Boots, they were just perfect.

Were?

Miriam had the biggest smile on her face and told me she stood in line for 18 hours to get them for me. I just for me, I hugged her and went straight outside to try them out. I was running around having fun until that shopping list fell out of my pocket, and I had a moral dilemma.

Christmas has always been about getting what you want for Christmas and I did. But Arnold needed these boots in order to have the perfect Christmas. The boots were so boss, I didn't want to let them go, but I knew in my heart-of-hearts, I couldn't do that to my football head.

What?

Arnold said he needed a miracle, and by some bizarre quirk of fate, my Christmas present was the answer. And a small part of me knew that Arnold would never be able to forgive himself or get a restful night sleep again; because in his mind, he still failed Mr. Hyunh. I knew it was too late to give the boots to Arnold and find Mai Hyunh, so I ran straight to that government building, and ordered him to turn on the lights and find her.

Arnold put down his phone and looked away. It was almost overwhelming. Helga was really his Christmas angel? Mai never really talked about how she came to the border house that day... at least not to him. Arnold took a drink of his milk and looked back at his phone.

Mr. Bailey wanted to go home, and I told him he couldn't because there's about a funny little football-headed kid, with a good heart but no sense of reality whose entire world view is at stake... But that wasn't enough. He returned my snow boots and I watched him walk down the steps so he could catch a taxi home, and right then, I really felt like I failed Arnold. I only had one chance to try and change this guy's mind, and I did the only thing I could think to do... I pushed away my rough exterior and spoke from my fragile heart.

Arnold was reading this rather slowly, but his heart was still racing.

I told him we only really had two options. we could work together, all night long, to find a certain lost daughter, or her could leave right then and there; but if he left, that little football-headed kid will never believe in miracles again... I couldn't bare to really look at Mr. Bailey when I said most of this... my voice kept breaking and I was so emotionally vulnerable that it was taking all of my willpower not to cry my heart out. A taxi pulled up and I was sure that Mr. Bailey would get in and leave... but there was hesitation and then Mr. Bailey walked up the steps, opened the doors and said 'what are you waiting for?'. I was so shocked at his behavior, I had tears coming out of my eyes.

Arnold smiled a little. It was almost hard to imagine Helga being that raw with anyone, but she was. It made him feel special, even though he may not have deserved it.

We stayed up until 6 in the morning searching endless papers and documents and whatnot. I had so much caffeine and junk food, I guess there was this Christmas office party, that had lots of leftover treats to munch on while we worked. Turns out Mai was given to this soldier who brought her back to the states and raised her as his own. I guess, after Mr. Hyunh handed her to him, this soldier took care of her and fell in love with her. After they made it back, the army wanted to put Mai in an orphanage, and the soldier decided to adopt her with his wife.

Well, half of that was in the paperwork, the other half came from Mai herself. She's in her 20's now, and living in her own apartment when I came knocking on her door. She almost didn't believe me when I told her that I knew her biological father and he was looking forward to seeing her again. But I told her that I was nine years old, and I just wanted her to knock on a door and ask for Mr. Hyunh.

On the walk to the boarding house, I told Mai a little about Arnold and what he went through yesterday. She said if I was telling the truth, then I just might be a real Christmas angel. When we went up to the door, and she looked rather nervous, so I went ahead and rang the bell for her. I stepped down to the sidewalk and she asked me if I was gonna come inside, and I told her there wasn't a place for me there.

Arnold glanced away again. Helga did this for Arnold and yet, she still felt like she didn't belong in Arnold's world.

Arnold's grandfather opened the door, thinking it was yuletide pranksters. Now he didn't say anything to me, but I swear he looked at me for a split second before welcoming Mai into the house. I stuck by the sidewalk and looked up at the house as a fuzzy sensation ran down my spine. I held my hands over my chest as I saw the back of Arnold's head, and my heart swelled. I whispered him a Merry Christmas, and went home. I did get some cool presents this year, but nothing beat the shocked look on Arnold's face when Mai walked into the room.

And now that things have finally calmed down, I'm gonna turn out all the lights in my room and try to get a few hours of sle

That was the last of the pictures Arnold had on his phone. He allowed the screen to turn dark and then off completely. He still couldn't believe that Helga gave up her boots for him. He vaguely remembered Rhonda giving Helga a hard time about not having the boots, but Helga said something about Nancy Spumoni backpacking her fame off of Dino Spumoni, and Rhonda rolled her eyes and left her alone. Still, Arnold had no idea that Helga did all that, and for him at that.

The lunch ball rang and Arnold flinched at the sound. He made his way back to the classroom and he thought about what he read over and over again. In that moment, all he wanted to do was to talk to Helga about what she did, and... if nothing else, thank her. Arnold looked down at his backpack and he remembered the little journal Dr. Bliss had given him. He pulled it out of his bag and started writing.