For Her

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A sequel to "My Muse", written by Miss Matched

Dedicated to Starry Nights, for being so encouraging.

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All standard disclaimers apply. Characters from "Hey Arnold" are copyright Craig Barlett and to whomever else they're copyrighted to. Original characters are original, and the author would like sole use of them, unless contacted for permission. All poetry/music in this fanfiction are also original, and once again, may only be used with permission. Thus ends this huge disclaimer. Also, if you took the time to read my disclaimers, :D, well, yay for you!

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AN: Things are picking up! Please REVIEW to tell me if you get lost. I had a feeling people were, thus the reformatted version!

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Chapter Twelve: For Each Other

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Point of View: Arnold

Time: Future

Location: The Oblivion

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I opened my eyes slowly after hearing a thump. Could someone else have landed here with me? I hoped so, something or someone to make the oblivion less tormenting. Immediately I took the words back. What if it was someone I loved stuck in this awful place with me? I could hear them now, a distinct sobbing. Gathering my courage, I turned around. "Come on Arnold, ol boy" I encouraged myself "Perhaps they know the way out of here." Walking on nothing is a bit tricky, but with the sobbing figure dressed in pink before me, it was easy to gage my distance. Indeed, I was moving.
Closer I trudged, my feet making no sound as I walked over a smooth surface of air. I had become used to this after about two hours in this... place, although looking down is still quite a daunting task. I looked ahead at the still closer woman. Stopping dead in my tracks, I too began to weep. The golden haired woman before me, grasping tightly a pink blanket, was the last person I wanted here.

"Helga! How the heck did..." I trailed off, voice choked with emotion. "Why are you..."
She looked back up at me, eyes blank from any emotion. She blinked slowly, and then spoke. "Do I know you?"

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Future Still

Point of View: Gerald

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We had sped home, probably broke some driving laws, namely speeding and running lights, but we had to. My dear wife, Phoebe had just reached a dreadful, but very plausible conclusion.
"The chance" she explained as we got into our car after talking to Arnold and Helga, "The chance, of whomever stole our time machine, of them using it against our past selves is likely."

I opened the car door for her, trying to calm her down. "Don't be foolish, it's most likely someone we don't even know!"

"I understand" Phoebe continued, buckling herself up and closing the car door. "But do recall our passwords." In order for the thief to penetrate our system, he or she needed three passwords to get inside. My eyes got wide as I backed out of the driveway.
"Our school name, our graduation year..." I trailed off. "But those would have been fairly easy to do with the correct information..."

"And one last one" Phoebe reminded me. "Cocoahut"

As I sped home, I recalled why that had been a password. Along with being fairly hard to guess, it was a word of great meaning to Arnold and Helga, and with them being our best friends, it had also became meaningful to us. It was the name of our after school hang out of sorts at our elementary school, PS 118. The very same place where Helga first sang a song she had written, and Arnold, in turn, had read a poem. Needless to say, both wrote about each other, and it was basically the start of, well, everything. After a bit of an estrangement through 5th and 6th grade, claiming everything had become just too "Awkward", they picked up where they left off in 7th grade.
As I parked in the lot beside our lab, I pondered, who would want to do this, and why? Phoebe grabbed my arm.

"We've got no time to lose" she asserted, pulling out her identification badge and running it through a slot in the door.

"Access granted" an automated voice affirmed as the door swung open.

As we walked inside, Phoebe finished her thought "We must make another time machine."

I, as always, was skeptical "We don't have that much time." We stopped at a second door, and Phoebe began to type passwords in.
"No," She reminded me as she typed, "There's only one feature that would take us long to make." The door swung open and we stepped into the main lab section. "And we can do without it."

I gasped. "But without the final feature, our entire bodies get sent back, and the possibility..."

"Of meeting up with our younger selves and causing some chain reaction that would cause us to cease to exist?" She finished for me, hands shaking. "Ah, the joys of science. Still, we have no time, it must be done."

I sighed and pulled her close "Carpe Diem?"

A few tears escaped from behind her glasses. "Yes, seize the day, who knows how many we have left?"

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Present Times

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"Please, come in!" Mr. Johanson said, stepping aside so Phoebe could walk past. She straightened her skirt and whispered her thank yous as she walked.

"Gerald's um... well..." Mr. Johanson laughed. From upstairs, the sound of running water rang, and above it was a fairly impressive bass voice. Phoebe joined Mr. Johanson in nervous laughter.

"Ah, he's in the shower." Phoebe blushed.

Mr. Johanson winked at her. "How about you wait outside the door?"

"I probably shouldn't..." Phoebe trailed off.

Mr. Johanson smiled "Don't worry, he gets changed in the bathroom too." Phoebe shook her head, then shook Mr. Johanson's hand.

"Thank you, sir. And sorry for bothering you this evening." she apologized, beginning to walk up the stairs.

"No trouble a'tall. Truth be told, we've missed you and your visits."

"I promise to come more often, then!" Phoebe grinned widely, and finished walking up the stairs. A few doors down the hallway was the source of the sound. She shook her head once more as she heard Gerald start up a new song. It sounded familiar, almost Western-y, but still familiar.

"I'm here waiting for another chance," He sang in his smooth bass, oblivious to anyone listening,
"Last I saw it, it passed me by.
Now I wait here for a second glance
of what I coulda' hand, and why?
Why am I always looking behind me?
Why not ahead, or up above?
But down the road, past my memories,
Through the streams, and to my love..."

Phoebe sighed, then remembered the oddity of the situation she was in. "I hope he gets out of there soon."

"Cuz time stood still when I last saw you" He continued,
"And time is something I can't control.
I'm living in the moment from where you said goodbye,
Reaching forward towards my goal.
Now I can't stop the sands of time that scatter 'round me,
Nor could you see the tears in my eyes..." The water turned off at this point.
"I'm praying for a second chance to find myself with you..." this line was muffled, Phoebe noted. "But I'm livin' in the moment..." The door knob clicked and the door swung open.

"You said goodbye." Phoebe finished, then couldn't contain herself. She burst out into a fit of giggles. "You sing in the shower?"

Gerald blushed, looking down at his blue jeans and basketball jersey. "Yeah, so?" He then looked back up at Phoebe, who quickly gave him a hug. She noted that his hair stuck out every which way like an afro gone bad. Noticing this, he broke away from her embrace and finger combed it up in it's normal style.

"And why were you standing out there?" He tapped his foot in a lame attempt to be angry.

Phoebe grinned, stepping backwards. "Would you believe your father told me to?"

Gerald raised an eyebrow, "No, but if you say so..."

Phoebe blushed and began to apologize in Japanese. Gerald laughed.

"No, no. No worries, you're okay. It's fine" he said over her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "So, why are you here?"

Clearing her throat, she began. "I've had a lot of time to think about, well, everything and..." she sighed "I broke up with Nick."

"You WHAT???" Gerald seemed semi-happy with this, but still shocked.

"He wasn't home, so I broke up via answering machine. He should know by now."

Gerald shook his head. "Phoebe, you're a smart girl,you should know that isn't the best way to end a relationship."

"Oh, like you should know, Mr 'dates the first hussy he sees, then dumps her like a sack of manure'." Phoebe huffed back, angered.

"I know I don't have the best track record. And yeah, I've dated my fair share of hussies. But I was never in a serious relationship like you considered yourself and Nick to be in."

"We bickered like we were married, Gerald. We never let anyone see. We didn't have anything. It was just the easier way to go." Phoebe sighed, and Gerald nodded, understandingly.

"I suppose you'd know best." he noted.

Looking up, Phoebe smiled a little. "I've always wondered why the heck you went out with that one girl in sixth grade. What was her name? Sara? No, um... Sally..." She teased Gerald.

"Sylvia. And that's a name I'd like to forget, mind you." He laughed, remembering the pretty blonde that stuck to him like glue. "She was a no brainer. Really, she was." He gently grabbed Phoebe's arm and led her down the stairs.

"She must have been, to go out with you..." she trailed off.

"Hey now!"

"You didn't let me finish! She must have been, because I thought any fool could see that we..." she blushed and mumbled the end of her statement.

"Pardon?" Gerald and Phoebe had reached the bottom of the stairs now. She spun to face him with new confidence.

"Because any fool could see that we were made for each other."