A/N: I actually meant for the last chapter to be a lot longer, but my friend Ashley told me that would be a good place to cut it off. I also found out that I left out the disclaimer. I DON'T OWN HEY ARNOLD! There, said it. Just one question though: If ff.n copyrights all of our stories, doesn't that mean that they've already taken care of all that legal disclaimer stuff?

Shout Outs:

Spork or Foon- Yes, cliffhangers are my specialty.

cassbball9797- Chill, Helga's not dead. P.S. Everyone else READ THIS PERSON'S FIC! It is good and it's called "Love is Always There".

Blue-Chick- But of course! No black outfit is complete without the boots.

PointyObjects- Why thank you.

Bellamay76- Oh my god! Bellamay reviewed my story! The Bellamay, greatest writer I've ever read from, reviewed my story! My story! *faints*

While You Were Gone: Part 3

Not a Ghost

"Shit it's a ghost!" Oh yeah, real brave Gerald.

"Hahaha! I'm no ghost you moron." Helga seemed genuinely amused. Arnold noticed immediately that there was something different about her. Everything was sincere, none of the fake personality that had shown itself to be her common mask.

"Hey Helga." She looked at her beloved for a moment then pushed him into the wall and passionately kissed him over and over, but under her he was saying something. "Helga... Helga.... HELGA!"

She immediately snapped out of the daydream and back into the real world. Shaking her head she replied, "What?!" with a slight snap in her voice.

"You went off into space for a minute. What were you thinking about?"

" Nothing, why?" No snap to it that time, just cold resolve.

"Just curious. By the way, happy Sweet 16, Helga." Arnold extended his hand.

Helga merely stared at the offering, perhaps contemplating actually accepting it, but then turned her nose up at it.

"Okay then." He allowed his hand to fall limply to it's previous position at his side. He seemed somehow disappointed, but quickly recovered when he remembered something. "Hey Helga, why did you help him?"

"Huh?" She mentally slapped herself. 'Oh yeah Helga, that sounded real intelligent.'

"Chocolate Boy, we um, 'ran into him' and he told us you saved him by taking on four thugs, alone. And I want to know why." He looked at her expectantly.

There it was, the ever-ready scowl and typical bully facade. "Because..." But she paused a moment and remembered why she had come out here in the first place. With a deep sigh she turned away from him and allowed the mask to drop, barely exposing her true self for the second time in her life. "Because it was the right thing to do."

Gerald was doubtful. "Since when is Helga so honorable?"

"Hey, it's been a long time. A lot can happen in six years you know."

"Like what?"

"Let's just say a certain football-head had a lot more influence on me than he thought he did."

She began to walk away, but someone stopped her. She was surprised to see it was Arnold. "Uh-uh. You're not getting away that easily, not without explaining a few things. Like why you've been gone six years, come back completely changed, and say that I had something to do with it. Plus, we've-," He paused to look at Gerald who was frowning, "I've missed you."

What he said totally caught her by surprise. For a moment all she wanted to do is hold him and say, 'I've missed you too.' But she didn't and instead agreed to answering their questions. "Okay, but could we stop by my job? My boss will want to know why I didn't come to work tonight."

A/N: I just got this name book and it says my name means "isle of the serpents". I also found out that Helga is Polish and means "righteous", Arnold means "power of an eagle". Cool aye? Leave a review and I'll tell you what your name means!