Flawed

By Miss Matched

Chapter One: Rubbing Salt in the Wound


Disclaimer: I own nothing. W00T! Oh, I especially don't own the confession scene, which I'm adding in here. I figured that some people hadn't seen the movie, or maybe forgot exactly all that happened, plus, I wanted a chance to get into Helga's head in that moment. I did some research online, so I think these words are pretty accurate. Well, up to a point. Um, er...


Authors Note: Information on a lame idea I had at the end of the chapter. Trust me, it's semi cool. Oh and stuff in italics are thoughts. Yup. They are. Uh huh.




The wind whipped around furiously, making her brown trench coat flap in the breeze. The love of her life looked back at her, confused. "Helga?!" He asked, shocked, "You're Deep Voice?" Helga closed her eyes, obviously shaken for a moment. She hadn't wanted him to know. Helping him in the shadows was always so much easier, because her motives would never be questioned. Jumping off of the stilts she was wearing, she answered him.


"Looks like it." She answered, guiltily.


Arnold stared at her, and shook his head. "But I don't get it. How come you couldn't just tell me what you knew? Why did you have to make up this.... crazy secret identity?"


"No reason." She responded quickly, almost too quickly. Truth was, there were so many reasons. Sure, when she found out that the new mallplex was going to make her father rich, she hadn't minded if the neighborhood was torn down or not. She knew, though, that money wasn't everything, and how much the whole crummy neighborhood meant to her beloved. There was only one thing she could do... and she was doing it.


"But Helga," Arnold countered, still confused, "You just risked everything to help me save the neighborhood!"


"You haven't quite saved it yet" Helga thought to herself, but then said aloud, "So what's your point?"


"That's a pretty amazing thing to do for someone you claim to hate."



"Oh, please, no... don't do this..." She begged Arnold in her mind. "Yeah, well, I'm a pretty amazing person, football head!"


"But I though you were on your dad's side." He stated, "I though you were going to get rich off the whole deal."


"Money isn't everything" She muttered in response. "But you are..."


"Helga, why did you do this?" He was determined, and it shone in his eyes. Helga cringed. He wouldn't do it, would he? He wouldn't make her confess... he couldn't! She wasn't ready!


"Okay..." She searched for a decent answer, "I love a good mystery?"

Arnold didn't buy it. He was pleading with her now. "Oh, c'mon, what's the real reason?"


"Oh, I don't know Arnold," She sighed. "I guess maybe I took pity on you and your stupid friends." She turned around to face the ledge of the rooftop that they were standing on. The sky was a deep ebony black with beautiful, diamond like stars in the sky. Had she her poetry notebook now, she would compare those stars to her beloved's eyes. "Stop it!" she mentally scolded herself, "Keep thinking like that, and he's bound to wrangle the truth out of you!"


The usually docile Arnold continued to pry, "Well, why?" He asked.


"Why can't he just say 'Whatever you say, Helga', like he usually does?" She stalled for a moment, " because....beacuse, maybe I don't hate you as much as I thought, okay?" Laughing shortly and nervously, she continued, "I guess I might even kinda... like you a little, Heck you might even say I like you a lot!" She laughed a little more, rubbing her arm nervously with a gloved hand.


"You do?!" Arnold was taken aback. "You did this for me?!"


"That's right hair-boy," She answered defiantly, "I mean, criminy, what else are you supposed to do when someone you love is in danger?" She thought to herself. Pausing for a moment, she looked up at Arnold. His eyes were as wide as saucers. Had she just said that last part out loud?


"Love?" He gasped, looking back at her. She knew what he was thinking. He was wondering how this bully, this cruel, unlovable, unfeeling person could ever even begin to comprehend the meaning of love.


"You heard me, pal! I love you! That's right, I LOVE YOU!" Helga exclaimed. It felt so wonderful to get those words off of her chest, to finally give him a chance to know how she felt. "Who else do you think has been stalking you night and day, building shrines to you in a closet, filling volumes with poems about you? I love you Arnold! I've always loved you! Ever since I laid eyes on your stupid football head!" She took a deep breath and stared him right in the eyes, "From that moment and every moment since, I've lived and breathed for you, dreamed of the moment I could finally tell you my secret feelings and could grab you and kiss you and- Helga grabbed Arnold by both arms, but he shoved her away.


"That's it?" He asked, angerly. "What? You thought you could just waltz up to me, and tell me this, and think that I'd love you back?" Helga backed up in shock. "Well, I don't. I hate you, Helga G. Pataki. How could you think that you'd have a chance with me?" He grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, and pushed her up to the edge of the building ledge. Then he turned on his heel and walked away.


"But, but," She protested as he left, "The neighborhood!"


"I don't need you to help me, Helga." He responded coldly. She looked him in the eyes, and saw fear. He was afraid of her? What was happening? "Goodbye."


"No!!! Don't leave me here!" She screamed as he walked away. But it was too late, and he was gone. Guards swarmed the top of the Future Tech Industry building, and closed in on Helga. The world swam in front of her eyes, and then went black.



"No, please!" Helga called, reaching out. Mirium Pataki grabbed her daughter's hand and stroked it.


"She's been like this for a few hours, Dr. Bliss." Mirium explained, motioning to her daughter, sleeping fitfully. She might have not been too good of a mother, but she knew when her baby was in trouble. The doctor next to her sighed.

"I'm going to wake her up, now. It seems like whatever dream she was experiencing is ending." Dr. Bliss responded. "Um, does Helga have a radio?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, over there." Mirium said, pointing to a corner in the room. Dr. Bliss removed a rag doll from in front of it, and then turned it on at a low volume. Classical music filled the room. Slowly, she turned the volume up. Helga moaned, and flipped in her bed.


"No, Ar..." She yelled out again, but woke up before she could finish. She opened her eyes in relief.


"Thank goodness!" Mirium exclaimed. "Are you okay now, Helga?"


In response, Helga screamed.


Dr. Bliss put a hand on Helga's shoulder. "Don't worry, Helga. Your father's at work. He doesn't know about any of this. Just... Just take deep breaths, okay?" Helga wordlessly obeyed.


"Now then, your mother called you in late to school, but I'm afraid you will have to go today. We made a bet, remember?"


Helga sighed, and wrung her hands.


"And Helga," Dr. Bliss added before she left the room, "Come talk to me after school. I have a feeling we'll be talking about a certain dream of yours."




AN: Ladies and gentlemen! It is my pleasure to announce the 2002 Hey Arnold Fanfiction Awards!!!


Random person: What is she talking about?!


Okay, here's the skinny. Below all this information will be a form. You must, and I repeat, must fill out the form in it's entirity, and email it to miss_matched@hotmail.com


Random person: Psshaw. So, what you're saying is that the only people who can vote are the ones who read your stories?


Nonsense! I encourage everyone to plug this in their authors notes. No, not my stories, just the contest. Include my email address so they can email their favorites to me. Heck, even post the form and my email address at the bottom of your story. I would appreciate very much!


Random person: Can I vote more then once?


I would rather you only vote once for every section. Once the ballot comes out, all votes before hand are null and void, and you may vote again.


Random person: I love a fanfic that was written prior to 2002. May I please nominate it?


Well, only if it has been updated in 2002. Next year, the awards will be only for 2003 stories, and so on and so forth.


Random Person: Well, I like a story that's Action/Adventure and Drama, so I wanna submit that for Action/Adventure. Can I submit it for Drama too?


Sure can. If it has two genres, then it's eligible for both awards.


Random person: Well, what are you gonna do with the winners?


Well, first off, I'll have some sort of award for them. It'll depend on the winner... I'm hoping to depict a scene from their story on the award. Second, I'll be writing the award ceremony in fanfiction form. I'll have "snippets" from the nominated stories, and it'll just be cuter than anything.


Send those nominations on in, and please, don't review with them! But do review, lol.



The 2002 Hey Arnold Fanfiction Awards!


Best Over All Author: This is the one author that you love the most. You don't just love one or two Hey Arnold stories by them, but all of them.


Best General Story: Best story from the "General" section.


Best Humor Story: Best story from the "Humor" section.


Best Action/Adventure story: Best story from the Action/Adventure section


Best Mystery story: Best story from the Mystery section


Best Si Fi, Fantasy or Supernatural story: Best story from the Science Fiction or Fantasy or Supernatural (Only 8 stories in this category. Wow, eh?)


Best Angst story: Best story from the angst section


Best Romance does not exist. Why? Too many stories!


So, we have...


Best Gerald/ Phoebe Romance


Best Helga/Arnold Romance


Best Unlikely Romance (Helga/Gerald, Arnold/Phoebe, Helga/Made up Character, Brainy and Miss Matched (Joking, Joking... :-D) so on and so forth)


Best Minor Character Romance: (PeaPod Kid and Nadine, stuff of that sort!)


Other Awards...


Best Soliloquy: Best story featuring mostly one character talking to his or her self, and revealing their thoughts without addressing a listener.


Saddest Story: Story that made you cry and think at the same time


Most Meaningful: A story who's lesson can also be used in real life.


Best Short Story: A one shot that left you saying "Woah"


Best Song Fic: A story who's song is woven in perfectly with the story.


Daydreamer's Award: This one has special meaning to me, so there will be three, yes, three Daydream award winners. These three coveted awards will be given to the stories that you stayed up late at night thinking about. Yes, you may nominate three stories.



Note: Horror is disqualified because the one story submitted is two words long.

Suspense is disqualified because no stories are from this year.



Remember, send in your lists to miss_matched@hotmail.com


Oh, and review for this story, too?




Until next chapter (Oooh, what is Dr. Bliss planning? And why does Arnold act so mean in Helga's dream?),


Miss Matched