Author's Note: Gah! I curse my stupidity for not learning Spanish before, because it would've save me the trouble of writing some of the scenes in this fic. So that's why in this chapter you could find the really basic Spanish words in it. Hopefuly I got the words right... This is also the longest chapter I've written in this story so far that I want it to be an allegory to Helga's journey: long, yet fulfilling. And like this title's namesake, this chapter covers all about Helga's journey to Arnold's house, since like I said earlier, I wanted the early chapters to be all about her journey. Well, I think I don't have anything to add more, so I think your journey to this chapter begins... now.

Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.

Chapter 3: Journey

"Ladies and Gentlemen, shortly we will be landing at Juan Santamaria International Airport around 20 minute's time. Local time is about 7:04 AM in the morning and air traffic and wind condition is expected to be mild and calm. Please return to your seat and fasten your seatbelt as we are preparing for our descent. You can ask our cabin crew for help should you need some assistance. Thank you for your cooperation."

At the time of the announcement, Helga was in the lavatory washing her face. She didn't do much whilst she was on the plane, except for sleeping and had eaten some tasteless airline food that they served last night and breakfast they served just now. The in-flight entertainment didn't do much to kill time too as she had watched most of the movie and TV series shown and she sort of dislike videogames.

After she felt refreshed again, she got out and went over to her seat. For a first time aircraft passenger, she didn't act up as much as she expected to be. She didn't catch air sickness and she didn't fuss much about the food, unlike a certain passenger in front of her. As the aircraft descended, she again had that annoying, yet painful feeling in her ears that was similarly developed when the aircraft ascended to the skies. She tried to gulp down some saliva and yawned to remedy it, but it was proven futile. It was one of the major annoyances of air travel, she had thought. Without any choice, she had to bear with it until she got back on the ground.

The landing was a rather bumpy landing, as the sound of the rushing wind and the noise of avionics machinery dominated the aircraft as it zoomed through the runway. After a moment, the aircraft finally slowed down to a gentler speed and proceeded to taxi itself to the main terminal building. The PA system started to crackle a static noise and an announcement from the pilot was followed soon after that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to San Jose, Costa Rica. The present time is around 7:38 AM in the morning and the weather forecasted today is sunny throughout the day with balmy 29° degrees Celsius in average. Please remain seated until the pilot has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and the aircraft has come to a complete stop. You will be advised when it is safe to deplane. It has been a pleasure serving you throughout the flight, and on behalf of the flight crew I would like to wish all of you a good day and thank you for choosing United Airways. This is your captain speaking, signing off."

And thank goodness for that, Helga thought, after being cooped up in a flying steel tube for more than seven hours. She just wanted to get out from the airplane as quickly as possible to stretch her body out to feel active again. And at the waiting area, she stopped and took a long deep breath. It felt so good. Even right now she felt all her troubles were all over, even though it wasn't. She then walked further into the waiting lounge, and put her bags on the empty seats. She then went over the pouch of her bag to check when her next flight would depart. Curses. Her flight to San Lorenzo was set to depart at 1:30PM, which means that she had to stay indoors for about five and a half hours or so from now until her next flight. If only she had booked for an earlier flight, it would've saved her the trouble. Oh, well. First time for everything, and she learned a valuable lesson in spite of it.

Helga looked around, and saw most of the shops were still closed, except for a currency exchange booth. Now what should she do to kill time? She saw a couple of public internet booths located somewhere near a fancy coffee shop. She thought this would be the best time for her to research about this country she wanted to go. She would've use her laptop but she didn't have Bluetooth function enabled. After exchanging some twenty American dollars into Costa Rican Colónes, she then walked over to the booth to use the computer and began her search. A visit to the San Lorenzo official government website didn't help much as they yield information about tourism and information regarding foreign investment.

Helga didn't want all those. She wanted to know what the do's and don't of the country, its background, history and its culture. Still not giving up, she tried another link, and it finally revealed the information that she wanted. It read:

San Lorenzo is an island nation in the Caribbean located near the vicinity of Puerto Rico. It consisted of five main islands, and the biggest is roughly the size to that of Manhattan Island and the two smallest ones are largely uninhabited. Their capital, the seaside city of Bolivar which is the only city in the county, is located on the largest island, which houses the airport, seaport, main government buildings and their financial institutions. Unfortunately, most of them are being dilapidated as they are consisted only of worn buildings. Their only system of local transportation is a network of dirt roads crisscrossing the main island connecting villages to each other and to the capital city.

And Arnold lived there. Helga rolled her eyes, starting to feel that her plan to run away was a bad idea in the first place. She even began to doubt whether they even had modern plumbing in that country.

A series of civil war erupted in that nation,

Helga widened her eyes in horror.

But ever since the intervention of the United Nations in 1995 the country has rapidly become significantly stable and a new interim government was elected in early 1996.

Helga was extremely relieved right now as she let out a big sigh of relief, even though her heart was still pounding hard.

The current President of San Lorenzo is Ernesto Monzano, who was a student in Princeton University and graduated from there as a doctor. In late 1996, the country is declared safe for visitors, and investors from all corners of the globe are invited to invest in the country's economy. But despite of the country's ever growing prosperity, the threat of remnants that started the civil war is still intact. Visitors are advised to travel with an authorized guide, such as personnel who is employed by the government of San Lorenzo and the United Nations officers who works there.

Helga started to become scared. Were all these information on this website true? But then again, Arnold had lived there for many years and he never once complained of any attacks or hostilities to his best friend Gerald, whom Arnold frequently wrote letters to him. Maybe it was safe. Maybe the article she read was outdated. Using those as her personal mind shield, she put away all her worries and began to feel optimistic about her trip. She decided that she should visit other websites she frequently visited to keep her mind off the country for a while.

With shops and restaurants started to open, she began to venture there, promising herself that she wouldn't go overboard in shopping, and buy only if necessary. A bookshop just opened its doors and Helga went over there to check whether they had any books about San Lorenzo. She went to the travel section of the bookstore to find it. She heard publications from the Lone Earth productions were the best in helping backpacking travelers such as herself. But to her dismay, she couldn't find any. She then went to the counter to ask whether they had the book she wanted in their stock. To her disappointment, the clerk replied that such book in question had yet to be published. San Lorenzo really was a backwatered place if they hadn't wrote anything about it yet. She walked out from the bookstore, and saw a Burger Emperor restaurant. Better that than the tasteless airline food, she thought and she went there to have breakfast.

Helga contemplated on her next journey as she munched down her food. What should she do after she arrived there? Who should she contact? How would she get to Arnold's place from the airport? All sorts of questions floated in her mind. She had gone this far, she wouldn't stop right now. No matter, The Patakis were always a survivor, and she'll find a way once she got there, she thought to calm herself up. After she took the final bite and slurped her drink empty, she went out from the restaurant and went over to her gate. Along the way, she went to the information kiosk and took a vacation pamphlet that read, 'So You're Vacationing in Costa Rica?' written in friendly, brightly colored letters. She might as well prepare herself should she return back to this country for a vacation or something, with Arnold… she daydreamed.

Such picturesque view, Helga thought as she read the pamphlet with pictures of beaches and forests in it. She was now at her gate, waiting for her flight, which was scheduled to depart four hours from now. After reading it, she really didn't know what other activity she could do to kill time, except for one simplest solution, which she was quick to agree with herself:

Sleep.

With one of her bags firmly held in her hands and the other in between her feet, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep, in hoping that when she woke up, her baggage was still there with her.

-

Three hours and forty-five minutes later…

And thankfully they did, her bags was still there where she had left it. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was perplexed to see only a few people were waiting for the aircraft, and she could count them all with her fingers! She looked through the glass window to inspect what kind of aircraft she would be riding later on. It looked like a small, old turboprop airplane that she estimated could carry about twenty or so passengers in it. She wondered whether that thing could even fly. She also wondered whether she would survive to see the day.

A few minutes later, the airport tannoy jingled a happy tune, and announced in Spanish that Helga's flight was ready to be boarded. The announcement was repeated again in English. And with the other passengers, she went out from the building to the small aircraft, in hoping that it would survive the journey. After she took her seat, she saw the pilot emerged from the door and made his way to the cockpit. Helga wanted to ask a question, so she stopped him for a while.

"Uh… excuse me?"

"Sí?" said the pilot back, "I'm pretty busy right now."

"I'm sorry, but I'm wondering how long does it take to San Lorenzo?"

"Four hours, señorita." He replied as he showed her four fingers.

"Four?" she exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Sí, yes. If you please, I have to get back to work now." He replied back, and went into the cockpit.

"Oh, great… stuck four hours in another flying steel tube again…" she thought annoyingly, as she put her elbow on the surface of the food tray and her palm holding her chin up. To entertain herself from boredom, she looked out from the window and saw the propeller started to spin and the airport employees loading some big boxes into the aircraft. Hopefully when she reached San Lorenzo, the plane wouldn't get shot in midair by those rebels that she read on the internet…

-

She was glad to see a big surface of land, after seeing nothing but the ocean from high above the comforts of the aircraft. She was also glad that nobody fired a single shot to that plane. To say that the ride was comfortable was a stretch. The seats were kind of broken and the in-flight food consisted only of some stale tuna sandwich and those little sour orange juice in a cup. San Lorenzo's airport, the only airport in the country, was actually a small worn out airfield. Next to some old aircraft hangars, there were large, white colored United Nations aircrafts parked in rows that most likely were there to send aid and troops to help the country. The aircraft that Helga was on taxied itself to in front of one of the dilapidated airport buildings. She didn't know what to do next, so she just followed the other passengers wherever they might go. They went into a wooden building, and queued before an immigrations counter to check their passports. Helga joined the queue and waited for her turn.

Helga's turn arrived and showed the person in the booth her passport.

"From United States, señorita?" the passport checker asked as he flipped the pages. From the tone of his voice, he sounded pretty bored.

"Uh… yes." Helga replied back.

"Business? Pleasure?" he asked again.

"Um… social visit… pleasure, I guess…" Helga replied back. "Say… can I ask you—"

"Information ask that man there." He said as he pointed at the man wearing an army uniform with Helga's passport. He then gave the passport back and said to her, "Welcome to San Lorenzo."

Helga smiled softly back and said thanks to the tall, tanned skin man. She picked her bags up again, and walked to the soldier that the passport checker pointed earlier. As she came closer to that soldier, she noticed a Canadian flag pasted on the right shoulder of his uniform and a flag of the United Nations on the other. He must be one of the peacekeeping troops. She now felt that communications barrier were no longer of her problems for now. She didn't say anything, but gazed blankly at him. The young soldier took notice of the girl and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," Helga nodded, "Could you tell me how can I get to…" she rummaged through the pouch of her bag, and took out her address book. She flipped through a few pages and said to him, "Expatriate Village number #3?"

"Oh, sure. You have a family there?" he asked back.

"No…" Helga replied softly. "I—"

"Ah, just forget it." he cut her off and chuckled a bit. "Follow me. Let me carry your bags." He offered as he grabbed one of her bags.

But Helga quickly pulled the bag away and said to him, "Thanks, but I think I can manage them myself." she replied back in defiance. The old Helga Pataki was back again, or maybe she was cranky because she was tired and jet-lagged.

"Okay," he shrugged, "suit yourself." He then walked outside the airport building as Helga followed him from behind. Helga felt the warmth of the sun in the tropical climate. Somehow, it just oozed welcome to her, as the shining light hit her face. It felt so wondrous. She followed the soldier to one of jeep parked in the front, with the Red Cross logo painted on the doors. There was a young nurse inside, with a Red Cross logo on her shoulder.

"Hey there baby." The soldier greeted her flirtingly.

"Jeez, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" the tanned skin, dark haired woman scolded good-naturedly as she got out from the vehicle.

"Aw, you know I like you baby. I couldn't live without you." He said in a suave kinda way.

"Nice try, Romeo." She smiled back, and noticed Helga. "Hey, who's the girl?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, she said she wanted to go to… where was it you're going again?" he asked Helga.

"Expatriate Village number #3." She reiterated.

"Hey, isn't that where Dr. Stella lives?" she asked Helga, and she shrugged, and nodded softly. She was now relieved that she knew she was going into the right direction. The thought of seeing Arnold any time soon was too unbearable for her.

"Dr. Stella?" the soldier asked back.

"I can't remember her last name," she chuckled, "but I really admire her since she discovered three strands of the sleeping disease and at the same time, the cure for them all!"

"Wow, she must be really smart." The soldier replied back.

The nurse smiled back at the solider and then, turned to Helga and said, "C'mon kid, hop in. Put your things at the back." Helga was relieved, and she quickly put her bags on the passenger seats as the nurse started the engine. Helga then climbed into her seat next to the driver. With any luck this journey would be short, she hoped. The nurse and the soldier exchanged some waves, and off they went from the airport. The road was very bumpy since the jeep was driving on a dirt road, passing through a thin jungle. Helga could hear the sounds of crickets chirping and birds tweeting around her. A pair of parrots flew by in front of them, and she was in awe of the beautifulness of the creatures. As they drove on, the nurse asked her some questions to break the ice.

"Man, you're pretty brave to come here all alone. Where're you from?" she asked.

"United States." Helga replied back.

"Oh, cool. I'm from Chicago." She informed. "The name's Salma."

"Helga. I'm from Hillwood."

"Hillwood? Hey, I have an aunt who lives there." She beamed at her.

"So… what're you doing here?"

"What? At the airport? I was—"

"No, no. I mean, what are you doing here in this country."

"Oh. Well… one day the Red Cross sent me a letter asking me to volunteer and stuff and I was kinda feel obligated to answer them, since I never set foot outside of Chicago before. It's a change of wind sort of thing, you'll understand. Not to mention I was pretty much tired of living in that city at that time."

"How do you like this place so far?"

"You'll get homesick in the first couple of weeks, but eventually you'll kick it out and you'll start to see amazing this place is."

Judging from how broken her family was, Helga doubted she'd ever get homesick. She put her thoughts of her family way behind in her mind. Right now, the only thing she could think of was getting to Arnold's place as soon as possible, and judging from the route they were taking, it wouldn't be as quick as she'd imagined it would be.

Salma continued, "I mean, the people are friendly, the food's all right, there's so much to see, and… oh, we're out from the jungle now."

Out from the jungle and into the capital city of Bolivar, San Lorenzo's only city. The place was pretty much just like what it described in the webpage that Helga visited when she was in Costa Rica. The buildings were old, dilapidated and worn out, it lacked modern infrastructure, the streets were chaotic, with peacekeepers patrolling and children running around playing and Selma had to drive slowly so she wouldn't hit any of them, and it was dusty since it was after all a dirt road. Most of the populous were impoverished. Salma and Helga looked at the somber scene in dismay. Salma then said, "These poor people. It's hard to imagine how they managed to survive the civil war…"

Helga suddenly remembered something about the civil war. She wondered whether the information she got from the internet was true. To seek clarification, she asked Salma, "Hey Salma, I've heard there was a civil war going on in this country, but it was over several years ago. Is it true?"

"Pretty much, yeah. But there are still pockets of resistance in the northern area of the island, but they're pretty weak. Peacekeeping forces and the pro-government military men are trying hard to destroy what's left of them. But don't worry much since the place you're going is relatively safe. Hey, if you don't mind I'm asking, why are you going there?"

That question pretty much frightened Helga as she tried to think a suitable answer to reply back. She didn't want to tell her that she traveled thousands of miles just to see a boy who she loved so dearly ever since she was a child that she'd run away from her broken home just to see him and hopefully he'd help her and accept her with open arms. So, she resorted to one answer, "My mom's friend invited me over to stay for a couple of days."

"Who, Stella?" she asked back, and Helga nodded softly.

Salma smiled, and said, "You know, she has a pretty cute son, somewhere around your age." It was something that Helga hadn't expected, but she was glad to hear it. "Hey, you're not… his girlfriend or anything, are you?" Salma asked.

Helga quickly snapped back, "What, heheh? You're kidding, right?" she said nervously, "Of course not! I barely even know the footba— I mean, her son. Eh, heheh…"

"Hey, just asking." She shrugged. The jeep then exited the city and went back into the jungle, but it was much thicker than the last one they were in. A few seconds later, a large truck that carried soldiers zoomed pass them, billowing dust behind it. Salma then said to herself, "Hmm… they must be boosting the security around the Presidential Palace for tonight…"

"What's going to happen to the palace?" Helga asked in curiosity.

"There's going to be a nationwide function at that place. The president invited all his of countrymen and some of the expatriates to show gratitude for helping rebuilding their country or something."

"Nationwide?" Helga raised one of her eyebrow in disbelief.

"Hey, San Lorenzo is a pretty small country. Some 12000 people live in this place."

"Oh…" Helga replied back, and she intentionally averted the conversation. "So… how long until we arrive at the village?" she asked regarding the length of the journey.

"Provided that the road isn't wet and muddy, the weather stays calm and we're not stopping for anything, I'd say we'll be arriving there about around, say… 40 minutes or so."

Helga sighed in agony.

"Hey, cheer up. Why don't you sit back and relax, and enjoy the view while I do all the driving. You might learn a thing or two from the jungle." She said at her beaming. Helga shrugged and slumped back to her seat, as she looked around her surroundings to admire the view. There was nothing but dense foliage and the occasional exotic animals that came across them as they drove by. Birds and small animals that she never saw in a zoo seemed to excite her a bit, and the forest was beautiful and lovely for her to admire. It would warrant a poem if she was in a very good mood that day, Helga had thought. They then came a across a magnificent looking small shallow stream, which was clear as crystal and had Helga given the opportunity, she would swim in it. There was no bridge to cross over it, so Salma drove across it, splashing the water away.

Helga didn't sleep throughout the journey at all, even though she planned to do so before the journey started. She talked a lot with Salma, and she really admired and was in awe of this place that she never took her eyes away from them. It was better than anything and everything that Hillwood had to offer. 45 minutes had passed and they finally arrived at a place that looked like it was built by people. There were some guard towers, a wooden wall with barbwire fence on top of it, and the road was blocked by a guard post, with the United Nations flag raised in front of it. Salma pulled over to the guard post and went out from the vehicle to clarify her presence.

"Hola, Luis." She greeted the guard, who was actually a Mexican peacekeeping force, "You two look very busy today."

"Yeah, right." He replied back, smiling. "All I did today was playing cards with Eddy over here." He pointed to a sleeping New Zealander soldier. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, there's this kid who claims that she knows Stella," she pointed to Helga who was inside the jeep, "and she wants to see her."

"Strange…" he said back, stroking his chin. "Stella never mentioned that she's expecting a visitor. Do you think…" he narrowed his eyes in alarm, as he looked at Helga. By now, Helga was very nervous, since she didn't know a word of Spanish and she wouldn't know whether they would allow her in.

"Nah… can't be a rebel sympathizer. She's too young." Salma replied back. "And besides, I have a feeling that she's Stella's son's girlfriend…" she stuck out a smirk at Luis.

"Hehe. Ah, young love." He chuckled a bit and smiled at Helga. Helga smiled back even though she didn't know why he smiled at him. A friendly face was always a friendly face, she had thought. "Ah, why not? It's always nice to see a new face once in a while. She can go in." he then pushed a button and the gates opened up.

"Heh, thanks Luis. I owe you one." Salma smiled at him.

"You could thank me by going on a date with me." He smiled back.

"Keep on dreaming, Luis." She replied back, beaming. "Okay Helga, this is where you drop off. You're clear to enter the village."

Helga sighed in relief. "Oh, man. Thanks a bunch Salma. I really couldn't have made this far without you."

"Eh, no prob. Just helping a traveler going around." She said as she helped Helga unloading her bags. With her bags back in her possession, Helga said to her, "Will I ever see you again?"

"Probably." She shrugged. "Hey, you take care of yourself, all right?"

"I will." Helga replied back as she smiled, and shook hands with her. It was somewhat a very long handshake, they both thought. Finally they released their hands and Salma went back into her jeep. She started the engine and drove off as she waved at Helga and she did vice versa. After the jeep was out from her view, she went to the guard post to enquire. "So, uh… Luis right?"

"Sí. You want to know where Stella's house is, right?"

"Yeah." Helga nodded softly.

"Just go up that hill over there and two from the left is her house." He said as he pointed it out. "Oh, before going there could you sign your name in this logbook?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." Helga replied, signed her name and went pass the gate. Before climbing that small hill in front of her, she stopped at her tracks for a while and took a very deep breath. "Well… here goes nothing."

-

The time was at 6:45PM, and the sun was at the very tip of the horizon, casting a glowing orange hue over the place where a young boy and a teenager were at a wooden veranda, playing chess together. The move that the male teenager made certainly didn't please the boy, and he yelled disapprovingly at him.

"That's not a checkmate, Arnold!"

"Yes it is." Arnold smiled back, smirking. "Just admit that you're a sore loser, kiddo."

"I'm gonna tell mom!" he cried back.

"Pfft. Ooh, I'm so scared now!" he faked a fear. He laughed some more and looked around the place. He saw someone or something behind the hill. He got up from his seat in curiosity to see again what he just saw. The figure moved upwards, and it was a girl. But Arnold still couldn't recognize her. He squint his eyes a bit and put his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight. It looked like someone he knew. Someone he knew well.

Someone who he hadn't seen in years.

Someone who he wrote letters to but never once received a reply from her.

Someone who in the past he had given advice to help her in her troubled times.

Someone who he was glad to see so much after all these years.

Helga.

"Hey, Arnold." the kid said at him, "Who's the chica?"

Ignoring the question, Arnold was virtually in disbelief as he saw Helga emerged from the hill. He slowly developed a soft smile and his heart was beginning to pound faster. Imagine that, despite of hearing practically nothing about her after all these years, apart from third party comments from Gerald, she was right in front of his eyes, although was weary, but she managed to gaze warmly at him. He came down from the veranda and went straight to her, almost nearly running. The thought of seeing an old friend from Hillwood brought warmness to his heart. He was glad to see her here. He was very happy to see her. He then stopped in front of her, and after a long, admirable, yet pleasing gaze that they returned to each other, Arnold finally said, "Helga." as he cast a soft smile at her.

Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuuuun...

cough-

The bolded dialogue you just read was an English translation from a conversation in Spanish, which will appear a lot later on in future chapters. Wanted to write it in Spanish though so it would sound natural, but since I am ignorant about that language, that have to do for a while. The civil war is a key point in a sub-plot I'm considering about Arnold's parents, and Costa Rica is going to be a topic that will be discussed a lot by Arnold and Helga later. And that kid? Well, you just have to wait. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review. Guess I'll be starting to write the romance part now... eep.