Author's Note: Eighth chapter is up after nearly a month in limbo. Not because of author's block or laziness, but I want to give this thing a rest for a while and as I want to write my other fics in production. But don't worry, this story will continue on until it's finished, provided people are still interested in this thing.

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 8: Evening

After the eventful time that they had at the top of the hill, they decided to go back down and continue with the tour. They descended down using the tourist track this time rather than the unknown track plotted by Eduardo. As they walked down, they continued to talk with each other, mostly about their goals, ambitions and wishes, their social life, the world around them, the beautiful scenery and even trivial matters. They felt that they bonded, although both sides were at their usual antics, Arnold being dense as ever and Helga with her usual scowling self. They never realized that they both share the same common interest until now and it seemed that they developed a new sense of intimacy between them.

Arnold had promised Helga they he'd take her to the famous waterfall where his parents nearly fell to their doom, and since this was the last leg of the trip, he decided to bring her there. Again, he drove through the dense jungle of San Lorenzo. Helga simply couldn't get enough of this place. She too, like Arnold when he was here for the first time, began to love this place. The jeep entered a clear and Arnold drove onto a grass field and parked in front of some small huts. The huts were just some small shops selling trinkets and souvenirs for the tourists who came over to view to the waterfall. To get to the waterfall, they had to walk through a jungle trail. After a short walk, they encountered a small village, populated by the Green-Eyed people.

"Don't be scared, they're friendly." Arnold said to calm Helga, since he noticed that she was walking ever closer to him, almost causing him to trip and fall down.

Most of the huts were made out of wood, and the roofs were woven with straws. The inhabitants weren't surprised to see a couple of foreigners walking through their village, since they were familiar with them since the waterfall was open to the public. As they walked through the village, people gave them a friendly smile, and Arnold and Helga smiled back, to show solidarity. They were walking in front of a patch of land that served as a soccer field for the children, when all of a sudden:

"Hermano Arnold!" one of the kids shouted and pointed at him, and they all ran up to him.

"Hey, guys." Arnold greeted, "Having fun playing?"

"Yeah," One of the kids replied. The eleven year boy then looked at Helga, and looked at Arnold back, "but not as fun as you were having!", and resounding, teasing "OOOOOOOOHHHH!" roared from them. Except for Helga, who just smiled, they all laughed. She thought they were making fun of her or something. Arnold will pay for this treachery.

"Oh come on guys, she's not my girlfriend or anything." Arnold replied back, blushing.

"Does it even matter?" another kid said back, and the children laughed out loud.

"All right, all right, enough already." He replied back, already reddened from embarrassment. He felt that he hit the low since he got owned by a bunch of kids, "Jeez, where'd you learn all this? Hey, did you guys get the food that Papa Monzano gave to you?"

"We sure did!" a little girl replied happily. "My little brother is very healthy now he has eaten!"

"Great!" Arnold replied back with a smile, "Well, I should be going then. I'm showing my friend here the waterfall. See you guys later." He waved at them.

"Yeah, don't have too much fun there with the chica!" they all laughed.

Arnold snickered a bit at their remark and said, "Bye!" as he waved and walked again along with Helga, leaving the children behind. The kids waved back and collectively they replied "Bye!" back and ran to the field to play soccer again. As they walked, Arnold snickered at what the kids just said to them, with much to Helga's chagrin.

"Are you still laughing at that stupid joke those kids made?" She asked accusingly.

"Well, yeah…" he replied, still snickering.

"Care to share with me what's so funny about it?" she asked.

"Ahh… it's nothing." Arnold lied, smiling, "It's something only people who lives in San Lorenzo would understand."

Helga wasn't satisfied with the given answer, since she knew that he was keeping something from her, judging from the stupid look from his face, "You're lucky I don't understand Spanish, Footballhead." She muttered to herself, "So, how do you know those kids?"

"Their parents were the first Green-Eyed people to be rediscovered by my parents. Quite accidental, actually. Remember when I told you my parents survived the fall? They were the ones who saved them because they built some nets in the middle of the waterfall for safety precaution."

"Ah…"

Moments later, they could hear rumbling noises coming not far from them. They hastened their pace and finally they saw a body of water in front of them flowing rapidly to the right. They walked further and they finally got out of the jungle. They then followed the river flow and from the distance, they could see a small hill at the edge of the waterfall. They climbed up, and finally they could see a spectacular, panoramic view of the raging waterfall. Helga thought it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The waterfall was curved like a crescent and at the bottom, water mist and a rainbow could be seen by them. It was one of nature's finest architectural works.

"Awesome view, isn't it?" Arnold said proudly.

"Yeah…" Helga agreed, "Too bad I didn't bring my camera."

"Well, we could get back home and take mine and come back here…" he suggested playfully. Helga seemed to be amused by it.

"Heh, I'm not that desperate to take a picture of this place."

"Tell you what," Arnold said, "I promise to bring you back to this place before the end of your trip so we can take pictures here. How's that?"

Though Helga didn't know when she would be leaving this country since she didn't make any plans prior to leaving for it, she just nodded and said back to Arnold, "It's a deal."

Arnold smiled happily and with Helga, gazed at the panoramic view. Although Arnold had been staying in this country for a long time, he now just realized it for the first time how truly wonderful this place was. As a poet and writer, Helga could see this place as her new muse. It would be wonderful though, if she would stay at this place and live with Arnold together.

"Hey," Arnold said, "The sun's coming down. I think we'd better get back home before it gets too dark."

"Aw man, and we just got here…" Helga said with a disappointment.

"I promise you I'll bring you back. Besides I'm not very familiar with the roads in this place and we might get lost if we stay here any longer. Come on."

---

Dusk fell. Small birds like swallows were chirping loudly and they could be seen flying around the area and almost filling the sky, flocking to the trees for the night. The area they went though was a bird sanctuary of some sorts. Arnold quickened the pace and stepped on the gas pedal in hoping they would reach home in time before the day would go completely dark. He hoped the same thing that happened to him and his father years ago wouldn't happen to him again.

There was a welcoming sight in the distance. It was the United Nations flag and boy did Arnold was totally glad to see it. Eddy the guard at the post saw the recognizable jeep heading towards the gate and opened it. He gave a friendly salute and Arnold replied it back by waving his hand a bit. From the distance, he could see his father's jeep parked in front of the house. It somewhat confused him since Miles would usually come home much later than now. He shrugged it off, thinking it was no big deal and parked next to his father's jeep. He and Helga walked in together and to their surprise, Arnold's parents were sitting at the family room, giving them a scowling look.

"How was the tour?" Miles asked, in a typical, distrusting parents tone.

Noticing that they harbored some suspicions about them, Arnold replied after taking a deep breath, "It was… great. I brought her to many of the famous places in the country."

"Mm-hmm." Stella replied, feeling the answered given wasn't satisfactory, "Arnold, if you don't mind, could we talk to Helga for a moment, alone?"

Helga suddenly felt her blood rushed through her veins in fear. Her eyes widened and she could feel weak on the legs. Arnold looked at her in a worrisome look. He felt compelled to defend his friend. "Mom, dad. If this is about Bob—"

"No." Miles cut him off suddenly, "This is not about her father. This is about her and her alone." He replied back in a somewhat bitter tone. "Now go back, Arnold. Mom and I have something to talk to her."

Again, Arnold looked at her back, with a mix of pity, fear, and hope. A pity that she had to go through this, judging by the bitter tone of his parents. Fearful that what might his parents said or did to her. And hope that she would get past this ordeal away easily. Arnold then walked out from the house and to the veranda, pacing around, uneasy that he had left Helga alone to confront his parents. He also felt angered a bit that because he felt his parents had neither the right nor the authority to question her since Helga wasn't their child.

"Sit down." Miles ordered while pointing his finger downwards. Helga stayed silent, and decided not to answer back at him. Her heart was pounding and she began to sweat. Her hands were visibly shaken. Could they know that she ran away from home? Would they going to deliver an ultimatum to her? And send her back to the place that she left? She timidly nodded and took a seat in front of them. After a long, piercing and suspicious gaze from Arnold parents, Miles asked:

"Just how long are planning to stay here, Helga?"

Helga didn't know. She didn't plan for this trip. Heck, she even did not buy a ticket back home yet. She knew that she'd get into loads of trouble if she told them the truth, so she lied to them, "C-Couple of weeks… or s-so…" she replied nervously.

Arnold's parents, Stella especially, felt she was lying, judging from the stuttering, nervous and inconvincible answer she gave to them. Still, they just kept cool and wouldn't jump to conclusions. By piling more guilt into her mind they thought would make her crack and spill the beans. "Couple of weeks, huh?" Miles nodded with a suspicious look, "And I assume your parents know about this trip, right?"

Helga was feeling apprehensive with the question. At this point she knew that they were playing mind games with her. They were interrogating her. The only way to get out from this mess was she must not let the guilt be ridden all over her. She then replied with a somewhat calm tone, "Yes, they know."

The both of them were aware that she was trying to hide her nervousness. Still, they didn't want to accuse anything yet. "I see." Stella replied back, "So what is about this trip actually? It's been a day since you're here, and we don't know anything about your journey. Care to share it with us?" Stella voice was a lot kinder and more caring as opposed to her husband's, who sounded intimidating and somewhat menacing.

Still Helga wouldn't let a soft, warm voice lower her guard down. She was wary of their tricks. But it was so hard to think up for an answer for this particular question because she couldn't find one. And the ones she made up weren't very convincing. The somewhat calm Helga became nervous and frightened again, and because of the nervousness she couldn't think of an answer to satisfy Arnold's parents. Should she tell the truth? No, definitely no! She screamed in her mind. She wouldn't want to get send back to Hillwood again. Not to that horrible home that housed her family. "I-I… I was…"

"Yes…?" Stella said back, after she patiently waited for an answer.

"Think, Helga. THINK!" she yelled in her thoughts. Nearly given up hope and cave in by telling the truth, she then suddenly remembered someone, "Salma!" her mind shouted, "Yes, Salma! Salma, a friend of mine invited me over to the country for a trip."

Stella raised her eyebrow in incredulous disbelief, "Salma? That Red Cross nurse?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes ma'am."

"If she invited you over, then how come you're staying with us?" Miles asked accusingly.

The question was easily encountered with, "I'm supposed to meet her in five days time, but I decided to come early to visit an old friend." She answered coolly, referring to Arnold.

Miles and Stella looked at each other in disbelief. They'd been stumped by the answer Helga gave since it was believable. But still, they harbored a lot of skepticism towards her. Having nothing of sort to ask her anything regarding her presence in the country, one of them said, "Very well." Stella replied back. Helga smiled a bit. "Still, you've four days to go, and we can't let you just loiter in the house and do nothing."

"Yes." Miles agreed. "Everybody in this country plays a role, including you. So instead of seeing you doing nothing for the next four days, we've decided that you should help the country by doing some work. Are you okay with that?"

Helga pondered a moment and replied, "Sure, a'right. Doing odd jobs and some charity work aren't going to hurt or anything, are they?"

Stella nodded, "I'm giving you three choices:" she said as she produced her fingers to aid her in referring process, "One – help me at the Red Cross Camp. Two – help Mr.—"

The wind suddenly kicked in and slammed the window, producing a loud noise, startling everyone.

"here with the archeology expedition, and three, help a friend of ours, Father Campbell at the orphanage." Stella concluded her explanation.

Helga nodded softly and thought about the choices given. She didn't want to do grunt work or help Arnold's father at the dig site, since she had a feeling that Arnold's father hated her. So it got cut out from her options. Helping lots of children at the orphanage was not her forte, and the only thing she knew she could do was helping Arnold's mother at the Red Cross camp, since she wanted to meet that old lady who thanked her when she brought the medicine just this morning. So she said to Stella, "I'd like to go and work with you. I want to help those people out of their suffering." The words came straight from her heart.

Stella nodded, and replied, "Okay then." She then turned to the front door and yelled, "Arnold, you can come in now."

Arnold slowly opened the door and saw Helga smiling softly at him. Seemed that she managed to get away, he had thought. A classic Helga Pataki maneuver. He came up to her and asked, "So how was the talk?" the both of them walked away together from Miles and Stella as the parents looked at them in deep distrust.

"It was very… constructive." Helga said back, almost giggling.

"So, how about the review?" Arnold asked.

"Let's go." Helga replied back, smiling. Arnold then pointed to the computer room and they both went in, and closed the door.

"She ran away." Miles said accusingly after watching the door shut. "Bob must've done something to that girl to make her run away." He guessed accusingly. Helga got out back, and Stella and Miles went silent for a moment. Helga went into Arnold's room, took her bags with her and went in the computer room back, and closed the door. The ever skeptical parents resumed their conversation again.

"Now, now, honey." Stella replied back to calm him down, "Let's not jump to conclusions…"

"What conclusions? It's obvious! Don't you hear the tone of her voice? And that stupid excuse? She's lying! It'd be wrong if we let her stay here, Stella. We have to send her back home!"

"I know, I know!" Stella sighed. "But… I don't know, I think we should let her stay for a while. She must've a reason why she ran away from home..."

"What?" Miles bellowed in disbelief, "Just what in God's name are you talking about?"

"I don't know. But… I think it's more than some petty teen angst and differences with her family..."

---

"So, here's where you'll be staying for the rest of your trip here." Arnold said to Helga as he took a seat on the computer chair gazing at her who was sitting on the mattress. He could see some hint of discomfort and uneasiness coming from her.

"But, if you prefer to stay in my room, I'll gladly—"

"No, no thanks." Helga replied back, showing her right hand to protest. "It's a nice room. Thanks for fixing this room up for me."

"No prob. I just want to make you comfortable." He replied back, smiling, "So, ready for the review?" he said as he spun around on the computer chair.

"Yeah. Oh, Arnold. Can I ask you a favor?"

Arnold gazed back at her quizzically. "Yeah, sure." He shrugged.

"Is there a chance of you seeing Salma again sometime on this week? Sooner possibly?" she asked.

"Probably tomorrow." He replied back, "Depends on which camp I'll send the medicine."

"Okay, if you ever meet her could you please tell her that she's expecting me to stay with her in four days time from now?"

Arnold was taken aback. Helga was asking for him to lie. "I get this stemmed from the talk with my parents, huh?"

Though she was reluctant to admit it, but this was this only way to save her skin from getting send back home, "Yeah. Tell her to say that only if your parents asked her."

Arnold sighed. He was a little bit disappointed with her, "Helga, I don't know why you are here, and I don't have any intention to ask because I know it will cause a rift between us, but sooner or later you have to tell us the truth."

"So that's why he never asked…" Helga thought to herself, almost feeling guilty about it. "I will tell when the time is right." She pressed sternly, "Right now, it's the time for me to review your article. Where is it?"

Arnold nodded, and he switched the computer on and showed it to Helga. He got out from his chair and let Helga sat on it and she began to read his piece, carefully and attentively. Arnold got bored of waiting for Helga to finish reading his piece, so he decided to do something to occupy his time. He looked at Helga's backpack and saw a vacation pamphlet poking out from the pouch. He took it out and began to read it.

"'So You're Vacationing in Costa Rica', huh?" Arnold asked, as he read the pamphlet with interest.

"Yeah." Helga replied back. "Did you know there was another San Lorenzo there?"

"I kinda heard of it before, but never knew it actually existed." Arnold replied back, studying a map inside it, "Hey, would you look at that, it actually has a San Lorenzo in it. Awesome." he said, pointing to the black text that spelled 'San Lorenzo'.

"You'd think it'd be awesome to have a vacation there? In Costa Rica?" Helga asked as she read the Arnold's article.

"Beaches? Forests? Tropical country? I'm a sucker for those kinds of places so I'm there." He replied back, almost snickering. Without Arnold knowing, she smiled widely at his response. A vacation at Costa Rica would be sweet if they ever got together at last. As Helga read the article and Arnold were sitting on the mattress reading the pamphlet, a shout was heard coming from the outside.

"Kids, dinner!" Stella shouted at them.

"Should we go for a break?" Helga asked as she turned around looking at Arnold.

"If you could bear my mom's cooking then all right." Arnold replied back, smiling.

---

Later…

Arnold and Helga walked wobbly into the room again, and with their sickly faces from eating Stella's cooking. After Arnold closed the door, Helga said, "Oh man…" after she smacked her lips and moved her tongue around in disgust, "Your mom fails at cooking! And I thought my mom was a horrible cook… ugh!"

"Hey, that's my mother you're talking about!" Arnold retorted back nonchalantly.

"Ah, just be quiet mama's boy!" Helga replied back teasingly, as she sat back in front of the computer. "I wanna finish this up so I can forget how horrible—" she said while throwing her hands in front of her, "the taste that's infesting and murdering my taste buds!"

Arnold just chuckled at Helga's exaggerated reactions and resumed reading the pamphlet. Yes, he was that bored, or he was too stupid, or scared to make a move, or didn't want to, or he still thought they were just friends and nothing beyond that. It's Helga, after all. Minutes went past by. While Arnold read the information contained on the pamphlet, Helga then replied:

"I'm done reading it." Helga said, as she turned around to face Arnold and smiled sardonically at him.

"And the verdict is…" he asked. He was very nervous for the anticipating answer.

"My honest opinion is… horrible." Helga said coolly. Arnold began to frown, "How did you win that stupid essay contest Arnold? Bribe the judges? I see lots and lots of grammatical errors. And don't get me started on how you pace the article and you somehow, in your infinite wisdom convoluted this thing to the point it's nigh unreadable!"

That was the most brutally honest opinion that Arnold had ever heard. He felt disheartened, discouraged and somewhat angered at her review. But then again, he got what he wanted, an honest, constructive and helpful review from Helga G. Pataki. Maybe with her review, he could improve his writings. He nodded softly and began to accept his flaws after a period of denial.

"But on the plus side," Helga added, "It's very articulate. It's extremely informative and descriptive, and you actually made me imagine in my head all the places and events you mentioned in the article. I could feel the emotion that you actually want to portray. And plus with the pictures you took, it's a very powerful thing to show." Arnold seemed to be pleased by that.

The pictures that Helga mentioned were taken by Arnold during his stay in San Lorenzo. It depicted how harsh live in that place could be. There were images of malnourished children and ailing adults lying sick in bed. A group shot of a large family that wore dirty clothing posing in front of their small dilapidated hut. And there was a picture of a government army pointing his weapon to a captured rebel, and the most striking of them all, a mother grieving over her baby's death. But in spite of the gritty hardcore realism of humanity that Arnold took, there was a little beauty in some. There were pictures of the natural landscape and animal life in San Lorenzo that Helga considered to be spectacular. Human images such a smiling woman and children playing around touched Helga's heart.

"You could win a Pulitzer with these pics, Arnold." Helga said, showing him her favorite picture. She then turned the picture around and said, "Poor kid... she must be pretty hungry." the picture she was holding was a scruffy looking girl biting on a crumb of bread as she looked back at the camera with hope, distress, and weariness.

"She's not hungry, Helga." Arnold replied back dejectedly, "She's starving." Helga looked back at Arnold in disbelief. She then looked at the picture again to reanalyze the little girl's face. Arnold was right. "Was it you that gave that bread to her?"

Arnold lowered his head down and replied, "Yeah... I gave her my lunch. That was the only thing I could do to help her in such a short notice." he sighed. "You know, she shouldn't be like that. Millions of other children in other parts of the world are suffering the same fate as she does, and yet, richer countries don't do anything to help them out. Just think: billions of dollars were spent just to create bombs and weapons and stuff, while kids like that little girl are neglected by the world. It's just sad..."

"Yeah..." Helga concurred, as she gazed back at the striking image, absorbing every single detail of it.The both of them were in deep thought. After much pondering, Helga looked back at the monitor and said,"This article of yours... the only thing you need to work with is your writing."

"I suppose you're right…" Arnold replied back, "But I need someone to help me." He smiled at Helga.

"Nah, I'm not going to help you. Do it on your own." She replied back sarcastically.

His broaden his smile, "Thanks, Helga."

And Helga unofficially became Arnold's tutor. Arnold took a seat next to her and started to type away under close supervision by Helga. Every bad grammar was restructured and misspells were corrected. The pacing of the article was reorganized to make the article interesting and enjoyable to read. And after the final proofreading, they were proud of a job well done. At the end of the article, there was written:

By Arnold.

Arnold then added:

& Helga Pataki.

Helga was quite surprised and flattered by it, but she modestly declined the credit, "Come on, Footballhead. I didn't do anything. You were the one who came up with all these stuff."

"But it just feels so wrong not to credit you, Helga. You've done a lot to help me."

"Hey, consider it as an act of charity from me. I don't want recognition."

"Oh, come on. Don't be so modest about it." he persuaded. Helga let out a soft breath and replied, "Okay, if you insist." She shrugged, "But don't blame me if they credited me more than you." She had noticed that Arnold forgot to include his last name at the end of the article, but she just kept mum about it. Thus, it was written 'By Arnold & Helga Pataki.' "Heh, Arnold Pataki…" she chortled softly.

"Huzzah." He cheered, throwing his arms in the air. He then looked at the clock on the wall, "Wow, it's almost midnight."

"I'm gonna hit the hay. I've promised your mom that I'll help her at her camp tomorrow."

Arnold smiled. He was proud of her, "Glad to hear that you're willing to help."

"What, you think I'm selfish?" she asked back accusingly.

"No…" he replied back softly, "I'm just… happy to hear it." They smiled at each other, after they gazed at each other admiringly.

"Goodnight." Arnold said, as he walked to the door.

"You too." Helga replied back. And with that Arnold slowly closed the door behind him. Helga then threw herself onto the mattress, grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it. She sighed pleasingly at herself.

"What a wonderful day…"

I think I should go easy with the political commentaries on the later chapters because I know some statements in this chapter will provoke people to retort back and call me silly names. Man, I'm so going to receive lots of flaks from this. Well, I'm glad this chapter is over. So if you like it then please leave a review. Wanna criticize my political views write stuff too.