Author's Note: The Return of The King and Queen back to their hometown. Almost every loose ends are tied, and despite of the chapter's title, this is not the end of the story. I have more to explain in the next upcoming chapter. This chapter emphasizes somewhat off-the-wall humor to counterbalance the hard drama of the previous few chapters. But nothing too crazy though, because that's just not my style. Okay, here we go.

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 18: Goodbye

The United States Travel Advisory to San Lorenzo.

Official Status: Discouraged from Traveling.

Cause: Although it has been declared safe for visitors by the Government of San Lorenzo, some parts of the country is still hostile to foreigners, particularly to those who live in Western countries. American citizens who are traveling to this country are advised not to travel to the northern parts of San Lorenzo as military activities are on going and present. If it is absolutely necessary to travel there, be advised to hire a guide and do not bring your identifications as it will provoke hostilities from the anti-government militia and their supporters.

Hostilities: Kidnappings of foreigners, military activities.

Immunization: Travelers are advised to undergo proper immunization at their local healthcare center before heading to San Lorenzo. Be wary of the Sombra disease. For further detail about the diseases in San Lorenzo, please refer to this link.

Natural Hazards: Atlantic Hurricane Season from June to November. Landslides are frequently reported but are not very devastating. The last volcano eruption was in 1987, and as of now the Volcano Cabrakan remains dormant.

---

Morning…

Helga brought her laptop to Arnold's room and showed it to him. Her wallpaper now was adorned with the picture of her shoving Arnold away yesterday and he chuckled softly at her choice of decoration. The main purpose that Helga brought her laptop to his room was to show the letters to Arnold that she had written, but never sent to him. Upon opening the folder, Arnold was surprised to see archived letters dating all the way back to the first letter he had sent to her.

"Wow… this is amazing Helga." He said in awe, "This is like… every reply to every letters that I've sent to you."

"That's just the half of it." Helga replied back, "I have ones in paper that I put in a binder back home."

"Man… I don't know what to say." Arnold shook his head in disbelief as he read the first letter he opened. "This is crazy… and yet… I'm touched."

"I'm glad you like it." Helga said, smiling softly at him. As Arnold occupied himself with the letters, chuckling and smiling at every sentence that he read, Helga let him be and scanned around the desk where the laptop was on. On the desk, there was a picture of him and Gerald before they hit puberty, a group pic of the gang at the boarding house's stoop – which Helga remembered vividly that it was the day before his departure to San Lorenzo, a picture of his parents, a picture of him and Marcelo, assorted stationary in a decorative oversized mug adorned with signature of his friends, and a picture of baby Arnold. She grinned upon seeing it.

"Aww," she said with a sarcastic tone, "Baby Arnold in his diapers, crying for mommy." Arnold looked at the picture that Helga mentioned, and his face turned red in embarrassment.

"Consider yourself lucky to have seen the rare and priceless picture of Arnold when he was a little tyke." He replied back jokingly.

Helga chuckled back softly and grabbed it, "Hey, how come it's all dirty?" the grimy picture had traces of dried mud, was torn slightly and burn marks on it.

He took a deep breath, smiled a bit and explained to her, "That was the only picture of me that my parents possessed when they were trapped in San Lorenzo years ago. Every time when they were about to give up hope on living, they would look at the picture, and remind themselves that there was still hope and gave a reason for them to continue on living. If it wasn't for this picture…" he sighed as he took the picture from her and gazed at it deeply, "well, I can't imagine what could happen to them."

Helga looked at him back, gazing at him deeply. She carved a soft smile and replied, "In a certain way, you saved your parents' lives, didn't you?"

Arnold nodded weakly, "Yeah…" and put the picture back on the desk next to the picture of Marcelo and him. He shifted her eyes momentarily on that picture, focusing on Marcelo's stubby leg. "First thing tomorrow morning, I'm gonna bring him to Dr. Steiglitz and get him a prosthetic leg. He's still working there, isn't he?"

Helga nodded, "Yeah, the old man knows how to take care of himself. I don't think he's going to retire soon." She too then gazed at the picture of Marcelo, "So how did he lose his leg?"

"Well…" he let out a heavyhearted sigh, "Shortly after he recovered from malnourishment, he went to some place far from the refugee camp to play with some other kids, and then bam, he accidentally stepped on a landmine. It was a miracle he survived." He shook his head.

Helga felt depressed when she heard the explanation, "Well, his grandma made the right decision then. This place is too hostile to have a kid raised in an environment like this."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, and Miles came into the view. "Hey, you guys are all packed?"

Arnold and Helga nodded, "Yes sir." The son replied.

"Good." Miles nodded, "We should be going now. The airplane is scheduled to leave San Lorenzo in…" he looked at his watch, "One and a half hour from now."

"Okay, dad." Arnold nodded as he got up, along with Helga.

"Oh yeah, Arnold." He called him, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." He replied back. "Helga, could you leave us for a second?" Helga nodded and walked out from the room to go to her room to pick her stuff up. Miles then closed the door, put his hand on Arnold's shoulder and brought him to his bed where he could have a father-son conversation.

"Helga's a nice girl." Miles nodded in approval, somewhat in discomfort of talking about her with his son.

Arnold raised an eyebrow and widened his eyes nervously, "Yeah, she's an amazing person." He tried to remain calm. Hopefully this wasn't one of those embarrassing 'birds and bees' talks. Besides, he was already too old for that kind of talk. Still, he remained pessimistic.

"You know, when she first arrived here, I had this negative feeling about her… probably because of that jerk Bob that made me think that she was just as same as him. But when I heard that she got kicked out of her house and all… well, I feel sorry for her."

Arnold let out a huge sigh of relief when he heard that. It wasn't one of those 'talks'. "We all do, dad. We all do." Arnold nodded weakly, in relief and agreement with his father.

"It also made me distrust and hate Bob even more because of that. So, Arnold, I'm asking you a favor here: If you heard Bob acting stupid towards his family again – especially Helga, you go to her and help her. Bring her to the boarding and house and protect her. Call the cops or the Social Services if you need to."

"I will pops, I will." Arnold nodded.

"I know you will." He smiled as he laughed softly at him, "You've been really responsible here, and I hope you'll be just as responsible taking care of Marcelo and Helga there."

"Yeah, dad. I'm not going to break that promise. I mean, c'mon, it's me, right? You know me. I won't leave my responsibilities away."

"How about that one time when—" he said teasingly.

"Yeah, one time dad. Just once." He laughed back, remembering that one day where he left his responsibilities. "At least nobody got hurt when the truck exploded."

"Yeah, yeah." Miles said as they laughed together, "C'mon. Get out of here." He patted Arnold's back to shove him out of the room. But just before Arnold left the room, Miles recalled what Father Campbell had told him about Arnold and chickens. This would be a great opportunity to make fun of him. "You know, grandpa just built a new chicken coop back home."

Arnold widened his eyes in alarm and terror, and he quickly turned around and looked at his father, "Are you… serious?"

Miles tried to wipe off his broad grin, "Yeah. I called him yesterday, and the coop had some twenty hens in it."

Arnold received the news with great doubt. Then when he realized that his father used the word 'hen', he knew he was bluffing and thought Father Campbell had already told him about it. "You're lying." He said with a nervous grin.

"Hey, it's up to you whether you want to believe it or not." He smiled broadly at him.

"Yeah, n-nice try dad. I'm not afraid of t-those... birds anymore." He replied anxiously with a smile.

"Cluck cluck."

"Dad, seriously. Stop it." Arnold replied back, getting tenser.

"¡El Pollo Diablo!" he pointed to something behind him. Arnold jumped away frightfully as he screamed like a girly-man, but when he looked back, he saw nothing. Miles was laughing his butt off.

"Dad, stop it!" he yelled back in embarrassment and quickly exited his room.

"What's a matter Arnold? Chicken?"

---

After Arnold, Helga and Stella put their bags in the trunk, Miles climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. Miles gave Eddy the guard a wave and he replied back with a friendly salute as he lifted the gate up. "Honey, could you take a detour to the camp for a while? I need to pick up my laptop before we leave." Stella said to her husband.

"Sure." Miles nodded and turned the vehicle around.

"Wait, mom," Arnold said, "We're passing through the cemetery, right?"

It took a while before either of his parents replied to him. Stella turned back, looking at Arnold and said, "Yeah… why?"

"Since I'm not going to be here for a while, wouldn't it be respectful if I pay him a visit before I leave the country?"

---

The wind was sweeping calmly, yet it ruffled some of the trees and leaves were blown out of them, landing in different places in the cemetery. Arnold walked up slowly to the small grave under the large tree on top of a small hill, accompanied by his parents and Helga. Helga was holding his hand while his parents did the same, holding each other's hand tightly. Stella was seen weeping openly. Arnold stopped upon reaching the grave, lowered his head and read the tombstone. After contemplating for a few words, he said, as if he was saying to a living person, "Hey bro. It's me… your big brother Arnold. Just came here to tell you that I'm leaving the country for a while." Miles closed his eyes and Stella's eyes began to mist. Helga kept silent.

With a heavyhearted sigh, he continued, "I don't know when I will be coming back, but just so you know, even when I'm away from the country, I won't forget you. You're my brother. Even though we never met each other, I still feel there's a bond… a connection between us." He then picked up the decaying familiar blue hat from its spot and swept some of the leaves and dirt off from it. "But I promise I will return back. Hopefully we will see each other again…" He then put the hat back and said, "Rest peacefully." Again, Helga lowered her head in respect, and along with Arnold, they took a step away and let his parents the chance to mourn.

---

"This won't be long, I promise." Stella said to Miles, once they arrived at the sick camp. Helga got out of the car and made Stella perplexed at her actions. "Where are you going?"

"Going to see Mona for a while." She said as she ran off into the makeshift tent. She scanned around upon entering, but Mona was nowhere in sight. She wasn't at her bed nor was she attending a patient. To seek clarification, she walked over to the nearest nurse she saw to ask about her whereabouts. Helga spoke to the nurse in Spanish mixed with English, but the nurse could understand what she was saying. She then pointed out that she was at the back. "Gracias." She thanked the nurse, and headed out back. She ran up the hill, and saw many graves as far the eye can see. Her heart began to pound faster. She began to panic. She wouldn't want to believe it.

"Over here, Helga. I'm not worm food yet." Someone said behind her. Helga turned around, and saw Mona planting crops on a small plot of land. Helga let a huge sigh of relief as she smiled and waved back at her.

Helga then calmly walked up to her, and observed her as she tilled the land with a hoe. "Wouldn't that tire you? Could you just ask some guy to do that for you?"

"The reason why I stay so healthy is because I'm doing this thing, deary. Besides, this is the least I could do to repay back. I don't have any money." She replied back smiling as she continued her work. "Grab those seeds over there." She instructed as she pointed to a packet of seeds on a stump. Helga walked over to the stumped and picked it up.

"Pineapples, huh?" Helga said as she gave the packet of seeds to her.

"Yep. Everybody loves pineapples." She replied back, as she threw the seeds on the ground. After she took a breath, wiped the sweat beads on her forehead, and asked her, "So you're here to say goodbye? Go back home and embrace capitalistic society again?"

Helga chuckled disbelievingly, "Yeah… that's why I'm here." She then ran her hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck, "Mona… I thank you for everything, for talking to me when I first arrived here, for comforting me when I was in despair, and for… giving me strength to tell him… Aaaa-A-Ar…" she wanted to say his name, but she couldn't and she didn't know why. Her tongue became frozen again. It sounded like a capybara coughing a hairball whilst convulsing into involuntary spasm.

"Arnold?" Mona helped her. Helga nodded with a soft smile.

"Yeah, that's the guy."

"Good girl." She smiled back at her. "I wish you happy days in your future."

"Thank you." Helga nodded, "And uh… I want to make a promise to you." She said to her, which made Mona confused for a moment.

"And what is that?" she asked back, wanting to know about it.

"You know… I love this country, and I… feel like you're my grandma right now." She said as she grabbed on of Mona's hand, slowly caressing it gently. "That's why, someday, I will come back here to see you again. That's my promise to you."

Mona was absolutely touched and grateful, as she released the hoe from her hand and put it on her heart. "Oh child, please…" her eyes began to brim with tears as she shook her head in denial. "Please don't make promises that you will not keep."

"No Mona…" Helga shook her head, "I will keep this promise. And… here's my address, if you ever want to contact me." she showed her a piece of paper. It contained her street address, her phone number and her email as well. Mona rolled a tear down as she smiled at her, and finally she hugged her. Helga accepted the embrace and hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you, child. Thank you very much." She cried with tears of joy.

---

At the Green-Eyes' village, everybody was gathering at the village headman's house to say goodbye to the lucky kid who was about to embark a journey of a lifetime. Well-wishers waved , teased, congratulated, and kissed Marcelo as he walked out from the house with his bags accompanied by Arnold and his family.

"Don't forget to write!" a girl said, who was just as old as Helga and Arnold.

"Behave yourself okay?" an old lady shouted to him with a teasing tone, "Or Arnold will send you back!"

"Get me one of those Pony SlayStation that I've heard so much, all right?" one of Marcelo's friend said to him as he playfully shoved his head down. Then there was a playful scuffle and the fight was immediately broke up by the people around them.

The village headman's wife then gave him a kiss on both of his cheeks and said to him, "Make us proud, okay?"

"I will." Marcelo said softly, smiling. And then he hugged the old lady tightly. Helga then opened the door to the back seat for him, and he climbed in. She then closed the door, turned to Arnold and said to him, "Sure there's a lot fanfare going on here."

"Well, the villagers are a close-knit bunch." Arnold smiled at her back as he went into the jeep, as Helga followed suit behind him. But Arnold didn't budge from his seat and said to her, "What are you doing? I want the window seat. Get in from the other door."

"Well, tough luck, Football Head. I want the window seat. So shove off to the middle." She retorted back.

"No way." Arnold replied back, still not giving up his seat. "You go around and sit on that seat." He pointed to where Marcelo was sitting, on the opposite window seat.

"Hey, I want this seat!" Marcelo whined back angrily.

"Shove off." Helga said as he shoved Arnold irritably, getting tired of this shenanigan.

"You shove off." Arnold replied back angrily, as he shoved her back.

"The both of you are stupid." Marcelo said to them, as he shoved Arnold away from him.

"You shut up!" Helga and Arnold riposted back immaturely.

"Will you kids SHUT UP?" Miles snapped at all three of them angrily as he entered the vehicle. All three of them instantaneously went quiet as they looked at him in a stunned gaze.

It was now the time for a much needed help from Supermom, "Arnold: Middle. Helga: left side window seat. Marcelo: on the other." She ordered, pointing to the seat location that she just said as she glared at them. All three of them shuffled to their designated seats reluctantly, "One more word out from any one of you and nobody is going to the airport today. IS THAT CLEAR?" she yelled at them as she closed the car door behind her.

"Yes ma'am…" all three of them replied with a dull, dissatisfied tone.

But it wasn't over yet as neither the three of them were satisfied with their seats. "It's all your fault." Arnold whispered to Helga through his clenched teeth and moving lips. "And yours too."

Marcelo threw him a jab on the leg.

"No… your fault." Helga whispered back irately.

"I MEAN IT!" Stella yelled back as she banged the roof of the jeep. Then all of them smiled and waved at the waving crowd and left the village.

---

Once they arrived at Bolivar, San Lorenzo's capital, they could see crowds of people cheering and celebrating the capture of La Sombra at the main street. Military men marched proudly in the middle of the street as they waved, blew kisses and waved their weapons in the air to the people of San Lorenzo. Its citizens greeted their army with tears of joy, cheers, banners that said 'Congratulations' in Spanish, and the shouts of "¡Viva la Resistencia¡Viva la Revolución¡Viva la Papa Monzano!" Some girls couldn't help but to run to random soldiers and gave them kisses, which the soldiers accepted with no resistance at all.

And since the main street was the only access to San Lorenzo's airport, Miles had no choice but to drive through the huge crowd, asking the crowd to move away as he blew the horn repeatedly. Fortunately, they were cooperative as they gave way to the vehicle. As they moved along through the crowd, they could see Eduardo being hoisted up by a bunch of people as they hailed him as one of the people who brought La Sombra down. He waved and shook hands, continuously saying 'thank you' to the crowd for congratulating him. Miles winded the window down and shouted his name. Eduardo could hear his name being called in the midst of the shouts and hollers and looked to his left. He saw Miles in the jeep, giving him a thumbs up. He pointed at him as though he wanted to acknowledge him as well. Marcelo winded the window down, got out and waved at his hero.

"So mom, what's going to happen to La Sombra?" Arnold asked as he kept an eye on Marcelo's safety.

"Well, for starters, he's going to get prosecuted by his people for every single bad thing he has done to this country." She responded back as she waved to Eduardo.

"Happy days indeed." Helga said.

---

At the airport…

"Okay… I think that's the last of it." Arnold said as he loaded the last baggage onto a broken trolley. "C'mon Marcelo, you can ride on it."

"Cool!" he exclaimed happily as he jumped into the pile of bags. Arnold then pushed the cart as fast as he could around the airport, making silly engine noises. Helga, Miles and Stella smiled at their antics. Then, Miles and Stella gazed at each other deeply, and kissed.

"I'll see you in a week, okay?" Stella said to her husband upon releasing their kiss.

"Man, I'm gonna get so lonely…" he replied back, smiling. Arnold and Marcelo came back from their test drive and parked next to Helga. "C'mon, one more for daddy." Miles asked flirtingly to his wife as he caressed her soft, nice smelling hair. Stella complied as she smiled back at him, and they began to make out in front of the kids. Arnold almost wanted to puke and turned away from them, Helga had her eye twitched and Marcelo looked at them in awe as he said, "Cooooooool…"

"For God's sake mom and dad, there are children present… and you're in public for crying out loud!" Arnold said repulsively as he averted Marcelo's eyes away.

"But I wanna see!" Marcelo whined back.

"Not until you're older, kid." Helga said to him as she gave Arnold a hand to bring Marcelo far, far away.

---

Later that night, at the Sunset Arms boarding house…

Gerald drove his brother's blue colored car to the boarding house, where he could pick his best friend's grandparents up to the airport. The car was his responsibility now, as his brother was at an out-of-state college on the far side of the country. Jazz music by Harvey was playing softly on the audio system, as he drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the tune of the music while driving the car. He stopped the car in front of the boarding house, but didn't get out from it yet. He just gazed at the boarding house, laughing softly to himself. All those fond memories playing with his friend in the boarding suddenly came back into his mind. The stoop where they would always chillin', the living room where they would watch Pop Daddy together, and baking cookies at the kitchen… wow, so many fond memories, and he would love to relive it again.

Gerald then got out from the car and walked up to the door and rang the bell, twice. About minutes later, Ernie opened the door, and greeted him, "Hey Gerald man, what're ya doing here?"

"Hey Mr. P. Just here to pick up the honorable elderly VIPs." He replied back good-naturedly to him. "Hey man, that outfit is tight! Any special occasions, man?"

"Heheh, yeah…" He said back nervously, rubbing the back of his head, "Lola forgave me yesterday, and I wanna make it up to her."

"Good luck, man." Gerald replied, smiling to give him confidence.

"Thanks." Ernie nodded, "So uh… Grandpa and Grandma is at the kitchen…" he pointed to the back with his thumb, "you know the way, right?"

"Yeah. See ya later man." He then gave him a pat on the shoulder, and left to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen he saw Phil reading a newspaper with glasses while Gerthie was busy rummaging through the fridge. "Hi grandma and grandpa." He greeted them.

Grandpa lowered the paper to see who was at the door, "Well, lookie here." He said with a contented tone, "Young Gerald to pick us up to the airport. How ya doin' sonny?"

"Would you like some snacks before we leave, sweetie? We have apple pie." Grandma said to him sweetly.

"No thanks, grandma." He refused politely. "Grandpa… it's not that I'm rushing you or anything, but when are we going to airport?"

"What's a matter?" Grandpa smiled snidely at him, "Can't wait to get your hands on the Packard for a spin, huh?"

Gerald smiled broadly. It seemed he knew what was his intention was, "Well, if you prefer my car, I'll be glad—"

"On that deathtrap jalopy? Heck no! Over my dead body!" he replied back with a raised voice. "We're taking my car, by gum, and that's the only way if we want to go to the airport! You drive." He beamed at him.

Gerald was overly giddy right now to know that he could finally drive a classic car that he always wanted to drive. "Where are the keys, good sir?" he asked, as he motioned his fingers to ask for the key.

It's not over yet. :) Thank you for reading, and please leave a review. Oh, and Merry Christmas to all!