Author's Note: Final chapter, and thus the concluding chapter of this story. I finished writing this chapter some time last week before the New Year's but I decided to post it later because I want to build the tension up. :) I hope all of you readers out there enjoyed yet another product of insomnia from me, and hopefully this chapter will leave your hearts with satisfaction as every loose ends are tied up perfectly. I apologize if this chapter a tad long, but it is necessary since all the explanations are fully described in this chapter.

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 19: Home

Several years ago…

"Mommy and daddy will be back soon, okay?" Stella said as she gave Arnold kisses on both sides of his cheeks.

"You be a good boy to grandma and grandpa, okay Arnold?" Miles said to baby Arnold as he handed him over a small airplane toy and rubbed his head. Grandpa then hoisted him up and held him in his arms, as he, Arnold and Grandma looked at Miles and Stella in ease, yet unnerving gaze. Arnold at that time couldn't comprehend what was going on, but he understood that his parents had to leave him momentarily and he was positive that they would come back soon. He raised his hands, and waved at them.

"Bye mommy. Bye daddy."

Stella was nearing into tears, rethinking whether they should go for this mission. She wouldn't want to leave her son, and yet, she had a duty to perform to help the Green-Eyed people from the Sleeping Disease. Miles slowly brought his arm around her waist, and held her tightly. He brought his head closer next to Stella's ear and whispered, "We have to. I'm reluctant too, but we have to help them."

Stella closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. She nodded unwillingly, and slowly picked her luggage up. Before she closed the door behind her, she took one last look at Arnold and waved at him, who had a worrisome and hopeful look on his face.

"All set, man?" the cab driver asked Miles as he received a bag from Stella and put it into the trunk.

Miles nodded weakly, "Yeah. Don't take the 405, all right? It's gonna get crowded over there." He replied as he opened the passenger door for Stella. She went in and Miles followed behind her. The cab driver then ran to the driver's seat and drove away.

Stella and Miles remained silent in the few minutes into the journey, as both in their minds was extremely concerned about Arnold's wellbeing. Arnold was the only thing that was occupied in their minds right now and they felt guilty for leaving their only child behind. Stella slowly brought her arm around Miles, and hugged him tightly. Miles consoled his wife and slowly rubbed her back to calm her down. "My parents will take good care of him. Don't worry about it."

"I know your parents will do a great job but…" Stella replied weakly. "The situation in San Lorenzo is pretty bleak. What if we won't—"

"No!" Miles opposed. "We'll make it! We will leave before the conflict becomes hopeless."

"Hey man, I can't help but to hear," the cab driver asked as he took a sip from his hot coffee, "But are you guys saying you're going to San Lorenzo?"

"Yeah… is there a problem, man?" Miles asked back, slightly irritated.

"Hah!" he scoffed, "A problem? There's plenty of crap happening in that country, buddy. I gave this guy a lift just today, right? Don't know him, but he's a good kid nonetheless, saying that he's from San Lorenzo and all, and told me that there's this rumor about this Sober, Somber… Sombra guy or whatever his name is, is going to launch an attack on the capital. And the guy has what? A small army? Don't worry about it. I'm sure you guys will be perfectly fine there."

Miles and Stella gazed at each other worriedly. Obviously the cab driver wasn't informed about San Lorenzo as much as they were.

---

Stella woke up with her eyes widened in fear. She scanned around in the dimly-lit area, and was in relief that she was on the right flight en route to Hillwood, with her son, Marcelo and Helga. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes, in relief to know that she just had a nightmare again about leaving Arnold. Better that than to relive the ordeal again, she thought to herself, although she always hoped that it would stop someday. She looked outside of the window and saw clouds being brightened up by the moonlight and lights emitting from the city below. The monitor in front of her showed their flight's progress. It indicated that the flight they were on just entered the United States airspace from Mexico and they were now reaching Phoenix. She let out a sigh of relief. It was safe now.

Still, Stella felt uneasy about it. She wanted to check on the children, just to make sure they were safe. So she got up from her seat, walking past the San Lorenzonians doctors, and walked downstairs from the comforts of First Class to the Coach Section. Upon seeing them, she smiled softly to herself, seeing Arnold and Helga sleeping with their heads next to each other, while Marcelo had his head on the window with the in-flight remote control on his hands. The blanket that was covering the kids didn't reach all the way up, so Stella decided to give a hand. Before she left, she again smiled to herself and said to them, "Sleep tight."

Then the lights went on and the pilot made an announcement through the PA system, "Good evening ladies and gents, in a few hours we will be reaching our destination. Air traffic control in Phoenix says that traffic is kind of tolerable, but we gonna have to watch out for some turbulence ahead. So before we land, we would like to serve you dinner to freshen you up. So, you'll be hearing from me again later, okay folks? Enjoy your dinner."

"Mom?" Arnold slowly opened his eyes, "What are you doing here? First Class isn't enough for you or something?"

Stella rolled her eyes at Arnold's sarcasm. First thing he did after he woke up he made fun of his own mother. The boy deserved a smack at the back of his head.

---

"Attention all passengers: United Airways flight UT1984 from San Jose has just landed and is currently taxiing to Gate 21. Thank you." The announcement from the airport tannoy said, much to Grandpa, Grandma, and Gerald's relief that their family members and friend had finally arrived home safely. The flapping sound of the airplane schedule board above Gerald annoyed him. He never really liked that flapping noises when it shuffled its announcement around. "Good news, guys. Arnold's flight just arrived." Gerald informed the elderly couple behind him as they got off from the escalator from the parking lot.

"I can hear it loud and clear, Gerald. I may have poor eyesight, but at least my ears are working like clockwork." Grandpa replied as he tapped his ear repeatedly with his finger. "Isn't it right, Pookie?"

"Huh? What?"

Grandpa rolled his eyes, "Mine may be fine but not hers. Heheh." Grandpa replied back to Gerald with a slight snide tone. "Gerald, could you bring me to one of those bookstores for a moment?"

"Uh, Grandpa Phil, we don't have the time—"

"Nonsense! We have plenty of time!" he then grabbed Gerald by his hand and dragged him to the nearest bookshop.

---

"Come on, mommy, daddy! Helga's plane just landed!" Olga said as she stopped for a while to allow her parents to catch up with her.

"Man, we've made it just in time!" Bob said as he ran towards her daughter.

Miriam on the other hand was barely keeping up with them, "Wait up… you two!"

"Make haste, mommy! Helga is probably waiting for us right now!"

---

"—and if you are a foreign national, welcome to the United States and if you're an American citizen, welcome back home. We had a splendid time serving you throughout the flight, and we hoped that our services would be most excellent to you. Thank you for choosing United Airways. This is your captain speaking, thank you and good night." And that was the last announcement coming from the pilot. Arnold, Helga and Marcelo were ready with their luggage and went in line to exit out of the plane. As they waited for the line to move, Arnold and Helga gazed into each other with smile on their faces and felt like they should gave each other a kiss.

Helga made the first move first, as Arnold slowly followed suit. Their lips touched one another gently, softly and warmly. Their tongue slipped into each other's mouth in gentle tenderness as they hugged each other lovingly. The line began to move, but they still continued on with the affectionate display, like they did not want it to end, and would keep on going.

"Hey, buddy." A guy poked Arnold on the shoulder from behind, "It's great you're with your girlfriend and all, but you really should be moving." The sentiment was agreed with many other passengers behind them. But Arnold and Helga kept on kissing. "Hey, pal. Come on." the guy behind Arnold poked him again. Some of the passengers who got fed up from waiting for the line to move jumped to the moving one next to them. "Hey, move it, man!" the guy snapped angrily. Upon releasing their kiss, Both Arnold and Helga laughed softly, turned around, and apologized to them.

"Sorry fellas." Arnold said apologetically to them.

"Next time, get a room." Another guy said, and it was followed by weak laughter from some of them, though they were annoyed previously. After being waved goodbye by the smiling flight attendants, they walked along the walkway, until they saw Stella waiting for them at the end. Upon seeing his mother, Arnold said to her, "Sorry we're late. We got held back for a while back there."

"Oh, really?" Stella scoffed skeptically, with her arms crossed. "Because when I asked a lady who just got out of the plane, she said she saw some guy and his girlfriend and they couldn't get their hands off each other and blocking other people's way. I assume those people she mentioned wouldn't happen to be you two, would it?"

Helga and Arnold were caught red-handed. Still, they smiled at Stella and tried to deny it, "Nope. Not us."

"Yes you guys are. Arnold's been rubbing— ow!" someone stomped on Marcelo's leg.

"Quiet you little pipsqueak!" Helga whispered angrily whilst still retaining her smile.

Stella rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Ugh, it doesn't matter. Next time, pick someplace else without causing inconvenience to other people around you, okay?" she gave him a snide advice as she smiled at her son.

The airport tannoy jingled a happy tune, and there was an announcement, "Attention passengers Dr. Maria Rodríguez, Dr. Stella—" a trolley nearby them suddenly fell down to its side, making a loud crashing noise, "and Dr. José de la Santísima: you are required to go to gate 17 for immediate boarding as Flight 2002 to Geneva is on final call. Please reach to your designated gate immediately. Thank you."

"Well, that's my flight." Stella said, smiling.

"Wow, so soon?" Arnold asked back.

"Unfortunately, yeah." She replied back, sighing. "Arnold, after I'm done with my business in Geneva, I'll be heading back here for a while to stay for a couple of days before I leave for San Lorenzo."

Arnold's face brightened after he heard that, "Really?"

"Yeah… I rescheduled my flight yesterday so I could stay in town for a while, you know, to check on things. And uh… since it has been a while since the last time we celebrated Christmas here, your dad and I are making plans to celebrate Christmas at the boarding house this year. Hopefully we'll make it."

Arnold's smile broadened even further upon hearing that. "But wouldn't grandma celebrate something else during Christmas? Like, I don't know, Thanksgiving? It'll ruin the mood, you know." He replied back good-naturedly.

Stella smiled a bit, and replied, "Don't worry about it. Dad said she has been less loony and more sane ever since she received the news that we made it out of San Lorenzo alive." Then there was a slight pause. "Hmm… Thanksgiving is next month right? I could re-reschedule my flight to San Lorenzo again until after it. What is the date today, anyway?"

"October 5th." Helga replied, which made both Stella and Arnold's face white in terror.

"That's the day when I left you with grandma and grandpa…" Stella said sullenly, remembering the time when she and her husband left for San Lorenzo and left Arnold parentless for a very, very long time. Arnold shook his head weakly, and replied:

"Mom, you don't have to worry." He replied with a calm voice. "San Lorenzo is a better place now, and better still, La Sombra just got captured yesterday. The same thing won't happen again, I promise. Besides, you're going to Geneva, mom. As far as I know, a coup d'état—" he turned to Helga and smiled at her. She smiled back since she was the one who introduced to him that word in the first place. And Arnold turned back to his mother. "—in Switzerland is extremely unlikely."

"I know… but I'm worried Arnold." Her eyes began to mist, "What's going to happen to us if we got separated again?"

Arnold then gazed deeply into her eyes and said, "Mom, it won't happen. I promise."

"Oh…" Stella then wrapped her arms around Arnold and hugged him tightly. Without any hesitation, Arnold embraced her and hugged back. Stella then gave a kiss on his forehead and said, "I love you, Arnold."

"I love you too, mom." Arnold smiled back. Helga was smiling as she put her hands on Marcelo's shoulder and pulled him to her side while looking at the tender moment between a mother and her son. She couldn't help but to feel the warmth. If only her mother was just as responsible and good as Arnold's mom, she would be very happy.

Then they released each other's grasp and Stella headed towards Helga and gave a hug. Helga was a bit stunned, but soon she accepted it, and hugged her back. "Thank you so much for helping me at the sick camp Helga."

"It's no problem at all." Helga smiled back as she tightened her grasp around her. Arnold was glad to know that Stella liked her a lot as he smiled at them.

Again, the airport tannoy jingle, "Final boarding call for Dr. Stella—" someone accidentally slipped on the wet floor. "Please go to your designated gate immediately for boarding."

Then she came to Marcelo. She gave him kisses on both of his cheeks and hugged him tightly. "You take care yourself okay? Ask Arnold if you don't know what to do. And take care of him, all right? He may be an idiot," Arnold was offended a bit, but he smiled back, knowing it was common for his mother to make fun of him, to motivate him and all, "but he knows what he's doing... most of the time."

"Okay mom." Marcelo replied back, grinning broadly. After that, Stella took one last gaze at them, and left as she waved at them.

"Say hi to Grandma and Grandpa for me!" Stella said as she walked away to her gate.

"I will, mom!" Arnold waved back with Helga and Marcelo. After Stella went out of their view, they then headed to the baggage reclaiming area.

---

This was it. A few steps more Helga should be in view of her family. She was waiting for Arnold to come back from scouting the greeting area and to give her a report about her family. In her mind, she remained pessimistic. She wondered whether her family, especially Bob, was sincere about them being changed. The day when Bob assaulted his wife and threw verbal abuses at her still lingered in her mind. What if it was all a big lie? What if her family still remained the same? She now felt that coming back home wasn't a good idea in the first place. She'd rather stay in San Lorenzo with Arnold. As she waited forlornly on a bench, Arnold came into view and smiled upon seeing her. Her worries subsided a bit.

"I think you're gonna love what are you going to see." He said, beaming at her.

Helga came into her family's view. To her shock, she saw a huge banner that said, 'Welcome home, Helga!' being held by her father and sister. She was touched, and yet, a bit embarrassed by it. It was same thing that her parents would do if Olga just arrived home after a long flight from college.

"There she is!" Miriam shouted as she pointed at Helga upon seeing her walking out of a hallway. Her family quickly came running to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh… Helga honey… I miss you so much… don't you ever do that again, okay?" Miriam said with tears of happiness as she planted her with kisses many times on her cheeks. Arnold and Marcelo could only smile upon seeing that.

"Mom… I'm sorry I made you worry about me…" she said in a muffled voice due to being hugged by her family members. She was in tears now to know that her family members actually cared about her.

"It's okay… it's okay." Miriam slowly released her grasp from her and looked at her face-to-face, gazing at her with her misty eyes, "You do know you're gonna get grounded for running away, don't you young lady?" she said as she wiped a tear off from Helga's eye with her thumb.

They both laughed softly and Helga replied, "I know mom. I know." And she hugged her back.

Arnold saw his family and his best friend emerging from the crowd. He tapped Marcelo's shoulder and pointed it to his grandparents and his best friend. Grandma smiled upon seeing him and she quickly ran to Arnold and gave him a big hug. "It's great to see you again, Grandma." He greeted her happily.

"Oh… look at you…" she said after she gave him kisses on his cheeks. "Look at you grown! You're so handsome…" she said, as she gave him a grandmotherly caress on his cheek as Arnold smiled embarrassingly back. Grandpa and Gerald just stood still and smiled at them. Gerald turned to his left and saw Helga. He lifted his eyebrow in confusion, and looked back at Arnold. He looked at Helga again. Grandma then released Arnold from her hug to let her husband the opportunity to greet Arnold, as Marcelo shyly came over to her. Arnold stood in front of his grandpa, sizing each other up while smiling to one another.

"Looks like I can't call you Shortman now, can I Tallman?" he said, giving his grandson a smirk. "On account you're taller than me."

"Heh, you can call me whatever you like, grandpa." He said, beaming back at him. Then there was an uncomfortable silence as they still keep smiling to one another.

"What's a matter? Too big and hip to hug your own grandpa now?" he teased him, smiling. "Too old to hug your own gramps? Afraid it might cramp your style?"

"Oh, come on grandpa." He chuckled, "I'm not like that…"

Grandpa snickered softly, and gestured both of his hands to tell Arnold to come to him, "Come here." And they hugged each other, as Grandpa patted his back. "It's great to see you again, Shortman. I really miss you, Arnold."

"I miss you too, Grandpa." Arnold said as he tightened his hug. They then released one another, and looked at each other one last time before Arnold proceeded to Gerald and give Grandpa to introduce himself to Marcelo.

"And you must be Marcelo. Arnold told me a lot about you." He smiled at him. He then took out a small 'Simple Spanish Phrases' book that he just bought at the bookstore from his pocket, and flipped to a page where he had creased earlier to mark the page.

"Hoooo— laaaa…" he read it slowly, stuttering and brokenly. "Me nom…bre esssss Grandpa Phil…"

"Uh… Grandpa…" Arnold tried to stop him, but Grandpa kept on going.

"I can speak English sir." Marcelo beamed back.

"Oh…" he chuckled embarrassingly, and looked at the book. "Then I bought this book for nothing, then."

Arnold smiled at Gerald, but Gerald eyed him with a careful, distrustful look. Arnold raised an eyebrow in confusion at the expression.

Gerald shook his head, and said, "Why you slimy, double-crossing, no good swindler! You've got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled."

Arnold pointed to himself innocently and mouthed, "Me?"

Gerald moved threateningly towards Arnold. Suddenly, he threw his arms around his startled, long lost friend and embraced him, and laughed. "Al salaam a'alaykum, man! How you doing, you old pirate? So good to see you!" the two old friends embraced, laughing and chucking, and did their grade school handshake.

"God, why are we still doing this?" Arnold laughed disbelievingly.

"It's instincts man! It's hardwired into our minds! Besides, it's unique and quirky!" Gerald replied back laughing, also in disbelief. "What are you doing here, man?"

---

Her whole family then released their grasp from Helga. Olga offered to carry her bags, and she nodded. Helga then gave her sister what was left of the money she stole from her before she left for San Lorenzo, but Olga laughed back and decided to give all of the 245 dollars to her back. A new mp3 player suddenly popped into Helga's mind, but reminiscing back the days where she spent in San Lorenzo, she'd prefer to give it to charity instead. Bob was contemplating something as she gazed warmly at Helga talking to her mother. Then, he suddenly said, "Uh… Miriam?" he rubbed the back of head nervously, "C-Can I speak with Helga for a while?"

Helga looked at her mother with a tense, dreadful gaze. Her mother understood her though, since she too faced the same ordeal. But she assured that her father had changed and pleaded her to go to her father so he could tell his side of the story. Helga was very reluctant, but the assurance from her mother and her sister persuaded her into agreeing into talking with Bob. Under a watchful eye from Miriam and Olga, Helga trudged reluctantly to her father and he brought her to someplace not crowded while still in Miriam and Olga's view. Bob chose a seat partially secluded near some decorative trees and a television set that showed the news. They sat in front of each other. Helga averted her eyes from Bob as he gazed apologetically at her. Knowing this wouldn't grab her attention, Bob finally caved in and said, "Helga… I'm truly sorry about everything that I did to you."

Helga turned to her father skeptically.

"What I said about you when I acting like an idiot in front of your mother, it was out of rage and anger. I didn't mean it at all. I shouldn't have said it. It was unthinkable, and I felt like I was the stupidest person ever when I said that. I did, and still feel guilty about it. You're my daughter Helga, and I love you with all my heart. It's just—"

"You're a hothead." Helga interjected, scoffing at him.

"A hothead, a blowhard, and a fool." He replied back, admitting to his flaws. "But, in these past few days, I've learned a lot about you, your mom and Olga. I will try to be a good father, and husband to my family. I will change my attitude for the sake of my family. But first, I want to ask you to forgive me, Helga." he said as he grabbed her hands.

Helga widened her eyes, stunned. Bob continued, "Please… forgive me for all the things that I've done to you. I will try to be a better father."

Helga averted her eyes again, contemplating about the words that Bob just said to her. It sounded honest and sincere, but she doubted that her father would stay true to his words and actually do what he said to her. She gazed at him again. Bob was dreadfully waiting for her to answer back, as he gazed softly at her with an apologetic, guilty look.

"Look…" Helga answered softly, "I don't want you to try. I want you to do it. Words don't mean anything unless you take action and actually do it. I want to believe that you're going to change, but… as of right now, my heart is filled with great doubt about you."

Bob lowered his head in disappointment. "But…" Helga continued, "You've taken the first step by talking about this to me, and I do hope you will take the next. For now, I will forgive you. But it will take an insurmountable effort for you to win my heart back." Helga then slowly got up and walked away. But before she left Bob all alone to let him reflect on her words, she stopped at her tracks and turned around and said to him, "Win my trust and love, dad."

Bob was elated when Helga called her 'dad' instead of Bob. His eyes brimmed with tears and smiled at her happily. "Thank you, Helga…"

"Promise me that you'll change… please." Helga replied softly as she carved a small smile on her face. Miriam and Olga were touched, and they too were in tears that the two of them finally reconciled. Helga then walked up to Olga and Miriam whilst Bob headed to Arnold and his family and friend.

"Heads up." Gerald warned him when saw Bob walking towards them. Arnold turned around, and looked at him with a somewhat discontented look.

"Uh, Roland…"

"Close enough… at least it's not Alfred or some other dumb snotty name…" Arnold rolled his eyes, "it's Arnold, Mr. Pataki."

"Uh… Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I… just wanna say thanks to you and your family for taking care of her when she was in that country."

"Yeah, sure." Arnold nodded, somewhat surprised, "It's nothing."

"I heard she had a wonderful time there." Bob said.

Arnold smiled a bit, "Let's just say she made a journey of self-discovery while she was there."

"Come on, daddy!" Olga suddenly shouted, "We're going home now!"

"Well, that's my cue." He said, pointing to the back with his thumb, "So… I'll be seeing ya." He offered his hand to shake with him.

Arnold nodded and accepted the offer, "Yeah… we'll be seeing plenty." He smiled at him. Bob then walked over to her family as they already on their way to the parking lot. Arnold could saw Helga smiling broadly at him while waving at him with her fingers and gave him a wink. Arnold smiled back broadly and he too, gave her a wave. Gerald was in a state of confusion with one of his eyebrows lowered and clenching his teeth when he saw the somewhat affectionate gesture between Arnold and Helga.

"What was that?" Gerald asked quizzically.

"I'll tell you on the way." He then turned to grandma and grandpa, getting acquainted with Marcelo, "Grandma, Grandpa, let's go home."

"And what's wrong with your nose?" Gerald asked again, noticing the bandage on Arnold's nose where Helga punched him yesterday.

"I repeat: I'll tell you on the way." Arnold replied back, slightly embarrassed.

---

"Oh, man… this is nice man. Paved roads at last." Arnold said, relaxing as he put both of his arms behind his head as he pushed his body all the way back to the seat. "It's nice to have to have a smooth journey home after all these years."

"Why, they don't have roads in San Lorenzo or something?"

"Gerald man, they only have dirt roads. It's rocky, muddy when it's pouring rain, and dangerous at that."

"Man…" Gerald shook his head, smiling, "And you love living in that place."

Arnold could only chuckle back softly. "So, happy now you've finally got the opportunity to drive my grandpa's car?" he asked.

"Yeah man." Gerald chuckled proudly, "She's everything that I thought she would be. It's an honor to drive this epitome of class. So, tell me man. Why did you suddenly want to go back home? Are the Caribbean girls ignoring you? Lila maybe?" Gerald said jokingly as he drove through Route 405, arguably the quickest way to the boarding house.

Arnold raised an eyebrow, "What the heck? Lila? The 'ever so' prude, religious chick Lila?" he shook his head, smiling, "What's gone into you, dude? I was over with her when we were in grade school, for God's sake!"

"Heheh, just messing with ya. 'Sides, she's with Stinky right now." He chuckled, "So what up? What brings you here to the ol' neighborhood?"

Arnold chuckle a bit as he lifted his leg up onto the seat, "Heh, I have a lot of reasons. But mostly, it's because of him." He motioned his head to the backseat, where Grandma and Grandpa were getting acquainted with Marcelo, asking a lot of stuff to him.

"Oh yeah. The family resemblance is so obvious." He said again jokingly. "He looks like one of those Green-Eyed people you mentioned so much. Is he one of them?"

Arnold smiled at his response, "Heh, yeah, he's an Isayan. We called them The Green-Eyed people informally. He's an orphan... like me several years ago. My family promised his grandmother to bring him to this country if she… well, pass away."

Gerald raised his eyebrow in shock, "Are you saying his grandma just died?"

Arnold nodded weakly.

"Poor kid." Gerald shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah… that's why I'm here man, to take care of him like a big brother. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah… but big brothers can be such a pain in the neck, man." Gerald said good-naturedly. "So… what up with the 'don't tell anyone I'm coming home' bit? You wanna make a hot entrance, doncha? You dog you."

"May be." Arnold replied with a snide smile. "What are you guys doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, I guess." Gerald shrugged.

"Heh, this could be fun. Call them up and tell them to meet at Slausen's. That place is still in business, right?"

"Yup." Gerald nodded. "Slausen's, huh? Couldn't there be a better place than that?" he asked again.

"Hey, how should I know there's a better place than Slausen's. That's the only place that still survives from my childhood memories, man. And that's the place where I would make my entrance. Everyone would be like: Whoa my God! It's YOU!" he said enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah, they would be thrilled!"

"Still, I'm kind of worry about Helga though. I should ask her whether she want to come tomorrow." Arnold said, "If she won't, maybe I should postpone it to another day or something."

"Hmm… speaking of Helga, it must be a pain having her staying in your place for the whole week."

Arnold raised an eyebrow in shock, and calmly, he replied, "No man, she was totally cool during her stay there. I really enjoyed having her as a guest."

Gerald gave him a quick quizzical glance, "Are you feeling all right man? Or living in the jungle really has taken a toll on your health? We're talking about Helga here. She must've given you a hard time there."

"Yeah, I know we're talking about Helga, Gerald." Arnold replied back, "But no, she's not a pain, she's amazing! She's a wonderful person! She helped my mom with the patients, generally being nice and fun to be with… I really don't see why people hate her."

Gerald was still in a state of disbelief, "Are you sure we're talking about Helga G. Pataki here?"

"Yes!" Arnold snapped, "She's nothing like in the emails that I received from some of the guys. I mean, you're in the same school with her right? So tell me, is she just as terrible as they thought she was? Because when she was in San Lorenzo, she's a totally different person, man!"

"Hey, just chill a'ight?" Gerald tried to calm him down, "I'm just saying. Why are you being so defensive about her?"

"Because Helga is Arnold's girlfriend now." Marcelo interjected suddenly.

"WHAT?" Gerald screamed. "You have got to be joking, man! You two?"

"Yeah. Something wrong with it?" he asked demandingly, slightly angered.

"No…" Gerald replied back in great doubt. "You and her…? Man, never thought I'd see the day…"

"Well… you'll have to get used to it sooner or later." Arnold replied, smiling.

"You're a bold kid, Arnold. A bold kid." Gerald replied back, also smiling. And so Gerald exited the highway through an onramp and got back into the streets. Arnold admired the old neighborhood, as it was just almost as same as the day he left this beloved place. Businesses come and go, but buildings still remained the same. It retained the grimy old look that was so familiar to him. He could hear the loud rattle of an elevated subway train above them that he missed so much. The overpass above the buildings was still as busy as ever. And to Arnold's surprise, Mr. Green's Butcher Shop had been renamed to Green-Berman Butcher Shop and Mrs. Vitello's shop had a new, more attractive looking sign in front of the shop.

"Man, so little has changed…" Arnold said softly.

"Still the same neighborhood we all love so much…" Gerald replied back, smiling softly as he pulled the car into the driveway.

---

The Patakis was still on their way home, but throughout the journey, they talked casually amongst each other with keen enthusiasm. Every family member in the car felt this was the most peaceful moment in their life, because usually they would start bickering with one another if they were together. As the car went its way through the empty road, Helga saw Phoebe's house in the distance, and remembered the time when she sought shelter there, she turned down Phoebe's sincere hospitality and unexpectedly attacked her, straining their friendship. The guilt was still evident in Helga's mind, and she wanted to apologize to her best friend for all the trouble she caused.

"Dad?"

"Yes Helga?"

"Could you please stop in front of that blue house at the corner of the street for a while?"

Bob nodded, as he would do anything to win her trust. "Sure."

The doorbell rang again, at the precise moment where her favorite show was about to start. Phoebe groaned in annoyance, got up and headed to the front door. Hopefully whoever this person was, the acquaintance would be brief. To her surprise, Helga was at the front door. "Helga? What are you—"

Helga immediately embraced her and said to her in a broken, sobbing voice, "I'm so sorry Phoebe. I'm so sorry…"

Phoebe was absolutely stunned to see Helga was back home, in accompany with her loving family who looked at them with a pleased smile, and the touching display she gave to her. Slowly, Phoebe brought her arms around her, and embraced her best friend back. "It's okay Helga… It's okay. Congratulations for getting your family together again…"

THE END

IT'S OVER! Ahh, finally. But first, let me make a self-review of myself. Let's be honest, I think there's no denying the fact that I absolutely suck at romance fics, but I can manage action/drama/comedy. It's like putting Jerry Bruckheimer into making a romance movie (And we all know how bad Pearl Harbor turned out). But then, you would ask me why I put romance in the genre display. I don't know, probably it was for advertising purposes I guess:) since I emphasized drama more in this story. I don't intend this story is about Arnold and Helga myself (because we all know how it's going to end), because to be perfectly 'ever so' honest, I want to tell a story about San Lorenzo and The Green-Eyed people since little is explained about them in the show. That's why I went through the trouble of creating the background story of them to make San Lorenzo as a believable as possible and for us to symphatize with the Green-Eyed people. Further elaboration will be explained, but as of now, this is the end of the story. I'd like to thank you all for reading, and please leave a review. It has been a pleasure.