When Realities Collide Chapter 15: All Comes Down To This, a hey arnold fanfic

(Original Authors Notes)

Well, the time from my last update of this story is not something I'd like to retell. The laptop this story, and many other fics were on, went ka-boom. In other words, the hard drive broke down and I lost all files that were not backed up. I did not lose this fic, but in a way I did – as the last saved file I had of it was on floppy disk and it was last modified February 2005…and my hard drive died March 29th. It sucks because I lost A LOT of little revisions and shit. Damn, I am PISSED!

Moreover, I can see that times have changed since I first posted this fanfic in March 2004. Interest in Hey Arnold! has started to dwindle down, and the new stories are becoming less and less. It used to be many new fics/updates every day, and now it's like a new and/or updated story every two or three days! It's plain to see that with only three/four reviews on my last chapter, (at the CLIMAX of my story, none the less) compared to the previous 10 reviews a chapter I had going, that people are losing the fascination they once had with the show and it's characters. My dream of 100 reviews on this story I thought would be applicable early on. But now the reviewer's numbers have gone down as well. I probably won't even make 80 under these conditions.

Not even the regulars like Jae and Will, to name a small fraction, aren't coming in anymore to review or to post or update a fic. I can't believe it's been a year since "What Is And What Should Never Be" has been updated! What's going to happen to "Blue Oceans"! I know we are all growing up here and busy with our own lives, and I too have lost some attention with the series. It sucks because I had so many more ideas to write about. But if no HA! fans are left out there, what's the point of writing? I had a current fic I started in 2003, when fandom was still very rapid, and it's still not ready to go since I haven't gotten a reply back from MDT – the original editor of that fic. I bet if I post it now I won't even get half of the reviews I would have gotten if I had I posted mid 2004.

Nonetheless, here is chapter 15. It may lack in wording since it's not the newest version, and I really don't have the time to re-fix everything I modified before my laptop fizzled out. I'd like to put this fic to rest. Who knows, I may re-post the whole damn thing later on and clean it up nicely since I am such an overbearing perfectionist.

I just realized…the perfect song for this part of the story is "The Promise" by When In Rome from 1987. If you haven't heard it, download it. If you can't, ask and I'll e-mail it to ya.

PS – If you like Disney productions like Goof Troop or A Goofy Movie, please check out my newest story!

(New Authors Notes)

It seems everything happened for a reason. Yes, I lost some story revisions for the last two chapters of this fic, but in turn it made me really look back at the whole story and fix things I may have not caught if the chapters had never been lost in the first place. (Special thanks to Fey Phantom who read the whole story over for me and caught a lot of errors I still would have missed.) Moreover, my laptop dying was the final kick in the ass I needed to buy my own computer, which I finally got running in August 2005. Since then I have been working like a dog tying up loose ends left by the laptop's death, among other projects I can finally tackle with a computer of my own. I'm currently working on a website for the popular Belgian comic/cartoon Kid Paddle that I hope to have online by the end of March 2006.

You can tell most of these authors notes are dated, but there is still some fact left to them. The Hey Arnold! online community has pretty much dried up as of 2005/06, as fans are moving on to other current and popular animated programs and/or growing out of animation all together. That other fanfiction I mentioned above has now been posted as "The Masterplan" which you can get to through my profile page. As for the other writers mentioned here, Will has fallen off the face of the earth in pertaining to HA! fandom and fanfics. As for Jae of "Blue Oceans" fame, thankfully that fic is still being updated! To anyone else who has left a great Hey Arnold! story unfinished – finish it and put weary fans, and your own creation, to rest!

I decided to add the lyrics to the song I mentioned above. It enhances the atmospheric nature of the chapter.

o----o

"Helga!" I said quietly. I was shocked. Here she was at the foot of Arnold's door, ready to lay her cards on the table. I couldn't believe she mustered the guts to come. She slowly made her way past me and into the room. Arnold was still sitting on his bed, and as soon as he saw her walk in he iced up so tightly – it looked as if he was dipped in starch. Helga slowly walked over to him, sheepishly rubbing her arm behind her neck (You know, like they both do at the end of the movie). Arnold snapped out of his disbelief and slowly stood up.

So there they were. Staring at each other, eye-to-eye and face-to-face. I was by the computer sitting backwards on the chair. I was biting my lip hard, almost hiding behind the chair's back. My eyes were aching because I didn't want to blink. My hands were almost shaking from what I was looking at. There was a long silence, and you could hear both of their hearts pounding so hard you'd think someone was playing music outside somewhere with the bass turned up. They both wanted to say something, they both wanted to clear the air…but they both seemed to be frozen. Paralysed by their own feelings for one another. Finally after what seemed to be forever, Helga started to speak. You'd think someone was holding a missile to her forehead, the trembling in her voice was so great it made her look like she was going to fall to pieces on the floor.

"A-A…Arnold." You could tell she just wanted to wrap her arms around her love once again.

"H-Helga." Arnold replied. Both of them just couldn't find the words.

"Arnold…we….we have to talk about…it. We just can't keep pushing this aside."

"I know Helga, I know."

"So…how do you feel…about me?"

Arnold practically threw his arms in the air, almost angry at the whole frustrating situation. "I don't know Helga! I mean, you, Helga Pataki, after all these years, after all the torments and spitballs, all the 'football head' this and 'geekbait' that, you suddenly come out and say you love me? Love! Talk about something totally out of left field!"

Helga turned her back to him, on the verge on tears. "Arnold, you don't understand! You…can't possibly understand what I went through. All these years, always so close and yet so far. You don't know how long I wanted to say that to you, Arnold. You don't know what you mean to me." She then turned to him, nervously fooling around with her hands. "Arnold, I know I'm not the most popular…or most appealing person in the world. I may be pushy and domineering most of the time; but I try so hard to be a better person Arnold, just so you would notice me…and maybe possibly like me." She paused, searching for vocabulary. "I don't know what I am trying to say here. I want you to have the same feelings for me, I want you to want me…" she turned around again, "but it seems like…that will never be. A fiend like me with a prince like you; I should have given up my ridiculous obsession years ago." she sobbed.

Arnold, swallowing the growing lump in his throat, walked over to Helga and gently put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Helga, I…I didn't know. But Helga, I noticed you already; you didn't need to try to become another person just to please me. I know you may be a little rough around the edges sometimes…but I know there is more to you then that…"

Helga turned to Arnold.

"Maybe…maybe I always tried to deny the fact that there was something there. All the things we've been through over the years – the biosquare, the school plays, summer vacation…the more time I spent with you, the more I began to like being with you, because I like everything about you. Maybe I was afraid of what you would think if I said I…liked you."

A small smile grew on Helga's face.

"I see the good in you Helga, and I wanted to bring that trait out more often. I wanted to get to know Helga the person, not Helga the persecutor. But it seemed every time I tried to break your wall of defence, every time I thought I saw that Helga I wanted to see – you would react with some cruel gesture or comment, diminishing any hope of me getting to know the real you." he paused, "But with what happened that day at FTI…I was literally blown away…well, my hat was anyway," he joked. "I still toss the word around in my brain, 'love'…"

"That's right Arnold…love." she confirmed.

"Helga…I don't know if I love you…but I do know I have feelings for you. I want to know more about you, I want to spend more time with you. I like you Helga, a lot…but…"

"You wanna wait a while, don't you?"

"Helga, I think you would agree with me that nine or ten years of age is pretty young to be getting involved in a relationship where…love is developing. I think we need to wait. Until we've matured, until we're grown more…until were out of the childish taunts and teases of the fourth grade.

Helga was a little taken back from this comment, thinking that Arnold was ashamed of their friendship and wanted to keep it a secret…but she knew he was right. She could hear the whispers in the hall, the scoffs and name-calling. "So we wait. What do we do now?"

"Don't worry about it, let's just take it one day at a time, okay?" he said moving closer to her.

"I'm glad we cleared the air, Arnold. Promise to come back to me?"

"Promise." he said.

They both moved in closer to each other, both sort of confused in what do to. Helga leaned in for a hug, Arnold set out a handshake. Helga then set her hand to shake, and then to my astonishment, Arnold leaned in and kissed Helga – on the lips no less! After they parted, a relieved Arnold and slightly stunned Helga hugged. What a hug, I never had seen two people hanging onto each other so tightly. I couldn't control my emotions any longer; I was slightly sobbing now, small tears running down my cheeks.

"Oh you guys," I sniffed, "…that was so beautiful! That's Oscar winning material right there! Please, someone get me a tissue."

Arnold quickly handed me a box, and I let out a loud (Insert blowing nose sound effect here as I couldn't come up with anything!).

Arnold and Helga walked towards the door.

"Thanks Stephen, for everything." Arnold said. "I mean, if it wasn't for you, I might have never uncovered and noticed my true feelings for Helga."

"And all this time I thought you had it in for me Steve, and you were just trying to help." Helga added.

"Well guys, I guess it was my quest. That's why I was sent here. To right a huge wrong in this colourful and quickly two-dimensional world."

Helga whispered to Arnold, "What the heck is he talking about?"

"I'll tell ya later. It's a long story."

o----o

If you need a friend
don't look to a stranger
You know in the end
I'll always be there

And when you're in doubt
and when you're in danger
Take a look all around
and I'll be there

I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say (I promise)
I know they don't sound the way I plan them to be (I promise)
But if you'll wait around a while, I'll make you fall for me
I promise, I promise you I will

When your day is through
and so is your temper
You know what to do
I'm gonna always be there

Sometimes if I shout
it's not what's intended
These words just come out
with no gripe to bear

I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say (I promise)
I know they don't sound the way I plan them to be (I promise)
And if I had to walk the world, and make you fall for me
I promise you, I promise you I will

I gotta tell ya, need to tell ya, gotta tell ya, I've gotta tell yaaaa...

I'm sorry, but I'm just thinking of the right words to say (I promise)
I know they don't sound the way I plan them to be (I promise)
And if I had to walk the world, and make you fall for me,
I promise you, I promise you I will...

I will...

I will