Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold or any of the characters. Hey Arnold is the property of Nickelodeon and Craig Bartlett.
A Trip Through Time
Chapter 28: Phoebe's Theory
Previously
"Don't worry, Logan and Lisa know how to keep a secret..."Future Helga said reassuringly.
"You...actually seem like you like them?..."Young Helga said.
"Of course..."Future Helga said, as she leaned closer.
"I know things with Olga are still tough at your age but Logan and Lisa are their own people..."She said wisely.
"Besides, they might be Olga's kids but they are still my family..."She said.
That surprised Young Helga but before she could ask for more details, Future Phoebe got everyone's attention.
"I do believe that we have an important manner of time travel to get back to..."Future Phoebe said.
"You're right, Pheebs..."Future Helga said, using the favorite nickname.
They had to stop stalling and talk about this.
Back in the living room
With the twins gone, the remaining party was now in the living room, with Future Phoebe now standing in front of a blackboard that she had rolled out and wrote some things down.
"Okay... now, you all came here from that time portal, which flung you 25 years into the Future...our present..."Future Phoebe said.
"Doi, so far..."Young Helga said.
"As incredible as time travel is, what is most puzzling to all of us is that neither me, my Gerald, Arnold and Helga can remember going to the future and meeting our future children..."Future Phoebe said.
"And believe me, I know that I would not forget something like that..."Future Helga said.
"It is very confusing..."Future Arnold said and his younger self nodded.
"Well, I do believe that I have a theory...two, actually..."Future Phoebe said as she continued to write down on the black board.
"Theory number one is that some down the road, we do succeed in getting you back to your own time but you guys just forget about this entire adventure..."Future Phoebe said.
The younger time travelers heard this and were surprised. Young Arnold, being bold, raised his hand to ask his question.
"Yes, Arnold?..."Future Phoebe said.
"You said that is one theory, what is the other?..."He asked.
The others wanted to know too.
"My other theory is more complicate and I still need to study on it more...I will have to get back to you all..."She said.
"Really?..."Young Helga asked with a raised brow.
If Phoebe is unsure of something, especially science stuff, than she gets worried.
"This is a very complicated matter and this is going to require further investigating, especially if we are going to send you all back..."Adult Phoebe said.
"You really think that you can figure this whole thing out?..."Young Arnold asked.
"Well, I am the head scientist of the lab where I work, as well as an aspiring inventor in my own time...plus I have studied on the topic of time travel for fun in the past...I think I can figure something out..."The older Phoebe said.
What she said perked the interest of the time travelling children...
"Head scientist, huh? Why am I not surprise?..."Young Helga said as she playfully ribbed her best friend, who blushed a bit.
"Well... it's good to know that in this future I have a career I can live with..." Phoebe responded, actually happy.
Don't get her wrong, she was already happy with the thought of marrying Gerald and having a child like Kiara but a job like this was something she could enjoy.
"And what about me?.."Gerald asked, figuring that it couldn't hurt.
"Fuzzy Slippers started his own company called FS co..I work in the research department..."Future Gerald said and his younger self's grin widen.
"Geraldo as a business man...as in a suit and tie and all of that?..."Young Helga questioned and the older one nodded.
"Alright! I always wanted to do something like that..."Gerald said, thrilled.
Okay, now even Arnold was getting interested in this.
"And me?..."Arnold asked.
"Well, since it won't do any harm, I guess I can tell you...I work as an anthropologist at Hillwood University..."Future Arnold said.
"Anthropologist? You mean...like...'Arnold paused and his Future Self nodded.
"He's one of the most distinguished professors there..."Future Helga said, sounding proud, while her husband smiled.
"What about me, what do I do as a grown-up?..."Young Helga said, excited.
She has already achieved her number one goal of marrying Arnold and having a family with him. Now she was curious as how many of her other goals she has accomplished.
"I am a romance novelist, already on my tenth book..."Adult Helga said proudly.
The younger group of kids, except Phoebe, looked surprised.
"Helga...becomes a ROMANCE novelist..." a stupefied Gerald said pointing to the younger Helga.
Arnold elbowed Gerald in the ribs in response.
"Gerald, that's not nice..." Arnold whispered to his best friend
"But Arnold it's HELGA Miss punch you as soon as look at you writing romance..."Gerald said, only to see how annoyed the younger and much less friendly Helga was getting.
"Keep talking hairboy and I'll make Phoebe a widow before she walks down the aisle..." Helga as she raised her fist.
"I'll be good..."He squeaked.
"Young dad, why did you say something like that about auntie?..."Kiara asked, not liking the insult.
"Why were you saying mean things about my mommy? ..."Little Megan asked, not liking this.
And neither did Andy apparently by the look he was sending.
"I would like the point out that I am not the one with a fist raised..."Young Gerald pointed out.
"Yeah, but what you said wasn't very nice..."Andy said, making it obvious he is on Helga's side.
Seems he has some shades of being a Mama's Boy...
Gerald realized this and sighed.
"Sorry..."He grumbled, hating this, especially when Helga had that smug smile
It went away when Phoebe said this.
"Actually, as for Helga's future career choice...I always figured..." Phoebe said.
"NO!..." Helga shouted while blushing hard.
"Th-there's no way! I couldn't make such sappy stuff!..."She said, trying hard not to look at her friends, at Arnold specifically.
"It's true, younger me..." Adult Helga said with a smile. "You know as well as I do you have the talent and skill..."She teased and the young girl actually looked mad now.
"Well, she has always had a talent with writing, even at a young age..."Adult Arnold praised.
Young Helga heard this and gasped when she just processed what he had just said.
The Arnold in her period has no idea that she writes...much less what it is about...but the future one implies that he does know..which mean..
"W-Wait...are...are you saying that he...he knows that I-..."Young Helga couldn't even finish her sentence.
Her older self just smiled and nodded.
"Of course...after all, I wouldn't keep secrets from my husband..."She said as they held hands, which caused their younger selves to blush deeper.
At least until the younger version of Arnold heard what she just said.
"Secrets?What secrets?..."Young Arnold asked, confused and Helga then blushed even more.
Adult Helga laughed while her younger self turned red.
"As funny as it would be to tell you, I can't...you will just have to wait..." She said.
Helga let out a breath in relief, before realizing something.
"What do you mean you can't?..."She asked.
"What Adult Helga is trying to say is that knowing too much about your futures while you may not remember consciously...you might remember subconsciously... Adult Phoebe said
"And if by some chance, you do remember consciously...well...There are somethings we still can't risk..." Adult Arnold spoke
"Example...you guys can't memorize the results of the next 25 World Series and Superbowls for gambling purposes, or future lottery winnings, since not only would that be unethical, but that kind of information can have a drastic effect on the future and for the worse..."Adult Arnold said.
"I don't think any of us were thinking that... Right, guys?" Arnold asked.
Everyone else from his time just gave somewhat half-hearted agreements, hinting they did consider the notion.
"But even if we just remember subconsciously and should we learn something about our future lives we don't necessarily agree with as children..." Young Phoebe deduced
"Than you may attempt to change it...well deduced as expected from myself..."Future Phoebe praised before she and her younger self continue to discuss, obviously happy to speak to someone who literally has the same point of view as them.
Younger Arnold, Helga, Gerald...heck even their older counterparts looked confused as the two Phoebe's discussed time travels and the possible effects on the developing brain.
Gerald looked over to Helga...
"Should we stop them?..."He questioned.
Both Helgas Pataki and Shortman waved off Geralds concerns
"Meh, they'll come up for air in a minute..."The younger one said.
Young Arnold was thinking before he snapped his fingers.
"I think I get it..." He said and everyone looked to Arnold.
"What do you mean, young dad?..."Andy asked.
"It's like that old movie we saw in class, Back to the future...only instead of messing up our parents meeting...we just have to make sure the timeline stays the same so our future kids... Arnold paused as he realized too late the direction of this conversation and he was now blushing hard.
So is the young Helga
"Still end up born..." Arnold got out after getting his fire engine red blush under control
"I get it while the Phoebes figure out how to get us home, we lay low and not ask any more about our futures..."He said.
"I see..."Adult Helga shrugged kissing her husband
"Way to go, Arnold...figuring out how to explain the situation to our friends without giving them a headache trying to understand Phoebe science Mumbo jumbo..."Adult Helga said happily, while her husband looked confused.
"But I didn't...the younger me did..." Adult Arnold pointed out but both Helga's rolled their eyes.
"Hello! Earth to Football head Sr! He is you..."The younger Helga said pointing at younger Arnold.
His wife or his wife as a kid had a point he did figure it out or rather he as a child figured it out which means he figured it out in the past though it was the present
Adult Arnold grabbed his head, getting a headache.
"Time travel is so confusing..."He muttered, rubbing his temples.
'You can say that again..."His younger self said, doing the same thing.
A little later
They all talked a little more, on what is allowed to be known and what not. Since they have already been exposed to the children and how they all turn out as adults and nothing happen, things seem okay but they decided to keep a few more things as taboo to know.
"Well, even though you found out the future, just to be safe..some of the more crucial information regarding how we got here should probably remain safe...but asking about jobs shouldn't be too bad, since you guys already saw the kids..."Adult Arnold said before leaning down and whispering to his younger self.
"Besides, some things will be more satisfying when they happen at their own pace..."He said as he then looked to his wife, who smiled.
Young Arnold saw this and blushed deeply. He has accepted that he and Helga were going to be married, at least in this future but he still has so many questions. Before he could say anything, Andy, who was more interested in what the adult Phoebe just said, began to ask her more.
"Aunt Phoebe, I was thinking... what about people from the future going back in time?..."He asked.
"Well, as long as you didn't make major changes, we should be fine..." Adult Phoebe said.
"That reminds me...Andy, as shocking as this whole thing is, there is something I am very confused about...'Future Helga said, while her younger self just stared in disbelief.
"I'm actually a better mom than MY mom..."She thought, still amazed and actually relieved here.
"About what, mom?...'Andy asked, thinking this whole thing in a confusing situation.
"You said you and Kiara went to go see the time portal, right?...'Future Helga asked.
"Yeah...'Andy said slowly, only to flinch when his mother now sported a glare in her eyes.
"Exactly when and where did that happen?...'Future Helga asked and his dad looked like he was expecting an answer as well.
"I...me and Kiara sort of went to the forest...due to having heard the legend last Saturday...just to see if it was real or not...'Andy said, looking down to his feet.
"Saturday?...When I left you with Gerald to babysit you..."Future Helga said as her glare turned to the tall haired man.
"Hey, I didn't know they were going there! They told me that they were going to go see a movie!..."Future Gerald said in his defense
"It wasn't his fault mom...I... did sort of leave out the fact that we were going to go see the Time Portal..."Andy confessed
"Leaving something out is still as bad as lying, especially with what you were doing..." Future Arnold scolded.
"Dad..."Andy said, looking down.
"I'm sorry..." Andy said with his hands behind his back and head down. "It's just... I really wanted to see what it was like when you and Dad were my age..."He admitted.
Young Helga and Arnold saw that their future selves and Andy and before Arnold could say something, Young Helga beat him to it.
"Oh, give him a break! So he went to go see the time portal, big deal! So did we..."Young Helga said as she pointed to herself and to the others.
Her future self was stunned at this and her husband realized her point.
Young Arnold saw her defend Andy and smiled. He nodded.
"She's telling the truth...Andy was just curious and so were we..."He admitted.
"Besides, it was a blessing in the end...Andy did so much to help us out when we got here, we would have been totally lost without him..."Young Arnold praised, causing his future son to smile at that.
"He did?..."Future Helga asked.
"He and Kiara, you mean..."Young Gerald said, reminding them of Kiara's contribution.
"Well, of course...you are our parents...'She said.
"And even if you weren't...well...I couldn't just leave you all like that..."Andy said sheepishly.
"Yeah, I totally see him as your son, Arnold..."Young Helga said in an almost affectionate kind of way.
"What about me?..."Megan said, reminding them of her presence.
Young Helga saw her and she suddenly realized that they had been praising her big brother...and she suddenly remembered how she felt whenever her own parents praised Olga.
"You were pretty tough when we were dealing with Sheck...and I especially like how you kicked that goon in the shin..."Young Helga complimented and little Megan smiled.
"Yeah, you were really brave, just like your brother..."Arnold said, realizing what Helga was doing and approving of it.
Their future selves saw this and smiled.
"Yeah, they are brave..."Future Helga smiled softly.
"You know what they say...the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree..."Phil said as he appeared from the other room, having kept the new boarders away while they had this meeting.
Until a thought came to her...
"Apple...tree...forest...time portal...Andy in trouble..."She thought as she suddenly went back to stern mode.
"I still would like to know more about the time portal...where did you even learn about that story, anyway?.."Future Helga asked.
"Probably from the same place we heard it..."Young Helga said as she gestured to Phil.
"Oh, grandpa...please tell me you didn't do this..."Future Arnold groaned.
"Alright...I won't..."Phil said, while his granddaughter-in-law no longer looked stern.
She looked angry and the younger time travelers then saw more of a resemblance between the two Helga's now.
"Oh, those darn stories...Andy, you know they always give you bad ideas...and us too in hindsight...'Future Helga said in exasperation.
"I'm really sorry..." Andy said.
She walked up to the future Phil . Despite being old back then, they have managed to outrun death...but maybe not for long...
Helga walked over to the now-even-more-elderly man as she pointed sternly at him.
"I believe this is your fault..." Helga said with calm rage. "You're the reason our past selves are stuck in this future!? Why did you tell Arnold about the time portal? In fact, why did you tell Andy about the portal? Do you have any idea how utterly dangerous and irresponsible that was?.."She ranted but remained much calmer than her younger self would have.
Calmer but still somehow even scarier.
"Shesh...I make one scary mom..."Young Helga thought...
"How was I supposed to know he'd go looking for it? I didn't even think it was real. Though Arnold is a bit of an explorer. I guess Andy gets that from him as well..."Grandpa Phil shrugged.
Before Helga could rage any further Grandma Gertie cut in.
"If you're so angry, then why did your younger self follow Arnold? You could've walked away, but you're here now. Both of you..."She pointed out, making sense for once
"Hey, I just went with them to prove to the old football head that he was wrong about the time portal...but it didn't go as expected..."Young Helga said weakly.
"Or you had other reasons...Her Future self muttered.
"Look, it doesn't matter, it was really, really dangerous and we should consider ourselves very lucky no one got hurt..."She said .
That's when adult Helga soon wrapped her arms around her son and even pulled her daughter into the hug too.
"The last thing I want is anything happen to my precious, darling babies here..."She said as she hugged her now squirming, blushing son and her less resistant daughter.
"Mommy..."Megan giggled.
"Mom!..."Andy whined, actually looking embarrassed right now, mostly due to Kiara looking at him in amusement.
"Yes?..." Adult Helga said.
"Don't embarrass me in front of kid Dad and kid you!..." He whined as he tried to squirm out of her hug.
"Dad, help..."Andy cried and Future Arnold just chuckled.
"You know your mom just loves you guys..."Future Arnold said as he watched his wife continue to hug their protesting son.
Helga had to rub her eyes as her older self laughed heartily as she continued to shower her children with embarrassing amounts of affection.
"How did I turn... into THIS?!..."She thought in shock.
Gerald and even Arnold were a little stunned to see an almost radical contrast in the two Helga's behavior.
Her older self was really nice and seemed to be very doting and affectionate towards the kids, a big difference from the Helga they knew now.
Gerald shook his head while Arnold just looked in awe.
"I don't know which I am still having trouble believing, you and Helga getting married, me becoming friends with her, Helga growing up to be really pretty and nice or the fact that she just called someone "precious, darling babies"..."Young Gerald muttered.
Well, I'm sure she... matures over time." Arnold said, though sounding unsure himself.
"Oh! Since when did I go from the toughest girl in school to this?!..."She questioned after her older self let her kids go, mostly likely due to Andy insisting on it.
"I guess I am just too happy to act all angry..sue me..."She shrugged as she sent a glance at Future Arnold, who smirked when he heard that.
Young Arnold heard that and decided to change the subject a bit, and focused more on Andy.
"Anyway, both Andy and Megan here were really brave...heck, Andy even ended up saving me when Sheck kidnapped me..."Young Arnold said.
"He did, did he?..."Phil said, pleased.
"Yeah, you should have seen him...he snuck in through the air vents, distracted Sheck and free me and pulled me up to the air vents before Sheck came back...it was so cool..."Young Arnold said, still amazed by the whole thing.
"Air vents?..."Young Helga questioned.
"It was the only way inside..."Andy shrugged.
"And...the reason I knew he was in trouble was because he called me while I was at school...and .I..had to leave in order to go find him..."Andy said slowly, knowing that they were going to know sooner or later.
"And uh...before you hear it from anyone else...I...sort of left school..by causing a food fight as a distraction in order to get away..."Andy said, knowing how bad this is but it would only get worse if his folks found out from someone else.
He knew from personal experience.
"I only did it for Kid dad here...Andy said sheepishly.
His parents had unreadable expressions on their faces, looking stern...before they burst into laughter.
"Oh Andy...you really are such a fireball..."Future Helga said, a little calmer now.
"So, me and Kiara are not in trouble?..."Andy asked.
"Let's see the evidence first..."Future Gerald said as Helga made a list.
"You two lied to us about where you were going and what you have been doing these past few days, you were to the forest without adult supervision and Andy, you broke the school rules, skipped but also went to a dangerous situation by yourself and worse, put your sister, best friend and cousins in danger too..."Future Helga said, while the boy and Kiara looked down.
"Auntie...I was with him the whole time and...the reason he kept lying to you guys was because I told him not to tell anyone about time travel, remember..."Kiara confessed.
"Even so, you both are old enough to know better..."Future Helga said in a stern way...before her smile came back.
"But..."She started and turned to Arnold.
"You guys were trying to help our younger selves out and had good intentions..."Future Arnold said as he rubbed Andy's hair.
"So, is that a yes or a no?..."Andy asked.
"We'll get back to you on that...'Future Helga said as she examined her younger self and crew.
"But first, what do we do with the rest of you?" Adult Helga asked the time travelers.
"It's gonna be a while before we can get you home..." Adult Arnold said.
"Well, since they already know and like aunt Phoebe said, the damage is done and we might forget this, maybe they can stay with us for the time being..."Andy suggested, surprising both sets of his parents.
Megan heard this and nodded in agreement.
"Can we, mommy? Can we? I promise I'll take good care of them and feed them and everything…'Little Megan asked her parents.
"They aren't pets Megan, they are kids and they have to go back to where they belong…'Andy said to his sister who pouted.
However, he did turned to his folks, who looked unsure...
"Come on, mom and dad...what's the difference at this point?..."Andy pointed out.
"Besides, there are way too many people in the boarding house and they have already spent most of their time hiding in Uncle Arnold's old room...at least this way they have more privacy..."Kiara pointed out.
"Well, I guess our homes would be a little more private..."Future Arnold said before his wife sighed.
"I am not too sure..."Future Helga said.
"Hey...like Phoebe said, they already know and they might forget, so trying to hide would be redundant at this point..."Future Gerald said.
Future Helga looked like she was considering it.
"Before I agree to anything, is there anything else we should know?..."Adult Helga asked the kids.
However, no sooner than that, Pepper, the stray that Andy brought in a few days ago, came rushing in through her legs, nearly making her trip had her husband not caught her.
"I got you..."Adult Arnold said as he kept her steady.
They soon saw that the dog was now licking Andy upon seeing him.
"Pepper, hey...I almost forgot about you!...'Andy said as he petted the dog, before noticing the surprise look on his parents faces.
The blue eyed football headed smiled sheepishly as he turned to the older version of his parents.
"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you..I found him...Can I keep him?..."Andy asked innocently to his folks.
"Andrew!..."Adult Helga said with her arms crossed, while her son was still being affectionate with the dog.
Before the adult Helga could scold him, there was a knock at the door.
"I'll get it, I think I know who it might be..."Adult Arnold said as he went to answer the door, but not before turning to the others.
"Stay hidden..."He said.
"What for?" Helga questioned.
"Just... trust me." Arnold said.
As he went, the kids were left questioning this future on their's
"So, I take it you weren't expecting this?" Arnold asked Hegla, who responded with a punch to the arm.
"Oh how wrong you are..." Helga whispered to herself.
Arnold caught wind of a little bit. Obviously, Helga wished for this future but she wouldn't let the football head know just yet, so she punched him again.
"I mean...this is a surprise...I mean...me and the old football head...with two kids..."Helga said sheepishly.
"Yeah, it is...quite a surprise..."Young Arnold said, rubbing his arm.
The older Helga, Andy and Megan heard this..
"Uh...well, actually...you guys...'Andy started.
"You see...there is something I think we forgot to mention..."Future Helga said.
"What?..."Young Arnold asked, wondering what else they could spring on them.
They just found out that they were going to be married with two kids...what can be more surprising than that.
"Thank you, Mrs. Waverly..."Future Arnold's voice could be heard, as the sound of a car could be heard.
When he came back into the room, the time travelers were agape when they saw that he was now carrying a baby in his arms.
A little blonde, green eyes baby that looks a lot like him, only with a different shaped head.
"This...Say hello to Little Henry Shortman..."Future Helga said as she took the baby from him and began cooing. Andy and Megan both went to see their little brother, due to all of the stuff they had to go through today, they had almost thought they'd never see him again.
"A... a baby?..." Helga questioned.
"You... you guys had another baby?.." Arnold questioned.
When their future selves nod, both of them lost all the color on their faces.
Their jaws dropped.
"Oh Henry..."Future Helga sighed as she held her baby.
"Little buddy.."Future Arnold cooed.
"Hey Henry..."Andy greeted his baby brother.
"Hi..."Megan said, while she was usually annoyed by his crying, she was happy to see him.
Arnold and Helga looked to their future selves as they showered the infant with affection. it wasn't until they put a lot of thought into the situation that they realized how in love they would be in the future.
Helga had feelings for Arnold yes, but to see her being so affectionate, it was too much. Arnold could grasp any coherent thought as he looked to the future couple.
That did it. That was the straw that broke the camels back. All of the stress and shock that they have endured these last few days reached it's limit when they saw the little baby boy and they're very much in love future selves. The two young time travelers looked to each and realized what this meant for them.
That's when they collapsed on the floor, fainting on the spot
-To be continued-
Next time on A Trip Through Time
This is OUR Future
A/N: Special thanks to NeoMark, 61394 and BeConFuzzled Writer for helping with this chapter.
A/N(2): I dedicate this chapter to my friends, my family and my Love for God. :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewers:
Invader Johnny: You got that right.
The J.A.M. a.k.a. Numbuh i : Thank you :)
:) Till next time beautiful people, remember to read and review :)