You know, maybe I'll try venturing into more... original stories for this fandom eventually, but for now, enjoy another adaptation of the wonderful tapiocapudding's Shortaki comics from Instagram! (there should be a period between "tapioca" and "pudding" but unfortunately FFN kinda eats that up)

This one's a two-parter, just gonna let you know...

"Mm, mm, MM!" Gerald, having brought Arnold's parents over to see their son once again, let out a satisfied and somewhat smug exclamation upon seeing Arnold and Helga holding each other in a kiss. Upon hearing him, the two frantically broke apart and tried their best to look innocent, with Arnold awkwardly rubbing the back of his head and Helga looking away and whistling, a deep shade of red having come across the two preteens' cheeks. Looking back at Arnold's parents, Gerald proclaimed, "Okay, now I've seen everything!"

Miles and Stella didn't say a word, the two adults simply staring at their son and who they presumed was his girlfriend with an adoring look on their faces. Immediately after, Gerald continued, "Hey Arnold, your parents were looking for you just now, they've been dying to ask you some questions about Hillwood." Puffing his chest out with exaggerated pride while pointing one of his thumbs towards himself, he continued, "And as much as I love telling the stories of our city- I mean, I am the keeper of urban lore, after all," earning a laugh from Arnold, "I'm pretty sure that they wanna hear some stories about what you've done for us all!"

Arnold's face lit up in joy, but before he went over, he looked towards Helga, almost as if he were asking for her approval. The pigtailed girl's nonchalant response was, "Yeah, sure, Football Head, knock yourself out," though her face softened as she watched him excitedly run over to his parents. As soon as everyone was distracted, Helga ran behind the structure that had been used to activate the cure for the sleeping sickness and pulled her locket out of her tank top with fidgety hands before frantically thinking, "He... he kissed me! ARNOLD ACTUALLY KISSED ME! He grabbed my hands and pulled me down... and then he KISSED me! Oh, my football-headed love god, what does this all mean? Was it the jungle heat finally getting to you? Were you just grateful that my locket, my most hidden secret moments before I bared my heart to you, was the key to saving your parents? Or... or maybe..."

Calming down, Helga put the locket back into her shirt and curled one of her hands up into a fist, continuing in her head, "Focus, Helga ol' girl! D-Don't swoon, cool your jets for a second... this crazy place is swarming with people, stay calm! Don't make a fool of yourself and then end up getting laughed at! It's... n-no big deal..." only to bury her fire engine-red face in her hands and begin swooning, "Oh, criminy, who am I trying to fool here? I'm completely over the moon! HE KISSED ME! It wasn't like the play, or Babewatch, or even the FTi rooftop... HE began the kiss! Oh, Arnold, the love of my life, the tormentor of my broken soul, were you trying to tell me that there's still hope for... us?"

Helga's thoughts were interrupted by Gerald saying, "So, Helga... you and Arnold, huh?"

Slapping herself to derail her mental train of thought, Helga instinctively threw up her walls again and responded, "Frankly, I don't have a clue what you're talking about, Geraldo."

"Oh, c'mon Helga! Basically everyone in Simmons' class knows you like him-"

"WHAT?!" Helga almost shrieked much like she had on the mainmast of La Sombra's ship when she first tried to confess to Arnold in San Lorenzo, but she caught herself just in time to reduce it to more of a normal volume. Recovering, Helga pressed, "How did you know?"

"I'm pretty sure it was Phoebe who cracked the code back in fourth grade, then I found out in the fifth grade when I saw you accidentally drop that locket of yours in the hallway and saw Arnold's face on the inside. As for everyone else, well, they suspected something was going on between the two of you based on the crazy antics we all got into in fourth grade..."

"Give me a list of names... I wanna make a list of who's gonna be personally acquainted with Ol' Betsy and the Five Avengers the moment we get out of this crazy jungle... except Pheebs, of course," Helga growled as she pounded one of her fists into an open palm.

Gerald smiled as he looked over at Arnold happily telling his parents another story (unbeknownst to him and Helga, it was about the weekend that Arnold and the boarders had spent at the beach), and he looked back at Helga and slyly said, "You be good to him, girl."

"Yeah sure, whatever, Tall-Hair Boy, it's not like it's gonna last, it was just a 'heat of the moment' type of thing..."

However, Arnold had heard what Helga had said in the middle of telling his parents about the sandcastle he and Helga had built, and he made a mental note to talk to her once he was done.

"...And as for you, Geraldo, you'd better be good to Pheebs, otherwise the only thing you'll be smooching is Ol' Betsy over here," Helga threatened with a teasing shake of her right fist.

Gerald simply smiled before walking away, saying, "I don't know who you're trying to fool with that 'heat of the moment' excuse, but whatever you say, Helga."

"Hey, isn't that Football Head's line?" Helga wondered out loud, before flashing a smug smile Gerald's way and responding, "Just telling you as it is, Tall-Hair Boy." Once Gerald was out of sight, Helga thought to herself, "Okay, that went well... just stay cool, Helga. Keep up this excuse and it'll all be fine by the time we get out of San Lorenzo... piece of cake!"

Eduardo chose that moment to show up, exclaiming, "The royal family is throwing us a feast! Come and join us, mi amigos!"

The three kids perked up at the mention of food, and Miles laughed before saying, "Oh wow, would you look at that!" Looking down at his son, he continued, "C'mon Arnold, you and your friends must be hungry after the day you've just had!"

Looking back at Helga, who had averted her gaze the moment their eyes met, Arnold replied, "Um, you can go ahead, Mom and Dad, I'll join you guys soon. There's something that I need to set straight first," he finished, not taking his eyes off Helga.

Stella saw where her son was looking, and she immediately got the picture, telling her husband, "We should get going, Miles, it'd be rude to keep the Green-Eyes waiting," before turning to Gerald and asking, "Would you like to join us?"

Before Gerald could answer, his stomach spoke for him with a loud rumble, causing him to flush while the two adults laughed, Eduardo having already walked back to the royal family. As Miles, Gerald, and Stella began to walk to where Eduardo had gone, Stella whispered in her son's ear, "She's a keeper, Arnold," before joining Miles and Gerald, leaving a blush on the football-headed kid's face.

Looking for Helga, Arnold saw that she was walking towards where everyone else had gone, and he walked over to her, calling out, "Helga!" before gently grabbing her by the arm.

Flushing, Helga stuttered, "A-Arnold?!" before recovering with, "Sheesh, what is it with you today, Hair Boy?!"

A sheepish smile came across Arnold's face as he said, "I kinda want to talk to you..."

"Yeah, well make it quick, Arnoldo, my stomach's about to collapse in on itself if I don't put some grub in there soon."

"Helga, I wanted to um, y'know, talk to you about what happened earlier-"

Averting her gaze, Helga snapped, "Yeah, yeah, 'heat of the moment,' I get it! Now let me go so that I can-"

A hint of irritation had worked its way into Arnold's expression and voice as he turned Helga to face him once again and said, "Helga, listen to me. I- We're not done yet." Helga blushed at his choice of words, and Arnold continued, "You and I both know that what happened just now wasn't another 'heat of the moment' type of thing. Look, Helga... I can't thank you enough for bringing my parents back... but after everything we went through in the jungle, namely that moment where we were facing certain death hanging from that bridge, I realized something."

"A-And what is that, Football Head?"

"It's, well... when we were looking at each other, how do I put this," Arnold paused to wipe some sweat off of his free palm before shyly continuing, "There was this moment where it felt like I saw everything clearly... and well, how I felt about you was part of it. After seeing you risk everything just for me throughout our entire trip, that moment made me realize how stupid I'd been, not being able to recognize just how wonderful and amazing of a person you are..." As Helga blushed even deeper than before, Arnold finished, "What I'm trying to say is... I love you too, Helga," before getting on his tiptoes and kissing her on the lips.

Helga squeaked as a result of the sudden contact, and her body ended up stiffening up as she reciprocated the kiss. Arnold broke off the kiss shortly after, and with a nervous chuckle, said, "Sorry that we got interrupted earlier... and thank you for everything," before briefly hugging her. Arnold, once he ended the hug, looked at the stiff, still-unresponsive Helga and said, "Uh, I think everyone else is waiting for us... you should come, Helga, I'm sure my parents would love to get to know you better," before walking away.

Once Arnold was out of her line of sight, Helga grabbed her locket and swooned on the spot before collapsing to the floor, giddy with joy at what had just happened.

Arnold made his way over to where Gerald and his parents had gone, and the two adults greeted him with, "Hey Arnold!" in unison, causing Arnold to smile and hug them once again, taking in the fact that he finally had his parents back.

After that, Arnold walked over to Gerald, who was leaning on a pillar with his arms folded, and with a knowing smile, Gerald slyly asked, "So, you had to 'set something straight,' huh?"

"Yeah, heh, s-sorry for the wait, Gerald..."

Gerald laughed and said, "Arnold, you're one lovesick puppy, you know that?"

"Yeah..."

I'm not the best at romance, hopefully you guys liked this one haha

To be concluded...