Author's Drabble:

Once again, thank you very much for the reviews you guys. 3 I enjoyed reading every single one of them.

It is because of the reviews that I am posting this chapter. I apologize if it was not worth waiting for but I've been a bit distracted recently. Suddenly developing a social life outside of work does that to people xD But I hope this will be a nice tid-bit to keep you reading until I come up with something more enjoyable to read. We're getting closer to the reunion between Helga and Arnold but will it be all sparkling backgrounds and teary eyes? We'll find out...


"Boy howdy, you turned out to be some romantic, Stinky." Sid snickered, trying to stifle it with his hand.

"Well I thought it was a good idea." Stinky muttered, scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes.

"Relax, Stinky." Gerald stated; nudging him with his elbow. "I think it was a good idea to take her to the greenhouse. It's something you're both comfortable in, and it has sentimental value to her. Sid here just doesn't put much thought into his own date spots."

Gerald eyed Sid disapprovingly, shaking his head slightly before turning back to Stinky, looping an arm around the taller male's shoulders while urging him to walk forward. "So tell me, anything good happen in there?"

"Well, we had ourselves a nice picnic." Stinky said, looking up at the ceiling while walking along. "We gabbed a little and also…Miss Lila gave me a smooch right on this here cheek." He pointed at the spot as if her kiss was still there, grinning with dreamy eyes at the memory. "Of course, that was before I spilled my Yahoo soda all over the dirt and got my pants wet from sitting in it…I reckon she thinks I'm a dang fool by now."

"You got at kiss though," Gerald smirked, "That's still pretty good, Stinky."

"More than you've gotten from any other date you had." Sid chimed in.

"Sid, it's the only date he's had." Gerald pointed out bluntly. He turned back to Stinky, offering a smile up at him. "So, you gonna ask her out again?"

"Gawsh, Gerald. I don't know. I mean, what in the heck am I supposed to do now?"

"Do you really want to ask Gerald that question?" Sid asked, indicating the other teen with a thumb. "He's been going out with the same girl since the sixth grade."

Gerald folded his arms across his chest, tilting up his chin at Sid with a brow slightly raised. There was no shame in his long term relationship with Phoebe. He may have prided himself as a ladies' man at one point but that didn't mean he was getting tired of Phoebe Heyerdahl. No way. Sid just had nothing else to mock because his own love life has been all over the place and all of them ended in failures. At one point Stinky encouraged him to try dating Nadine, but Sid refused due to some petty excuse. Gerald wasn't sure he could even remember what it was anymore.

"Sid, I'd shut my mouth if I were you." Gerald stated, hardly angry, just sympathetic that the boy had to pick at everyone else's relationships to make his own lack of one feel better in his eyes. "Come on guys; let's head back to the cafeteria before the bell rings."


"Did you finish your phone calls?" Stella asked, handing over Arnold's backpack containing some of his things.

"Yeah, there were a few people who needed the phone so I only managed to get a hold of Grandpa and Gerald but I think that might turn out for the best." Arnold stated, slipping the straps over his shoulders.

Stella and Miles stood with smiles but it was obvious the two of them were missing their boy already and Arnold could see it in their eyes the entire time they had been waiting at the airfield for the plane that would transfer him to American soil. It took three flight transfers to get to Hillwood again, but they were worth the mad dashes from terminal to terminal in the end if it meant he could go home. It was just a shame that his parents couldn't go back with him this visit either. He approached them and jumped when his parents flung their arms around him in tight, spine-snapping hugs. He tried to wriggle his arms around them but they had been pinned to his sides.

"We'll miss you, Arnold." Miles said, sounding a little emotional.

"Write to us as soon as you're settled in, okay?" Stella asked; her voice motherly and tender. A voice Arnold was growing used to but didn't appreciate any less.

"I will." He rasped, cuing them that they had to release him so that he could breathe.

They exchanged sorry expressions while he caught his breath, smiling at them once he managed to choke down some oxygen. With a small wave, he picked up his suitcase and carried it over to the ramp leading up to the plane. He loaded up his things after being prompted by a worker and went inside, sitting down among the sparsely populated cabin. Leaning closer to the window, he peered out at the jungle beyond the walls of the little airfield and thought about the camp site where archeologists were still digging up artifacts, the local natives were being taught in the school his parents helped establish, and the friends he had made while staying there were carrying on with life. And then he looked at his parents standing side by side several yards from the plane.

Miles stood with his arm around Stella's waist; his eyes were streaming tears while Stella looked pretty close to crying as well. Arnold could imagine she would be comforting his dad once the plane took off. His father was always the more emotional of the two. He smiled at them, though they probably wouldn't have seen it from the distance they stood. Reaching over, Arnold touched his fingertips to the window, thinking about how this felt more like he had been leaving them for good. It was just a visit. His visits usually took a while, yes, but he always came back, didn't he?

The engines rumbled and roared to life and he glanced at the propellers spinning around until the blades were mere blurs. Flicking his eyes back to his parents, he watched them until the plane shuddered and began to roll forward. He pressed his nose against the glass, straining to catch one more glimpse of them before the plane turned away and hid them from his sight. Sighing, he leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes while butterflies fluttered about in his stomach. The plane lifted off and he opened his eyes again, his ears aching with the need to pop.

Home…


"Well, Phoebe, you took your sweet time in getting here." Helga stated; her hands braced on her hips when her best friend came running up the sidewalk. She staggered to a halt and caught her breath before straightening back up and smiling apologetically at Helga.

"W-Would you prefer I not tell you my reason for being late?" she asked, a little breathless still.

"If it has anything to do with Gerald then no." Helga frowned. "You couldn't go one day without hearing from him, could you?"

"I'm sorry, Helga."

"Don't sweat it Phebs." She smiled a little, "Come on, the movie's going to start whether our butts are in the seats or not."

As Phoebe followed Helga to pay for a ticket and head inside, she smiled to herself. She had good reason for being late to the movie theater. They had made plans to have a night together, yes, but when Gerald called he was ecstatic and the news he gave was exciting indeed. Phoebe almost hoped Helga would ask her why she was late but then the secret would have been out and that would have disappointed Gerald. Of course, she couldn't do that. But he had been so excited to hear from Arnold that he called her to tell her about it after swearing her to secrecy.

Arnold was coming for a visit.

Phoebe thought about it while she and Helga sat in the darkness of the theater, watching the movie previews before the actual film would start. She joined her hands together in her lap, looking up at the screen but thinking in the back of her mind what Arnold would be doing visiting them now all of a sudden. She thought about Gerald missing him, Helga missing him, and the discussions between neighbors of the football-headed kid who had saved the neighborhood once upon a time. Arnold was practically a legend on these streets. All before he had even turned ten years old…

Phoebe snuck a peek over at Helga slouching in her seat with her arms across her chest. Her eyes were on the film and she looked disinterested. It had been hard on Helga when she had broken up with Arnold. After loving him for so long, she had been giddy behind closed doors when she and Arnold dated. Phoebe remembered it well, but she also remembered the arguments the two had. He hadn't given her all of his time after she pined for it for years and then she refused to go with him to meet his friends whenever he asked her to come along. Helga had been stubborn at the time and Phoebe didn't blame her for wanting the attention. She earned it in her opinion. But even though they broke it off, Helga was still crazy about him.

Crazy about Arnold wasn't the issue. It was Helga's apparent lack of emotion whenever she was in public that worried Phoebe. If Arnold were to try and talk their relationship over with her, maybe she would regain those emotions all the time and not just on the field or with her. Arnold was Helga's light source in her lifetime of darkness, if you wanted to be poetic about it. Though it would take some time to get the two to converse civilly after their history, Phoebe was certain something good would come out of making them talk. The question was; would Arnold even want to talk to her to begin with?


A/D: And that's it for this round. Will think up of further thickening the plot soon!

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