Arnold P.O.V.

There's one thing that I always believed when I was small and it was that everything happens for a reason. It was just my luck that in her moment of rage, Helga managed to forget her purse. I chuckled at the irony. She had not realized that she left it on the grass close to me as she left. This may be a sign. A second chance to redeem myself in her eyes. Her purse was the first thing I had noticed as I got up. I looked in the direction where she left, hoping she might realize what she had done and come back for it. Maybe then I might be able to see her again, but she never returned. So I took it with me.

As I came into Gerald's apartment, we hardly said much to each other. I basically made it known to him that Helga and I met on the street, and from my expression he knew that things didn't go well and we left it at that.

"Sorry Arnold" was all I got as I continued to walk to my room. I didn't reply. First off, I was angry with him for not telling me that she was actually living here in the city. I guess he knew what I would've done if I did, but still…

And secondly, I didn't want to discuss any further on what occurred earlier. I was disheartened and in no mood to talk things out.

When I came into my room, I collapsed on my bed, but something poked at me from underneath my shirt. I pulled it out to see that it was the bag that Helga left behind, I smiled. There wasn't much in there, I checked. She had a few things in there like her keys, a case of lipstick, face powder, and her wallet. In that wallet though there was something that would grant me the opportunity to at least see her again, even if it was for the last time. Her ID card and it had her address on it.

I pulled out her license and stared at it. She's changed so much, I couldn't believe it. In that photo she looked mature and…sophisticated. Which reminded me of the time when Helga took Gerald, Phoebe, and I out to dinner at Chez Paris. I was pretty impressed and surprised at her elegance and class in that atmosphere. It felt like she belonged there. She's like a chameleon, a creature capable of changing according to their environment. I was amazed and somewhat envious at her obvious talent.

I sat there for hours wondering what I should do, how I should go about contacting her to return her purse of course. But the fact of the matter was that I was afraid of what might happen should I go over there.

After years, of waiting, hoping and anticipating her arrival into my life again, I was in turmoil by the fact that she made it clear to me that she didn't want me in hers. And I desperately wanted to make her see, and know that I pined and yearned for her all this time that I was away. I thought that my being away would've sparked some kind of interest in her, you know old friends happy to see each other once again and then we would come together for a moment to catch up on old times. Also in the off chance we hit it off we just might set sail into the sunset. "Not likely now though." Anyway, that was the way I expected it to occur.

It's been a day already and I'm still indecisive. My mind at the moment is on overload, and my body is literally exhausted from the thoughts running around my head.

"I must be crazy. Yeah, that must be it!"

I thought about Helga constantly, I realized that even when I was young I thought of her; probably in a negative way most of the time since she used to pick on me but I did.

Helga was like water to me, a simple element and yet complex in nature that can entice a man to salivating when the need for it was dire. My thirst to solve the mystery that was her was never quenched. I would unfold a layer from her shell only to find that there were more layers beneath that one. She was the temptation that I was unable to stray from my thoughts despite the distance and time that had separated us.

I was a fated man bounded by my fascination of her uniqueness, her charm, tenderness, and beauty that no one but me could see and understand. She was a part of my dream, of my future. The dream that I tried to deny when Rhonda's origami marriage predictor undeniably indicated that we were to be …married. No matter how many times I manipulated the calculation the answer was always the same. It equals Helga.

But at the time, I was young and foolish and I continually refused to see the truth. My preoccupation with finding my parents took the forefront of my overwhelming thoughts of her. I coated those thoughts with my unwillingness to let go of them, of their memory. Once I found my dad's journal, well…they became my sole priority. Even then, thoughts of her still continued to seep in, especially after…. "OH NO! How did I not realize it?" "FTi…"

My mind was made up. I was going to see her right away.

I went into the streets like a mad man on a mission. I hardly walked as I made my way to her apartment. My sight was solely focused on reaching her place before she flew away from my grasp. I ran for a while, a long while, until I turned the corner. My heart was speeding as I noticed the address of the building she lived in. Blindingly, I crossed the street, cars be damned. I could care less if they managed to hit me; I just had to get to her. And yet, safely I made it. Once I entered, I ignored the bellhop and the concierge calling me to stop. I went for the stairs knowing that the elevators were occupied. No one could stop me from reaching her this time. And if they tried there'd be hell to pay.

I climbed, and climbed the stairs and with each step my anticipation was growing.

"My Angel, I'm coming for you and this time I'm not letting you go."

I was panting from exhaustion, but despite that I was determined to get there. "What possessed me to take the stairs a few minutes before? I must've lost my mind"

"FINALLY" I blurted out exasperatedly when I arrived on the floor. I took a moment to gather myself. I knew I was a mess, and I didn't want her to see me this way. Once done, I took a step forward and then another and as I was approaching the door I began to feel nervous. Helga. The thought of her name always made me shake in my pants. But this time it wasn't for fear of her, "Okay, maybe I'm just a little bit afraid of her" I thought. But this time it was more like the fear of losing her, of her permanently excluding herself from my life. What I was doing now was downright idiotic and reckless. I was taking the risk of getting hurt even more, emotionally as well as physically. "I guess I'm asking for it."

There! Apartment 1007.

My hands were trembling, and my knees suddenly became weak. But I ignored what my body was saying and I knocked on her door three times. And from behind the door, I heard a muffled reply, telling me to hold on a minute, they would be right there. I prepared myself and relaxed.

And when the door opened, it was eerily quiet. Helga stood there a bit shocked, so much so that hardly a peep came from her mouth. Her eyes blinked, a lot. And I tried to say something, anything but I just didn't want to ruin the moment.

Unfortunately, she did. "I thought I told you to stay away from me!"

I looked down at my left hand, her purse was still in it and I forced myself to speak. "You… left this at the park the other day, and I was just bringing it back." She eyed me for a few seconds and reached out her hand making the motion for me to hand it over. I lifted my hand with the bag and handed it to her, but I didn't let go of it. Our fingers brushed each other for a moment and she gasped. I felt a jolt of electricity run through me. She felt it too, I know she did. And that made me even more determined to go through with this. She tried to pull her purse from my grasp, but I didn't want to let go. Her gaze quickly flashed to mine as she frowned. "Let go!" she uttered. But I didn't. She kept pulling and pulling. "Arnold! Let… GO!" But I refused. So we were in a tug of war. And the more she pulled the more I resisted. I guess she had not realized that the more she tugged at her purse the more I was being pulled into her apartment.

"For Criminy's sake Arnold, LET GO!" she yelled as she strongly tugged at it.

"As you wish!" I thought as I release the purse, and that's when she fell back landing on her butt. She scowled and looked up at me. "Why the heck did you do that for?"

"Be-cause you asked me to?" I replied not sounding the least bit guilty about the outcome.

She huffed as she got up off the floor. "Well…thank you for bringing my purse back. NOW GO!"

I quirked an eyebrow and uttered. "Well the least you could do is offer me some courtesy for returning your purse. A cup of coffee would be nice, you know, for my trouble. I did come a long way to bring you this."

Actually, it was kind of the truth, but that's because I opted to go on foot since I had no means of transportation; so it took me a while longer to get here. Plus I hadn't asked Gerald to take me since I knew he wouldn't approve.

She glared at me hatefully, but surrendered. "Fine, one cup and then go!"

I nodded and smiled, but she quickly turned away from me closing the front door and then entered the kitchen to prepare a pot. In the meantime, I wandered around the living room of the apartment staring at photos of her and Phoebe throughout the years. I smiled at one picture with all the gang together in high school, but then I felt sad. I missed out on a lot with them over the years. Things between all of us just weren't as tight and close knit as they were anymore. Helga walked in, she looked a bit anxious; probably for me to leave. I turned and faced her fully. "So I see you graduated with honors from Groverton University, congrats. Even though it's late." I said as I pointed to her degree and sent her a shaky grin.

"Thanks" she replied quietly. I waited for her to speak further on the matter or her of experiences. I wanted to know everything that happened to her over the years, but she'd just shut down. So I prodded further. "So what are you doing now?"

She looked up at me quickly then redirected her gaze to the floor.

"Hmm, must've been an interesting floor."

She answered, "I write a column for a women's magazine actually"

I was happy, and I wanted to hug her then, but I held back. "Really? That's great Helga! I always knew you had it in you." She nodded.

It was quiet again.

Suddenly she spoke. "Why are you here Arnold?"

"Helga, I just want-" She didn't give me the chance to explain myself and kept on going.

"Why are doing this? Are you punishing me or something? Is that it? Is it because I poured glue on your…tush and stuck feathers to it back in the 4th grade? Or is it because of the paint we were fighting over that I spilled on your shirt in history class?" in the midst of her rant I thought. "She remembered that?"

And she kept going. "Or probably the time that I-"

"STOP IT HELGA. JUST….SHUT UP FOR A SECOND." I yelled.

I couldn't take it any more and she sure as hell wasn't making it easy. "I have something to say… and YOU WILL LISTEN!" I hissed threateningly to make it clear that I was not to be interrupted.

I took a deep breath and began pacing. "I was stupid Helga. I was…stupid, and dense, and ignorant, and foolish to not have noticed what was constantly staring me in the face." I sighed and looked her in the eyes. "But…I was nine. A nine year old boy that didn't understand what-"

She raised an eyebrow and looked at me skeptically. "Okay, okay, maybe I understood a little, but it was hard for me to grasp what I was feeling at the time. I had no way of comprehending the feelings I felt and my grandparents were not exactly straightforward. They were kinda off the wall, you know?"

Helga nodded in understanding, "That's true." And she clammed up as I glared at her for speaking.

I continued, "And I thought you hated me and you said it often enough that I began to believe it. You were confusing at best. You kept sending me mixed signals that I didn't know what to think."

Helga scoffed and looked me in the eye without any concern. "Are you done now?"

I stopped pacing. "She didn't believe me!" I thought as I stared at her. "So…you don't believe me?" I uttered wide-eyed as I stood there by her mantle.

She smiled vindictively. "Why should I?"

I clenched my fists and spat out. "Because it's the truth."

She chuckled bitterly, "Really?"

I gritted out, "Yeah, Really!"

She scoffed again, "Soo, what part of my confession on the rooftop of Fti was…confusing to you, hm? The part where I said that I loved you repeatedly? Or, the part where I went on ranting about all the things that I did for you or maybe what confused you more was the very thorough kiss I placed on your lips?" She continued sarcastically. "Yeah Arnoldo, that must be it. A VERY CONFUSING ACT INDEED!"

I felt lost at that moment and I sputtered. "But…but you took it back, I mean..after.."

Helga smiled sadly, "Face it Arnold, it seemed to me that you didn't want to accept it. Therefore, you didn't want me!" She sighed and approached me but stopped within two feet from where I stood. "And I understood. So I took it back…for you. I loved you enough back then to do that cause I felt that you needed time, but months later we went to San Lorenzo and many times I've tried to show you the truth since then. I even risked my LIFE to find you're parents and after all that you still didn't want to acknowledge it. You went on as if I…." Her voice croaked as she tore her pained eyes away from mine. "As if I was just like everybody else, even worse you couldn't even stand to stay alone in a room with me. You pretended that everything was right with the world, especially after your parents came back."

She yelled then. "Well WHAT ABOUT ME? HUH? YOU…" She choked on a sob, I reached out, but she backed away holding her hand up to stop me from coming. "You didn't even…." She looked like she was out of breath. She was about to fall apart again and I didn't want that, but I wanted her to say her peace. And I felt that I should hear it. I owed her that. But she became angry then. Her fists clenched as if she was trying to gain strength from that act alone. She gritted out. "You didn't even acknowledge what was between us, not…once. But still I gave you a chance, many chances in fact and what did I get in return? Nothing! Not even a proper goodbye."

I wanted to say something at that moment, but what could I have said in my defense? She was right!

She calmed down a little and continued to speak, but as she went on, her hands began to shake and her eyes watered.

"After you left, I held on to you still." She whispered solemnly.

"I didn't know how to go on without you there. I just stopped living and watched as the world passed me by from my window. I was…pathetic. I let you be everything to me and that wasn't healthy." I looked to her then now understanding what I meant to her back then, feeling guilty all the more for not facing those feelings I held back, until it was too late.

"You brought me to life Arnold…" she smiled a fraction before a frown came upon her face. "but you also destroyed me at the same time."

"No! You don't mean that!" I whispered, as I took two steps and wrapped her in my arms. She didn't push me away this time, and I drew her even closer to me. A savored the feel of her body against mine, and to my surprise her hands wrapped themselves around me. She sighed and relaxed into me, and I felt in heaven just for the fact that she wasn't pushing me away. I could feel her warm breath in my ear as she breathed. I ran my fingers through her hair and she shivered at the feel of my touch. This was right; it was time to make my move. She slightly pulled back from the embrace when I did and I leaned forward towards her lips. I was only a heartbeat away when she said, "And that's why I have to let you go." And my world came crashing down.

A/N: This story is almost done. There's about...two chapters left to this story. I would like to say thanks to those who read and reviewed this fic. It was much appreciated.