I'm back! First I must say thank you SO much to Conor Dachisen for the idea for this chapter! You not only sparked this chapter, but my idea for the next! Also, I noticed that I had a comment about the "April Fools" comment from a few chapters back (sorry for not clearing this up before by the way). I did actually check the episode order, but the website I checked was not accurate, and put the AF episode before Summer Love. They didn't list release years, so I assumed it was correct. Sorry for this, but I'm just going to leave it as it is for simplicity's sake, and if you think about it, it makes sense: the character are in fourth grade for pretty much the entire series, so maybe the episode was filmed before SL, but wasn't released until two years later. It could happen, right? Anyway, enjoy this next chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Hey Arnold, but you knew that, didn't you?

Chapter 7

Arnold returned home and opened the door to let Abner and the other animals run outside. In the back of his mind he wondered where those other animals came from, but he didn't worry about it too much; he had more important things on his mind anyway.

He climbed the stairs to the second level of the house and almost bumped into Grandpa Phil who was on his way to the kitchen.

"Oh, hi Grandpa. Sorry, I didn't mean to crash into you." Arnold apologized.

"Oh, that's quite alright, Short Man. I was just on my way to see if there were any of you grandma's cookies left. Did you get your girlfriend home and back alright?"

"Grandpa! Helga's not my girlfriend, she's just my friend." Arnold protested.

"Well she's a girl, too, ain't she?" Phil chuckled.

"Well, yes. But...oh, never mind. Anyway, yeah, everything was fine; she really likes Grandma's cookies." He smiled at the memory of Helga's reaction to the cookies.

"So," Grandpa continued, "Are you going to invite her over again soon? I think she likes you!"

"What? Grandpa, Helga doesn't like me. She hates me!"

"Oh Arnold! Arnold, Arnold, Arnold, she doesn't hate you! Remember I told you about your grandma and I when we were kids? She was just the same. Always picking on me, calling me names, tripping me...well you get the idea. Then one day she just up and told me she loved me! Said she had loved me for years, and that it was a wonder I was so dense as not to see it. Hehe, she said more than once she had wanted to shake me and ask what was wrong with me. Anyway, I wouldn't be so quick with your judgments for Helga; she might just need some time to figure things out."

"Ok, thanks Grandpa. I think I'm going to go up to bed; goodnight, Grandpa."

"Goodnight, Arnold."

Up in his room, Arnold lay on his bed thinking. He kept replaying the dance he and Helga shared, and how much fun he had had that night. He wasn't too used to having fun with Helga, but only because she tended to pick on him. When she wanted to, she could be a very kind and fun person, just like Arnold had always believed. But he couldn't help but think in the back of his football-shaped mind that there was something different about his relationship with Helga. He had friends who were girls, like Phoebe, Sheena, Ronda, Lila, and Nadine, to name a few, but his relationship with Helga felt different than the ones he had with the others. He just couldn't pinpoint why.

After a while Arnold gave up trying to figure it out, and got ready for bed. He changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed. He fell asleep relatively quickly, but as soon as he did he had a dream...

...He was standing on a beach...no, not just a beach, but the same beach he had been on vacation at with Helga. He could see a figure in the distance who was facing away from him. He walked forward and called out "Hello?".

He stepped up next to the figure, who turned to look at him. It was a girl, a very familiar girl at that.

"Cecil?"

"Hello, Arnold."

"I thought I'd never see you again!"

"Oh Arnold, you still haven't figured it out? You see me almost every day, and you have for years."

"I do? I have?" Arnold was quite confused.

"Yes, Arnold." she said, smiling.

"But, wouldn't I know if I saw you every day?"

"I thought you might, but I guess you never put the pieces together." Suddenly they were in the school auditorium, standing on the stage which was decorated like it had been when they did the play 'Romeo and Juliet'.

"This is a very special place for us. Do you know why?" Cecil asked.

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I remember being Romeo in our school play, but you weren't there...were you?" Arnold was still very confused.

"I was, Arnold, but I guess you still don't understand." They again changed location, now residing in front of Urban Tots Preschool.

"Do you know why this place is important?" Cecil asked.

"Well sure, this is where I went to preschool. I met all of my friends here, Gerald, and Phoebe, and Stinky, and Sid, and Harold, and Helga, and everyone. We've all been in the same class ever since Pre-K, except Lila."

"Yes, you met all of your friends at this place, but right here where we're standing is important, too." Cecil said, almost willing him to understand.

"Um...well, this is where Grandpa dropped me off. I remember it was raining, but I was still excited that I was going to make new friends. Grandpa was telling me to be a good boy, and that he promised that he would be back to pick me up when I was done. He stopped, and we got out..." He trailed off.

"And?" Cecil prompted.

"And Helga was walking down the street. I put my umbrella over her so she didn't get any more wet than she already was. At the time I wondered why she was all alone, but now I know why. Anyway, I said something to her, and then we went inside."

"That's right, Arnold. So do you understand now?"

"I'm sorry, but no. I still don't know how this all fits together."

Cecil sighed, "Alright, Arnold, I give up. If you can't put it all together with all of these hints, there's only one this left that I can say: think about what I've said, and the places we've been, and what they have in common." She produced what looked like a heart-shaped pocket watch from a pocket hidden in her skirt and looked at it, hiding the face of it from Arnold's view, "I need to go now. Goodbye, Arnold." She turned and started walking down the sidewalk.

"Wait! Cecil, will I ever see you again?" Arnold called as he ran after her.

"Arnold, what did I say before? You see me almost every day." she faded into the distance, leaving Arnold standing on the sidewalk alone...

Arnold awoke the next morning feeling very confused. He laid in bed thinking of the vivid dream he had had. 'What did they all have in common...' he thought slowly 'The beach, the school, and the preschool. What did they all have in common?'

Arnold couldn't figure out how everything was related, so he got dressed and went down to breakfast where his grandmother was "hunting".

"Morning Kimba. How did you sleep?"

"Fine Grand-I mean Bwana. How about you?"

"Oh, pretty good, thank you Kimba. I'm afraid breakfast isn't quite ready. I'll get started in just...one...moment...AHA!" she slammed her fly swatter down on the spot where the fly had been, but it flew away just in time and buzzed out the window.

"Rats. Well, I'll get 'em next time." She went over to the sink and washed her hands, then began making bacon and eggs.

"So, Kimba, how's Eleanor? Did you two have a nice walk through the jungle back to camp?" Gertie asked, flipping the bacon and making it sizzle.

It took Arnold a moment to realize that she was talking about he and Helga walking home the night before.

"Uh, yeah, it was fine. Helga, I mean Eleanor wants me to tell you that she thinks your cookies are delicious."

"Well I'll have to make her some then, won't I?" Gertie said with a smile as she handed Arnold his breakfast.

"I'm sure she'd really appreciate that, Grandma."

Arnold was just on his way out the door on an errand for his grandfather when Gertie came out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Arnold, before you leave take this," she handed him a paper bag, "It's some more cookies for your friend. Tell her to enjoy them, and there's plenty more where that came from" she winked.

"Ok, Grandma. I'm sure Helga will love them!" Arnold took the cookies and left. He went to the post office to buy stamps for Grandpa, then went to Helga's house.

He knocked on the door and waited, but no one came to the door. He knocked again, but there was still no answer. Not knowing what else to do, he pulled a piece of paper and a pencil out of his pocket (thankful that he had one) and wrote a note to Helga, which he placed under the bag of cookies. He looked at the house one more time, part of him wishing that Helga would come to the door, or at least look out the window, then turned and headed home.

Helga was in the kitchen looking something to eat, and coming up empty. 'Miriam didn't do any shopping this week, did she? Who am I kidding, she probably hasn't been shopping in a week!' She opened another cupboard, then slammed it in irritation. Suddenly she heard a knock at the door. 'Now who is that? No one ever comes to visit except Phoebe, but she was busy this morning.'

Helga grabbed a chair and put it against the door so she could look through the peephole.

"ARNOLD?!" she gasped. She sat down on the chair and tried to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding, and she felt a little dizzy. Arnold was at her house, by choice assumably. She put the chair back and ran to the bathroom to brush her hair quickly, but when she got back to the door she just couldn't make herself open it. She didn't know what stopped her, but she just couldn't do it. Not wanting to get the chair again, Helga stood on her toes to look through the peephole again; Arnold was gone, but she could see something sitting on the steps. She opened the door and picked up the brown bag and the note that was underneath it.

Helga shut the door behind her and walked up to her room, determined not to read the note until she was on her bed, simply so that she was closer to her pink book. Once she was sitting on her bed, she unfolded the note,

Dear Helga,

Hi Helga,

My grandma was really glad you liked her cookies, so she made you some more. I'm

sorry I missed you today, but maybe, that is if you would want to, we could do something

sometime? We could go to Dino Land, or go to Slausons, or anything really. Anyway, I

hope you have a good day. Enjoy the cookies!

-Arnold

Helga practically fainted with happiness. Arnold had come all this way to give her cookies! And he had even remembered to tell his grandma in the first place! Helga was so happy she almost started crying, but instead she opened the bag and pulled out a cookie that was still a bit warm. She bit into it and savored the wonderful taste on her tongue. Yes, these were definitely the best cookies ever.