Helga spent a large portion of that afternoon wandering around the park, trying to collect her thoughts. Her mind had certainly been jolted. She thought about what Dr. Bliss had told her, and she thought about Arnold. Helga now knew beyond any doubt that Louis understood her problems, and that Olga would listen to him. And hey, if Arnold gave him his stamp of approval, then that said something didn't it? Still, what did she even want to say? What did she even want to begin with?

These thoughts began to run away with Helga as she walked, and she did not even notice that she'd made it back home. Sighing, she slowly opened the door and stepped into the foyer. A few steps later and there she saw him sitting on the couch. The two shared a tense stare.

"Hey." Louis finally greeted somewhat somberly.

"...Hey." Helga greeted back monotonically. "So...where's Olga?"

"Still in her room. She has some thinking to do." He answered. "By the way I...heard your footsteps outside her room. You were listening to our conversation."

Helga appeared shocked. "Does she know I was out there?" She asked frantically.

"No." Louis answered.

"You're not gonna tell her are you?!"

"Not if you don't want me to."

Helga breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, why don't we go take a walk and talk?" Louis asked.

"Why?" Helga asked defensively.

"Because Olga's important to me and I don't want to see her like this. I think maybe I can help, and help you too."

Helga began to grumble with her arms folded.

"C'mon, I'll buy you something to eat."

Helga sighed, but reluctantly decided to go along.

"OK...how did you know?" Helga asked the obvious. They wandered back to where Helga began - the park, after getting a couple of slices of pizza to go.

"Based on some of the things Olga's told me, and my own observations. You'd need to be an idiot or otherwise impaired to miss it. I'm sorry, Helga, that you need to live with that every day."

A whirlwind of emotions raced through Helga. She only looked up at him somberly, without much to say. Finally, thinking to say something, she opened her mouth and these words came out: "How come you can see it, and Olga can't?"

"I won't and can't answer for her. I'll leave that between the two of you. Although I will say that Olga can be a bit myopic at times."

"Hmph. Try all the time." Helga growled and finished off her slice of pizza as the two approached the bridge over the park's lake. "You know Louis, I didn't want to say this, but Phoebe was right."

Louis looked at her quizzically.

"You really do seem like a well-adjusted individual. So that only makes me wonder. Why? Why are you with Olga? How can you not notice what I do? She's overbearing and annoying as the day is long!"

Louis chuckled slightly.

"I mean why would somebody like you have any interest in such a bubbly airhead?!"

Louis continued to chuckle. "Helga, this may or may not come as a shock to you, but I've been out with a lot of girls."

Helga frowned.

"Your sister is the only one I've ever truly liked."

"But why?!"

"Well, that thing you said about me being a well-adjusted individual? It wasn't always so. You probably think that I'm naturally this way, that I was always like this. That's nothing like the truth at all. Up until the time I was eighteen? I was a wimpy little nerd that totally lacked self-confidence."

Helga's eyes widened at this.

"If you care to see my meaning, take a look at this. I keep this picture so that I can compare myself to the person I once was and recognize how far I've come."

Louis took out a small picture from his wallet. To Helga's shock, he looked like a sloppy, scrawny, awkward nerd. She had to blink twice, looking up from the picture to Louis, and repeating the process several times. He looked like a totally different person!

"That was you?!" Helga asked, still finding it hard to believe.

"Yep."

"But that's...that's incredible!"

"It is. It was when I entered college that my older brother really took me under his wing. It was my brother that turned me into the man I am today - physically and mentally. You think I'm impressive? Well, my brother's a hundred times the man I'll ever be."

The matter-of-factness and confidence in his tone was all Helga needed to know to realize that this brother of his must really be something to see. But how...?

"How does this concern Olga, you're thinking?" Louis smirked.

Helga nodded.

"Well you see Helga, my brother Henry's a Navy SEAL."

Helga's face lit up at this.

"Which indeed, SOUNDS cool." He glanced down at her. "And it is. Don't get me wrong. I'm extremely proud of my brother. It only makes perfect sense that he's one of our country's very best men. But, there's a dark side to this too..."

Louis looked down into the waters of the lake, his expression saddened, which again Helga was surprised at.

"You see, I have to worry about him all the time. And trust me it isn't easy." He turned to Helga. "My brother is extremely important to me. The bond we have is something that even Olga can't approach. My brother is my idol and hero. He taught me how to be a man. Our father died when we were very young you see, and my brother was the guidance I needed. He took my potential and brought it out of me. The fact that he figured it all out perfectly on his own just shows how great he really is..."

Helga looked on at him surprisingly sympathetically.

"If anything were to happen to him the loss would be more than I can bear. The fact that he's in special forces and I need to be kept in the dark about most of his missions doesn't make the situation any better. It's a lot of weight to carry, Helga."

"So...where does Olga come into all of this...?" Helga squeaked. She didn't quite know how to handle this.

"Well, one night I received news that my brother's SEAL Team was going to be deployed to a high-risk area. I didn't really know where it was, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Bosnia or some other place. Anyway, naturally, this is the type of news where I get the most anxious. I generally just retreat and am beside myself with apprehension. But that night was different you see..."

Helga was quite anxious to hear him finish his story.

"Olga came over. And do you know what she said to me?"

Helga shook her head, her eyes wide as saucers.

"She told me that she was really glad I was in her life, and then with the sweetest, most genuinely kind-hearted voice and smile you could possibly imagine, she told me that whatever happened from that point forward, she'd be right there with me."

Helga raised her eyebrow at this. Louis smiled down at her.

"And that's something I'll never forget for as long as I live." He said with a serious expression, looking back at the lake. "Don't sell your sister short, Helga. Yes, there are at times when she does...lack social intelligence, but we all have our faults, and it's one I've forgiven her for. Your sister's a beautiful girl, but I've been with a lot of beautiful girls. She's smart and talented, but I've been with a lot of smart and talented girls too. What really drew me to Olga was the kindness and the warmth in her heart that's entirely genuine. The affection she shows is something to be treasured. You won't find that in very many places, Helga. It brightens my whole day just by being around it. Sure, maybe your sister made some mistakes and maybe she couldn't quite utilize her intentions properly, but all the same, you should give her another chance, and be open on your own end too."

Helga looked downward at the ground.

"Oh and well, Olga can cook up some mean food. It's hard to not be enamored by that." Louis grinned.

Helga sheepishly smiled.

"The point is Helga, that we all have our own problems, but with the proper mindset and support, and the willingness to put in the work, we can overcome most of them. I overcame my own unhappiness and so will you - if you want to. Olga is very concerned about you, Helga. She's told me many times that she loves you dearly. Want to hear something else?"

Helga only nodded.

"That night I told you about, where Olga came to comfort me after my brother's SEAL Team was deployed in that danger zone? She was later crying because she was so happy. But she also mentioned that she felt guilty, because she 'left you there with them.'"

Helga's eyes looked like they would bulge out of her skull.

"I...I never expected that from Olga..."

Louis smiled.

"There's a lot you wouldn't expect from her, and a lot she doesn't expect from you. What I've noticed about the two of you is that both of you don't seem to give each other enough credit. Olga routinely underestimates your intelligence and isn't responsive to your needs. You on the other hand seem quite defensive, to the point where you just don't let her in despite her good intentions. Maybe there's a good reason for that, but I think the two of you should have a nice, long talk, just like we're doing now."

"That might be hard." Helga answered.

"It might, but think what you can gain if you work everything out. You'll have a sister who loves you."

Helga looked downward.

"My relationship with my brother is the most important thing in my life. He brought out my potential and turned me around. Of course I can't guarantee that Olga will do for you what Henry did for me, but I think you guys do need each other. Only the two of you share the same experience of growing up in that house, and that matters a lot."

"...Why are you doing this?" Helga asked skeptically, but weakly.

"Because I want to help Olga." Louis replied. "And well...I think she's right. You deserve better."

Helga looked meekly down at the lake, again.

"That didn't stop you from stealing the spotlight of my play the night you came with your grand entrance!" Helga huffed.

"In case Olga didn't tell you, entering like that was not my intention. I just needed to go to the bathroom, so I came in a bit later." Louis smirked.

Helga widened her eyes and then slowly smirked back.

"Olga didn't mean to either. When she came in, people just swarmed her. That tends to happen. She actually complained to me about it at Chez Paris afterward."

The two shared a light laugh.

"Helga, for what it's worth, I thought your play was great. It was both very creative and historically accurate. I would never expect that sort of thing to come from a ten-year-old. You're very talented."

Helga gazed up at him, then looked down at the water again.

"Oh, by the way. I saw that you like Wrestle-Mania. You were watching it on TV the other day."

"You like Wrestle-Mania?" Helga asked with an involuntarily hopeful look.

"Yeah, sometimes." Louis grinned. "It isn't as good as it was when I was a kid, but it's a nice diversion every now and then."

"You watched all those guys when you were a kid huh? Yeah, I wish I could've seen some of that stuff." Helga answered enthusiastically. "Guys like the Cavalier and the Olympian Freak."

"The guys now have nothing on them. I assure you." Louis grinned.

"Yeah, Slam Jam VI is coming up real soon. I wanted to go last year but...other circumstances got in the way." Helga finished, not admitting the events with her father leading up to his well-intentioned mishap.

"Hmmm..." Louis thought, before observing his surroundings. The sky was getting pink as the sun made its daily retreat. "C'mon, it's getting late, you better get back home."

The two began to walk out of the park. A few blocks away from the Pataki household, Helga bumped into someone and fell to the ground.

"Oh, sorry Helga!" A voice she loved beyond anything sounded out, like music to her ears.

"Arnold?!" Helga responded dreamily as he helped her up. "I mean...watch where you're going football head! Are you blind or something?!"

Arnold sighed. "It was an accident Helga." He then noticed a chuckling Louis. "Oh, hi!" He greeted, surprised to see him with Helga.

"Nice to see you again." Louis responded.

"Well, I better get going...I'll see you later Helga."

Arnold walked off, and Helga swooned for a millisecond before frowning once more. Louis was still chuckling.

"What do you find so funny?!" Helga gritted.

"Nothing." Louis dismissed with a smirk. "Well, this is as far as I go." He declared after the two walked a few more blocks and came upon the porch of the Pataki household.

"You're not coming in?" Helga asked, surprised.

"Nah, I have an early meeting with another client tomorrow morning and I don't want Olga trying to tie me down." He grinned.

Helga looked up at him apprehensively.

"You'll be fine." He assured. Just talk to her like you talked to me. "You feel better now, don't you? You'll feel even better after that, trust me."

Louis looked at Helga one more time and then began to walk away. He did not look back. Helga sighed and took a deep breath as she walked up the steps of her porch and opened the front door.