The next few years of Helga's life were a rollercoaster of ups, downs and sharp turns. Yet every time thing got hectic, she managed to get back upright and look forward to the future.

It was something that had everyone stunned; as cynical as it was to think, many genuinely didn't believe she had it in her to keep going. Many people, specifically the adults, gossiped about her. They believed that she would either live a life of turmoil caused by trauma, or even go as far to commit suicide. They believed that she'd become some sort of addict, or her crippling psychological state would lead her to spend most of her adult life institutionalized. People who suffered like Helga didn't get better, they broke, they crumbled, they repeated cycles. They were doomed from the start, like some sort of sick narrative flow. People like Helga don't recover, so when she began recovering in spite of how difficult it was, the naysayers were left eating their own words off a china plate.

It was hard, and there were many times where it felt like she couldn't.

Such as the first time she had Minnie confiscated. The teacher was new, a young woman who had no clue who Helga was or her story, as far as she was concerned, Helga was just some kid playing with a toy in class. So she most certainly did not expect for the girl to fall to the ground in a fit of heavy pants and tears when she snatched the stuffed animal away and placed it on her desk. It was a mental break no one — or at the very least, none of her school mates — had ever seen from her before. The way she shook, the sound of her pained sobs, the fact that even after Minnie was returned, it took her at least an hour and a half before she calmed down. It showed that even through the progress she was making, she was hurt, she was broken, and it would take more than some well wishes and a few months for everything to go back to normal.

It took the kids a while to realize this, that what Helga went through was too severe, too scarring for her to get over in a year. It took them a while to understand why she still wouldn't hug or kiss Arnold, only choosing to hold his hand occasionally, it took them a while to understand why she still wouldn't come to the theatre with them, and why she was so afraid of being put in a dark room. Helga's physical injuries may have mostly healed, but the psychological bruises left by the abuse would take years to begin healing. Once they understood that, they became more patient with her, more empathetic.

Helga's story never truly faded from the public eye, it became a cultural tale in true crime, like the Madeleines and JonBenéts. She may not have died, but it was still infamous in its own right; Amelia often thought of suing those who made bootleg YouTube documentaries sensationalizing the case, blasting Helga's name and story as though she were just some fictional girl that shot a man in some passionate pursuit of martyrdom. However, the girl always shrugged it off and told her that it wasn't that serious.

Speaking of Amelia, true to her word, once Miriam lost all custody of Helga, she was quick to begin the task of officially adopting her. Despite what the girl feared, Olga never did try and become a legal guardian to Helga, in fact after the incident, the woman changed her name and disappeared from the public eye, leaving Helga to spend most of her adolescence occasionally pondering on what could have possibly happened to her. It made the girl beyond ecstatic to say that Amelia Bliss was now officially her mother. She may not have called her that, usually sticking to Amelia or Bliss, but it just felt so right to introduce her as her mom.

There were many things that Helga went on to suffer through unlike many girls her age; when she began menstruating, it was irregular, with her often going months at a time without having a period. According to her gynecologist, this was most likely a result of damage done to her uterus, as well as a symptom of her likely infertility. Though it hurt to think of the long lasting consequences, she'd often joke that she was lucky she didn't go through it was regularly as other girls, even if the times it did happen were very uncomfortable. Puberty began hitting her a lot faster than expected, though she didn't know the exact reasoning, she had read that this was common among victims of her calibre, something about the body speeding up puberty in response to it. It was probably pseudo-science, but it still bothered her that she was still awkwardly taller and more "grown up" than her peers.

Her and Lila had become a lot closer, feeling like only they could understand each other. She'd tell Lila about how she hated growing breasts and hips so fast, how it made her feel that much more sexually deviant compared to the other girls. Lila would tell her how she'd ask herself why any of it happened, and if she had truly done something to deserve it — maybe it was her clothing, maybe she was acting too coy, she'd been told she had a habit of being a 'tease'. They found it sad, that this was what brought the two opposing forces together, but they soon found themselves bonding over other things, a shared interest in literature, an appreciation for the arts. Eventually, the duo went from seeing each other as venting vessels to actually being friends.

School seemed to get harder for her as the years went by, middle school was fine, she had her friends and she had Arnold, and as she began improving mentally, she found herself actually mingling with other students outside of her safety net friendship group. It wasn't until high school that things began deteriorating. Perhaps it was because the students at her school didn't know her or her story, but the caution everyone exercised around her was now gone.

Helga had gotten fairly pretty, though admittedly she still didn't put too much effort into her appearance aside from the bi-weekly brow shave. This had always been the case, but boys knew not to approach, aside from her already having a boyfriend, they knew how uncomfortable she would be. High school boys didn't think the same way, these were strangers who knew next to nothing about her other than she was pretty which according to them made her deserving of groping and having inappropriate comments thrown at her. It only took a month of high school for the confidence she had gathered over the years to almost entirely shatter.

It wasn't just the boys scaring her, it was comments that were thrown at her for the quirks she had developed over the years. She still carried around Minnie, and though it was once seen as endearing, the more pompous students found it funny that someone of her age went everywhere with a stuffed animal. They often criticized her clothing, wondering why she seemed to adamant on not wearing anything that showed arms or legs. Was it bullying? Almost, she heard their slick insults when she walked passed; a few students had found out about her history, and while most were aware that it was a tragic piece of knowledge, the more vindictive ones gossiped. Such as the time Allison Wentworth tried to say Helga was in an incestuous relationship with her father and killed him out of jealousy.

Now, Helga may have been suffering from a myriad of mental health issues, and she may have been prone to anxiety, but she never stopped being Helga. So it came as no surprise when her and a now older and sassier Rhonda confronted the spiteful loud-mouth and gave her a piece of their mind. Rhonda was another one that Helga had bonded with, mostly due to Rhonda's newfound habit of keeping her protected from the nastiness of school gossip, even she knew when a line was crossed. Allison never outwardly antagonized Helga again, but it didn't stop the gossiping, it just meant that they all kept it quiet enough to where Helga wouldn't hear about it.

Though the behavior from the brash boys and gossiping girls made Helga feel overwhelmed and upset, she would always remind herself that she had her friends with her every step of the way. Her and Phoebe never drifted apart, they still spoke daily and hung out almost every second of the day, even when Phoebe finally began seeing Gerald, their friendship didn't slow down. Even up to high school, her and Arnold were still together, and as the years went by she found herself becoming more physically affectionate with him, her fearful walls being broken by his unwavering patience and kindness. Arnold found it funny, most boys his age were seeking sexual relationship with girls, while he was just happy that he could now cuddle and kiss his girlfriend again without her trying to hide away from him.

There were days where she felt guilty, as if she had forced all of her friends to grow up too fast. She wondered if she ruined their teenage years, Arnold quit doing sports when he realized it meant he couldn't walk her home after school, there were many parties and get togethers the others had actively declined attending because she felt too overwhelmed to go. She feared that she was dragging them down with her, but every time they would assure her that it was all on their own accord, and that she wasn't at fault. She wasn't a complete hermit, she found herself partaking in many school activities, such as the creative writing club, and even starred in the school's performance of Wicked alongside Lila. Ironically, Helga played Glinda, and Lila played Elphaba.

Once you looked past the typical cruelness of high school, Helga was a normal teenager. It made her happy, normal was all she had ever wanted.

After turning eighteen, Helga decided she wanted to give back to Amelia for all the years of love and support she had given her. It was Amelia's own birthday when Helga handed her a binder with some documents in it. When the older woman opened it, she noticed that they were all official documentation for Helga, a passport, drivers license, ID card, college acceptance letters, but there was one key detail about all of them that made the older woman's eyes widen in shock and glee. Instead of saying Helga Geraldine Pataki, they said Helga Geraldine Bliss.

Amelia could only hug Helga tightly, a wave on gratitude hitting her so hard that droplets of joyous tears escaped her eyes. She muttered, "Helga Bliss..." quietly to herself, the name sounding perfectly pretty, a fitting one for her daughter.

Helga could only chuckle and hug her back, saying in between laughs, "I thought it would make more sense to have the same name as my mom."

Amelia would probably never fully grasp how much she meant to her, she wasn't just her adoptive mother, she wasn't just the nice therapist who took her in, to Helga, Amelia was her savior. Had it not been for the woman encouraging her to get out of bed every day, for giving her a warm home to come to whenever the world got rough, her holding her hand and helping her through all the pain, torment and anguish that came as a result of all she had went through, she wondered if she would even be alive. Amelia wasn't just her guardian, she was her mother in every sense of the word, and Helga took nothing but pride in telling everyone that.

Life seemed to calm down for Helga post high school graduation. She began attending Bartlett College for her English literature undergraduate. She decided to commute from home, unsure if she could handle the pressure of living on campus with a stranger, but she still managed to become accustomed to the lifestyle. Funnily enough, it was Lila of all people who came to the same college she did, though the redhead was doing media studies. It was a tad hard not having her friends with her constantly anymore, but she no longer felt afraid and alone, in fact, she found herself making new friends as she settled into college life. Helga avoided parties, she had never been a partier and the horror stories she heard of frat bros spiking drinks and assaulting girls was enough to scare her away from it for good. This wasn't too much of a problem, since her newfound college friends didn't seem to party much either, so instead they spent their weekend visiting lounges and crashing at each other's places.

It was during her second year of college when there was a knock at the door, Amelia was in bed so it was Helga that went to open it. Once open she saw a brunette woman with long hair, though it was currently stringy and unkempt, her face was smeared in makeup and tears, and the right side of her face was swelling profusely. Her clothing was drenched in rain, and consisted of a large t-shirt and sweatpants, yet all she wore on her feet were oversized crocs. Even in such an unkempt, pitiful appearance, Helga could still tell it was Olga — or her new name, Diana Shevchenko.

Her sister could only weep softly, just barely mustering the strength to say, "please... I have nowhere else to go."

It was a sad story. According to Olga, after the trial she was so racked with guilt that she couldn't bare to even be in the same state as Helga. When she moved, she changed her name and attempted to lay low by working as a school teacher, giving up her budding Broadway career. There, she met a new man, one that she soon found herself marrying. Helga didn't need Olga to tell her what sort of man he ended up being, the black eye her sister had was proof enough. Olga managed to escape, taking a bus to Hillwood and coming to the only place she felt safe, the Bliss residence.

A more bitter and vengeful side of Helga wanted to throw the woman out, to lock the door and force her to face her problems all alone, this side of Helga wanted to put Olga through exactly what Helga had went through all of her childhood. Instead, she covered the woman with a blanket, and went upstairs to get Amelia. Olga stayed with the duo for a while, she was lucky, due to some complications surrounding her name change, the marriage to her husband wasn't actually legally recognized, so she didn't have to go through the process of divorcing him. Helga had expected her to stay with them for much longer, but it only took a few months for Olga to gather her bearings and find a quaint little apartment in Hillwood.

In the time they lived together, the sisters had tried to rekindle their relationship; though it was difficult, admittedly they had never really been close, and the abuse Helga suffered only succeeded in shattering the little bond they actually had. Helga simply couldn't bring herself to like Olga fully, whenever she saw her, she saw the girl that got it all growing up. Olga was loved, protected and respected, Bob would have never laid a finger on her and if he did, Miriam would not have hesitated to call the police. Whenever she saw Olga, she saw the big sister who was never there for her, who never asked how she was doing or checked up on her to make sure everything was okay, she saw the big sister that was too busy play older sibling to a completely different girl to care about her actual 'baby sister'.

That sort of bitterness was hard to let go of, and she was sure that she would never truly get over that animosity. Helga knew she would never really like Olga, she couldn't bring herself to be around the woman for too long and conversation was out of the picture, but deep down she felt that they would always have some sort of sisterly bond, a bond that told her it was only right to be by her side as she recovered from her abusive marriage, that it was only right to visit Olga weekly and make sure she was doing well.

It was during her last year of college when Amelia started seeing someone. He was a taxi driver named Martin Fordson who Amelia had met on her way home once, the woman had been too drunk to drive so she used a taxi service instead. Helga had to admit, they were a nice couple. Martin was an attractive man, with deep brown skin and curly black hair that he often tied back, we was definitely easy on the eye. Helga stayed out of the older couple's business, but based on everything she did learn they seemed happy, and considering she also got along well with the polite and introspective Martin, she absolutely approved of her mother's new relationship.

Things only seemed to look up for Helga after she graduated. Her and Arnold were still as in love as they had been when they were preteens, her friendships had all stayed solid despite the time passed, and she was even able to land a book deal with a fairly well known publishing house. At first she was worried, fearing they wanted some sort of tell-all memoir where she went into detail about her struggles, but no, they were alright with her just sending in fiction manuscripts that she was passionate about. Helga was surprised by how little her past affected certain aspects of her life, she was never hounded, in fact most people had either forgotten or didn't know. It wasn't haunting her nearly as harshly as she thought it would.

It was always there though, lingering. Such as the time her and Arnold first had sex. It was almost surreal, they had been together for a decade and had never moved passed making out, and even stranger Arnold didn't seem to mind. Helga could only imagine how lucky she was, most men wouldn't be with a woman they couldn't sleep with, yet Arnold was still patient and understanding. Which was why on their anniversary, Helga told him that she wanted to try having sex for the first time. It was awkward, and in all honesty she was afraid — but she knew that she would always be afraid of this, and the only way to conquer the fear was to face it head on.

Arnold was at a loss for words, but when he realized she was completely serious, he pulled her into a hug and promised he would try to make it as enjoyable as he could, and if at any point she felt overwhelmed then all she had to was say so and he would stop, no matter how much he enjoyed himself. It was as awkward as one would expect, they were both technically virgins, with one party's only experience with sexual activity being childhood assault, but they took it slowly. They made sure to study each other, learning what got which reaction, and what was not liked. Helga required a lot of preparation, and when it was finally time for him to enter her, he learned she preferred it slow, intimate, with him hugging her the entire time. Despite the rocky start, it had been an overall pleasurable, happy experience. This was sex, a pleasurable moment between her the man she loved, she had finally had real sex for the first time and she liked it.

The next morning, Arnold panicked at their lack of protection, fearing that they may have made a bad decision. It was then when Helga was forced to sit down and explain to him that she was classified as infertile, something she had been grappling with since she was thirteen. The news came as a shock to Arnold, but when he saw the clear humiliation and sorrow boil into his girlfriend's eyes, he was quick to pull her into a tight embrace, kissing her delicately on the forehead.

"It's alright," he soothed, as she whimpered about them not being able to have a real family, "we have a family, you are my family, and no amount of you being unable to carry a child stops that. I love you, all of you."

He assured her that if kids ever came into the picture, they could adopt, or even find other ways to have children, and that he thought no less of her. Again, Helga could only be grateful that she was with such an angel.

So, it wasn't long until Arnold proposed. It was on Valentine's day, he had brought her to a beautiful restaurant where the dress code required guests to wear their gala best. So, in her soft peach evening gown, Helga could only fall to her knees in tears of joy when her true love pulled out a diamond ring and asked for her hand in marriage. The restaurant could only cheer as Helga blubbered out her different variations of the word 'yes' and hugged him deeply.

It seemed that everything was going perfectly for her, she soon moved out of Amelia's home and into an actual house with Arnold, whom had left the boarding house to be looked over by his own parents in the wake of his grandparents' passing. Once they lived together, the now published author and her architect fiancée began planning for their future, more specifically the wedding. They had decided to hold the wedding in London, more specifically in Twickenham. Helga had always dreamed of getting married in the fairytale-like Strawberry Hill House. It would cost a pretty penny, but with some saving, and the lucky success of Helga's debut novel, the two were able to afford to book the place. With her dream venue booked, and a custom Vivienne Westwood wedding dress designed after Carrie Bradshaw's from Sex and the City, it seemed there was absolutely nothing that could ruin what was going to be the greatest day of her life.

"If you want, I can tell her to leave..."

It was the day of Helga and Arnold's wedding, the day in which the two would officiate their marriage in front of their friends and family, and at first it was going great. Sure, they were nervous, as any couple would be, but they had yet to develop cold feet, and after avoiding each other after their individual bachelor and bachelorette parties, they were just ready for her to walk down the isle so they could see each other. Helga had spent most of the day getting ready, hair, makeup, making sure her dress was alright. The known perfectionist was being especially busy today, and with Rhonda there to play the role of the critical stylist, and Lila and Phoebe trying to keep the peace, it was safe to say things were getting hectic.

Arnold and Helga were the first of their group to get married, so this was a whole new experience, there was a weird pressure for them to set a good example for the rest of the 'Hillwood Crew', as they dubbed themselves. This didn't help with Rhonda forcing herself into the role of wedding planner, though Helga couldn't complain, the haughty debutant was the one to help her with acquiring the dress. Just as things were beginning to calm down, her bridal chamber was invaded by a rare Olga. Helga had decided to invite her, though it took a lot of deliberating on it, she was eventually swayed by that feeling that told her it was only right.

Olga wore a simply white dress, with spaghetti straps on the shoulders and a skirt that reached just above her knees, she wore black leggings and white pumps, as well as a small white brooch in her hair. Helga was actually impressed that Olga had managed not to upstage her. Her older sister awkwardly fiddled with her purse, looking down as the group looked at her.

"Um, Helga?" Helga remembered her saying, "you see — um — someone wants to talk to you... and by someone I mean mother... Miriam..."

Helga had not seen Miriam since the day of her conviction. She knew that by now the woman would be out, living a new life and most likely under a new identity. Once she knew that the woman was out of her life for good, she refused to even acknowledge her existence. In fact, Olga calling her 'mother' annoyed her to her core, Helga had a mother, and that woman was Amelia Bliss, not Miriam Pataki.

Snapping back into reality, Helga shook her head, "no, don't worry... what does she want?"

"To talk apparently," Olga sighed, "she also looked like she had a gift."

Helga groaned, "and she had to pick my wedding day... whatever, tell her to come in. Girls, could you... leave? Just for a bit, I'd like to deal with this alone."

Instead of arguing on it, the trio nodded, telling her to let them know if anything happened before leaving with Olga, who went to collect Miriam. It was only a few minutes before Miriam entered the room. Helga immediately noticed major difference in her, she was clearly older now, with wrinkling becoming more apparent on her, and yet, she looked... healthy, that was it, she looked healthy. Her skin was a natural peach now, and her once vacant eyes were an electric and aware blue. Her hair was longer now, but it looked soft and well taken care of. She wore soft makeup as expected of an older lady, some lipstick and eye makeup at most. She wore a white sweater and long white skirt, and Helga noticed black boots on her feet.

Miriam sat down across from Helga, in her hands she held a wrapped box, and the woman couldn't bring herself to look at her biological daughter. Helga didn't glare, curse, get angry or even huff. She simply stared at her mother, who eventually looked up to meet her gaze, "you look beautiful," Miriam began, "like a princess, congratulations on the marriage, he seems like a... wonderful man."

"Thank you," Helga hummed, "did you need anything?"

Miriam fiddled with the box in her hands, "I brought this, um, it's a china tea set, as a wedding gift." She handed the box to the bride, who said her thanks before getting up to go and place it where the other presents had been put. When she went to sit back down, Miriam took in a breath, "I also wanted to say a few things. For once, I'm sober, have been for seven years now."

"Really? I could sort of tell, congratulations."

"Thank you," Miriam said, a small, knowing smile gracing her, "um, like I said earlier congrats on the marriage, I... truly am proud of you... and most importantly, I'm sorry."

Helga could only watch as the woman shuffled in place, "I was a bad mother, a selfish, airheaded, enabler of a mother who allowed you to be hurt so callously that if you attacked me right now I would understand. I've been trying to repent for all I did, in light of my sobriety journey I began doing weekly therapy that I still do, um, and just a lot of healing and self help stuff. I want to be better, not just health wise, but as a person, and I've been trying as hard as I can." Miriam then looked at the ground, "if you never forgive me, I will be at peace with that, knowing I deserve it. But I want you to know that from the bottom of my soul I mean it when I say that I'm sorry, and that I love you so, so much and I am proud of you and everything you've accomplished. You deserved better than me, than us, and based on the people I saw when coming here, you found exactly that."

The two sat in silence for a bit, giving Helga the chance to really process Miriam's words. For the first time in her entire life, one of her biological parents had told her that they were proud of her. It was something she never thought she would hear, but Miriam had said it, boldly and clearly. Miriam was about to get up, when Helga suddenly blurted, "I forgive you."

She was stunned, frozen even, "huh?"

"I won't forget, I never will," Helga candidly said, "and I don't know if I will ever trust you, but... I forgive you Miriam. I don't hate you, I don't want you punished, I don't wish you the worst... I'm still hurt, sometimes I have nightmares, sometimes I can't leave the house because my anxiety's that bad, and then I remember that I can't have kids and I begin crying... but even then, I... forgive you, and I'm willing to at least try and make amends."

Her biological mother could only stare at the bride, the now woman, the girl she had failed. The one she expected to scream at her to get the fuck out of her wedding was extending her forgiveness that Miriam was sure she didn't deserve. When she began sniffling, Helga was the one to initiate a hug, unable to contain the smile on her face. She couldn't remember the last time her and Miriam hugged. They then pulled apart, with Helga looking at her with her own glassy eyes.

"I say you join the ceremony, as a guest at least."

It was October 8th when Helga Bliss got married to the love of her life, Arnold Shortman.

When Helga realized she had no one to walk her down the isle, a few of their families offered to walk her, Miles, Amelia, and even Martin had all volunteered. She declined them all though, to her, she was starting a new life, one that included independence, one that required her to face it head on. So, Helga decided to walk the isle alone. With her bouquet in hand and her veil atop her head, the awe-inspiring bride slowly walked down the isle by herself to meet her groom. Followed by her flower girls — said flower girls being her college friend Marcy's twins — she could feel all eyes on her as though she were a royal princess making her public debut. Every second was pure euphoria for Helga, to look into her husband's eyes and vow to be with him through the hells of earth and beyond, to proclaim to the entire world that she would always love him, to finally kiss him after days of not seeing him. It could only be described as happiness.

It had been many years since then. The Shortmans had since settled down as a family, with Helga continuing her career in literature and Arnold rising up the notoriety ranks in the world of architecture. Just as Arnold promised, when the two couldn't have their own child, they had decided to instead go the route of adoption. The two had adopted and orphaned infant they named Cecilia, and even if she didn't birth her, Helga loved her like a mother the same way Amelia had loved her.

Cecilia was now seven, already growing to be quite the remarkable young girl. With a good school record and a habit of snark, she took a lot from her mother, which caused the evil female duo to often team up to pick on Arnold. He had since learned he could never defeat the ways of the Helga or the Cecilia, instead accepting his fate as the perpetual victim. They had fun, they were happy.

One day, Cecilia pointed at the calendar, specifically at the circled date, "oh, mommy's planning for Halloween!"

"No silly," Arnold laughed, "that's the 30th, remember? Mommy circled the 8th."

"Oh yeah..." Cecilia then squinted forward, only for Helga to giggle at how her shaggy brown hair covered her face, "then why did mommy circle the 30th? Oh! Is it aunt Fefe's birthday?"

Helga laughed, going over to pick the small girl up and hold her, "no, it's not a birthday, you see, October 8th is..."

Arnold looked to his wife, but her eyes told not tale of fear or worry. Instead, they were dreamy, happy, and at peace. Walking over, he could only hug her from behind, nestling his face into her neck.

His wife chuckled, facing her football-headed beau with a wonky, happy smile, "it's the day your father and I got married."

Who doesn't love reclaiming once troubling things and making them positive?

This ending is strangely personal to me, I was originally going to make a more cynical conclusion, one where — similar to the gossip — Helga's life begins to deteriorate as she gets older, but I soon realized I hated the idea of that lol. Sure, it would probably be more realistic I suppose, but I've never liked it when victimized people in stories spend their lives suffering, often dying in the name of their trauma. It feels very unfair, you're allowed to recover, you're allowed to get better, you aren't stuck in some Princess Tutu esq. narrative cycle where you're doomed to repeat the abuse inflicted on you or cursed to suffer for eternity. You deserve a happy ending, especially after going through so much.

At least, that's what I tell myself as motivation most days haha.

As for why I had Helga forgive Miriam, I am reminded of the Mother Wound theory, in which the pain and trauma carried by the mother is theoretically inherited by the child — specifically daughters — before said child is even born. The mother may then fail to be emotionally attuned with said child, causing the wound to manifest. Miriam is a victim, a victim who allowed herself to sit back as her child was being victimized, but a victim nonetheless. I hope this ending doesn't give off a certain impression, that is to say no one is entitled to your forgiveness, and this includes neglectful parents as well. However, I felt with Bob dead and Helga now truly being in a better place, her forgiving Miriam just made sense to me.

I hope you enjoyed, at least, as much as you could enjoy a story like this. I appreciate the support I got for this, I understand it wasn't everyone's cup of tea, so to the few that gave it a chance thank you, and I promise not to force anything this grim down your throat again.

Okay, that's a lie, I probably will, but it won't be anything like this. Love ya.

— Nicole