Today she'd have to say goodbye to that ally.

Helga was pulled from her thoughts when she felt someone tugging at her hand.

"It's our turn," Arnold explained as he led her through the halls of the hospital and they made their way into Eugene's room.

His mom was sitting on the armchair next to her son, tearfully holding his hand while Eugene's father stoically stared out the window.

Helga had told herself she would be strong when she walked into this room. Eugene, who had grown to be a brother of sorts, would not have wanted to see her in such a state. But as soon as she laid eyes on his frail form, wires attached in all directions, she burst into tears.

She grasped Eugene's warm hand in hers, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You were right and I just didn't want to hear it. I was being such a coward." She inhaled deeply before starting again. "It was so petty of me to be late to your performance. I didn't even get to tell you how amazing you were, how much I loved every second."

Eugene's mom extended her arm from the other side of the bed and placed it on top of Helga's hand. "Oh sweetie, he knew." She tearfully said. "Helga your friendship meant everything to him."

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Horowitz, he was doing so much better. I never expected-"

Mrs. Horowitz began to shake with tears, Arnold quickly moved to comfort the grieving mother. Her husband lost in his own grief, blind and deaf to everything happening around him.

Composing herself some time later, she touched Arnold's cheek and said, "Thank you dear. You both were always there for my boy when it mattered, I can't thank you enough."

A nurse walked into the room, "If you want to be able to let everyone come through, you only have about a minute or two left." She told the pair regretfully.

Helga allowed Arnold his goodbyes.

When it was her turn she leaned towards Eugene and wrapped her arms around him as best as she could, enveloping him in a hug. "Goodbye Eugene," She tearfully whispered in his ear. "I love you. I'll see you on the other side." She kissed his forehead and then exited the room with Arnold at her side.

To Helga's surprise, Phoebe and Gerald were still lingering in the waiting room. She made eye contact with her former best friend and watched as she nudged the boy next to her, signaling to him that they were approaching. The group headed outside and towards the parking lot of the hospital before anyone spoke.

"It's four am and the Horowitz are hosting a celebration of life the day after tomorrow at noon. Are you gonna be there or are you just going to disappear again?" Gerald directed the question towards Helga, his tone angry.

"Gerald!," both Phoebe and Arnold exclaimed simultaneously.

"What? We shouldn't know? Shouldn't we prepare ourselves for the queen's departure?" He asked cruelly.

Helga felt her eyes start to burn and her throat felt tight. If you had told nine year old Helga that Gerald was capable of making her cry, she would have scoffed. But right now the threat of tears was too real, and while Arnold had witnessed her display of raw emotion, she wasn't sure she was ready for Gerald and Phoebe to witness that. Especially if her tears were caused by his anger and words.

She managed to clear it enough to say, "I'll see you there, but right now I've got to go." She cringed as she heard her voice crack and turned away from them towards her car as a single traitor tear escaped down her right cheek. She quickly wiped it away and as she began to take her first step, a hand wrapped around her arm stopped her.

"You don't have to go," Arnold pleaded, trying to get her to look at him.

Helga met his gaze with a watery smile. "Yes I do," her voice cracked again, "but you have my number. I'll see you soon."

She walked across the lot towards her car, no one spoke until they watched her exit the parking lot.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Arnold asked Gerald angrily. He'd always been great at keeping his composure, but the night had been long and he was angry his best friend had behaved the way he had towards Helga.

Gerald scoffed, "What's wrong with me? Don't you mean what's wrong with her? We haven't seen her for six years and she just gets to waltz back in like nothing happened! What does she know about Eugene? She hasn't seen him since we were eleven, and I'm just supposed to believe the wounded bird act? Give me a break."

Arnold was having a hard time digesting the cruel words coming from his best friend. He knew deep down Gerald wasn't this cruel, he knew he was lashing out due to some unknown motive or emotion. His best friend's assumptions annoyed him, but it wasn't his business to divulge the significance of Eugene and Helga's relationship, not that he was privy to any information other than what he'd overheard in the hospital room.

Instead he chose to keep his composure, "You didn't have to be so callous. You hurt her feelings Gerald."

That much was obvious to Arnold even if Helga would never admit it.

"Why do you even care!" Gerald huffed angrily.

Phoebe flinched at his outburst and took a step back from him. Gerald felt regret at having frightened his long-time girlfriend, but still couldn't shake his feelings when it came to Helga.

"I'm sorry, it's just after everything she did to you? After she hurt Phoebe the way she did, she just comes back like nothing happened?" He spat angrily.

"Phoebe hurt her too!" Arnold argued. "You think we were hurt? You think it's some contest about who had it worse? She found them, Gerald! It's bad enough knowing my parents and grandparents are gone, but I never had to see what she saw. None of us did!"

"He's right, Gerald," Phoebe spoke up. "We were kids, and despite how you feel about her, she has true horrors in her past that I wouldn't wish on anyone." Phoebe stared longingly at the spot her childhood confidant had occupied moments before.

"So that's an excuse now?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Of course not! We all made mistakes," Phoebe clarified.

"Why don't you just tell us why you're so angry?" Arnold challenged. "Just let it out, come on!"

"So just like that, she gets to come back and insert herself and all is forgiven? Well no, not me! I don't trust her and I'm not going to pretend I do. I'll be here when she shows her true colors. She's a mean girl, that's what she's always been. Tigers don't change their stripes." Gerald huffed angrily.

Phoebe turned her back to them and steelily said, "I'm going home."

"Phoebe-" Gerald pleaded.

She continued on, ignoring his plea. She felt anger and while she recognized Gerald's comments hurt, she knew he was allowed to feel how he felt. Yet, she wasn't sure how they would move forward. Having Helga back in her life even for just a couple of hours reaffirmed how much her absence had affected her. She wasn't willing to give that up without a fight.

Gerald watched her walk away before turning back to his best friend, "Arnold, come on-"

"Look Gerald," Arnold interrupted him, "You've been my best friend since pre-k, so I've just got to let you know that you're wrong."

Gerald sighed in annoyance, it seemed nobody was on his side.

"I know what you're going to say," Arnold continued, "that I'm too trusting. But Gerald, are you the same person you were when you were eleven? Are you the same brother you were before Timberly got sick? No you're not. And I know you're going to say that foundationally you are. Maybe that's true, but that just proves my point further."

"How? All I know is that foundationally Helga is a mean girl."

"That's the thing Gerald, you never knew anything about Helga." He noticed his best friend was about to protest so he continued. "You're right, she bugged me a lot when we were kids, so trust me when I say that apart from Phoebe I probably knew her best. While yes she was mean, did you ever notice she was always there when it really mattered?"

"Why would I notice anything about Helga G. Pataki?"

"Exactly, so what gives you the right to judge her then?"

"Look, all I'm saying is how can we trust her not to do it again? And how can you just stop feeling angry about it? I just don't know how." Gerald admitted.

"All we can do is give her the benefit of the doubt."

Gerald nodded, his head down shamefully. He was willing to try, but not for Helga's sake, for Phoebe and Arnold.

Helga was a blubbering mess of tears the entire way home. She collected herself enough to leave her car and make it inside where she was met by Olga who looked worried sick.

"Where were you? It's the middle of the night! There was a horrible accident on Route 22 involving a hit and run, I called Helga. I called and called and you didn't pick up. Do you know how worried I was?"

Hearing those words sent Helga over the edge, she ran headfirst into Olga's arms and started to sob and wail uncontrollably.

Olga had only heard her sister cry like this once before, it was the type of cry that put a pit in your stomach and broke your heart all at once.

She worriedly grabbed Helga's tear-stained face and cupped her cheeks, "Tell me baby sister, tell me."

"It was Eugene," Helga managed to blubber in between sobs, her admittance only making her cry harder.

Olga held her baby sister tightly against her chest as she continued to cry, her silent tears drowned out by Helga's horrible sobs.

She gently guided her towards the living room and laid down with her on the couch, spooning her baby sister until her cries subsided and Helga eventually fell asleep.

Olga however lay wide awake, staring at her sister. Admiring and appreciating her beauty and how very lucky she was to just get to lay here and stare.

She felt a mixture of heartbreak and guilt. Eugene had been such a light in Helga and her life throughout the last year, and she couldn't even imagine the thought of him being gone. However, she felt extreme guilt at the relief she felt when Helga walked through the front door, knowing Mrs. Horowitz would never feel that way again.

Her musings were interrupted by the vibrations of her cell phone. It was Mrs. Horowitz, Olga kissed her sister's forehead affectionately and slipped into the other room to take the call.

She had a short conversation with Mrs. Horowitz. She wondered if Helga was up to speaking at Eugene's memorial, and while Olga was sure she knew the answer, she let Mrs. Horowitz know she'd ask her once she woke up. They ended the call with plans for Olga to help at the ceremony.

The next day was a very quiet day for the two sisters. Helga threw herself into making sure every part of her speech was perfect, she didn't want to have any regrets, so she decided to speak like no one but Eugene was listening.

She had a missed call from Arnold, followed by a text that read, 'If you need to talk, I'm here.'

'Thanks, but I'm just not ready.' She responded before shutting her phone off.

Tomorrow she'd have to say goodbye to her best friend, and unlike the last funeral she'd attended she'd have to pull herself together and be strong. She wasn't sure if it was the grief talking, but for once she didn't care what anyone would think about her words. She would be authentically herself.