(no subject)
Title: Between the Lines
Fandom: Hey Arnold!
Pairing: Helga/Arnold. <3
Rating: Um, PG? I think. Maybe PG-13, for like, two vague references to sex. Really, these are very tame.
Warning: Nothing? Except the two vague references, I suppose.
Summary: My 1sentence project. Fifty sentences; fifty different realities, futures, and pasts for a pink-bowed bully and a kid with a football-shaped head.
Notes: OMGZ, I CANNOT BELIEVE I COMPLETED THIS. I'VE NEVER COMPLETED ANYTHING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. *__* Anyway, if you are not familiar with 1sentence and how it works, you claim a pairing and write fifty unrelated sentences using single-word prompts. It was quite fun
Also, I heavily abused punctation in this. So a lot of these are two or three sentences cleverly masquerading as one. XD They had to be one sentence, damnit!
[I would just like to include a bit of an explanation, concerning these. Quite a few people who participate in 1sentence write all of their sentences in perfect canon, in the same universe, within the same time period, as a continuing storyline, etc. I would just like to make it clear that these are NOT like that. None of the sentences are related to one another, and you'll see me contradict myself quite a few times (such as, I'll refer to certain characters as dead in one sentence, then as alive in another). I do this merely because I enjoy toying with different realities when I write this pairing; to me, Arnold/Helga is just so timeless, so open to any and all possibilities, and so I wrote each sentence has though it was its own little unique future (or past, or present) for them. Some of these take place when they're the same age as in the series; some when they're in high school, when they're adults, some when they're three years old. Some deal with the two being married; with NOT being married; with dating with high school. They're pretty much all over the place, so just take each sentence at face value, and if you just can't figure when something's taking place, feel free to ask. :)
Also, contrary to what I just said, there are a few sentences that ARE connected, as in, along the same storyline. These are #42, #43, and #50. All right, enjoy! <3]
i live here on my knees
as i try to make you see
that you're everything i think i need
here, on the ground
+ gravity, sara bareilles
o1; ring
someone is breathing softly beside her as she stirs from a good dream, and soft rings of light curl along a familiar face; "morning, football head," she whispers affectionately, and it is euphoria, it is the rest of her life, forever and ever and ever.
o2; hero
she's close to tears, trembling on this cold, sad street corner; suddenly, there's an umbrella above her head, a soft voiced, green-eyed hero smiling at her, and she may only be three years old, but Helga thinks i will love this boy until the day i die and means it.
o3; memory
Arnold sometimes thinks back on those days, those chaotic, playground-ridden days when she was a bully, cruel, loud, and he was always somehow in her way; he laughs when he realizes that even then, her name always managed to bring a smile to his face.
o4; box
much later in life, when they have finally fallen together, comfortably, happily, her fingers twitch along the corners of a worn box, and she asks him not to be frightened by what he's about to see -- she can only smile sheepishly, look out the window as he curiously regards a golden locket, countless sappy poems, every piece of used gum.
05; run
"let go of me," she demands, on the verge of tears ("i didn't mean any of that, i didn't, i was delirious, i wasn't right in the head!") and Arnold just keeps holding her hand, waits -- unwilling to let this secret keep burning between them.
o6; hurricane
she makes him promise that the honeymoon will be in Venice, a place she's already been to ten thousand times in good dreams; it storms every day, vicious winds beating at the flimsy windows, and when they finally do set foot in a gondola, Arnold falls out -- laughing, she wraps towel after towel around him, thinks, well, close enough.
o7; wings
Helga remembers one halloween in particular; six years old, and Miriam, having forgotten to buy a costume, found some cheap, broken fairy wings Olga had once worn -- she grudgingly endured the laughter from all the ghosts and witches and zombies, but then she ran into Arnold, a smiling pirate -- she can still hear say, "you look pretty," can still recall that beautiful, fleeting feeling of being able to fly, even with ugly wings.
o8; cold
once Arnold's gone, gone to san lorenzo, horribly, unmistakably gone, Helga doesn't feel angry or sad or strong any longer; she just feels cold, and it's worse than anything she's ever known.
o9; red
she dyes her hair in the seventh grade, dyes it a beautiful red color that reminds him of cute braids and soft green dresses; she smiles when he looks, as though there's a secret between him, and it leaves him jumbled inside.
1o; drink
it may be the crazy lights, or the dizzy, meshing forms, or the countless shots she's gulped down, but suddenly, she's a little more daring, a little less mindful, and when Phoebe sends him to collect her, she can't help but drag fingers through his soft hair, utter a thousand laughing i love you's before passing out.
11; midnight
"i can't see the stars," she muses, disappointed, sprawled on his roof; "they're out there," he assures her, and begins planning another city-wide blackout the next day.
12; temptation
the years keep passing, they keep getting older, and she thought it might soften, fade, but it's just harder, so much harder to stray herself from him; to stop every vibrant desire to take him in her arms and love his silly head, his dreaming eyes unconditionally.
13; view
Arnold's parents help him into the backseat, and he waves goodbye to his friends, clutches his suitcase, smiles so hard that his face begins to hurt, and it's all so happy but a stripe of pink lingers on the street corner, watches the car until it disappears around the corner, and for a moment, he wishes he wasn't leaving.
14; music
they take band in middle school; it's loud and challenging and chaotic and Helga loathes every second of it, but it gives her another hour to stare at the back of Arnold's head, wax poetics to him through music (which can be slightly challenging when you play the tuba).
15; silk
he watches her sleep amidst his soft sheets; watches every brief smile, trembles at every unconscious grasp for his hand, and wonders if this is what's like, to be in love.
16; cover
he's distracted, the car is speeding -- in an instant, he's on the ground, her body covering his; "you idiot," Helga hisses between clenched teeth, tries to act like it's no big deal, but he saw something genuine in her eyes, heard what she didn't say (i almost lost you, almost, almost).
17; promise
he's three years old, blissfully unaware of anything and everything, sleeping on his little blue mat during naptime; a little girl with a big pink bow curls up beside him, promises that one day, she will marry him, and he doesn't hear a word.
18; dream
she lingers in the back of the chapel, thinks of a dream, frayed at the edges, torn down the middle; looks up just in time to watch him kiss his beautiful bride.
19; candle
the storm rages, and Helga trembles in a corner, won't admit she's afraid; "i'll watch over you while you sleep," he offers; "in your dreams, football head," she counters, making a face; turns to hide her blush a moment before he blows out the candle.
2o; talent
poems were the only thing she was ever any good at -- they make her a small fortune as an adult, and she can't decide whether she's touched or disturbed by how many people identify with a little, angry girl's obsession with a little, quiet boy.
21; silence
she isn't afraid of confessing her secret; she's afraid that only silence will follow it.
22; journey
they've wondered through this vast jungle for hours, days, covered in mud, chilled to the bone; his parents are dead, and when he begins to cry, she cries with him, wraps her arms around him, refuses to let go.
23; fire
she began smoking the day he married someone else; after all, how do you fight one addiction but with another?
24; strength
they're in their teens, awkward, vibrant, barely comfortable -- she's sick of it, stands on his doorstep in the rain ("i've been in love with you since i was three.") and he smiles from his window, comes downstairs to offer her an umbrella ("i know.")
25; mask
Helga prides herself on being mean, loud, utterly unconquerable; Arnold watches her with a smile, knows better.
26; ice
they're too old for childish bullying, for silly nicknames now; still, she looks to him coldly (desperately) when they pass each other in the hall, and Arnold feels the chill, turns and watches the glimpse of pink until it's out of sight -- wonders what he ever did to her.
27; fall
after all's been said and done, after they've fought and laughed and felt everything there is to be felt, he realizes how beautiful she is when she smiles; slips in between the lines and takes her hand before the moment is gone.
28; forgotten
she hasn't seen him in years, has barely even thought of him, too consumed with all the world has to offer outside this place; back for a visit, she notices him on the street; tall, laughing, utterly gorgeous, looking in a store window, and even though she's twenty-three years old, she's reaching for a locket that isn't there any longer, resisting the urge to leap into the nearest dark corner and proclaim her love to the heavens.
29; dance
"like i would ever want to dance with you, football head," she sneers, scoffing at his open hand, splashing a bit of orange punch onto his shirt for laughs ("just this once -- don't say i never did you any favors," she sighs as he leads her out into the scattered light; hides her smile in each brief shadow.)
3o; body
"but, Helga, i need to finish my math," he lamely insists, following her all the while; she just smiles rather mischeviously, warm hands on his chest ("wouldn't you rather skip that stupid class?") and pulls him into the janitor's closet.
31; sacred
even as she grows older, calmer, less prone to violent soliloquies of love -- she keeps the shrine hidden in the back of her closet, spends sleepless nights against the closet door, basking in its sacred warmth; hoping to feel warm amidst all the darkness of his absence.
32; farewells
he doesn't want to say goodbye, to this girl with the soft, sad smile, who clutches her red shoe and looks to him with unabashed emotion, whose name is not Cecile, who bothers him with shadows of familiarity where there are none, where there must be none.
33; world
he talks of adventures, of jungles and planes and people he's never met who are waiting for him out there in that big, stupid world, and she doesn't know what to say, because her world contains only him.
34; formal
he begrudgingly waits at the bottom of the stairs, fiddling with his tie, unsure of just how she talked him into taking her to senior prom; she appears at last, draped in clinging silver, beautiful, flawless, and he forgets every ounce of anger -- as well as his own name.
35; fever
he collapses in the back of the bus after a long field trip, and he must be coming down with something, because he's feverish, delirious, he must be delirious, because he feels a soft hand on his brow, hears a mischevious whisper of "you won't remember this," and tastes lips covering his own; an incident easily forgotten in the chaos of his fever (Helga has the same fever in a few days' time, but it was worth it, so worth it).
36; laugh
sometimes, when she's wrapped up in wrinkled sheets, or glancing through old, crinkled photos (she was such an ugly, sad little girl), or safe in his arms, against his chest, listening to his heart beating -- she has to smile, has to throw her arms up and laugh until her head hurts, because she suffered through one hell of a childhood to reach this spot, and if it all led her to his heart, well, she wouldn't change a thing.
37; lies
they're in the second grade, and the nerd with the wide glasses won't stop asking if she likes the boy with the little blue hat -- Helga's sick of lying, sick of it all, so she just says "yes, yes, yes," and threatens to push the dweeb in front of a bus if she tells anyone ("the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Phoebe says, and Helga rolls her eyes.)
38; forever
it's nothing like her childhood fantasies; it's not in a huge church, her dress is an uncomfortable mess, and flowers aren't raining from the sky -- but then Arnold takes her hands in his, says "forever and ever," exactly like he did in that dream she had so long ago, and it's so perfect she could cry.
39; overwhelmed
"good night," she says rather reluctantly, and he waves from his stoop as she crosses the street; she stands there on the other side for only a moment before running back, swerving around honking cars, taking him in her arms and kissing him, so deeply that movie stars everywhere would be impressed ("very good night," he can't help but say, face red).
4o; whisper
it's as complicated as a scream for no help, as simple as a whisper along her neck; her hungry heart will not subside, and she goes right on loving him, like it's nothing at all.
41; wait
Arnold writes her letter after letter, detailing every single adventure, every new friend, every single moment she's missing as she wastes away in this awful city; Helga writes him letter after letter, filled with i can't breathe any longer and i'll wait, i'll wait forever if it means seeing you again and i love you, you moron, can't you see it? but she never mails them, never, and with each crumpled page, she hates herself a little more.
42; talk
they're going to die oh god they're going to die here in this hideous jungle, in this disease-ridden trap with not a scrap of dignity to their names; Arnold smiles bravely, says "it's okay, we're going to be okay," but she panics, thinks what the hell, and violently seizes him, saying "i have to tell you something, so shut up and listen."
43; search
as it turns out, they don't die; the search has ended, his parents are alive, and Helga should be happy, but she's too busy hiding in a tree, contemplating how much her life is very, very, very over.
44; hope
he goes out with other girls, so she goes out with other guys, and he thinks she must be over him, but the truth is that she never really gives up; she's just better at hiding it.
45; eclipse
"i love you," he says, and means it, he's never meant anything more -- "finally," she laughs, her smile like a lingering ghost in the darkness.
46; gravity
he's so good at being everything she thinks he needs, and it's frustrating, it's unbearable, it's -- her heart, held in his unassuming hands.
47; highway
she can't remember the crash, can't remember what it felt like to fly across the road in a runaway bus -- only that at the last moment, she drew herself close to him, wanting to save his life, be here next to him should the worst happen; she wakes to his strong voice, to Gerald, offering her a hand, and knows that they've made it.
48; unknown
maybe it's never really been a secret, she thinks one afternoon, discreetly watching him from a window as he plays tetherball with Sid; maybe he's known all this time and just plays along, keeps quiet -- he looks up at her, waves, and she ducks out of view -- what a frightening thought, she decides, and never considers it again.
49; lock
"i'm going to kiss you now," she says, locking the door behind him, eyes alit with something new, something bright, bold, and he realizes, almost happily, that he won't escape from her this time.
5o; breathe
Arnold finally tracks her down amidst all the excitement (so this is when everything changes) and she stares at him with cold, hungry eyes, denies every word she said; he responds by kissing her, there in the faint shadows of drooping trees, and Helga wonders if she will even remember how to breathe when it ends.
~~~
Some notes about events and episodes I'm referring to in these, for people who may have loved this show, but haven't seen episodes in years and therefore, aren't getting a lot of episode-specific references i'm making (which is totally understandable, but just ask and i will totally hook you up!)
o6 & 38 are referring to the episode Married, where Helga dreams about what it would be like if she and Arnold were married; she imagines that their honeymoon is in Venice and that this wedding is this extravagant, romantic affair.
32 is from Arnold's Valentine, the one in which Helga pretends to be Arnold's penpal from France, Cecile, and has dinner with him and it's all very adorable -- of course, it eventually comes out that she is NOT Cecile.
o8, 13, 22, 41, 42, 43, and 50 are ALL referencing what was supposed to happen (and would happen after) The Jungle Movie, which was supposed the final movie which would involve Arnold and his class going to San Lorenzo and looking for his parents. It was supposed to finally deal with the Helga/Arnold relationship and Craig Bartlett even said that Arnold was going to kiss her. ;__; so cute! Then, Arnold was supposed to move to be with his parents in San Lorenzo, and Helga was supposed to get her own spin-off series. But, y'know, none of that happened because the show got canned, so. :( but anyway, 42, 43, and 50 are all my version of the Helga/Arnold thread of the movie, with Helga, convinced that they're going to die, confessing again and such and such. (Also, 22 is just meant to be an alternate version of the journey; y'know, if his parents actually weren't still alive?)
Annnnd now, I want to do more of these, haha.
~
Fandom: Hey Arnold!
Pairing: Helga/Arnold. <3
Rating: Um, PG? I think. Maybe PG-13, for like, two vague references to sex. Really, these are very tame.
Warning: Nothing? Except the two vague references, I suppose.
Summary: My 1sentence project. Fifty sentences; fifty different realities, futures, and pasts for a pink-bowed bully and a kid with a football-shaped head.
Notes: OMGZ, I CANNOT BELIEVE I COMPLETED THIS. I'VE NEVER COMPLETED ANYTHING IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. *__* Anyway, if you are not familiar with 1sentence and how it works, you claim a pairing and write fifty unrelated sentences using single-word prompts. It was quite fun
Also, I heavily abused punctation in this. So a lot of these are two or three sentences cleverly masquerading as one. XD They had to be one sentence, damnit!
[I would just like to include a bit of an explanation, concerning these. Quite a few people who participate in 1sentence write all of their sentences in perfect canon, in the same universe, within the same time period, as a continuing storyline, etc. I would just like to make it clear that these are NOT like that. None of the sentences are related to one another, and you'll see me contradict myself quite a few times (such as, I'll refer to certain characters as dead in one sentence, then as alive in another). I do this merely because I enjoy toying with different realities when I write this pairing; to me, Arnold/Helga is just so timeless, so open to any and all possibilities, and so I wrote each sentence has though it was its own little unique future (or past, or present) for them. Some of these take place when they're the same age as in the series; some when they're in high school, when they're adults, some when they're three years old. Some deal with the two being married; with NOT being married; with dating with high school. They're pretty much all over the place, so just take each sentence at face value, and if you just can't figure when something's taking place, feel free to ask. :)
Also, contrary to what I just said, there are a few sentences that ARE connected, as in, along the same storyline. These are #42, #43, and #50. All right, enjoy! <3]
i live here on my knees
as i try to make you see
that you're everything i think i need
here, on the ground
+ gravity, sara bareilles
o1; ring
someone is breathing softly beside her as she stirs from a good dream, and soft rings of light curl along a familiar face; "morning, football head," she whispers affectionately, and it is euphoria, it is the rest of her life, forever and ever and ever.
o2; hero
she's close to tears, trembling on this cold, sad street corner; suddenly, there's an umbrella above her head, a soft voiced, green-eyed hero smiling at her, and she may only be three years old, but Helga thinks i will love this boy until the day i die and means it.
o3; memory
Arnold sometimes thinks back on those days, those chaotic, playground-ridden days when she was a bully, cruel, loud, and he was always somehow in her way; he laughs when he realizes that even then, her name always managed to bring a smile to his face.
o4; box
much later in life, when they have finally fallen together, comfortably, happily, her fingers twitch along the corners of a worn box, and she asks him not to be frightened by what he's about to see -- she can only smile sheepishly, look out the window as he curiously regards a golden locket, countless sappy poems, every piece of used gum.
05; run
"let go of me," she demands, on the verge of tears ("i didn't mean any of that, i didn't, i was delirious, i wasn't right in the head!") and Arnold just keeps holding her hand, waits -- unwilling to let this secret keep burning between them.
o6; hurricane
she makes him promise that the honeymoon will be in Venice, a place she's already been to ten thousand times in good dreams; it storms every day, vicious winds beating at the flimsy windows, and when they finally do set foot in a gondola, Arnold falls out -- laughing, she wraps towel after towel around him, thinks, well, close enough.
o7; wings
Helga remembers one halloween in particular; six years old, and Miriam, having forgotten to buy a costume, found some cheap, broken fairy wings Olga had once worn -- she grudgingly endured the laughter from all the ghosts and witches and zombies, but then she ran into Arnold, a smiling pirate -- she can still hear say, "you look pretty," can still recall that beautiful, fleeting feeling of being able to fly, even with ugly wings.
o8; cold
once Arnold's gone, gone to san lorenzo, horribly, unmistakably gone, Helga doesn't feel angry or sad or strong any longer; she just feels cold, and it's worse than anything she's ever known.
o9; red
she dyes her hair in the seventh grade, dyes it a beautiful red color that reminds him of cute braids and soft green dresses; she smiles when he looks, as though there's a secret between him, and it leaves him jumbled inside.
1o; drink
it may be the crazy lights, or the dizzy, meshing forms, or the countless shots she's gulped down, but suddenly, she's a little more daring, a little less mindful, and when Phoebe sends him to collect her, she can't help but drag fingers through his soft hair, utter a thousand laughing i love you's before passing out.
11; midnight
"i can't see the stars," she muses, disappointed, sprawled on his roof; "they're out there," he assures her, and begins planning another city-wide blackout the next day.
12; temptation
the years keep passing, they keep getting older, and she thought it might soften, fade, but it's just harder, so much harder to stray herself from him; to stop every vibrant desire to take him in her arms and love his silly head, his dreaming eyes unconditionally.
13; view
Arnold's parents help him into the backseat, and he waves goodbye to his friends, clutches his suitcase, smiles so hard that his face begins to hurt, and it's all so happy but a stripe of pink lingers on the street corner, watches the car until it disappears around the corner, and for a moment, he wishes he wasn't leaving.
14; music
they take band in middle school; it's loud and challenging and chaotic and Helga loathes every second of it, but it gives her another hour to stare at the back of Arnold's head, wax poetics to him through music (which can be slightly challenging when you play the tuba).
15; silk
he watches her sleep amidst his soft sheets; watches every brief smile, trembles at every unconscious grasp for his hand, and wonders if this is what's like, to be in love.
16; cover
he's distracted, the car is speeding -- in an instant, he's on the ground, her body covering his; "you idiot," Helga hisses between clenched teeth, tries to act like it's no big deal, but he saw something genuine in her eyes, heard what she didn't say (i almost lost you, almost, almost).
17; promise
he's three years old, blissfully unaware of anything and everything, sleeping on his little blue mat during naptime; a little girl with a big pink bow curls up beside him, promises that one day, she will marry him, and he doesn't hear a word.
18; dream
she lingers in the back of the chapel, thinks of a dream, frayed at the edges, torn down the middle; looks up just in time to watch him kiss his beautiful bride.
19; candle
the storm rages, and Helga trembles in a corner, won't admit she's afraid; "i'll watch over you while you sleep," he offers; "in your dreams, football head," she counters, making a face; turns to hide her blush a moment before he blows out the candle.
2o; talent
poems were the only thing she was ever any good at -- they make her a small fortune as an adult, and she can't decide whether she's touched or disturbed by how many people identify with a little, angry girl's obsession with a little, quiet boy.
21; silence
she isn't afraid of confessing her secret; she's afraid that only silence will follow it.
22; journey
they've wondered through this vast jungle for hours, days, covered in mud, chilled to the bone; his parents are dead, and when he begins to cry, she cries with him, wraps her arms around him, refuses to let go.
23; fire
she began smoking the day he married someone else; after all, how do you fight one addiction but with another?
24; strength
they're in their teens, awkward, vibrant, barely comfortable -- she's sick of it, stands on his doorstep in the rain ("i've been in love with you since i was three.") and he smiles from his window, comes downstairs to offer her an umbrella ("i know.")
25; mask
Helga prides herself on being mean, loud, utterly unconquerable; Arnold watches her with a smile, knows better.
26; ice
they're too old for childish bullying, for silly nicknames now; still, she looks to him coldly (desperately) when they pass each other in the hall, and Arnold feels the chill, turns and watches the glimpse of pink until it's out of sight -- wonders what he ever did to her.
27; fall
after all's been said and done, after they've fought and laughed and felt everything there is to be felt, he realizes how beautiful she is when she smiles; slips in between the lines and takes her hand before the moment is gone.
28; forgotten
she hasn't seen him in years, has barely even thought of him, too consumed with all the world has to offer outside this place; back for a visit, she notices him on the street; tall, laughing, utterly gorgeous, looking in a store window, and even though she's twenty-three years old, she's reaching for a locket that isn't there any longer, resisting the urge to leap into the nearest dark corner and proclaim her love to the heavens.
29; dance
"like i would ever want to dance with you, football head," she sneers, scoffing at his open hand, splashing a bit of orange punch onto his shirt for laughs ("just this once -- don't say i never did you any favors," she sighs as he leads her out into the scattered light; hides her smile in each brief shadow.)
3o; body
"but, Helga, i need to finish my math," he lamely insists, following her all the while; she just smiles rather mischeviously, warm hands on his chest ("wouldn't you rather skip that stupid class?") and pulls him into the janitor's closet.
31; sacred
even as she grows older, calmer, less prone to violent soliloquies of love -- she keeps the shrine hidden in the back of her closet, spends sleepless nights against the closet door, basking in its sacred warmth; hoping to feel warm amidst all the darkness of his absence.
32; farewells
he doesn't want to say goodbye, to this girl with the soft, sad smile, who clutches her red shoe and looks to him with unabashed emotion, whose name is not Cecile, who bothers him with shadows of familiarity where there are none, where there must be none.
33; world
he talks of adventures, of jungles and planes and people he's never met who are waiting for him out there in that big, stupid world, and she doesn't know what to say, because her world contains only him.
34; formal
he begrudgingly waits at the bottom of the stairs, fiddling with his tie, unsure of just how she talked him into taking her to senior prom; she appears at last, draped in clinging silver, beautiful, flawless, and he forgets every ounce of anger -- as well as his own name.
35; fever
he collapses in the back of the bus after a long field trip, and he must be coming down with something, because he's feverish, delirious, he must be delirious, because he feels a soft hand on his brow, hears a mischevious whisper of "you won't remember this," and tastes lips covering his own; an incident easily forgotten in the chaos of his fever (Helga has the same fever in a few days' time, but it was worth it, so worth it).
36; laugh
sometimes, when she's wrapped up in wrinkled sheets, or glancing through old, crinkled photos (she was such an ugly, sad little girl), or safe in his arms, against his chest, listening to his heart beating -- she has to smile, has to throw her arms up and laugh until her head hurts, because she suffered through one hell of a childhood to reach this spot, and if it all led her to his heart, well, she wouldn't change a thing.
37; lies
they're in the second grade, and the nerd with the wide glasses won't stop asking if she likes the boy with the little blue hat -- Helga's sick of lying, sick of it all, so she just says "yes, yes, yes," and threatens to push the dweeb in front of a bus if she tells anyone ("the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Phoebe says, and Helga rolls her eyes.)
38; forever
it's nothing like her childhood fantasies; it's not in a huge church, her dress is an uncomfortable mess, and flowers aren't raining from the sky -- but then Arnold takes her hands in his, says "forever and ever," exactly like he did in that dream she had so long ago, and it's so perfect she could cry.
39; overwhelmed
"good night," she says rather reluctantly, and he waves from his stoop as she crosses the street; she stands there on the other side for only a moment before running back, swerving around honking cars, taking him in her arms and kissing him, so deeply that movie stars everywhere would be impressed ("very good night," he can't help but say, face red).
4o; whisper
it's as complicated as a scream for no help, as simple as a whisper along her neck; her hungry heart will not subside, and she goes right on loving him, like it's nothing at all.
41; wait
Arnold writes her letter after letter, detailing every single adventure, every new friend, every single moment she's missing as she wastes away in this awful city; Helga writes him letter after letter, filled with i can't breathe any longer and i'll wait, i'll wait forever if it means seeing you again and i love you, you moron, can't you see it? but she never mails them, never, and with each crumpled page, she hates herself a little more.
42; talk
they're going to die oh god they're going to die here in this hideous jungle, in this disease-ridden trap with not a scrap of dignity to their names; Arnold smiles bravely, says "it's okay, we're going to be okay," but she panics, thinks what the hell, and violently seizes him, saying "i have to tell you something, so shut up and listen."
43; search
as it turns out, they don't die; the search has ended, his parents are alive, and Helga should be happy, but she's too busy hiding in a tree, contemplating how much her life is very, very, very over.
44; hope
he goes out with other girls, so she goes out with other guys, and he thinks she must be over him, but the truth is that she never really gives up; she's just better at hiding it.
45; eclipse
"i love you," he says, and means it, he's never meant anything more -- "finally," she laughs, her smile like a lingering ghost in the darkness.
46; gravity
he's so good at being everything she thinks he needs, and it's frustrating, it's unbearable, it's -- her heart, held in his unassuming hands.
47; highway
she can't remember the crash, can't remember what it felt like to fly across the road in a runaway bus -- only that at the last moment, she drew herself close to him, wanting to save his life, be here next to him should the worst happen; she wakes to his strong voice, to Gerald, offering her a hand, and knows that they've made it.
48; unknown
maybe it's never really been a secret, she thinks one afternoon, discreetly watching him from a window as he plays tetherball with Sid; maybe he's known all this time and just plays along, keeps quiet -- he looks up at her, waves, and she ducks out of view -- what a frightening thought, she decides, and never considers it again.
49; lock
"i'm going to kiss you now," she says, locking the door behind him, eyes alit with something new, something bright, bold, and he realizes, almost happily, that he won't escape from her this time.
5o; breathe
Arnold finally tracks her down amidst all the excitement (so this is when everything changes) and she stares at him with cold, hungry eyes, denies every word she said; he responds by kissing her, there in the faint shadows of drooping trees, and Helga wonders if she will even remember how to breathe when it ends.
~~~
Some notes about events and episodes I'm referring to in these, for people who may have loved this show, but haven't seen episodes in years and therefore, aren't getting a lot of episode-specific references i'm making (which is totally understandable, but just ask and i will totally hook you up!)
o6 & 38 are referring to the episode Married, where Helga dreams about what it would be like if she and Arnold were married; she imagines that their honeymoon is in Venice and that this wedding is this extravagant, romantic affair.
32 is from Arnold's Valentine, the one in which Helga pretends to be Arnold's penpal from France, Cecile, and has dinner with him and it's all very adorable -- of course, it eventually comes out that she is NOT Cecile.
o8, 13, 22, 41, 42, 43, and 50 are ALL referencing what was supposed to happen (and would happen after) The Jungle Movie, which was supposed the final movie which would involve Arnold and his class going to San Lorenzo and looking for his parents. It was supposed to finally deal with the Helga/Arnold relationship and Craig Bartlett even said that Arnold was going to kiss her. ;__; so cute! Then, Arnold was supposed to move to be with his parents in San Lorenzo, and Helga was supposed to get her own spin-off series. But, y'know, none of that happened because the show got canned, so. :( but anyway, 42, 43, and 50 are all my version of the Helga/Arnold thread of the movie, with Helga, convinced that they're going to die, confessing again and such and such. (Also, 22 is just meant to be an alternate version of the journey; y'know, if his parents actually weren't still alive?)
Annnnd now, I want to do more of these, haha.
~