I feel bad for not updating pretty much all week, but that's only because that it's Christmas time, and I never found time to finish up any of my remaining chapters... so I hope a one-shot story will do! And in my comfort zone, no less! That's right, it's time for another Hey Arnold! one-shot! So, sit back and enjoy! Anyway, enjoy!
It was a nice, snowy December day in Hillwood. Most of the adults were finished with their Christmas shopping, schools have been closed for the day, and snow was gently falling into the crisp morning sky. As per normal for Arnold, after getting his chores all finished up was allowed to go out and play with his friends. who had told him ahead of time that they were at the park.
Indeed, over at the park, Arnold met up with the boys, who were currently in the middle of building a snow fort. "Hello, everyone. Sorry I'm late."
"Wonderful, comrade. You're here!" Curly smirked as he put on a military helmet.
Arnold blinked in confusion as Gerald gave a sigh. "Ignore him, Arnold. He's been acting like this since we agreed to have the girls participate in a snowball fight."
"Yeah!" Harold pumped his fist up in excitement. "Those girls won't know what's coming to them when we surprise them with our great big snowball attack!"
"Come on, you guys. Try not to get too pumped up. We're just having a harmless snowball fight between friends here." Arnold said.
"Say that if you must, Arnold, but I, for one, can't wait to bean Helga! She's always sneaking around, waiting for an opportune moment to strike!" Sid shuddered. "You know how she gets every snowball fight."
Arnold paused as he remembered the last few snowball fights that had happened over the years.
"Arnold, duck!" Gerald gasped as he pointed towards Helga, who made a mean throw aiming towards the cautious football head and red jacket wearing boy, who were hiding in the trees.
"Huh?" Arnold looked around as he got beaned by the snowball, followed by Helga's laughter.
"Next time, football head, look around your area more!" Helga taunted as she beaned Gerald with a snowball as well. Arnold groaned as he rubbed the snow off his face.
It was the following year as Arnold was sitting atop a snow-filled branch as he was looking around with binoculars, attempting to spot Helga. "Okay, Helga, it's no use hiding yourself. You're going to come out and try to find me... but the joke's on you..."
"Well, actually, football head..." Helga's voice sounded from a nearby hole inside the tree next to Arnold as she poked her head out and threw a snowball at him, making him yelp as he fell off the tree and landed on the soft snow below. "The joke's on you. Make sure to be cautious of your surroundings!"
Arnold groaned as he got up from the snow and shook it off as he looked up at Helga's laughing face.
"I'm STILL not sure how she managed to fit herself into that hole in the tree..." Arnold frowned a bit. "But that was in the past. This year, I've become a lot more aware of my surroundings and this time, I'm going to make sure Helga is going to get hers!"
The boys looked over at Arnold in surprise as the football-headed boy quickly made a snowball and patted it firmly. "Because this game, she's going to be the one eating snowball!"
"Should we be concerned, or should we be cheering him on?" Curly asked. "Because, I for one, approve of this new Arnold behavior."
"I have to agree with Curly, Arnold." Sid said. "You never act like this in snowball fights."
"Maybe so, but if it's between Helga and me..." Arnold narrowed his eyes. "Just leave her to me, boys..."
"Dang, Arnold sure went from smiling to serious in under a milli-second." Stinky pointed out as the other boys looked concerned.
"As long as he still remembers we're having fun, we'll be fine." Gerald smiled. "I hope."
Pretty soon, after the boys had made their plans, they decided to split up into groups, with Curly and Sid going in one direction, Harold and Stinky going another, and Arnold and Gerald were heading north around the park.
"Okay, Arnold, there's no doubt the girls have the same tactic, so we got to be cautious of our surroundings." Gerald said as he looked around carefully.
"What do you think I'm doing right now?" Arnold said as he looked around carefully and cautiously, much to Gerald's notice.
"Boy, you really do not want to be hit with a surprise snowball, huh?" Gerald said.
"Well, not just any surprise snowball. A surprise snowball from Helga. Believe me, I'm keeping any sign out for pink right now." Arnold frowned.
"How do you know Helga will be wearing pink today?" Gerald asked.
"Gerald, it's Helga. She always has something pink on, even if it's her bow." Arnold pointed out. "I've been keeping an eye on Helga whenever I could, and I always notice that she always wears pink clothing."
Gerald's eyes widened as he smiled. "Ah, I see. You're hoping to sight any pink clothing you see and it'll be Helga."
"I KNOW it would be Helga!" Arnold said as he looked around... before turning around and seeing what seemed to be a flash of pink. "Ah ha! I see her! Gerald, hide behind that tree, quick!"
Gerald blinked in confusion as he and Arnold hid behind the tree and peeked out to see that indeed, a pink bow and some blonde hair was poking out from behind a tree. Gerald sneered as he said, "Yep, definitely Helga all right."
"She's expecting me to walk by this tree, only to pop out and hit me with the snowball. Well, I got her this time. Gerald, go this way, I'll go that way." Arnold ordered.
Gerald gave a nod as he went in the eastern direction, trying to blend in with Arnold preparing to sneak in the snow, attempting to find another tree to get hide to see Helga from another angle. Indeed, there was Helga's pink bow, still sticking out... but for some reason, he couldn't help but note that her pigtails were... different somehow... did she always have four pigtails?
Arnold frowned as he shook his head. "No, that's definitely Helga. She just separated her pigtails to confuse me! Well, the joke's on her!"
Arnold firmly patted his snowball with his game face on, filled with determination and readiness. As soon as he got close to the tree, he gave a yell, "HEY HELGA! PREPARE TO BE SNOWBALLED!"
Arnold then jumped to the side of the tree, surprising the girl as he beaned her with the snowball to the face as she fell down. Arnold gave a cheer of victory as he held his hand up. "Yes, yes, yes! I finally got you! Beaned you down, Helga! And I feel so..." Arnold blinked as he looked down... and gasped.
Shaking the snow off her face wasn't Helga at all, but rather...
"Nadine?" Arnold said in surprise as Nadine brushed the snow off her pigtails with her hand. He then noted that she was wearing Helga's bow.
"Hey, Arnold. Looks like you caught me." Nadine gave a laugh.
"Why are you wearing Helga's bow?" Arnold said in confusion... before feeling a light hit of a snowball hitting his head... but not before hearing Helga's taunting laugh as she came over.
"Boy, you were really expecting me to wear that, weren't you, football head?" Helga chuckled as she came out of the snow, her blue snow hat being worn. "Next time, you might want to try winter clothes..."
Arnold groaned as he looked over at Helga and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, you got me again, Helga."
"Speaking of which..." Helga smiled as she went over to Nadine. "I'd like the bow back if you can."
"Of course." Nadine said as she took off the bow and handed it back to Helga. "Here you are."
As Helga put the bow back on, she gave a smirk as she turned to Arnold. "Arnold, I know exactly what you were doing all year, trying to examine all the colors of my clothes... you know I don't always wear pink."
"But you always wear that bow of yours..." Arnold said in shock.
"Which was why it was the perfect plan. I knew you were going to look for it." Helga smirked... before yelping as she got beaned with a snowball. Arnold gave a chuckle as Helga got up and growled. "Who threw that?!"
Arnold looked over the corner of his eye as he saw Gerald holding a few snowballs from a distance, giving a thumbs-up. Helga groaned as she looked towards Arnold's direction and growled. "Oh, next snowball fight, I'm going for him next!"
Arnold gave a shake of his head before looking towards Helga and Nadine. "Well, since we're all out, I suppose we better get comfortable in the waiting zone."
"I suppose so..." Helga sighed. "I'm sure Rhonda's already there brushing the snow off the bench... and don't act so smug, Football Head, you didn't get me this year!"
"Maybe not... but I definitely know that I'll get you next year with a snowball." Arnold gave a smirk as he took off.
Helga gave a shake of her head as Nadine came towards her with a questioning look on her face. "Just, why do you always aim for Arnold first when it comes to these snowball fights, anyway?"
Helga paused as she gave a sigh. "You wouldn't understand it, Nadine, but... let's just say, I made it my personal challenge."
"After all..." Helga thought to herself as she and Nadine started to follow Arnold towards the park benches where Rhonda was currently at right now. "They don't need to know that I'm just having a little fun with Arnold... or that I'm in love with him."
And that's this one-shot all finished up! What do you guys think of it? I realize it wasn't as big or epic as my other Hey Arnold fics, but I always like simple stories, and a snowball fight just happens to be as simple as they can get! Either way, I hope you enjoyed this little romp of simpleness! Well, anyway, thank you all for reading this fic, and have a VERY wonderful day and a Merry Christmas!