Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! or Sailormoon. Hey Arnold! is owned by Nickelodeon and created by Craig Bartlett. Sailormoon is owned/created by Naoko Takeuchi.
Outer space was cold and unforgiving. It was true what they said about how in space, no one could hear you scream.
No one would scream. Or shed a tear. Or even notice that in the vast expansive vacuum that is space – or non-space, actually – a young girl floated lifelessly all by herself.
Her unraveled blonde hair covered her face. Her sailor uniform, reduced to the ribbons of a failed transformation.
Helga had defeated the source, and had defeated the evil within Liam, but by using the Crystal in the process she had also extinguished her very existence, as well as the existence of Hillwood. Her friends were gone, as was the only person that she ever truly loved.
Indeed, it was a bittersweet victory.
The crystal lay dormant on Helga's chest as she floated precariously to no certain destination.
And then, a miracle.
"Princess....Princess..."
A pink glow emanated from the crystal.
Just then a cat-shaped orb came hurtling towards Helga.
"I found her, Small Lady."
---
"This is it," thought Helga. "I must be dead. This must be heaven."
Helga was back in her civilian pink dress and jeans, surrounded from all corners by clouds. In front of her stood a gate, which, admittedly, was less pearly-white than she had anticipated. If this was heaven, where was St. Peter and the angels?
"Maybe it's their day off," Helga thought wryly.
"Your Highness?" Behind Helga stood a tall woman in a sailor senshi uniform. Her hair was long and green and her sailor uniform was a combination of the colors green, purple, and black.
"Whoa..." Helga said under her breath. "They were way off..."
The tall scout bowed. "I am Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time and Gatekeeper of the Underworld. You may not recognize me, but I am the one whose Crystal Time Key you destroyed while helping a colleague."
Helga laughed nervously. "Oops. Guess I lose points for that, huh? Well, at least she got home safely, right?"
"No, I'm afraid not," said Sailor Pluto. Just then Helga detected a black tailing moving behind Pluto's legs.
"Reckless as always, eh, Helga?" said the familiar feline, finally coming into view.
Helga couldn't believe her eyes. "Luna! What are you doing here?"
Without thinking, Helga scooped the black cat up into her arms and spun her around jubilantly. She then stopped abruptly, dropping Luna as a horrified look planted on her face. "Oh no...if you're here with me, then that must mean...you're dead, too."
Luna blinked. "I'm not dead, Helga. And neither are you."
"Huh?" Helga was confused. "You mean...this isn't heaven?"
Luna laughed. "Of course not!"
"This area is a gateway in the space-time continuum," explained Pluto. "From this place you can access any point in time, past present or future."
"After you had sent me on my way," said Luna. "My journey was unexpectedly interrupted by Sailor Pluto and I was brought here. She had explained that I was wrong in my assumption it was merely an over-abundance of negative energy that prevented me from returning home, and that the problem was much more serious. I had attempted to return back to your time period to warn you that there was still much more work to be done....but was unaware you had destroyed the Time Key in your efforts to send me back."
"Luckily, Diana was also with Luna during the time of the crisis, so she was able to pick up where Luna had left off and help you accomplish your mission."
"Where is the grey lil' furball anyway?" asked Helga.
("That furball is my daughter," said a disgruntled Luna.)
"Right here, Miss Helga!" Helga heard from a distance.
"Helga, there is someone very important who would very much like to express their gratitude unto you."
"Who? The Queen of England?" joked Helga.
"You're lukewarm..." retorted Luna.
A figure shrouded in mist from the clouds approached the small group. Both Sailor Pluto and Luna bowed deeply as the figure drew near.
The young woman looked to be in her mid- to late teens, not more than 5 years older than Helga. She had a faint sense of countenance about her, which went in contrary to her childlike face and appearance. What struck Helga as most peculiar was the person's audaciously pink hair, worn in two large puffy pigtails on her head.
In the woman's arms was Diana, who jumped down to properly introduce her carrier. "Presenting the daughter of Neo Queen Serenity and the future queen of Crystal Tokyo, the Small Lady, Princess ChibiUsa!"
Helga stared dubiously at the pink-haired royalty, forgetting to bow her fealty. "Uh, hi? How ya doing?"
ChibiUsa ignored Helga's faux pas and bowed briefly. "Princess Harmonia?"
Helga shook her head adamantly. "No, no...don't call me that. My name's Helga. Helga G. Pataki."
ChibiUsa's expression betrayed a sincere sense of mirth. "So that's what you became in your past life."
Helga straightened in defense. "Yeah – so what's it to you?"
ChibiUsa chuckled softly. "And yet, still as defiant as always. You honestly don't remember me?"
"A girl with pink hair and talking cats? I definitely wouldn't forget someone like that."
"Very well. Then allow me to express my utmost gratitude, Helga of Hillwood, in the retrieval, repair, and return of the Silver Crystal."
Helga scoffed. "No offense, lady – "
"That's Small Lady," corrected Diana."
"Uh, right – no offense, Small Lady, but I didn't do it for you. I did it so that I could get my life back. But now look at me. A fat lot of good all this sailor business did for me."
"How so?" asked ChibiUsa, curious.
"Well, there were originally five of us. There was me, there was this stylish popular girl named Rhonda, a girl with a big heart that people teased and called Big Patty because they didn't bother to know the real her...then there was a sensitive and generous redhead with freckles who I pretended to hate but really didn't called Lila, and then there was the smartest girl in the 6th grade, my best friend, Phoebe. But they're gone now...and I never got to tell them how I truly felt."
"Don't be so sure."
Helga spun around quickly. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief and stared bug-eyed at what she saw.
"WHOA!" was Helga's reaction; Phoebe, Rhonda, Patty, and Lila stood right behind her.
"Not a bad eulogy," quipped Rhonda. "I would've gone with more flair when talking about me, but whatever."
"Save it, Rhonda-loid," said Helga, but there was no ounce of anger in her voice.
"Do we know how to make an entrance, or what?" said Patty jovially.
"Come on, everyone," chirped Phoebe. "Group hug!" the girls huddled around Helga and squeezed each other tightly until they were practically out of breath.
"There's just one thing I don't understand," said Helga. "How is this possible?"
"As I said before," reminded Sailor Pluto. "I am not only the Gatekeeper of Time but also of the Underworld. When I sensed your teammates were on the verge of death, I brought them here to the gateway. They were never in any harm's way."
"That's a relief," said Helga.
"I'll say," added Lila.
"But Helga," chimed in ChibiUsa, who was silent during the surprise reunion. "Aren't you forgetting one important person?"
All eyes were Helga now as she broke away from the others to gather her thoughts.
"Yeah. There is someone else. A boy. A sensitive boy with a football-shaped head full of hopes and dreams. Sure I may have tormented him relentlessly...but I just wanted the chance to let him know that he was best and most important thing to ever happen in my life...and that I loved him."
"Helga?"
She knew immediately who it was. Helga turned around and embraced Arnold, planting a kiss right on his cheek and smiling broadly.
"I love you, Arnold. I mean it, I really do."
"I know. I love you, too."
At that, Helga's smile had waned. "Do you mean...as a friend...or as..."
"We have a connection, Helga – I can feel it. It goes beyond anything involving the Crystal. When we're a great distance apart, I swear I could sometimes hear you wherever you are."
Helga's eyes widened. "Really?"
Arnold nodded. "I didn't really know what it meant back then, but now...and when I was lost in that place outside of space and time, could you...?"
Helga nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes! I could hear you, too!"
"What we have...it's something that can't be replaced or described. It's palpable, stronger than just like-liking someone."
Helga squeezed Arnold. "I'll take it."
"And now I have a proposition for you all," announced ChibiUsa. "As a token of my gratitude for retrieving the royal family's heirloom, I'm willing to offer your past lives back."
"Our past lives?" said Lila.
"That's correct. I can restore the kingdom of Last Haste to its former glory, and you can all resume living as you once had before the Grave Incident took place."
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, girls," said Luna.
"Furthermore, we will offer any protection your kingdom may require in the event of any future attacks," added ChibiUsa.
The girls looked uneasily at one another. Finally, it was Helga who – after reluctantly prying herself away from Arnold – spoke up. "No," she said finally.
Sailor Pluto looked at Helga in surprise. "I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me," replied Helga. "I said no deal, Lady."
"That's Small Lady!" whined Diana, who was given a stern look by her mother. ChibiUsa's expression remained unreadable.
"Look," said Helga. "With all due respect, I don't remember anything about my past life. And neither do any of the other girls. Last Haste isn't for me. Our home is Hillwood now."
"She's right," agreed Phoebe. "I was quite content with my life prior to becoming a senshi."
"Ditto," chimed Rhonda.
"I'd rather stick with what I know than something I don't," reasoned Patty.
"Life in the past isn't so bad..." said Lila.
"She's right," said Helga. "You should give it a try sometime. Who knows – you might like it."
Luna and Diana turned knowingly to Sailor Pluto and winked; Pluto smiled and nodded.
"I'm very touched and moved by your dedication to your new identities," revealed ChibiUsa. "And I am very open to honor your wish if you all so desire...with one caveat."
"Which is?" asked Helga, bracing for the worst.
"I can send you back to life in Hillwood, but it won't be the same Hillwood as you remember."
"What does that mean?"
"Hillwood was an imperfect city to begin with, a clone of Last Haste through the power of the Crystal. The most I can do is make it so that Hillwood will never again see the risk of annihilation. But I can't promise that everything will be as it was before you became senshi. I can't even guarantee if your memories of these events will be intact."
"So...you mean....after all that...we might not remember anything?"
Sailor Pluto nodded solemnly.
This really dampened the mood of the girls. "But...if we can't remember anything...how will we be friends...?"
Unexpectedly, Arnold clasped his hand with Helga's. "We'll find a way. Won't we?"
He smiled hopefully at Helga. She smiled back warmly. "Right. After all...history has a funny way of repeating itself."
"And there's no guarantee that we'll all lose our memories," said Rhonda. "If any one of us still remembers, you have to promise to tell the others, for the sake of our friendship. Promise?"
Rhonda extended her hand outward, hand balled in a fist. Patty placed her hand over Rhonda's first.
"Promise," she said.
The others promptly did the same.
"I promise," said Phoebe.
"Me too," said Lila.
"If I have to remember, you're all going to suffer with me," joked Helga.
Arnold put his hand down last, over Helga's. He nodded to her, and she nodded back.
"Have you made your decision?" asked ChibiUsa.
Helga faced ChibiUsa and, to the surprise of everyone in attendance, did a curtsy in front of her.
"Small Lady – yes, we've decided. We'd like to go back home. To Hillwood."
When the girls snickered, Helga turned and gave them the stink eye.
"Put a lid on it!" she whispered. "Unless you want her to send us back as toddlers."
"Then it's time. Open the gate, Sailor Pluto," instructed Small Lady.
Sailor Pluto obeyed and, using the power of her Garnet Rod, opened the time gate. A strong wind blew in their faces, making it difficult to see what lay on the other side.
"Whenever you're ready, girls," said ChibiUsa. "Good luck in the past."
Helga, Arnold, Phoebe, Rhonda, Patty, and Lila all held hands as they walked in a horizontal line into the gate. Once inside, the gate closed behind them, but they paid it no mind; they only focused straight ahead on the past they were wont to call home.