Vast Horizons

"There you are!" Arnold reached the top of Wells Ridge and called out to Helga. She stood on the maintenance catwalk that wrapped around the water tower. Her long hair flew free in the faint breeze as she scanned her horizons. "What on earth are you doing up there?" Arnold yelled up.

Helga looked down at Arnold and beckoned for him to come up and join her.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Helga," he protested, but she insisted that he had to come up and get her in order for her to come down from the tower. Arnold grudgingly complied. After all, aren't handsome princes and shining knights supposed to rescue beautiful princesses from towers?

"Alright, I'm up here, now can we head back?"

Helga grabbed his hand and tugged gently so he'd sit next to her. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Arnold scanned the horizon, "What?"

"Just-" Helga let out a soft sigh and squeezed Arnold's hand, "Everything. I mean, look at it all. The lights of Hillwood. The surrounding mountains. The freshly budding leaves on all the trees. Just look around you, Arnoldo! Isn't it all beautiful?"

Arnold took in the landscape. "Yes, it is absolutely breathtaking. But, what are you doing up here in the first place?"

"Pick a spot, Arnold. Anywhere. The possibilities are endless. Just pick one."

"Helga? What's going on here?"

Helga pointed to the west, "We can just hop in a car and drive. See the country. Wouldn't that be amazing? You always talk about 'having adventures,' so let's go have one!"

"Helga." Arnold's voice got low and a touch stern, "What are we doing on the water tower?"

She pointed to the north in response, "Or a train! We haven't been on a train in ages! We could just ride the rails until we can't go any further north. How's that sound?"

"Helga, seriously now. What is up with you?" He started to get a little concerned and grabbed her shoulders to force her to look at him.

Instead she looked past him and towards the east. "How about we just set sail with Earl? Or we can go back to that beach where we won the sandcastle contest. We can set up a little bungalow and sell tyedyed t-shirts on the boardwalk. Tourists love cheezy crap like that."

"Helga!" Arnold gently shook her to grab her attention. When she finally looked him in the eye he noticed her eyes red and puffy. "Helga? Have- Have you been crying?"

Helga bit her lower lip and pulled away, turning her head away from Arnold, "It's all beautiful and vast and we can go anywhere. Arnold, let's just go anywhere."

"Helga, what is wrong? Why were you crying? What are you talking about? You're scaring me, sweetie. Please, please just talk to me." Arnold reached out his hand and squeezed hers, feeling a sharp stab as his palm pressed against Helga's engagement ring.

"Let's just run away, Arnold. Let's just elope! It wouldn't be that hard. We have money saved up for after the wedding anyway, we just need to swing the extra hundred or so for the drive and a quick stop at the courthouse. Then we can just keep driving. It will be just you and me. Bonnie and Clyde – ya know, without the bank robberies and being shot to death parts."

"You want to elope?" Arnold brushed the hair out of her face and tried to read any kind of reasoning from her expression.

"Yeah! Let's do it! Let's elope," she tried to sound cheerful about the idea, but her voice still sounded pained and the sadness lingered behind her eyes.

"What happened? I thought things were really good finally?"

"Geeze, Football Head! Yes, things are going great. That's why I want to elope. Ya know, to marry you and all? Doesn't that mean things are good? Sheesh!"

Arnold sat quietly for a moment as he contemplated the possibility of just going ahead and running away with her. Eventually he came to the same conclusion he had when she first mentioned it.

"You know we can't actually elope, right?"

"Why not? I mean, I know family is super important to you – so if you want we can kidnap them or something – but family isn't really much to me. So let's forget my parents and Olga and the boarders and all of our aunts and-" Helga shuttered as she pictured Arnie still pining for her, "-creepy cousins. Let's just keep it small, maybe grab Phoebe and Gerald, and just get married. We can do it tonight even! Don't you want to just be married and get it over with?"

Arnold did want to just be married to her. In his heart he already was. He wasn't afraid of the commitment. He wasn't nervous about the marriage. He didn't even really need the extra time to save up money – he had been doing that for years already. Yet his mind was still made up.

"You'll regret not having them there." He pulled her head down to his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her. "You may not think so, but in the future you'll really regret not having them there."

"But they drive me bananas! I can't take it anymore! Olga pretending she's Miss Party Planner, and Miriam acting like it's her damn wedding instead of ours, and Bob being stingy and whining about the cost of everything! I'm sure he wouldn't care about every little price tag if it were Olga getting married. No one cares what we want. No one cares what I want!"

Arnold kissed her on the top of her head and stroked her upper arm, "I care."

"Well, doi! Of course you care, Football head! But this wedding should be about us and should be something we want, not what my family wants."

"But would eloping give you what you want? Look me in the eyes right now and honestly tell me that all of those years you dreamt  of our wedding you pictured  us in normal clothes standing in front of a judge with no one else around. If you can swear to me right now that is what you've always wanted then I'll agree to it."

Helga pushed off of Arnold's shoulder, placed a hand gently on his cheek, looked him straight in the eyes and softly said, "That is what I want. The only thing about my wedding that I've ever pictured was you as the groom."

"Liar."

"Aw, come on! How'd you know?"

"Because I know you." Arnold pulled Helga in to him and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. He felt the tension leave her as she sank in his arms. He then pulled away and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "You want to be in an elegant gown in a chapel with a stretch limo as our get-away car. You want the large party where you finally get to be the center of attention. Where it's finally not about Olga, but about you. You want a day where no one compares you to your sister and just goes on and on about how wonderful you look and how happy you are. You want to celebrate with Phoebe. You want to prove to Rhonda that you can look amazing and feminine. You want to joke around with the guys. You do not want to elope."

"What if we eloped, ran away, and then came back for all that other stuff?" She gave a soft, playful pout that made Arnold chuckle.

He pulled her in to a hug and stroked the back of her head, "No. We can't elope and then have the actual wedding."

"Ya know, you're too much of a goody two-shoes there, Arnoldo." She gave him a soft smile and kissed him, "Ya sure you don't want to run to Timbuktu or something? I hear Milwaukee is very nice this time of year."

"Helga," he sternly said before chuckling.

She gave a soft whine in response, "I really hate dealing with my family!"

"I know, but buck up. The wedding is still a few months away. I'll try harder to talk to your family and perhaps we can get them to understand how you're feeling. I'm sure they don't mean to take over. It will be fine, we'll have your dream wedding, and you'll be happy I didn't agree to this eloping silliness."

She sighed a "Yeah, you're right," and they quietly sat in each other's' arms watching the sun set over the beautiful landscape below. As the sky grew dark Helga finally agreed to come down from the water tower and return home with Arnold.

As he helped her down the ladder she gave one last glance at the vast horizon, and then she turned to her smiling fiancé. Finally, she simply asked, "What if we run to Mexico?"