Love So True 15

Brainy looked up to see Helga walk into the unit, looking distressed and tired. Her eyes were pinkish red, as if she were teary. She took off her winter coat, shaking some of the show out of her hair, and took her boots off as well, not uttering a word. Usually she had quite a bit to say, not to mention a greeting. But today, she just seemed teary and distant.

"...Helga? What's wrong?" He dared to ask.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I-I was just...out for a bit after I left the hospital." Helga wiped her eyes, and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. "Been doing a lot of thinking."

"About...?" Brainy prompted.

"A lot of things. ...I've also been thinking of Kevin and Christine, about their current funk." Helga came back to the living area, and sat on the couch with a drink of orange juice in her hand. "If they'd let me, I'd be their surrogate mother."

It was a good thing Brainy hadn't been drinking that orange juice, otherwise, he'd have done a spit-take.

"Helga...what do you mean?" Brainy blinked.

"...Brian, I had a dream last night." Helga murmured. "I dreamt that I was fifteen years old, and I was pregnant. I was knocked up, because I was..." She frowned then, as if trying to remember. "I don't know...all I know was that it was some kind of a crazy, impulsive one-night stand with someone I didn't love. Sid of all people. You know, from school? Anyway, I eventually decided to give my child up for adoption, and...Kevin and Christine were the people I chose. It's all kind of blurry and weird, but I remember giving them my baby, and seeing there...joyful, happy, smiling faces...I... I know it's crazy, but I want to do that for them. I want to be their surrogate mother. I want to do this for them. It'll be tough, I don't know if they'd make me, but criminy I want to give them a baby! They've been wronged of that privilege for too damn long."

"Isn't that a little impulsive?" Brainy questioned.

"NO!" Helga shouted, standing up now, her azure eyes flaring. "No it's not! I'm going to do this for them, and you are not going to change my mind! I actually even confided in Phoebe about it, and I mentioned it in passing to Arnold too! And they support me if I decide to do it! I'm sure I will do this for them! I just need to talk to them and make sure I'm fertile. Now you can support me on this or shut the hell up!"

Frozen in shock, Brainy gulped a bit, and managed to nod. A woman nearing 27 was certainly more scary and intimidating than a nine-year-old girl for sure. "Okay Helga...I'm sorry. You're right. If you want to do this, it's your decision...a-and I support you."

"Good." Helga visibly relaxed, and rubbed her forehead. "Sorry I yelled at you. I-I just had a long day, and I'm pretty tired."

You have more reason to yell at me, Helga. Brainy thought to himself. "It's all right. You should go to bed, Helga. That'll make you feel better."

"Sure, I'll do that." Helga nodded, finishing her orange juice. As she headed to the bedroom, he noticed her touch her lips, mumbling to herself.

What was that about?

Brainy shook his head, laying back against the couch as he stared up at the ceiling. This was all turning out to be one huge mess, and he hadn't known that in the beginning. It wasn't until THAT encounter, that things started going downhill. For him, and everyone involved.

He had committed a serious offence of meddling with someone else's happiness for the sake of his own.

It was because of his stupid wish that Arnold ended up married to a woman he didn't love, a woman who didn't even love him back, and a woman who practically didn't care about her own child until it was born dead. It was because of his stupid wish that he had to face getting a divorce. It was because of his stupid wish that Arnold lost his first child. It was because of his stupid wish that he never faced the true beauty of falling in love. It was because of his stupid wish that he was held back from following his dreams.

It was because of his stupid wish that he never got to fall in love with his true love, Helga.

It was because of his stupid wish that Helga was stuck in a one-sided love marriage. It was because of his stupid wish that she never got to truly live out her entire dreams. It was because of his stupid wish that she never fell in love with her one true love until it was too late.

It was because of his stupid wish that innocent people suffered. Arnold, Ruth, Helga, Kevin, Christine, and Casana too.

No matter how much Brainy tried to rationalize everything, he only led this whole mess further and further down the slippery slope. It was all up the river without a paddle.

Arnold and Helga loved each other. But they couldn't be together.

Kevin and Christine were trying desperately to conceive or adopt.

Casana was in the hospital due to a hysterectomy.

He had not only wronged the girl he loved, but other innocent people.

That was inexcusable.

"...I made a huge mistake." He murmured to himself.

"So...young Brian Williams..." A booming, disembodied voice sounded then. "You think you have made a mistake?"

Brainy's eyes shot open and he jumped up from the couch, looking around the room frantically. He knew that voice...a voice he felt he nearly forgot. The door to the office room then slammed shut by an unseen force. So did the door to the bathroom, and then the bedroom door. The lights blinked and flickered, turning on and off, the windows open and shut. Cold wind blew in and around, blowing papers and other small objects around, chilling the air around him.

Strange sounds were heard in the distance, that sounded something like sirens. The air around him, though cold, grew heavy and oppressive. The room was becoming bloody, metallic rust, everything around him was changing. His head throbbed painfully, the windows kept opening and shutting loudly, the strange-sounding air raid sirens blared in the distance, the wind blew around coldly, the air grew heavier and heavier, a putrid smell hit his nose, and his mind was reeling from all this craziness.

Clutching his head, Brainy groaned in pain and sank to his knees no the floor. This was all too much. Forthwind had to be causing this. A personification of punishing himself for his sins. Just as his strange dream from before had done.

"You seem to have caught the error of your ways, young Brian." Forthwind's thundering accented voice was closer.

Looking up, Brainy now saw the wizard standing over him a couple of feet away. It was then he realized he was right. This whole thing had been a test.

"...This...was all a test, wasn't it?"

Forthwind gave a nod. "You realize that now, young Brian. I had created all of this to teach you the lesson you were to learn."

Managing to stand up, Brainy felt himself regain his senses. It all rained down on him, this had been a test. To know he could never achieve happiness at the expense of another's misery. A battle of morals. His wish came with a hefty price. His happiness was achieved, but all came with a price. That was the lesson here. He had made people miserable in different ways in order to achieve his selfish desires. When he could have just let well enough alone. In a world where some things couldn't be controlled. There were things in this world that just weren't meant to be controlled, and when they were, it would lead to disaster.

"You were right. ...I was weak. That's why I needed you, everything that happened in this world, this timeline...to punish me for my sins. I wronged people because I took control of something I should never try to control. I ruined the life of the girl I loved. It was a battle of morals. I had to learn that I was achieving undeserved happiness at the expense of others. ...But that's over now. I know the truth. All of it. Now it's time to end this." Brainy turned to Forthwind with determination.

"You realize the error of your ways, and live up to what you had tried for. It was why I granted your wish, to test you...to teach you exactly what you had to learn. Had you refused, you would have not lived this. You chose as such to grant your wish, and paid the price. ...Tell me, young Brian, what is it you want?" Forthwind regarded him coolly.

"I want to go back. Back to the way things were. I want to be ten years old again. I want Helga to be with the one she truly loves, and belongs with. I want to live my life as I see it. I want things to be the way they were before I even met you." Brainy told him. "I want to fix things to the way they should be."

"Very well, young Brian Williams. While you will retain these memories...your life shall be as it was before. But know this...happiness will come."

Before Brainy could question him on that, there was a bright flash of light, and once again he felt as if he were floating in midair. But he felt...cleansed, refreshed, light, warm, happy, content. At peace. Everything was all coming back...it was as if he were being reborn. A brand new Brainy. A brand new Brian J. Williams.

He had owned up to his mistakes, realized the error of his ways, and how his selfishness had wronged innocent people, including Helga. A battle of morals, and in the end, he knew of his sins, and throughout the whole ordeal was being punished and punishing himself for them all. It was all over now. A fresh, new, clean start was to come. Exactly what it should've been in the first place. He was going to live life as it came. He was going to be happy for Helga, just as he had been before. He was going to spend more time with his family. He was going to move on and find someone else one day. In all, he was going to live his life as he should have.

And this entire ordeal taught him just that. While it was painful at times, he couldn't help but feel grateful to Forthwind for bringing this to him. An impulsive decision that changed his life forever.

Now, he was going to make up for his sins.

XXX

When he opened his eyes, he found himself on the sidewalk. He could hear cars going by, the occasional chatter of people passing by, and the sound of police car sirens off in the distance. Across the street, he saw Arnold and Helga, both now ten years old again, and not older in their mid twenties! They were just as he saw them before the whole ordeal started; eating ice cream and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes.

The adorable couple that they were...

Brainy looked at himself then, studying his hands, his clothes. He too was ten years old again! Not a twenty-seven year old doctor married to Helga! He was home. Back home again. Right back to the way things were before. The coach had turned back into a pumpkin.

And he was all the more happy for it.

"I'm home." Brainy murmured to himself. He didn't even feel the need to wheeze!

The abandoned, decrepit home from earlier was nowhere to be seen. He could see he was back just probably a few minutes before he found the abandoned house and met Forthwind. Nothing had changed. Everything was back to normal. All of the memories he had of the experience remained...even though he could never tell anyone of them.

Up across the street, saw Arnold and Helga exit Slausen's, holding hands. He casually crossed the street to try to listen in on what they were saying without them seeing him.

"So Bob and Miriam are going outta town this weekend. My babysitter's staying with me." Helga was telling him. "You better come by, Football Head! She's been dying to meet you ever since we started dating."

Arnold gave a laugh and Brainy grinned at how he kissed her on the cheek, making the pigtailed girl blush and giggle at the action. "Sure, Helga. I'll come over on Saturday afternoon, and we could have some fun with movies and playing games."

"Now you're talking! ...For once."

Brainy smiled more as he watched the couple head off down the street, feeling pretty giddy about how things were back to normal, and that they were with each other and very much in love. He learned a lot in his ordeal, and one of those things was that no matter what happened, Arnold and Helga would always love each other. They were soul mates, plain and simple. He knew they would run into problems in the future, and would probably try to break them apart. But no way were they going to let that stop them. Neither of them were going to make the mistakes they did in his warped timeline. Not at all. Whatever mistakes they would make, and would fix, would be of real life circumstances without magical meddling in the least.

And that, was really why their love was so true. This whole surreal, fantasy experience was a true testament to that.

It was over now. He was looking forward to getting on his with his life, and seeing just where it would all take him. Being a doctor was definitely something he wanted to do again, for sure.

Once the two lover birdies were out of sight and earshot, Brainy turned around and headed in the opposite direction to head on home in order to do what he had previously planned before this whole mess started, when he was tapped on the shoulder by someone coming out of a shop behind him.

"Excuse me." An accented, feminine voice reached his ears.

Turning around, Brainy came to meet with a young girl around his age, and he could swear he forgot to breathe. REALLY forgot to breathe. She had short brown hair in a delicate wave, striking blue eyes, and dressed in a short-sleeved purple dress with a black belt around her waist, white pants, and tan sandals. She also wore a white spangle bracelet on each wrist, and a white hairband in her hair. She smiled at him in a friendly way, despite that her cheeks were pinkening.

"I'm sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you knew where the nearest butcher shop is." The girl said, sounding as cool and confident as possible, but he could tell she was a little shy at the moment.

Brainy managed to breathe, albeit wheeze, and nodded. "Uh...yeah. Green's Meats, it's not far from...here. Keep...going down the street. ...Can't miss it."

"Oh, thank you!" The girl smiled widely. "I'm new in town, I just moved here from England. My name is Astrid. You?"

"Uh...Brian." Brainy managed, holding his hand out for her to shake.

"Brian! Nice to meet you!" Astrid eagerly shook his hand. "Oh...but your nickname is Brainy, is it not?"

"Uh...yeah."

"I knew it! I could just tell. Well, I'll be starting at P.S. 118 next week, fifth grade! Do you go there?"

His heart skipped a beat again, and he nodded a bit.

"I knew it!" Astrid grinned. "Wonderful! Well, I have to be going now. I have to bring home some meat for dinner tonight! Here, Brian." She took out a pen from her purse and a piece of notebook paper, scribbling down a number. "I have a feeling you'd like to see me again...so, if you'd like, you can call me anytime." She handed him her number and winked.

Brainy wheezed, nodding a bit.

"Wonderful! I'll see you later, Brian." She patted his cheek with her hand before heading off down the street...crashing into a metal trashcan. She looked sheepish and picked it back up from the ground before she continued on her way.

Bringing a hand to his cheek, Brainy felt himself blushing a little bit. It felt pretty odd that he hit it off so well with another girl, who could read him like a book, no less. He had a good feeling that this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. He wondered if that happened entirely by coincidence...or if maybe Forthwind was responsible for it.

Shrugging, he just smiled and headed off down the street in the opposite direction to head on home. It was time to move forward. And maybe stop stalking Helga, as well. She was in good hands, and he couldn't be more happy for her. Besides, he had a new friend he wanted to give attention to.

From an unseen force, Forthwind smiled as he watched the events unfold, and closed his eyes.

"It seems that my job is done. ...Young Brian finally knows of love so true."