February 28th, 1992. Jean-Pierre Delmas was in his classroom at the prestigious Kadic Academy when the school secretary walked in, looking frantic. "Mr. Delmas, I have just received a phone call. Your wife is in labor." His eyes widened and he grabbed his suit coat, putting it on. "Students, history class is dismissed, you may leave," he said hurriedly and ran out to his car, an old, small, rusty American car and quickly drove to the hospital with no word to the staff. He was sure the secretary would understand, or at least hoped she would.

Jean-Pierre rushed to the front desk of the hospital and asked what room Sonia Delmas was in. The very bored woman gave him a room number and returned to her magazine. Still running, he found the room and saw his wife, being prepared for giving birth, already doing the breathing exercises. Even like this, Jean-Pierre thought his wife was beautiful. Long raven black hair, sapphire-blue eyes, soft, elegant skin, and normally she wore fashionable clothes and a warm smile, but today they were replaced with a hospital paper gown and a face of pain. He walked over and grabbed her hand tightly and smiled, she managed a smile back and concentrated on giving birth.

A few hours later, after much screaming, pushing and hand-squeezing, Elisabeth Delmas was born. She was a beautiful baby; she looked just like her mother, even after just being born. Jean-Pierre and Sonia couldn't be happier.

As little Elisabeth grew up, she proved to not only be a beautiful baby but a rather smart one as well. Like her mother, she had an impeccable sense of fashion. Her first words were to her mother: "Blue's not your color". For that, Elisabeth got ice cream. However, although she could tell you which dress from Milan to buy, she never really could pronounce Elisabeth. It always came out something like "Sissi". So, from that point onward, Elisabeth Delmas was Sissi, unless she was in trouble.

When Sissi was five, she started school. She picked out a beautiful pink dress and had her hair in a bun and wore a silver bracelet given to her by her mother. She wanted to wear some of her mother's make-up, but Sonia politely refused. Many of the people in the school commented on how beautiful the little girl was, and Sissi was eating it all up. It was one of the happiest days of her life, and when she got to her classroom she became even happier. There was a boy sitting next to her, wearing green, with brown hair and tiny eyebrows. He looked strong, but had a smile on his face. "Hi! My name's Ulrich Stern. I like your hair." Sissi giggled. She really liked this boy, even during the time when girls thought boys had cooties and vice versa. Grade school relationships are confusing, and Sissi's was no exception. Like many grade-school kids do when they like someone, they act like they hate them. So Sissi punched Ulrich in the face. Ulrich burst into tears while Sissi smirked; assuming Ulrich was playing hard-to-get, which she had heard her mother talk about. However, the teacher came over and told Sissi to sit in the corner for five minutes. From that point onward, Sissi Delmas loved Ulrich Stern, but he hated her and she was oblivious.

Sissi was very much a mama's girl. She loved her mother very much and was always very nice to her, always did what she said, and was always rewarded. She wasn't necessarily spoiled, but her mother made sure that she was recognized for doing good things, which is something Sonia Delmas wanted her daughter to do for all her life. Sonia also taught her daughter about how to be a proper lady, manners, and such. There were also life-lessons about fashion, as Sonia was a fashion designer. Sonia was a wonderful mother, always making sure her child grew up right. Speaking of children, one day Sonia and Jean-Pierre had an announcement for Sissi.

"Sissi, I don't know exactly how to tell you this," Sonia began, "But you have a new brother or sister on the way!" Sissi was very excited, she wanted a new sister to teach about clothes and boys and all kinds of things. However, after a few months, it was discovered that the baby would be a boy. Though disappointed, Sissi decided that she could be a good older sister even to a brother.

Nine months later, Sonia was very pregnant and being wheeled into the hospital. Jean-Pierre and Sissi were right behind her, Sissi pushing the wheelchair. "How strong you are, Sissi," Sonia said with a smile. When she reached the maternity ward, the doctor told her "Mrs. Delmas, your baby is larger than normal; I recommend that you have a C-section." However, she shook her head. "I will be birthing Sebastian naturally, and with no painkillers, either. That's the way God intended and the way I intend. Sissi turned out just fine." The doctor was obviously concerned, but nodded his head. "Alright, Mrs. Delmas."

Hours later, it was obvious that something was going wrong. The EKG machine, otherwise known as the-heart-rate-machine-that-beeps, was beeping very fast, and Mrs. Delmas was in even more excruciating pain that most mothers. She beckoned her husband and daughter over. "Jean-Pierre, Sissi, the Lord is calling me home. I can feel it." Jean-Pierre was in tears, and he was shaking his head. "No! You and our son Sebastian can live! Sonia, Sissi and Sebastian, remember? That's the way you wanted it, and you can still have it! You must let try to live, I can't lose you!" He began to cry, holding on to his wife's hand. "Doctor, can't you do an emergency C-section?" He shook his head, saying "The baby is too far down the uterine canal, which is already ripped... f-fatally." Sissi was crying too. "Mommy, don't die! I need you! Daddy needs you! Your work needs you! We all need you, you can't die! What about my baby brother?" Mrs. Delmas smiled and said "Elisabeth Delmas, you listen to me. The Lord says I am going home and that is final. You may not be as religious as I am but you must accept this as God's will. Sebastian will live, the Lord won't take my baby. But he is taking me. Sissi, be strong. For your father, for your brother, and for me."

Most women would be screaming in horrible pain at this moment, but Sonia Delmas was seemingly calm as ever, smiling at her family and whispering a prayer. The doctor was even at the point of tears, his eyes sparking as he saw the head of the child emerge, soaked in blood. "Please, Lord, don't take my wife. Please," was all Jean-Pierre could say, over and over. As soon as baby Sebastian Delmas was born, the EKG of his mother began to slow. Soon, there was only one, solid beep. Sonia Delmas was dead.

"Sonia Rebecca Delmas. Time of death, 1157 Hours, April 3rd, 1998. Cause of death, rip of uterine canal and massive hemorrhaging," was the coroner's summarized report. He stood next to the silent body, as Jean-Pierre held his son and Sissi cried quietly. The doctors and nurses bowed their heads in respect. It seemed that even the newborns were solemn, not fussing or even cooing, picking up the silence of the room. Even the heavens themselves were mourning, it had started to rain.

From that day onward, Sissi was different. No longer was she the happy, polite, courteous ball of sunshine, she was a loud, sassy, rude, cynical girl. No longer having a female support figure, she depended on her father- who began to spoil her to relieve her grief- and her friends at school. However, she began to form a clique, and with her attitude and money became very popular. She only really had two friends, boys that she had met named Nicolas and Hervé. Otherwise, her friends were fake, just wanting to be in on the popularity that was empty to Sissi.

However, Sissi also began to attend church more often. Her mother's solid faith, even on her deathbed, seemed to have inspired her. She became an avid church-goer, even convincing her father to attend services. She even went to Bible study classes, but she never told any of her "friends" about her religion. In fact, she never said anything about her personal life any more. Most people didn't even know she had a baby brother.

A few years later, Jean-Pierre had been promoted to the principal of Kadic, and was making plans for her daughter to attend once she was old enough. He, too, had changed. Once, he was a kind and lenient educator, now he was strict and somewhat cold. In his own words, he was "magnanimous". He seemed to spoil his daughter, giving her whatever she wanted, yet at other times he barely paid attention to her. He was in a state of conflict inside; although the services he was attending were have some effect. He was sure about one thing, he would remain faithful to his beloved Sonia and never remarry or find love again. He figured his daughter and son would be enough.

Sebastian Delmas never knew his mother, but was always told wonderful things about her by his father. He grew up just fine with a solid father figure; Jean-Pierre could teach him all the life lessons he would need. He could easily raise a son, but not as easily a daughter. Sissi realized this and was jealous. He saw his father and brother get along perfectly together, while he didn't even know what to do with her half the time. Sissi knew her father was by no means a bad father; he was just being a better father to Sebastian. Sissi hated Sebastian more than anyone else. He was so happy; he never had to lose a parent. He had everything he wanted and was content; while Sissi had everything she wanted but was empty. Sebastian had a father but Sissi had no mother. Sissi was always especially mean to her brother, because of her inner jealousy and even hatred. Her meanness even spread to her school life. However, she was a rather popular girl, no one really paid attention to another mean popular girl. The problem was, however, was that inside, Sissi wanted people to pay attention to her. Someone consistent, someone who would at least realize that she was a human being who needed companionship all the time, not just spoiling her one day and ignoring her the next. She never told anyone about that, either.

More years passed, Sissi grew colder and colder. She was known was one of the meanest girls in the school. The one person she tried not to be mean to was her beloved Ulrich. She tried to be nice, tried to be sweet. She just didn't know how to any more. They were in their first year at Kadic, and Ulrich was sitting on the bench no one sat on near the park. It was his "spot", a place he could go and think. However he couldn't think very well that day. "Ulrich! Hello!" Sissi called out, waving. Ulrich groaned and rolled his eyes. "Ulrich sweetie! I... found these flowers lying around, and I thought you'd like them! Bring some color to all that green you wear." Ulrich sneezed a few times, his eyes watering. "Get those things away from me! I'm allergic! My gosh, can't you leave me alone! You are the most annoying person I have ever met! Your father isn't like this, so what the heck is wrong with your mother?" Sissi dropped the flowers and burst into tears. "My m-mother is dead! B-but nothing was ever wrong w-with her!" She ran away, bawling. All eyes were on Ulrich, who looked very surprised. "Uh... sorry?" But Sissi never heard him; her father had walked over to her.

Sissi thought this was the worst day of her life and couldn't possibly get any worse. But her father had another message. He was crying, too. "Sissi... your brother was at the day-care when he ran outside in the street to get a ball that had gone too far and... and... the truck couldn't stop in time... he's gone." You would think Sissi wouldn't be sad, but Sissi is full of surprises. She cried even harder. "Why does God taking everyone away from me? WHY?"

Sissi wasn't in school the next week, from grief and helping prepare for the funeral. She refused to go to church that Sunday, or any other Sunday for that matter. "I don't want to worship a God that kills everyone." Jean-Pierre didn't want to argue, he figured Sissi was grieving in her own way. For the second time in six years, Sissi went to a funeral for an immediate family member. Sissi didn't know why she was so sad, she hated her brother. But she was incredibly sad, and hoped some good news would come along soon.

The next day when she went to school, all her "friends" immediately half-heartedly comforted her, except for Nicolas and Hervé, who actually did try to help her. Hervé even brought flowers for her. For a small moment in her life, Sissi had real friends, not minions or people wanting to be popular. She hugged them both, to the joy of Hervé. However, the happiness would soon end. Sissi found out that a girl had moved from Japan in the week she was gone, and Ulrich seemed to be talking to her a lot. She didn't know a whole lot of English, so Ulrich was offering to teach her. It made Sissi sick, having to compete over Ulrich. I will have him. I will go out with him someday. I swear it, Sissi swore to herself.

Two years passed. Sissi was still just as mean, and like many mean girls, decided to join the cheerleading team. She had tryouts that day. She was happy to find Ulrich walking over to her. "Sissi. I have something to show you." He motioned to the park. She nodded, confused, and followed him as he led her to a sewer opening.

You know the rest of the story.