A/N: Hey, there! Thanks a ton to StarShipDelta and Amarandh for reviewing (shame on the rest of you, I know you're reading it!) and the other people who wrote about my other stories.

Now we're just about to get Kurt-centric here, so hold on a couple more chapters.

Disclaimer: Don't own the X-Men. Just Sigfreda and her dad.

Chapter Six

Sigfreda and her father were having dinner when the phone call came.

At the moment, she was spooning some lukewarm canned soup into her mouth. The ringing interrupted their quiet chatter, and she started, dropping the utensil and liquid onto her lap.

"Oops," she muttered sheepishly as Sigfried stood up to talk to the caller. It was next to their little fridge. As he took the phone off the hook, he nodded in Sigfreda's direction.

"Wipe that off," he mouthed at her, before saying in his most pleasant voice, "Hello?"

Sigfreda glared down at her slack pants that were in constant danger of sliding off her hips, blotting the spot with a paper napkin, when her father's words caught her attention.

"Harriet? I haven't heard from you in years." It wasn't the words, exactly, but the tone of voice. He was also speaking in his native tongue. "Yes, I suppose so...How are you?"

Sigfreda shook her curls out of her face and pursed her mouth in concentration, trying not to look like she was eavesdropping.

"And how's Alice and Edward? Last time I saw them was...Oh. Oh, my. Huh." Sigfried turned his back to his daughter. "Well, what did the doctors say?"

Sigfreda's head snapped up at this part, not really caring about being surreptitious anymore.

"Wow, that's...that's terrible, Harry. I'm sorry; I really am. But there's a good chance...?"

'Harry?' Sigfreda thought. Guess they were close, or at least had been.

"Oh...really. Well, I hate to bring this up, but ever since-" he glanced at his daughter over his shoulder quickly and faced back again. "-that...problem we had- no, not that one...no...I'm not saying it, she's right here!"

Sigfreda suddenly realized he was talking about her. "Vati-"

"Hush, lieb. But Harry, ever since it happened, I haven't been able to get a good job. I can't possibly pay for it."

They must be really close. Sigfried hated talking about their financial issues.

"Oh, no, Harry, that's just too much to ask...Well, if it is for Alice...I suppose so. When do you want us? Harry, I'm not leaving her here. She's part of the family too, and it's not like she's going to tell all the newspapers about this...Fine, perhaps there are some things she doesn't need to know about. Yes...All right. Do you need anything? Well, if you do, just call me. Mm-hmm. Right. You can tell me about the details later, just go take care of Alice. Yes. It was nice to hear from you, even if it's about something that bad. Yes. I'll talk to you later. Goodbye." He hung the phone on the receiver, shook his head, and sat back down at the table.

"Vati, what was that?" Sigfreda asked. He took off his glasses, which was a sure sign of trouble.

"Oh, lieb, it's my cousin. I'm afraid she's gotten cancer."

She didn't know much about the disease, but she realized how dreadful it was. "That's bad."

"It is. But the doctors have good news. She's had chemotherapy, and there's a good possibility that she could survive."

"Whoa." Sigfreda set down her spoon. "I guess that part's good, Vati."

He smiled gratefully at her. "I haven't spoken to her in years. That was her sister – also my cousin – on the phone. Her name's Harriet, and her brother is Edward."

"How come I've never heard of them?"

Sigfried sighed. "We had a falling out a while back, around the time you were born. It's been eleven years since then – nearly twelve." They grinned at each other at the mention of her upcoming birthday. "But I suppose they want to make peace in light of this event, if Harriet's calling me up. She just asked me if we wanted to come to Germany to visit them."

Sigfreda felt her eyebrows pop up in surprise. "Wow! Are we going?"

He nodded. "Family's important, lieb. Never forget that." He picked up his spoon, turning back to his now-cold soup. "I think she wants us there as soon as possible. Probably in a week or so. Unless you have something else planned...?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, nothing. And you know it, so stop doing that."

"All right, lieb." He began eating again. Ever since Liam had left, Sigfreda had had a lot of trouble making friends. Her summer was going to be split between helping her dad at the movie store and walking around the city with him.

At least this would be a welcome change. She was tired of depilated buildings, the smoggy air, and the unchanging beat of Boston. A trip to her father's homeland would be wonderful. "Where do they live?"

"Actually, when my father died, he left them his house. So we'll be staying in my childhood home, most likely. It's a nice place, but I wanted to keep going to school in America."

"Sounds good." Sigfreda chewed thoughtfully on a rubbery piece of chicken. "Vati?"

"Mm?"

"Did the argument you had with your cousins- did it have anything to do with my mother?"

Sigfried stood up quickly, grabbing his bowl of soup. "What makes you say that?"

"I don't know...just guessing. Sorry." She picked up her bowl as well. "Don't worry, I'll do the dishes."

A Week Later, in Germany

"Oh, my god," Sigfreda said in a near whisper, accidentally dropping her suitcase on the clean, perfectly green grass beneath her. "Vati, how come you never told me your family is loaded?"

Sigfried frowned down at her. "Sigfreda, do not say that."

"Sorry. But, I mean...wow." She retrieved her bag from the ground.

She was standing with her father at the gate of his old house. The only word to describe it was: grand. It occupied several acres easily, not including the beautiful lawn and bushes around it. Decorated in such an elegant, splendid manner, Sigfreda wouldn't have been surprised to find out that royalty lived there.

Her father was studying it too, though more with reminiscence than awe. "How long has it been?" he asked, but the question was to himself. He began walking up the grassy path leading to the majestic front door. Sigfreda followed him, still taking it all in.

There was a small knocker attached to the entry, and her father slammed it once, then twice. "Here goes," he murmured, sounding a little nervous.

As far as she was concerned, he had absolutely nothing to worry about. Mere moments later, a tall woman around Sigfried's age opened it. Her mouth fell open in happiness.

"Oh, Sigfried!" she cried, throwing her long, slender arms around his neck. He hugged her back.

"Harry! This is so fantastic, seeing you - oh Harry, don't cry...please don't cry."

"I'm not," she replied, straightening and wiping frantically at her eyes. Sigfreda suddenly felt shy and ducked behind her father. "And...who's this?"

She had noticed the girl. "Sigfreda," she told the woman, staring at her feet. Her father pushed her forward, and his cousin tilted her chin upwards to face her.

"Don't be bashful, darling. Let me look at you." She examined her, grinning all the while. "Sigfried, she's beautiful...but look at how thin you are. Come in, you can unpack and have something to eat; does that sound good?"

Sigfried agreed and nudged his daughter into the house with a little more force than before. She was still feeling timid, and believed that Harriet had been lying. She was way too scrawny to be pretty.

The room they stepped into was also impressive, with a long staircase leading up to a balcony that overlooked it all. Harriet was walking up it, and she motioned for them to follow suit.

"You two can choose any room you want," she told them as they reached the second floor, "as long as they don't have anything in them. Sigfreda, would you like to try and see if you can find your father's old bedroom? Go on, see if you can do it."

Sigfreda restrained herself from rolling her eyes. This was clearly a ploy to get her out of the way so the adults could talk. She stopped at the first door on the floor.

Harriet looked surprised. "You found it." Sigfried smiled down at her.

"You can stay there. I remember there was a tree right next to the window; I used to climb on it and watch the stars at night."

Sigfreda beamed at him, and upon his encouragement, reluctantly walked through the door, leaving her father and his cousin in the hallway. The room was decorated with dark blue wallpaper. She noticed with a wave of affection towards Sigfried that it was her favorite color. There was a small bed tucked into the corner, missing its sheets and blankets. A small table stood next to it, with a reading lamp standing on it. A dresser was located on the opposite wall. Between the three pieces of furniture, there was nothing besides a light green floor-length carpet.

She dropped her case on the ground, not really caring as it burst open from the force, and marched over to the window. Outside, there was a regal oak, proud and tall, extending its thick branches out to Sigfreda. Struck by a sudden impulse, she unlatched the frame and opened the pane, before reaching out her hands to stroke the strong leaves that were present. It was hard to imagine her father as a child, much less picture herself actually standing there. The house was too stately for anyone besides her graceful cousin and poised father to live in it.

She listened to the mumbling voices outside the room, and her suspicions were confirmed. A child would be far too...lively wasn't the word. Disruptive, perhaps.

"Come, Sigfreda," Sigfried commanded, outstretching his hand to lead her into the dining room. "We'll meet Alice and Edward. And shake their hands," he added as an afterthought.

She sighed quietly. "Yes, Vati." Being polite was really getting quite cumbersome. She was used to the banter she and her father shared.

In the room, there was a long, rectangular table covered in a crisp, white cloth. It was so blindingly clean that Sigfreda winced when she saw it, before noticing the strange new woman seated behind it.

She was a few years younger than Harriet, but she looked much older, with laugh lines around her kind eyes and knowing bruises under them. Except for the fact that her head had nothing on it but a few wisps of hair, she looked almost exactly the same as Sigfried's cousin. This was clearly Alice.

Her father stiffened with shock, before composing himself and going over to the frail woman and kissing her cheek. "Hello, Alice," he murmured, taking her hand from her lap and patting it. "How are you?"

She smiled sadly. "I'm as good as I can be, Sigfried. I feel much better than I did last month, I can tell you that." Her gaze drifted over to Sigfreda. "And...oh, my. Come here, girl." She motioned her over, and Sigfreda followed this instruction. The dress Harriet had made her wear was too large, and she nearly tripped over the hem. Alice giggled, a light, tinkling sound.

"Hello," Sigfreda said to her, sticking out her fist formally. The delicate woman laughed again.

"No need for that." She pulled her close and wound her thin arms around the girl. "You look exactly like your father, except for your eyes. Those are clearly your mother's-"

Sigfried coughed noisily.

"Oh, right. But it's like a flashback from my childhood, you're so alike- although you're a girl, of course, I'm not insinuating anything-"

"Alice," a strong, imposing voice said from the depths of the shadows in the alcove near the cabinet. "I think that's enough. You're still recovering."

Sigfreda turned her head from the benign face before her in order to attach a body to the tone. A tall man with features not unlike those of his sisters was standing near the glassware case, holding a heavy mug. She wondered how she hadn't seen him before.

"I'm Edward," he told her, with a watered-down version of a smile. "And you're undoubtedly Sigfried's daughter. I'd recognize that hair anywhere." Edward walked over to them. "Alice, don't wear yourself out."

"I'm not doing anything to her," Sigfreda began, but Sigfried's glare silenced her.

"I'll make you some tea," he told the woman, ignoring the girl's comment.

"I can handle a potato," Alice muttered darkly, making Sigfreda chuckle, but she allowed herself to be led into the adjoining kitchen on unsteady legs.

"We're going to have dinner in a moment," Harriet told Sigfried, "but I'm just going to set the table first. You can just sit for a bit. We'll...talk later."

Sigfreda realized that this was another mention of a secret she was not privy to. It was beginning to get irritating. Maybe she could figure out some way to listen in on their conversation later. Being on the outside of the family enigma wasn't nearly as bad as the exclusion she felt at school – not even close, because she knew her father cared about her – but more frustrating. Sigfreda was getting tired of being patient for everything to be revealed. It was as if the longer she waited, the more it seemed that she wasn't likely to hear the answer. But her father had mentioned two different things while talking to Alice the week before.

When she entered that house, how deep had she been wound into the mysteries? And more importantly, how could she extract herself?

A/N: Soooo...did you like it? Hate it? Leave a review!

Mucho foreshadowing here, as well as a couple hints to my other fanfic, A Song for Someone Special.