(A/N): alrighty, here we go! First of all, let me say I'm a big Ziva fan, and I kinda fell out of watching NCIS a few episodes after she left, but I did watch a few here and there, but wow those episodes leading up to and including that finale! Woah! However, I don't believe she's dead, especially from a few things:

1) There was no body, DNA or anything. I use the Pretty Little Liars rule "if you don't physically see a body, they're not actually dead"

2) Tony's face when he smelt Tali's things, leading me to believe that there wasn't any smoke in the things, despite Orli stating that Tali was in the house

3) Tali's beloved Kalev (her stuffed dog) was in the go bag… That doesn't sound right to me

4) Tony's words when he tells Gibbs he's quitting "Ziva loves Paris" loves, not loved hmmm…

There are more, but these are the most prominent. So, this is how I think it should happen. This is set during and after 13x24 and will be part one of a two shot. Part two will take place ten years later, despite my cliffhanger at the end of this chapter. Trust me, it will make sense once I post part two. Okay, so I think I will quickly do some translations for you so you're not too confused reading this as parts are in Hebrew:

Mami = baby

Tsaphah = look out / look / to see

Motek = sweetheart

Toda = thank you

Ani ohevet otach = I love you

Yalla = let's go

Alright, I think that's it. So, I hope I did this justice and I will get part two up asap so you all can finish reading my little foray into NCIS fandom. Oh yeah by the way, I don't own NCIS.

Not As It Seems

Chapter 1

"Mami, time to go!" Ziva David told her two year old daughter, Talia David-DiNozzo as she pushed a photograph into her go bag along with her scarf and Tali's stuffed dog, Kalev. Tali ran up to Ziva and tugged slightly on her pant leg, pointing to a window.

"Tsaphah Ima!" Tali insisted, pointing at the window again. Ziva frowned, picking up her daughter and holding the little girl close to her as she approached the window Tali had pointed out, glancing carefully out of the pane of glass.

Her eyes widened as she spotted the same jet high above the farmhouse that her daughter had seen moments before. Tali, of course, had taken the airplane in the most innocent sense, loving anything that flew in the air, but Ziva knew why any aircraft would fly over this specific place.

Hurrying back away from the window, she threw the rest of the things needed into the go bag and made her daughter put on her light green jacket atop her dress and leggings. "Tali, listen to me. You are going to America, to Aba. Do you understand?"

"Aba?" Tali repeated innocently.

"Ken, Aba, mami." Ziva pressed a kiss to Tali's forehead before showing her the photograph of Ziva and Tony in Paris. "Show Aba the photograph, motek. Show Aba, okay?"

"Aba? Ken, Ima." Tali nodded seriously, though Ziva could only hope that her daughter understood what she was doing. Ziva hadn't told Tony about their daughter, though she had regretted it. At first, she hadn't told him for she knew he would be on a plane straight back to Israel but then when she'd finally thought that she should tell him, she thought he would have moved on, and didn't want her daughter hurt if he shunned them. Hurt for herself, she could handle, but if anyone hurt her daughter…

She grabbed her phone and dialled Orli. "Orli, I need you to pick Tali up now. There's an unidentified aircraft above the farmhouse. I need Tali safe."

"Of course Ziva. And where am I taking her?"

"To DC. It is time that Tony knew about our little mami."

"If you are sure. I will be there soon."

"Toda, Orli." Ziva hung up and paced the floor before her daughter and the bag they'd prepared. Sighing, Ziva zipped up the bag and shoved the Paris photograph into the side pocket. "Ani ohevet otach, motek."

Tali ran to Ziva's legs and hugged them tightly as Orli stepped into the farmhouse. "Ima?" Tali asked, stepping back and glancing between Orli and Ziva.

"Yalla, Tali!" Orli stated, grabbing the go bag and picking Tali up around her waist, both women wanting to cry at the heart-wrenching sob Tali let out at being forcibly separated from her mother.

Orli sent Ziva a compassionate look as she took Tali from the house, the little girl screaming "Ima!" at the top of her lungs all the way to Orli's waiting car.

Ziva waited for the car to depart before grabbing a couple of fake passports along with her real one, her emergency cash and a change of clothes, throwing them all into a smaller go bag with a picture of Tali. She threw the bag to the back door and grabbed her weapons from the wall safe she us housed them in ever since her daughter was born. Checking that they were all in working order, she settled in for the wait. She just hoped that Tony and Tali would be able to meet her in Paris.

…

Tony sighed, running a hand over his weary features. Tali had had another restless night, screaming for her "Ima" every five minutes or so and pointing insistently at the photograph of them in Paris. He sighed again. Part of him was angry that Ziva hadn't told him about Tali, whilst another part of him understood and was thankful that she'd made Orli take Tali to him in the event of her death. Her death. Tony still couldn't believe that she was gone. It seemed too… Quick, too simple. There was no physical evidence, yet everyone had simply accepted that she was gone. They'd been slower to accept it when she was in Somalia, despite being told that she was dead then too. He maintained then that he would feel it if she was dead, and he maintained it now. And it didn't feel like Ziva was dead.

He picked up the photograph and ran his fingers over Ziva's frozen, smiling face. Then he frowned. Why did the photo seem ill fitting in the frame itself? He flipped it over and undid the back of the frame, blinking as a piece of paper fluttered out of the space between the back of the frame and the back of the photograph. With shaking hands, he picked up the scrap of paper, eyes watering as he made out Ziva's swirling handwriting.

T, I love you. Bring Tali to where we were back then. I'll meet you there. Z X

Tony blinked at the note. What? Making up his mind, he grabbed his phone and booked two plane tickets, one for him, one for Tali. To Tel Aviv. Orli had some explaining to do first.

…

Orli looked up as Tony waltzed into her office, Tali perched on his hip and playing with Kalev near his ear. Tony shot her a warning look as he set Tali down onto a chair. "Is she really dead, Orli?"

Orli sighed. She knew she'd get a visit from him sooner or later. Standing up, she gestured for Tony to follow her to the opposite end of the room to the obliviously playing two year old. "I received a phone call from Ziva the night of the attack, asking me to pick up Tali. I did and she told me to take her to you, explain to you who she was. Half an hour after leaving with Tali, the farmhouse was in flames. I do not know where Ziva is, or if she is alive. Please, believe me on that." Orli glanced back at Tali. "I fed the news the story of there being one survivor, Tali, because I did not know at the time if they had been intending to kill Ziva. If she is alive, she no longer has a target on her back. If she is dead, then nothing really changes, does it?"

Tony growled a little, angry at Orli's interference. "And Ziva not telling me about Tali?"

"She wanted to, she did Tony. I swear." Orli sighed. "She told me that if it was meant to be, you two would find one another again eventually. I tried to find a way to get you over here, but your director and Gibbs stonewalled me each time. That was not on my head." Orli placed a hand on Tony's arm. "If you think you know if she is alive or not, or have any inclining as to where she's gone, then go. What more do you have to lose?"

"Tali."

"You will not lose your motek. Ziva will never take her from you and I doubt you would withhold her from Ziva either. Here," Orli reached behind him and grabbed a stack of cash from a shelf, "take this. And go before people begin to ask questions. I wish you and Tali all the best, Tony."

"Thanks, Orli. How do I tell Tali that it's time to go?"

"Yalla means let's go, if that is of any use to you."

Tony nodded and strode over to the two year old. "Tali, yalla."

Tali nodded, jumping up at taking her father's hand, clutching her dog in her other hand. "Ken, Aba."

…

Ziva sat impatiently at the tiny table at the just as tiny Parisian café, blowing the steam off a hot chocolate and watching the passers by. She'd been sat outside the café every day for just under a week and knew she would sit outside the café forever if she had to. She wanted her life back. She wanted her daughter, and she wanted Tony. She wanted her family.

"Ima!"

Ziva jumped a little as a smal body jumped onto her lap. Looking down, tears fell down her face faster than Niagara Falls as she wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter's slight form. "Mami, my mami." She cried into her daughter's hair, stiffening as she felt someone watching them. She glanced up, her features softening as she saw Tony stood on the other side of the table almost awkwardly, a go bag in hand and Tali's stuffed dog in the other.

"Ima, Aba!" Tali proclaimed loudly before burying her face back into Ziva's neck, tiny arms wrapped around Ziva's neck. Ziva stood awkwardly, trying to hold Tali and adjust her without jostling the two year old too much.

"Tony." Ziva breathed out, standing less than five inches from the former NCIS agent. Tony blinked at hearing his name from her lips once more, after so long of only hearing it in his dreams.

"Zi." He lunged forward, engulfing his daughter and the woman he still loved in a tight embrace that Ziva returned with a free hand she managed to remove from her daughter's back. After several moments, he pulled back, both irrationally missing the sense of security they'd felt in the others arms. "We need to talk."

To Be Continued…