Disclaimer: I have never been to the Yatir Forest in Israel. I'm sure there will be many, many inaccuracies in this fic.
PLEASE CHECK BOTTOM FOR WARNINGS.
It was not the first time her father had left them in Yatir Forest and told them to make their separate ways back to where he would be waiting. It was not the easiest training exercise he had given them, but it was one of the more enjoyable. Walking through the woods was peaceful, and somehow the silence managed to block out the sound of the explosion that had killed Tali far better than the noise of the city did.
But the whole point of that silence was not having to think about it, so Ziva skirted that thought quickly and kept walking.
The first time she had done this, she had been uncertain her skills would be up to surviving in the wilderness. Now it was easy.
If she wanted to beat Ari back to their father, however, she needed to pick up the pace.
Which would be easier if she could be certain she was heading in the right direction.
She knew what general direction she was going in, of course. She had been checking her position against the sun all day. She was eight, not stupid.
But it was almost noon now, and approximations and mistakes could add up to costly time. She must be close to where her father waited by now. If she had a better vantage point, perhaps she could see his vehicle and have a better idea how to angle her approach.
She picked a tree at random and started scrambling up it. She was only two branches up when she remembered her father's lecture on how to choose the best tree. She was supposed to consider height, location, and the health of the tree.
She had already started climbing this one. She would just remember next time.
She wasn't nearly high enough yet, so she kept climbing. The bark was rough on her hands, but she kept going. She could not let small pains stop her if she was going to be of use to her father.
Her palms were slick with sweat, but she kept pulling herself up. She was near the top now. She would stop soon and look out.
She reached for the next branch.
It snapped.
She cried out as she fell. She hit other branches on her way down with bruising impact, but none of them stopped her fall.
It did not take many seconds to fall.
Each one felt like a century.
She should twist a certain way, hadn't that been what her father -
The forest floor had been soft under her feet.
The way her neck twisted when she landed, there wouldn't have been a cushion on Earth that was soft enough.
Ziva got up. Her body did not.
She laid back down and tried to fit herself back inside it.
The blood still running in it felt good, but her body would not move with her.
She stood back up and reached for her own ankles. She would just have to drag herself forward then.
Her hands slid right through.
Her chin started to shake, but she refused to cry. She would not. She could not. Crying helped nothing.
She had to find her father. She had caught a glimpse, briefly, from the tree.
She started walking.
She didn't bother to curve around the trees.
Her father had told them to walk through their injuries. She would make him proud.
It was only an hour later that she spotted him sitting inside his vehicle. He got out when he saw her. "Ziva! Well done. You have beaten your brother back." He looked proud of her.
It was the first time she had beaten him. His legs were longer than hers.
She smiled back at him a bit shakily. "Father, something happened."
"Oh?" He walked toward her. "What was that, my Ziva?"
He crouched down to put his hands on her shoulders.
They slid right through.
Her father reeled back.
Ari burst from the forest behind her. Ziva cursed herself. If he was that close behind her, she should have heard. She had been distracted. Father would not like that. She looked at him anxiously.
Father was still staring at her in horror.
"Father, I found - I saw - " Ari panted. Then he saw Ziva standing there and his eyes went wide.
Ziva scowled. "I fell."
Her father got up and stumbled back.
"Get in the car," he ordered both of them.
"Father?" Ziva asked. She had never heard that tone in his voice before. Not even when Tali -
Oh.
The full magnitude of what had happened hit her.
Father wouldn't look at her. "Into the car, both of you."
Ari was still staring at her. "But what about - "
"Into the car!" Her father roared.
She looked to Ari. Her whole body was shaking. It shouldn't, she had to be strong, but she had fallen, and she needed something. Anything.
Ari was staring at her father with a fury she had never seen, but he tried to push it back when he glanced at her.
"It will be all right, little one," he told her.
She hated when he called her that, but he had said it would be all right, and he, at least, was looking at her, so she got in the car and wondered why she could curl up on the seat but she could not touch her father.
Of course, she couldn't feel the sun warmed leather, and she wasn't pressing into it, so maybe she was not really touching it at all.
Ari still had an energy drink in his backpack. He took it out silently as her father started the car.
"What are you doing?" she hissed when he unscrewed the lid and made to pour it over her.
Ari pressed a finger to his lips and poured it over her head.
She nearly punched him before she realized it felt . . . nice. It trickled through her hair and down into her shoulders.
And when Ari reached across to her, his hand did not slide through.
She huddled into his arm for warmth for as long as the sugar buzz lasted. Ari glared at the back of their father's head.
Their father acted as if he were the only one in the car.
Ziva did not understand why he was not proud of her. She still had not cried.
WARNINGS: Death of a child and neglect, or at least really bad parental judgement. Potential warning for disturbing imagery.