A/N: Not too many words, just a one-shot for you. A new spin on a cliché idea. I hope you enjoy.
I don't own NCIS.
Sunlight caught on dew, illuminating the wet grass as they walked, hand-in-hand. Her much smaller hand fit in his quite well, and the smile on her face was worth so much to him. When she looked at him, expectant and wanting to go faster, he only pulled her to a stop and kneeled in front of her.
"Honey, you know this is very important, right?" he asked carefully. When he nodded, he smiled and reached forward, wrapping his fingers around her necklace. "You know, your mother used to have a necklace just like yours. It was very pretty."
"Really?" she looked surprised, and almost pleased, that she had something just like her mother's. The little girl cocked her head sideways. "What happened to it? I never saw it."
"Some very… bad people took it away," Tony replied quietly, wanting nothing more than to forget that time of their lives. That had been so long ago, yet it still bothered him. The scars on her back and the way she'd been when they found her - it was all too much sometimes. Drawing in a deep breath, he forced himself to focus on the young girl in front of him. "Your mother always looked pretty, Adda, but that necklace was her very favourite. Just like yours is."
Adalynn smiled again, showing her crooked, but nevertheless white, teeth. She moved his hand away from her necklace to examine it herself, seeing the miniaturized version of her mother's original Star of David necklace. It was beautiful, she knew. It was beyond pretty and special. In fact, it was precious. At least, her Daddy had said so many times. It was a little piece of her mother to take with her everywhere she went, even though it had never belonged to Ziva personally.
Her eyes suddenly lit up, and he couldn't help but grin. He knew that look. "Daddy, do you still have the paper? I want to draw something before we go see Mommy."
Tony nodded and sat down on the grass, producing a folded piece of paper from his pocket and a few pens. She took it from him without a word and began to draw. He only watched, not bothering to correct her because he knew not what she was drawing. It was only when her arm moved out of the way that he realized what she'd drawn, and a sad smile creeped onto his face.
She wanted to make it better. Of course she did. She always did.
"All done!" she exclaimed after about a minute, handing the drawing back to him. He smiled and put it in his pocket.
"Let's go see Mommy, okay?" Once again, Tony took her hand, allowing her to skip beside him and talk constantly. He loved her talking when it came to this part; the part that he always dreaded, the part that always brought so much emotion. Suddenly, they stopped, and he pulled the drawing from his pocket. "We're here, tateleh."
Tateleh, he thought almost sadly. Something he'd started calling her because of Ziva. Adda didn't seem to notice the nickname, however, and only grabbed the drawing from him. He didn't have the heart to correct her manners as she signed her picture and gently placed it on the ground.
"I love you, Mommy," she whispered, as a single tear fell down her face.
"I love you, Ziva," he echoed, staring at the polished stone in front of them.