Eclipsed
Rifiuto: Non Miriena
Summary: They grew up together- childhood friends, seperated by continents, war, and time, yet somehow, they managed to find each other again. First in the Moon Eclipsed series, AU. Jo/Ziva friendship.
She tossed her head; the gold chain she wore hung between her breasts, the gold Star of David rested against her skin. She stared at it in the mirror, memories of the girl who'd given it to her flashing before her mind. Her long black hair hung down around her shoulders in soft waves, and slowly, she began to run the brush through the black strands. Once it was soft and smooth, she pulled it back in her usual tight ponytail. The dark blue of her tank brought out the soft olive hue of her skin, and she quickly tugged the shirt down, hiding the gold childhood memento beneath the blue tank. Once she was ready, she slipped her gun into the holster at her hip, grabbed her black leather jacket and left the house. It felt strange not being in uniform, but then again, she wasn't in Oregon; she was in D.C., and was planning on having a good time before going back to the small Oregon town she called home.
It had taken thirty minutes for her to decide whether or not she should bring her gun with her; as deputy, she never went anywhere without a gun, and so found it strange to leave it in the hotel room. She decided to take it anyway, knowing that there would be no use for it. As she hurried out of the hotel, she pulled her sunglasses on and glanced around; where to head first, that was the big question. A moment passed, before she headed north, coming across a small bookshop.
As she wandered the silent shelves, her eyes lighted on a copy of French copy of Jane Eyre, and she picked it up. Instantly, hot, muggy summers spent in the cool of the Deputy Director's patio in Tel Aviv came rushing back to her; images of sharing a similiar French copy as they read passages of the book to each other and acted out the scenes, taking turns reading as Jane, Rochester and the various other familiar characters within Bronte's beloved classic. She flipped through the book, stopping on a passage she'd read so many times, that the ink had worn thin on the copy they shared.
"I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."
She smiled, thinking of the man she'd left in Oregon. Sure, their relationship was only a year and a half old, but they'd managed to hold it together- even surrounded by the chaos of the town they lived in. She was fairly certain she'd found her soulmate, her better half, and would do any thing to keep the happiness she was in. Especially since they'd both dived back into the dating pool- and the first serious relationship either one had had in years.
Licking her lips, she flipped several chapters back, eyes lighting on a passage she knew by heart.
"It is always the way of events of life,…no sooner have you got settled in a pleasant resting place, than a voice calls out to you to rise and move on, for the hour of repose is expired."
That was certainly true for her. A military brat, she'd had very few friends, save for her three best friends- also military brats- and the one half a world away. She'd grown up in various parts of the world, ending in Jersey after her mother died when she was fourteen; after her family left Israel when her mother got sick, forced to leave everything she'd come to love about the Middle Eastern country. They'd kept in touch through the years, spending summers either in America or Israel, before their lives changed on September Eleventh. She then went over to fight, and the two lost contact, but she never forgot. Never removed the treasured necklace given to her for her birthday that long ago October day.
A moment passed, before she closed the book and tucked it into her basket; she continued to wander the shelves, adding a book of Marina Tsvetaeva's poetry in original Russian, Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward, Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One's Own, Allende's Portrait in Sepia and Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude in Spanish, Achebe's Things Fall Apart in German, and a copy of The Great Gatsby to the basket before making her way towards the checkout counter.
"Some one is a literature buff." She smiled at the woman, watching as she rang up each purchase. "German? French? Russian?" The woman raised her eyebrows, and she nodded, biting her lip.
"I was a military brat. Grew up reading various classics in various languages; the story's always the same, no matter the country or language." She shrugged.
"Well, enjoy." She gave the woman a small smile before taking her bag and leaving the store. Eventually, she settled at a table in a small cafe, a latte in front of her, Jane Eyre open as she quickly read through the chapters. She fiddled with the chain of the necklace, her mother's chain, twinning her fingers within the gold as she read softly to herself, occasionally looking out the window. She had the eerie feeling she was being watched. When she slipped the book back into her bag and pulled her sunglasses on, she quickly checked to make sure she wasn't being watched, and left the cafe, hurrying back to her hotel. It had been years since she'd been in D.C., but still, she knew the routes and side streets, and slipped down an alleyway that would take her to her hotel.
She stopped when she got to the elevators that would take her to her hotel room; felt, rather than heard, someone behind her, and turned to find herself alone. As she stepped towards the ppe door, she grabbed her gun, pulling it from her holster and turning. "Freeze! Eureka police!"
"NCIS!" She stood staring into the barrel of a gun, even as her stalker stared into the barrel of hers. A moment passed in tense silence, before the woman on the other end of the second gun straightened, cocking her head to the side, a curious glint in her eye. The woman gaped for several seconds, blinking, before lowering her gun. "A... Jo?"
She didn't lower her gun; instead, she cocked the hammer, shifting her weight, never taking her eyes off the woman. "What do you want?" Military training kicking in, she took a step closer, biting her lip. She really didn't want to cause a bloodbath, but if she had to-
The other woman scoffed gently. "I cannot believe you do not remember me." She narrowed her eyes.
"Remember you? I've never seen you before in my life." The woman raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Because I have. I remember you. You were my best friend. You still are." The woman took a step closer to her, gun down by her side, safety back on. She still hadn't lowered her weapon. She'd learned, from her time in Eureka, that lowering the weapon often gave the criminals a chance to let loose their chaotic experiments. She wasn't going to fall for it again.
"I don't know you." She watched as the woman reached into her blouse, pulling out a gold chain. Dangling from the end, was a cross, and a Star of David, similiar to the one she wore.
"You gave me the cross for my birthday, remember? And I gave you the Star of David. That way, we would always be friends, no matter where we were, or how old we got. We would always be sisters." The woman took a step closer to her, and she saw the glint of the cross next to the star. A moment passed, before she slowly lowered the gun and moved closer. Slowly, she reached into her shirt, pulling out the necklace she wore. "Achaiot lanetzach. Forever sisters, remember?"
The Hebrew words had been engraved on both stars, a reminder of their connection. Slowly, she turned hers around, seeing the engraving on the back. Her eyes moved from the engraved words to the woman across from her, and after a moment, she returned the safety to her gun and took a step towards her. Swallowing, she whispered, "Ziva?" The woman's smile told her all she needed to know, and before she could blink, the other woman's arms were around her, hugging her tightly through her tears.
"Achaiot, Shalom."