Elisa gave me the prompt, "locks." I don't own NCIS.
Locks were a huge part of her life. She had the obvious lock to her apartment, the lock to her car, the lock to her drawers in her desk, but there were two locks that were unlike any other locks; she had a lock to a memories box and a lock to her heart.
She had the memories box since she was a child. It was something that Ari showed her how to make when they were children. Over the years the box had grown and gotten bigger, but the contents inside of the box stayed the same.
Ziva had the picture of her, Tali, and Ari inside the box. That was the only picture she had left of her two deceased siblings. It was a picture she treasured with her entire life. The memories that were attached with the photo were priceless. Whenever she looked at the photo, Ziva could remember the times that she spent with her siblings, running around their house without a care in the world.
Now, though, all those moments were memories. The picture brought tears to Ziva's eyes every time she looked at the picture. Every time she looked at the picture, she couldn't look at it for a long time. It hurt too much.
Her memories box also had notes and jewelry that she had attained over the years. There were countless notes from previous boyfriends, the ones that she had before joining Mossad. There were also pieces of jewelry that Malachi and Michael had given her. Malachi was just her friend, but he cared about her deeply. To show his love for Ziva, he had given her a necklace. Michael, on the other hand, had given Ziva many rings. Even though Ziva never wore rings, she still appreciated his tokens of love, and she had put them in the memories box.
Ziva David treasured her box of memories more than anything, which was why she had a lock on the box. She did not want anyone getting into her box; she did not want anyone to steal her memories away.
Her box of memories was almost like her heart. She had a lock around her heart; Ziva had been hurt too many times in the past. She could not afford to get hurt again. So, she kept a lock around her heart, and the key was tuck far away. Ziva would not let anyone in after Michael. What had happened to him had hurt her too much. Not only had she been hurt by his death, but she was also hurt by the previous relationships.
So, the lock was around her heart, and Ziva was not going to open it for anyone. She did not want to be hurt again. She knew that she deserved to be treated well and she wasn't gonna let the bad men into her life.
There was one person, though, that tried to get her to open up. Her partner, Tony, was always begging her to let him in. He wanted to comfort her and make the hurting stop. Ziva was weary though. She did not want to let him in.
There was a piece of her heart though that begged Ziva to let him in. That small part wanted to be comforted by Tony; it wanted to love him. Ziva's head said no, though. She could not let him in for the fear of being hurt again. It was too big of a risk.
The days went by, and every time Ziva saw Tony, that piece of her heart would cry out in longing. Ziva heard her heart, but she was still unsure. By the time that the week ended, Ziva had thought long and hard about what she was going to do.
She decided to take a chance. She decided to open the lock and let her heart love again. It had been long enough. Ziva needed someone to care for her; she could not do everything alone. She opened the lock to her heart and let Tony in, welcoming him graciously. It was time to move forward and start over.