He didn't know when it was placed there but there it was. Front and center on the neatly organized bookshelf. There wasn't much to it. Just a 4 x6 photo of a little girl, a little Ziva, standing in a pale pink tutu with a woman next to her smiling proudly amongst the backdrop of a red brick ballet school. It was the missing piece he didn't know needed to be found.

The first time he noticed it was on their first night out after having moved in together. He was adjusting his tie in the mirror talking about his current case when he realized she wasn't paying attention. He had never seen her like this. She had zoned out and was quietly humming a song, he didn't know what, and gazing at the photo longingly.

He always thought about asking her, but the timing never seemed right. Upon Ziva's return she had never slowed down. She was either taking art classes, dance, working with children or working toward her doctorate in foreign affairs. Eventually he accepted the gift Ziva had given him. The little piece of her that she always tried to hide.

He took in the photo once again when he got up the guts to ask Ziva to marry him. Yes he felt strange asking a photo for permission, but he couldn't help it. The persons in that photo meant too much to her for him to ignore. He would swear to this day that the smile on the woman's face got bigger when he asked.

Years had passed, things had changed. The picture was no longer on the bookshelf. Now, now it was displayed proudly on their mantel. The world could see it, but it begged for the mystery to be solved.

The mystery was solved when he walked in the door exhausted after a long day of work. Ziva and their daughter were talking; the photo held like a great treasure in their little girl's hands. Tony Dinozzo leaned against the wall in the living room listening to his wife tell tales of her mother. The days spent cooking, riding land most important the hours upon hours of just dancing through the day without any care in the world. The happiest times in young Ziva's life.

A few months down the road he caught himself looking at the picture again. It was different though. The photo no longer held any mystery only happy memories. He smiled as he placed a new picture right next to it. The new photo stood proudly in a sleek black frame. The brick building the perfect backdrop for his girls. Ziva was crouched next to their daughter who stood in her pale pink tutu, both sporting smiles that lit up the world.