Newly edited and slightly re-written.
"Please," Abby begged, her bottom lip starting to stick out.
"No," Ziva replied shortly, shaking her head.
"Come on Ziva."
"No Abby."
"Why not?"
"Because."
"Because of what?"
"Because, I cannot ice skate!"
"I'll teach you," Abby offered, Ziva simply laughed dryly.
"No you will not, I am not going."
"One hour, that is all I ask, I went with you to that weapons thing."
"Fine, one hour and if I fall over, you are going to die." Ziva threatened, her eyes narrowing into slits as she glared at Abby.
"Yes ma'am."
Abby leaped into the air, her arms flying up as she started to jump around in a circle, chanting, "Yes, yes, yes, yes."
"You won't be yessing if you don't get me results," Gibbs strolled in the room, usual coffee in his hand as he walked up to Abby, Ziva and the computer that would offer him the results he was after.
"El Jefe! Right, I ran the DNA of our suspect and guess what?" Abby squealed, her lips curving into an even bigger smile.
Abby was met by silence, not that it was a surprise but still suppressed her displeasure with a frown. Her eyes widened into a puppy dog look but Gibbs still did not budge, just simply stood waiting. Finally, Abby gave up and caved.
"Fine, don't guess. They matched! Your suspect is the killer," Abby announced, proud that she had given the results that Gibbs was after.
Gibbs walked up to Abby and gave her a short kiss on the cheek then turned around and walked straight out of the lab, leaving a Caf-Pow behind on the table. Abby snatched the Caf-Pow off the table and continued to slurp it up, the noises she made making Ziva look away in disgust.
"Ziva, meet me here when you're finished," Abby ordered, not taking her attention away from her Caf-Pow.
"Ok," Ziva reluctantly agreed.
Ziva walked out of the lab, dreading the next few hours of her life. She wondered to herself why she agreed to this in the first place. Believe it or not, she considered herself to be quite good at ice skating but it was her secret. No one would suspect someone who grew up in the desert, where were you going to find ice? But she was still good, she glided across the ice with grace, a skill learnt from her many years of ballet as a child. Her father often commented that it would help her balance, of course then she thought he was helping her out, not subtly training her for Mossad.
Flashback
"Ziva, Tali, we are going on holiday!"Rivka shouted into her house, her voice vibrating against the walls.
"Where Ima, where?" The girls questioned, both of them looking up to see their mother walk into the living room.
"We are going to England," Rivka replied. "Now go and pack some things. It is will be cold so pack long trousers and long sleeve t-shirts, we can buy some jumpers if we need some," Rivka instructed, pointing the girls to their bedrooms as she waited for them to move.
It wasn't long before Ziva, Tali and Rivka arrived in England, already with a list of things to do and places to visit: London Eye, Sea-life aquarium, Madame Toussands, Big Ben, London Dungeons, Houses of parliament, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park. All of them were big attractions for tourists. They decided to visit them on the weekdays, Ziva figuring out that they would be more popular on weekends because everyone would be off school. So Tali suggested something different.
"What about ice skating?" Tali asked.
It soon became clear that everybody liked the idea, the thought of doing something so unavailable in Israel instantly drawing the trio to the idea. An internet cafe provided times and prices for the ice skating and after deciding that they were dressed for the occasion, they set off.
"Wow, this is amazing," Tali said as they entered the ice rink, queuing up to get their skates from the counter.
"It is magical," Ziva agreed.
"Come on girls; get your ice skates on," Ever the mother, Rivka grabbed a hand from both girls and pulled them towards the counter, ordering their skates as they handed over their entrance money.
Grabbing their skates, Ziva, Tali and Rivka sat down on a bouncy cushion, pulling on their skates as they each waited for one another to finish
"Hurry up Tali," Ziva moaned, shifting from one foot to the other
"Do not hurry her," Rivka scolded her daughter, gazing over Tali as she watched her do the final bow on her laces.
The three of them hobbled over to the rink, each holding each other's hands as Ziva took the first step onto the ice, followed by her sister and then her mother. Relishing the idea of independence that ice-skating gave, she took off, skating straight to the middle of the rink and isolating herself from all the sides. Ziva quickly caught onto the techniques required, using her arms to keep her balance as she took steady glides around the rink, skating to a supporting side on the complete other side to Tali and Rivka.
Ziva glided along the ice, smiling at people around her as she weaved in and out of the traffic, dodging the young children who had no idea how to skate and she mastered stopping by doing a small turn. She had not had so much fun in years, all her time was spent dancing, playing the piano or spending time climbing trees with Ari. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy it – she just wanted some more time to do other things.
Frowning, Ziva skated off the ice as the speaker pounded around the rink, ordering all people off the ice as their time ended. Flurries of people headed towards the exit and Rivka quickly grabbed Ziva's hand, pulling her towards the first exit and hurrying her off the ice. The trio returned their skates and grabbed their shoes, walking out of the rink with smiles on all their faces.
It was the last time that they had ever gone ice-skating together. Eli hadn't been very happy with the events and had scolded Rivka for taking them, claiming that it messed with their ballet and piano timetables and now they were at risk of not passing their exams. Better not tell her that he had been planning to introduce Ziva into the world of Mossad that week. She would not have been happy.
End of flashback
Ziva walked to her desk and continued to work. As Abby had predicted earlier in the week, the suspect admitted to the murder when faced with clear evidence and was sent to police cells, awaiting trial. Finishing up her paperwork, Ziva grabbed her bags and bid goodbye to Tony and McGee before heading down to the lab, unsurprised to find Abby already waiting for her.
"Ziva! I booked our entrance so all we need to do is go," Abby said hurriedly, grabbing Ziva's arm and pulling her out of the lab, pulling the door shut behind her.
"Ok."
Abby drove to the ice rink, although it wasn't without complaint from Ziva after Abby refused to let Ziva drive with the reason of 'I want to end up alive'. Once at the rink, they stepped out of the car and made their way to the entrance, the receptionist greeting them with a bright smile and a company t-shirt.
"Hello."
"Hi, I'm Abby Scuito," Abby said, introducing herself.
The woman clicked her mouse and a knowing smile came onto her face. "Hello, two entrance tickets booked, go straight through."
The woman put bands around their wrists as verification that they had paid and Abby and Ziva went to put on their skates. When they had finished, Abby grabbed hold of Ziva's wrist and pulled her over to the entrance. Ziva was clouded with memory and found herself sniffing, overcome slightly with emotion. It was as if it came naturally to her. Reaching out, Ziva stepped onto the ice and started to glide, the blades carrying her effortlessly away from Abby.
"Hey, wait for me!" The voice startled Ziva and she started to turn back and skate over to Abby, apologising from afar.
"I thought you couldn't skate," Abby said, her head tilted slightly.
"I can, it just brings back memories," Ziva mentioned sadly.
"What memories?" Abby questioned delicately.
"My Ima took me and Tali ice-skating before she died. We went to England on holiday once – it was Tali's suggestion."
"Well, let's add some more memories to your old ones," ever cheerful, Abby grabbed Ziva's hand, determined to make ice-skating good again.
It was a sense of déjà vu as the speakers blared above them, skaters pouring out the exits as they retrieved their shoes and walked out, identical smiles occupying their faces. After piling into Abby's small car, Ziva suggested drinks, deciding that they deserved them after the day they had been through.
"What should we toast to?" Ziva asked, beginning to raise her glass. She had been learning new American traditions.
"To old memories," suggested Abby.
"To new memories," added Ziva.
"To great memories."
AN/ Just a one-shot. Enjoy
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