Officially, I didn't write this for any fandom, just for a story in general - but then I realized that it's quite fitting to Ziva. So, there you are!

Enjoy and do tell me what you think!

I guess I was always craving for your attention, even as a child. I remember studying every night, trying to remember everything I heard and saw, just to able to hear you say that you were proud of me.
I never heard it. You never told me anything besides a 'well done' every once in a while. I longed to hear those words. I'd behave exactly like you told me to every day, even if it went against everything I wanted. If I wanted to play outside, but you told me to come in and study, I would do so without complaining. I knew how important it was to you to have an obedient daughter, even though I didn't understand why. I knew nothing of esteem and pretence. The world was a playground – with restricted times.

Until, of course, I grew older, and learnt the real reasons. I now knew why you never showed me much affection – but it didn't stop me from trying to make you say that. It took me a long time to realize that you didn't want a perfect daughter. You wanted a way to forget – you wanted fights and shouts, you wanted raw emotions, you wanted imperfection. Something to make you feel better and take your mind off of things you did not want to think about.

But how can you blame me from trying to look good in my daddy's eyes? How can you not understand that all a little girl wants is to be accepted by the people she looks up to most?

And now, I don't care anymore. I think the turning point came when I saw how other fathers loved their daughters. Fully, openly, without restraints. Without cheating or hiding. They were not afraid to show their feelings. They were proud of their children – you never were of me.

It's all over now, though, and nothing I will say can change that. We live on opposite sides of the world. We have nothing in common – nothing but our blood, and a shared love of your wife –my mother– and our home country. But that is all.

I will never stop loving you. Those sudden urges I get, to call you, to tell you what I have achieved, will never go away. That is the legacy you leave behind.

But I can live with it now. I don't strive to be your perfect daughter anymore. Now I know that it's just not possible to please you.