Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: I'm getting to be as bad as Zani. But this idea has been buzzing around in my head since I started this series, so I figured I'd try it. If you don't have any interest in it, I can take it down.- Licia

Thanks to MusicWithinMe and Reader aka Sun Samurai for reviewing 1.

"Shirah? Oh, ktana!"

"Shalom, Ima."

Tim watched as his wife hurried to their oldest daughter, pulling the girl into a hug. After several minutes, the girl pulled away, pressing a kiss to each of her mother's cheeks before making her way towards him. He couldn't believe it.

She was darker than normal, thanks to the heat of the Israeli sun, and she'd chopped off her hair; those long, beautiful dark locks Ziva used to braid were gone, now curling under at her shoulders. She'd filled out a little more, gaining more of her mother's figure and less of her girlishness, but her eyes- the beautiful, grey-green eyes all his babies possessed were still the same. In a pair of cargo pants and a blue tank top, a light jacket open on her small frame, her short hair held back with a grey headscarf, she looked exactly as her mother had when she'd walked into the bullpen twenty-two years ago.

She was twenty- when had his baby girl turned twenty? How many hours had he spent at that desk in the bullpen, or out on a scene, to not notice that his babies were getting older? In the course of a few milliseconds, he'd blinked and Shirah had gone from nursing at her mother's breast to going on excavations with her classmates in Israel... somewhere, in the years that had passed, his firstborn baby had decided she didn't need her parents to hold her hands or her sisters to compete with anymore. She'd grown up, changing into a beautiful young woman that stole his breath away.

"Are you going to just stand there or hug me? Abba?"

He blinked, and the little girl with the braids he'd been picturing was gone, his oldest daughter, all grown up, in her place. He took a deep breath, giving her a small smile and holding out his arms. "Come here, katan." Shirah still wasn't too old to race into her father's arms and throw her arms around his neck, as she'd done when she was little.

Instantly, the tears hit, streaming down her cheeks as the realization that she was home with her family- even if only for a little while- struck. Israel was so far away from Washington, D.C., after all. "Abba, ani mitga'a'ga'at lecha."

He chuckled, lifting her a few inches off the ground. "I missed you too, baby girl." Finally, he set her down, stepping back to study her. "God, look at you." Silently, Shirah reached up, tugging the scarf off and tucking a few flyaway strands behind her ears. "You cut your hair?" She nodded.

"Do you like it, Abba?"

He reached up, cradling her cheek. "Yafeh, katan. Absolutely beautiful." Shirah beamed, wrapping her arms around him again and snuggling into him. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, relishing the feel of her in his arms again.

"So how long are you home for, Cookie?" Tony asked, getting up and bounding over to the oldest girl. Slowly, Shirah pulled away from her father, going to the older agent.

"The month. Winter break- well, winter here, not really winter there." She giggled, as Tony wrapped her in a hug.

"Israel does not have winter." Ziva added.

"Or spring." Tim said, sliding his arm around his wife's waist when Ziva joined him. Gibbs, however, hadn't moved from his desk. He was watching as the team embraced the older girl, delighted to have her back. He'd welcome Shirah once her family finished-

"Why are you so tan, Shi?" Nara asked, sliding her arms around her sister's waist. Shirah pulled away, narrowing her gaze.

"Why are you so white?" Both Tim and Tony snorted, unable to contain their laughter.

"Oh grow up, both of you." Ziva replied, smacking her husband lightly on the arm. Tim held up his hands, stepping back.

"It's good to have you home, Shiraleh."

"Toda, Abba."

When the team finally settled down, Tony and Tim made a quick run for coffee, leaving Ziva and the girls with Gibbs. Shirah peeled off her jacket, dropping it on her father's chair before going to Gibbs's desk. She stopped shrugging. "Hi, Gibbs." The team leader looked up from his work, his blue eyes taking in the young woman before him- the same young woman he'd watched grow within her mother, who'd scared them all when she was born early, who'd been his charge when she had chicken pox and who'd run to him whenever she'd fought with her parents and couldn't get a hold of Abby, Jimmy or Tony.

Without a word, the Team Leader stood, moving around his desk towards her. He wrapped her in a hug, kissing the top of her head. "Hey, kiddo." She wrapped her arms tight around him, nuzzling into his chest, relaxed. For Gibbs could relax and calm her just as Abba could- both possessed the same silent strength. "Glad you're home."

They pulled away as Tim and Tony returned, coffee in hand. Once the drinks were handed out, the bullpen settled down- as much as it could, with three growing girls visiting. Nara sat beside her sisters, her homework forgotten in favor of the mail she'd managed to snag from her mailbox when Yoni had picked her up so they could drive back down to D.C. and get Shirah from the airport- Yoni had been up visiting her baby sister in New York, for all of their winter breaks managed to hit at the same time.

Silence filled the bullpen before a high-pitched scream suddenly cut through the air. Instantly, all three of Gibbs's agents clambered to their feet, guns out and at the ready. "I got it! I got the part!" It was just Nara-

"What?"

"What the hell-"

The teenager climbed to her feet, rushing to her father as he put his gun away. "Abba, I got the part!"

"What part, Naraleh?" The girl shoved the notice underneath her father's nose, bouncing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"Aziza. I am going to be playing Aziza in the Dovekeepers!"