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"So , here's what we know. The victim was NCIS Medical Examiner's Assistant Tatara Totsuka, Aged 35 …"Lynnie and her team were in the squadroom, looking at the screen, trying to find a direction for the preliminary investigation to go.

As was the procedure , the team members continued where Lynnie had dropped off.

"He was found at about 8:50 this morning , on the roof of the apartment block at the end of River Street , overlooking River Park , by a resident in the apartment …she lived on the top floor , and her son was misbehaving and ran up there and ….you get the idea. " Cray , sitting at his desk , tapped on the keyboard and a couple of the crime scene photos showed up on the screen.

Murray continued "He was shot once, just below the heart. Jimmy has to confirm it , but it would seem he died from a loss of blood-as in , if someone had noticed a lot earlier , and raised the alarm he might still be with us. "A quick glance from Lynnie had him hastily say "I'm not assuming anything though."

"Nobody heard or saw anything untoward around 3am-the time of his death." Cray said "His camera was still turned on when he was found. Abby and Bonnie are dealing with that. "

Lynnie nodded , studying the range of pictures and documents on the screen.

"So , whoever did it used a silencer on the gun. "

"But why?"

"Whatcha think we're investigating, Wilson?" Lynnie retorted." Then again, that's a good question. Why would anyone kill Totsuka?"

"I just looked into his phone records. Apart from a few calls to and from Jimmy and a couple to and from a cell phone registered to an Anna Kushina , there's nothing that stands out. Although, the call from Anna Kushina was made at about 8:00 , almost an hour before he was found." Cray said suddenly.

Lynnie looked at him" Anna….where've I heard that before?"

"It's Anna." Wilson corrected their pronunciation, and the 2 agents gave her a look, so she brushed the name issues aside and continued

"Totsuka's sister. Remember? The one who phoned Jimmy earlier. She must have tried to call him first. "

"Then why do they have different surnames?" Murray wanted to know. It was a good question .

Cray pulled up some more information.

"Because they had the same legal guardian , back in Japan. A guy by the name of Mikoto Suoh. He kept their normal surnames. This guy died 8 years ago. He had throat cancer, but it doesn't say here if that's what killed him. It probably did. Anyway, A year later, Totsuka and Anna come here. I believe he was pen pals with Emily, which explains how they got hooked up so fast . Their daughter, Miki-Jane, is 6 years old. "

"And now she's an orphan."

There was a sad silence for a while. Then , Lynnie took charge.

"Ok , as of yet , we have no motive , so this could be anything –gang related , money , revenge, so …."

At this point , Gibbs walked by. He took a look at the screen.

"Oh , hey Uncle Gibbs!" Lynnie said chirpily. "We're gonna need you-2 kids left behind , the-"

"Yeah , I know. The sister and the daughter. Should I get someone from The Playground to collect them and bring them over here?" 'The Playground' was the name that NCIS employees gave to the 'NCIS Child and Young Person Protection Department' which had been formed in response to a case that had eventually led to the deaths of 2 children , both children of Navy officers.

Lynnie nodded . Gibbs took another long look at the screen.

"Go back to his roots" Was all that Gibbs said before leaving.

The other agents looked slightly dazed , but Lynnie snapped them out of it by saying

" Like I was saying…."

The whole class went almost silent when the Head teacher walked in, loud chattering turning to whispers as the head teacher talked to Ms Wyatt, Anna's class teacher , who then turned to look at Anna with a sorrowful look.

And then she knew.

She just knew.

Just as Ms Wyatt formed the words to tell Anna she needed to leave and go down to reception , she stood up , collected her stuff and followed the Head teacher, ignoring the whispers of her class , who were wondering what was so serious to warrant the head teacher collecting her.

When they got to reception , Anna was faced with two strange females. One was dark eyed and haired , very pretty , and slightly exotic , even by Anna's standards. The other had curly hair which was a brown that was a shade lighter than Emily's had been (before it fell out) and bright green eyes. This was the woman that spoke to Anna first.

"Hello , Anna. I'm Special Agent Esther Wilson , from NCIS ."Anna blinked at the fact that Esther Wilson had pronounced her name correctly. "You might recognise the name , your brother Tatara Totsuka worked for us .I'm afraid he's.."

"Dead." Anna said in a flat voice , feeling numb.

Esther blinked, then continued "And this is Special Agent Ziva David. She specifically works for the NCIS Child and Young Person Protection Department"

"Do I need protecting?" Anna knew she sounded insolent with her monotone voice but for now she was too numb to care, she was barely keeping her composure as it was. "Wouldn't Miki need more protection than me? She's only 6."

"We don't know why Tatara was killed , so until we do find out , we need to make sure neither of you get hurt , so we're taking you over to NCIS –we call that department 'The Playground' for short , so you can call it that if you like. And don't worry, we will collect Miki-Jane too , we just thought that , given her age and the fact her Mother died fairly recently , it might be better for her to have a familiar face around." Ziva explained.

Anna thought about this, and then nodded. She decided she liked Ziva more than she did Esther Wilson. She didn't really know why she thought this.

"So , you have all your things, Anna-Chan?"

Anna started at Ziva's use of the honorific. Nobody had called her "Anna-Chan" for a while. Not even Tatara had done so, after they had settled into American life. She considered this , then allowed a small , small smile to her lips.

"Yes. Let's go get Miki."

Once they had picked up Miki-Jane, and were on their way to NCIS , Ziva asked them questions , all the time sneaking looks at them . The 2 little girls were fascinating. One who looked exactly like Totsuka, the other looking nothing like him. Anna was 17, but she was petite, and so looked more like a 13 year old. Her hair was long, straight and silvery; a colour which Ziva didn't even think could even be a natural hair colour. It was held back by a dark red ribbon, although her bangs still fell into her eyes , and her clothes-black long-sleeved top with white lace around the neckline and hem and a red silky skirt with black roses printed on it, along with white socks and red patent shoes –completed the image of Anna being like a doll. She was almost as emotionless as one too.

Miki-Jane on the other hand….she was cute. Her hair had been French plaited and tied at the end with flowery hair bobbles (one blue, one purple) and she was wearing dark purple jeans and a white –and-blue stripy t-shirt under a red jacket. She was obviously scared and confused by the situation, and this was evident by the way she held Anna's hand, but she was chirpy too , smiling and asking all sorts of questions about NCIS. Ziva's heart went out to her.

"Once we are there, we'll need to ask you some questions about Tatara." Wilson , who was driving , said over her shoulder

"About Papa?" the child was cautious.

Ziva could feel Anna stare at her for a moment, but didn't bother to turn around. Then, she heard Anna whispering to Miki-Jane.

"Papa…Papa's gone to heaven?To be with Mummy?" Ziva turned around this time.

"We don't know why he went, but I'm sure he's with your Mum now."

"Oh." Miki-Jane's eyes went liquid, as though she was about to cry. "So, who's gonna look after me then?"

"I will. " Anna said quickly. Her expression didn't change, but Ziva got the impression that Anna was glaring at both her and Wilson.

"Actually, NCIS are going to look after both of you for a while. "

"Why?"

"Because whoever killed Tatara was bad, and he might want to hurt you guys too. " Ziva said.

Miki-Jane's face went angry "Anna can fight them! She knows lots of fighting, from Papa's old family –they always protected each other -, so she'll protect me –they even had a cool name….Homu-homu…"

"HOMRA" Anna corrected softly, hugging Miki-Jane, the look in her eyes haunted and far away.

"Anyway, we're here. " Wilson cut in. The car stopped, and they all got out.

"Wow!This is huge!" Miki-Jane's initial upset was forgotten for now.

In 20 minutes , they were at the entrance to 'The Playground'.

"Welcome to the playground. " Ziva proclaimed.

Anna raised an eyebrow, asking a question without actually asking.

"It's a hell of a lot easier than saying 'NCIS Child and Young Person Protection Department'" Wilson explained.

Anna nodded, and Ziva pushed open the doors. Miki-Jane spotted one of the toy-filled rooms, and went straight for it.

"Miki!" Anna said, not exactly shouting, but her voice carrying across the main area.

"I'm OK!" Miki-Jane's voice giggled back.

Anna made to join Miki when her eyes were drawn to the plaque set up on the wall. She wandered over, traced the names on there with her finger.

Julie Sophia Parker . Nadia Watson . Best friends, both with fathers who were marines on a classified project. Both failed by NCIS, who had not spotted the fact they were potential next victims. It had been the last major case Ziva had worked on, before 'The Playground 'was set up and she moved there. It still hurt. Anna studied that plaque, and then turned to Ziva. And nodded.
Ziva didn't know what, exactly, that nod signified, but she felt a new understanding bloom between her and this strange teenage girl.

At that point , Lynnie arrived.

"You must be Anna. I'm Lindsay DiNozzo , I'm the lead agent investigating your brother's death. But call me Lynnie. Where's Miki-Jane?"

"With the toys. " Anna said. Ziva chuckled for some reason. Lynnie also smiled.

"Well , perhaps we can go to one of the classrooms , so we can ask you both some questions. "

"This isn't a school though!" Miki-Jane had come out, clutching a polka-dotted toy rabbit. "Why are there classrooms?"

"We sometimes have school trips come here. " Lynnie explained.

"Oh. " Miki-Jane went up to Anna , held her hand again. The two girls looked at Wilson, Ziva and Lynnie.

"Ok , let's get this over and done with. Perhaps later you'd like a mini tour on NCIS?"

Miki-Jane brightened up. Even Anna looked interested.

Ziva had been carrying Miki for the entire tour. She had taken her and Anna around the entire NCIS building. Well, almost all of it. Anna had noticed straight away that there were parts of the building into which only the most senior of the staff could go into.

And of course, they didn't go into the part of the building where Tatara's body would be. Autopsy. That's what it was called. She thought.

How did he look now? She wondered- was his face troubled? Shocked? Peaceful? Would she still recognise him as Tatara? Memories of another, blood-stained body floated unbidden into her mind, and she shook her head to make them go away.

Out of instinct and fear, she grabbed onto Ziva's sleeve.

"You OK?" Ziva asked.

"Home. " Anna said, feeling numb. She noticed they were going back to the building that Ziva and Agent Wilson had called 'The Playground.'

Ziva sighed softly. "We can't let you stay home, at least not by yourself. Lynnie will know where the two you are staying, but we will go back to get your things. "

Ziva put Miki down on a sofa in one of the playrooms within The Playground and sat on an armchair next to it. Anna perched on the arm of the sofa, guarding her little niece. The child did not stir.

Anna could feel Ziva's awkwardness from the silence, but made no move to correct this. She was fine with silence. Always had been.

"So…Miki –Jane , huh? That's a striking name. Where did it come from?" Ziva asked.

"Tadaima!" Anna had called out, stepping into the house. She went into the living room to find Tatara and Emily poring over books. A closer inspection of the titles showed that they were all various baby-name books. Emily looked up and noticed Anna.

"Anna!" Emily smiled. "We just found out today, the baby is a girl. " Emily patted her belly happily.

"So now you need to decide a name. " Anna said.

"Yes…" Emily pulled a face.

"No luck?" Anna guessed.

"Emily and I have been debating names since lunchtime. We've narrowed it down to 6 choices. Each."

Anna winced. She could imagine it.

"What are those names?" she had to know.

"Julia, Geneviève, Lydia, Amelia , Stella , Grace." Tatara listed.

"My choices were Yuki, Sachiko, Misaki, Suzume, Kiomi or Ayaka" Emily said.

Anna raised an eyebrow. She would have expected it to be the other way around.

"Well, that helps. Any idea on how to narrow it down?"

"Nope!" Tatara and Emily answered simultaneously.

Anna mentally face-palmed, and went to dump her lunch box in the kitchen when Emily said.

"I know, why don't you help us?"

Anna wondered how adding extra choices would help when Emily continued.

"If in a couple of weeks we haven't narrowed it down, then we'll go with your choice. "

Anna thought, and then nodded. She had a task, and was looking forward to it.

For the next few days, she studied not only the names in the baby books, but also the names of everyone back in Shizume City, and those of the people she went to school with. She tried various combinations, tested how they sounded, and eventually, came up with a name she liked.

"Tatara wanted to give her a name that was at least slightly American, so she wouldn't be ridiculed; Emily wanted her to have a Japanese name -to match the surname she was getting. Eventually, they realised they were getting nowhere, so I had the final say. I chose Miki because it's Japanese, plus it sounds as though it comes distantly from Mikoto, and the –rest came because I noticed most of the best double-barrelled first names are something-Jane. It's easy to say also. "Anna said simply.

Ziva tilted her head slightly, considering this. Then she smiled.

"That is nice. Did you know that in Jewish customs, if you wish to name a child after a dead relative in order to honour them, but you do not like the name itself, you can get away with choosing a name that begins with the same letter as the relatives?"

Anna blinked. Then shook her head slightly. Then smiled. At that point, Agent Lynnie DiNozzo came in. She went to Ziva, whispered something to her. Ziva nodded, and then spoke.

"We can go back to collect some clothes and things, but you'll be staying with me for the next few days, until the potential danger is past. You'll also have a few days off school. Both of you. You'll be coming here, with me, each day, and we're going to arrange with your teachers to have work sent up. "

Anna would have much rather gone home, but she didn't protest. She knew it wouldn't help.

"Look, Anna, this is Izumo Kusanagi-san, he owns this place, and is a very nice man, but look, look here, this is Mikoto Suoh. He's the one who will take care of you now. "

4-year-old Anna blinked.

"Why?" She had been told that Aunt Honami was no longer going to take care of her, but she didn't understand.

A shadow passed over Aunt Honami's face. Fleeting, but all the same, Anna noticed it. She turned her attention to the 2 people she was being introduced to. Izumo was blond, wearing (for some reason)purple sunglasses that obscured his eyes, but all the same had a friendly expression. She decided he was nice.

Then there was Mikoto.

He was surly, standing casually with a cigarette in his mouth, with the reddest hair that Anna had ever seen. He did not look as though he wanted her to be there. And yet, she was drawn to him.

"Anyway, Anna, I'll send over the rest of your things as soon as I can. Be good for Suoh-san and Kusanagi-san, OK?" And just like that, Aunt Honami was gone.

And then Anna was standing by herself in a strange bar surrounded by strange people , and despite her desire to explore what would be her new home , she was overwhelmed by fear and confusion and started to cry. Not loudly , but she cried all the same.

The sunglasses guy, Izumo, rushed to comfort her , whispering soothing words , picking her up and carrying her so that suddenly , everyone else did not seem so tall. This also had the effect of putting her a lot closer to Mikoto , and she could study his face in detail.

That face simply spat out the cigarette , gave her an appraising look and then said.

"Stop crying, kid. You're here now. HOMRA will be home now."

And although her mind was too young to fully appreciate his words , she stopped crying , just like that

The first words that Mikoto Suoh had ever said to her rang in her mind now as she stepped into the threshold of Ziva's apartment. She was instantly struck by the colour-coordination of the place , and also found herself wondering: how many more places will I have to call home? Which one will ever be truly home?

Miki, on the other hand , had no such reservations. She scanned the room with bright eyes , then put her bag down ,unzipped it , reached into it , and pulled out a photo of Emily. Then , she went to the TV , and put the photo on top.

"Is this OK, Agent Ziva? Can I put it here? Then I can say hi to Mummy before we leave every day. "

Ziva nodded

"it is fine , Miki."

"Yay!" Miki smiled "That picture was taken ages ago , when I was still in Mummy's tummy!" Miki informed them.

Ziva smiled.

"I have some leftover pasta in the fridge-will that be OK for dinner?" she asked. When Anna nodded a yes , Ziva continued "I can show you the spare bedroom now , so you can clean up and maybe get changed before eating?"

Anna nodded again, and then herded Miki out of the living room so Ziva could show them the room.

After partial unpacking, dinner, finding a picture of Tatara to accompany the one of Emily on top of Ziva's TV, brushing teeth, washing, and changing, Anna was tired. Miki fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, but Anna could not sleep straight away. Mikoto's words kept floating around her head.

"Stop crying, kid. You're here now."

She was dry eyed, despite everything. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. And wouldn't. She was the last link to Mikoto and everything else she had ever loved back in Japan. She was here now , and this wasn't the end.

She would be brave. That is what she promised herself when she finally fell asleep.

OK , so not much happened here, but I felt getting some insight into Anna was important for the story–especially for the events in the next chapter, where more will happen.

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