Tikvah Ch.4

'I want Ima,' Tali insisted as Tony tucked her into bed. They were in the guest room at Gibbs' house and it was already way past her usual bedtime, but with the long nap that she took in the hospital earlier that day, Tony figured she could stay up a little later than usual.

'I know, Tali bear, but Ima needs to rest, remember? Ima needs to sleep so she'll get better soon, and then she can play with you,' Tony explained patiently, attempting to coax her to lie down. It came as no surprise to Gibbs, who was spying on the duo from the doorway, when Tali crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest and gave Tony a look that could rival her mother's. It seemed that Ziva's daughter had inherited her stubborn streak, along with the knowledge of which facial expression to make when Tony did something completely inappropriate or stupid.

'But I want Ima, Aba. I haven't told Ima that I love her tonight,' Tali pleaded, clutching onto her father's arm. Her brown eyes looked earnestly into his. 'How can Ima sleep without knowing I love her?'

Visiting hours had passed away long ago, and Tony was not too keen on sneaking his obviously exhausted daughter into the hospital anytime soon, especially at this late hour. 'How about this, Tali. Aunt Abby should still be at the hospital. I'll call her now, and she can hold the phone to Ima's ear so you can tell her that you love her, okay?' Tony proposed, hoping Tali would accept this compromise.

Tali thought over this suggestion very carefully, tilting her head to one side. 'You promise we'll see her tomorrow?' she asked worriedly. 'I promise,' Tony replied, and she nodded eagerly, satisfied.

Pulling out his phone, Tony dialled Abby's number, crossing his fingers that she had yet to return home from the hospital. He didn't have to wait long until Abby picked up the phone.

'Abby, it's me. Are you still with Ziva?" She responded in the affirmative, and Tony quickly made his request. 'Can you put the phone next to her so Tali can say goodnight?'

A soft squeal resonated from the other end of the line. 'That is so adorable. Here, hang on.' There was a rustling sound as the phone was set down on the sheets. 'You're on speakerphone now, guys.'

'Alright, Tali, you can say goodnight to Ima,' Tony smiled, and Tali grabbed the phone happily, her past grumpiness forgotten.

'Laila Tov, Ima. Ani ohevet otakh,' Tali sang into the phone and smacked her lips together loudly for a kissing sound. She handed the phone back to Tony before snuggling under the covers obediently. 'Night night, Aba.'

'Goodnight, my little Tali.' Tony turned off the bedroom light, whispering a hurried thanks to Abby before he ended the call. He turned back to the bed, giving Tali a quick kiss on the forehead before heading out of the room.

''m not little anymore,' Tali murmured in protest, but she was asleep before Tony could tease her further.

Joining Gibbs in the hallway, Tony closed the door until there was just a small crack, which a sliver of light shone through into the bedroom. Tali had a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night, and she would panic if she found herself in complete darkness.

Once the door was appropriately positioned, the two men walked back down the stairs into the living room where Tony collapsed onto the couch.

'Is it normal for her to sleep that much?' Gibbs wanted to know. Tony looked up as if he could see his sleeping daughter through the roof before answering. 'She didn't exactly get a lot of sleep last week. I guess it's finally catching up with her.'

Gibbs nodded, glad that the little girl was fine. 'Alright, get on with telling me what happened with Ziva,' Gibbs prompted Tony, no longer able to keep his curiosity at bay.

'Where was I? Ah, yes, I found the writing on the photo.'

When Tony saw the words and the familiar handwriting, all he wanted to do was jump straight on to a flight to Paris, but he knew that was not a viable option. He was no longer just responsible for himself; he was also responsible for the precious little girl who was now running her chubby little fingers gently across the glossy picture, her eyes fixed on the widely grinning couple, permanently captured in a private moment of happiness.

And if the previous 12-hour flight from DC to Tel Aviv was anything to go by, his little girl wouldn't be too enthusiastic about getting back on a plane less than a day after getting off one.

After booking a flight for the next morning, Tony began packing their belongings. Tali, momentarily distracted by the noise, looked up from the picture and frowned. She glared at her father and the suitcases, pointing at the latter and muttering in Hebrew sulkily. Tony may not understand Hebrew, but he could tell from her expression and the tone she was using that she was not pleased that everything was going back into the suitcase so soon.

'I'm sorry, Tali, but you have to speak in English if you want me to understand. Aba doesn't speak Hebrew,' Tony sighed, not expecting her to understand anything he had just said. To his surprise, her head popped up at the word 'English' as if in recognition. Tali quieted down at once and her eyes looked up to the ceiling in deep thought.

After a pause, she tried again. 'No fly. Tali no like fly,' Tali intonated slowly yet precisely, trying to get used to the foreign syllables rolling off her tongue.

Tony raised his eyebrows. So his little girl could speak English, albeit with limited vocabulary and grammar. Just exactly how much did Ziva tell her about her father? Leaning forward, he wrapped Tali's small frame in his arms.

'I know, Tali, and I'm sorry. But do you want to try and find Ima?' Tony enunciated each word, hoping his little girl was smart enough to pick up on what he was saying.

'Find Ima,' Tali repeated after him, nodding her head vigorously in agreement. Picking up her little backpack in one hand and retrieving her stuffed dog in the other, she started heading for the door, not even looking back to see if Tony was following her. Stifling a chuckle at her headstrongness, he pulled her back towards the bed.

'Whoa there, little miss, not so fast. For now, all we have to do is eat something and sleep. We'll go find Ima first thing tomorrow, okay? Tony outlined their schedule, and Tali nodded again.

'Find Ima tomorrow, food now,' Tali summarized solemnly, rubbing her stomach and looking up at him beseechingly. She must have been hungry; they had skipped dinner earlier in the evening due to jet-lag.

'Yes, little one. Food now,' Tony grinned, amused by her little antics.

'Pizza?' Tali suggested, sitting down on the loveseat in the room. Tony could not help but let out a small laugh. Of course the most fluent English word his daughter could say was 'pizza'.

'Alright, Tali, pizza it is,' Tony agreed, searching online for a pizza delivery service.

Morning came quickly and when Tony woke up, he could have sworn that the bed he was sleeping on had turned into a boat at sea, tossing him around his bunk, but surely that was just his imagination. His eyes began slipping shut again until the bouncing intensified, shaking him wide awake. He sat up immediately, and was faced with his daughter jumping up and down on the bed as if it were her own personal trampoline.

'Boker tov, Aba. Find Ima,' Tali greeted him impatiently before planting a small kiss on his cheek and scooting off the bed to search for her backpack. Groaning at his interrupted sleep, Tony glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was 05:00. Of all things Tali could have inherited from Ziva, she just had to have the need to start work at 05:00…

By the time Tony got himself and Tali ready and the two of them spent some time watching early morning cartoons, it was already time to get a move on if they did not want to miss their flight. Tali was more than ready to leave the room and she dashed out, leaving Tony responsible for pulling along their luggage while marvelling at how their daughter was so much like Ziva.

The flight was long and uneventful, and in little Tali's opinion, it would be too soon if she ever had to go on the plane again. She could not understand why anyone would want to fly in what was basically a glorified metal tube. How could their ears not hurt?

Once they landed, Tony quickly dropped off their luggage in their hotel room in Paris before hurrying out the door again, Tali and her dog sitting contently in the crook of his arm. It had been quite a few years since he had last been to Paris with Ziva, but his legs seemed to have a memory of their own. Before he knew it, he found himself standing right outside the café pictured in the photo that Tali had liked so much.

Cautiously, Tony pushed open the glass door of the café, smiling at the owner of the café politely before sweeping the booths for anyone that looked familiar. There was no one there, except for a teenage couple who were flirting with each other in a dim corner.

Swallowing his disappointment, he ordered a pancake set meal off the children's menu for Tali and a larger plate of the same for himself. When their food arrived, both of them were glad to distract themselves with their food, with Tony teaching Tali how to smear butter and drizzle maple syrup over the fluffy pancakes. The minute Tony looked away to stir milk and sugar into his coffee, Tali got so carried away that she drowned her pancakes in all the remaining syrup, leaving none for him.

Tony could only smile fondly at her before digging into his own syrup-free pancakes, dipping the occasional bite into the sugary puddle on Tali's plate. Halfway through his meal, he suddenly stopped, his fork frozen midway between the plate and his mouth.

It was as if he could sense her presence.

Tali had already abandoned her plastic cutlery and she had her arms outstretched, visibly frustrated at being confined in her high chair. Tony could feel her as she moved closer and closer, until she was just a few inches behind him. Completely overwhelmed with emotions, he turned around to meet her eyes. Wonder and relief and joy flooded his veins. Orli had lied to him. He was right. She was alive.

'Ziva?' Tony croaked out when he had finally managed to find his voice again.

'Tony. I've missed you and Tali so much,' Ziva smiled, her eyes shining with the sheen of unshed tears. Easily freeing Tali from her chair, she sat down next to him. Looking at the trio from a stranger's perspective, it would have seemed like she had been there all along.

Tony pulled her and Tali into his embrace at once, hugging them so fiercely that it almost hurt. Ziva could feel tears beginning to roll down her cheeks and soak into his shirt as his thumb ran gently across the white bandage on her forehead and his other firmly at the small of her back, as if to convince himself that she really was here, alive and safe, in his arms. Breathing in the scent of her partner and her child, Ziva knew without a doubt that she was finally home.

A/N: Yayyy! All three of them are together again and now, all is well... Or is it?

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