Much to Ziva's dismay, Jenny was forcing her to take the week off.
"Jennifer Erin Sheppard, if you were ever my friend, you would not do this to me." Ziva warned.
Not fazed in the least Jen replied, "Ziva Sarai David this is for your own good. You are far too stressed out." Jenny's voice softened. "Ziva-la, get to know her again. At least give her a chance."
"Fine" Ziva said as she slammed the door. Heading downstairs towards the squad room, Ziva paused on the landing. Her mother was sitting at Tony's desk surrounded by Tony, Ducky, Abby and McGee. For some reason she could not explain, this sight made her angry.
"So what was a young Ziva like?" asked Abby.
"Well…" Tzipporah started to answer, but she was interrupted by Ziva walking past them to her desk.
"Hey Ziva, what's going on?" asked Tim. Ziva said nothing, choosing instead to gather her things together.
"Where are you going?" asked Abby.
"Home" Ziva growled. "They, or should I say the Director is making me take a week off!"
"Whoah, I don't pity you" Tony said to Tzipporah. "She's pissed off, and a pissed off Ziva with ninja skills is never happy. Good luck with that."
"Ima are you coming?" Ziva asked impatiently.
"Goodbye" Tzipporah called to the rest of the team as she followed her daughter to the elevator.
The ride home was spent in silence. Once back at her apartment, Ziva made up the guest room for her mother and went to take a shower. Hearing the water turn on, Tzipporah began to explore her daughter's home. The walls were a soft beige color with white trim. A grand piano stood in the corner of the living room. The table behind the soft beige couch full of colorful throw pillows was filled with photographs, with a silver menorah in the center. Tzipporah studied the pictures. Some were old, pictures of a younger Ziva with Tali and Ari, while others were new, containing Ziva with her NCIS team. Most of them however were of Ziva and her best friend Jenny.
Everywhere she looked there was color. Tzipporah thought that it matched her daughter perfectly.
Ziva purposely took longer than normal in the shower. What was she supposed to do with a week off? What was she supposed to do with her mother? The woman was a stranger to her. Ziva didn't do well with this kind of stuff. Her mother had left her. It had hurt very badly, but she had learned to 'suck it up' so to speak. As the water began to cool, Ziva turned it off with a sigh. It was time to face the noise….or was it music?