Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Debating doing another story after this one. If anyone's interested in my continuing this universe, let me know.

Late-July

Tel Aviv Airport

Oh-Eight-Hundred

"We'll call you when we reach D.C., all right? And you know you can contact us at any time, whenever you want?" Adi nodded, lower lip quivering. She threw her arms around Tim, burying her face in his chest.

"I wish you won't go." She choked out, tighting her arms around her father. Tim held tight to his baby girl, pressing a kiss to the crown of his daughter's head. He buried his face in the familiar dark curls, breathing in the heady scent that only a father could recognize.

Yes, this was his baby girl, the child that had grown within his wife's womb, that had entered the world that long ago June morning and changed his life. This was the little girl who called Ducky 'Mr. Duck-Duck' and had Tony wrapped around her little finger, who helped Gibbs build his boats and was studious about teaching Fornell to bake chocolate chip cookies so he got them just right. The little girl who dressed up as a witch for Halloween when she was three and went around NCIS, pretending to cast spells on everyone. This was the little girl who tried to dress Jethro in sweaters and mittens in the winter, and liked to paint her fingernails four different shades of blue because it was her favorite color. She was the child who hid from baths and accidentally locked herself in one of the lockers down in Autopsy when she was playing Hide and Seek with Palmer, and who'd learned how to fire a gun and throw a knife by the time she was four. Yes, this was his baby girl.

And he was leaving her behind.

She clung to him, shoulders shaking with barely contained sobs, her small fingers knotted in his shirt. Slowly, he knelt down to her level, searching her big green eyes- his eyes. Tears slid down her cheeks, and softly, he reached up, catching them under his thumb. "Hey, look at me, katan. You are a bright, talented, beautiful girl. And you will do very well at school. And we will see you in January. Okay?" Her lower lip quivered.

"But-" He gently laid a finger over her lips, stopping her protests. He could see in her eyes, that she was questioning her decision to stay, now that they were actually going to be separated.

"Shh, Adinaleh. You've made your choice."

"I take it back!" She cried, throwing her arms around his neck. "I take it back, Abba! I want to go with you and Ima! Please, take me with you!" Tim held his child close, tears sliding down his own cheeks as he held the girl. Memories of his baby flashed before him, and he held tighter to her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but we can't. You start school in two weeks, we can't take you with us. No matter how much we want to." She shook her head, burying her face in his neck, her sobs shaking her small body.

"I want to go, Abba... I don't want to go to school, I want to go with you. I want to go to D.C., and live in Georgtown and take Jethro to the park and help Gibbs build boats and visit Mr. Duck-Duck and... I don't want you to go, Daddy! Please, Daddy, take me with you! Please!"

He heard Ziva choke on a sob, and he struggled to keep calm. As much as he longed to tell her she could, to go to the school and ask them to remove her from the roster, he knew that he couldn't. She had to stay here; the arrangements had already been made, and they couldn't change them. This meltdown had been coming, they had both seen it; they'd both noticed the signs, but neither had been prepared for the storm that had hit once they got to the airport. From the moment they stepped onto the tarmat, Adi had clung to them like a second skin, refusing to let them out of her sight, refusing to release either one. And now, this death grip she had her father in, along with her pleas to go with them, was only making an already difficult decision that much harder.

"I know, sweetheart. I want to take you with us, believe me, I do, but we can't..." He pressed firm kisses to her hair, breathing in her scent, memorizing every little detail about his child, right down to the last curl. Her heartwrenching sobs broke his heart, and he clung tighter to her. It took several minutes, before Tim was able to pull away just enough to look into his daughter's tear-filled green eyes. "Hey. Hey, we will see each other at Hannakuh, and at Christmas. And we'll talk everyday on Skype and on the phone and e-mail, I promise. And before you know it, January will be here and we'll be picking you up at Reagan Airport. Okay? Focus on those things, Adinaleh. Focus on those and the time will fly by."

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around him again. "No, Daddy..." He stood, scooping his daughter into his arms.

"Shh. Shh, my love. Please, sweetheart. You'll make yourself sick." He pressed another kiss to her temple and then set her down, turning her to Ziva. "Go tell Ima goodbye, sweetheart." Ziva choked on a sob as her daughter rushed to her, throwing her arms around her as Ziva knelt down to her eye level.

"Take me with you, Ima, please!" Ziva clung to her daughter, tears sliding down her cheeks. She met Tim's gaze, and for the first time, she hated the man she'd married. It was because of him that they were leaving their baby behind, even if it had been Adi's decision to stay. She buried her face in her daughter's dark curls, letting her own sobs get the better of her.

"We can't, katan." She whispered, pulling away to stare into her child's eyes. "I wish we could, but we can't..." She held Adi close, whispering softly that she loved her, that they would see her in a few months, and that she could tell them of all the amazing adventures she was having. "Ani ohev otach, katan. We both do. So, so much." Eventually, she pulled away; still, even after all these years, Ziva wasn't used to showing this much emotion, and so her Mossad training kicked in. She pressed a kiss to her daughter's head, whispered it softly to her daughter, and then hurried up the steps, wiping her eyes.

"Mommy!" But when Ziva didn't look back, she rushed to Tim, grabbing his hand to stop him from boarding the plane. "No, Daddy! Don't! Daddy, please!" Tim turned back to his child, scooping her into his arms and holding tight to her.

"You have to be strong, Adinaleh. Remember that strength that helped you survive these last few months and harvest that." He set her down, taking her face in his hands. "Do you understand me? Harvest it, and keep it close to your heart." She shook her head, and he knelt down. "Look at me, look at me, Adina!" She turned tear-filled eyes to Tim as he took her face in his hands. "You're strong, you're a fighter. You always have been, you always will be." She shook her head again, and again, he stopped her. "You come from two cultures, Adinaleh. Irish and Israeli. Both strong-willed, both stubborn as hell, both fighters. Both are survivors. Remember that, embrace it. It's what will get you through life. Understand me? Remember where you come from, where your roots are."

"Abb-" She choked on a sob. "Daddy..." He held her close, breathing her in.

"Ani ohev otach, katan." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, holding her close. In a whisper just loud enough for his child to hear, he whispered, "Remember where you come from." And then he pulled away, going up the steps and entering the plane. But he turned back, giving his daughter a small smile.

Unlike Ziva, who had stood by and watched as the plane carrying her love flew off into the distance that long ago day, Adi took off after it, chasing it down the mat as it took off, crying for her parents. As it disappeared into the distance, she made one last desperate plea. "Abba! Ima!"

Her cries still echoed in his ears, and after a moment, Tim got up. He strode towards the cockpit, but stopped at Ziva's voice. "Tim?"

"We have to turn around. We have to go back." She quickly set the book she'd been staring through down and went to him.

"Tim-"

"We can't just leave her in Israel, she's a child! She's our child, Zi-" Firmly, Ziva took her husband's face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Tim, we cannot go back. We have no choice. We made our bed, Adi made hers-" Tim shook his head.

"But what if I don't want to sleep in it?" She gently brushed his tears away.

"We will see her in December, and she will be with us in January. This was her decision, Tim, we must respect that-"

"We're her parents!"

"I know. But we have to respect that we asked Adina to make a choice. We cannot go back and erase the past, we can only look forward to the future." She kissed him gently, and then tugged him back to their seats. Taking his hand, she curled into him and lay her head on his shoulder. "Think of Christmas and Hannakuh, my darling." She pressed a kiss to his cheek, closing her eyes. Tim turned to the window, letting his mind wander back to Adi.

"Adinaleh, dinner is ready." Rivka sighed, taking a seat beside her granddaughter. "I know you miss them."

"I wanted to go with them. Why couldn't they take me?" She asked, looking back at her grandmother. Rivka sighed.

"They were respecting your choice. You asked to stay behind, therefore, Abba and Ima were respecting your decision." Adi sniffled.

"I change my mind." Rivka pulled her close.

"Unfortunately, life does not work that way, katan. It never has, and it never will. But think of them, and picture Hannakuh and soon, they will be back. And we will all be together again." She pressed a kiss to the child's head, before getting up. "Now come, while dinner is still hot."

"I'll be right there." Once her grandmother was gone, Adi pulled her jacket off. She stopped, when she felt something in her pocket. Slowly, she reached inside, pulling out a necklace. Dangling from the gold chain, was a Celtic knot, and inside the design, was a Star of David. Tim had slipped it into her pocket before boarding the plane.

"Remember where you come from, where your roots are."