Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS
Ziva tapped her foot nervously, the soles of Clara's shoes that she borrowed echoing on the tile floor. Ziva was sitting in a corridor in the American Library in Paris, waiting to be called into her interview. They had been interviewing potential volunteers all day. Ziva felt nervous. She didn't need to be. The library took several volunteers at once. However, there were very few times in her life that Ziva had felt this nervous.
Her memory wandered to one of the last interviews she had. Ten years ago when she had her US citizen interview. My goodness, was Ziva nervous. She had aced the written exam, which frankly didn't surprise anyone. The interview was different though. Ziva had prepared for it with the help of her lawyer and friends. Ducky had been particularly helpful in having undergone one himself.
But so much hung on the result of Ziva's citizenship. It had been the first step for Ziva to get out from underneath her father's thumb. NCIS had been good to her. They had rescued her, unlike Eli, who left her for dead. If she didn't become a US citizen, her status as a federal agent at NCIS would come into question, which had the potential to affect her visa status. That made Ziva nervous.
Being told that her application was successful and that after her swearing-in ceremony she would be a US citizen, Ziva was elated. She was able to start building her life. If only Ziva ten years ago knew what kind of life it would turn into.
A door opened, bringing Ziva back to the present. A woman came out.
'Miss David, we're ready for you.'
Tony closed the apartment door, leaned against it and let out a deep sigh. He had returned from a therapy session with Dr. Vidal. It had been a tough session, Vidal helping Tony to dig into some feelings surrounding unresolved issues. Tony knew what he had to next but he was not looking forward to it.
He could hear Ziva in the kitchen. Tali was at school and would be for a few more hours. Tony went in and found Ziva sorting out the dishwasher. She was still wearing her interview clothes, though had taken off the shoes.
'Hey,' Tony said. He sounded tired.
'Hi' replied Ziva. She sounded upbeat. Tony stepped nearer Ziva and kissed her.
'I love you' he whispered. She smiled.
'I love you too' she replied.
'We need to talk Zi.' Tony sat down at the small table in the kitchen. Ziva's face fell.
'What happened at therapy?' Ziva also sat down.
'We talked… about you leaving. It brought up a few things.'
'Oh.' Tony nodded. 'You told me you had moved on.' Ten months she had been home. Almost eleven.
'I thought I had, or rather I have moved on from what happened, from real events.'
'I don't understand' said Ziva.
'I can't help but think about all the what-ifs.'
'Tony, we agreed not to think about the what-ifs. It does not help us now.'
'I know that Zi, but I have spent years pushing them out of my mind, not addressing the problem. What if there hadn't been a bombing or Sahar? Where we be right now? What if you hadn't gotten pregnant and Tali never existed? What if Eli hadn't died or I had actually told how I felt? What if you had actually told me that you were pregnant?'
'I was going to tell you.'
'When? When were you going to tell me that I had a daughter?' Tony's voice was louder than he wanted it to be. Ziva looked hurt.
'I… do not know.' Ziva looked close to tears.
Tony paused.
'This is our problem, Zi. We don't talk.'
'But we are.'
'We talk about Tali, what we missed with her. We don't talk about us and everything that has happened between us from the moment you started working at NCIS till now.' Tony could feel tears well up. 'When we talk, it's about our separation, not our history. That is our problem.'
'So what do you want to do?' asked Ziva.
'We need to talk about our history; the stakeouts, the undercover assignments, being trapped in a box for hours.' Ziva chuckled sadly. Tony paused again. 'We need to talk about Rivkin and Somalia, and Paris and me missing your swearing-in ceremony. We need to talk about Ray and your hunt Bodnar. It's our history and it's important and I don't think we can be the couple we want to be until we do.'
Ziva was crying now. Tony walked over to her and they wrapped their arms around each other.
'I'm sorry Zi.'
'Do not be. Maybe you are right. We are in therapy separately, maybe we should consider couples counseling as well.'
Tony chuckled and Ziva sniffed.
'I love you, Zi. So much.' Tony tightened his hug around Ziva.
'I love you too, Tony.'
For the rest of the day, until they had to collect Tali from school, Tony and Ziva actually did what Tony wanted them to do. They talked, starting with the first time they worked together. In many ways, it was cathartic, working through memories and emotions. Both agreed that they were attracted to each other from day one. Both agreed that they would have ended up in bed together at some point, though neither of them could have predicted Tali.
Tony and Ziva both made the agreement not to do this with Tali in the apartment. It had the potential to become ugly and they did not want to expose their six-year-old to any of it. They still had their weekly sessions to talk about Tali and things they missed, Ziva extending it to include her pregnancy.
After dinner that night, Tony was sitting on the sofa reading, Tali was playing with her toys in the hallway and Ziva was on her laptop, scrolling through things that were not important.
The laptop dinged. She had an email from a Miss Filippa Ozeri. Intrigued, Ziva opened it.
Dear Miss David,
My name is Filippa Ozeri. I was a neighbour of Nettie Jacobs. I knew Ms. Jacobs for many years and helped to look after her in her later life. She was a truly fascinating woman. I have been told that she was a sister to your mother, your aunt.
After she died, I helped with the sorting out of Ms. Jacobs's belongings. Many of her possessions were donated to various organisations; clothes, books, cooking items. However, Ms. Jacobs had a large box of photos of her family and friends. I decided to keep hold of these photos in the hopes that they would be returned to her family.
I have been informed that you are Ms. Jacobs last surviving family member. I think that you should have these photos instead of me. I am happy to send them to you. In the meantime, I have scanned a few and attached them to this email.
Ziva stopped reading and found the attachments. She clicked on them and gasped.
Tony looked up from his book.
'What is it?' he asked.
'Come look' Ziva said. Tony got up and peered over Ziva's shoulder.
'Wow,' he said, quietly.
It was a photo of little Ziva, Tali senior, Rivka, and Nettie. C. 1989 maybe. The Ziva in the photo could not be more than seven or eight.
Back in June, Ziva had reached out to a few old colleagues at Mossad. They knew that she had come back from the dead, and Ziva knew that a part of them would understand why Ziva had been in hiding.
When it came to tracking people who had old photos of her family was not going to be easy. Schmeil Pinkhaus and her Aunt Nettie both died during Ziva's time in hiding; Schmeil from old age and Nettie from cancer. It had been hard to hear the news from Adam. With both Schmeil and Nettie passed away, Ziva did not know what had happened to her family's photos. Getting the email from Filippa Ozeri was a surprise indeed. Ziva made a mental note to thank the person who found her.
'You were cute' whispered Tony. Ziva looked up at him.
'And, I am no longer cute?'
'No, you're still cute but also beautiful and sexy.' Ziva smiled and chuckled. She started to go through the other photos in the attachment.
'I cannot believe she kept Nettie's photos' said Ziva quietly. Tony squeezed her shoulder. He could hear the emotion in her voice.
'We shall put them up on the walls and Tali will be able to name every single person in them before her seventh birthday.'
Ziva smiled sadly and nodded. That seemed a good idea. If only her daughter had the chance to meet the people in the photos.
Hope you like it.
I'm not 100% certain about this chapter. Things are not perfect for Tony and Ziva but they are definitely going to almost perfect soon.
Thank you for reading and reviewing.
See you soon :)
