"So, you are all together again?" Amelia asked as she tried to sort out the snack situation for tonight's game.

Ziva was sitting obediently at the kitchen table, watching her friend wrangle her children and the oven at the same time. She had offered to help but almost immediately had been shot down.

"Yes. Well, mostly," Ziva replied as Amelia tried to shoo all three children away from the cupboard.

"You've just eaten dinner," she scolded them.

"But we're growing boys," Dalton indicated to himself and Chase.

"'Cause we eat our vegetables," Chase said proudly.

Shaking her head in exasperation, Amelia handed out cookies, much to their delight.

"Did you go somewhere, Miss Ziva?" Eva asked through a mouthful of crumbs.

"Swallow, Evie," Amelia said.

"Yes, I went back home," Ziva told her.

The small girl looked at her, confused. "But don't you live here?"

"Remember I showed you on the map where Miss Ziva was from?" Amelia prompted.

"Oh yeah. Aaaaaall the way on the other side of the world. In the desert?"

"Yes! You remembered."

Eva looked very pleased with herself.

"But, you're back now, aren't you, Miss Ziva?"

"I am," Ziva told her.

Hopefully for good. Her father seemed to be happy enough letting her return. And NCIS welcomed her back with open arms. So, yes. Maybe she would be here for good.

"Evie!" Amelia's husband called.

"Go with daddy to your dance class now," Amelia told her, gently leading her daughter out the door.

"I need my shoes!" she exclaimed, running up the stairs.

Amelia rolled her eyes and closed the kitchen door. "Kids can never seem to find their shoes. Or their coats for that matter. Now, where were we?"

"My teak in work being back together."

Ziva had to explain the whole dividing up and banishing of Gibbs' team to Amelia.

"Oh yes. So, everything is right again"

"Yes... well, almost."

"Oh?"

"Tony is still an Agent Afloat."

Amelia gave her a confused look. "You say that like I know what that means."

Ziva blinked at her, briefly confused herself. Then she remembered that Amelia was a civilian. Ziva had spent so long with NCIS that she sometimes forgot that not everyone understood all the terms that were now quite normal to her.

"Basically, it means he is a Special Agent assigned to an aircraft carrier or other ships to provide investigative protection."

Amongst other things but there was no point in going into details.

"Oh, so he's literally afloat," Amelia said with a giggle.

Ziva did not see how this was funny. "Yes."

Of course, he was afloat, he was on a ship! Far, far away from here, at that.

'Knock knock'

Amelia made as if to get up but her husband called, "I've got it!"

"So, do you know when he'll return?" Amelia asked.

Ziva shook her head. "No. We don't."

"Amelia! It's Francisca!"

Amelia got up and put a finger to her lips, "Don't follow, I want you to be a surprise."

Surely, she would still be a surprise if she appeared at the door with Amelia? It wasn't like anyone was expecting her. But she did as she was told.

There were lots of exclamations as Francisca greeted Amelia. Ziva smiled fondly at the older woman's enthusiasm. She would get on well with Abby, she thought.

And that was the last thought she had as Francisca came through the kitchen door.

"Ziva!" was the last coherent thing she heard before she was swept up into a hug, all the while getting a constant stream of unintelligible Spanish.

Seriously, how was it possible for someone to talk so fast and hug so hard? See? Perfect for Abby. However, not so perfect for her ability to breath.

Thankfully, Amelia put that thought into words before she lost consciousness.

"Francisca, I think Ziva would like the ability to breath."

"I just wanted her to know that I missed her," she complained but thankfully let go.

"It is good to see you," Ziva greeted after taking a deep breath.

"You are home!"

Home, what an odd concept. Was America home? Or was it, Israel? If you had asked her even eighteen months ago, she surely would have said Israel, it was where she was from, after all. But she since being in America, no, being with her team her idea of home had changed. Home was not your family or even where your family lived. Nor was it where you lived. No, home was more of a feeling. Feelings. Something Ziva didn't usually liked talking about but this was a good feeling. One she had revelled in when she had been allowed to come back to NCIS. When she had been allowed to come back home.

She gave Francisca a genuine smile, which was all the woman needed to launch into an explanation of all she had missed. Thankfully, Amelia cut her off before she could say too much.

"Don't overwhelm her, Francisca."

"She needs to know what she missed!"

"Not all at once!"

"How else is she supposed to hear it?"

Amelia rolled her eyes. "Maybe in little, consumable pieces. And not exaggerated pieces either."

Francesca crossed her arms. "I do not exaggerated things. I never do."

"You do."

Ziva couldn't help but smile again. It didn't look like she had missed much at all. Francisca certainly hadn't changed.

Everyone seemed to come along e after that. There was Pamela and then Fakhir and last but not least... Liu? She was still in the country?

Ziva didn't even get a chance to voice that question as she was almost immediately pulled into a lot of exclamations about the fact that she had returned and questions on Israel and I she was staying this time (she would like to know, it wasn't like she got to spend a lot of time in her home country before being shipped off to Morocco and she would also very much like to know if she was staying but that was up to her father). And then Francisca was insisting that they start the game.

"Would you like to go first, Ziva?" Amelia offered her the bag of tiles.