Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS

August 2024

The book shop was packed with people. Granted it was a small shop, therefore it didn't take many to make it look busy, but today it was teeming with people. They were sitting in rows of chairs, looking out at a podium. A table of books sat next to the podium and behind it was a large poster of the book's cover.

Two Little Birds by Z. R. DiNozzo.

Ziva stood at the side of the shop, staring out at the people waiting to hear her speak. She was nervously playing with her Star of David necklace, a habit she had for decades now. Public speaking had never been her strong suit. Tracking down and killing the world's worst terrorists, yes, but not public speaking.

Ziva turned to see Tony 52, Tali, ten, and Rosie, four, walk over to her. Tony gave Ziva his diamond smile and kissed her.

'How are you feeling?' he asked quietly.

'Terrified' replied Ziva.

'You'll be brilliant' said Tony, with an air of confidence. 'The girls wanted to say hello before we take out seats. Dad's holding them for us but the girls made you something.'

Ziva turned to her daughters. They held out the cards they had made for Ziva.

'We them for you, Ima' said Tali.

'I put glitter all over mine' added Rosie. Rosie had literally covered every square millimetre of the A5 card with glitter in every colour available. There was even glitter inside.

'I see that, sweetie.' Ziva opened them and read the inscription. Good Luck Ima. She smiled and pulled Tali and Rosie into a big hug. 'I love them girls. They're beautiful.'

Ziva's published, Angela, came over to shoo Tony, Tali and Rosie to their seats. The three DiNozzo's obliged, leaving Ziva with Angela, and her nerves.

'You OK?' asked Angela.

'A little nervous. Scratch that. A lot nervous.' Angela gave Ziva a warm smile.

'Everything will be fine. The audience out there are here because they want to know about your book. The samples we sent to the book clubs over the last couple of months were big successes and many of them are here. People want to read your book, Ziva, ok?'

Ziva gave a curt nod, took a deep breath and stepped out to the podium to a big applause. Tony, Tali, Rosie and Senior were making the most noise. Ziva gave a quick scan of the crowd. She didn't recognise many of the faces, but there were a few she did.

Tim and Delilah. Gibbs and Jack. Ellie and Nick. They had all come to support her. Ziva smiled and opened the book to begin her reading.

'For my little birds. Tali and Rosie.' Rosie giggled when she heard her name. Tali shushed her little sister and Ziva continued reading.

The idea of writing her own book had been given to Ziva about three years ago. Tali was seven and was in second grade at school. Rosie was a year old. The idea had been prompted when Ziva and baby Rosie bumped into Ziva's old creative writing professor.

Back in 2016, after nearly three years apart, Tony, Tali and Ziva were reunited in Paris. After spending three months in the city that Ziva adored so much, they eventually moved back to DC. During those three months Ziva explained to Tony that she wanted to go college. One of her biggest regrets was not gaining a degree. When her time in IDF was over, there was this unspoken assumption by Eli and Ziva that Ziva would move to Mossad. It became even more so when Tali senior died.

So, in September 2016, after she and Tony had a small wedding, Ziva started studying literature at college and Tony started setting up a consultancy firm. He taught at the FBI academy, and the training academies for Metro and Baltimore Police. Tony also consulted with firms that provided private security in various forms, and was taught self-defence a couple of times a week.

Rosie was born in January 2020, with Ziva spending some of her final year of studying, pregnant. However, even with juggling Tali, Tony's new business ventures and a pregnancy, Ziva graduated top of her class. Tony had insisted on a large party to celebrate.

Anyway, Ziva and one-year-old Rosie were out running errands one day when they bumped into Paul Castle. He had taught Ziva creative writing and it had been one of her favourite classes. She had excelled in it, writing some emotional and profound stories. It had also been incredibly cathartic for Ziva. Writing had always been a way for her to deal with her work. Now she it helped her to deal with her past, and the regrets and mistakes that she lived with.

Somehow, Ziva managed to finish writing the first draft within nine months. She gave it to Tim, who read it in less than a week.

'It needs editing, but every first draft does' said Tim.

'But what did you think of it?' pressed Ziva. Tim smiled.

'I loved it.'

'Really?'

'Yes, Ziva. You are a very talented writer. You might want to consider getting it published.'

'You think that is possible?'

'Happened to me. Twice.' Ziva laughed.

And so, after a little bit of editing, Ziva took Tim's advice and started looking for a publisher for her book. After rejection letter, after rejection letter, Ziva's dream of becoming a published author was getting smaller and smaller.

Eventually though, when Rosie was two-and-a-half and Tali eight, a small publishing house in DC called Mirror Press, decided to take Ziva's book on. The founder, Angela, had fallen in love with it. After more editing, drafts, design meetings, marketing meetings, typesetting, proof reading and all sorts of other things that Ziva didn't know about, her book was finally ready.

Two Little Birds by Z. R. DiNozzo was about two sisters, living in Tel Aviv during the 1990s and the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Aliza and Maya were teenagers, living with their father, Levi, and struggling with the death of their mother, Miriam, six months earlier. Aliza dreamt of being a singer and Maya, who was about to start her IDF service, dreamt of being a writer. Two Little Birds was about Maya and Aliza's lives.

Whilst a lot of the book had come from Ziva's own personal experiences, she had surrounded her fictional characters, especially the two sisters, with those stories. There was no doubt that Aliza had been inspired by Tali David, the songbird who never got the chance to sing. This was Ziva's way of giving Tali the life she never got.

Ziva finished her reading and everyone burst into applause. She glanced at Tony who had the biggest smile on his face, then at Gibbs who gave her a wink. He too was smiling, the pride shining through.

Angela stood up and addressed the audience.

'Does anyone have any questions?' A dozen hands were raised. Angela pointed at one woman, who stood up to asked her question.

'Hi, my name is Rachel. I absolutely love the book so far. I was wondering if you are planning on writing another book?'

Ziva smiled and quickly glanced at Tony, then Angela.

'Yes. I hope so.'

I hope you enjoyed reading it. I really liked writing this idea.

Thank you for reading, reviewing and everything else. It makes me smile and I like smiling.