Hello! I'm back again! :D

I absolutely love this part of the story! I guess that's what happens after two years of dreaming up where the story is headed. These next few chapters are so precious to me and I hope that they will be special to you as well, especially those who have been with me since the very start.

Thank you to the reviewers on the last chapter: Troubled-Angel-26, helltowngirl61, didemi, JessicaRae95, Sarai, DS2010, Loads of Randomness, NCISLover10, ZivaObsession, Luv reading 67, and Fashionista-girl. Special thanks to Quintawrites for pre-reading for me. :)

Now, enjoy my precious little climactic moments.

...

Supper was simple and calm. Neither Ziva nor Gibbs felt much like talking after the day they had had, and both were content to eat chicken and vegetables and drink coffee with few words besides those needed to be marginally polite. The silence allowed them to recharge in a way that more talkative people like Abby and Tony would never fully appreciate.

The silence extended into the evening. Gibbs unfolded a newspaper and was quiet besides the slight rustle when he turned the pages. Ziva texted for awhile with a friend of hers, then showered, changed into sleep clothes, and switched to reading a book after the glare from her screen became too much to handle with eyes that were sensitive than normal after being so teary throughout the day.

Time drifted by unobtrusively until 11:00 when Gibbs finally finished the newspaper and stood up.

"It's getting later, Ziva."

"Um hmm."

Even though the hum was quiet, Ziva could immediately feel herself go on edge from habit. She could sense that Gibbs was going to say...

"Might be a good idea to get to bed. You seemed tired today."

He is bossing me around again!

"No, I'm not!" she burst out angrily, even as her heart quietly protested, Ziva! Just ... let it rest.

...

Gibbs heard the anger in Ziva's voice but he did not respond to it. He was remembering another girl long ago who loved to think that she was big enough to not need bedtime or sleep, and who got uncontrollably cranky when she was overtired. It was so strange how Ziva - pretty much the exact opposite to Kelly - could still remind him so much of that long ago time. So he took a breath and responded the way that he would have to Kelly.

"Maybe you weren't. But sleep is good."

He saw the wavering in Ziva's chocolate eyes. This was not a planned rebellion. She was tired, sad, worn out, confused. A child was inside of her who was struggling to catch up emotionally to where she was physically. But also - that child was tired. He gently walked over and held out his hand to help her up. She reluctantly took it and he pulled her to her feet and gently led her to the stairs.

"Sleep, Ziver."

She stopped on the bottom step and folded her arms, looking at him with as pouty of an expression as possible for her.

"I do not want sleep, Gibbs."

Gibbs gently took hold of her arm again and led her up to her room, quietly giving the message that tired or not, she was going to bed.

"Get in bed," he said calmly when they got to her door. "See you in the morning."

...

Ziva had one last spark left after the long day and she used it to yank her arm away from Gibbs and shout, "Not doing it!"

Then she immediately tensed and winced.

After this long day, I am deciding to pick a fight over this?! Where has your logic gone, David?!

She felt Gibbs take hold of her elbow once again. She knew what was coming. And for once, she would agree that she deserved it. Being stupid was not her style and her behaviour today had been stupid.

Might as well get it over with so that she could finally be done with this day.

...

Gibbs' temper sparked too when Ziva yelled again. His patience level - never very high - had been tried. This girl wanted to test him? Well, then, she would NOT like the results!

But then the memory of Kelly came back for just a second. He had had so much patience with her back then. However, Ziva was not Kelly.

Of course they are different. And Ziva deserves patience on her own merit, not just because she reminds you of your first daughter.

His thoughts often came in the voice of Shannon, and this one came through very clearly.

She deserves it for her own merit, he repeated to himself.

It gave him enough inner strength to put aside his frustration - for that was what it was, not truly an issue that deserved the spanking he had immediately planned to give - and he instead went to the bed and turned down the sheets. When Ziva still did not move toward getting in bed, he walked over and took her arm again and quietly but firmly propelled her to the bed. She fought against it a bit, first by dragging her feet and then by trying to grab his arm and twist it so that he would step away. Gibbs responded by using his knowledge of leverage to tip her over into bed and escape from Ziva's semi-painful hold. He landed a firm swat on her bottom before pulling up her sheets and settling them around her.

"Good night, Little One. Sleep well," he said calmly, then turned and walked out of the room, pausing right before closing the door behind him. "I love you, Ziva. No bad behaviour is going to change that. Now get some sleep. It'll help you."

Victory. He had not let Ziva's tantrum rile him into responding disproportionately. It was clear that she needed sleep and once she got that, hopefully tomorrow would go more smoothly. There was not point in giving another spanking anyway. If she was able to learn from them at the moment, she would not be throwing another fit after having already received two spankings that day. The little swat would be a reminder that tantrums were not allowed while not overwhelming her tired head even more. Maybe with some sleep the lessons of the day would finally click into place and things would go better tomorrow.

Tomorrow would be good.

For now, he would recharge with his boat.

...

Ziva lay in bed quietly, all her anger temporarily gone but with her confusion multiplied. She had expected to get another spanking for that outburst. Why had Gibbs just walked away like that? He had given her a little swat but nothing more than what the average head slap entailed. It had stung but not excessively. She had seen him give Abby a few swats like that just for being too silly when he wanted her to focus. She had not been being silly - she had being rebellious and angry and horrid. Yet he had given her a kiss goodnight and then said that he loved her before insisting once again in word and deed that she get some much-needed sleep.

She wanted to fight against it, to insist that she be allowed to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted to. She wanted to be free to do whatever she liked with no consequences, no judgment, no punishment. She could have all that if she was alone.

Alone.

Alone.

The word thumped in her consciousness. It was loud, draining, terrifying.

She did not want to be alone. She understood that with chilling clarity. Being alone had never been the sanctuary that she had tried to pretend that it was. It had been awful back then, and even though she was older, tougher, harder, more resilient now, it would be even worse to go back to being alone because she had been touched by the comfort of companionship, friends, and family. She knew what it was like to have a father care. She might not want him the vast majority of the time, but Gibbs was there, loving her whether she was bad, "naughty", or good.

Maybe it was about time that she was receptive to some of that love.

...

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