A.N. Yay! I got a chapter out relatively soon. Thanks to everyone who reviews last chapter!! You all encouraged me to get this one out as soon as I could think of it. Now I'm still kind of fluking this so if you have any ideas they would be greatly appreciated. On with the chapter...
Disclaimer- I don't own Ziva or any of the other NCIS crew but I do own Kiara and Emily.
This is the new 'edited' version because I was reading it and realised how many mistakes I made and I couldn't stand it so this should be better!
I'm sorry if this chapter is confusing, it changed perspective a few times but I think (I hope) I made it as little confusing as possible.
"Gibbs?" Ziva asked hesitantly. He wasn't in the best of moods (big shock there) and their lateness, even though it had only been five minutes had made him rather grumpy. Well, grumpier than usual.
"Would I be able to leave early?"
Gibbs looked up at her, his piercing blue eyes trying to read her but she purposely kept her face blank.
"Why?" he asked after a few minutes of scrutinising her.
Ziva sighed; she should have known she wouldn't get out of telling Gibbs the reason she wanted to leave so instead of escalating it into a massive fight which would only make him grumpier she simply told him.
"It's Kiara's first day of school, I wanted to be there when she finishes."
It was the same scrutiny all over again, she could practically see the questions in his clear blue eyes. Was she okay? Was she still seeing the girl? Could she let go? Would she be able to cope letting go? Had she let go?
Ziva tore her eyes away from his stare, walking back to her desk and asking Gibbs, "So yes or no?"
She could feel his gaze on her, watching her but she stared stubbornly at the computer, not meeting his or Tony and McGee's curious gazes.
"Yes."
-
Ziva waited awkwardly in the car park of the primary school with other people, presumably parents. She tried to block the thought from her head but she couldn't help but wonder which of the adults standing around were Kiara's new family. The little girl had drawn a picture of her parents and brother for her with their names above them like the picture of her and Kiara but Ziva noticed with twisted satisfaction that the smiles on the people weren't nearly as big and none of them were holding hands. It made Ziva feel worse about letting Kiara go and that was why she promised, to both Kiara and herself, to surprise her after her first day.
The loud bell signalling the end of the day shook Ziva from her thoughts and she waited with almost painful anticipation to see the face she hadn't seen for months except in her dreams.
She scanned the crowds of adults for the familiar faces of her family. She called her dad, Daddy as she had never had someone to play that role in her life but as for Emily, she couldn't call her Mummy, not yet. Not while the image of her real Mummy being killed was so fresh in her memory.
She saw Emily and Daddy standing together, Chriis already standing with them, his schoolbag on the ground next to him. She smiled at their familiar faces and started to walk towards them, her tiny schoolbag feeling heavy as it hung low on her shoulders. As she was walking and making sure she didn't trip over anything, she saw something that caught her eye. A person, a familiar person, standing away from everyone else, looking at the kids coming out of the school gates.
Ziva
"Ziva!" she yelled out loud, changing her path from her family to her friend, smiling as the agent looked down and met her eye.
"Ziva," Kiara said again, jumping into her arms and clinging on tightly. It felt like forever since she had seen her and her warm, dark eyes were comforting after everything changing and she simply stared into them, talking to her like she had all those months back and NCIS, talking with her eyes.
"I've missed you Perach Katan," Ziva said to the little girl in her arms, the name rolling off her tongue easily. "I've missed you so much."
She had heard about Ziva. Kiara would be drawing and she'd come up and ask what she was doing, only to be given the reply, "It's for Ziva."
She had always thought Ziva was the little girl's imaginary friend, her way of coping with the death of her mother and then the adoption and Kiara never told her otherwise, always replying to her question of who's Ziva with, "she's my friend." But she watched her today as she walked out of her first day of school, heading right towards her, Jackson and Chriis before looking around and seemingly seeing someone and running towards them, yelling. That wasn't the Kiara she knew. Whenever she was around her she was always so quiet for a five year old. Speaking only when asked a direct question and preferring to spend time drawing than with the rest of the family.
As she ran towards the mystery person, she followed the little girl with her eyes. Kiara yelled 'Ziva' then disappeared behind another group of people.
She really wanted to meet this Ziva, seeing as Kiara seemed to know her so well. Following her new daughter she saw her jump into the arms of a strange woman. She looked about twenty from where she was standing and had long, dark hair with dark skin and matching dark eyes. She was wearing cargo pants and a purple skivvy and a giant smile on her face. She couldn't help but be jealous of this 'Ziva'. She didn't know what they shared in the past but Kiara was looking at her like she never looked at her new mother and Ziva was looking at her the same way. As she walked towards the happy pair she wondered what had made them so close.
"Hello, I'm Emily; you must be Ziva, Kiara's spoken of you." As soon as Emily addressed the younger woman though, her face closed over and the smile disappeared, leaving behind a blank, emotionless look that was very intimidating. It was only then that Emily noticed the gun attached to the woman's hip and how her cargos were dirty and threadbare and her combat boots, yes combat boots, were scuffed and just as dirty.
"Ziva David." She had an accent, Spanish maybe; Emily had never been good at recognising accents, maybe Middle Eastern. Ziva held out her hand, waiting not so patiently as Emily stared at it, thinking deeply about something it seemed. Finally Kiara's adoption mother looked back at her face, smiled a tight lipped smile and shook her hand, her eyes flicking from her face to the gun not so well hidden on her waist. Kiara was still one of her arms so she slowly placed her on the ground, picking up her little schoolbag and holding it for her.
"Okay, and where are you from?" Ziva felt like growling but she knew that wouldn't help the situation. Just because she had an accent and it wasn't even strong anymore, meant that people had to ask about it in the second question they asked.
"Israel. You must be Kiara's guardian," Ziva said stiffly, knowing even now that she didn't like the woman, she couldn't stop looking at her gun, THERE WAS A BADGE THERE, COULDN"T SHE SEE THAT? And the way the woman's face changed when she said Israel, like she was going to suddenly jump out shooting people.
"Yes. How do you know Kiara, Ziva?" Her voice was soft and high, completely the opposite of Ziva's. Kiara was looking at Ziva, waiting for the answer she was going to give to Emily's question. When she didn't answer, just glared at her, Kiara decided to answer herself.
"Ziva saved me."
The look on Ziva's face made the older woman relax slightly. As tough as this woman looked, she loved Kiara, Emily could tell this after barely a minute with them both. The really bad thing was this woman saved Kiara yet she was jealous. She wanted Kiara to love her like she loved Ziva but by the looks of things that would never be the case.
"I have to get back to work Perach Katan, here's my number, call and tell me all about school okay?" Ziva murmured to Kiara, passing her a small piece of paper before kissing her gently on the forehead then standing up and addressing Emily. "It's okay if Kiara calls, yes?" The way she said it made it sound like a statement not a question and Emily nodded, smiling at Ziva as she walked away. Kiara stood with Emily, her face the sad, lost mask it was usually, waving at the back of Ziva David.
Emily let out a large breath. Boy, she was one hell of a woman.
Ziva was nearly shaking as she walked away. She didn't like the woman. She was soft. There had been no hardships in her life and so she hadn't been able to toughen up as a result. Would she be a good mother to Kiara? Probably for the first few years but what about when Kiara needed someone strong to help her? Kiara would be great; Ziva knew that, the events in the last few months proved that Kiara would be strong. She just hoped that Emily would be able to support her and teach her to be as strong as she could be. She just wished she was in Emily's position. She just wished she could care for Kiara. She wished it was just Kiara and her.
Please review with thoughts and ideas and I'll try and get the next chapter out soon, Jules.