"One more Ziva!" Ari shouted at his younger sister, they were in the back yard, it had rained, it was muddy, and Ziva was struggling in it.
She dropped to her belly.
"I can't do anymore!" she yelled at him.
"I don't want to hear 'can't' Ziva. If you can yell at me you can do one more push up. Before you can learn to fight you have to be strong enough to fight."
Her arms were throbbing, the mud and rain was cold, but she wanted to show everyone that that they could not push her around without her fighting back; Nimrod, his gang, Ari even, but most of all her father.
She hauled her self back up on shaking arms and pumped her little body above the ground not once… but twenty more times.
Ari was blown away, something was spurring her on, and he couldn't place it. Maybe he didn't want to. He knelt down beside her, shouting at her. Ziva's eyes were straight ahead, they weren't looking at anything, just reliving the moments that people had hurt her and channeling all that fury into this one moment. Not thinking ahead, just living for that very moment.
A grim smile broke out across her face and another broke out across Ari's.
I will hurt them… I will make them pay.
She has her head in it now… nothing will stop her.
oOo
She was on the ground again, Ari pinning her to the floor with his body.
"Give me a break." She gasped.
"They won't give you a break, they won't go easy. Neither will I."
Ziva executed a manuvore and Ari was off her. They didn't exchange soft blows and more than once Ziva had left their training sessions having no feeling in some of her limbs. But the more they trained the less Ziva got hit and left with less bruises, and Ari's grew.
Ziva watched Ari carefully as he came to his feet. He struck out at her and she ducked, rolling under his arm and to her feet behind him. She kicked behind his knees and elbowed him between the shoulder blades. He recovered quickly and they circled each other.
"Good Ziva. The harder this starts the easier it gets… ten more minutes then we're done."
Ziva tried to leg sweep his feet from underneath him but Ari jumped over her and kicked at her ankle. Ziva didn't even cry out any more. Any pain that she felt she stored away for next time. Ari knew this, and it could make her very dangerous, but if she had too much hurt she could cause damage were it was not meant. Ziva was on the edge of a knife, either way she could fall. She needed a healthy balance.
Ziva locked both legs together and drove them towards his stomach, he deflected them but not until after she winded him.
"Okay…" he coughed, "We break early."
Ziva kneed him again for good measure.
"They won't stop, neither will I." she echoed his words. Ari smiled.
"Good." And he grabbed her knees in a bear hug. She toppled backwards.
"Never stop because an opponent tells you they are done. If you shoot, you shoot until they can't shoot back." They both lay poised on the floor for a moment, then Ari clapped his hand on her leg. "But really… we're done for today." Ziva waited for him to leave first, before she left for the bathroom. She knew why Ari had broken early.
Their father was home…