"You drink beer?" She asked the stone.

Of course, there was no reply.

"I will take that as a yes." She knocked her own can of beer lightly with the one standing before the head stone.

She took one big gulp, exhaling loudly.

"I do not think I have introduced myself. I am Ziva David, the person who took your place."

She took another big gulp, as some sort of carbonic acid from the beer stung the inside of her mouth.

"I took your place...after my brother shot you in the head and tried to kill Gibbs."

She took several gulps this time. Well will you look at that, first can of beer gone. She opened another one, raising it at the block of stone in respect.

"You do not know how sorry I am. I should have stopped Ari earlier."

She swallowed the bitter liquid fast like she was thirsty.

"You know, they miss you a lot. Thought you should know that."

She poured whatever remained down her throat. And she opened the third can. She held her alcohol well, as she was only a little tipsy despite chugging down the beer so fast.

"They have been talking about you non-stop. You are irreplaceable."

She pointed at the inanimate grey stone as she took a mouthful of beer.

"I am a killer. I killed you. And then I killed my brother."

She was feeling quite bitter, just like the beer as she took another swig at it.

"Are you sure you should be drinking that much? It is still a work day tomorrow." A male voice came about.

Ziva turned her head towards the direction of the voice, from behind the nearest tree.

"Who is there?" She asked, slightly hazy as the effects of alcohol finally kicked in.

"Me." The voice said, as a figure revealed itself from the refuge of the tree trunk.

"Ari." Ziva whispered.

"Indeed it is." He walked closer to Ziva and sat beside her.

"You are supposed to be dead." Ziva gulped down more beer to calm her nerves.

"I am."

"I am finally going crazy." She muttered in a fashion like she had just gotten an epiphany.

"No you are not. You drank too much." He explained as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Are you a ghost?"

"I could be. Or perhaps you are just imagining me."

"Well go away. I hate you."

"No you do not."

"I do. Why did you have to kill Kate? Why did you try to kill Gibbs? If you did not, I would not have needed to kill you."

Her voice rose in consternation as she took another go with the next can of beer, the empty ones lying on their round sides.

"I cannot explain my actions." Imaginary Ari said softly.

Ziva was angry at her brother. If he didn't do what he did, she wouldn't be feeling the shame and the guilt that she felt so much now. And he would still be with her. She took a swing at him with her free hand, but of course she was just hitting the air.

"Why do you try hitting me when you already know I am not real?" Imaginary Ari laughed in good will.

Still the ever stubborn sister he used to know.

"I am not going to talk to you."

"Why not?"

"Because you are just a figment of my imagination." She forced out through gritted teeth, swallowing yet another mouth of already warm beer.

"You were talking to a slab of stone just now. What is the difference?"

"It just is." She huffed.

Slience fell for a while.

"Why are you even here?" Ziva asked sourly.

"You tell me."

Ziva rolled her eyes. How would she know? Being intoxicated didn't really help much either. Imaginary Ari sighed loudly beside her.

"It is not your fault."

"What is?" She flung her hands into the air.

"Kate's death."

"I know. You shot her." She deadpanned.

"Yes. But you blame yourself. I can see it."

"Well maybe if you had opened your eyes earlier, she might still be alive." She remarked sarcastically.

She embarked on her last can of beer. By now, she was nearly drunk. She didn't even realise how fast she was drinking. And to think before all that, she told herself it was going to be an easy feat to control her drinking.

"And about killing me..."

"What about it?" She threw her hands into the air exasperatedly yet again.

"You did the right thing Ziva. No need to be guilty." He coaxed gently.

Ziva could feel the sadness take a step closer to her hard surface. Her eyes clouded over with a film of unshed tears as she heard his words.

"Why are you so nice? You were not like this before. You were like this when we were younger." She asked shakily.

"Because this is how you chose to remember me. Who I was before all the mess." He smiled sadly at her.

And for the first time that night, she looked into the familiar imaginary eyes of her brother. She gave him a quivering smile in return.

"You know I never stopped loving my baby sister right?" Imaginary Ari asked warmly.

Ziva scoffed dejectedly. "You did a good job showing it."

"I might not have showed it after you grew up. But deep down you knew I loved you, did you not?" He said seriously.

Ziva heaved a quivering sigh. "I know."

At that moment, the rustling of leaves could be heard. Although she was still in some alcohol-induced haze, Ziva had some pretty sharp senses.

She turned her blurry vision to where she heard those sounds. She could vaguely make out a woman. She turned to look beside her again, but Ari was gone. Vanished.

Next thing she knew, felt a pair of thin hands under her arms trying to pull her slowly to her feet. "Come on, let's get you to that bench over there." The feminine voice said.

Ziva cooperated, and was helped to a nearby bench to sit down. The person who had helped her flopped down on the bench too, after which she took out her phone.

"Agent Gibbs, I have someone you may be looking for." She said.

Ziva squinted hard at the woman next to her, finally able to put a name to that face. Doctor Rachel Cranston.

"Agent David is with me. I think you need to come get her. She is a bit drunk. Okay maybe a lot."

Ziva let her numbing head fall backward onto of the backrest of the bench, eyes opened slightly to stare at the night sky. There were so many stars. Or maybe that was from all the beer.

"She came to visit Kate. You should know where I'm talking about...Okay bye." Doctor Cranston ended the call.

"Are you a ghost too?" Ziva asked, just to be sure.

"Huh?"

"I am drunk and seeing ghosts." She explained vaguely and clearly out of sorts.

Rachel Cranston's eyebrows shot up in amusement.

"Is it just me or are there stars in the sky?" Ziva asked randomly, pointing upwards.

The doctor chuckled. Some drunks were really fun to watch. "There really are stars."

"Nice."

And it all went quiet. The nice doctor even thought that Ziva had fallen asleep under much influence by the alcohol. And so she jumped when she heard Ziva's voice.

"I am sorry for killing your sister."

Ah, she was sobering up.

"What?" Doctor Cranston was confused.

Wasn't it Ari Haswari who shot Kate? He was Ziva's brother.

"I did not stop my brother on time. If I was good enough, he would not have succeeded in killing her. So it kind of suggests that I am the one who killed her." Ziva seemed to have read the doctor's mind.

"You didn't kill Kate. Gibbs told me that you killed your brother in the end. It gave me closure."

Ziva turned her head slightly to look at the good doctor.

"And you gave Kate justice. For that, I thank you. Very deeply." Doctor Cranston reached out to pat the top if Ziva's hand.

Ziva smiled in appreciation if the kind gesture.

"I need to ask you something Doctor." Ziva's brows furrowed.

"Ask away."

"Is it okay to see dead people?"

"You saw...your brother?" The doctor guessed.

"Kind of. I think I am nuts."

"So that was who you were talking to and flinging your hands at." Doctor Cranston eyebrows went up.

Seems like the doctor had been standing there looking on for quite some time.

"Yup. I am a total nutbox."

"It isn't nutbox." The doctor held back at the mistake.

"Nutsack?"

"It isn't nutsack either." The doctor almost burst out in laughter, but she settled for a chuckle.

"Nut...case?"

"Yeah you got it. And no, you're not crazy. It happens. Even though I deal with something scientific which you know is psychology, I have seen and talked to Kate before too, honestly. I don't know...maybe it's a spiritual thing. Or our imagination. But there are some things in life that can't be explained."

There was a comfortable silence.

"Thanks Doctor." Ziva finally said.

"It's my job. Literally."

Both laughed lightly in the silent cemetery. Ziva's haze had cleared up some, but she still had a light head.

At a certain point, two cars pulled over and out emerged Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Abby and Ducky. The whole team. As a group, they made their way for the only other human beings seated on a bench in the cemetery.

Doctor Cranston tapped Ziva on the shoulder to get her attention.

"You see over there?" The doctor tilted her head towards the anxious team.

Ziva nodded in acknowledgement.

"They are your team. Your family. That there, is something you got in your life that's permanent."

Ziva looked at her NCIS family with loving eyes. The doctor was right. She did have something permanent in her life after all.

"I'll be going off now. Stop blaming yourself for everything okay?" Doctor Cranston bid, and walked away.

Brushing past Gibbs, she heard him whisper a 'Thank You'.

"Ziver." Gibbs called out into the big plot of quiet land.

"Uhh hey Gibbs." Ziva stood up unsteadily.

This was awkward.

He took her by the shoulders, steadying her. "Never be unreachable, got it?"

"Got it."

Gibbs always did have his way of expressing his concern.

Now it was Abby who launched herself at Ziva. "We're so sorry Ziva. We didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"You guys did not make me feel bad. I made myself feel bad. Do not be sorry."

McGee offered her a friendly hug too. "We're family Ziva."

She patted his back affectionately in return.

Ducky wanted his turn too, as he gave her his famous grandfatherly hug. "Tea for you when we get back."

Ziva giggled. She knew he could smell the alcohol on her. Out of character to be giggling, she knew. But she blamed it on the slight intoxication.

And then there was Tony. He gathered his partner tightly in his arms. "You never cease to surprise me. You gotta stop it. Seriously. You're giving me heart palpitations lady."

"I will try my best." She smiled against his suit clad shoulder.

The public display of affection especially between the two partners who had chemistry that hit the roofs didn't go unmarked by Gibbs. But he cut them some slack. It wasn't exactly the right time to spoil the moment.

"C'mon team. Let's go home." Gibbs said, leading the way back to the cars.

Walking right there, Tony's arm slung over her shoulders, Abby's hand supporting her by the elbow, and being surrounded by the people closest to her, Ziva smiled widely. Home.

There was only one thing she could confidently tell herself. It was that this team, this family and this love was gonna be for life. And she would go to the ends of the earth to stop anyone who tried to take it away from her.

I HATE SCHOOL. They just throw info at you and expect you to know how to do their frickin questions. But well, it's called school for a reason right?

But anyways, leave me a review :) Thanks.