Author note: Hey all! Thanks for all the reviews, I was so surprised well done andrewjeeves for getting the answer and being able to choose the colour of the puppy! Here's the next update! Enjoy :D Today is my one year anniversary of being an author on Fanfiction, so to celebrate I thought I would update all my stories! TVA :D

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my ideas! :D

Ziva had just over an hour before she had to be at Kate's house

After all the heavy lifting and the exceedingly long morning Ziva chose to shower for the second time that day.

Ziva took her time getting ready to go to Kate's house. She chose to wear a pair of dark grey cargo pants and a green three quarter length sleeved top. Also she wouldn't be Ziva if she didn't have a knife; she chose to wear a pair of boots that concealed a knife in the ankle; these boots were different from the pair she had worn in DC the first time, she had worn out of the first pair. She chose she should leave ten minutes before two o'clock.

Ziva still had fifteen minutes before she had to leave. She sat on her bed, looking at the key Jenny had given her to be able to collect her things; she thought about the locket Tony had gotten her for her birthday; it was heart shaped with a T and Z intertwined carved on it, it also contained a picture of her and Tony. The only real possession that Ziva had from her first time in Washington DC was the bracelet that she had hardly taken off, it was also from Tony, and he had seen it at the wedding. What must he think? Ziva decided that she would collect her possessions from Jenny and now Gibbs' home on the Friday before they get back from their honeymoon, she will also leave them the letter that her Father wanted her to pass on to them from him. And she will try hard not to dwell on the past and try to think of the future.If only she knew how tricky that could be.

Tali casually strolled into her sister's room.

"Ari decided he wanted to take his bike out for a spin and went to get some food shopping" Tali reported as she sat down on the end of Ziva's bed facing Ziva herself.

Ziva nodded.

"What are you thinking about?" Tali knew Ziva so well, even after she came back from DC; Ziva had changed in so many ways after she had come back, but then again she was the same sister Tali had known. She almost became withdrawn and solely focused on Mossad and her work, But somewhere she had also became almost more human. Tali found it hard to explain the difference in her sister almost as much as it was hard to see. However one thing was for sure; she had changed, but Tali still knew her and when she was thinking about something that was to an extent, haunting her.

"Nothing of importance" Ziva replied looking her young sister straight in the eyes.

Tali knew not to push Ziva; as she has in the past and it has only ever made Ziva revert back into her shell.

Ziva has never shared in detail of what she had done or what had happened to her when she had run away to her siblings, but Tali and Ari knew that she would tell them when she wanted and that there was no use in trying to pry the information out of her; she was trained after all.

With all the thinking and the talking to Tali it was time for Ziva to leave.

She got into her mini, buckled the seat belt, adjusted the seat and mirrors, turned the engine on and turned on the radio, loud. She was in her zone and for this moment she was going to be happy and not think about he who shan't be named; this was her car, her space and there was no way that he was going to invade it.

She took off down the street and within ten minutes she was standing at Kate's front door. Standing here brought back some memory from what seemed like decades ago. This is the same house where she had found out about the video that could incriminate her and this caused a pang of dread to feed into her blood stream; she had lied to her friend; well how could she say for sure that they were still her friends; she was not Gina and now she was to have lunch with Jimmy and Kate as Ziva. She felt sick with nerves. Ziva David ex Israeli Mossad officer, Eli David's oldest daughter was scared.

As she raised her hand to knock, the door opened to reveal Kate standing there wearing a massive welcoming smile.

"Hey Ziva, come on in" Kate gestured with her hand and stepped aside. "Jimmy's not here yet, did the thing you had before go okay?" Kate questioned as she led Ziva to the kitchen.

"Yes thank you. Are your parents not in?" Ziva noticed their lack of presence while she moved through the house.

"They went out shopping. Can I get you something to drink?" Kate asked as she and Ziva took a seat at the island. As Ziva was about to decline the offer that door bell sounded. "That will be Jimmy, excuse me a moment" Kate left the kitchen in the direction that she and Ziva had come from just seconds before.

Ziva took this time of privacy to look around the room. Memories of the sleepover she had attended there came flashing back to her in sudden bursts; it was almost overwhelming. She could almost feel the raw emotions that she felt that morning she woke up to see that Abby had found the video that helped her father locate her. Find would be a word that she would associate with someone who wanted to find something like a father wanting their daughter back home safe, no, locate to her made her see her father for what he really was at that time; her boss, he was her boss locating an employee that was MIA. However, if her father was the man he is today she could have used the word find and that almost saddened her to no end; he was now her father and for him to be her father he felt he had to send them away from him.

Memories of the barbeque that the girls had held and the boys came over for the afternoon were now playing in her mind. She was picturing the scene when Abby had tossed her an apron to put on Tony as he manned the barbeque; it was a man's torso which included a six-pack and an impressive set at that and it had fit Tony to the T. she remembered his eyebrow wiggle, how he lunged to tackle her to the floor and how he had missed, causing him to tumble to the ground, he had then pulled her down next to him. This was one of the happiest times of her life and one of the most cherished and one that she feels can never be replaced.

Her thoughts returned to the kitchen but not the time zone. Her and Abby were making peanut butter Blondies, getting the mixture everywhere and having fun doing it. She then remembered when her and Abby served the Blondies with some ice-cream at the barbeque.

If she only thought about the good times of that sleepover she would easily say that, that is where she wants to be for the rest of her life. But there was no way in hell that she would want to relive or even think about the chest gripping insecurity that occurred once that video was found and the feeling as if her whole newly instated world was falling down around her.

This was a lot to think about in such a small amount of time. She felt sick.

Jimmy's voice broke her contemplation of better times. Were they necessarily better? She was lying to the group she found to be friends. She was not a free person. Was she now?

"Hey Ziva" Jimmy greeted as he and Kate entered the kitchen.

Ziva turned in her stool and stood to greet him with a smile; after all the deep thinking she felt like she couldn't speak without falling apart; she just needed a small moment to collect herself.

"So, where do we want to eat?" Kate threw the question out for suggestions.

Ziva new exactly where she wanted to go and eat "The diner?" even though she had gotten food from there the day before, she hadn't had a chance to re-visit it and she knew that, that sounded weird but she needed to do this to feel home again, Ziva again and not Gina.

Jimmy and Kate had no objections to going to lunch there.

They all piled into Ziva's mini at her insistence, explaining that she wanted to drive to get a feel for the area and the fact that she had a new car and wanted to take it out for a drive. Of course she didn't warn them about her aggressive driving as she found no problems with it, they also wouldn't know about her manic driving as, as her time as Gina she didn't have the opportunity to drive a car.

She could have swan she saw Jimmy kiss the ground as he leapt from the car as soon as she had parked at the diner, then again it could have been him about to lose the contents of his stomach all over the tarmac of the car park.

Kate was only slightly shaken up from the death ride, well from what Ziva could see.

"Are you alright Jimmy" Ziva casually asked as she walked around the car to meet her two almost petrified passengers.

"Yeah; I just lost my contact lens" Jimmy replied as her pretended to search on the floor for his missing lens. There was just one major floor in his explanation; he was wearing his pair of glasses, he just didn't want to come across as rude and insult her driving.

Kate and Ziva looked at him incredulously. He looked up at them and saw their faces he stood up slowly and dusted himself off, he cleared his throat "Yes, well, I think that's missing for good. Should we go in and eat?" The two girls just walked off in front of him. At the mention of food passing his lips he immediately felt queasy; the thought of travelling with Ziva in her lovely car on a full stomach somehow didn't make him all too hungry.

The girls sat at one of the tables in the front as a waitress came over with menus.

Jimmy eventually joined them and they ordered.

Ziva chose to jump straight into a conversation and make Jimmy feel uncomfortable after he insulted her driving "So, Jimmy, how is Michelle?" she interrogated, staring at him whilst sipping her drink through a straw, she waited for him to answer.

He visibly gulped; she didn't think she was being too threatening.

"She and her family moved to Colorado and we decided that it would be impossible to keep a long distance relationship; so we ended things" Jimmy finished and took a sip of his drink showing that he was finished.

"I am sorry Jimmy" Ziva was being truthful and meant every word.

"It's okay, we're still friends and she knows about Breena; she seems fine about it" Jimmy tried to convince Ziva as much as himself.

Kate chose to try and turn the attention away from her struggling friend how she guessed didn't want to talk about his ex-girlfriend. "How have you been Ziva?" Kate really wanted to know how Ziva was coping; not only was she ripped away from her boyfriend but on her return she had to see him in the arms of another person.

"I have been good. Or at least I will be" this was the first time she had admitted this to herself let alone out loud to anyone.

Kate saw the pain evident of her friends face. Luckily the waitress came over with their order of food and after asking if they wanted anything else and her offer was declined she left; leaving the table in silence.

Kate had a Turkey club sandwich with a bag of crisps on the side. Jimmy had a cheese burger with a side of fries. Ziva had a beef hotdog with a side of fries.

Kate lent over to Jimmy's plate and swiped a chip from her friend. He just smiled at her; it was something she always did.

"So, your brother…" Kate pretended to search her brain for his name but really his face and name were constantly at the front of her mind since she had laid eyes on him.

"Ari" Ziva finished.

"Ari" Just the word on her lips bought her all over in goose bumps "How old did you say he was again?"

"I didn't. He is 20" Ziva reported not following why Kate was so interested in her brother. As Ziva took a sip of her drink Kate continued her questions.

"Does he have a girlfriend?" Kate raised her eye browns as to suggest why she was asking.

Ziva choked on her drink "No, he does not" she replied in an 'are you serious?' tone.

Kate just smiled at her friend and went on eating her lunch.

The group carried on some small talk.

They were just about finished with their meal when someone quite familiar walked passed their table with someone not so familiar.

Ziva caught the smell of his cologne and this filled her heart with joy, until the smell of a female perfume that she didn't recognise replaced it. She chose not to look at them.

"Do you want dessert?" Jimmy asked Kate and Ziva.

Kate looked towards Ziva once she saw Tony and Wendy walk pass, she realized that Jimmy was trying to distract Ziva, but Kate already knew it was too late just by the look of her friends face and her quietness.

Kate and Jimmy shared a sympathetic smile.

"Yes I think I will" Kate finally spoke up.

"Yeah, I'm going to as well. Ziva? Can I get you something?" Jimmy asked his friend, he had to double check that he would get her name right; she would always be his friend not matter what her name was, after all, she did fight off those bullies for him last year.

"No thank you" she replied trying to be confident but slightly failing.

Jimmy lent against the counter near the cash register waiting to be served; as they hadn't ordered dessert with their lunch they had to order it separately.

"Hey hun, what can I get you" A waitress asked as she approached the cash register.

Jimmy knew what Kate would want as it was what she always ordered when they ate there; Mississippi mud pie with chocolate Oreo cookie crust. "Hiya, can I have a slice of the Mississippi mud pie please and slice of the blackberry apple pie"

"Sure thing, that'll be $3.00 hun"

Jimmy took out his wallet and paid the woman before she went and put together the order.

Jimmy went to take the tray of food when the waitress placed one more thing on the tray "Excuse me, I didn't order a blueberry muffin" Jimmy called to the woman. She just pointed at the far end of the counter. There sat two very familiar people.

Jimmy didn't know what to do and so just sat down at the table with the tray.

Kate and Ziva had just finished a conversation and looked at Jimmy, then saw where he was looking at. The blueberry muffin.

Kate gave him and 'why the hell did you do that for?' he gave her a looked that told her that he didn't.

Ziva looked at Jimmy confused. Jimmy tried to avoid her gaze.

"Here Kate, I got you your usual" Jimmy reported trying to change the subject and passed Kate her slice of pie.

She took it with a smile.

"And Ziva this is for you" Jimmy said hesitantly whilst placing the offending object in front of her.

He took his food of the tray and placed the tray to one side.

"I didn't ask for anything" Ziva finally spoke up. She was confused; why would her friend get her a Blueberry muffin when he knew that he had done before.

Jimmy just looked over his shoulder quickly towards Wendy and more importantly Tony.

Ziva knew this all along, she just needed confirmation.

Kate and Jimmy were half way through their puddings when Ziva spoke again, she hadn't touched the muffin "I feel like we have be selfish with this lunch; I think we should do something that involves Tim, Abby and Breena" She added Breena and looked to Jimmy "If you want"

Jimmy nodded and smiled.

"What have you got in mind? We still have a week left of spring break" Kate replied.

"Well, I live with just Tali and Ari; so my house is free; we could have a party, get together type thing?"

"Yeah I think that would be great" Jimmy answered enthusiastically "You can meet Breena properly"

"Good, how does Wednesday sound?" Ziva queried.

"Perfect. I'll tell Tim and Abby and Jimmy can tell Breena" Kate planned.

"I will phone you with the details" Ziva stated to her friends.

By this time Kate and Jimmy had finished their dessert. "Shall we head back to mine?" Kate asked.

"Jimmy nodded whilst standing up.

Ziva took one last look at the Blueberry muffin as she tucked her chair under the table, she then follow Jimmy and Kate out to her car.

On his way out of the diner, whilst holding Wendy's hand; Tony walked past the empty table and saw the untouched muffin.

Author note: Bit of a funny question, but anyone from America can you explain to me what the definition of pudding is for you :D many thanks TFA.