Recap: Friday, 16th October 2009. Gibbs last regular day on forced leave.

~ Preschool visit Nr.1 ~

"'ibbs?" Mini-Ziva looked uncertainly at the big building in front of her. Some kids could be seen and heard on the left side of the building as they run around on the large preschool playground, which took on most of the estate.

Gibbs repositioned Ziva on his right hip so that she was looking directly at him. "Do you remember our talk from yesterday? Where I told you about preschool and how fantastic it would be for you? You can play here and have lots of fun while I do some boring work. And around midday I 'll always get you."

"Me no like," Ziva hide her head right under Gibbs' chin, "Wanna home."

"Ziv," the team leader sighed, slowly continuing his way into the building, "Let's take a look before you say no."

-"Lo."-

Gibbs chuckled, "Lo doesn't count either, kiddo."

"Does," came the muffled reply.

"Alright, you hide and I'll get to know all those kids who are staring at us."

"What?" the little girl in his arms tried to hide further into his jacket, "They mean."

"No, they are nice." Gibbs gently patted her back.

A woman, who had entertained a group of children before their arrival, walked up to them.

"Mister Gibbs?"

"Yep, that's me."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Mrs. Rodgers, the headmistress." The adults shook hands.

"Likewise."

"And you must be Ziva." The woman addressed the small child.

"No." The little girl didn't even bothered to look up from her hiding spot.

Gibbs gave the teacher an apologetic smile.

"Hm, too bad, cause there's a piece of cake for a Ziva David," Mrs. Rodgers winked at the team leader. A twinkle of mirth gleaming in her eyes, "But if you aren't..."

"'ake?" Ziva interrupted whispering, while peeking out from where she had hide her face in Gibbs' chest. The clear signs of tears visible on her face.

"Yep. A nice chocolate cake with extra chocolate," The middle aged woman smiled at Mini-Ziva, "But as Ziva isn't here..." she trailed off.

"Me Ziva!" The little girl exclaimed hurriedly, lifting her head for the first time since they had entered the preschool. In her opinion there was no chance that a perfect chocolate cake should go to waste. Even if she had to push her fears aside for it.

Gibbs smirked and dabbed the little girl's cheeks dry with the sleeve of his jacket.

"Ah," Mrs. Rodgers laughed and turned to the agent, "It's time for the kids afternoon snack in the cafeteria. So how about we join them and Ziva can eat her cake there?"

"Sounds good to me. To you too, Ziv?"

Mini-Ziva nodded her head, still clinging tightly to Gibbs but now she was also looking around as the headmistress showed them the way.

The group ended in front of a bright designed room, full of small tables with small chairs around them. In the corner was a single table with chairs in normal size, obviously there for the teachers. Photos of different preschool groups and paintings adorned the walls. Green plants and the long curtains besides the windows gave the room a comfortable atmosphere.

"All of our groups eat their lunch here. Some groups, like mine, also eat breakfast and tea here. Thereby the teachers always make sure that every child eats their lunch. Furthermore no more than 3 groups use the room at the same time to avoid that children lose their groups out of sight." The woman explained, "Ziva is welcome to sit with the other children. If she wants."

"Ziva?" probed Gibbs as his shrunk agent kept quiet.

The little girl regarded him with a stubborn expression on her face, "Lo, stay wif' you."

"That's okay Mister Gibbs," reassured Mrs. Rodgers as the team leader was about to response. "I'll just get some cake and tea for her and we can sit on the 'adult' table while I explain the basics of our preschool to you."

"'ibbs?" The little girl looked uncertainly at him.

"I'm not going away," Gibbs comforted after they had sat down. Ziva sitting on his lap, so that she could eat her cake comfortably.

"The people here are all nice," he continued in a whisper, giving other children, who were watching them, a smile which they returned before going back to their own cakes.

"Here sweetie," Mrs. Rodger placed a plastic plate with a large piece of chocolate cake in front of the little girl, causing Mini-Ziva's eyes to dilate.

"Ziv?" Gibbs nudged her lightly.

-"Toda,"- she finally replied. Her voice higher than usual.

"You're welcome." The headmistress smiled knowingly.

"You make sure to get lots of sugar into them before sending them home, huh?" Gibbs asked amused but not the slightest bit accusing.

Mrs. Rodgers laughed, "Today is one of the teachers' birthday. She'll go into retirement next year, so she decided to spoil our kids a bit. Normally we only serve tea in the afternoon and the children can eat the last of the food they had brought from home."

Meanwhile Ziva had grabbed the plastic cup and had taken a small sip of it's content.

"Everything ok?" Gibbs asked the small girl who was peering thoughtfully into the cup.

"Taste funny," Mini-Ziva bluntly declared without breaking eye contact with the plastic cup.

The team leader's eyebrow rose another inch, while Mrs. Rodgers laughed.

"It's gummy bear tea. Our children love it, cause it tastes exactly like gummy bears. You don't like it Ziva?"

The little girl only shrugged but took another sip of the unfamiliar type of tea.

"A matter of getting used to," smirked Gibbs before he got more serious, "Speaking of getting used to."

"We encourage every parent, or in your case guardian, to come and talk to the teachers about daily activities and achievements when they drop in or out their children. We also welcome every parent to stay and encourage them to be an active participant in their child's education."

"Miss Rodgers?" a small boy, who looked about a year older than Ziva, had approached the table.

"Yes Daniyel?"

"We're all done. Can we go outside now?" He looked hopefully at her while trying to blow his long brown hair out of his face.

"What do you have to do first," she prompted smiling.

"Collect the dishes," the boy replied, dashing off to his group without another word.

"We make sure to give them as much responsible as possible." Mrs. Rodgers explained, before the boy stood in front of her again.

"All done?"

"Yep."

"That was fast," the teacher cast a glance towards her group, who were now all looking expectantly at her. The plastic plates, cups and forks more or less neatly stacked on the dish cart beside their tables.

Daniyel smiled brightly at his teacher before his blue eyes fell on Ziva, who had observed the interaction safely from Gibbs' lap.

"Hi," he chirped, "I'm Daniyel, who are you?"

Mini-Ziva looked at Gibbs in a beseeching manner.

"Go on and talk to him. Don't be shy," the agent whispered into her ear as he momentarily tightened his hold on her.

"Ziva." The little girl finally answered.

"Cool!" Daniyel smiled brightly at her. "You wanna play with us?"

Mini-Ziva shook her head.

"Please," the boy tried anew.

"Come on, Ziv. He's nice. I won't be very far. I promise you." Gibbs quietly encouraged her.

The little girl stared at him before she slowly nodded, albeit a bit reluctant, "'tay.'"

"I'll be in sight," whispered Gibbs as he lifted his small agent of his lap, placing her right next to the boy.

"Come," Daniyel took Mini-Ziva's hand.

"'ibbs." She looked uncertainly. Normally she would have punched every boy who dared to touch her, but she had promised Gibbs not to hurt other people, so she was at a loss about what to do.

"Daniyel, why don't you let Ziva go on her own? I'm sure she would be more comfortable with Mr. Gibbs leading her," The teacher smiled at her charge.

"Oh," the boy immediately dropped Mini-Ziva's hand, "Sorry."

The little girl, still stunned by his actions, only nodded.

"Lead the way," Gibbs smiled at Daniyel. The agent had no doubt that the boy's outspoken character would coax Ziva out of her sheepishness soon.

"Ziv?"

The team leaders' voice broke in on Mini-Ziva's thoughts and made her look questionably at Gibbs before her gaze fell onto his outstretched hand.

"You can play for a few minutes, then we need to go," he explained as they followed Mrs. Rodgers and the other kids through long corridors till they finally reached the back entrance which would lead them outside.

"It's half past three," the teacher said loudly as everyone was on the playground, "So you got half a hour before the first of you get picked up."

A few kids had stopped and nodded while others just ran off to play.

"It helps to prevent the constant asking of some children. Also they aren't as stunned as when their parents would suddenly be here and it would be time to leave." The headmistress explained her actions to Gibbs.

Daniyel, who had stuck close to Ziva, decided it was time for them to go playing, too.

"Follow me," he said and ran into the direction of the big outdoor playset. It was made out of high quality wood and had several platforms with add-ons, like climbing walls, ladders, ropes, slides and bridges around the outer edges.

"I'll be right here," reassured Gibbs and gently pushed the little girl into the same direction as Daniyel had run to.

With a last glance, on which the agent gave her another smile, Mini-Ziva walked over to the boy. Her pace making it clear that she still wasn't very convinced of all of this.

Daniyel, having patiently waited on one side of the jungle gym, grinned at her. "Those r cargo chain ladders," he explained, clearly proud to have convinced her to play with him and now being able to show her the playground.

"Race you?" He grinned and took off, climbing the rope with nearly no effort. His taller build and 1 year plus, giving him advantage over Ziva, who quickly followed him, after having registered the meaning of his words.

"Cool, you're fast!" Daniyel beamed as she reached the top.

-"Ken,"- Ziva nodded and carefully looked around. The rope had led them right onto the tower, giving them a perfect overview of the large playground.

If it was possibly, the boy's smile got even wider.

-"You speak Hebrew?"-

-"Yes."- The little girl replied absent minded as she mapped out the estate, nearly missing Gibbs as he waved at her. The agent was still where she had left him, speaking to the teacher while they both observed the children play.

With a small smile Mini-Ziva waved back at him. The relief evident on her face.

-"Do you live in D.C.?"- Daniyel asked, climbing onto the outer bound of the tower.

Mini-Ziva furrowed her eyebrows as she had no clue where this D.C. was.

-"Here? In this area?" - he elaborated after a minute of silence.

Ziva nodded.

"Cool, You'll be coming here often then?"

The little girl just shrugged and craned her neck to look at the ceiling of the tower, where someone had painted a starry sky on.

"Well, I hope you'll come," Daniyel grinned at her and motioned to the other tower a few meters away, only accessible through climbing the Alpine slide or crawling through the space tube which connected the two towers, "Let's go there!"

Meanwhile the adults had clarified certain details and had agreed that Ziva would join one of the 'morning groups' on the following Wednesday on a trial basis.

After this they would decided how often a week the little girl would attend preschool and Gibbs would fill out the necessary paperwork.

The only thing Gibbs now needed to do was to convince the little girl to stay here even when he wasn't there.

"She seems to have fun," Mrs. Rodgers smiled

"Seems like it," The team leader smirked as he watched Ziva beat Daniyel anew to the top of the tower. Even though she took the more complicated way, using the climbing wall instead of taking the normal ladder, like the boy did.

They continued to watch the pair in silence till Mrs. Rodgers noticed a middle aged woman coming around the corner of the building.

"Daniyel's mother is here," she stated and excused herself before she walked over, calling the boy's attention to it, "Daniyel! Your mom's here!"

The boy in question turned towards his new friend and after a brief conversation they both came running over.

While Daniyel ran straight to his mother, who was now standing beside the headmistress on the edge of the playground, Mini-Ziva ran back to Gibbs, who enveloped the small child into his arms, "You had fun?"

"Yes!"

The excitement in her voice made the agent smile.

"You want to come here again?"

Mini-Ziva briefly thought about it before she nodded. The toothy smile she wore never leaving her face.

"You think you can stay here, without me being there all the time, too?" Gibbs tested.

He knew that he would have this conversation again before Wednesday but he didn't cared as long as Ziva was happy and knew what would happen.

"Dunno," she shrugged, using exactly the same word she had heard Tony use earlier this week.

"Try?" Gibbs offered with a grin.

"'tay.'"

Conversation over, Mini-Ziva snuggled into the older man's embrace. They day's events slowly catching up with her and making her very tired.

"Should we go home now?" The agent smirked. He could already feel her weight increase as she fought to stay away.

-"Ken,"- Ziva yawned widely.

"Let say goodbye then." With a start he stood up from the bank, taking Ziva with him.

"You want to walk?"

-"Lo."- She snuggled further into his jacket while her hold on his neck loosened.

The lack of English told Gibbs that his small agent was beyond tired. And as if to prove him right she was already fast asleep as he reached the headmistress, Daniyel and his mother.

"Hey there," Mrs. Rodgers smiled, "Someone had a busy day."

"It's not even sleep time," Daniyel exclaimed wide eyed.

"Dani," his mother scolded laughing, "You slept too, after your first day here."

Suddenly shy the boy took a step closer to his mother.

"Well, I'm taking her home," Gibbs announced, "We'll see you next week."

"Till Wednesday, Mr. Gibbs," the headmistress smiled and shook his free hand.

"Ziva's coming here more often?" Daniyel hopefully asked.

"Yes," Gibbs confirmed with a smile, while he shifted Ziva's weight a bit.

"Cool!" The boy grinned happily while his mother rolled her eyes at her son's vocabulary.

~ Fin ~

Ken = Yes

Lo = No

- "..."- = Words spoken in Hebrew