Hi everyone, I know that it has been weeks but I unexpectedly fell really ill and had to go to hospital. As a result, I did not have any time or mental strength to write and publish any content and I rarely had access to a computer as well. So I apologise for the delayed content, I know some of you were getting very frustrated with me and I completely understand that. However, these circumstances were out of my control.

As I missed about 3 weeks, I am going to do my best to publish more chapters in the next few days. However it also depends on how well I'm feeling. So if my writing isn't up to the standard it usually is, please bear with me.

As for the story, this is where we start to pick some up more momentum. Hopefully, its compelling enough for you to stick with it for a little while longer. In the next few chapters, you're going to see some old and new characters pop up again. I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think xx

Tony sat on the floor and leant against the couch. His eyes were closed and he just sat there. Not thinking about anything in particular; not thinking at all really. It had been a very long time since he had sat in silence. Contrary to popular belief, Tony didn't mind being alone sometimes. Of course, he holds the honorary title of being the favourite class clown. However sometimes, even a clown needs to wipe off his face paint and take 30. Often on a Sunday, he would pop in a movie, one that didn't necessarily require a lot of concentration and lounge around. He'd turn the volume level down to a zero and watch the pictures because it gave him a little distraction whilst he embraced the silence. Often his attention was never really on the movies, they were just in the background as a safety blanket.

Ever since Tali, Tony rarely had the opportunity to sit, let alone sit in silence. When he made the rash decision to hand over Tali that night, he was positive, so sure that wiping off his face paint and taking a 30 was exactly what he needed. However, as he sat on the floor, a bottle of unopened whiskey laying on the coffee table in front of him, his thoughts were telling him the exact opposite. It felt strange and unnatural to spend a night alone without is daughter. The moment that gut feeling began to spread through his body, he knew he fucked up. Tony had a habit of making rash, implusive decisions sometimes. He had to fight that element of his personality often as a navy cop.

Tony opened his eyes and stood up, disregarding the whiskey and walked over to the window. It was near dawn, the first rays of sunshine were filtering through the safe house and the birds were starting to sing. Tony would have called it a beautiful morning, if he wasn't so restless. He was basically counting down the minutes till it was time appropriate to call Orli and get his daughter back.

What would he tell her? Apologise? Give some candy as a sorry present? Even if she didn't understand, Tony did. He let her down; he promised to always be there and then didn't see it through. He's dished out a fair share of broken promises to women over his lifetime. Tony wasn't about to follow that habit through with the only girl important in his life.

"Rule 10: Never make a promise that you can't keep", Tony said as he added another rule to his own list.

Tony showered and changed his clothes, grabbed a quick 20 and then made some coffee. He was loitering around, trying to kill time. He even walked outside and striked up a conversation with the new, guarding Mossad Agent. About 2 hours passed before Tony could not keep this act up any longer. He finally picked up his phone and called Orli.

"Hello Tony," Orli greeted him with a-matter-of-fact tone.

"Hi, how is she?" Tony skipped any small talk and got down to business.

"She had a restless night, but she is fine." Tony let out a silent breath as he heard her reply. "If I am being honest Tony," Orli continued, "I am more worried about you."

"Oh, I'm aces, don't you worry." Tony moved on. "When can I pick her up?"

"How about I bring her over in 2 hours. She is still sleeping and she must eat and bathe." Orli's maternal instincts were in gear. She may not have had any children of her own, but Tali was definitely family to her.

Tony opened his mouth to reply when his eyes caught a glint on picture frame on the wall. It was Ziva and Orli standing in front of the farmhouse that perished in the fire. Tony knew that place very well. It was the last place he was with Ziva, and their time at the farmhouse was filled with very precious memories. It was in that moment that he realised he had never gone to see the site since they arrived. It was in the back of his mind when he arrived in Tel Aviv. He wanted to see the place with his own eyes, that way maybe, he could really accept what had happened. But of course, the opportunity never arose because he was constantly occupied with his daughter.

"Tony" Orli repeated his name and he brought himself back to reality.

"Actually, there's something that I gotta do. Can you keep her for another few hours? I'll call you when I'm back at the house."

"Of course, but Tony." Orli started and he cut her off.

"I'm fine honestly." He reassured her again.

"I know. Just, be careful." She replied and ended the call.

…..

Tony stepped out of the car and covered his face as the wind blew up a small gust of sand. The place looked more desolate than he remembered. But then again, his memories of luscious trees, the smell of chopped wood and the site of a beautiful farmhouse were burnt away by the fire. It was just, empty now.

Tony locked the car and walked towards where the townhouse would have stood. The ground was graffitied with charcoal, soot and burnt tar. It was ironic, to see such a black site exist amongst the green mountains and orange trees that grew not too far away. Ironic, yet sad. He wandered around, his investigative instincts kicking in. He looked for anything amongst the ruins, any clue that would point him in any direction. But almost immediately, he stopped moving the moment he heard footsteps behind him. He instantly looked up and saw a woman standing there with flowers in her hands, peering at him with curious eyes. Tony was about to conjure up a quick lie as to why he was standing in the middle of a crime scene when she spoke.

"You are him, are you not?" She said, her Israeli accent thick as she over-pronounced each word.

"Who?" Tony asked.

"Anthony."

….

"Well that depends." He replied casually.

"On what?" She enquired, gripping the flowers tighter.

"On who's asking?" She smiled at his reponse.

"Oh yes, you are definitely him then. Ziva always said that you were a smooth talker."

Tony creased his eyebrows in confusion and turned to face the woman fully.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"My name is Amada, I am Ziva's cousin. Our mothers were sisters." Tony slowly nodded at this revelation, his guard still pinned up.

"Huh, that's funny. Delilah never mentioned that she had a daughter?"

"Oh no," Amada laughed at his response. "My mother passed away when I was a baby." She waved her hand in dismissal. "I would not be surprised if my Aunt never spoke of me. She was…how do you say.. the black sheep of the family?"

"Huh," Amada took a timid step closer to Tony. Tony glanced at the flowers.

"I come here every week, lay some fresh flowers here. It helps me cope with everything that has happened." Amada gestured to the dead flowers that laid on the ground a few metres away from them.

"Ziva and I reconnected when she came back. I spent a lot of nights here with her and her baby," Amada's gaze flickered to the burnt site behind Tony. "Tell me , is Tali okay? Every thing happened so quickly and I never got the chance to say goodbye before she was brought to you."

"Tali is fine," Tony reassured her.

"She is still holding onto that doggie that I bought her?"

Tony visibly relaxed at Amada's words and smiled "Oh Kalev. Yes, he's an honorary member of our family now." Amada laughed and nodded.

"How long have you been in Israel for? Where is Tali? Is she with you?" Amada looked around, as if she was expecting the little girl to jump out of the bushes.

"She's with a friend at the moment. I should be getting back to-."

"Oh please, maybe we can share a tea together? Get acquainted? I have heard so much about you from Ziva, it would be really lovely to sit down and talk, if you do not mind? There is a tea shop 15 minutes away that is very famous for its mint tea."

Tea shops? Tony smiled at how foreign that sentence sounded to him. He paused for a second and Amada spoke again.

"It was Ziva's favourite place around here. Come on, I will drive us there." She placed the flowers on the ground and began walking over to her car, without giving a chance for Tony to excuse himself and bail.

….

"So Anthony, Ziva told me much about you. You are a very accomplished man." Tony lightly huffed at her statement. It wasn't entirely false. Of course, Tony was very proud of his accomplishments as an NCIS fed. But sometimes, it's the things you achieve in your life, like happiness, fulfilment and love, which matter more.

"You'll have to forgive me, I'm only just starting to meet any of Ziva's family members." He said and she hushed him.

"That is no trouble. If I had known that you had already arrived here, I would have come knocking on your doorstep much earlier. Where are you staying at the moment?"

Tony went to open his mouth and give her the location of Orli's safehouse but hesitated.

"With a friend, Shmiel" He lied. Family or not, he still knew the rules about giving up a safehouse.

"Pinkus?" She asked?

"The very same." He confirmed. "You know him?"

"Of sure. Like I said, I spent much time with Ziva over the past few years." She poured Tea for the both of them.

"So did they manage to retrieve anything from the house?" Tony looked at her in slight confusion. "I mean," She began to clarify. "I was hoping that Tali would not have lost her whole livelihood in that fire."

"Oh. Yeah, a few boxes worth of stuff." Tony's mind flashed back to the remainder of Ziva's possessions in the corner of Shmiel's house. He knew exactly what they were the moment he saw the boxes. But he mentally noted to deal with that situation later.

"Like what exactly? Is there anything I can get for her?" Amada asked.

"No, Tali is fine. I'm taking care of her now." Tony replied, internally wincing at his own words. He glanced at the clock and timed another 20 minutes before he would make an excuse to leave. I missed her daughter terribly, that was no secret to him.

They chatted some more about Amada and her background. She was a recent graduate in environmental science. Tony grew to like her in the few moments that they shared. She seemed very intelligent and quick-witted. He could see how easily Ziva would have gotten along with her.

Before long, Tony's 20 minutes were up and Amada offered to drive him back to his car.

"I would really like to see her sometime if that is okay. Do you have a number that I can contact you on? Maybe we can organise another time to meet?" Amada asked politely as she neared his vehicle.

"Sure," They exchanged numbers and Amada pulled Tony into an embrace.

"I can why Ziva was so fond of you. You are a good man Tony." Amada smiled and Tony shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"Thanks. I'll see you around Amada." Tony got in his car and drove back to the safe house, his thoughts seemingly settled after a tumultuous 24 hours. As soon as he drove awa, Tony called Orli and organised a drop off time for Tali. With any luck, he would be seeing his girl at most 15 minutes after he arrived back.

True to her word, Orli arrived not a minute late, with an excited little girl in her hands. The moment Tony opened the door, Tali was on the ground and running towards him. In an attempt to stop her from crashing into his legs, Tony swooped her up in her arms and gave her a big hug. He missed her so damn much. It was a mystery as to why he would have ever let her go in the first place.

"Hey baby girl." He said lowly into her curls. Tali placed both her hands on each of his cheeks and squished his face. She was happy, he could tell. He figured that Tali missed him just as much too. A movement from his peripheral eye caught his attention and he realised that Orli was still standing that. Without placing Tali on the ground, Tony walked up to Orli and embraced her. He hoped that small action was enough explanation and apology for his behaviour and he could feel from how tightly she hugged him back, it was more than enough for Orli.

"Nice to see you again Tony. I am afraid I cannot stay for long, I have business matters to attend to." He nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to his girl.

"Thank you Orli."

"Of course, but you owe me an explanation for all this. And do not think that I will not collect from you"

"You're the director of Mossad, I couldn't even get something passed you even if I tried" Orli smiled in satisfaction at the sound of his words and headed towards the door.

"Actually," Tony began, stopping her. "I met someone today. Amada, you know her? She's Ziva's family." Orli didn't turn around instantly.

"Who?" Orli asked again, her hand still gripping the door handle.

"Amada, Ziva's cousin. Their mothers were sisters apparently. Really nice woman, we had tea together." Tony said with a smile. However, as he watched Orli turn around and saw her face, his relaxed temperament instantly dissolved.

"Her mother's side? That is exactly she said?"

"Why," Tony asked, knowing that something was wrong.

Orli instantly walked over to the bedroom and Tony immediately followed and placed Tali on bed before joining her in the bathroom.

"What did you tell her? Did you tell her that you were staying here? What did you talk about?"

"What is going on?" Tony asked again. He hated it when people did this to him.

"Just answer the question Anthony."

"Um" He scrambled through his memories for the answers, "We spoke about her. She asked me where I was staying, I said Shmiel's house. We exchanged phone numbers and said we would meet later. She wanted to see Tali again.."

Orli didn't speak for a second and Tony grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to bring her back to reality. "Orli," he said desperately.

Orli sighed and looked at Tony with solemn eyes.

"Tony, Ziva had a cousin, yes. Her name was Amada. But she died in the same explosion as Tali years ago. Delilah is her only living relative on her mother's side." He immediately dropped his hands and felt his heart tighten.

"Then who the hell was I speaking to?"

She looked back at him, ignoring his question and said. "We need to get you out of here."

Cliff-hanger I know! I'm a sucker for them. But fear not! You won't have to wait for long.

xx

Yours truly