my love, my life - AO3
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
6
“Give Ima a kiss,” Ziva got down to her level, showing her cheek with a side smile.
Tali planted a wet kiss followed by soft giggles, her pigtails swaying from side to side.
“The best kiss in the world,” Ziva adjusted the schoolbag straps on her shoulders and pressed a finger to her chin, “what do you have to remember today, mon coeur?”
Tali replied with a soft voice, “have courage and be kind,” her brown eyes wide while she nodded to her mother.
“That’s right, princess,” Ziva’s finger caressed her cheek gently, pride shining in her eyes, “just like Cinderella. Now go or your father will get late for work.”
Tali nodded again, taking her mother’s words very seriously.
Ziva stood up and found Tony staring at her, his smile soft. This happened every day and still, his eyes never changed, a twinkle of adoration permanent.
“I thought I had the best kiss in the world,” he said with a smirk just before his soft lips met hers for a spare of a moment, “guess I’ll have to up my game.”
“You’ll never win,” she smiled while he took Tali’s hand and directed them to the car, along a tiled path crossing the garden towards the main gate.
Ziva watched them leave hand-in-hand like they did every morning, and every morning her heart felt the same: a sore feeling of time passing too fast just before her eyes.
She knew this was a memory she would treasure later on.
Tali waved at her once they got to the end of the path showing her big front teeth gap. Tony cast a wide grin her way, as if also not believing this was their daily lives now.
Ziva smiled.
°°°
The feeling that I’m losing her forever And without really entering her world I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter That funny little girl
9
“One, two, three, four,” Tony moved his piece across the board, “OH, NOOO.”
Tali’s laughter filled the room, her body contorting until she was lying at the ground with a hand on her belly, her cheeks red.
“YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME,” Tony’s hands pulled his own hair but his smile was wide, “I’m already in debt because your mother has hotels everywhere.”
“I thought you’d already be accustomed to us winning by now, dear,” Ziva smiled wide, her eyes twinkling at the little girl laughing out loud next to her.
Ziva extended a hand and Tali high fived it with a big smile, her dimples showing in her cheeks.
“Why are you two are always against me, uh?” though his words were annoyed, the look he cast at Ziva was of pure adoration, a side smirk appearing as his eyes twinkled.
Tali chuckled in joy, swaying from side to side on the floor, looking at him with the excitement of a certain victory about to come.
“Guess I’ll go to jail,” said Tony with a mocked pout as he moved his piece to the other side of the board.
“You’re used to it, Dad,” replied Tali with a glint in her eyes.
Tony turned to Ziva with his eyebrows raised, “you’ve… told her?”
Ziva huffed and started to laugh, “about… your time in jail? Of course I didn’t.”
Tony looked at Tali, who was trying not to smile at her own wit, her cheeks turning red again. His lips opened in a mischievous grin.
He threw himself at her, tickling her sides until Tali’s laughter grew louder and louder. This Friday night was chilly, but their happiness made the room warm enough.
Ziva smiled.
°°°
Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table Barely awake, I let precious time go by
12
“Ughhh, that makes no sense,” Tali let her head fall at the table, the pencil escaping her fingers.
“Let’s try that another way then, mon coeur,” Ziva stood up and walked towards the fruit basket at the kitchen isle.
Tali raised her head with a frown, clearly annoyed, her eyes blinking away the tiredness of the late hours of the night.
Ziva put an apple in front of her and started cutting it into pieces.
“So this,” she showed a piece of it to Tali, who sighed and rested her head on her elbows, staring at it, “is a quarter of the apple.”
Ziva cut it again, “and this is half of that piece,” she ate it and smiled with her mouth full, making Tali huff a soft chuckle, “delicious. Here, let’s try together.”
Tali took the piece and Ziva helped her cut it in half.
“So half of a quarter is what of the whole apple?” she asked softly while Tali was stared at it with a serious face, the gears of her mind visibly rotating through her expression.
Tali put all pieces together, forming an apple again, except for the slice Ziva had eaten, which was missing.
“This one missing, it was one in…?”
“Eight.”
“Then how many are left?”
“Seven. Seven in eight,” Tali nodded and lifted her eyes to Ziva, understatement filling them suddenly.
“Then if we take another apple,” Ziva put a new apple on top of the breakfast table, “and add those still remaining to the hidden pieces of the new apple,” she talked slowly and Tali followed her gestures attentively, “how many will there be?”
Her daughter blinked a few times, biting her lower lip just like her until a big smile opened in her lips.
“There will be fifteen pieces, eight hidden inside that one,” she pointed to the uncut fruit, then to her homework in front of her, taking up her pencil once again.
Ziva tousled her hair, “great job, dear.”
Tali lifted her twinkling eyes filled with pride to her mother, the tiredness gone completely, “thanks, Ma.”
Ziva smiled.
°°°
What happened to the wonderful adventures The places I had planned for us to go Well, some of that we did but most we didn’t And why, I just don’t know
15
“What about Cairo…?” asked Ziva softly, looking at the screen in front of her.
Tony took out his glasses and turned to her with soft eyes.
“You sure?” he asked gently, tilting his head, “even after we…?”
“After we what?” a voice came into view, entering the balcony where they had been stationed all afternoon with a computer on top of the coffee table.
Tali jumped inside the hammock next to her parents and let one foot dangled out to swing herself, a bunch grapes in her hand as she looked at them inquisitively.
Ziva cleared her throat and nodded at Tony, who understood she was taking the reins of the conversation.
“When you… were little, Cairo was where we met for the first time. Your father and I,” Ziva replied slowly while Tali popped grape after grape in her mouth, “and we have… certain memories there that can be difficult to address.”
“Oh,” Tali nodded, her hand stopping mid-air as she realized this was a heavy topic, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“No, no, no, it’s okay, mon coeur,” Ziva smiled fondly, “it’s part of your story.”
She turned to Tony and met him looking at her softly, gently, as if she was made of porcelain. He raised her knuckles to his lips and kissed them tenderly.
“We need to take her there,” Ziva glanced at the screen again.
It showed ticket prices for their next trip together.
Tony nodded and kissed her knuckles one more time before putting his glasses back to search for hotel bookings.
“You know, Egypt has two of the seven world wonders,” said Tali distractedly, her eyes directed at the bright stars above her, “we could start collecting them.”
Tony glanced at her and nodded, eyes studying her close, “is Hawaii one of them?”
“No, Dad,” her laughter filled the night sky.
“Well, I guess we could always make our own, uh?” Tony’s twinkled as he opened a playful grin towards his daughter.
She chuckled again and they started discussing the possible reasons why various places should enter their list.
Ziva smiled.
°°°
Slipping through my fingers all the time I try to capture every minute The feeling in it Slipping through my fingers all the time
17
“MAAA?” her voice came from upstairs, making Ziva lift her eyes from the book she was reading.
“YES, TA?”
“COULD YOU HELP ME WITH SOMETHING, PLEASE?”
Ziva closed the book without hesitation and made the way to her daughter’s room, her lips revealing a small smirk to herself.
She knocked at the door and Tali opened it with a swift move, startling her.
“I need your help with this,” she motioned to her hair, “I don’t know why you passed me those genes.”
Tali was completely disheveled, her hair a lion mane around her, light brown curls pointing everywhere. Her forehead was furrowed in a frown and her eyes blotty, as if she gave up trying to style it and cried in anger with the whole situation.
“Yeah, yeah sure,” Ziva smiled softly and directed her to a chair just in front of a big ground mirror in one side of her room, “something special tonight?”
Tali appeared visibly calmer once Ziva started gently detangling her curls, swift fingers comforting her by quickly separating her hair into sections.
“Yeah… sort of,” she replied, eyes avoiding her mother’s, who was taking each hairpin from her mouth and placing them at her hair, “it looked terrible.”
“You don’t look terrible,” Ziva found her worried eyes through the mirror, “far from it, T. Only by having youth you’re already beautiful.”
Tali remained silent, her eyes studying her own features while Ziva made a low bun with her hair, curls starting to frame her face. Ziva finished and the feeling of a finger on Tali’s chin made her turn to her mother.
“Don’t ever doubt your own beauty, Tali,” brown eyes looked at her softly, “I may be biased, but every aspect of you is beautiful in my eyes. Even more now, look at yourself.”
Tali turned to the mirror. She did look beautiful, the low bun making her feel more mature somehow, little light brown curls lose making her dark eyes pop with the contrast. She sighed, smiling softly. Tali knew talking to her mother would ease all her concerns.
“Thank you, Ma.”
Two light knocks sounded at the door, followed by it slowly opening to her room.
“Going out tonight?” asked Tony, taken aback by how similar Tali looked to Ziva, “where, may I ask?”
Tali opened a big grin. She turned to her mother and answered in Hebrew, making her father instantly sigh annoyed.
“Will I really need to start learning Hebrew now?” his eyes darted to Ziva, pleading for an explanation, “or will you two save me from wasting my time doing so and just stop speaking this secret code of yours?”
Ziva glanced at Tali, who was beaming with mischief, then turned back to Tony, replying to him also in Hebrew. He growled in frustration and closed the door, rolling his eyes with a grunt.
Tali burst out laughing.
Ziva smiled.
°°°
Do I really see what’s in her mind Each time I think I’m close to knowing She keeps on growing Slipping through my fingers all the time
18
“Three, two, one, smileee.”
Click.
“Tony, get out of there, will you?” Ziva huffed a laugh at Tony making funny poses behind Tali, “we already have enough photos of you making weird faces.”
“What,” Tony continued to change his pose, now showing his muscles to the camera, “tonight is special, right? People need to know I’m her father.”
“People don’t need to know that,” she shoved him to the side, taking a step back again to capture Tali, who just looked at him annoyed, “though they all probably know it already with you continuously showing off.”
“I’m not showing off,” his frown made Ziva smile, “I’m protecting her,” he crossed his arms and let her took the pictures.
“I’m sure she can take care of herself, dear.”
Click.
Tali looked stunning wearing a champagne-colored satin prom dress, garden roses already decorating the corsage around her wrist. Her hair was down and her soft curls fell over her shoulders, a glint of excitement in her eyes making her even more gorgeous.
The ring bell rang before Tony could retort.
Ziva opened the door with a smile and a nervous young man stepped into the living room. His eyes landed on Tali and stayed, widening while he took her in.
Tony crossed his arms and inflated his chest, stepping in front of him.
“Name.”
The young man changed his stance, taking a deep breath and clenching his jaw, “Ray, sir,” in his defense, he held Tony’s killing stare with braveness.
“You gotta be kidding me,” Tony huffed than turned to Ziva, shaking his head, “okay. Not the best name, but that’s not your fault. Time.”
“I’ll bring her back by midnight, sir.”
“Tony, stop with all this nonsense,” Ziva placed a hand on his arm and pulled Tali forward to her date, “it’s just a party.”
“I’m not done yet,” he managed to get out of her grip, “best Bond.”
“What, Tony, that is way past the limits-”
“Daniel Craig,” said the boy without backing down.
Tony nodded, eyes narrowing, “everyone knows it’s Sean Connery.”
The young man didn’t reply, his hands respectfully behind his back as he clenched his jaw and stared back at Tony, who looked him up and down.
“People say I look a lot like a young Robert Wagner.”
“Robert Wagner isn’t a Bond, sir.”
Tony nodded once and clicked his tongue, uncrossing his arms, “okay, I approve of him. Be back on time and fear the shadows, it’s me watching you from afar.”
“Oh, for god’s sake, let him be,” Ziva pulled Ray towards Tali, pushing them for a final picture together. He was visibly relieved, eyes never leaving Tali’s as he opened a wide smile.
Click.
“Have fun, sweetie!” Ziva’s voice echoed down the path leading to the street as the boy opened the car’s door to let Tali in.
“MIDNIGHT,” Tony yelled towards them, “LIKE CINDERELLA, UH TALI? YOUR FAVORITE.”
“Tony, she’s not a child,” Ziva laughed at how concerned he looked, “let her have some fun, please.”
“I know, it’s just,” he sighed as Ziva closed the front door behind them, “she’s my little girl.”
Ziva looked at him fondly, patting his chest and taking his hand, “I know that, dear,” she led them towards the living room, “and you look nothing like Robert Wagner.”
“What,” Tony huffed a laugh and turned to her, his eyes thankful for the distraction, “of course I do. I know I do. A hotter, younger version of him.“
“If you say so,” Ziva snuggled up beside him as they sit down on the couch, laying her head on his shoulder.
Tony kissed her hair and smiled in fondness, “be my Bond girl tonight?”
“Always.”
Ziva smiled.
°°°
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture And save it from the funny tricks of time
19
Tali yelled loudly, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“WHAT, WHAT HAPPENED?” Tony’s voice came from the living room, getting closer and closer as he jumped multiple stair steps in one go, “TALI, YOU OKAY?”
Him and Ziva appeared looking alarmed by her door, Ziva carrying a kitchen knife.
“I got in,” Tali’s fingers shook as she pointed at the computer screen and couldn’t stop crying, “I got in, I got in, I got in.”
“You got in…?” Ziva started crying in an instant, letting the knife down at Tali’s bed.
Tony raced to the computer, his eyes wide.
It gives us immense pleasure to inform you that your application for admission has been approved…
His scream of joy echoed in her room just before he hugged Tali and swept her off her feet.
“My little girl got in,” he muttered again and again, laughing through his tears, “I’m so proud of you, sweet cheeks.”
“We look forward to having you at Yale University this upcoming academic year,” Ziva’s voice escalated as she read the email, suddenly jumping to hug her daughter once Tony let her down to the ground.
“My Tali will be everything she’s meant to be.”
“I’m gonna study Law, Ima,” Tali said through the tears, her smile hurting in her cheeks, “I’m gonna have a voice.”
“Yes you will, T,” Tony hugged them both tightly, the whole family sobbing with joy, “you’re our star.”
“My love, my life,” Ziva grabbed her cheeks again before hugging her one more time, “we’re so proud of you.”
Tali cried.
Tony laughed.
Ziva smiled.
°°°
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
20
“Give Ima a kiss,” Ziva said with sad eyes, showing her cheek with a small smile.
Tali planted a wet kiss followed by soft laughter, hugging her tightly.
“The best kiss in the world,” Ziva adjusted the schoolbag straps on her shoulders and caressed her cheek, “did you remember to call the landlord, mon coeur?”
“Yeah, Ma, everything’s fine.”
“Okay, okay, just checking,” Ziva cast her a soft smile, opening the front door with an ache in her heart, “it’s a mother’s job.”
“I’m gonna be fine,” Tali smiled wide as she started to walk towards the car, “I’m gonna be great, you’ll see.”
Tears threatened to spill as Tony placed a hand on her shoulder, his smile soft. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, wiping the falling tears.
“I thought I had the best kiss in the world,” he whispered with his lips on her skin, “guess I’ll have to up my game.”
“You’ll never win,” she smiled softly, inhaling deeply after wiping her tears.
Tony kissed her forehead again, then grabbed her cheeks and looked her in the eye, “I’ll call you when we get to New York, okay?”
Ziva nodded silently and let him go, her heart with an ache she knew well: the sore feeling of time passing too fast just before her eyes.
She knew this had already become a memory.
Tali waved at her once they got to the end of the path, showing her big, wide grin. Tony cast a soft smile her way, as if trying to comfort her from afar.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she waved her back, clenching the familiar necklace tightly in her fingers.
Ziva smiled.
