Chapter Text
“Okay, Tali, time for bed,” said Tony, kissing her head from where she remained curled up beside him on the couch.
“Abba, movie,” she asked, looking up to him with her big chocolate eyes. He loved those eyes. They reminded him of someone.
“We’ve already watched two, sweet cheeks.”
The snow fell unrelenting outside, covering the dimly lit streets of Paris, but Tali’s sweet giggle warmed the apartment as Tony tickled her sides and raised her in the air.
“Even little ninjas need to go to bed,” Tony declared, as he carried his little girl in his arms to the other room. She smacked his cheek, still laughing.
Tony laid her to her tiny pink bed and kissed her forehead. Tali grabbed her two fuzzy toys tightly, her ritual every night. A little dog Ziva packed with her named Kelev and a worn-out hippo with a gothic collar, which Abby gave her as a welcoming gift, Bert.
Already tightly tucked in bed, Tali gradually opened a smile and sent puppy eyes Tony’s way.
“Pleeease?”
“Okay, T, but only one, alright?” he declared as he laid himself down next to her, pulling her close to his chest.
Tony took the photo from her bedside table and turned on the fairy lights. The room turned into various shades of gold and Tali twinkled her eyes, not showing any sign of tiredness.
"Which one would you like?” he asked her, eyes watering with the sight of his picture with Ziva in Paris. Every time he glanced at it, his chest ached. She looked stunning, just as she did that day, riding that motorcycle, hair unbound.
"Box,” Tali declared, to no surprise to her father. It was one of her favorites.
"The box one, got it. But real quick, okay?”
“Humpf.”
"One cold, but very sunny, afternoon, many years ago, papa Gibbs asked Ima and Abba to go searching for a pirate who worked in the Norfolk Docks, an ugly pirate named… Ray…”
“Ray no.”
“Then what’s his name, princess Tali?”
“Butterfly.”
Tony burst out laughing at that. “Okay, sweet cheeks, let me finish then,” he said. She was just like her mother, always contradicting him.
God, he missed her.
“A ruthless, cruel and a widely famous pirate named… Captain Butterfly… who was smuggling weapons and gold inside his ship, to the faraway and dangerous lands of… Iraq. He stocked his treasures inside a massive box, bigger than you and bigger even than me, and everyone knew it was forbidden to enter it. But Ima and Abba were brave, just like you Tali, and had a job to do for papa Gibbs. So they entered the box to seek the treasures. But… it was a magic box, and just like that,” Tony snapped his fingers, “It locked with them inside it. They were trapped.”
"Hours passed and no one came to their aid, and the magic box started moving! We were trapped inside a moving thing! We had to act quickly, so Ima and I started to put our brilliant minds into action. Well, as you know, she’s way smarter than me, and after much discussion, we came to a solution.”
“As two very special agents trapped inside the cold magic box of Captain Butterfly do, we started to throw his treasure away, for papa Gibbs to find our tracks, just like Hansel and Gretel. It was a brilliant idea, to be honest, but what we didn’t realize was that it was gold we were throwing away! Gold! And civilians walking by started to pick it up and erase our path! We were locked in and now invisible as well.”
“But, as you also know, we had papa Gibbs. And he’s the most perceptive man I know, so he figured it out fast enough. And he soon managed to get us out of the magic box of Captain Butterfly, using his secret password. He never told any of us what that was, though. He’s a man of many secrets. And that was one of the many times Abba fell more in love with Ima.”
“Mooore.”
“I’m sorry, princess, it’s time for bed,” said Tony, as he kissed the photograph, “now you,” and Tali kissed it too.
“Good night, mon Coeur,” he told her as he kissed her little forehead one more time and turned off the lights.
“Luv you, Abba.”
“Love you too, sweet cheeks.”
Snow continued to fall outside.
That night, Tony didn’t leave the picture on Tali’s bedside table. This story was one of the most difficult to tell. He walked slowly to stand near the fireplace, the photo of his past lover in hand, and let the flames illuminate their smiling faces, a memory he so fondly returned to every now and then.
Ziva loves Paris. He missed her so much, more every day. Her secretive smile to him, her constant bickering, their forbidden love. Tali was growing up too fast and she wasn’t there to witness it. To be by his side. One of the things he thought about most was how good she’d be as a mother. He was so profoundly sorry time didn’t have the best timing for him to see that.
And now he was alone. For good.
Silent tears spilled over his cheeks, as the image of them happy in Paris a lifetime ago burned in his mind.
What.
The flames illuminated the back of the picture, turning it to bright orange.
There was something written in it.
Tony DiNozzo took the frame out as fast as he could, heartbeat racing.
It’s been six months since Tali arrived at the navy yard doors, six months since he started to look for any trace of Ziva like a madman. Six months he bothered McGee everyday, tracing calls and fighting for her, his hope fading with time, but always there. She was always in the back of his mind, and their memories blurred his vision wherever he went.
There was indeed a message. He couldn’t think straight.
And here is my secret, a very simple secret:
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
that which is essential is invisible to the eye.
November 21st, 2016
That which is essential is invisible to the eye.
That’s her quote, the quote she shared when he was telling her about his mother, years ago. The Little Prince.
God, what did it even mean?
And here is my secret, a very simple secret.
That she was alive? It was too vague, he was seeing things, wishful thinking. Or perhaps…
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
Why did she write that? She’d sent that picture with Tali, packed along with all her other things, so the message was surely for him.
She had sent that with Tali. She’d had enough time to do that. How… strange.
That which is essential is invisible to the eye.
”Oh“, escaped his lips, out loud.
It was all a decoy, wasn’t it? It was invisible for everyone, they all had believed she was dead, gone with the flames in Israel and leaving only her daughter behind. They stopped looking because they didn’t see anything. They just saw her confirmed dead. Even Gibbs. He didn’t go looking for her.
They didn’t know her well, though.
He knew her. He knew what was invisible, the wrongness of it all. Ziva David, former Mossad officer, had enough time to save her daughter with everything essential to her packed and ready to leave but didn’t have time to save herself? Time to go into hiding?
November 21st, 2016.
2016.
Today was November 16th, this date was five days in the future. It still didn’t come to pass.
Why write it like that? Why? Why? Why on the 21st of November?
Important dates, official days, birthdays, everything muddled up inside Tony’s racing mind. Clouded thoughts.
Tali. Tali’s birthday.
Her little sister Tali’s birthday was November 21st. And every year she…
She went to an opera house to honor her sister.
This was a message. This was a message for him.
For him, who knew her, who took care of her many years ago on that same date, blasting music loudly in the bullpen because she had to stay working late.
This was a message for him.
She was alive. She was alive. She was alive.
Anthony DiNozzo let out a harsh chuckle, one he carried with him since he first knew about the fire. Since he started hoping everything was a lie. He was dreaming, he was…
He had to go. Now. This was five days away.
Tony ran to their daughter’s bedroom, not being able to contain his sudden euphoria. He turned the lights on quickly, only to find Tali still up, but pretending to be asleep, as if only to please her father. She was grasping Ziva’s necklace with one of her little hands and the other one was in her mouth as she was sucking her thumb.
“Let’s pack our things, princess,” he said, already grabbing the suitcase from her wardrobe, “we’re going to find Ima.”
"Ima!”, declared Tali with a big smile, quickly dismissing the act of sleeping with the mention of her mother.
Tony looked back at her, beaming widely, the first time he let himself do that freely for ages.
"She’s in Cairo.”