Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS.

Tag to 10x12: "Shiva."

When she steps off the plane and onto Israeli soil, she feels half as though she is in a dream. Familiar, half-forgotten scents fill her nostrils.

It is the first time she has been in Israel since she became an American citizen.

-–- -–- -–-

Her Aunt Nettie meets them outside the airport terminal and wraps her in a fierce hug.

For such a small, frail looking woman, she possesses an inordinate amount of bony strength.

"Oh, my Ziva," she murmurs. "Min haShamayim tenuchamu."

Aunt Nettie had never liked or approved of Eli David for her younger sister, but even she is not so unfeeling as to neglect proper form. And Ziva has always been her favorite.

Ziva says nothing, but she suspects from the tightening of her aunt's arms around her that Nettie understands anyway.

"You and Shmeil will stay at my place, hmmm?" Nettie adds in a question that is not really a question.

"But of course," Shmeil agrees. "Who could turn down such hospitality, and from such a beautiful woman?"

Still not releasing Ziva from her tight grasp, Nettie shakes her head and says, "Such a charmer! I had almost forgotten, it has been so long since I saw him."

Shmeil shrugs expressively.

"That is life, no?" he says. "I am a busy man."

"I see how it is," Nettie sniffs. "You are too busy for me. I am unimportant. Well, I am used to that."

Shmeil opens his mouth, but Nettie continues to rattle along.

"No, don't worry about me," she says. "I'm fine. What do I care that my old friend doesn't have the time for me? I should be glad he still knows I exist!"

When he is finally able to get a word in edgewise, Shmeil proclaims gallantly, "Nettie, you are unforgettable."

"Bah!" Nettie says, finally loosening her stranglehold on Ziva in order to wave her hands disgustedly. "Charmer! Do not trust this one, Ziva."

Against her will, Ziva's lips twitch into a faint smile. Nettie and Shmeil's antics are always entertaining.

"I will show you where I have parked the car," Nettie continues. "Come, come!"

Helpless before the whirlwind that is Nettie, they follow her.

-–- -–- -–-

Israel, Ziva discovers, has changed, but no more so than she should have expected. Besides, has she not changed herself?

(Israel will always be her homeland, but it hasn't been her home in years.)

-–- -–- -–-

The funeral passes in a blur and before she knows it, it is time for her to deliver the hesped.

She freezes for a split-second; she has never been one for public speaking.

Then she thinks of Tony's face and parting words and finds that she is able to breathe again.

She opens her mouth and begins to speak.

-–- -–- -–-

A week and a trip to the Western Wall later, she recites the Kiddish for the final time while planting an olive tree for her father. Beneath the tree, she buries two notes: One is a list of unresolved issues with her father. The other is a list of pleasant memories with him. The former is considerably longer than the latter.

Then she steps back and brushes the good Israeli earth off her knife.

Amidst the groves of her ancestors, a weight is lifted from her shoulders.

Feet rooted in her past, she stands and walks forward towards her future.

-–- -–- -–-

And when she steps off the plane and onto U.S. soil, Tony is there waiting for her.

She is home.

-–- -–- -–-

"So you let time forgive the past and
Go and make some other plans.

And you are not alone
Laying in the light
Put out the fire in your head
And lay with me tonight."

- "You Are Not Alone," by Patty Griffin