Disclaimer: I own nothing that has anything to do with NCIS or the characters, unless you count the DVDs. This is just for fun.

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I hope you enjoy this fic

Eventually Tony couldn't hold off on going home any longer, it wasn't fair on Miriam to expect her to stay there until he felt like coming home.

Now knowing how little time Ziva had left, Gibbs insisted that Tony come back the following weekend, and take him over to visit Ziva.

It had crushed Gibbs to see Ziva in that state, he still thought of her as the twenty-one year old Mossad agent who had killed her own brother to save him. It seemed like yesterday.

He had stayed at the DiNozzo family home until late in the evening, through most of his visit, Ziva was sleeping, she had stopped speaking several weeks earlier.

Present time

Miriam DiNozzo was one of those people who just took things in her stride, a rare trait in one so young. She sat on the couch near her mother, studying as her mother struggled for breath.

It wasn't that she was being cold, but this had been going on for three days, and she felt that holding her mother's hand was all she could really do.

Clare just sat beside Miriam, an arm wrapped around her in comfort.

Knowing that time was drawing close, that night Tony called his elder children, but neither could make it to DC, though they very much wanted to.

The day Ziva died, Tony, Miriam and Clare were there, they had been maintaining a vigil over Ziva for nearly a week, knowing that it wouldn't be long, but they had no idea how long she would hold on, it could be minutes or it could be days.

In the late afternoon, Tony could just tell that the girls needed a break, and he gently suggested, "How about you girls go check the letterbox, see if we have any mail."

Miriam and Clare knew what he was saying, and silently made their way outside.

While Miriam and Clare were outside, Tony leaned close to his wife, and lovingly running his hand through her hair, he whispered to her, "You can let go, Ziva. It's alright, you can let go."

Maybe Ziva heard him, because just minutes later Ziva's breathing worsened, it now only came in occasional gasps, it was horrible to watch.

They knew it would only be a matter of minutes now.

Clare was in tears, she had been close to her aunt, Tony couldn't allow Abby's daughter to witness Ziva's death. He left Ziva's side for a moment, and went to Clare. She stood as he reached her, hugging him. "It's time for you to go home, Clare. Please."

Clare just nodded shakily, but that was when the tears truly began to fall.

Tony couldn't leave the room, but Miriam did, she helped Clare outside, she only lived a few houses away, and she figured that she should be alright to walk home. Miriam was torn, she wanted to support her friend, but she wanted to be with her mother.

Ziva passed away just minutes after Clare left. And for some time after her death, the family was in shock, but they were also thinking of Clare, worrying as to whether she had gotten home alright. After making the funeral preparations, and notifying his other children, Tony called Abby, and gave her the news.

The memory of that day would haunt Clare for years, but she just had to replace her pain with all the wonderful memories she had of her aunt, of the time she had had with her.

Tony wasn't Jewish, but Ziva had been, and they had raised their children to believe in Judaism. And after Ziva's death Tony made certain that all Jewish customs for a death in the family were followed.

There was to be no autopsy, her cause of death was known, and there was no need to violate her body. Tony arranged for the funeral to be held the next day, to allow for Eli David to arrive from Israel, and Ben, Susanna and their families to arrive from New York.

The funeral was to be held graveside at the George Washington Cemetery, quite a long drive out of DC, but as a Jewish cemetery, the only choice. It was arranged to be held in the late afternoon.

Ben had been at class when he had received the call, his beloved mother had passed away, it had been all he could do not to cry out in the middle of the lecture. He had hurried out, and made his way straight over to Susie's apartment. It was time to be with family.

Susie was beside herself, as was young Mikey, Andrew did what he could to comfort them, but when his girlfriend's older brother arrived, Andrew stepped back, and gave the grieving family their space.

He called Ben's girlfriend, and let her know so that she could come be with her boyfriend, and then he booked them all on a flight to DC. He had no idea how he was going to pay the credit card bill, but that didn't matter.

The situation was much the same back at the DiNozzo residence in DC, friends had come around to show their support, but Tony only spoke to his daughter, comforting her in spite of his own heartache.

Even Abby and Clare stood back, respecting Tony and Miriam's need for space.

Eli David had been devastated when he arrived at Ronald Reagan Airport to the news that his daughter had passed before his arrival.

His flight had landed at five-thirty in the evening, just two hours after Ziva's death.

Susanna and Benjamin, along with their families arrived in DC just after seven o'clock.

They preceded without delay to the family home, where they joined their father and youngest sister in Aninut, the first stage of the traditional Jewish period of mourning.

The funeral was a sombre affair, as you would expect. Tony and the kids cried throughout the service, they didn't care about appearances, despite their knowledge that their wife and mother was dying, to have her actually be gone, they were heartbroken.

Tony couldn't bring himself to speak, but the kids did, they recited a Jewish prayer in Hebrew, before each giving a brief eulogy to honour their mother.

As the service drew to a close, once the coffin had been lowered into the ground, each mourner, starting with Tony and the kids went to the grave, and used a shovel to throw three shovelfuls of dirt onto the coffin.

Symbolically giving each mourner closure, seeing the grave being filled in.

After each person did so, they placed the shovel back on the ground, so as to avoid passing their grief onto the next person.

When Tony and the kids got home, Ben and Susie sat their father out on the deck with a bottle of whisky and a pack of cigarettes, a habit he'd given up when he joined NCIS, but he was heartbroken, and they weren't going to tell him what to do.

Ben, Susie and Miriam sat inside the house, observing Shiva, Ben and Susie's partners remained by their sides, comforting them, one of their family friends looked after Michael, making sure that he was alright. And though he was not Jewish, Tony also sat Shiva, in his own way.

Family and friends came around, people Ziva and the family had known within the Jewish community brought around food, sat with the family, though they didn't speak.

It was customary that while mourners were observing Shiva, conversation could only take place if the mourner initiated a conversation, and none of the children wanted to talk.

Abby and Clare were there, neither had truly stopped crying throughout the funeral service, and were still truly emotionally exhausted as they sat with Ben, Susie, and Miriam in silent comfort.

Ultimately Ziva had been suffering for years, and was in a better place, and that was what mattered, even if that meant everyone who had known her was grief stricken.

Time heals all wounds.

The End. Thank you for reading.