A random idea that sprung both from the "Life Before his eyes" episode and the song "Memories of a girl I haven't met yet" by Celldweller (more the title than the song itself) . This centres around the scene in the episode Tony is interrogating Ziva. In this however, Gibbs is not a bitter alcoholic. That would be too sad

DISCLAIMER: I only own this story. I don't own NCIS or the song .

For some reason, goading her felt familiar. Not completely so , but it felt familiar.

"So let me see...Rika ….Riva…Tiva…."

"Ziva. Ziva David." The young, dirty and bedraggled woman hunched up on the chair in the interrogation room snaps.

"Ok then. Zee-vah. Are we gonna do this the easy way or the harder way?" Zee-vah. That had literally come out of nowhere. Or had it? For some reason, to Tony, saying that felt as natural as breathing. As though he'd been calling her that for a long, long time.

Except, he hadn't. He'd never met her. And yet….

The interrogation went back and forward, Ziva stubborn and yet , to Tony's eyes , endearingly brave as she refused to give answers. The only information she offered was deemed useless to the investigation, but it struck a chord with him.

Eventually, Tony decided to give up. This was getting nowhere, and the feeling of familiarity got to him in a way he couldn't identify. He ended the interrogation , and took the rest of the day off . All through that day , images of Ziva , both from how he met her and how he didn't swirl around his head.

…

About 4 years later, Tony DiNozzo hears in passing that Ziva David had died in Somalia , on some kind of mission. After that interrogation , he had never seen her again , and everything about her drifted back to his subconscious , hidden. She had nothing to do with his life. But on hearing that , he feels an enormous sense of grief. As though he had actually lost someone important.

Out of some kind of respect , he would have attended the funeral. But by the time he had heard of her passing , the funeral was over. It apparently was a sad and lonely funeral. Not even her father attended. Recalling the past , this doesn't surprise him.

"My father?"

"Yes , Your father. Daddy David , Director of Mossad."

"Hah." Her eyes darken, despite the fact this shouldn't be possible , given her eyes are dark anyway. "Eli David is the Director first. My father, second. Or more likely third. Is how it always is. He won't come here to save me , as you seem to think. "

So , Tony does the next best thing. He plants a tree in his garden.

On his day off , he takes Kelly , now 3 years old , to the garden store , and they eventually buy a small lemon tree. When they go back home , Kelly sits next to the other trees-one for Shannon , one for the "first" Kelly , one for Tony's mum and one for the ZNN reporter Dana Hutton and waits for Tony to dig the hole for the tree , so that she can help.

"Who is this one for , Daddy?"

" A lady called Ziva."

"Tiva?"

Tony chuckles "Zee-vah." he corrects, breaking down the name into that oddly familiar nickname.

"Did you know her?"

Tony has to think about this. "Kind of. I met her once. "

"Only once ? So, you aren't her friend."

"No ...But I might have been. In another life perhaps" He gets reflective.

Kelly pulls a face, indicating that she thinks that her daddy is being confusing. Tony laughs.

"I feel sorry for Ziva. You see, her mum died when she was young, like mine did. And her dad wasn't nice at all. So I feel sorry for her. "

"So she is like you, but her daddy isn't as good as you are. " Tony laughs at the little girl's compliment.

"Yeah. "

"Why lemon tree though? The first Kelly and her mummy are cherry trees and your mummy and Miss Dana is are both different colour rosy trees."

"Ziva is different to them. "

Kelly considered this.

"Can I write the letter on the tree? Or tie the ribbon? "

"Sure. Why don't you go get the ribbon from Mummy's drawer , and I'll just quickly plant the tree. "

Kelly was back within 5 minutes, carrying a dark gold ribbon , which made Tony wonder if their bedroom was a mess. Kate would be so annoyed. He put the thought aside for now.

"Almost finished now. " He made sure the tree was properly settled in the dirt, then beckoned his daughter over.

"Hold it carefully. Do you remember how to draw the letter 'Z'?" Kelly, who had been learning letters with kate , just nodded , a look of intense concentration on her young face.

Despite his initial qualms about letting Kelly use the penknife, under his careful supervision, she managed to carve the letter into the very thin trunk of the young tree. Then she managed to loosely tie the ribbon around it. Tony tightened the bow, and father and daughter stood up and stepped back to admire their work.

Over time, the 'Z' would be too small to see, and the ribbon would fall off. At that point, Tony would re-tie the ribbon onto a branch . But for now , the tribute was as plain as day.

An image of Ziva popped into his head. She was clean , tidy , wearing a long grey coat (for some reason , this registered in his mind as her favourite coat) over a pair of dark jeans and a white shirt. She was smiling.

"You planted a tree for me , huh?Who knew you had agricultural talents? This is too much , really. I didn't deserve it."

"Yes, you did. You deserved better than this. "And then he confesses the absurd truth. " And anyway, I want to remember you-I miss you. "

"Who are you talking to , Daddy?" Kelly asks, green eyes alight with curiosity.

"Nobody. " Tony shakes his head to get back to reality. "Why don't we go inside and have some ice-cream?"

"Ice-cream!" Kelly laughs and spins around as she rushes inside. Tony watches her for a moment , then turns back to Ziva's tree.

"I'm sorry." He whispers. Then , he follows his daughter back inside the house .

The whole Tony-planting-trees –as-a-tribute thing is weird , I know. But for some reason , I thought it fit him. I can't possibly tell you why though. Even I don't know. I also don't know much about gardening , so all flaws here are my fault.

Anyway , I hope you enjoyed this , please leave feedback ^^