All roads lead to Paris

Part 5

The next few days Tony managed to handle this situation. Every morning he drove Tali to school and afterwards to the hospital. He showed Ziva some pics like the doctor recommended and she started to remember little things. After school he picked Tali up and spend the rest of the day with her. Everything was going fine. But Tony struggled with hiding that secret from his daughter, but he did not have the feeling that it was the right time to tell her yet. Tali as genius as the little girl is did recognize that her dad hid something from her. One day the secret could no longer be a secret. Tony and Tali were eating breakfast at a normal Monday morning. "So, princess... What do you want for lunch? We have toast or bread or your favorite little croissant." "Maybe one of the croissants and a half sandwich?" "Ok. All you are asking for, princess." Tony went to the kitchen to make her her sandwich. His phone lay at the couch table and Tali was sitting in front of it watching her favorite TV show. Then the phone vibrated. Tali looked at it. There was a massage from an unknown number saying: "When are you going to be here. I'm hungry!".

Tali was confused because she did not know that her dad would meet someone this day. "Dad??" She put her breakfast aside, grabbed the phone and walked to Tony to the kitchen. "Did you call my name?" "Yes, there is a message for you." She gave the phone to him and he checked the message immediately. He smiled while writing a message back. "Thanks, Tals." "Who was this message from?" Tony answered while he continued making lunch. "It's just a friend." Tali did not believe him. "Which friend? Do I know her or him?" Tony looked at her. She seemed worried and confused which was clear cause of this situation. Tony thought about it and tried to find the right words. "Tali, if you want to know it, I tell you, but it will take way too long to tell you this." "No just tell me. You are hiding something, and I want to know!" Tony could not believe how a little girl could be this stubborn, but he knew he had to tell her now otherwise she would not stop asking about it. Tony put everything down walked to Tali and went to the couch with her. He sat down and Tali sat on his leap. "Tell me Aba... I want to know." "Ok... So, I met her a few weeks ago. She got in an accident and is in the hospital since." "Oh... Is she alright?" "Eh yeah she gets better every day." "That's good. What is her name do I know her?" Tonys heart stopped by the sound of the last few words. He looked deeply at his daughter. She looked back at him with questioning eyes. "Can you promise me that you won't be mad at me for not telling you this earlier?" "I promise. But I cannot promise to not break this promise." Tony took a deep breath before continuing talking. "First of all, yes you know her... very well. It's... It's Ziva." Tali seemed very shocked by this fact but started questioning again. "Can I see her?" "What? Is that your only question?" "Yeah." "Hold on. You don't question the fact that she was dead and now is alive?" "No..." Tali grabbed the necklace that she was wearing and hold it out to her father. "I knew it. The necklace told me so. Every time I wore it, I had the feeling that Ima is around me like she took care of me from a far or something."

Tony was impressed of her answer, he definitely didn't expect this. "Why didn't you tell me that you had this kind a feeling?" "I thought you would think I'm crazy." Tony grinned and Tali giggled. "I always thought that you think I'm crazy." Tali laughed and hugged Tony. "So, when can I see her?" "Not now Tali." "Why? I want to see her." "It's a bit difficult..." Tali was confused. "Why is it difficult? We can just get in the car and drive to her... what's the problem?" Tony sighed. "The problem is that she can't remember anything. She didn't even recognize me." "What? You said she is alright." "Yeah she is alright but that. She lost her memory during the car accident and did not get it back since. We have to wait and see if it's getting better." Tali started worrying again and got sad immediately. "Will she get better?" "I hope so. There are doctors who are helping her to recover and I will not leave her alone till she has recovered completely." Tali could not hold her tears back so she started crying. Tony did not know what to do. "Come here." He opened his arms, so Tali could hug him again. She got on his leap and hugged him which soothed her a bit. Then there was silence. Tony could feel her holding back her tears and hugged her tighter.

After five long minutes hugging each other Tali got up slowly and looked at her dad. "I have to go to school now." "Yeah I know. So, get your things together and then we go." Tali nodded and went to her room to gather her things. After he dropped Tali at school Tony drove to the hospital to check on ZIva. As he arrived, he saw a police officer inside her room. Tony went in. "Morning officer! What's the problem?" "There is no problem sir. We are just giving Miss David her things back." "So, the case is closed?" "Yes. The driver of the other car had medical issues. Miss David had no fault." Tony was relieved that the case was finally closed because he knew it made Ziva anxious not to know what happened. He looked at her, she was searching for something in the box with her stuff. "You lost something?" "No... I mean I don't know. I had some jewelry I think and it's not in here." "What kind of jewelry Miss? Maybe it's at the police department." "A necklace with..." Tony interrupted her. "With the star of David." Ziva looked surprised by Tony's answer. "Yeah, how did you know?" "It's not at the department, it's at my place." "What? Why?" "You gave me it after I visited you in Israel some years ago." "Did I? I can't remember." "Yeah I can give it to you tomorrow." "Thanks."
Tony did not realize that it will be difficult to get the necklace away from Tali. He just wanted her to be happy again and he thought the necklace would be helpful to be with her again. Ziva put the box down and sat on her bed again. The police officer left the room and Tony sat on his seat next to her. They looked at each other not knowing what to say. Tony just wanted to start talking as Tony's phone rang. He took out his phone and saw Mcgee's number on it.
"I'm sorry I have to take the call; it's an old friend and he gets upset if I ignore him any longer." He went outside the room and took the call. "Hey Mcgoo. Why are you calling." "Tony, I tried to call you for FOUR days! Did you ignore me?" "Sorry Mcworried, I was busy and had to deal with way more important things." "What? Uh... What do you have to deal with?" "That's complicated Tim I don't wanna talk about it, not yet." "Call if you need someone to talk about this." "Yeah, I will do thanks. But why are you trying to call me?" "I don't think you want to hear it..." "Tell me." "OK... You know that Ellie is obsessed with finding out the things that happened to Ziva, don't you?" Tony sighed. He knew where this was going. "Yeah, I know. What did she find?" Mcgee waited for a moment, before answering: "She found proofs that Ziva is still alive Tony." "And?" Mcgee was confused of his answer. "Hold on... You don't have any questions? Did you know that Ziva is still alive?" Tony did not know what to do. The best thing in this moment would be to tell the truth. To tell Mcgee about what happened the last few weeks. But Tony decided to ignore his questions for now. "Sorry Mcgee I have to go. Tali is waiting for me, you know? I would be in trouble if I will let her wait." "But Tony I-"Mcgee could not finish his sentence because Tony cut him off. He said to himself: 'I will call you later' and went back in the room.