You are still my favorite chapter that I keep on rereading night after night till my eyes are red with tears and my heart hurts from the memories of your lost touch.

~Cynthia Go

*****

With the hotel clerk's help, Tony printed out a map. The clerk offered him a highlighter to circle the destination, and Tony just looked at him like he was crazy until the younger man backed away.

He returned upstairs, entering quietly because Tali was still asleep.

He set the map on the table and stared at it for a moment. He had called Shmiel on a whim and asked for the location of the cemetery, but now he wasn't sure if he was going to follow through with it.

He didn't want to remember her like that.

He didn't want to make it all seem final.

But on the other hand... he wanted to say goodbye. A kiss on a tarmac wasn't a goodbye. A news clip wasn't a goodbye. A letter wasn't a goodbye. She'd been saying goodbye all this time, trying to distance herself from him before her world exploded everywhere, but he kept hanging on.

He never got to say goodbye.

That almost stung more than the weight of all her secrets.

"Tali, time to wake up," he heard himself saying.

She stirred, rubbing sleepily at her eyes.

"Do you want to go visit Ima?" he asked.

"Ima?" She perked up immediately, and Tony was nearly overwhelmed with guilt for what he was about to do.

He nodded, fingering the edge of the map.

She looked down, carefully peeling Ziva's necklace from her skin so she could look at it. "Ima."

Tony nodded again, words failing him.

Tali slid off the bed and reached up for his hand. She smiled at him in her trusting way, and he felt his insides settle.

It would be okay.

***

The cemetery ended up being only a short ways away, probably within easy walking distance if Tony hadn't been bringing Tali along with him.

The grounds were seemingly endless, a large plot of land with rows upon rows of headstones, broken up only occasionally by a walkway.

Tony found himself holding his breath as he started down the path on the right (per Shmiel's instructions). All the Internet reading in the world couldn't have prepared him for this moment. He was terrified of making a mistake.

Thankfully, Tali seemed to sense the gravity of the situation and remained quiet in his arms.

After walking for what felt like hours (but in reality was only about three minutes), they reached a relatively fresh patch of dirt.

"This is it," Tony muttered. His eyes wandered to the graves further along the row, and his heart sunk with each name he read.

Eli David.

Ari Haswari.

Talia David.

Rivka David.

The David family, reunited at last.

Eventually his focus shifted back to the unmarked grave before him, but his vision blurred with tears.

It wasn't fair.

She deserved so much more than she got.

It just wasn't fair.

Tali squirmed to get free unexpectedly, and he nearly dropped her.

"If I put you down, you have to stay right here," he told her, and she nodded obediently. He kept a firm grip on her hand as he set her down, though, just to be sure.

It was apparently the right choice, because the moment her feet hit the ground, Tali was trying to pull away.

"We have to stay right here," he said, crouching and gently reeling her back in.

"Ima."

"Yes." The word caught in his throat. "Yes. Ima is... Ima's right there."

She tilted her head to the side, and he wasn't sure if she got it or not.

"Ima died, sweet pea. This is where people go when they die."

She pointed to the grave.

"Right. That's where Ima is. Well... kind of. Ima is there, but she is also there" -he pointed up to the sky- "and in here." He pointed to his heart, and then hers. 

Tali's little hand moved to her heart. "Ima."

"Mmhm. Ima will always be with us in our hearts, okay? You just gotta keep thinking about her, and she'll never leave you."

She suddenly rushed at him in a bear-hug (or what would've been a bear-hug if she were big enough for her arms to reach around him).

"I love you, Tali," he murmured, returning the hug.

She mumbled something back, but it was muffled by his jacket.

He smiled anyway. It's the thought that counts.

*****

Okay, this is another short update, but I don't know, I wasn't feeling another scene today.

Anyway... Perhaps a longer update Friday, but no guarantees because my dad and brother are coming up to visit me this weekend and I intend to get off campus for a while.

If you're enjoying the story, be sure to vote and comment...