"Be nice," Kira told her.
An impish grin flashed across Elena's face. "I'm always nice to your strays."
"Would Tommy say the same if I were to ask him that?"
Elena scowled. "He doesn't count."
"Hmm."
Ziva reached them in the next second.
"Seon'yer," she repeated.
Auralyn slid Kira a look. "Interesting."
Kira ignored her, fixing Ziva with a hard look. "What in all my actions makes you think I'm yourseon'yer?"
Ziva stopped and blinked. She lifted a hand, pointing at Kira. "Mentor." Next, she pointed at herself. "Mentee."
Finn leaned over. "That is the basic definition of aseon'yer."
Kira shot him an accusatory look that said he was supposed to be on her side.
The corners of his eyes crinkled, but otherwise his expression didn't shift.
With no help coming from that quarter, Kira studied Ziva. The girl was a surprisingly difficult opponent. Like a certain other somebody Kira knew, she heard what she wanted and not necessarily what was being said.
Or else how would she have latched onto this ridiculous notion of Kira being herseon'yer.
"Joule, please talk some sense into your sister."
When all else failed, appeal to the people who knew Ziva best.
Joule's mouth opened and then shut. He looked from Ziva to Kira, the former's face determined, the latter's frustrated. Many thoughts raced across his face.
Finally, he gave Kira a hopeful expression. "Seon—"
Kira pointed at him, her expression sufficiently threatening to freeze the words on his tongue. "Don't even think it."
Maksym doubled over, his shoulders shaking as Zoella looked on with amusement. Even Auralyn seemed to find some humor in the situation, her lips twitching up the barest bit.
Kira focused on Ziva. "You're not old enough to have aseon'yer."
From Kira's understanding, one had to be past theiruhva nato gain that privilege.
"Then you'll be myseon'yerat that time?" Ziva asked, nothing in her demeanor making Kira think she had given up.
Kira hesitated with a denial on her tongue.
Ziva was still young. It would be decades before she advanced enough to join any House's selection process. By then, it was possible Kira would be long gone.
Once, she would have even said her leaving was inevitable. Things had changed since then. No one was more surprised than her when leaving Roake proved more difficult than she'd imagined. She felt like she'd left a piece of her behind.
It was an oddly unsettling feeling.
Yet, there it was.
There were things still to be discovered in Roake. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little curious about her uncle and the stories he could tell her about her father.
