He thought today would have been different. Not that he had a plan for tonight (even though he had replayed possible encounters with her in his head many...many times) but this defiantly wasn't how he imagined it.

He hadn't talked to her all day. Hell, he had barely even saw her. He remembered seeing her while he walked Breena's sister, her maid of honor, down the aisle. She was sitting in the front with the whole team. And God did she look beautiful. He did see her dancing with the boss, and he could have swore he had seen her over at the bar a few times. Other than that, it was like she had disappeared off the face of the Earth. That little ninja did have her way of wandering off, undetected.

He already had young women, drunk from their jealousy over Breena, throwing themselves at him. Most of them he talked with just sipped their drink every other second trying to convince him that they would have looked much better than the bride in a white gown walking down the aisle to the beat of "Here Comes the Bride." He didn't mind it at first. But after the fourth (or was it the fifth?) girl he danced with burst into tears on his rented tux, Tony had to get out the there.

He escaped out the back door to the dark, cool night. He didn't know why he hadn't noticed earlier, but the back of the church was a home to a small lake that held small lily flowers floating at the top. He made himself comfortable on the damp grass, not worrying about his tux even though he had told the crying woman otherwise.

"Tony?"

He turned around anxiously, very happy to hear her voice and relieved to finally see that face.

"Well where have you been?" He smiled, lighting up the night.

"Why? Have you been looking for me?" She smiled back, sitting down next to him not worried about her elegant dress just as he didn't care about his suit.

"Having fun?"

"I guess." She sighed.

"That's not very convincing." He laughed, which brought another flattering smile on her lips. He couldn't stop looking at her lips.

"I haven't danced with anyone that I wanted to dance with yet."

"You're telling me." Tony laughed. At least she wasn't sad about the wedding like every other girl back in the church. She wasn't jealous of Breena, but happy for her. He loved that about her. When he turned to face her he realized she was serious. "I saw you with Gibbs earlier."

"Yes. And I've had my turn with Jimmy and McGee. I even danced with Abby." Her eyes finally reached his.

"You haven't had your turn with me." He whispered, trying to ignore the fact that in his head, and probably hers, it almost sounded sexual. He had to let one smile slip. He couldn't help it.

"No, I haven't."

Tony got to his feet. He didn't even brush off the grass that covered his slacks before he held out his hand for her to take. And she noticed that when she slipped her fingers into his. Tony lifted her up and, still holding her hand, asked

"Ziva, can I have this dance?"

"You may. If I can have one thing." She teased.

"Anything." He responded. She squeezed his hand tighter and dragged him over towards the pond where all the lily flowers floated gently on the surface.

"I love lilies."

"Those lilies? The lilies that are floating in the middle of the water?"

"Yes. I loves those." She smiled big and Tony shrugged and headed for the water, still clutching her hand. She began to laugh and tried pulling away, no matter how much she didn't want to. "Not with me!"

Tony stopped at the edge of the water and let her get close to him. Not the close that usually happened in the office, closer than that. "You and me both know that if you didn't want to come in with me, you would still be standing safely away from the water."

She knew he had caught her. Because it was true, she would've been able to escape his grip easily. Too easily. But she didn't, and he knew. Without a word she slipped off her heels and slipped her feet in the pond. Tony followed because her hand was still guiding him.

The water was barely reaching their knees by the time the pair reached the first flower. Tony used his free and to reach down and grab it. The petals dipped down from the the weight of the water drops but the color of the lily still shinned, even in the dark. He pushed her hair back and set the flower gently behind her ear. He didn't know it was possible for her to look any more beautiful.

"Tony." She whispered.

"Ziva?"

"I don't want to dance anymore."

He didn't even have time to answer her. Her lips had already reached his by then. And he was glad he didn't plan this, because maybe things didn't always go according to plan.


As always, thanks for reading

-Sam