Here's my tag to Past, Present & Future and my way to find closure in all of this.
I have another version of this story in my mind as well & might write it down some day.
I hope it lifts your mood as well, because that was my intention!
It's been almost six months since he had left her behind at the airport. Once again.
But in the end he always came to the conclusion that time didn't matter, it had simply been too long since he has seen her for the last time and her empty desk was only one of the many painful reminders of her physical absence.
The team still couldn't bring themselves to find a replacement for her.
Of course Gibbs had the order to choose a new team member, but after the first three candidates he had angrily thrown the rest of the files at Vance's desk and said they would manage their jobs just fine with one member down.
The truth however was, that since Tony returned from Israel, alone, they all somehow lost part of their motivation and even Gibbs had to admit it to himself.
Most of the time they were silently solving their cases and doing their job. Ziva was barely mentioned, but the looks they gave each other told them much more than words could.
They were missing her.
And ever since he had returned to his desk after they had been returned their badges he couldn't help but thinking about her.
Ever so often he got lost in his thoughts and couldn't help the images of her that came up over and over again.
He could still see her sitting behind the desk in front of him, could see her smile and hear her small laughs.
It was what got him by, what distracted him from the painful truth, even if it was only for a moment.
Sometimes, when no one was around, he caught himself talking to her. Quietly, and always with a smile on his face.
In those moments he could hear her voice as clear as the day and it was when he still felt her presence.
Today was one of those days, it had been a slow Friday so far with no new leads on their current case.
Gibbs and McGee were currently down in Abby's lab to see if she got something and he had remained behind his desk to check out some of the video surveillance material.
Once he was done looking through the videos, without finding any kind of evidence he leant back in his chair and his gaze stopped at the empty desk once more.
Knowing that Gibbs and McGee would be gone for a while he started speaking up.
"You know Ziva, you are missing here. Even Gibbs isn't the same anymore, not that he would admit it though, I mean he's the boss man after all. Tony laughed quietly at this, knowing she wouldn't be able to hide her smirk now.
"No, but really, how can we do our jobs without our crazy Israeli ninja on our side? Remember when we said we had each other's backs?" He let out a heave sigh and by now his voice came out in barely above a whisper.
"When I first saw you I would have never thought it was possible. I mean the way you walked into the bullpen, a tough Mossad agent, head scarf and all…remember what you said to me?" At this memory he let out another quiet laugh.
"I asked you if you were having phone sex." Tony jerked out of his thoughts and almost fell off his chair when he heard her voice.
He was sure he had been hearing things but when he turned his head towards the elevators he saw her standing there, the familiar smile ever so evident on her lips.
"Ziva." He whispered, afraid if he spoke too loud she would disappear again.
"I see you still have the habit of talking to yourself, Tony." Her smile was radiant and her voice was still laced with the accent he had missed so dearly.
"Ziva…what, why…omg, Ziva." He stuttered as he stumbled forwards to wrap his arms around her, not willing to ever let her go again.
Ziva on the other hand wrapped her arms around him just as tightly and contently inhaled the familiar scent of him.
"Couldn't live without you I guess." She quietly whispered into his ear and those simple words brought yet another smile onto his lips.
After another moment he slightly pulled back to look into her eyes before asking her the most important question.
"You are staying?" He dared to ask, afraid that his dream would crumble if she said no.
"Yes, permanently." She smiled and when her eyes lit up with happiness he pulled her into yet another embrace and kissed her ever so softly.
When their lips parted he finally felt at ease again, he felt like his life was finally complete with her being back again.
He gently rested his forehead against hers like they had done all those months ago.
It had been a painful long time since they had last seen each other but all of this didn't matter anymore.
They were here now. She was here now. And together they had a future ahead, of that he was sure.