A/N: Here's a bit of Tiva fluff for the end of the year. Very short, I know, but I felt concise today. Read and enjoy, and don't forget to review!
~Star
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It was not love at first sight. Nor was it love a second sight, or fourth sight, or thirteenth or twenty-fifth or forty-seventh sight. It wasn't even love and one hundred fifty-sixth sight. No, it took Anthony DiNozzo years to figure out that he was in love.
At first it was just fun. They joked, they teased, they flirted. She was exotic, passionate, beautiful, exactly the type he went for. Back in his party days, that is. He wouldn't have minded sleeping with her, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't have minded either. Very sure, in fact. It wouldn't have really impacted their relationship.
But somewhere along the way, something changed.
Maybe she changed, maybe he did. More likely, it was both of them. Years passed, they both got older, and their relationship grew. No longer were they just friends, nor were they potential lovers. Now they were partners.
Everyone knows you can't sleep with your partner. Rule twelve: never date a coworker. This went beyond that.
He didn't want to sleep with her anymore. Well, okay, so maybe that wasn't the whole truth. The whole truth was he didn't only want to sleep with her anymore. Now he wanted more. Much more.
And the truth was that she was exactly the type he went for. Before it had been because of her somewhat loose ways, her wild hair, her tight clothing. Now, though, it was because of her personality, her very being, that made her his match.
A look of quiet contentment entered his face, and he glanced across at the sleeping figure in his bed. He stood up from his chair and crossed the room, gently lowering his form to rest beside her on the bed. He stroked the dark hair out of her eyes, and whispered softly "I love you."
A smile slid across her face, and Ziva opened her eyes. "I know."