Maybe it's a curse, maybe it's a blessing. Anthony Dinozzo Jr. couldn't decide which one as the butterflies filled the pit of his stomach while standing in the foreign store. Native language echoed through his ears, people all around him speaking in a language that he lacked in and it swelled his nerves even more.
He rocked on both of his feet, clucking his teeth together and straining his eyebrows while staring at the rack of flowers before him. Balancing a card and multiple items to make a scrumptious dinner in his arms, he grabbed a bouquet of red roses from the rack and wandered down the aisle.
Shit, I forgot the wine Tony pivoted and headed towards the back of the store, smiling at the women he passed in the aisle. Humming away in his head to Puccini, the tall Italian man grabbed the most expensive bottle of wine the store had to offer before turning down the next aisle. He was looking down at all the items in his hand when he looked up quickly, noticing a tall, dark man in front of him.
"'Scuse me," The Italian muttered going around the man before his heart broke in two to the sound that filled his ears next.
"Honey, what kind of-" the words stopped along with the figure who just stepped into the same aisle. "Tony…"
The world was spinning, knocking his lungs out. For a moment he wondered if this was all some terrible nightmare and he was back in the lab with the plague taking over his body, soul and mind.
"Tony…" The figure stepped closer to him, staring at him deeply, but he flinched away.
She knew his mind was racing. She always knew.
Tony's breath hitched and before he knew it, his legs were working before his brain and moving them away from this, from her and….him.
"Tony…I can explain!" She ran after him through the aisles, catching up to him and grabbing his arm to hold him back.
He snarled, "Explain what Zee-vah?" Her name rolled off his tongue and for a second she felt like she could throw up "Explain that I come to surprise you and here you are with fucking Adam?!"
Ziva looked off to the side, rubbing her arm nervously before she quietly spoke "I thought you would have moved on…"
"Clearly, we both thought differently." Tony bit back.
She blinked rapidly, fighting back the tears and looked at the items in his hands. "Those roses are beautiful." she quietly choked out.
"Yeah, I knew you would think so." Tony stated matter of factly before looking around the store, setting the items down. "I'll be on my way. You have a good life, Zi." He backed away from her slowly, holding his hands up in defeat.
"Tony," Ziva cried out, "Can we please talk?"
The dark haired man shook his head at her then turned around. She watched Anthony Dinozzo walk out of the store and out of her life. She stood there for a moment, not being able to breathe while tears streamed down her face.
"You alright?" Adam called from behind her.
"No, I do not think I ever will be." She whispered, watching out the door.
Adam came up to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulder "Come on, babe. Let's finish getting the rest we need for dinner." He grabbed her hand and pulled her away slowly from where she was standing.
An hour later, Ziva and Adam pulled up to her childhood home where she was still residing these past two years. She didn't want to be out in the open so, she had planned on staying here for a few more years because she wasn't ready to be anywhere else just yet.
Adam got out of the car and headed to the trunk to get the bags of groceries they had just bought. Ziva went to join him when something on the porch caught her eye. She diverted to the porch and gulped, realizing what it was.
On the porch lay the bouquet of red roses with an envelope. She crouched down slowly, one tear dripping down her cheek and opened the envelope.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah, sweetcheeks.
I know this time of year is always so hard for you because of Tali and there's no opera in Israel so, two tickets for Puccini concert in Lucca on December 26th. There's two plane tickets here also and a hotel room reserved.
Do what you want with them.
Tony.
The pain in her chest almost made her topple over onto the cold, hard ground. He had come to surprise her and take her to Puccini concert in Italy because he knew Thanksgiving and Hannukkah reminded her of baby sister, Tali. But she had been too stubborn, too reserved on the idea that he had found someone else while she was gone and tried to move on herself when she was in fact, completely wrong. He had waited for her and now, nothing could stop the waterfall down her face and the gripping of her hand to her chest while she fought to breathe.
If there was something that killed her, it wouldn't be a terrorist or agent plotting for revenge on her father. No, it would be a broken heart.