Happy Holidays! Here is a special one to celebrate the season and our beloved Tiva! We hope you enjoy!

Until next time…

Xoxoxo Ashley and Mavic.

-x-

Feather light, tingling, icy snow fell upon her fingertips as she held her hand into the dark of the night. The warmth of her burning heart melting the newly formed creations.

She wasn't expecting this, not when she had finally accepted the fact that she would never see snow again or even have that feeling of home, of America...of him, back again. It wasn't like she was giving herself pity, no. It was simply that she had heard from others that he had found someone else, something that she couldn't bring herself to do after those sultry summer nights, two years ago.

Continuing with her daily routine, she had made herself tea and settled in on the couch with a book, the TV in a low hum in the background. Rarely she would watch TV, debating why she even had the damn thing in her humble abode, but deep down she knew why she kept it... especially those lonely nights when she found herself watching Bond and dialing every number of his on her phone until she came to the last number, hanging up.

And this time, she had a really interesting book. Well, perhaps interesting for anyone who had spent a majority of their time studying American History to become a U.S. citizen. Filled with numerous events from the Civil War to World War II, she learned about the bravery of the country's finest men and women. She figured Tony would have called the book in her lap a "useless brick" and thrown in it the fireplace, replacing the weight on her lap with his head and a DVD set of MASH. She was almost done reading the last chapter when she heard a bang come from the front lawn of her childhood home.

Yes,

that childhood home.

Figuring it was one of her neighbors through the deep concentrates of the orchard or a delivery man, she kept on reading and hoped that whoever it was would simply carry on. Moments later, she heard what sounded like a drill from the same distance. Her ninja instincts kicking in, she hurriedly reached under the coffee table in front of her, unstrapping the gun that was kept underneath. Making sure it was loaded, she tiptoed in a mannerly fashion towards the front door, lining herself up along the wall. Another noise. And another. This time, the sound traveling through her house, a mix of a swoosh and firework explosion. Her heart pounded heavily through her chest, an uneasiness taking over her stomach when she realized how long it had been since she had to defend herself in an unexpected moment. It wasn't since everything with Bodnar went down and she had escaped to Israel, taking on the men that avenged her for his death that she had fought someone, let alone been fully capable to take someone on. Two years had gone by and she barely did any exercise besides yoga, or even sharpened her knives. Accepting that she had to make a change, leave the dangerous life and she finally did, getting used to helping out at the local elementary school and finding peace with everything.

Until now.

Glancing out the window of her front door, a blurry vision clouded her eyes, something lit up to the fullest extent on her front lawn. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but someone was definitely out there, so she lifted her arm up, getting her gun in check and slowly opened the door. In a flash, she had her gun aimed and pointed, ready for whatever embarked on her lawn at this time of night in the quiet, orange orchard of Tel Aviv.

Her gun was the first thing visible when the door creaked open and he swore his ninja almost leaped out the cozy, light pink pajamas she was settled in (he'd have to comment on those later) when she laid eyes on him. As always, the gun was pointed in his direction, the shakiness of her arms not going unnoticed and he flashed the warmest smirk he could give to her without breaking down. She was finally within inches of him, again.

"What have you been doing all this time, out here?" She cocked her head in a confused manner at him, peering intensely at the white flakes falling from above, onto his head.

"Well, Zee-vah..." Her name longed on his tongue, her stomach doing cart wheels to hear him say it again, "This here is called snow. It's a type of weather that places other than the desert get-"

"Tony." She interrupted him, glaring when she realized he was going to go into a whole discussion about what snow is. "Why are you here?"

"You know, you'd think I would get tired of hearing that question after the tenth time." He chuckled, walking up to the wooden stairs of where she stood, still staring at him. In his hand was a suitcase and he placed it gently on the stairs, unzipping the front compartment. Taking out a hat and gloves, he handed them to her and smirked, "Wouldn't want you catching a sniffle in this weather."

She took them, her fingers lingering on his skin for a moment and eyed him in an uneasy fashion. "I do not understand,"

"Understand what? It's sno-" Tony started to say in an annoyed tone, throwing his hands up in defeat.

"Tony, I see that." She held up her hand, heaving out a deep sigh that she didn't know she was holding in her. The snow melted instantly as it hit her warm, soft, tan skin and she tried to hide the smile that appeared on her face for the first time in what seemed like forever. Hundreds of flakes floated down around her, the machine milking them out in seconds. "It is the holidays, Tony…"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." He bent over again, pulling out a small, wrapped package from the same bag. "Happy Hanukkah."

Before she took the present from him, she wanted the answer to the elephant in the room…well, the elephant outside. Her brown orbs stared into his hazel eyes, deeply while she waited for the truth to come out. "I thought you had someone back home."

The smile on his face dropped immediately when he processed the words that came out of her mouth. She knew. "Wh- who told you?"

Ziva sighed, her arms folding tightly around her chest in a defensive stance. "Does it matter? Why can you not answer the question?"

"Because-" Tony rocked back and forth on his heels, his hand covering his eyes and continued down his face. Something he did whenever he felt uncomfortable. "Because it's not the same thing as…" He let out a groan, shoving his hands into his pockets while keeping the steady, rocking rhythm on his heels and pulled his hands back out into the open. "As- it's not the same as this." He pointed in between them, his face flushed from being flustered.

"Oh," That was all Ziva could mutter out, her arms tightening in the small space they had left against her breasts.

Tony shook his head, "It was casual- it…it really wasn't that big of deal." He was mumbling now and Ziva stayed silent, watching him become more flustered by the second. "There was no pah! There wasn't any fireworks!" He was pacing around her newly snow covered yard, hands shoved back in his pockets and she could see his fingers moving around through the fabric of his jeans.

His pants had ants. No – that was not it. She stifled the giggle that escaped her throat and continued to watch him.

"She didn't zig when I zagged. She didn't appreciate the movies… hell, the arts, Zee. The fucking arts!" He held his hands and brushed them over his face. "God, Ziva. She wasn't you."

"Ohh," She was in shock now, the word slipping through her tongue a bit longer than before.

"OH? That's all you can say?" Tony was stressed now, something that always happened when he was trying to admit something to Ziva.

"I am sorry… she was not me?" She shrugged, still hugging herself.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry too." He walked closer to her, breaking the space between them, so he was inches away. "I've missed you so much, Zee." He brushed the hair that lay above her brow, behind her ear. "So fucking much." His fingertips brushed down her cheek, continuing down to the curve of her neck to hold her in place. Their eyes connected, her body quivering under his touch.

"Do not…. I cannot-"The tears formed at the corner of her eyes, "I cannot say goodbye again, Tony." Her voice was serious, lacking the cordiality it had minutes before.

"I'm not going to say goodbye again. I won't do that and I can't do that. Not again. No one is ever going to be good enough, Ziva. Why don't you get that!? No other woman can make me crazy, can make me lose my fucking mind… Christ, Ziva. I fucking lost it when I left you here and I tried to make it, tried to move on and think that maybe we had been through too much for there to be a forever, but nope. Tried. Couldn't. You're stuck with me now." His thumb brushed repeatedly against the crook of her neck, tears slipping from his eyes, mirroring hers.

"Tony… I…you know, I cannot have a happy ending." She turned her head to look away, his palm pressing against her neck to look back at him.

"Funny, years ago you told me that you didn't believe in them and now you're telling me you cannot have them? That's bullshit, Ziva and you know it." She could feel the anger rise in him through his tone.

"I-"She blinked rapidly, trying to speak, but was interrupted by him.

"Stop trying to act like we can't happen. We happened when Gibbs went to Mexico, we happened in Paris and you know damn well we happened in Berlin. Fuck, we happened here… a couple times! Right there on that couch, on that bed…" He pointed in through the house at the direction of the items he was referring to.

"Tony." She warned, trying to move away from him because this was becoming too much to handle and she wasn't expecting this…at least not right now.

"We happened, Ziva. If there was a way I could fight it, I would. But I fucking can't. I want this." His fingers smoothed down her neck and back up to hold her in place again at the crook. "I want us. I want little ninjas. God, Ziva. Give us a try, please."

She cried out, blinking away the tears that pumped out and down her cheeks. "I want to, I do. It's just…" She wiped at her nose, running from the emotions that engulfed her body.

"Just what?" He asked.

"I just cannot stop picturing you with someone else." She sobbed against him, her body trembling.

"Oh, Zee." He pleaded, cupping her face with both of his hands now. "I love you. Okay? I do. I love you and I'll tell you that every second of the day for the rest of my life if I have to," He smiled, eyes wet, trying to comfort her and stop the trembling. "She didn't mean anything, never even compared to how I feel about you. No one ever has, I'm serious. You're the best thing that ever happened to me. Do you think I would have traveled five thousand miles with a fucking snow maker for just anyone?" She giggled, closing her eyes and taking in the feel of him close. "If you want snow, I'll make snow. If you want zillions of dollars, I'll rob a bank. I'll never stop trying, Ziva."

"I know," She glanced up at him, looking back down to his lips and back up to him. He leaned in slowly, smiling before he locked their lips, gently. He pressed his against her, tighter and moved in a slow pace that she set, not wanting to rush her into anything too quickly. Their lips moved in a slow unison for a moment, remembering the feeling of each other before diving into each other's mouths with their tongues. Her tongue caressed his bottom lip, entangling with his own tongue and he chuckled, remembering how inpatient his ninja could get. His hands found their way into her soft, brown curls and tugged gently, receiving a low moan that went straight to his manhood.

"Not yet, DiNozzo." Ziva warned with a flirtatious look on her face when she pulled away, wrapping her arms around his neck for another passionate kiss that he was already starting.

"Can't blame me for missing this." He admitted, grabbing her hips and pulling her closer to him, so she was flush against his body. Each time she tried to pull away to giggle or admire him, he'd crash his lips right back onto hers. "No more being separated." He whined in between kisses.

The snowflakes were settling in against Ziva's hair, their designs glistening in the Israel moonlight above them. Tony swept his fingertips through her cascade of curls, brushing away the replica weather.

"Let us go inside… it is getting rather chilly, yes?" She pulled away, questioning as her arms were still linked around his neck.