The words fell out of her mouth before she had even considered telling him. The panic rose before she had even finished saying it. The dread set on her before she even realised what she had just done. The kiss happened before she even knew it. And her life completed itself before it was even over.
He was surprised if he was honest. He was surprised at what she was telling him. He was surprised that this was her stood in front of him. But what surprised him most was that, when he kissed her, she didn't pull back or even hesitate.
Her head was spinning. All the things she thought of him; all the things she had been thinking about him…for weeks now, all came rushing back to her the minute his lips touched hers, then, nothing. All she could think about was the hand at her waist, the soft lips on hers, the smell of him surrounding her. When he pulled away and spoke, it took her a while to realise what he was saying and even longer to reply.
"Wow" was all he could manage. There simply were no other words to describe what had just played out. His mind was left blank except for what was in front of him right now; the most beautiful brown eyes gazing back at him, that belonged to his ninja.
"Wow" she replied eventually.
Both of them stood there, silently, drinking in the beauty of the moment.
After a while Tony said "So… you really mean what you said?"
"I wouldn't have said them if I didn't mean them. I have been thinking about you… us… for some time now and –"
"And you're only just telling me now?"
"I had to be sure. I had to be sure that what I was feeling was true. I didn't want to rush into it and then realise later on, that those feelings were false. I didn't want to hurt you. And I had to make sure I was ready for this. But now… now I know that I am ready. I'm ready for us"
"I'm ready for us too" he replied with a smile. His smile dropped, however, as a sudden realisation hit him.
"But what will we tell Gibbs? What about Rule 12?"
"We won't tell anyone. Not yet anyway" Ziva replied with traces of concern on her face.
"But he always knows. And if he knows…" he trailed off, panic rising in him. Sensing the panic, she reached up on her tip toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek, just as she had done only a few years before. He seemed to calm down a little at her touch.
"When we need to deal with it, we will… But for now we need to go home and get some rest, so we can solve this case and relax"