Love Lock

Inspired by this picture : /2012/04/08/paris-et-ses-ponts-amoureux/paris-cadenas-2011-du-pont-des-arts/

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Blah Blah Blah...

"Tony, where are you taking me? We are going to miss our flight if we do not leave for the airport now."

"There's something I wanna do. It'll only take a minute."

Ziva rolled her eyes and let him drag her along, her fingers intertwined with his. They walked like that along the Seine for a few more minutes before Tony stopped abruptly in front of a small steel bridge, causing Ziva to bump into him.

"Ahhh! Here it is! Le Pont des Arts!" Tony declared in an almost impeccable French. He turned his head towards an obviously very skeptical Ziva but the huge grin plastered on his face made it impossible for her to resist smiling too. Squinting at him, Ziva couldn't help but comment.

"Okay, it is a bridge. Like there are many others in this city. So, out of all the places we could have gone to one last time before leaving, may I know why you absolutely wanted to come see a bridge?"

"Enough with the sarcastic comments, Miss Forever-Unimpressed." Tony said, looking at her in fake annoyance. "You'll understand in a minute. C'mon."

Ziva let out a laugh as he pulled on her arm, forcing her to follow his lead as they started to walk on the bridge. After a few steps over the river, Tony stopped and pointed at the railing of the bridge.

"Look."

At first, Ziva couldn't see anything because of the blinding light of the sunset on the water, but as her eyes slowly adjusted to it, she started to distinguish the dozens of small metallic objects attached to the steel parapet of the bridge.

"Are those….. padlocks?" she asked, confused.

"Yes." he answered simply. "Love Locks as they're called. People affix them to the railing to symbolize their everlasting love. Then, they throw the key away in the river. You know, so that their love would last… well… forever." He shrugged, not sure about Ziva's reaction to his sudden outburst of romanticism.

Ziva found herself speechless. She knew Tony was a romantic at heart, but she still wasn't used to him being so open about it sometimes. She stood silent for a moment, taking in what he had just explained to her, letting the significance of their presence on that bridge sink in, slowly understanding why this was the place he had insisted on visiting last. She suddenly felt so overwhelmed by love that her heart started beating faster in her chest and she was left a little breathless.

"Tony…", she started, "this is…" She struggled to find the right words.

"Too much?" Tony finished for her, uncertain.

Ziva turned on her heels to stand right in front of him, so close that she could feel the nervousity emanating from him. She moved her free hand to grab his other one and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I was going to say that it is beautiful." she whispered, her eyes fixated on his.

Releasing a breath he didn't even know he had been holding, Tony bowed his head down in a poor attempt at hiding a shy smile and the hint of a blush on his cheeks, Ziva took another step closer so that she could rest her forehead against his.

"It's too bad that we do not have a padlock though." she said, knowing perfectly well that he wouldn't have brought her here without taking one with him.

As expected, Tony let go of one of her hands to reach down the side pocket of his jeans. A second later, he presented his open palm in front of her. In the middle of it laid a small padlock and an even smaller key.

"All you had to do was ask." he said with a smile that shone as brightly as the reflection of the setting sun on the water below them.

Ziva picked the small iron object from Tony's hand and started towards the railing. Having found a free spot, she crouched in front of it and hooked the lock to the grid. She looked at it for a second, not even bothering to try and stop the biggest smile from appearing on her lips. She raised again to stand in front of Tony who was holding out the tiny key to her. She shook her head.

"No. You do it."

Tony moved towards the edge of the bridge and Ziva joined him, putting her arms around his torso, trapping him in a strong embrace, and she buried her face in the crook of his neck. Tony rested one of his arms around her waist, holding her even closer to him and in a swift movement of his other arm, threw the padlock key away in the Seine. He felt Ziva sigh against his skin and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

"You do realize that you've just literally locked yourself to me for the rest of your life, right?" he asked, his lips in her hair.

"Forever." she corrected, closing her eyes, breathing him in.

The Pont des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which is situated near the Louvre. In May 2010, the Paris Town Council expressed concern over the growing number of love-locks on the Pont des Arts and the Pont de l'Archevêché (also in Paris), stating that they were a danger for the architectural heritage of the city. Some time later, most of the padlocks started disappearing mysteriously but the Town Council denied having anything to do with it. Yet, lovers continue to come and hook Love Locks on the railings of the Pont des Arts and Pont de l'Archevêché today.