Declaimer: NCIS (tv series) doesn't belong to me.

Warning: this story contains a romance between two female characters. If this offends you and/or you don't agree with it, please click the "back" button on your web browser now.

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Abby's Special Tattoo

----Ziva's POV----

It was early morning in Washington D.C. The sun hadn't yet crested the horizon, so there was no light shining through the curtains of the Sciuto apartment, but there was enough light to make your way around the room. For a certain Mossad officer's eyes, it didn't matter. Due to the nature of her job, Ziva had become quite adept at seeing in the dark. She could easily make out every detail in the room from Abby's coffin to the discarded clothes on the floor.

At the moment, the young woman was taking in the site which lay right next to her on the bed. It was the naked form of Abby Sciuto, the brilliant forensic specialist, and one of the best friends, and lovers, that she's ever had. Abby was currently lying on her stomach with her head resting on the pillow facing her. Unlike when she was at work and all hyper from the dangerous amount of caffeine she consumes, her face was calm…peaceful…at rest. Ziva was taking in all of Abby's beauty; something she enjoyed doing often…as long as she was never caught doing it at work. That probably wouldn't sit well with Gibbs.

Looking over Abby's naked form, Ziva was able to see most of her tattoos. All of which could be described as "gothic in nature." All but one that is. There was one small tattoo on Abby's left thigh that was different then the rest. Although this tattoo was black like the others, its elegant design didn't match the rest. The design was hard to describe. Ziva had never actually seen a design like it.

As Ziva continued to wonder about the tattoo, she also wondered why it was 'K'. That's all it was. Ziva had an idea of what it could possibly stand for, but she wasn't one hundred percent sure. She reached over and delicately touched the tattoo, running her finger lightly over Abby's pale skin as she continued to ponder about the tattoo.

Although Ziva's touch was gentle, it had an effect of the taller woman, who slowly started to wake from her slumber. Ziva was so lost in her own world that she didn't notice how her touch was affecting her bedmate. Abby's eyes fluttered open, unbeknownst to the smaller Israeli woman.

----Abby's POV----

After blinking the sleep from her eyes, Abby looked over at Ziva. She noticed the concentration on her lovers' face, so she followed Ziva's eyes and discovered what was holding the other woman's attention. She also realized that Ziva's finger was tracing over her skin. She realized that it was one of her tattoos; her 'K'. Why Ziva's attention focused on this particular tattoo of hers confused Abby. She brought her attention back up to Ziva's face, and couldn't help but let a smile grace her face. The concentration on Ziva's face made her look very cute, a word not often used to describe Ziva.

After staring at Ziva for a few moments more, Abby decided to make her awakened self known to her lover.

"What are you doing?" Abby ask calmly. She was of course going to have a little fun with it. A simple "good morning" just wouldn't have done it for her.

Ziva's head immediately snapped up to stare at Abby. Her face first showed surprise and then, after registering Abby's question, changed to the expression of guilt, like when you were little and you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar, or ,in Ziva's case, the gun cabinet. Ziva's mouth opened like she was going to say something, but then she closed it. She then looked down at the bed and said, "Sorry" softly.

Feeling a small pang of guilt, Abby reached over to Ziva's chin and gently lifted her face so they were looking at one another. She gave her a small smile showing that she wasn't mad, just curious. After a few moments Ziva returned the smile. She also resumed her tracing of Abby's tattoo.

After a few minutes had passed, Ziva broke the silence around them by asking, "Why is this one…different than the rest?"

Abby propped her elbow up and laid her head in her hand before saying, "You mean why is it not as "gothic" as the rest? Or do you mean why is it just a letter instead of a picture of something like my cross?"

"Both." Ziva answered quietly. She had by this time stopped her tracing of the tattoo, and her attention was completely focused on her girlfriend.

----Ziva's POV----

It was quiet in the room for a number of minutes as Abby seemed to be lost in thought. Ziva waited patiently. She was about to say she was sorry for bringing it up when she heard Abby whisper, "Kate." It was in such a low voice that Ziva's sharp ears almost didn't hear it. Abby was still lost in thought, so Ziva figured that she didn't realize she said anything.

"Kate." Ziva said softly. Abby was brought out of her ponderings, and she stared at Ziva with a hint of surprise and confusion on her face. Ziva continued, "That is what the tattoo stands for yes? A 'K' for Kate."

Abby slowly nodded her head. She continued to stare at Ziva. She seemed to be…lost on what to say. That's when Ziva realized this was a hard subject for her girlfriend to discuss. Why she hadn't realized that before, Ziva had no idea. She was once again about to say she was sorry for bringing it up, but as she did before, Abby stopped her from doing just that.

"It was…is Kate's special design" said Abby in a quiet voice. A small tear slid down her left cheek. Ziva brought her hand up, and with her thumb wiped the tear away. She let her hand linger there for a few moments before retreating. She then waited for Abby to continue.

Finally Abby said, "Kate had this special design for drawing letters. She spelled out my name once on a large sheet of paper." Abby closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, and Ziva could tell that talking about her deceased friend was starting to get to her. "After she was…died, I went and got the tattoo in her design so that I would always…so I would always have a bit of her around. A way to-to remember her." With that said the tears started to flow without restraint.

Ziva was quick to bring Abby into her arms and embraced her protectively. Ziva wasn't good with this sort of thing. She never knew what to say in these kinds of situations. So she didn't say anything. She just held onto Abby and let her cry into her shoulder, trying to bring as much comfort as she could to the upset goth. Without even realizing it, she started rocking her girlfriend back and forth while whispering "Shh, its ok" over and over again. After a while, Abby's breath evened out and the tears stopped flowing, but Ziva kept holding onto her.

Eventually Abby whispered into Ziva's neck, "Sorry."

Ziva was surprised to hear this. She brought her hand up to Abby's chin and lifted her head so that she could see her girlfriends beautiful eyes. She let out a small smile at Abby before saying, "Don't be sorry. There is nothing to be sorry about. If anything, I should be apologizing for bringing up a subject that is…difficult for you."

Abby shook her head and said, "You didn't know. I don't know why I cried like that. I guess…I guess it has just been awhile since I talked about Kate is all."

Ziva gave Abby an understanding smile. Abby smiled gratefully before resting her head on Ziva's chest. Silence once again encompassed the room.

As Ziva stroked Abby's hair, she suddenly asked, "I wish I could have met Kate." Abby glanced up at this with a small frown on her face. Ziva understood that saying that might not have been the best thing to say, but she took a chance. She smiled down at Abby, and continued stroking her hair. Abby took her eyes off Ziva and once again got comfortable on Ziva's chest.

"Why?" Abby finally asked.

"From what I have heard of her from everyone, she was an interesting person." started Ziva with a thoughtful expression on her face. "It sounds like she was very much like Tali: passionate, motivated, courageous, caring. It would have been nice to know someone like her…"

Abby looked up surprised at Ziva. She had only mentioned her younger sister a few times, and she never went into detail about what Tali used to be like. Ziva now had a distant look in her eyes. Abby brought her hand up and rested it on Ziva's cheek. Ziva closed her eyes leaning into Abby's touch. After taking a small breath, Ziva smiled down at Abby and started stroking her hair once again.

"I wish you had met Kate. I know you two would have liked each other." said Abby, and then adding as an afterthought with a playful tone, "You could have double-teamed Tony."

Ziva couldn't help but chuckle at that. Ziva did wish that they had had a chance to meet Kate. But Ziva also knew that if Kate had been alive, she would never have fallen in love with Abby. She would have been sent back to Israel and probably would have never seen anyone from NCIS again.

Ziva shook her head trying to rid herself of those kinds of thoughts. It didn't matter what could or couldn't have been. All that matter to her right now is that she was Abby's and Abby was hers.

Abby and Ziva continued to lie in bed in comfortable silence, each enjoying being near the one they loved. Eventually, they both got up and went to have lunch with Gibbs.

When Gibbs had found out about Abby and Ziva, it had become kind of a tradition for the three of them to have lunch on Sundays. Although he would never admit it, Abby and Ziva believed that this was the only way Gibbs could inquire about their relationship without seeming nosy…or protective of Abby. They didn't mind. In fact they like it for the most part. Especially Abby, who liked that Gibbs was protective of her, even if she was dating someone he considered a friend.

Ziva didn't bring up the subject of Abby's special tattoo for the rest of the day, but she did ask a few more questions about Kate as the day wore on. Kate Todd really did sound very much like Tali.

Eventually the two young lovers settled down for another night of sleep, snuggled up to each other. Abby was currently admiring Ziva's smooth skin and running her fingers over it. Ziva had her eyes closed enjoying Abby's touch. She was just about to nod off when Abby said, "I have an idea."

"Hhhmm?" Ziva murmured.

"Lets get you a tattoo." Ziva's eyes shot open and a new conversation about tattoos began, but that's a story for another time.

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Well I hope everyone enjoyed reading that. If I made any mistakes in grammar, punctuation, etc… please let me know in a review or a pm. I'll try to fix the mistake(s) as soon as possible.

I want to apologize of the little interlude into Abby's POV in the middle of the story. Its out of place and I know. Still trying to figure out how it ended up that way, but I was actually happy with how it turned out. Hope you all don't mind.

Anyway, if you want to leave a review that's fine, if not that's ok to. Take care.

Cheers!