A/N: Just a short little one-shot about Christmas (it is that time of year after all). And no, I don't own NCIS or anything related to it (don't I wish though).
Tony sat at his desk muttering to himself about stupid computers that chose to lose paperwork and bosses that required said paperwork to be done before he could leave. It was Christmas Eve for crying out loud. Not that he had plans or anything, but he'd rather be watching reruns of Magnum with a beer in his hand than be sitting alone in the bullpen redoing his paperwork at 11:30 at night on Christmas Eve.
At least, he thought he was alone. Ziva watched Tony from across the room with a faint smile on her face. It was mostly dark in the room, as it was so late in the day and most people had long since gone home. Tony, however, was being a good little NCIS employee and was completing his work. She decided she'd had enough staring and moved into the bullpen while clearing her throat.
Tony jumped a little bit, surprised that there was anyone here. When he looked up at Ziva, he smiled. It had been a rough year for them, both individually and as a team, but he knew everything was working out. He loved Ziva and had admitted—if only to himself—a long time ago. Somewhere between being Agent Afloat and killing Rivkin he realized he would do anything for this woman, even if it meant leaving her behind in Israel while simultaneously breaking his own heart. But now she was back for good, applying for American citizenship even, and things were falling into place.
Ziva's thought paralleled Tony's. It had been a long, hard year, but she was finally back where she belonged and things were looking up. She and Tony had agreed not to get each other gifts this year—neither said why, but they both felt that just being alive, in the same country, and actually talking to one another was enough—but she couldn't help getting him something. It was the season of giving, after all. She smiled at Tony and walked over to her desk. "I know we agreed 'no presents' but it is customary to give presents to those you lo-, care about," she said, hoping Tony missed her almost-confession.
Tony did catch it, but wasn't willing to bring on the wrath of Ziva by bringing up something she obviously didn't want to deal with tonight. There would be plenty of time for confessions later—she was, after all, in DC for good. He shook his head at her with a wry grin. "I know what you mean. I got you a little something, too." He pulled a small rectangular box out of his top desk drawer as Ziva pulled a large box from behind her desk.
Ziva carried the box over to Tony's desk and set it in front of him. She smiled and said, "Open it first."
Tony handed her the small box and went to work on the paper wrapping his gift from Ziva. When he finally got all of the penguin wrapping paper off he grinned at the box inside. It was a whole detailing kit for his car.
"I know how much you love your car, and the man at the auto store said that Turtle Wax is a high quality brand, so I got you everything you need from start to finish. There is car wash, and wax and—"
"Thank you Zee," Tony said, cutting her off. "This is a great gift. Open yours." Tony was feeling a little nervous about his gift to Ziva. He thought it was a good idea, but you could never be sure.
Ziva unwrapped the small box and opened it up. She sighed and looked up at Tony with tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Tony. Just… Thank you." Inside the box, on a thin silver chain was a diamond encrusted חי—the Hebrew word chai.
"It means life. Which you probably already knew," Tony added more to himself than to Ziva. "I just thought that you didn't have your other necklace anymore, but it was Tali's. You can't really replace something like that. But given everything that's happened…" he trailed off as he noticed the look on Ziva's face—one he couldn't really decode.
"It's appropriate," she finished. "We're alive, after everything, so chai is appropriate. It's beautiful Tony. Thank you." She stepped forward and hugged him, trying not to cry. Because really, it was appropriate. And for the man who saved her life to give her this necklace—that said life—it was perfect. "How much longer will you be?" she asked, glancing at his computer.
"Not much," he replied. "Maybe fifteen minutes."
"Ok, hurry up and we can go get something to eat," she ordered with a soft smile.
Tony smiled up at her and said "Sure thing, Zee."
A/N: So I've read a lot of one-shots out there about Tony giving Ziva another Star of David necklace, but I just don't think you can replace something like that. So I came up with something else. Let me know what you think. And, sorry but this won't be continued to a multi-chap, it's gonna stay a one-shot.
