It Was Definitely Worth It
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.
A/N: Well, this is my first NCIS fic; it's a short and hopefully sweet one shot. I'm not sure where it came from but it got into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Hope you like it!!!!
"Are you ready?" Anthony DiNozzo asked, rocking back on his heels.
"Yes, I am," Ziva David nodded.
"And you're sure?" he asked once more.
"Yes, Tony, I am," she answered yet again, with an almost inaudible sigh.
"Ok, good," he nodded. "Well, then, let's do it," he decided and swept one arm in front of him to indicate she should precede him into the building. With one last searching glance at his face, she turned and walked up the stairs. Tony hurried after her and made it to the doors just in time to push his arm in front of her and hold the door open for her. Ziva rolled her eyes at the unnecessary display of chivalry but nevertheless proceeded through the doors; she'd been accustomed to such actions from him.
Less than ten minutes later, they were walking back out of the building. This time, Ziva was once again in the front but this time, she wasn't good-naturedly rolling her eyes; she was in fact pretty much fuming in a mixture of rage, disappointment and hurt.
"When you kept asking me," she told him as she came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and turned to confront him, "whether I was ready or not, I thought it was because you were not sure I would go through with it. I did not think it was because you were the one who was not sure!"
"That's not it!" he protested and, had he been anyone else, he'd had taken a few hasty steps back at the glare she gave him. But, however much he sometimes might act like it, he had never really been afraid of her. He considered them equals and had no problem standing up to her or going head to head with her when the situation called for it. "I just think maybe now it's not the right time."
Even before he finished speaking, he was cursing himself. If he hadn't been looking at her so closely, he might have missed her hastily masked look of pain but studying her closely was second nature for him and he didn't miss it. For someone who usually had no trouble saying the right things to women, when it came to Ziva, he was surprisingly inarticulate – maybe it was because she mattered so darn much.
"I didn't mean it like that," he hurried to explain, holding her chin to stop her from shifting her eyes away from his. "I just meant that here, right now, today is probably not the best time or the best way to do this. I mean this is supposed to a big deal – probably the biggest, most defining moment of our relationship and lives."
"You mean bigger than our last re-defining moment?" she tilted her head and smirked; her eyes glinting now that she knew he was not backing out.
"Ummm, that was a pretty big moment," he agreed with a leer. "I guess this would be one of the three biggest moments then," he decided.
"Three?" she asked. "What's the other one?"
"Well," he answered, grinning. "That would be when the consequence of the moment you're talking about materializes."
"Oh," she said, blinking to hide her surprise. She hadn't even thought that far ahead yet and while she should be surprised that he had, she wasn't. Tony had shown a side to his personality in the last six months that she would never have believed existed and his having thought that far ahead was completely in keeping with that side.
"Yep," he nodded, grinning even wider now. She might have thought she hid her surprise but she hadn't. There wasn't much she could hide from him; there never had been but the last few months had made hiding anything even less likely. And he did enjoy those rare moments when he stumped her.
"So, since this is such a big deal," he said, going back to his original point, "I think they should be there, don't you? I mean, we need witnesses anyway, it should be them and not two persons we've never met and will never see again." There was no reason to explain who 'they' were; there was only one group of people 'they' could refer to. "They are family after all."
"You are right," Ziva nodded. "But I thought you wanted to tell them after it was a fait accompli?"
"Yeah, I did," he agreed, grinning as he imagined the team's reaction if they walked in Monday morning and just casually told them what they've they'd done during the weekend. "But that might have just been my more immature, childish side talking."
"You have an immature, childish side?" she asked him, doing a pretty good job of keeping a straight face. "I would never have guessed."
"Har har," he told her, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, if we don't tell them they might just kill us. And if there's anyone that could commit murder and get away with it, it's them."
"True," she agreed. "But I thought we agreed that Gibbs is going to kill us anyway?"
"We did," he conceded. "But if we don't tell him, he might just bury us alive. If we tell him before hand, he might go easy on us."
"I do not think there is much chance of that," she told him.
"No, probably not," he shook his head. "Regardless," he added, "if we wait a few days we could also get proper attire."
"What is wrong with what we are wearing now?" she frowned down at what she was wearing, confused about what was wrong with it.
"Nothing," he assured her, admiring how the jeans and knit top she had on, a match for what he was wearing, hugged her curves. "There's nothing wrong with what you're wearing. I just think we should dress up a bit more, that is all. I mean, I'm sure you'd like to get a dress especially for the occasion, wouldn't you?"
"A new dress?" she repeated. "I do not know," she hesitated, secretly amused and touched that he was taking such a sentimental view of the whole thing. "That would that mean that I had to go shopping for clothes," it was said with as much as of a whine as she ever got and Tony couldn't help but chuckle.
Ziva glared at him for a few seconds before she sighed; it wasn't that she didn't like getting new, pretty clothes, it was just that she really didn't like having to go and buy them. She just didn't have the patience for trying on piece after piece of clothing; she had, in fact, been known to send sales ladies off crying when she had to try on more than three items. Usually, she researched whatever she wanted so that she could just go into a store, get it and then leave. But for this, she wouldn't even know where to start to research.
"Yes, it would," he nodded, still grinning so widely that she couldn't keep from punching him – hard. "Hey," he protested but subsided when she really glared at him. "Ok, ok," he surrendered, putting his hands up. "Why don't you take Abby with you?" he suggested; he might not mind going head to head with her, but he did know when to retreat to safer ground. "I'd bet she'd love to help you."
"I am sure she would," she agreed but then grimaced. "But I do not think I would like to buy a black Goth outfit – at least not for this particular occasion," she added with a smirk.
"Oh, I'd love to see you in a Goth outfit," he told her earnestly, completely side-tracked from the issue by that visual. "Promise to call me if you ever buy one?" he pleaded with his puppy eyes. Her smirk just got bigger but she refrained from verbally answering. "Anyway, but back to the issue at hand," he shook his head before continuing. "Abby has a surprisingly good sense of style and appropriateness – when she's buying for other people."
Ziva nodded thoughtfully; she guessed Abby would need a well-developed sense of style to put together the outfits she usually wore.
"Okay," she finally agreed. "I will ask Abby to help me buy a dress. Are you planning on telling the rest of the team too?"
"Nope," he shook his head, grinning. "I was thinking we could still present them with a fait accompli – of sorts."
"But then how," she asked, frowning in confusion, "will you get them to come?"
"Oh, don't worry about it," he answered airily, waving the concern away. "I'll think of something."
"I am sure you will," she told him. "But I really think attending your funeral might just put a damper on the whole affair."
"You're really funny today, aren't you?" he asked with a fake frown.
"I am . . . happy," she told him simply, shrugging.
"I'm glad," he said, quietly and sincerely, looking into her eyes and sharing the kind of moment where no words were necessary. "So," he said a few moments later, breaking the moment and draping his arm over her shoulders. "Here's what I'm thinking . . ."
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Exactly a week later, an excited Abby was waiting for Ziva to finish in the bathroom.
"Are you ready already?" she asked, practically bouncing on her heels. "Come on, if you don't hurry we're going to be late."
"We can not be late," Ziva calmly called from the bathroom. "They can not start until we get there; therefore, we can not be late."
"That's semantic, Ziva!" Abby protested. "Now, come out! I want to see how the dress looks!!"
"You already know how it looks," Ziva argued, but nevertheless prepared to leave the bathroom. "You were with me when I bought it."
"Ziva!!" Abby said, exasperatedly rolling her eyes. "Would you just come out already?"
"Okay, okay," Ziva said, laughing as she came out. "Here I am." She stopped a bit before she reached Abby; she pulled her arms a bit from her body and turned slowly around. "So, how do I look?"
"Oh, oh, Ziva," Abby cried out, as she pulled put her hands to her mouth and blinked back a few tears. "You look absolutely beautiful!!" She finally exclaimed before she took two long steps forward and gave Ziva a bear hug. "Tony's going to swallow his tongue!!"
"Why would he swallow his tongue?" Ziva asked, curiously as Abby finally let her go and she could take a full breath. "I do not think that is physically possible, Abby. And even if it was, I do not think it would be in my best interest if he did."
"Oh, it's a saying," Abby told her, laughing and shaking her head. "It just means that he's going to really like what you're wearing."
"I do hope so," Ziva murmured as she took a few steps towards the mirror above her dresser. "It was his idea that I buy a new dress, after all. The very least he can do is appreciate it when he sees me in it."
"Oh, believe me," Abby told her with a knowing smile. "He's really, really going to appreciate it."
"Good," Ziva said with a nod. "And I have to thank you, Abs. You were a great help in buying it. Tony was right; you have a very good sense of style."
"Well, of course I do!" Abby agreed. "Don't I always look fabulous?" She asked, doing her own pirouette to show off her ensemble.
"Yes, you do," Ziva answered seriously, contemplating her friend's outfit. As usual, Abby was wearing black; but she had dressed up for the occasion. She was wearing what looked like a long, black cloak; it was cinched to her torso by a red and black corset, the skirt flared from the waist to the knees in front and dropped to the floor on the back, the top had a V neckline, which was formed by the hood dropping open down her shoulders. Her hair was down and held back by a red and black flower arrangement. She was wearing knee high platform boots. All in all, she looked a picture.
"Well, enough of this admiration society," Abby finally declared, clapping her hands. "We both look fabulous but we are definitely going to be late if we don't get moving. We don't really want to leave Tony alone with Gibbs for longer than necessary, do we? I mean we might get there to find that he's already spilled the beans and Gibbs had to . . ." she waved her hands as if what Gibbs would do to Tony was too ghastly to say out loud.
"Yes, you are right," Ziva agreed. "Let us get going before it is too late." With that, the two friends picked up the last additions to their outfits and hurried out of the apartment and across the street to the park where Ziva began and ended all her morning runs, where Tony and the rest of the team would be waiting for them.
Tony, who was talking to the man they met last week and doing his best to ignore everyone's inquisitive gazes, was the first to notice them. He'd been smiling when he turned around but when he saw Ziva, his look changed to one of pure adoration and awe.
Gibbs, who had been observing his senior agent and trying to figure out what had gotten into him, was the first to notice that Tony's attention had shifted. He turned to follow the younger man's gaze and his movement made Ducky, McGee and Palmer turned also.
What they saw had all of their mouths dropping open and their eyes almost bugging out of their faces. Gibbs was of course the first one to recover, he, in fact, was so fast in his recovery that no one really had a chance to see their team leader looking dumbfounded. He opened his mouth to blast both agents so hard that they'd be feeling it until their retirement when a sudden breeze, that strangely enough reminded him of Jenny, blew through the park. It made him think of chances that have had forever gone by and that second chances don't always come around and that life is too short to keep putting your happiness on hold. So, he closed his mouth and decided that the dressing down could come after. But the fact that they both would be hearing exactly what he thought about this was never in doubt.
Tony and Ziva, however, had put Gibb's reaction out of their minds for the day and they were only thinking of each other. When she finally reached his side, he held out his hand and said, "it took you long enough to get here." While it might have sounded like a gentle reprimand, Ziva knew what he meant and smiling took his hand.
"But I am here now. Was it not worth the wait?" she asked him.
"Oh, it definitely was," he told her sincerely. "You look beautiful," he added, giving her a second, more lingering once-over.
She was wearing a one-piece, slim line gown with a deep V-neckline, shoulder straps that dipped into a low back, glistening bands of beaded embellishments and an encrusted beaded motif surrounded the bust-line and gathered chiffon draped throughout the skirt and small train. Her hair was curly and mostly down, just kept back from her face by a clip that resembled the motif of the bust-line. She was wearing modest heels and holding a small bouquet of white flowers.
"Thank you," she told him. "You look very handsome yourself." He was wearing a gray suit with a light blue shirt and a tie that was just a shade darker. When the justice of the peace cleared his throat, they stopped admiring each other and turned forward, signaling for him to start the ceremony. As the birds chirped around them, the sun showered them with it's early spring rays, and the warmth of their friends surrounded them, Tony and Ziva joined hands and listened to the ceremony that would bind them for life.
A/N2: So, how many of you thought I was going to get them married and how many thought I was going to have it be something completely different? I admit, part of me was tempted to write an 'gotcha' kinda fic but the whole fic was basically an excuse to put Ziva on a wedding dress - I have a thing for wedding dresses (actually for formal gowns in general, it's the girly girl in me, I guess), so I couldn't really write anything but a wedding fic - especially once I found the dress. It's perfect; if anyone wants to see, just ask me and I'll give you the link. I tried really hard to not give away what I was building to, so please let me know how I did!!!