Author's Note: I do not own NCIS or its characters in any way, shape or form.
The prompt was 'Opposite.'
Enjoy!
They were polar opposites. If she wanted to be completely honest with herself, she had to admit that. But wasn't that always the saying? Opposites Attract? She was certain she had heard that in one of those movies Tony forced her to watch every week. The cheerleader fell in love with the nerd. The jock fell for the girl who always wore black. And now, the ninja was falling for the comedian.
When she thought about it though, Ziva realized that she and Tony were not opposites. Yes, they were opposites on how they acted in public, but their pasts mirrored each other. They both dealt with pain the same way.
Ziva knew that Tony's father had been absent in most of his life; DiNozzo Senior had shipped Junior off to boarding school and barely talked to him. Likewise, her own father was gone most of her childhood. Her mother had left her father and raised her and Tali alone. That was, until Tali was killed.
It was then that Ziva had to cope with sadness. She kept to herself mostly, and that coping mechanism transferred over into her adult years. Ziva David knew that Tony coped the same way she did.
This became evident as she watched him walk into the apartment, throwing his keys on the small table near the door, a nightly ritual, but it was harder this time and she swore the glass candle holder was now cracked. She watched as he stalked across the room towards the bedroom and listened to him loudly rummage through his dresser drawers, slamming them as he searched for something to change into.
It didn't bother her, but she flinched as he slammed the door to the bathroom, the wall hangings moving and tilting to the side in the living room. As Ziva heard the shower water turn on, she stood up and practically tip-toed to the kitchen knowing the oven timer would be sounding shortly. She removed the pizza from the oven and set it on the stovetop, grabbing plates and cups from the cupboard as it cooled. She slowly cut the pizza and put two slices on each plate and then went to fill the cups with lemonade, but opted to grab two bottles of beer from the fridge instead.
She set the two plates and two bottles on the small dining room table, a table they had shared every night for the last three months, and waited patiently for the water to shut off. It did, and she heard the door open, not as forceful as before, and then watched as Tony appeared in the doorway and walked towards the table.
He looked tired, as tired as she felt, but there was still a spark in his eye. She smiled at him and he smiled back as he stood next to her and bent down, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. His lips were warm and comforting and she wanted more, but he pulled away and took his seat. And she sat there and watched him eat, glancing up every once in a while to smile at her, but there were no words spoken.
Except for Tony's simple "Thank you."
And that was all she needed to hear.