When Anthony DiNozzo was five years old, he was told that he was going to be part of a wedding. One of his father's close business associates was getting married, and since he had no young men in his family, Senior volunteered Tony for the job. Young Tony didn't really care all that much about what this occasion meant. He just knew that he had to walk down the aisle with a pillow with a couple of rings on it, and then there was a party that he got to eat cake. His mother told him that a little girl named Ziva, another business associate's child, was going to be the flower girl. He pulled a pinched face when he heard he would have to hang out with a girl, but went along with the plan nonetheless.
The day came when everyone was running around in pretty dresses and flowers everywhere. Tony's mother brought Ziva to him, all dressed in her puffy flower girl getup that she couldn't stop playing with, and told him to entertain her while the grown ups got ready.
They stood there staring at each other for quite some time before the Bride cooed over what a beautiful picture they would make. So with some prompting and posing, they stood as if they were slow dancing. He just looked down at her, trying to figure out why exactly he was posed in this way, and she up at him with a mix of curiosity and awe. She was only three, but he was five and a half and even though he was much older than her, this boy seemed like he could be a very good friend.
Their parents fawned over them, cooing about how beautiful they looked together, how cute. It wasn't until after they were finished being fussed over that they introduced themselves with shy smiles. Tony asked Ziva if she wanted to play outside, deciding that maybe this girl wasn't as bad as he thought. She nodded excitedly, but before they could get away, they were ushered towards the wedding hall, small pouts adorning their faces.
They sat through the wedding without fuss, but only ten minutes after they'd made it to the reception, they ran into the backyard at full speed and Ziva got grass stains all over her knees, or at least where her knees would be in a poofy dress.
They were fast friends after that.
As it turned out, Tony's mom and Rivka, Ziva's mother, had become just as fast of friends as their children and lived only a few blocks away.
As their mothers spent hours in the living room chatting and drinking too much tea, Tony and Ziva lived out every adventure they could dream of as only children could.
They made pillow forts in the living room and played pirates in the backyard. They ran free in the woods that surrounded Ziva's house, sword fighting with sticks they found on the ground. They watched movies snuggled under blankets with cartoon characters with pillows that were just as good for fighting as they were for resting. The two became inseparable, spending every moment they were allowed together.
—-
When he was six, Tony started to go to school. Real school, he had said. Not like preschool or kindergarten. He had to be there all day. Ziva tilted her head and frowned when she'd heard. School meant that Tony would not be at the house during the day. It meant that it would be just like when Ari went to school. She would be all alone, though it wasn't for long.
That same year, Ziva's little sister was born. Tali, they decided to call her. Ziva could only smile. She was a big sister. She was going to teach her little sister everything there was to know. She could help mama feed her and hold her and rock her to sleep. She was a big sister, and that made Ziva burst into a partially-toothless grin.
—-
When he was eight, Tony fell out of a tree in his back yard and broke his arm. Ziva teased him endlessly about his clumsiness. She had to apologize when she fell out of the same tree and broke her wrist two years later.
—-
When he was nine, Tony's mother got sick. Like that time he got the flu when he was seven only worse; at least that's how she explained it. At first Tony thought he could make his mom better. He thought that he could take all the sickness away by playing her songs or drawing her pictures or making her breakfast in bed. But the year went on, and she got sicker and sicker, and he spent time at Ziva's house more and more. Ziva at seven years old only wanted to help Tony in his quest to help his mom. She helped her mom make soup and casseroles for her, and drew pictures as well. She hoped that by making Tony's mom less sick, she would make Tony less sad. It was hard to accept that hoping and wishing for someone to get better wasn't enough.
He was ten when she passed away.
He found solace in Ziva's home with the only mom he still knew, the four year old baby sister that he knew like she was his own, and the girl that had become his best friend in the world. The only person left who had ever seen him cry. The one person that held his hand and told him that it was going to be okay. It wasn't though. His father took to drinking that year.
—
When Ziva was nine, they discovered their secret hiding place in the woods. The inlet in the circle of big trees was a revelation. They ran into it accidentally, Tony ripping through the branches of a short, thick tree only to find a clearing almost completely closed in by the trees around it. With the trees blocking the noise and a large boulder in the corner, there was no safer place they could find to go. They lost themselves there, in their own little world.
—-
When Tony was twelve, his father sent him off to boarding school. He said that Tony would be better off at a boarding school, that he would get a better education. But Tony knew better. His father just didn't want him around. He ran to his safe haven across town the day he found out he was leaving. He would be home for the summer, he assured her. Ziva cried her ten year old heart out.
—-
When Ziva was thirteen, her father told her he was leaving. She didn't need to ask why. She and Tony talked all about the woman named Orli that had caught her father's eye. He of all people would understand. His second step mother was the bane of his fifteen year old existence when he was home. They escaped into the woods, the only place they could think to go. They ran there to escape the yelling, the fighting, the uncertainty. They built a less than legal fire pit in the circle that year.
—-
At sixteen, Tony learned he was good at sports. Really good. He had always enjoyed sports, always liked to be on teams. But sixteen year old Tony's muscles had caught up with his height, pushing him to a skill level he hadn't known before.
At seventeen Senior told him that his college fund had dried up in the third divorce, and Tony had never been so happy to see the furiously scribbling scouts on the sidelines.
—-
At sixteen, Ziva came home to find her mother laying unresponsive on the kitchen floor. Paramedics were called, a flurry of panicked activity ensued,
After a strangely calm phone call, Tony got Tali from school and met Ziva at the hospital. She sat unflinchingly in the waiting room, the shock clear in every part of her. Wordlessly he sat down next to her with Tali, small at twelve, sitting in his lap. He carefully took her hand in his. She didn't even look up. He wasn't even sure if she was aware he was there. Tali's soundless tears leaked onto his shirt as she curled into his chest and they waited in silence.
Aneurism, the doctors had said. Nothing she could have done. She may not have known it was happening at all.
Tali took to sleeping in bed with Ziva, holding tight to the only person in her life who would still hold her as she cried. Ziva stayed strong, holding fast to the idea that it was best for Tali for her to do so. She refused to cry. She wouldn't.
The funeral was held a few days later, small and tasteful. Ziva was relieved it was family only, not some event that Eli used to garner sympathy from his business associates.
They moved out of their childhood home the day after that. It was a difficult day for all. There was nothing they could do but sit back and watch their childhood memories being left behind. Tony felt like sobbing the entire day. His second mother, his second home were stolen away as well as theirs. But he stood by Ziva, and with due stoicism, helped she and her sister move all of their things to Eli's house a few towns away.
They escaped to that little inlet in the woods that day, sitting against the boulder, leaning against one another. They took in the comfort and serenity one last time. It was only then that Ziva broke.
—-
At eighteen, Ziva snuck off campus with a friend to go see one of Tony's football games. She had ended up at Carnegie Mellon and he at Ohio State. The three hour drive seemed like a small sacrifice to make to see one another. And though she had a boyfriend at the time who was less than fond of their relationship, she knew how important the game was to him. Besides, what Michael didn't know couldn't hurt him.
Tony was overwhelmed when she surprised him before the game. He didn't think he'd seen her truly smile since her mother passed, and it was quite the sight. He took her in his arms, hugging her tight, not for a second failing to notice the woman she had become. He gave her his letterman jacket to wear in the stands and promised to look for her when he could.
The guys had razzed him in the locker room, lewd comments thrown at him with aplomb. They asked if they were dating, if they had ever hooked up. Tony denied all the claims. One teammate, in very crude terms, asked if he could "see" Ziva since Tony wasn't interested.
Tony decked him.
Later it made him wonder if he was more interested than he used to be, and how quickly things had changed.
—-
At twenty one, Tony's entire world changed. It was the championship game, the final one of his college career. The one that everyone would be looking at when they decided if he was to be included in the draft. Halfway through the second quarter, a defender came out of nowhere, taking him out at the knees. He felt his knee pop and white hot pain.
He knew it was over.
As soon as he went down, Ziva rushed out of the stands, fighting with several security guards trying to get to him. Eventually they brought him to the locker room, and forced Ziva to give up the fight. She met him at the hospital an hour later. She took his hand, but all he could do was stare at the ceiling, tears in his eyes, and wonder what the hell he was supposed to do with his life.
—
At twenty, Ziva found out that her baby sister was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. She had flown home immediately, her grief no longer shrouded like it had been with her mother. She had no one left to protect.
Tony rushed home as well, taking time off from his new job as a police officer in Baltimore. By the time he reached her, she had cried herself out. Her voice was hoarse, her face twisted in grief. There was nothing he could do but hold her.
They fell into bed that weekend, after she had practically begged him to make her feel something, anythingelse. It was sloppy and rushed and less than ideal, but they both got what they needed. Ziva sobbed when it was over, and all Tony could do was hold her and stroke her hair, wondering if the release was all about Tali, or if she was that appalled at their coupling. He didn't dare ask.
They parted wordlessly in the morning, Ziva's grief overshadowing any meaningful conversation they could have had about the night before.
Four weeks after that, he got a letter from Ziva that just said "I'm not pregnant, I thought you would like to know." He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
—
It was Tony's twenty fourth birthday when he saw her again. He was out at a bar with some of his buddies, and she with her coworkers. He'd spotted her across the bar, eyes widening as he took her in. Her hair was longer than he remembered, a bit more polished than before. But she was still his Ziva, he could tell just by the way she moved. She met his eyes not long after he saw her, smiling widely at the sight of him.
Hugs were exchanged, friendly kisses, too. Apologies for silences too long were exchanged, and they played catch up for the rest of the night, and when he left her with a kiss on the cheek, she couldn't help but notice a spark that wasn't there before. If she were being truthful, a spark she had spent far too much of her life ignoring.
She made a point of getting in contact with him again, wanting everything she had spent two years missing. He was more than happy to oblige.
For a few months they saw each other regularly, getting back to who they used to be, what they used to have. They hesitated to label what they were doing, even if they could feel whatever it was they had between them changing for the better.
—
At twenty five, Tony officially asked Ziva on a date. It was at an old black and white movie theater. They snuck in all kinds of snacks, just like they did when they were kids. He couldn't tell you what movie they watched if he tried, he spent most of his time watching her. After the movie was over, and he politely walked her to her door, she kissed him with abandon, knowing undoubtedly the spark she felt all over was something special. She didn't want to waste any more time.
They moved in together three months later.
—-
At twenty six, Tony proposed. It happened on a Wednesday, a day with no significance whatsoever. He woke up that morning to see Ziva watching him sleepily. She smiled at him lazily as she stretched herself awake, her hair a wild mess. All he could do was smile back. He just knew she was all he wanted for the rest of his life. So he asked her, right there in bed.
—-
At twenty five, Ziva married the love of her life.
And when that ancient picture of her in her flower girl dress and he in his straw hat shows up in the background as they dance at their wedding, all she can do is smile and kiss him. All she could think was how absurd it was that it was him all along.