Ziva closed her eyes, taking a deep breath of the salty air, letting the sounds of the ocean soothe flow over soothing all of her senses. It was wonderful to just shut everything - and everyone out for a time ever how slight it was and just relax. She had learned early on about emotions and how it was just easier to keep things inside so that no one could penetrate your walls and hurt what is most precious to everyone: your heart. So, her wall had thickened over the years to where it had almost become an impenetrable fortress.
She was the silent warrior, the one who remained calm and steady regardless the outcome. She was the ninja assassin.
A gentle smile creased her lips at the thought of the person who had given her that nickname. Her wall had begun to crumble when she met him; she just hadn't known it at the time. She found him immature, crude, annoying, but also intriguing. She saw that he was like her. He kept his true feelings tightly guarded behind a quick smile and an endless line of movie quotes, but on the rare occasions that she was allowed behind the curtain, she saw that there were many more layers to the man.
It started out slowly, he would jab with a correction of her English and she would volley back with a remark about his incessant talking. It was an ebb and flow like a fast moving river. She just hadn't realized yet it was easiest to go with the current instead of fighting. She always had to learn the hard way and have her heart and her faith broken. The wall began to weaken with a slight touch here, a soft spoken word there and holes began to appear shining daylight onto unchartered territory. Someone who didn't want anything from her, they just wanted her - flaws and all.
She sighed contentedly as she opened her eyes to see the person she had finally completely let her guard down for: Tony Dinozzo.
"Here you go, Madame." Tony said extending his hand towards her, before sitting in the lounge chair next to her. "I got one with a little pink umbrella in it just for you."
She let out a small laugh, smiling brightly. She was finally, truly happy.
A/N: Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the show.
