The prompt was "rings." I don't own NCIS. Enjoy!
He never noticed the ring that she had. She never wore it to work. Why she never wore it to work though, he didn't know. It was a simple ring, really. Just a silver band. It looked old to him, but what did he know about rings? He was just a guy after all?
He watched her bustle around the kitchen, preparing dinner. "I've never seen you wear that ring before, Ziva," he said, sitting down at the table, staring at her hand.
She stopped and then turned to face him, leaning back against the sink slightly. "What? My ring? What ring, Tony?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah, the ring on your right hand," he said, standing up. DiNozzo walked over to her, taking her right hand in his hand. He finger grazed over the silver band and Ziva watched him.
Pulling her hand out of his grasp, Ziva returned to fixing dinner for the two of them.
Ten minutes later they were both sitting at the table eating when Ziva finally spoke up. "It is Tali's," she said, looking over at Tony.
He stopped eating his chicken and looked up at her. "What?"
Ziva set her silverware down and looked down at her right hand, studying the ring. She slid the band up and down her finger and then said, "My father bought us both these silver rings when we were little. He had my name engraved on the inside of the band on mine, and Tali's name engraved on hers."
"Where's your ring?" he asked slowly, studying her.
"My ring is in my room. I wear Tali's more often than I wear my own."
And in that moment, Tony understood. She wore the ring to remember Tali. It was how Ziva coped with Tali's sudden death.
He took her hand that the ring was on and kissed it gently. "It's a beautiful ring," he murmured, looking into her eyes.
And she smiled at him, glad that he understood.