A/N: This is set a year after the Season 10 finale, and in this version, Tony and Ziva had a HUGE fight after a passionate kiss in the elevator, and haven't talked without fighting for a year. It is now Jimmy and Breena's wedding anniversary party and they are both there in the same room for the first time in months. Enjoy!
Oh by the way, I do not own NCIS or the characters. But you knew that right?
One year. It had been one year since it happened. One year since she suddenly stormed off after their kiss. One year since the emotions of everything became too much, and she baled. On him. On them. Three hundred and sixty five days had passed since the team had been in the same room as each other and Tony and Ziva had not had an argument. There was just no keeping them civil any more. They fought. All the time.
But as they stood at opposite ends of the dancefloor at Jimmy and Breena's anniversary party, they made fleeting eye contact with each other, sparks igniting every time they did. They had exchanged words earlier in the evening, over the buffet. Kind words, not like the harsh tones and subtle digs that usually weighed down their every conversation. That was, when they spoke to each other. Which was not often. They didn't say a lot while they were loading their plates, but what they did say was more civil than it had been in months.
These looks they were now giving each other as they watched the happy couple dance were not full of anger or tension. They were soft, longing even, as if all their defences had come down due to the happy occasion, and Tony found himself watching Ziva as someone started a conversation with her, diverting her attention. He caught himself, and realised he couldn't stop. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her. He wondered if it was because of the occasion; the wedding anniversary of close friends, everyone glad to see each other, and having fun. Or perhaps it was just the dress she was wearing that night. He hadn't seen her look that beautiful in a long time. Come to think of it though, in the last few months, he hadn't seen much of her at all.
Everything had become too much for them to deal with. The hunt for Bodnar, the investigation into their conduct, dealing with the loss of so many loved ones, dealing with their feelings for one another, the list was endless. Tony wondered how all those things hadn't eaten them up and spat them out long before. They had done well to hold on for as long as they did, but something had to give. And it was that day, in the elevator, when Ziva broke down, and years of pain came flooding out along with years of built up feelings for each other, and he kissed her. He kissed her to take her pain away, to make her realise there was something worth living for, that she was not alone. But she ran. She ran out of the elevator and nothing had been the same since.
And as he stared at her across the crowded dancefloor, he recalled all the times they had shared together that were worth fighting for, that he would take a bullet for. He decided that enough was enough. A year was long enough. Twelve months of sitting alone at night because there's no one to watch movies or talk about nothing with was punishment enough. He had to make things right. He had to talk to her, to hold her, to feel her melt into him like he had in Berlin. Without these things, he wasn't sure he could go on any longer.
He approached her tentatively.
"Hey", he started with.
"Hi Tony", she replied with a small smile, and he could swear he saw in her eyes the same thing that was in his heart.
And that was it. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity, and Tony's heart beat increased three fold as he realised that no words needed to be said. It was a silence understood only by the two of them, and they hadn't shared this since before the kiss. Without saying anything, they had both said what was eating them alive for the past year. Ziva looked small and vulnerable, and her eyes had glossed over, as if tears were forming. And then he realised it. She felt the same. All the months of hostile days and lonely nights. She had had them too, she had missed him, remembered him, maybe even cried over him. Tony decided that he needed words now, or else she would cry.
"Dance with me?"
Ziva smiled as she recalled the last time they had danced together, and she nodded as she took the hand he offered her.
On the dancefloor, Tony put one hand round Ziva's waist and held her hand in his other, their eyes never once breaking contact. They were blissfully unaware of the looks they were getting from co-workers, shocked to see their warring colleagues who were once so close back in each other's arms, as if the past year hadn't even happened. Feeling brave, Tony touched his forehead to Ziva's, and her breathing quickened as they both closed their eyes. There was only one thing to do now.
"I'm sorry"
"For what?"
"For whatever I did, Ziva. Whatever I did that made you storm out of that elevator, for making you uncomfortable, for everything bad I've ever said to you. I'm so sorry"
"You do not have to apologise Tony. Never apologise for making someone… feel"
At this she lifted her head, so that their gazes met. Her face was so close, and all he wanted to do was close the two inch gap that separated their lips. She felt the same. All this time, he had made her feel what he had felt for her for years. A wave of intense affection for her came over him, and he wrapped both his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"Hey, how about we give this another try, huh? No manhunts, no witch hunts, just you and me, in love, making it work"
She smiled at him, his voice was soft and it made her want to wrap herself up in his arms and never let him go.
"I can think of nothing I would want more Tony"
And with that, she leant in and kissed him softly on his waiting lips, and all the tension and hostility of the past year just seemed to sink away as his hands gripped her waist and he felt her. There was nothing left to do but go home, because they had fallen for each other over again, and this time, they were ready.