A/N: Hi everyone. I am Katie, I currently moved to the US which certainly did not help my tv show addication. Sadly, Cote left the show but my Tiva heart is still alive and well, I had to write something for Christmas, so here you go. It is probably around six Chapters long, I am still working on the last two. It is just a short story but I will probably work on another one when I finished this one. I am gonna post every week til Christmas. A lot of thanks to my amazing beta Nolly-the-Lolly! :)
It was the 24th of December and it had snowed. Washington D.C was covered in fluffy white snow and it was freezing cold outside. The clock had just ticked midnight and the team finally parted ways from Gibbs house. They had a lovely Christmas dinner and everybody seemed happy.
Everyone was there. Gibbs, Ducky, Abby, McGee and Jimmy Palmer. Jimmy even brought his wife Breena and their newly adopted son, Daniel. Delilah, McGee's girlfriend was also there and even Abby's brother made it.
Everybody talked and laughed, except Tony. He tried to fake his happiness because he didn't want to upset anyone. Nobody seemed to notice besides Gibbs and Abby who sat by his side. They all knew that it was hard for him. All of them had a loved one by their side but his loved one was far away on another continent doing God knows what.
From time to time Abby squeezed his hand under the table to reassure him that she understood his pain. Every now and then Gibbs would look at him and smile softly, trying the same thing as Abby but they both knew that that only helped him a little bit. Nobody could fill the gap Ziva left when she made him go on the airplane in Israel and fortunately nobody tried to fill it.
When they parted ways that evening, Tony drove home in his car. Lately, almost all day long his mind wandered to Ziva. He missed her especially around this time in the year where everybody spent time with their family and was happy.
But how could he be happy when she is over a thousand miles away from him?
He really tried to move on but he just couldn't. The only thing he wished for was her coming home to him and never leaving again.
How many times did he dream about her coming home to him? It felt like a million times and he dreamed about a lot of different scenarios. For example, her showing up in the bullpen saying "I'm back" or maybe her calling him saying that she is waiting for him at the airport, or somewhere else but it always lead to one thing: them being together for the rest of their life, living happily ever after.
Maybe that was one of the reasons he didn't really realize that she was home.
He parked his car outside his apartment and made his way upstairs. There he opened the door and went inside. As usual, he took of his shoes and his coat and placed them into the small closet next to his door. He didn't notice her coat hanging there, smelling like her, and her shoes standing neatly in a row beside his. It felt so normal, so real that he didn't think about it that much. Turning on the light, he stepped into his living room. Everything was right where it belonged: his piano with a picture of Ziva, Kate his goldfish was in her bowl doing... well doing nothing, his movie collection was neatly in line on his shelf. By the window stood his Christmas tree, lighting up the room in all the bright colors. That kind of was one of his new traditions now since his father visited him last Christmas. Under it lay some wrapped presents for his co-workers who were coming over tomorrow morning for brunch.
Maybe that was the reason why he didn't notice that someone added a present under the tree.
He went into the kitchen to get a glass of water before going to bed. He stocked up his kitchen over the year so that there was always food and enough cooking supplies for him to make himself some dinner, which he did quite often these days. Blame it on his promises to her to keep himself alive and healthy. And he kept his promise because he really hoped that she would come back one day.
Wait. Wasn't her coat hanging in his closet and her shoes standing beside his just a second ago? He froze and looked around for a moment. Nothing else indicated that she was here. Maybe he had a little bit too much to drink. Going back and looking again wasn't an option. He was way too afraid that he just dreamed it, like he did a million times before.
After he finished his water, he made his way into the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror, he saw another toothbrush in his cup, right next to his own toothbrush. Slowly, he opened his small cabinet and saw a little make-up bag standing inside it along with some creams and a hair brush.
Shaking, he took a deep breath and looked to his shower. Next to his towel hang another one and suddenly his shower contained a big selection of different products for hair, face and body. Not believing what he sees, he made his way to the new towel and smelled it.
All of the sudden it hit him. She was here. This was definitely her very own scent and there was no way that he was dreaming right now. The towel was still a bit wet and he looked into his small cabinet again just to make sure everything was still there.
His heart started to race as he made his way towards his bedroom, where she had to be. She wasn't in the kitchen or in the bathroom, nor was she in the living room, so she had to be in his bedroom.
He slowly opened the door to see his big new king-sized bed. He bought it right after he came back from Israel because he hoped that he would wake up one day and she would be lying right beside him and everything that happened in Israel was just a dream.
That didn't happen until now.
There in the middle of his bed lay Ziva, tucked in under his covers sleeping peacefully.
His mind raced and he stood in the doorway frozen, unsure what he should do next. Should he wake her up? Should he just leave her there and sleep on the couch? Should he lay beside her and pull her into his arms and never let her go again? Yes! Yes, that's the only thing that he could do right now. His heart ached for her and he couldn't stay away from her any longer. Quickly, he got rid of his pants and his shirt so that he was only wearing a t-shirt and his boxers. Carefully, not to wake her up, he made his way under the covers and scooted closer to her until he could bury his face in her soft, brown curls and put his hand on her arm.
He still couldn't believe that she was right beside him. All he wished for was actually coming true. She was in his arms, right by his side. Deeply inhaling her scent, he took a shaky breath and tried to calm down when he felt her stir slightly, waking up.
Her eyes opened slowly and she snuggled closer to him as if that would be the most normal thing to do. Slowly, she turned her head to him and looked at him with those beautiful brown eyes he missed so much. She lifted her hand and gently stroked his cheek. A small smile appeared on her face and she whispered "Merry Christmas, Tony"
A single tear escaped his eyes and she whipped it away softly. He was just so happy that he couldn't say anything right now. He pulled her closer and rested his forehead against hers.
"I am so sorry, Tony. For all the trouble, the worries and problems I caused you. I did not want that, but I needed to get my life in order again. I had to deal with what happened but I am ready now," she told him quietly still stroking his cheek.
He caught her hand with his and pressed a tender kiss into her palm assuring her that she didn't need to apologize for what she did because as upset as he was, he understood her decision. When he left her at the airport, he knew that if she would come with him right that minute, she wouldn't be completely happy. That didn't mean that he missed her less.
But he accepted that he had to wait for her. And he did, and now she was here again. That was all that counted now.
Finally, he found his voice again.
"I love you, Ziva. I love you so much," he murmured more calmly now looking deeply into her eyes.
"I love you too, Tony" she replied happily because she could finally say it out loud.
Gently, their lips met for the first passionate and loving kiss, since they parted ways three months ago. After a few seconds they broke apart and Tony placed small, soft kisses all over her face which made her giggle quietly.
She yawned and moved closer to him, resting her head on his chest and tangling her legs into his.
His arms found his way around her as if it would be something they did his whole life long. He pulled her even closer and after a minute they both found a position they were comfortable sleeping in.
Ziva drifted to sleep not long after that. She had to be really tired but Tony couldn't sleep at all. All he could think about was that Ziva was finally back home and tucked safely into his arms. He had a million questions for her but the main reason he was afraid to fall asleep is his fear of her leaving again.