Silence was not quite the answer he had hoped for; neither had he expected the daggers of anger shooting from the beautiful brown eyes of the woman he had just proposed to. Still, his eyes stayed locked to hers, demanding a response.
Finding her voice after the shock of what he said penetrated, Ziva scolded. "Tony, we must settle all ties after today. When we part, there can be nothing that will connect us except the past. I will not leave any trail back to you, paper, electronic, or whatever. I am leaving to protect you; why is that so hard to understand?" Shaking with fear again, she tried to pull her hand back, but he wouldn't release that either.
"It's 'sever all ties', Sweetcheeks, and I understand exactly why you're leaving me," Tony responded matter-of-factly, with a whisp of a smile. He was really going to miss those Ziva-isms. With more intensity, he persisted. "And I'm asking you to be my wife. You are my reason for living. If we can't be near each other physically, let me live in your heart and you in mine. We can hold on to that and still let each other go." Entwining his fingers with hers, he prayed it meant as much to her as it did to him.
She knew leaving him would be difficult, but why did he need to insist on making it the hardest thing she ever lived through? "A Jewish wedding follows strict rules. It's not something you can just decide to do one afternoon like eloping to Vegas. Plus, it has the elusive paper trail; the ketubah is an integral part of the ceremony." Ziva felt like she was instructing a child, who had to have his own way. But in truth, her argument barely convinced herself. She slipped her hand from his grasp and ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. Slowly turning away from Tony, her shoulders slumped in defeat. How can she talk him out of what she half-wanted herself?
"Just so I'm clear on your answer, your only objection is to the ketubah, right?" He had to find solution because she was going to leave despite what happened here. Like a dying man gasping for each breath, he suddenly became the proverbial desperate man in desperate times. "Surely you must know a rabbi who could perform the ceremony without having the paper part. We can just verbalize what would be included in that. There has to be someone who can just preside over the vows. It doesn't need to be legally binding, but I want us to be married in the eyes of your God." Taking a deep slow breath as he rushed through that, not sure knowing how she'd take the drastic measures he'd just thought of. Now he could only stare at her back and hope.
"Shmeil." The name floated through the air like a whisper. If Tony didn't care that it wasn't legal, anyone could bless their union. Shmeil would be the perfect person. After all, he was who she turned to for spiritual guidance. But would he break from tradition for her? Ziva turned to face Tony again, this time smiling as she repeated, "Shmeil."
Tony hadn't realized he was holding his breath until she turned around with a possible solution on her lips. But when it was uttered, he looked up to the sky, closed his eyes and mouthed a thank you. Elated beyond belief, he practically danced forward to scoop her up and swing her around again and again.
Laughing at her partner, Ziva placed her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Things were moving so fast all of a sudden and she wanted to savor each moment as it came. It would be a long time again before they could be this joyous, so living each moment to the fullest also meant making memories that could withstand the long separation. That would come eventually, but for now, she needed to take a page from Tony's book and have some fun. Looking down into her favorite set of eyes, she grinned as though all was right with the world. "You're going to have to put me down eventually so I can contact him."
He let her slide down his body slowly, never losing her gaze. When they were face to face, he captured her lips again. The warmth of her lips matched the sun as he deepened his assault. She twined her fingers in his hair and countered. He didn't let up until he heard her moan against his mouth. "How quickly can he get here?" panted Tony.
Ziva had to leave the grounds to make the call, much to Tony's dismay, and promised not to be long. While she was gone, he went through the house looking for paper to write his thoughts. The two of them may have joked about not wanting to bother with things like vows and such around the time of Palmer's wedding, but now that Tony was facing his own, he didn't want to blow the opportunity. Finally, in a room that must have been Eli's office at one time, he found a desk that supplied him with some of the necessary essentials.
Getting comfortable in the office chair, he thought of all-things-wedding that were mentioned in that conversation. The vows-he was taking care of now; the kiss would happen naturally. Hmmm…he might not make it to the end of the ceremony if he kept thinking about that. Forcing himself to move on, he focused on what else was in that conversation, the ring.
What could he use for a ring? Back home Tony had his mother's ring, but that would have to wait until they do something official. Nothing in his movie repertoire made sense in the moment either, there was no bubble gum wrapper or twist tie in sight. It needed to be personal, but not overtly; something she could have with her but nothing identifiable. Sitting back, he pulled open the lower left drawer; it wasn't snooping if you didn't know what you were looking for, right? Forging on through the guilt, he moved a few things around and found nothing but papers, reports, and a few books. Did he really think he could find something that quickly or easily?
He went through the rest of the side drawers and came up with nothing. Glancing at his watch, he knew that Ziva would probably be back any minute and he was still one small circle short. Size 5 to be exact, if he remembered correctly. She mentioned it once sitting in her own desk back at the office. So many memories of her there; it was going to be tough working without her. He'd deal with that later as he shook his head clear. One more drawer and then he'd have to revert to ripping a page from Shakespeare or something. Ha! She'd probably stab him with a bookmark or something for desecrating a book, he thought to himself. Pulling open the middle drawer, there it was right in front of him the whole time, the perfect item. Smiling, he got to work on both his vows and her ring.
Ziva took a little longer than she originally thought. Once she reached Shmeil by phone, she had to bring him up to date on everything. She had already been in touch with him for help on who was targeting her, but he didn't realize she was back in Israel for the moment. She was a bit hesitant in relaying to him Tony's suggestion. Her apprehension vanished quickly as Shmeil only needed to know that it was her wish as well before agreeing. A bit unorthodox admittedly, but given the circumstances, he understood the need for a little improvisation. A quick promise not to be later than 2 hours and their conversation ended.
Without a sound, Ziva slipped back in to the house like a mouse. Curiosity had her wondering what had Tony so engrossed that he wasn't pacing the floor waiting for her return. As the main room and kitchen were void of any noise, she figured he had to be in one of the bedrooms or her father's office. The latter being closer, she opted to check there first. She stopped just short of a collision with her partner at the threshold as he was leaving the room.
Stuffing something in his right front jeans pocket, Tony reached out with his left hand to steady Ziva as she lost her balance in the near impact. "Woah, you came out of nowhere! Didn't hear you come back. I was just coming to check on you." He took a moment to gauge her demeanor before asking, "Were you able to get in touch with Shmeil?"
Ziva nodded her head and looked into his eyes, "Yes, he promised to be here as soon as possible. Tony, tell me I'm doing the right thing."
He embraced her and took a breath before saying, "Hey, don't feel you need to do this for me. If you're not ready…"
Interrupting, she quickly relieved his pain, "No, you misunderstand me. I want to do this. But am I putting us all in more danger by delaying my departure? And now with Shmeil coming out here, it is just one more person drawn into the line of fire."
Lifting her chin, Tony stared deeply into her beautiful, brown eyes. "You will be gone for who knows how long, so just give yourself, give us 24 more hours. We will be okay." He could feel her relaxing a bit in his arms and then he added, "Shmeil can take care of himself. And, well, I don't know if you know this about me." Whispering, he added, "but I'm a federal agent, shhh." He capped his speech with a wink and a nod for levity.
Chuckling, Ziva tightened her embrace in thanks. She could always tell him anything, no matter how embarrassing or personal. Right then she promised herself that would be the last time she would allow any self-pity or doubt for the next 24 hours. "Ok, I need to find something to wear then. Apparently, I am going to be a bride today and I have no attendants." She pushed him away and turned to go.
"Well, wait a second. Don't brides get a shower or something beforehand?" Tony mockingly clung to her hands. "That's something I'm sure I could help you with, if you need it. Even if you don't need it, I'm still volunteering to assist you in your pre-wedding shower ritual- thingy."
"Go away," Ziva tore her hands away before he could get too caught up in his 'volunteering' and shoved him in the direction of what was her parents' room. "Go raid my father's closet for a tie or something; there should be something in there you might like. Get yourself presentable and whatever you," she paused for a little dramatic effect. Then she smiled and gave him a smoldering gaze, "don't shave."