"Oh I ate too much," Tony groaned.

"You did order three main meals!" Ziva reminded him. Would he ever be able to act like an adult, she wondered.

"I just couldn't decide and we are only here the one night so I had to try everything" he defended himself.

Ziva felt she had been a little harsh with him. "It is ok, I understand. I can not choose desserts. Here, everything is good and when you think you have decided, you see something that looks just as good."

"We can share if you like." Tony offered. "You choose yours and I will choose mine. Two. And we can have some of everything."

"Ok." she agreed. They placed their order with the waiter and sat in silence for some minutes. It was not an awkward silence but there were clearly things which each of them was avoiding bringing up.

After Tony had finished off both their desserts, he leaned back in his chair and let out she same groan as he had when he finished dinner.

"Perhaps a walk?" suggested Ziva. "You go and pay while I send Abby's postcard. I saw a box further back up the street."

This is not as hard as I thought it would be, Ziva thought to herself as she walked. He is less annoying than he usually is. Thoughtful almost. Perhaps I have not been hiding my secret as well as I thought after all she admitted.

"Where shall we walk to?" Tony asked after they met up again.

"The river?" Ziva suggested. "You said you wanted to see lights. You will be amazed, I promise."

"The river it is then." He handed her her grey coat and they began to walk towards the Seine. "I've had a great day," Tony admitted. "I know you disapprove of my touristy behaviour but just wait until you see my pictures!"

"I am sure they will be lovely." she assured him. "Once McGee loads them on your Facebook page"

"How did you...?" Even after all these years, he was still astounded by her ability to read him. "Well, that is what the McUSB hub is for. He loves it."

"That is true" she admitted. "He is never more in his element than when he is typing codes into a computer. You know he could empty our bank accounts in a second if he wanted to?"

"What about me?" Tony asked. "What is my element?"

"You are not so easy." Ziva would have to be careful how she said this. "You like cases when they are hard. You live for the adrenaline. You do complain a lot but I know you love it."

"The weirder the better. Oh, I am beginning to sound like Abby. That's not good. And what of you, my little Israeli ninja. What is your element. Stealth, an all seeing eye and you have an iron will when it comes to your job." At least you used to before...he thought to himself.

"It used to be that nothing could get by you. But sometimes, I think you are not as onto things as you used to be."

"Perhaps," she evaded the true meaning of his statement, "That is because I am tired and currently homeless in a foreign city."

"Oh, your room!" Tony remembered, taking her cue to avoid the topic of her traumatic summer. "We need to get back so you can check in and..."

"That is ok, we have enough time. We are not far from the river now and you really must see it at night. It is like a..."

"Fairytale, you said. You also said that this was not a vacation but you seem to be enjoying yourself well enough. I know I am glad to have you here with me. To see things that I would have missed. Like the park this afternoon. That was great. You make me stop and take time to soak things up."

"And you," Ziva said "Make me get out and do things when I want to be a home bunny"

"Body," he corrected. "Home body. But you are right. We make a good team."

They had reached the last block before the river now and as they crossed the road, Tony thought to himself This has been ok. She is not herself for sure but she is not snapping my head off. It is hard to tell these days what mood she will be in.

"There!" she interrupted his thoughts. "I told you it was not far."

Tony was speechless. NotreDame Cathedral lit against the night sky was almost the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Ziva leant on the sandstone wall, the other side of which was a steep drop to the dark water below. A sad look came over her face. "Dozens of people throw themselves into this river every year, Tony. People who have given up the will to live. Given up and not been rescued."

She turned towards him. "I know how hard it must have been for you, all those months thinking I was dead. I think you blamed yourself, just as you blamed yourself after Jenny was killed."

She looked up to his face and saw a softness there that she had not been expecting.

"I know you have nightmares, Ziva." He challenged her. "I know you don't sleep well anymore. I see you trying to cover it with makeup. Which by the way does suit you rather well. But you can't hide the sadness I see in your eyes sometimes."

She shivered. The movement did not go unnoticed by her partner. He stepped closer, wondering if she was cold or if she remembering the things they had done to her. There had been a time where she wondered if her face even looked like a face anymore. They had beaten her more times than she thought she could stand.

"That is why," she admitted, "I have always said I would rather be..."

"Don't." Tony stopped her, putting a finger to her lips. "I know you always said that you would rather die than be captured. I used to think so too. But since they caught me, I am glad that I was not killed. It was satisfying to see that bastard lying on the ground."

"But you chose to be captured." Ziva objected stepping back from him. "You had a plan, kind of, and you wanted it. I never expected..." She trailed off. "Not here. Not now. This time is for you, to see your Paris. See a fairytale city."

Tony knew that the topic was closed for now. But this was the most she had spoken of her ordeal since she came home five months ago. This is good. He thought to himself. She will talk soon, when she is ready.

"You know what?" Tony asked, his voice deliberately light as he tried to change the mood for her. "I think Paris is mis-named. They call this place the city of love but I think it should be the city of bridges. Look at them all. One, two, three..."

"There are thirty-seven, DiNozzo" she interrupted him. She pointed to one to their left. "That one there is St Michael bridge. If we cross it, you can look around Notre Dame before we go back."

"I'd like that." he said. "You know, I think this thing with Paris and me is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Casablanca" she said, as she took a small step sidewards to bump him with her shoulder. "I knew you would like it."

"Oh I do." he answered, leaning his elbow casually her shoulder. "Very much"