I am terribly sorry for updating this late, but I was literally incapable of writing a single coherent sentence after the news of July 10th. However, I am really glad I got to write this chapter eventually and end the fic properly. After all, I'm doing it for my readers as well, and they deserve a nice proper closure. This chapter is mostly Tiva fluff, so I hope you enjoy it, because we all need a bit of fluff and a happy ending.

Oh, also, in case you're interested, here is a list of songs that were the source of my inspiration while writing this fic (and the last chapter in particular):

Colbie Caillat ft. Gavin DeGraw - We Both Know
Sam Tsui - Bring Me The Night
Olly Murs - Dear Darlin'
Guy Sebastian - Battle Scars + Armageddon
Marianas Trench - Ever After
Trading Yesterday - May I
Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love

The truth was, Ziva wasn't leaving him, or her job. The only thing she desired to leave were the painfully vivid memories of her Mossad days. There was one place she needed to go to contemplate over her past, to find her faith, to save her soul.

Even though Israel reminded her of all the things she was trying to leave behind, it brought her closer to her religion and to her roots. There was no one from her family left in Israel though, there was no one waiting for her. Her family was now in America, and they might not have been related by blood, but she still loved them as if they were.

The first place she went to was the cemetery where her mother and her sister were buried. Ziva put flowers on their graves, and stood there for hours in tears, recalling the time they spent together. She also visited her father's and Ari's graves, feeling the necessity to make peace with both of them.

She spent the next few days travelling across the country, praying, reading the file from Ray over and over, and thinking. It felt almost like a detox; painful, but necessary.

Tony was doing a bit better, however, even he realized the need to get some alone time to work things out, so he took two months of vacation and went to uncle Vincenzo's beach house. As Ziva, he tried to make peace with himself, but in his case it wasn't through prayers and repenting, but through working on the house, drinking beer, watching movies and playing the piano. The house was full of memories, mostly happy ones, of the family he had, of the people he had loved, and the people he had lost. In other words, it was his own little Israel. And as with Ziva, Tony's vacation felt like a detox as well; a detox from her. Tony tried to convince himself that nothing good could possibly come from being in love with a co-worker, and he was determined to get her out of his head and be Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, a man of steel focused on his job and hot women. He was aware it wouldn'tbe easy to just get rid of his feelings for her (especially after eight years of them growing), but he was also aware it was absolutely necessary. He had been having feelings for her for years, but it didn't seem that their relationship was moving forward, even though he wanted to all those years.

The first two weeks were tough; he couldn't stop thinking about her and sometimes he was like "Oh screw it, I'm gonna call her.", but his stubbornness didn't let him. No, he came here to clear his head and start focusing on his job properly again. And even though he knew he couldn't just erase the feelings he had for Ziva, he had to let it go for the sake of them both. How hard could it be, keeping your feelings bottled up and waiting until they just disappeared? Well, it turned out it was going to be a lot harder than he had originally thought.

The work therapy felt great. He had cleaned the attic, redecorated most of the rooms, and then decided to repair the porch, which had taken him roughly three days.

It was late a Monday afternoon, the sun was lazily setting down and Tony was preparing things for a barbecue on the porch, because he was tired of eating in front of the television, so the sunset seemed like a nice change of scenery (and he wanted to spend as much time on the porch as possible, because he felt really proud of what he did with it). He brought the meat from kitchen and was about to turn on the grill, when he noticed a person walking on the beach towards the house. When he realized who it was, he almost dropped the bowl with meat.

"I told you I would come back." Ziva stopped just a few metres from the porch and looked at him, partly amused by his face expression, partly worried he would send her away.

When she last saw him, he was wearing a suit and he was...well, Special Agent DiNozzo. Now, she was looking at a man in a black T-shirt and scruffy jeans and stubble on his face. In that moment, he was just Tony.

"How did you-" He wanted to ask how she had found him, but he realized it was a stupid question right when he opened his mouth.

"You were not at home, so I figured you might be here."

"Yeah, here I am."

They stood there in silence for a few seconds. Then he put the meat on the table and walked down the few stairs to the beach.

She looked almost like the first time he met her: an exotic, mysterious woman with beautiful, wildly tousled curly hair.

"What are you doing here, Ziva?"

"I came home."

"To Maryland?"

"To you."

He bit his lip and looked away, chuckled silently, but put on a serious face once he looked at her again. "Don't ever do that again."

"What exactly?" She was getting seriously worried.

He made a few steps towards her. "Don't ever leave me again. I already almost lost you twice. I can't go through that again."

"You will not have to. I am here and I am not going anywhere."

He nodded lightly and then finally took her in his arms and kissed her. There was just so much in that kiss, all the feelings they had kept inside for years, all the love, the frustration, the fear. It was a sweet ending of one chapter and a passionate beginning of a new one.

When they stopped kissing to catch a breath, Ziva rested her head on his chest and he put his arms around her tightly, like he was worried she might disappear again. But Ziva wasn't going anywhere. She felt so peaceful and happy in his embrace, she would actually prefer not to pull away from him ever again.

It had been a long time since he had felt this good. Suddenly, everything was right, life made sense, and there might be an Apocalypse happening, but nothing would take away that incredible feeling he had when he held her in his arms. The world and its problems seized to exist.

"You must be tired."

"Actually, I am not tired at all, I slept on the plane," she raised her head so that she could look at him. "But I would really like to take a shower."

"Of course, come inside. I have hot water, food, alcohol and tons of film classics. Name it."

"Actually, there is something I want," she said as they were walking into the house, holding hands.

"What is it?"

She let go of his hand and put her bag on the couch. "I will tell you after I take that shower."

"Okay. Towels are on the first shelf in the closet. But you already know that," he smiled, as he remembered the last time they were there.

Tony cleaned up the living room a bit while she was in the shower, and he put the meat back in the fridge. It was really happening. She came back. She came back to him. All the thoughts about forgetting her and getting rid of the feelings for her vanished with the memory of her soft lips. How stupid of him, ever wanting to let go of the feelings!

When she came back, he was lighting a fire in the fireplace.

"I hope you do not mind that I borrowed your T-shirt again."

"What if I said I did?"

"Then I would probably have to take it off."

"In that case, I don't mind."

She raised her eyebrows a bit and came closer to him. "There were times you would beg me to take my clothes off."

"First, those times haven't ended yet. Second, I'd actually like to take it off myself."

"There is the Tony I know and love," she laughed softly and placed her hand on his chest.

Tony smiled, as he was leaning to her to kiss her again. This time, it was more passionate and somewhat more urgent. His hands were suddenly all over her body, as they started to move towards the staircase, when she pulled away from him.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked, slightly confused; she seemed to like it, so why would she stop? Oh please don't say we're taking it too fast. No one ever took it any slower than us.

"I want to show you something. You need to see it before anything happens."

"Okay, you're officially scaring me."

Ziva went to her bag, took a thick file out of it and handed it over to him.

"What is it?"

"Me. My past, everything. You have to know everything about me before you decide to be with me."

"It's the old Ziva."

"It is a part of me, Tony, and it always will be, even though it is a closed chapter of my life."

"Let me guess, a generous gift from Ray Cruz?"

"In this file, there are all my demons, all the hideous thing I did and you do not know about. It is my burden, but I have to share it with you. You deserve to know."

"Okay, let me say this," he took her hand and pulled her closer to him. "I love you. I love every single you. The ninja warrior, the Mossad assassin, the fearless NCIS agent, the fragile woman who messes up idioms. I accept and love them all, with all their demons and angels. Nothing that is in this file can make me love you less, it can only make me love you more, because you have been through so much and you are still such a strong, remarkable woman. You did bad things, but you also did a lot of good things. So, I don't care what is in this file. What I care about, is you." With those words, he threw the file in the fire.

"Tony!"

"What? I don't think the CIA will miss it."

"You don't know what was in there."

"I can imagine."

"I do not think you can."

"In case you didn't hear me, I love you despite all those things that were in there."

"I heard you, but-"

"What? Did you think I'd start hating you? After all we've been through? Come on, we're more than that."

"I am glad we are."

"Come here," he put his arms around her. "I still can't believe you're here."

"Your stubble is scratching my forehead," she mumbled in his neck.

"Sorry. I would've shaved if I had known I was gonna have a guest."

"It is okay, I am just teasing you. I actually like it."

"I look like a badass, don't I?" he smirked.

She pulled away a bit and looked at his face. "No, not really, sorry. But you are adorable," she smiled and wanted to give him a light peck on lips, but it turned to a more intense kiss, that kind that made her weak at her knees.

He began moving his hands down her back while kissing her with so much passion it almost freaked him out. He wanted her, he wanted to caress every inch of her body, but he didn't realize before just how strong his desire for her was.

Somehow, they got upstairs, maybe because the part of his brain that was still working convinced him to make the few extra steps because Ziva deserved something more comfortable than a quickie on the floor or on the couch. No, this was the night they've been waiting for so long, and she deserved to be treated like a lady.

When he took off her T-shirt, he stopped kissing her for a few seconds, astonished by her beauty. There was nothing more beautiful or more perfect than her. No one else existed at that moment.

There was only Ziva.

There would always only be Ziva.

It turned out Tony DiNozzo was a much better lover than she had ever imagined. Not that she... Well, yeah, she imagined it. Repeatedly. But now, when it actually happened, she was blown away. He was so loving, caring and passionate, it was almost too good. It was like they clicked immediately, there were no awkward moments, no hesitations.

When she woke up in the morning, her heart was still beating faster than usual. The feeling of happiness, the excitement and love they shared, it was all overwhelming. Tony was still sleeping, one hand on the blanket that Ziva was under, as he fell asleep while covering her at night. Or, maybe, he wanted to make sure she wouldn't leave in the morning, because he immediately woke up when she turned to her left side.

"Morning," he whispered in the pillow, looking at Ziva with one eye opened.

"Hello," she smiled almost shyly.

"Look who's blushing now," he teased her and yawned. "Did you sleep well?"

"Very well, yes. I wonder what the time is."

"Who cares? It's probably quarter past come here and let's stay in bed the whole day," he pulled her closer to him and kissed her shoulder.

"I am fine with that," she stroked his face and hid under his blanket. "Even though I am a bit hungry."

"Yeah, I'm starving," he laughed quietly in her hair. "I could make pancakes."

"Can we eat them in the bed?"

"Sure, we can do anything we want."

"Good," she cuddled up against him.

"You do realize I have to get up and go to downstairs to make the pancakes?"

"Mhmm."

"But you're not gonna let me go."

"No."

Tony smiled and gave her a kiss on the neck. "Then I guess I'll have to carry you with me," he wrapped her in the blanket and as he was getting off the bed, he took her in his arms and lifted her from the bed as well.

"Tony! Let me go!" she laughed, but put her arms around his neck.

"Never," he whispered in her ear and carried her downstairs.

Making breakfast took them a bit more than they thought it would. They started making out while preparing the ingredients for the dough, and ended up making love on the kitchen table. After that, Ziva went to take a shower, while Tony went back to making the breakfast.

"No cookbook?" she asked him when she came back from the shower.

"This is my mother's recipe. I learnt it from her when I was six. She made me pancakes every time I was sick or sad. Mum's pancakes always worked," he smiled at the frying pan.

"I hope you are not sick or sad now."

"No, I am actually very happy, which is why I decided to make a new tradition."

"Pancakes every time you are happy?"

He flipped one pancake over. "I guess that means I'm gonna have to make pancakes every time we have sex. Because you make me very happy," he turned to her and smirked.

"Well thank you, you are not so bad yourself."

"Is there something you didn't like?" he sounded worried.

He felt her breath on his neck, as she whispered to his ear "I am just teasing you, Tony. Besides, we have plenty of time to practice."

"We are going to eat the breakfast before we go back to...practising, right?"

"Sure," she smiled. "Where do you keep maple syrup?"

"W-what?"

"For the pancakes."

"Oh, right. For the pancakes. Um, it's on the top shelf in the larder."

He was watching her as she was setting the table while humming some melody, and he realized it was the first time ever he had seen her this carefree and happy. Eventually, he almost burnt a pancake because he couldn't get his eyes off her. It just felt so good to see her happy. He couldn't possibly be any more in love with her, or so he thought at that moment.

It was amazing, waking up next to her. He loved making her breakfast, or watching her making dinner. He absolutely loved how she could be cuddly and tender one minute and wild and passionate the next.

She adored how loving he was, all protective and romantic, but at the same time playful and teasing. She loved how he either made her blush or laugh.

Every day, it kept getting better. They cooked together, swam in the ocean, went for long walks on the beach, while talking about movies, God, aliens and just anything that came up to their minds. In the evenings, they were drinking wine, and playing the piano. He opened up to her and told her more about his mother, and then Ziva shared with him a few moments from her childhood and the time she spent with Tali. She opened up to him like she hadn't to anyone in her life before. She also let go of her constant need for self-control, and loosened up a bit.

They had so much fun together; it felt like it was never going to end, like they were in a loop of happiness.

Then one morning, Tony's phone woke them up.

"Ughhh, I thought I turned that thing off," he growled and reached for it. "McGee, I know it's you. Did you turn my phone on remotely? Is that even legal?"

"Actually, it's me, DiNozzo," he heard Gibbs' voice. "Your vacation ends tomorrow, so I'm expecting to see you on Monday back here in DC. Just in case you...forgot."

"Uh...sure, boss, I'll be there. 6am sharp."

"Good. And tell Ziva to get her ass here as well," he said and then hung up. Too bad Tony couldn't see the grin on his face.

"What did he say?" Ziva yawned and looked at Tony, whose face turned pale.

"I think he knows you're here."

"That is not good."

Then, Tony put his phone down and suddenly, he smiled and turned to Ziva. "You know what? I don't care. Screw rule number twelve. I'm not giving this up. Even if it costs my job."

"I am sure we can make this work so that no one has to quit their jobs. Again. But it impresses me that you would give up your job just to be with me."

"Of course I would, I thought I made that clear...many times. But I'm sure we can make it work. We can do anything together."

The End...?

I'd like to thank you all, my wonderful readers, thanks for the time you spent with my fic, I hope you liked it, and thank you for all those lovely reviews!

I've been thinking of writing a kind of "sequel", because getting together is not an end, but actually a start of something new, and I think it might be quite entertaining to see the two of them trying to make things work - with Gibbs, with their job and with each other.

So, please, let me know if you'd be interested in reading that. (feel free to suggest some ideas as well)