(I know, I 's been to long.... SORRYa!!! this isa sort onebecause i'm so tired.

enjoy!!!!

Chapter 10

"You know you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Tony said gallantly, hoping that she'd tell him anyway.

"It is alright. It is time you knew. It all happened before I joined Mossad, well sort of. My father had me training to be a Mossad assassin since I was very young. When I met Abel when I was 16. He showed me that there was more to life then knifes and strategic planning. When I was 19 he proposed to me, we were very much in love and he offered me a life very different to the one my father did. My father accepted my choice as he was from a good Jewish family who were very influential."

"So what happened then?"

"Do you remember when we were on that case where that Lawyer, Sean someone…"

"Arh, Yes Sean Oliver." Tony said gazing into thin air a small smile appearing on his face as he obviously thought about her.

"Yes, that was her." Ziva replied, bitterness in her voice. "We found a decapitated head and I said to you that it was harder when you knew him?" Ziva's voice was shaky and she was clearly finding it difficult to continue.

"You don't have too Ziva."

"No, I do. A week before we were due to be married his head was sent to me. It was a message."

"That's when you joined Mossad?"

"Yes. My father convinced me it would help me deal with his death and that one day I'd be able to avenge his death. It was the only other life I'd known and I never wanted to feel life that again, so weak so useless. So heartbroken… So vulnerable."

"I'm so sorry."

"Us being married brought back all my feelings of fear and guilt that I hadn't protected him, maybe if I'd just joined Mossad he might still be alive. I went back to Israel to apologise to him, to tell him about you, and tell him that I hope he understood that it was finally time for me to move on, return my ring to his mother. It was his grandmother's and I didn't think it was right for me to have it still. Not when I'm in love with another man."

"that must have been rough on you. I wish I'd known. I could have come with you, helped you or something."

"No. it was something I needed to do by myself."

"I really hate to ask this, I don't want to make all this about me, but where do we stand now? Is everything alright.. you know… with us?"

"well, I'm guessing that you signed the papers." She said, unsure if it was a question or a statement.

"Yeah I did."

"I'm so sorry I didn't understand your point of view. I just never wanted to be like my father. Constantly ending marriages. Never content. It was Classic DiNozzo Senior. I just hated it. I'd always seen what happened to his ex-wives, how he treated them, I never wanted to treat anyone, especially you like that. I couldn't see the big picture."

"You don't have to be anyone you don't want to be. One thing can not make you your father."

"But were all good?"

"Yes Tony we are good. We are better then ever, I've put my past behind me, and I'm ready to move on, ready for anything."

"That's good to hear."

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Tony and Ziva shared a perfect day after that. They shared everything about their pasts. At 1600 hours Ziva was feeling extremely jet lagged, Tony could hardly believe that she had fallen asleep during the Italian Job, but she had. He covered her body with a blanket and then quietly left the room, picking up his jacket and his keys as quietly as he could trying hard not to wake his exotic princess. He took his wallet of the hall table and placed it in his back pocket. He grabbed the phone message pad that McGee had given him as a gag gift and wrote on it, 'if you wake up, I've gone to sort out dinner, Love you. Tony.' He moved over to the couch and kissed her lightly on her forehead. "I'll be back soon," he whispered, and placed the note in front of her on the coffee table. He then walked out the door, gently closing it behind him and left her alone to get some much needed rest.

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Ziva slowly opened her eyes. She'd been asleep now for 4 hours. It was most unlike her to suffer from jet lag, but it had been an emotionally draining week. She pulled her feet of the couch and sat up. Being winter, it was now dark at this time of night, and the only light was emanating from the kitchen where Tony was listening to Sinatra, singing along to the words. She walked closer and peered in. Tony was preparing food, she smirked, alerting him to the fact she was awake. "Arh, she awakes." He stated.

"And you are wearing a suit." It was one of her favourite suits. A well tailored black suit with a black skinny tie. He looked dashing and swarve even debonair. "Did I miss something?"

"Well you were close to missing dinner, but you're awake now, you might just make it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you can't go to Caffe DiNozzos' looking like you just woke up it is after all a classy establishment. Now go freshen up and get changed."

"The only clothes I have here are just like this, pants and sweaters."

"Is that so? Perhaps you should just go and see if you can scrounge something."

"But…"

"Arh-ar-arh." He flicked his hand to signal that she should just go. "go… go, go." Ziva looked at him curiously as she turned leaving the room. She walked down the hall and opened the door to the bedroom. The room was lit with candles, in the corner of the room there was a new, full length, freestanding mirror. Over it hung a pair of tan pants, and a warm blue, v-neck, light knit jumper with boots placed on the floor under it. There was also a knee length, strapless, midnight black dress. It looked as though it would hug her torso then fell to a graceful skirt, at the base of the skirt was the slightest bit of white embroidery. It was sexy, but not in an excessive skin type of way. It was classic and beautiful. Ziva pulled off Tony's basket ball jersey and slid the dress on. At the base of the mirror were a pair of black, bullet toed heals, stepping into them she felt tall, confident and beautiful. She moved over to the dresser and picked up her brush to fix her hair. There, sitting next to her brush were two beautiful sets of earring, one set were studs and the others were long drops. A post-it note sat between them, it simply said 'You choose.' She considered carefully, picked up the studs, they were more her style, then glanced once more at the drops changing her mind she had figured that with a new era of her life started she should try to embrace new things.

She brushed her now very long, flowing hair, straightening it out then searched through her backpack finding her shiny black headband, tucking it behind her ears they sliding it past her forehead before it rested neatly on her head. She took a step back from the mirror, and admired what she looked like. One side of her mouth curled up in a slight smile. Tony had chosen well, and the fact he'd given her a choice spoke volumes to her. He knew her, he respected her and loved her no matter what she wore. She picked up her travel wallet and carefully pulled out the photo of Abel and herself. "I never thought I'd feel this way again," she whispered as if talking to him. "He's a good man and he's taught me how to love again, I'm not frightened anymore. This is long over due, but thank you Abel," She lightly ran her recvindex finger over his face. "Goodbye." She folded up the photo and placed it back inside the travel wallet. She berried it deep inside her pack then left the room ready to find Tony and start fresh, no guilt, no fear, just love.

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