Author's note:
My dear readers, welcome to my favourite time of the year! Autumn!
Let me thank you all for being so amazing about the last chapter. It always makes me smile when I can make other people happy. :)
My first words, as always, will be dedicated to guest reviewers. To one of them that 'loved the references to the past' – thank you so much, I'm glad you liked that.
And my dear, always faithful, Debbie – jealous Tony is always a treat to write. ;) Really happy with how you saw the chapter because that was the way it was supposed to be – light and joyful. Back to more serious stuff now? ;)
Huge shout-out to Lipush for helping me to choose the location and her wonderful insight into Israel in general.
Giant thanks to my sister, Athina. She helped me to fill in the gaps in this chapter and looked over all the stuff I described.
So, here we are, another chapter ahead of us – I won't keep you anymore from reading it. Go!
Christmas Meeting – Chapter 21
Warning: This chapter is not edited, neither checked for errors by Beta. All mistakes are mine. So, please take this into account, thank you. As you know, English is not my first language, so I apologize beforehand for all errors and mistakes.
Ziva instructed Tony to park the car in front of the four-storey apartment building that was on the corner of the Max Brod Street and Alexander Sasha Argov Street in Ganei Tzahala neighbourhood in Tel Aviv. She got out of the vehicle and pointed out the roof apartment to show him where she lived for now. They ran up the stairs together and went inside, taking the elevator up to her floor, stopping in front of the door to the apartment.
They immediately heard scratching of dog's paws against the cherry wooden door with silver doorknob and tireless barking behind it. Ziva pulled up for a moment, realizing that she should brief Tony about Rex and tell him how to behave because Rex was really protective over his "pack" and Ziva had been included in it for a long time already. She didn't want her boyfriend to get hurt.
They heard some yelling behind the door, presumably caused by some wrestle between the dog and its owner. "You can come in, I'm holding him!" Terri's muffled voice informed them, figuring out who was on the other side.
Ziva unlocked the door and entered the apartment, greeting Terri and telling Tony to keep standing at the door until she would greet with the dog. He listened to her, considering that he and German Shepherds hadn't always been great friends. Instead, he took into his surroundings and had to fight the urge to open his mouth wide because what he saw wasn't something he had expected.
The main apartment area was classical loft space with living room, dining area and the kitchen, all decorated in red, brown and green colours. The flooring was made out of cherry hardwood and the walls were white. On his right side, there was a shoe cabinet in dark brown wood-like design with four compartments. His left side was occupied by a giant dark brown dog bed with embroidered 'Rex' in yellow letters on it.
In front of him, there was a red-green rug with decent drawn leaves. Ziva was currently kneeling on it as she cuddled with the dog who was overjoyed to see her, licking her and jumping on her to show his excitement. Terri was leaning against a fluffy light-green armchair that matched the couch behind her. It was a little living room area with dark brown wooden coffee table with small drawers and matching living room wall with numberless shelves and a big hole for TV and other electronics. In the corner, they had a nice, artificial Christmas tree with gold, green and red decorations.
His look, just as Ziva's, fell on the classic, simple black piano between the couch and the shoe cabinet. Their luggage was down there, apparently put there by the Mossad agents. Ziva looked up apologetically at Terri to apologize silently for the intruders who had definitely had to walk through this door. She cursed herself for not texting Terri about it and informing her beforehand. She had been too angry with Orli for thinking about such little details.
Terri followed their looks and rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not saying that the early morning visit from the pair of mystery men in suits was pleasant." She commented, recalling the feeling of shock when those two had barged into the apartment, put the luggage down and taken Ziva's car keys. "But you know me. Your past and your privacy are yours. Unless it threatens my life or the lives of people I care about, I'm not asking any questions."
Ziva sent her a grateful warm look, although she'd already decided to uncover part of her past to her roommate today. She had no doubt that introducing Tony to Terri would lead to questions about his job, his past with Ziva and so on, so it was probably time to stop hiding and show trust towards her new friends. Luckily, despite being often nosy about Ziva's life (especially when it came to men), Terri had respected her silence over her former life so far.
She then took Rex's head and rubbed his ears to which the dog responded with a blissful pant. "Will you be a good boy, Rex?" Ziva asked him and he peered his smart, chocolate brown eyes on her. "Because I want you to meet someone and I want you to be nice."
Terri smiled at Tony who tore his gaze away from the cherry wooden kitchen bar that separated the living room area from the kitchen and dining area, with three dark brown bar stools with light green padding. "He's a real sweetie, but you have to gain his trust first. So don't fear him or he will sense it." She advised to him as Ziva stood up, taking Rex by his collar to stop him from dashing off, and beckoning Tony to come closer to the dog.
Tony nodded and made a decisive step forward, putting on his brave face. Rex's body stiffened, his tail stopped moving and it was obvious that he was closely observing the stranger in front of him, trying to read him while pondering his next move. He felt the collar being held by one of his pack members and that calmed him down a little. It didn't seem that his pack was hostile to the stranger, quite the contrary.
He started to growl as the stranger neared him but refrained from barking. Something told him that his pack wanted him to welcome this unfamiliar person. Besides, he felt respect from the stranger and no fear. It was clear from how the person stopped in front of him in respectful distance, giving them both the chance to back off if it was needed. He stretched out his head in curiosity and waited.
Tony held out his hand towards the dog according to the advices of both women and Ziva eased up the grip she held on the collar. Rex made a step forward and started to sniff Tony's hand, his whole body still on the alert. Tony smiled at the touch of his wet nose as the dog's muzzle kept hitting against his hand as Rex tried to digest all the smells he could sense, making another step towards the stranger.
He then licked Tony's hand and took a step back with his right paw in the air. He looked up at the stranger as if he judged him whether he was worthy or not of his trust. None of the present ones in the room dared to breathe as they waited for Rex's verdict. It was just a fleeting moment, just a couple of seconds, yet the situation was that suspenseful. To their relief, Rex suddenly barked happily and wagged his tail friendly like a madman.
Tony kneeled down and started to rub Rex's fur which the dog excitedly welcomed it, happy that he had a new human to play with. "Wow... This is for the first time I've seen him to accept someone so quickly." Terri commented in awe as Ziva stretched her body, yawned and sat herself on the bar stool, glad that she was finally home.
"I bet he smells Ziva on you." Terri expanded her musings and looked directly at Tony. "Did you take a shower after having sex with Ziva on that yacht, Tony?"
"Terri!" Ziva snapped at her roommate but she didn't miss Tony's amused smirk as he played with the dog.
"What?" Her roommate protested in feigned shock. "Jeez! Such a brazen woman, yet so puritan about her own personal life."
She muttered something about going to make a coffee into the kitchen as Ziva sent Tony an apologetic smile but he waved all of it with his hand, not minding the question at all. He was just glad that the dog had accepted him, although he could see that Rex was still watchful just in case he had misinterpreted his owner's wish to be amicable to this man. Either way, both were glad that they had found a new friend.
"Oh, Tony! I have to introduce to another member of this household." Terri suddenly exclaimed, making Ziva stiffen as she'd totally forgotten about it.
"Really? Which one?" Tony stood up and patted Rex for one last time and Rex then shifted his attention back to Ziva.
However, Ziva turned away from him too, ignoring his attempts to get her attention as she tried to sign Terri not to give away her secret. Meanwhile, Tony crossed the rest of the space into the kitchen and dining area, inspecting the cherry wooden kitchen units matching the bar with all of their necessary equipments from white fridge to sink, from white dishwasher to white stove, dark brown countertop and white microwave.
He remained standing on another stylish rug in green, red and light brown colours with decorative leaves on it and saw that in the area between the bar and the kitchen units, there was a dark brown wooden kitchen table covered with white tablecloth and with six comfortable chairs with white padding to sit on. In front of him, there was wooden cherry door with a vertical glass panel on its left half that lead to the pantry. On his right side, there was the same door that lead on to the corridor.
Terri didn't register Ziva's attempts to pay attention to her and went over to Tony. Ziva stood up and went to stand behind Tony's back, knowing that she couldn't clearly hint anything if she was in his line of sight. "Say hello to our little friend." Terri said with a wink and pointed her finger at the fishbowl standing on a little dark brown cabinet with little white stones on the bottom and a single, yet spreading plant.
Tony's eyes popped out when he saw the cute goldfish swimming around the fishbowl, smiling at the sight. "Ah, a goldfish! That's awesome, I have two on my own." He commented and Ziva frowned as she knew only about one fish. Has Tony gotten another one? She didn't relent in her attempts to sign Terri to pass the fish's name over in silence, though, or come up with some fake name.
"What's its name?" Tony asked, crouching down in front of the bowl to pull faces on the goldfish, scratching Rex's head that came to him in curiosity so he could watch the fish with his new friend, too.
Terri pursed her lips in an amused smirk and looked at Ziva who was begging her to make up some different name. "Tony." She answered proudly, watching as Ziva stooped her shoulders in resignation and sent a hateful look in Terri's direction. There couldn't be any doubt about who had been the inspiration for the fish's name.
"Oh." Tony commented it, not quite knowing what to say.
"You see, I love Al Pacino." Terri winked at Ziva to show her that she had a backup plan. She might have often been too reckless but she wasn't a bad person and insensitive to overlook her friend's pleas. "And when we got this fish together with Ziva, I just thought..."
"Tony Montana. Scarface. 1983, directed by Brian De Palma." Tony immediately answered and rose back on his legs which gave Ziva enough space to sigh in relief without being noticed.
"You really know your way around movies as Ziva said." Terri playfully smacked his arms and went to finish their coffees.
They all sat down on the couch to drink the caffeine beverages in peace with Rex sprawled in front of the TV to guard his pack. They lightly chatted about the events of today's morning, Tony and Ziva's trip to Haifa and the university, and also about what they had been doing in Prague. Terri shared some details about the engagement as she was excited to talk about it, happy that her dreams finally might come true.
She told them how David had come to her, completely distraught because he had had the greatest argument with his parents behind him who had come to visit him on Christmas season. When she'd asked him about the argument while consoling him, he had confessed that he had told his parents what he was going to do, whether they approved it or not. Then, he had pulled out the ring and said that it had been damn worth it if she had agreed to be his wife. That he had been tired of living up to their expectations and that he had finally wanted to do things his way.
Terri knew that the proposal hadn't been one of those dreamlike ones, but she couldn't care less. For her, it was important that her boyfriend had finally opposed to his parents and realized that his life choices were rightfully only his. Now, he wanted to share them with her. So, when he had asked her if she would have married him even though he was about to become a disinherited outcast as he was sure that his parents wouldn't forgive him all the things he had regale them with, she had said 'yes' without any hesitation.
After this little chat, Terri left for the kitchen to start preparing the dinner, texting David to buy some wine on his way here after he was finished at work. She had a surprise to make for the fellow couple so she forbid to Ziva to come to the kitchen who just shook her head but agreed. She had a lot of work in her room anyway, although she had a pair of helping hands in the form of her boyfriend.
She took Tony's hand and opened the door on the corridor and Tony felt like stepping inside a shrine of the State of Israel. The carpet on the floor was white with blue, flower-like decorations. The walls were white with two thick blue stripes on each wall. Only the Star of David was missing, really. On the left, there was a door to the common toilet, while on the right, there was a door to the utility room. In front of them, there were two simple dark brown wooden doors leading into two bedrooms.
Ziva lead him to the doors on the right near the utility room, hesitating all of a sudden as her hand landed on the silver doorknob. She turned around and leaned against the door, looking up at him unsurely. "Uhm... This is my bedroom." She announced awkwardly, clasping her hands behind her back.
"And?" Tony prompted, not sure why she was making such a fuss over it. It wasn't like he'd never been in her bedroom before.
"Well, just as your apartment is your sanctuary," she started to explain, "my bedroom is my sanctuary."
"Ah, I see." Tony commented, crossing the arms over his chest, enjoying this too much than he should. "So, do I need to obtain some sort of special permit to enter? Shall I submit my security clearance? Be subjected to security check? Provide my statutory declaration about my clean record?"
She burst out laughing because he'd said all those words with such a straight face that she couldn't but find it funny. "I swear on my movie collection that I have never stolen anything from anyone's room." He raised his right hand as if he was taking an oath.
"Okay, I'm lying." He confessed with feigned penitence. "I once stole a car toy from my friend's room when I was six. He constantly bragged about having it that I just wanted to give him a lesson. I returned it after a week, so it wasn't actually a theft."
Still giggling, she smacked him across his chest playfully to punish him for teasing her. "I didn't mean that way!" She protested with a smile but then she put on her serious face. "I just wanted to say that you shouldn't read much into certain things you'll see."
He narrowed his eyes at her, her statement instantly increasing his curiosity. "Okay." He simply answered and pulled out his angel face.
She stood up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on his cheek in gratefulness and turned back around to open the door to her bedroom. Tony fell in love with it immediately. It was in an L-shape, with an en suite that completed the L into a cube. The cherry wooden flooring from the loft area continued up to here and the whole bedroom was decorated in cherry wood with combination of yellow colour that covered the walls.
Right in front of him, there was a door to the bathroom and what bathroom it was. Tiles in an ochre colour covered the walls in rows and lines, while the floor was made in diamond shapes. At the end of the bathroom, just below a window, there was a large bathtub, perfect for soaking up after a long and exhausting day. Next to it, there was a shower enclosure for quick washing.
The left side was occupied by cherry wooden cabinets full of hygienic supplies, sink and giant mirror on the wall. The wooden towel holder full of small and large towels was on the opposite side with a wooden basket next to it. The toilet with cherry wooden toilet seat had a place right next to the door, separated by a diving wall to give a person more privacy, although the only one who used it was Ziva.
The wall on the left between the entrance door and bathroom was occupied by a large closet in a special alcove, providing enough space for all the clothes Ziva owned. There were two racks for coat hangers on the left and one rack on the right. The middle was filled with shelves for jumpers, sweaters, sweatshirts and small wardrobe with four drawers for other garments.
In the corner opposite the entrance door, there was a simple, comfortable yellow armchair that Ziva mostly used for placing the clothes she wanted to either use or put away. Further in the room, the whole right side was covered with a bookcase, one of those ancient rosewoods ones so one almost felt like being in an ancient library. He wasn't surprised to see tens of books there, ordered according to their subject matter or author.
The space between the bookcase and the rest of the L shape was filled with a yellow rug with simple, flower-like brown decorations. The solid, cherry wooden bed with yellow linen and two matching nightstands on each side, was placed between two windows. Opposite the bed, there were low-level cupboards with TV on it and many souvenirs she had brought from her travels, just as photos she had taken.
In the corner, there was a cherry wooden desk with drawers where Ziva usually kept her laptop and a comfy office chair. He could see study materials neatly ordered on the desk, so he figured that it was her study corner. It stood by a window on the neighbouring wall with a large balcony door leading to an average balcony with a simple deckchair and a table and a folded up clothes horse.
What immediately caught his attention was the large framed photo above her bed. It captured Abby hugging Ziva tightly around her neck with McGee standing behind her with his arm on her shoulder and the other one on Ziva's shoulder, while Tony stood behind Ziva, his spread arms around McGee's and Ziva's shoulders. They created a little friendly pack like that.
He remembered clearly the moment this photo had been taken. Christmas three years ago when his father had come to town to spend the holidays with him. Senior took the photo but Tony had never gotten it. Now, he finally knew who had the possession of it. Even though the photo on the wall was enlarged, Ziva had to have the original smaller one to get this larger one done.
He stared at it, studying the natural smiles they all had and mused over how happy he had felt at that moment. Ziva left him to his daydreaming, unpacking her baggage so she could sort out the clothes she wanted to wash before leaving to D.C. The rest went on pile of clothes that would come inside the baggage again during the packing. She had no time to spare, she felt as if she needed to pack so many things that she had no idea where to put them.
Tony flopped down on her bed, his gaze falling on a smaller photo in a frame placed on the nightstand. He smiled widely and took the photo in his hands, running his fingers over it. He remembered this photo very well, too, especially because he had the exact same photo in his apartment. His heart was suddenly filled with familiar warmth as the placement of the photo and the simple fact of its existence proved that she really had missed him.
He loved everything about the photo that was taken such a long time ago in Paris. The grey filter so the photo was only black, grey and white of the two of them, sitting uprightly on a motor scooter. His hands on the handlebars while Ziva sat behind him, her right hand around his waist to keep her balance. His cocky smile with his shades on, while she conjured up a lovely, true Mona Lisa smile. Her hair wasn't curled the way he loved it, it was straighten but he couldn't care less, honestly. She looked stunning anyway.
He remembered on which occasion the photo had been taken, as well. Ziva had accused him, just like Nora later, that his photos had been soulless, without any sign of anything living. He had argued with her that he was able to take a lively photo but he had never had the chance, considering that she had threatened him that if he had taken any photo of her without her permission, she would have made him to pay for it until the end of his life. She'd had enough trouble with the bikini photos he had once taken to let him photograph her as he pleased.
Eventually, he had convinced her to take a photo together and because he'd fallen in love with the scooter, he had thought that it was the best place to do so. Not only he'd had her close to him, but it had been a great snapshot of their activities in Paris. A very lovely old man had agreed to take the photo for them, so they had just arranged themselves on the scooter and posed for a couple of seconds.
He put the photo back on the nightstand and noticed the book that was there, too. He saw the name of the author Franz Kafka on the spine of the book and took the book into his hands with interest. It was The Castle novel and he smiled at the vision of Ziva lying on this very bed and reading this very book in preparation to leave for the Czech Republic and spend some time in Prague.
"The best way to know the soul of another country is to read its literature."
He saw that she was about half way through the book as the edge of the bookmark was sticking out. In general curiosity, he opened the book on the page where the bookmark was and froze. The bookmark wasn't something he would expect at all. It was a photo and not just some ordinary photo. It was photo of his younger version in his first year in NCIS. If he recalled correctly, it was one of the photos that was taken on the day when he had joined his current job.
Why would she use this particular photo as a bookmark? Sure, he looked good on that photo, he knew it. It had that 'James Bond' feeling to it as he had felt almost like Agent 007 when he had traded his old cop days for fresh federal agent ones. But how could she obtain it? The photo was part of his personal file in NCIS, so unless she had stolen it years ago when she had been still in the U.S., there was no way for her to acquire it since she hadn't been in contact with anyone.
"Where did you get this?" He asked her, holding the photo out for her to see it, when she appeared back in the bedroom after stuffing the first load of dirty clothes into the washing machine.
She gulped visibly but then decided not to make a big thing about it. "Orli gave it to me with pleasure from the dossier Mossad keeps on you."
"You took a photo of me from a dossier I have in Mossad?" He repeated after her, stressing every word for himself to ascertain that it was real.
She shrugged and leaned against her desk to face him properly. "I told you I missed you." She replied in coolly calm tone. "I meant it."
He stared at her for a couple of seconds motionlessly. Her unforced calmness unsettled him as if she wasn't talking about herself. He looked down on the photo and slowly closed the book, rubbing its binding. Then he put it back on the nightstand, his gaze falling again on the framed photo in Paris. He honestly didn't know what he had expected. But to see how much she had actually missed him made a hole into his heart.
He completely ignored her advice not to read much into certain things he would see. Because all of this signed how much she had suffered from her departure and he couldn't stand her hurting. Not because of him. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to sort out his thoughts while she patiently observed him. She gave up on covering her grief because it simply wasn't needed anymore. She wanted to live the present, not the past.
He stood up eventually and went over to her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Why didn't you call then?" He asked the natural question that was running through his mind for the whole time since he had met her but had not asked yet. "Wrote an email? Ask for the photo?"
For a second, she felt intimated by his interrogation, having the urge to snap at him and walk away. But then she admitted that he had a right to ask these questions. Their relationship was of a different nature now. And it actually surprised her that he hadn't asked them yet. "You think I never tried?" She replied with another question. "Because I did."
She walked past him and seated herself on the bed, tucking her legs under her while he only turned around and remained standing. "I can't even count how many times I dialled your numbers but hung up before the call could be connected." She confessed, her voice suddenly sounding very distant. "How many emails I wrote but never send them. Just as letters and postcards."
He went over to the bed and kneeled in front of it, so he could take her hands and console her in some way. Sooner or later, she had to reveal what she'd gone through while dealing with her departure. After all, it was hard not to stumble over the evidence while being in this very room. He had confessed to almost everything he'd done, including having a girlfriend he didn't love. Now it was her turn.
"Countless times I booked the flight ticket, but always cancelled it a few hours before the takeoff." She added further and her eyes glistened with a teary wetness she refused to let through. "The feeling of guilt was just too overwhelming."
She looked down at him, melting in his warm, loving gaze. It made her happy that he wasn't angry with her, but just patiently waited for an explanation he deserved. His understanding nod gave her even more confidence and she smiled, leaning into the hand he placed on her cheek to caress her face. That was exactly what she needed and what she'd been afraid of she would never get if she just showed up in D.C. one day.
"And it's not that overwhelming now?" He asked naturally. He couldn't help but wonder what had changed her mind and if she really was ready to return to the United States and face all the problems she had left behind. He wanted her to go back with him, of course, but he also didn't want to force her to do something she wasn't ready for. Although he was dreading the case she would stay here and he would depart to D.C.
She shrugged her shoulders and took his hand on her cheek so she could kiss his palm gently. "I have you with me." She answered and he smiled, gently squeezing the wrist of her other hand. "I redeemed in the eyes of the person I hurt the most. And that is actually the only thing I care about."
He stared at her for a while, realizing what her confidence and belief in him meant for her. If it hadn't been for his undying love for her, she would have never even considered returning back. He leaned in and softly captured her lips in a slow, loving kiss. She sighed into it in pleasure, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring his head closer so she could inspect the delicious corners of his mouth.
If she didn't know how many things she needed to pack and if she decided to ignore Terri's presence in the other room, she would take him up on his offer as he tried to lay her down on the bed. It was so tempting to give in and she had dreamt about making love to Tony in this very bed for countless occasions. However, she had to give this fantasy up if she was supposed to be ready to move to D.C. with him.
He understood immediately and didn't push her further down, releasing her lips and pulling her back on her legs instead. His desire, now more than ever, was to bring her back to his home so they could be finally together as they deserved. And for that, he had to suppress his current needs because it would lead to fulfilment of his long-term needs. And he definitely preferred the latter to happen as soon as possible.
Once they got to work on packing the things, the time passed rather quickly. Tony brought empty box after a box from the pantry and utility room where they were stored and they started to fill it in with books and other lighter stuff so the boxes weren't too heavy. Terri supplied them with necessary beverages and informed them about time, while Rex sneaked up a couple of times to check on them, sniff at the boxes if they didn't hold anything good for him and receive a satisfying petting.
Ziva went to take quick shower and changed her clothes before the rendezvous in four as Tony flopped down on the bed and took a little nap. He was woken up by her hands softly running through his hair in attempt to neaten it. Smiling at her, he sat up and let her to comb his hair into a hairstyle she liked. She already had the one he loved – her hair down, wild and curly as the dampness in the bathroom did its work.
Both appropriately dressed walked out of Ziva's room and entered the loft area, gasping in surprise. The lights were dim with tens of lit candles all around the apartment. The Christmas tree was lit up in the corner, the smell of tasty food completed the evening dinner atmosphere as the soft sound of Israeli music filled the space with flawless tones. The food was already prepared in the kitchen, just waiting for being brought on the table.
David was already there, playing with Rex but when those two emerged, he went to greet Ziva and introduced himself to Tony, shaking his hand. They chatted about general things a couple of minutes until Terri called them to the table. David opened the bottle of Israeli Merlot wine and poured everyone a glass as they all assumed their positions on their chairs.
Terri had decided to go with Israeli cuisine so she started to explain to both Tony and David what the meals were, as her soon-to-be-husband wasn't too experienced with the local eating culture, usually preferring the cuisine he was familiar with. Terri herself had begun cooking Israeli meals not so long ago when she'd moved here and her mother had become her dutiful teacher.
For an appetizer, they had the surprise because of which she had forbidden to her roommate to appear in the kitchen. It was a dish named Ziva*1 – a puff pastry in a horseshoe shape topped with sesame field and stuffed with cheese and olives with a shkug sauce, a hot sauce made out of hot peppers and tomatoes, seasoned with coriander, garlic and salt, on the side.
Since the appetizer itself was quite filling due to the amount of cheese, the main course was a lighter meal named shakshouka. It was a dish made out of eggs poached in tomato sauce with chilli peppers, bell peppers, onions and spiced with cumin. Luckily Tony didn't have problem with spicy meals, otherwise he would be already dead as Terri lavished the food with the spices.
The conversation over appetizer was mainly focused on Ziva as no one at the table could refrain from some punny comment. When the main course was served, though, Terri couldn't hold back her curiosity anymore. "So, who are you, Anthony DiNozzo?" She asked Tony as he was scooping up his portion from the casserole.
David lifted his head up and paid attention, too. Both were curious about this mysterious man as the name wasn't unfamiliar to them at all, but the man himself was. It was so completely obvious how much Tony and Ziva knew each other and were in love. They must had a pretty long history behind them. And since Ziva was a very secretive and cryptic person when it came to her past, they didn't mind to get to know more.
Tony passed the casserole to David and scratched his head, wondering how he should begin. "Well, I'm a normal guy..."
A snicker from the woman next to him interrupted him suddenly. "What?" Tony asked Ziva who put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from further laughing.
"Nothing..." She replied innocently, trying to keep her face straight but as the eyes of all people at the table focused on her, including Rex's eyes that obediently rest in his bed by the door, she couldn't but snicker once again. "Just after all the years I know you Tony, you are everything BUT normal."
"Well, you hear it." Tony commented it with a smile and all four laughed at it as Rex barked as if he wanted to agree with the statement, too. "I'm apparently everything-but-normal guy."
He then scooped a portion of his meal and stuffed it into his mouth to buy some time. He wasn't quite used to tell things about himself when he didn't know what he could reveal or not. Ziva didn't seem to be in the need to tell him to hide something, though. "But jokes aside," he continued and took a sip from his wine, "I'm an only child, grew up on Long Island. My mother died when I was eight which caused a rift between me and my father. But we're working on improvement in recent years."
In short, he had explained why they shouldn't ask him about his childhood as it wasn't that part of his life he would cherish fondly. He had a couple of nice memories, of course, but that was exactly the reason why he didn't talk about his mother too much as most of them were connected to her. Ziva nodded to confirm his claims and reached for his hand to squeeze it gently.
"And what do you do for living?" David asked, chewing on own portion of the delicious food his fiancée had cooked.
Tony remained silent for a couple of seconds to be sure that Ziva had nothing against revealing his current occupation. "I used to be a cop." He then began hesitantly, playing with his glass of wine. "And after a stint with Baltimore's homicide, I joined NCIS. So, I'm a federal agent for over a decade now."
"Wow, that's cool." Terri commented, both she and David having a notion of NCIS's field of work, and winked at Ziva to sign her that she could really find a good man. A man of justice. "But now the most important question... How did you two meet?"
Tony was completely unsure what to answer as he had figured that neither Terri, nor David had any idea about Ziva's former job. He stared into his plate confusedly for a couple of seconds and then lifted his gaze to Ziva with a silent question to ask for help in his eyes. She had to give him her permission to speak freely about her own past that was connected to his.
"Tell them." Ziva encouraged him with a nod, her posture tensed but there was a shadow of relief on her face. "They deserve to know at least part of the truth."
He turned his attention to the puzzled couple in front of him and took a deep breath. "We worked together." He said and took Ziva's hand in hers to provide her the needed support.
The atmosphere of stunned silence that settled after the revelation unnerved Rex who lifted his head to check on his pack to be sure that they were alright. The statement had shocked the other couple greatly, but it hadn't taken them by surprise. Ziva could have been secretive about her past, but certain behaviour she had gained from her training showed from time to time.
"Yo-you were NCIS, too?" Terri asked Ziva directly, her eyebrows furrowed together. She wondered now what was real from what Ziva had shared her about her life. Because if she used to be NCIS agent, she must have lived in the United States for way longer time than she had claimed.
"Not always." Ziva admitted after she drank a large amount of her wine. "I was a liaison officer at first and after gaining my US citizenship, I became full-fledged NCIS agent."
Terri's eyebrows returned to their normal shape, finally understanding that Ziva had been telling the truth before. Not that she would be angry for her lying, but it would hurt, definitely. Despite being literally enigmatic, she had come to love Ziva as her own sister. A sister that would have to leave way too soon, but when she saw the radiant happiness on her face as she was sitting next to her boyfriend, she knew she deserved this more than anyone she knew.
"So you left your mother agency, then?" David tried to inconspicuously coax from Ziva the information about her previous occupation.
Ziva confirmed it with a nod as she gulped down the food in her mouth. Putting her fork down, leaning it against the plate, she gratefully accepted the squeeze of her shoulder coming from Tony to give her the courage. "I was Mossad." She said and waited for the judgement.
It didn't come, though. Rex yawned, sighed and closed his eyes to relax until the dinner was over and he was again allowed to leave his bed and play with his humans. Terri and David exchanged and meaningful look but neither of them seemed to denounce Ziva for her past. If their expressions were telling anything, then only esteem and well-deserved respect.
"Well... That explains a lot." Terri commented with a smile. She had in a vivid memory this morning when she'd encountered the pair of the men in black suits, undoubtedly Mossad agents, and had had to fight with Rex so he wouldn't tear them apart. And that was only one piece of the whole puzzle as she had experienced many similar situations in the past two years, not to mention that Ziva was able to register a whole range of things unlike the others due to her training and experience.
David closed his eyes for a moment as he fished for something in his memory. "Wait a second...," he then held out his finger, snapping his eyes open and looked straight at Ziva, ignoring the curious looks of Terri and Tony, "The former Director of Mossad, Eli David..."
"My father." Ziva finished for him in a bittersweet tone. It was clear to her that with this revelation, most people would put two and two together about the sameness of surnames of former Mossad director and former Mossad operative.
Tony rubbed her back to soothe her nerves as David gave a whistle in amazement. Terri stared at Ziva for a while motionlessly and then reached across the table to squeeze her hand. She remembered the death of Eli David as it had been all over the news, not having any idea that she would have soon become a friend of his last surviving child. She couldn't now recall if the killer had ever been caught.
Whether the killer had been brought to justice or not, it'd had to shake with Ziva's world significantly, that was for sure. If Terri recalled correctly, Eli David had died on the beginning of the year 2013, and she had met Ziva in autumn 2013. His death must have been connected to leaving her life behind and searching for something new. She didn't know many details about the past life of her roommate, but generally, she knew that Ziva had left the world she had known to change and find herself.
"So, that was the reason why you abandoned everything?" Terri asked Ziva, pushing her plate aside as she wasn't interested in the food anymore. "Because if my math is correct, you had to quit your job and leave for Israel shortly after his death."
Ziva shifted in her chair uncomfortably as this question was taking her back to the moment when she and Tony had parted their ways more than two years ago. Her unease was lessened, though, when Rex stuck his head on her lap, demanded to be petted for bringing the joy to his pack. She smiled into the chocolate brown eyes and rubbed him behind his ears which was rewarded with delightful whimper.
"I didn't leave as a result of his death. But it made me seriously evaluate how I lived my life." She answered after a moment of silence as both men were cleaning up their plates, while Terri was solely focused on Ziva and listened to her. "I reflected on what I've always wanted from life and compared it to what I've actually achieved. And I realized that I did things completely wrong."
Tony occupied himself with food to stop himself from interfering into Ziva's speech. He was aware that she was talking about how she had felt back then, yet it pained him to hear it and he felt the urge to assure her that things would be only better. The scenes in his head kept returning him to that fateful night on the tarmac when he had said his ultimate goodbye to her and he had to internally berate himself for it as he could finally leave it behind him.
Terri held out her empty glass in David's direction as he started to fill the glasses of everyone with wine. "The result of the evaluation must've been pretty bad if you left everything behind, including the man you love, Ziva." She stated, her eyes observing Tony because she could feel his growing restlessness. Her curiosity was stronger, though, so she didn't drop the subject. And as it seemed to her, they needed to say those things aloud anyway.
"It was, trust me. I didn't want to do it, but I had to." Ziva confirmed, raking through Rex's fur. This conversation was quite painful, yet she felt relieved to speak about it. "I wanted to become a better person, capable of having a normal life. To become someone I would personally appreciate."
David smiled to himself as he filled Ziva's glass. He felt with her on this level quite well because he knew how it was. He wanted to be someone with a normal life, too, yet his parents had always stressed from what family he was and that there were certain expectations from him. His family meant more like a prison for him, then an actual and loving family. Until he had met Terri, he hadn't even known what it meant to love for real.
Terri nodded her thanks to Ziva with a smile to sign her that if she had wanted to achieve that, she had definitely done so. Her interest now shifted to Tony as she could tell that he definitely wanted to speak about his point of view. "And you were okay with it?" She asked him, accepting a loving kiss on the top of her head from her fiancé. "You let her go just like that?"
Tony chuckled bitterly in response, cleaning his mouth with a napkin as he pushed away his empty plate. "One thing you have to learn about Ziva – she doesn't ask whether you agree or not once she makes a decision like that." He said and Ziva hung her head down, searching her conscience because what he had said was truth. "One day, she just vanished."
Terri opened her mouth wide unbelievingly with millions questions on her tongue, but Tony was faster than her. "It took me a lot to find her but when I did, I lent my ear to her. And I eventually understood her motives." He continued and reached out his hand to Ziva's hair to caress her to which she responded with a dreamy smile. "Was I okay with it? No. But I respected her decision if she firmly believed that it was what she needed."
Ziva leaned against his shoulder gratefully and he planted a kiss on her cheek as Terri took a huge gulp out of her glass of wine to absorb all the information. She had never seen such a great sacrifice from anyone. She couldn't even imagine what Tony must have been through with letting go the woman he loved, so she could rebuilt her life that wouldn't include him at all. Same went for Ziva, she must have dealt with so many emotions and feelings that it seemed to be too much for just one person.
"Feelings are just a fire in a field of stubble: it burns for a moment, and then all that's left is soot and ashes. Do you know what the main thing is – the thing a woman should look for in her man? She should look for a quality that's not at all exciting but that's rare than gold: decency."
"Wow... Uhm, don't take it personally now, honey," she said and looked at David to apologize to him beforehand for what she was about to say and then turned back her attention to Tony, "but where in the hell men like you are being sold? Because I want to purchase one."
All four laughed heartily while Rex lifted his head in confusion, wondering what his pack found so funny. "I have to warn you, they are very hard to find." Ziva replied to Terri as she lifted her head from Tony's shoulder, feeling relieved that the hardest part was behind them. "They're rare species, only a few of them are in the world."
She looked up at Tony and he flashed her one of his best, enamoured smiles that sent butterflies in her stomach fly. He leaned in, catching her chin into his palm and kissed her with such an amount of love that she wished it to be a substitute for oxygen. Like that, whenever she needed to take a breath, she would get such a kiss from him. Oh what joy would breathing bring her then...
She whimpered in protest when he released her lips and straightened, but a jealous bark from Rex took her back to reality. She giggled at him and rubbed his head to make him feel that he wasn't omitted. Terri then stood up to collect the empty plates so she could serve the dessert, grinning all the way when she'd seen how much her friend was in love. Finally, she might add. She'd never understood what Ziva had seen in Ben.
She pulled out a serving plate full of rugelach, a crescent-like pastry. The dough was made out of cream cheese and she had baked a couple of different fillings so there were variations made out of raisins and walnuts, cinnamon and raisins, chocolate, poppy seeds and a nut mixture. She also pulled out four small plates so everyone could take from the plate whatever they desired.
"Okay, from what I've gathered you two getting together was quite a journey." She commented as she was bringing everything on table. "So for how long this is going on? How long do you know each other?"
Tony drew in a large portion of fresh air and then blew it all out as the gears in his brain started to work painfully. "Wow, uhm... Uh, ten years?" He guessed and looked at Ziva expectantly to confirm it.
"Yes, ten years." Ziva nodded in affirmation, smiling behind her glass.
Both David and Terri stopped chewing and stared at them for a while in complete silence. "Ten years?!" They both wondered simultaneously and David couldn't help but add, "Bloody hell, what did take you so long?"
Ziva chuckled but it was true that if she changed the perspective, many people would question what had been wrong with them. "Well, there were certain... obstacles." She stated as she took one of the pastries on her plate and hummed in appreciation after she took a bite. "Also, if we acted on our instincts from the first moment, I don't think that there would be any chance for serious relationship in the future."
The sexual tension between them, the attraction that drew them together, had been sometimes unbearable. Somehow, they had managed to suppress it on many occasions. However, no matter how much she regretted for not giving into it as she had denied herself the pleasure he could provide, she was glad that they had. For many reasons, if their relationship was of sexual nature from the very start, it would never turn into serious relationship. Falling in love with him had been a long process that had been worth to endure. She knew it inside her heart.
"True, we had to become friends first and then lovers." Tony agreed with her immediately and she looked at him with surprised smile, glad that they had the same point of view. "Not the other way around."
"And remember that friendship between a woman and a man is something much more precious and rare than love: love is actually something quite gross and even clumsy compared to friendship. Friendship includes a measure of sensitivity, attentiveness, generosity, and a finely tuned sense of moderation."
Neither Terri, nor David could understand how they could wait for such a long time because they had been the exact opposite. They had liked each other instantly and hadn't hesitated acting on it. But both also admitted that obstacles in a relationship were normal occurrence, although they had completely different ones. What mattered was that all the troubles lead to eventual happiness.
"Plus there were other women." Ziva didn't refrain from commenting on Tony's infatuation with the gentle sex.
"And other men." Tony retorted, not missing a beat during the conversation.
They both looked at each other accusingly but with teasing gleams in their eyes. "Rule twelve." They suddenly uttered in unison, their minds thinking exactly the same.
"What is rule twelve?" Terri inquired, having fun with their banter while David went to fill a bowl of food for Rex, so he could eat as well.
Ziva waved at Tony, giving him the space to explain it. "Well, our boss has this set of rules he lives by and we, as members of his team, follow them, too." He explained briefly, scratching his head pensively. "Rule twelve states: 'Never date a co-worker'. And I think that pretty much sums it up."
Terri was again left speechless. She understood that they had followed a certain code. Her father, being a Marine, had always enforced a certain 'code of conduct' his family had to follow. But he had also always claimed that when it came to love, no rules, no codes or no principles could dictate anything. Love, according to him, shouldn't be bounded by rules but it should be free and independent.
"So, you didn't get together and didn't have anything with each other because of some rule?" She asked them incredulously, reading the answer from their faces. No wonder that they'd had sex on the yacht just a couple of hours after their arrival to Israel. They had ten years of attraction to make up for. "I think I'd go insane if I had to withstand this."
Tony and Ziva just shrugged their shoulders, knowing that they had given it much more importance than they probably should have. "It was always a pretty big thing for us." Tony countered, although he was aware that Terri couldn't understand the bond they had with Gibbs and how the rules were important for them. "But I also think that later on we just used it as..."
"An excuse." Ziva finished for him knowingly. In later years, rule twelve had represented to her the infinite wall between her and Tony that meant that she hadn't had to deal with her feelings for him because it'd been pointless. Those feelings had been impossible and forbidden to express.
Tony snapped his fingers and pointed his finger at Ziva. "Exactly." He confirmed, being very comfortable with how their thoughts had flew together tonight. "An excuse for not having a motive to be ready."
It hadn't been about any commitment issues but more about the fact that they hadn't reached the point of being ready to be together. It would involve a lot of hard work to fight for their right to be a couple and neither of them had had the strength to address this problem. They just had never been on the same page. Whenever one of them had been willing to start working on it, the other had dealt with something else and there'd been no space for talking about them.
"And as we worked our way towards being ready..." He started to explain as he didn't want to give the impression that they hadn't done anything about it. They had made a progress. A baby-step one, but they had.
"Ziva left." David guessed as he was sitting back down to his chair, while Rex affectionately played with his food. Tony confirmed his claim with a sorrowful nod.
Terri kneaded her chin in contemplation, narrowing her eyes on the couple opposite her. "So you didn't tell each other how do you feel until now?" She asked them unbelievingly. Their love story was even more painful than she had imagined.
Tony and Ziva looked at each other tentatively as if they knew that it had been one of the greatest mistakes in their relationship. "If you mean those proverbial three words, then no." Tony eventually answered. "We didn't tell each other anything until recently."
"There were many indirect signs, though." Ziva hurried to add, although she was well aware that those 'indirect signs' had been mostly Tony's doing. She'd had a very strange way how to sign him that she had fallen in love with him. "You don't always have to hear those three words to know."
Tony looked over at her and smiled warmly, reaching for her hand to squeeze it. He completely agreed with her because despite her past behaviour that usually resulted in him hurting, he had just known deep inside his heart, that she had shared his feelings. Something had been telling him that they belonged together. And it was no surprise to him that she had been aware of his feelings for quite some time. He hadn't been good in hiding them, especially at the end.
"And what happened next?" David asked them curiously, wondering what had changed between them during the last week. They had parted more than two years ago with broken hearts and suddenly, they were sitting together in front of him as a devoted couple. "After two years you just accidentally met in Prague during Christmas holidays and decided to get finally together?"
Both Tony and Ziva smiled amorously and looked at each other. It might sound surprising and odd to other people but after they had been through together, after all those mishaps, they didn't want to waste their time anymore. There was no reason to delay the inevitable anymore. They were ready to commit to each other with their souls, their hearts, their minds and their bodies.
"Yes, that's exactly what happened." Tony confirmed and leaned down to kiss Ziva lightly on her delicious and inviting lips.
"How romantic." Terri gave out a dreamy sigh, propping her head against her arm on the table. "That meeting must have been a sign."
"That's how we take it." Ziva stated and leaned her head against Tony's shoulder for once more as his closeness made her feel content and protected.
Whatever sign it had been, whichever power had brought them back together and had led them to the same city in the same time, she couldn't ever thank enough for that. Her life had turned upside down and she was grateful for it because she had long lived in need to have Tony beside her and now the wish finally came true. She'd been a fool, if she hadn't taken the chance.
When the dinner was finished, accompanied by a light talk about some of the cases that Tony and Ziva had worked on together, they cleaned up the plates and stored the remaining food into the boxes in the fridge. Tony and Ziva then said goodnight to the other couple and retired to the Ziva's bedroom as they were both tired from all activities they had experienced throughout the day.
The End of Chapter 21
*1 Ziva – invented in 1989 by Neri Avneri who named it after his wife. Part of Yemenite Jewish cuisine.
Well, this was a clash between the present and the past, right? ;) I hope you liked it and enjoyed it.
Thanks a lot to everyone stopping by and taking the time to read this chapter. I really look forward to see you again. Have a great time, people!