A/N Okay I'm biting the bullet and posting this since I don't think I'll ever be happy with this chapter as it is well outside my comfort zone. There's a reason I don't write romance or focus on ships - it makes me feel all boudoir pink including the Maltese and the poodles on the pillows. I hate pink! Anyway fwiw I'm issuing a warning for extreme fluffiness and am unapologetic about avoiding the the heavily used cliché of TV script writers in which everything that can go wrong with the wedding does go wrong. Just picking up on a theme from feedback - imho DiNozzo is a closet romantic. That scene in the hospital car park with Jeanne and the candle lit picnic was indicative but also I think it would be impossible to love watching old movies if you weren't a romantic, even if you were circumspect about it.

Thanks to everyone who is following, faving and reviewing. Moneyduck I'm not sure if there is an accepted etiquette about reviews per say but most authors I've discussed it with prefer to get feedback following a chapter rather than at the completion of the story. For some, a story might take months or even longer to complete and waiting until it is complete can be a long wait to receive reviews. Plus chapter reviews can help keep motivation high since it isn't uncommon to go through highs and lows during the story - beginning a new story is scarily easy (a bit like falling in love lol). Following through takes a lot more discipline and chapter feedback can give us a push or keep the momentum going. Plus I love it when someone picks up on and comments on some small crumb that I often drop into my story. HTH :)

I Shouldn't Have To

Chapter 26

Emma was getting ready for her wedding. Lara Pitt was carefully taking out the heated rollers and finger combing her hair into soft curls while the bride applied her own makeup. To finish off Lara weaved scented jasmine through her hair and fastened a lily to a section of her hair that had be swept up, to complete her look. After much consulting with her Maid of Honour Emma had opted not to bother with a veil or other more orthodox adornments. As she worked her magic on the bride's hair Lara was prattling on about how gorgeous their guys looked.

Emma grinned, picturing the groom and the Best Man in their wedding garb. When they were going to get married in New York, Tony had intending on wearing his Armani tux. He'd worn it on several occasions when he'd taken her to the ballet and Emma's knees went weak when she'd seen him in it, he looked so damned good. But with the change of venue – the glass and white walls contrasting against the blue water that the chapel overlooked, a black tux just seemed inappropriate – too formal and heavy. Emma and Lara had initially suggested white tuxedos for Tony and Brad or even white linen suits. Tony had rolled his eyes in mock horror, muttered something about Fantasy Island, Riccardo Montalban and 'the plane, the plane' but had agreed good-humouredly.

She knew that her fiancé would agree to wear whatever she wanted simply because he wanted her to be happy but Emma wanted him to be comfortable too. It wasn't just her wedding. Lara had giggled and suggested that Brad could wear his Navy Dress Whites. Tony smirked and suggested white jeans and Magnum Hawaiian shirts. At that point Emma started tickling him until he fled the room and left the two woman to it. Lara started giggling somewhat lasciviously and Emma looked at her friend curiously.

"What?"

"I just had a vision of the guys in white leather pants and vests."

"And shirts?" Emma smiled coyly.

"No shirts."

Emma moaned. Brad and Tony as former college athletes were tall and both had classic broad shoulders. Of course Tony had lost a lot of weight including quite a bit of muscle mass from his surgery and cancer treatment and though he had gained back some of it, because of his careful diet he was still a bit underweight. Tony had never been a muscle bound type, shunning hours spent pumping iron in a gym, preferring more active forms of exercise including pickup games of basketball. After getting sick and the hours of yoga, Tai chi and exercise – mostly running and swimming, he was toned and strong, if thinner than normal.

Much as the thought of them in leather was a nice fantasy, straight out of a trashy romance novel, she knew that neither man would be comfortable dressed like that in front of their friends and colleagues.

Emma sighed a little wistfully. "I think that perhaps we have to leave that look for the honeymoon."

"Yeah I doubt we'd convince them. Pity!" Lara lamented, half seriously.

Perhaps it was thinking about trashy romance novels but Emma realised there was something she found even hotter than the thought of Tony in leather and to be honest, she'd probably prefer him in black anyway. She went totally weak kneed for an athletic guy in a voluminous white shirt with full sleeves tucked into well cut slim trousers showing off a nice butt. Of course the hero usually sported long flowing locks and sometimes an eye patch or a parrot but maybe the guys would be persuaded to go for it, sans the eye patch and parrot of course. That is if they approached them cautiously, pointing out how manly they'd look.

She outlined the suggestion to Lara who was an artist and quickly sketched the look and then fiddled on her iPad. Don't tell them it's a Fabio or Mr Darcy look. We'll pitch it as a Clark Gable 'Mutiny on the Bounty' look, emphasize Clark's virility. She pulled up some stills from the movie and grinned. We'll make the shirts a bit fuller than Gable's but essentially they'll be the same," she gushed excitedly.

Lara had been correct. When their partners outlined their idea, their guys were initially a little reluctant. That was until Emma mentioned Clark Gable in the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty" and Tony rapidly got on board with the idea. He started raving on about it being totally apt since the mutiny of the Bounty took place in the South Pacific on Tofua Island. Brad not being a film buff wasn't quite as enthusiastic so Emma suggested that Tony set up the DVD and they could watch the movie and she made popcorn. Lara and Emma kept making not so subtle comments about how sexy and virile Gable was and Brad agreed that he was manly and that it was better than white tuxes.

Lara had a designer friend of hers take care their outfits after she supplied her with the drawings and she made up their shirts and had a tailor make the trousers. Although they both went in for a final fitting and had the wedding clothes for a few weeks, Brad and Tony had both stubbornly refused to model for Lara and Emma unless they reciprocated. Obviously they'd refused to, saying it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride's dress so neither of them had seen the men wearing their wedding clothes. Now as the groom and best man had heading off to the Crystal Chapel, Lara had sneaked an opportunity to check them out and she'd reported to Emma that they both looked mighty fine.

"Better than Gable."

I Shouldn't Have To

Tony looked at Brad and had to admit that he looked rather dashing, although the shirts the girls had made up for them were a little bit fuller than Gables's in Mutiny. They were more like the swashbuckling sword fighting heroes in movies that Tony used to love as a little boy. So he didn't grumble too much, he was just glad that they hadn't gone with the romantic crap of Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights - shirts with frills and puffed sleeves. Not that Basil Rathbone as Zorro and Errol Flynn as Don Juan weren't romantic too but in a totally testosterone laden, daring yet manly way, not the chick lit, girly Mr Darcy way.

Yes the sleeves were a bit fuller than their women led them to believe but they tapered masculinely at the wrists so luckily they were just normal cuffs and fastenings. Lara and Emma suggested since Guam had an average temperature of around 85 degrees Fahrenheit that they roll them up instead of wearing them fastened, to which Brad and Tony had agreed gratefully. What Emma hadn't told them was that nicely defined forearms peeking out of crisp white shirt sleeves was a heck of a lot more sexy to her than a hulk with bulging biceps. She didn't want Tony and Brad to think she was viewing them as eye candy. They were so much more than just easy on the eye but there was no reason for them not to look like something out of her fantasies either.

Yeah all things considered, their wedding get up could have been a lot worse Tony confided to Brad. White tuxes were so 80's or as Emma confessed a few days ago, white leather pants and only a matching vest that sounded like it was straight out of an erotic novel or porn movie. Yep, they were classic, cool and comfortable so he was a happy camper. Hell he would have married her in leather if it had made her happy and he knew that she knew it too but he was glad, really glad she'd decide to spare him that indignity.

As people started to arrive and take their seats he looked around at his team who'd offered to act as ushers and show people to their seats. In his wildest dreams one year ago he would never have seen this coming. He'd have expected if anyone gathered for him it would be at a memorial service and now here he was, twelve months into remission marrying the beautiful Emma who despite his statistically poor life expectancy, seemed to think he was worth the risk.

And that was why he would have agreed to marry her in a loincloth if she'd wanted him to because she thought he was worth investing in. There'd been precious few people in his life that had seen him as worthy of an emotional investment and one of them had called off their wedding at the eleventh hour. The other he'd hurt so badly that she'd given him an ultimatum and he knew in time the hurt and guilt would drive a wedge between them and so he'd let her go.

The crap with Jeanne had messed him up but good for a long time. Raffy asked him once if he'd let everyone crap on him so much because he was trying to punish himself for hurting Jeanne. After pondering that insight for a bit Tony had to admit there was probably some truth to the idea. It still really bothered him how much he'd hurt her when her only sin was being the daughter of Rene Benoit. So perhaps all the shit when the team put him through when they found out about his undercover mission was what he felt he had coming to him. His therapist was usually right about most things although he wasn't about to admit that to her.

Emma though had seemed him at his worst, first when he almost died a decade before with the plague and he'd flirted with her, much to Cate's disgust before all too soon he was too busy coughing up all the crap in his lungs and fighting for every breath. Then during his fight against his tumour she'd watch him puking up his guts during his treatments. Seeing him so weak and vulnerable, there really hadn't been a whole lot more of himself left to conceal from her. Plus the fact that she refused to be banished when he pushed her away, proposing to him even if they might not have a long term future meant that she was a precious gift. He'd decided sharing whatever time he had left with her was fair recompense for giving him back his life and had vowed to stop worrying about things he had no control over.

And speaking of saving his life, although they'd invited his oncologist Giovanna and his absolute favourite nurse Alessandro, neither of them expected the Italians to make the journey. Yet they'd both come – marvelling at how well he looked. Of course his doctors in the US had been sending reports back to Milan and Raphaella as Giovanna's cousin had kept her informed but they kept giving him hugs and grinning like loons. Both were sitting up front next to the Sec Nav and the Vance family. Looking out as the chapel began to fill up he saw Ric and Lynn Balboa, Ducky, Jimmy and Breena Palmer, Delores Bromstead and his three closest frat brothers Steve, Greg and Jonas and their wives or girlfriends.

On the bride's side were her aunt and uncle and a couple of cousins. When it came to family she wasn't a whole lot better off than he was. Plus there were two friends from college, nursing buddies from Bethesda and several colleagues from her current hospital Columbia University Medical Centre, plus Emma's boss who had given her the extra week's leave. Tony congratulated himself on his foresight in inviting Janice Kershaw. They decided to head off from Guam to Australia and the Whitsunday Islands in the Great Barrier Reef for their honeymoon. Emma had said that since they were so close to one of the natural wonders of the world and the reef was in danger of dying, they'd be mad not to go see it since they were so close.

When Sarah Porter discovered they were going to Australia, she'd offered to pay for them to fly from the Barrier Reef down to Sydney and also pay for a few days accommodation at a city hotel so Tony could train the NCIS office in several of their programs including information sharing. She'd even approached Kershaw requesting an additional three days leave for Emma, couching it in terms of national security which was exaggerating just a tad but it was hard to for Emma's boss say no to the Secretary of the Navy.

So now they had three extra days in Sydney although Tony would have to visit the office and do some training. They could still do some touristy things like attend the ballet at the world famous Sydney Opera House and Tony wanted to do a night climb of the equally famous Sydney Harbour Bridge, climbing over the arch. Emma was going to visit the zoo while he was working, making the trip across the harbour from the Sydney Observatory Hotel by ferry and there were shopping, galleries and restaurants.

Back to the present, his team came up to wish him well. Dane Larsen shook his hand, wishing him luck with a grin that left most of the female guests, married or not, feeling weak at the knees. The female agents gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek to wish him well. His team were all upbeat and excited to be invited, not to mention rubbing shoulders with the director and Sec Nav. Meanwhile his probie Jodhi Crisp was seriously crushing on Brad and Tony was a little concerned that if she didn't stop drooling, Lara was going to rip her throat out. The probie had told Lisle Zabinski who was his senior field agent, how dreamy he looked, that all he needed was an officer's sword since he was a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy.

Tony recalled the case he'd worked on years ago involving officers swords on the USS Forster with the two MMROPG gamers who had illegally acquired officer's ceremonial swords. The pair of idiots had decided to take things to another level and were duelling aboard the ship hence his trip to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico undercover to obtain one and discover who the second suspect was. It was one of the first cases Cate worked on with the team after she joined them and it also marked the beginning of the end in terms of Gibbs treating him as a professional.

He felt a pang of regret – Gibbs had told him when he hired him Rule 5 – you don't waste good. He'd made him think that he believed in him and his abilities and Tony had trusted him which was a rare thing for someone who'd effectively been alone for most of his life. There was a tiny part of him that wished that things had turned out differently and Gibbs had been here with him today – the Gibbs that he'd been years ago who'd been Tony's partner and not the boss.

Nonetheless he realised that regrets and what ifs just got in the way of making the most of the present and he made a conscious decision to banish the melancholy thoughts. He tried not to become maudlin about his life expectancy because everyone dies and whether his time was short or he defied the odds and lived for years, time was still too precious to waste. He refused to let regrets hijack what was a celebration of life and love.

Somewhere along the way he'd lost Gibbs respect and trust but he'd found Emma and he was going to appreciate her every day of the rest of his life because Gibbs was right about one thing. You don't waste 'good' and Emma Ingham was damned good. As he and his Best Man took their places in front of the incredible expanse of blue waters of Tumon Bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond, framed by an impossibly blue cloudless sky and the massive glass arched windows, he glanced at Brad.

"Hate to sound clichéd, Wolverine but you do have the rings, don'tcha?"

"Relax Buckeye, I have them. For what it's worth, I think your frat brothers are a bit miffed that you chose me as your best man. They keep giving me the hairy eyeball."

"I know how they feel, Doc. Sometimes I have to pinch myself too. I'm mean a Wolverine? What the hell was I thinking?"

"Idiot."

"Hey is that any way for the Best Man to speak to the Groom? You're supposed to be keeping me calm and provide me with manly support." Tony joked.

"I'll keep it in mind. And it's alright to miss him, Buckeye and wish that it had turned out differently."

"What…?" Tony began.

"You had a certain expression. One you get when you're thinking about Gibbs. You care to share?"

"Nothing important, just a case that we worked. Third one after Cate joined us. Had to do with officers' ceremonial swords and MMORPGs."

"And you were reminded of it when your little probie was lusting after my virile Wolverine body." Brad smirked and Tony rolled his eyes.

"You heard her too?"

"Not exactly subtle, DiNozzo."

"True, but she's young and we've been guilty of drooling in the good 'ol days, you know. She'll learn." Tony laughed. "And thanks Brad."

"No problem and look." He nudged his friend as Lara started walking down the aisle looking stunning.

Brad's wife was a willowy blonde with eyes that were a pale iridescent blue. They were rather stunning and reminded him of that woman Melissa Dorn who'd killed her half-brother and another Marine for the insurance money and flirted with Gibbs much to Cate's indignation. Actually Tony decided that her sense of outrage was more to do with the fact he reciprocated. Her mother had been a seemingly sweet little old doc who wore Estee Lauder perfume but went around murdering Marines and slicing and dicing them.

Fortunately, unlike Melissa, apart from her eyes, Lara was a real sweetheart with no homicidal tendencies. Well okay she might be a tad territorial when it came to Brad. Tony figured though that it went along with being married to a doctor since it seemed to be SOP for patients to fall in love with their doctors, even if it was also super clichéd. According to Lara it wasn't just the ladies that she was beating off with a stick, either. Apparently the combination of a sailor and a medico made Brad Pitt irresistible to many of his patients – the late Caitlyn Todd included.

As the wedding march rang out from the sweet strains of a viola played by one of the Bethesda contingent, his Fiancée appeared, her Aunt Sandrine and Uncle Tom on either side of her. While being something of a traditionalist but also an avowed feminist and not seeing that as being incompatible, Emma had asked both her uncle and aunt to walk her down the aisle. She'd also opted for traditional vows although Tony had requested that they tack on their own at the end and Emma agreed good humouredly.

As he stared at her as she made her way up the aisle to the raised altar where Brad and he waited, Tony couldn't take his eyes off her. Her ivory dress was simple yet stunning and in the last couple of days on the island she'd managed to collect a sun kissed golden hue to her skin. The dress was sleek and stylish and totally Emma and the antique lace inserts were romantic but understated. She glowed with happiness and as she made her way up the aisle towards him, she beamed at each one of the guests, including everyone in the ceremony and making them feel special.

Typically of his Emma, her makeup and hair were elegant but not too formal. Tony decided that the flowers that Lara had woven casually through her soft curls were beautiful and much more appropriate to the chapel - all modern glass arched floor to ceiling windows and white arched ceiling. He'd thought initially the something borrowed could have been his mother's jewellery but looking at the radiant woman approaching him, he decided that she didn't need anything more. Lara had loaned her pair of simple diamond earrings and around her neck she wore the ruby and diamond pendant that Tony gave her for her birthday, explaining that diamonds were her birthstone and rubies were his. Em had rarely taken it off since.

His only worry had been that Senior might decide to crash the wedding and make a scene in a drunken rant but he had it on good authority that his father's liquid assets were currently all tapped out. Plus it was rather a long way off the beaten track thankfully, even if he did find out. Of course, Tony wouldn't put it past Abby to buy him a ticket but it looked as if they were going to be spared the honour of the REAL Anthony DiNozzo's presence at their wedding.

I Shouldn't Have To

Emma was composed as she made her way to the chapel. She was looking and feeling radiant and relaxed after a couple of days soaking up the sun and surf. It had been a long trip from New York to the South Pacific but the pain of such a marathon flight had been greatly ameliorated by flying on Secretary Porter's private jet. Having plenty of leg room and the ability to stand up and move around certainly made life a lot more pleasant as did the bathroom facilities where you didn't have to cram into a shoe box to pee or freshen up.

Of course, sipping the chilled crisp white wine that Tony had brought with them and the appetisers that Lisle had picked up at some gourmet deli had certainly been highly civilised too. The company had really helped pass the time pleasurably. Emma had always got along well with Tony's team and Leon's two kids were sweet, so the time had passed very pleasantly. Being able to stretch out and sleep on comfortable seats hadn't hurt either.

Now she was waiting to be walked down the aisle by her aunt and uncle and she was feeling mostly happy, tinged with a little touch of sadness that her parents weren't alive to see her so happy. Still the day was too special to dwell on what couldn't be so Emma made a conscious effort to put thoughts of her parents' absence out of her head and enjoy the next few hours. She smiled, looking at Lara who was checking outside into the chapel, indicating that they were just waiting for a few more people to be seated. Emma couldn't believe they'd finally made it – it had been a traumatic year but the results had been so much better than either of them had dared to hope for when they'd first gotten together.

This place was so stunning – the whole island was of course but this purpose built chapel was perfect. She could hear the sweet strains of Angelica's viola as the guests took their seats. She'd been a good friend of Emma's for a long time – they'd worked at Bethesda together although Angie was a highly sought after surgical scrub nurse. She turned down a chance to join the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra when she graduated college, wanting to practice nursing and done several tours of Iraq. She'd even written her own arrangement of the Wedding March for the viola, especially for Emma who was a bit of a traditionalist at heart and wouldn't dream of walking down the aisle to anything else.

Seeing that Lara was agitated the bride wandering over to the door to see what had her in such a snit. She peered out, and saw that there were still a few people making their way to their seats. Emma had noticed that one of the effects of this island was that everyone seemed to relax, slow down and smell the roses, metaphorically. Or should that be smell the hibiscus, lilies or orchids? Whatever… it was good but they needed to get a move on and sit down already so the wedding could get underway.

Looking at Tony and Brad standing at the front of the chapel framed against the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean caused her to stop breathing. Oh man did they look really handsome and strong and she realised how clichéd, how mundane it would have been to have dressed them in white tuxedos. Still it took someone masculine to really do justice to those outfits and while a tux covered up a multitude of sins and made most men look dashing, there was no hiding in their Bounty get-up. Which was when she realised what had put a scowl on her friend's face as most of the female guests were checking out two fine looking butts. One particular fangirl was practically drooling all over Brad and Emma chuckled.

"Hey Girlfriend, bet you're glad that Brad's not wearing tight white leather trousers and vest right about now? Looks like someone has a bit of a crush."

"Oh hell yeah! Who is that little hussy, anyway?" Lara demanded half-jokingly although she was definitely more than a little piqued.

"That's Jodhi. She's Tony's probie on his team. She's still a baby and hasn't learnt the art of subtlety yet. Don't worry, Lisle will take her in hand. Besides the guys look good enough to eat. We have to expect a few lustful females." And sure enough Tony's 2IC wandered over and sent Jodhi to round up the last couple of stragglers who were just entering the chapel. Tony's SFA looked up and saw Lara and Emma peering out at the guests and smiled before heading back to talk to them.

"Are you good to go, Emma?"

She smiled. "Yep, I'll just get my Aunt and Uncle and we can get started when everyone's seated."

Lisle looked at her admiringly. "I love your dress, it's gorgeous. You look so beautiful and serene. And the guys look amazing too. I thought you'd get them togged up in their Armani tuxes but this is like something out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Awesomely yummy if it isn't completely inappropriate to say that about my soon to be married boss and his most definitely married Best Man."

Emma giggled. "It's Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable actually Lise, but you get the drift. And you can drool over the guys a little but fair warning - Lara's very territorial.

Lisle chuckled too. "I'll keep that in mind and admire them from afar. More importantly, I'll pass that little snippet along to the probie who is drooling over the Doc. She's got it bad but to be fair, what did you expect dressing them like that? Every woman loves a pirate." She gave them both a mock glare before changing the subject.

"You know I'm used to being around Tony, obviously. Used to his humour to keep us going when the going gets tough plus that smile that lights up a room and gets hearts thumping but I can't believe how truly happy he looked when I wished him well before. It suits him… you suit him. I'd wish you good luck but I don't think you'll need it so I'll say be happy." Kissing her gently on the cheek, Lisle left and went to give the heads up to Angelica.

After Lisle had left the room Lara bustled around collecting their flowers. They'd decided to ditch the more traditional bouquets of roses for white lilies that seemed more in keeping with the location and her Aunt Sandrine kissed her affectionately before handing her over to her uncle.

He whispered in her ear, "My sister would be so proud of you, Emma. You look really beautiful but she would be even more overjoyed with how happy you are on your wedding day. You're glowing." He hugged her carefully, not wanting to mess up her hair and with her aunt and uncle on either side of her, she nodded to Lara to let her know that she was ready.

As she heard Angie glide into the Wedding March she entered the intimate little chapel that seated fifty guests and made it a point to smile and acknowledge each one of their guests as she made her way up the aisle. With the exception of their bosses everyone else was a close friend or family and she wanted to share her joy with them all.

As she proceeded up towards the altar she stole a glance at Tony and saw that Lisle was right – he did look happy. She could always tell by his eyes if he was wearing his mask or if his happiness was genuine. Today there was a contentment in his eyes that made her euphoric. She also saw the love and awe and felt overwhelmed.

Emma had been a little concerned that ghosts from the past might make an unwanted appearance and was grateful for the stunning location which was a distraction and also so different from the 'almost' traditional wedding to Wendy Miller that never happened. It was one reason why she had tried to keep everything low key, hoping to avoid bringing back painful memories of that silly piano teacher practically leaving him at the altar. Being abandoned was one of his greatest fears and Wendy Miller had just been one in a long line of people Tony had loved and lost– either intentionally or because of fate.

It was also why in spite of opting for a fairly traditional wedding she'd flat out refused to spend the night before the ceremony apart from him. She knew damned well if she did that many of his doubts and insecurities would make an unsolicited appearance and he'd be plagued with doubts. Besides, they'd been living together anyway so it seemed a stupid ritual. Emma was determined to get him to the altar without ripping open old wounds if she could.

That meant not leaving him alone the night before they married and it wasn't a totally altruistic act on her part either. While his ghosts included the memory of being left at the altar and being abandoned in hotel rooms by Senior as a child, she had ghosts of her own she was determined would remain exiled on this special day. Emma hated it when they were unable to sleep together in the same bed. Sometimes when she was working the graveyard shift or he pulled an all-nighter they didn't go to bed together or if Tony had to go away on a case.

She absolutely hated it. It brought back some really bad memories of leaving him alone in a hospital bed in Milan and how damned close they came to actually losing him several times. The first few cycles of chemo were horrendous, he was so damned weak and their relationship was still so new she wasn't even sure if he'd fight.

Having seen how determined he was to survive the plague she knew straight away that he'd all but given up when he was diagnosed with the lung tumour. Life had convinced him there wasn't anything worth fighting for. Events at work had broken him down, robbed him of his joi de vivre – he'd been a shadow who was just going through the motions but without any real conviction. It had taken every bit of strength Emma possessed to make him fight and leaving him at night had been damned scary. She would go home each night to the apartment she shared with Brad and Lara wondering if he'd still be alive the next morning.

So while she thought traditions were nice and mostly comfortable, spending the night before their wedding separated - never going to happen.

Tom and Sandrine hugged and kissed her and hugged Tony before heading off to sit in the seats next to her cousins Riley and Tara and their respective spouses. She took her place alongside Tony and their hands sought each other out without conscious thought. Tony communicating his feelings through a series of hand squeezes as they exchanged their vows. Vows about sickness and health that had a particular poignancy considering what had brought them together and had left a lot of their guests choked up with emotion as well. Finally, the Naval Chaplain called for rings to be exchanged before Tony reduced her to tears with his emotion filled declaration.

He gave her the smile that she liked to think was reserved especially for her; an almost shy can this really be happening and not just a dream smile that she cherished because he wasn't hiding from her. She'd seen most of his smiles and many of them made her sad, knowing how much he concealed, ranging from you've really hurt my feelings but I'm not going to give you the satisfaction smile to okay this is bad but I have to hold everything together for you all grin plus everything in between. But this was the real Tony – open, vulnerable and sharing his real self with her family and their friends.

"Emma Sharon Ingham, there's an Indian proverb that says that it is love that makes the impossible possible and I think that we are quintessence of that sentiment since twelve months ago I was effectively planning my funeral. If our paths hadn't crossed again I'm not sure even with the drug trial or my amazing doctors and nurses that I could have made it without you." He smiled gratefully at Brad, Giovanna and Alessandro before continuing.

"The Chinese philosopher and poet, Lao Tzu said that 'being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage'. Even though I didn't want to love you I couldn't help myself and you gave me the courage to not give up, even when I thought the well was dry. Being loved by you gave me the strength to believe I could survive even when everything looked hopeless."

He paused and smiled as he stared deeply into her blue-grey eyes, saying things with his own that were too intimate and intense to share with anyone else before he resumed. "To paraphrase Robert Heinlein – 'our love is the state in which the happiness of the other is essential to our own.' My vow to you is that I will cherish that love each and every day."

And if she was too overcome with emotion to respond with anything more coherent than tears of joy when he was done, Emma didn't think that anyone held it against her. Especially since many of their friends were trying not to break down themselves. Lara discreetly handed her a crisply starched white lacy handkerchief to mop up her tears whilst surreptitiously dabbing her own and the chaplain pronounced them husband and wife. She fell into his arms and kissed him with her usual enthusiasm, never shy about displays of public affection and seeing no reason to change what worked on such a joyous occasion.

This time Tony seemed oblivious to the people surrounding him as he responded tenderly making her forget everything and everyone else in the room until the applause brought her back to the present. She was pleased to see that Tony wasn't regretting letting his shields down and sharing his feelings with their guests. His illness had brought about so many changes and while she wouldn't have wished anyone be diagnosed with cancer, Tony had still managed to grow in ways that were positive and for that Emma DiNozzo was eternally grateful.

End Notes: Two more chapters to go :)