"Half hour until the flight to Brazil leaves," an announcement echoed through the air station. Ziva checked her watch and didn't enjoy waiting at all.

"Half hour is a long time to wait all by yourself," a voice of a man said. Slowly Ziva lifted her gaze and noticed how Tony was standing in front of her.

"Tony?" she breath out. She didn't even notice anyone standing there, especially him. What was he even doing there?

"Hi! So we're still going to Brazil?" Tony asked and smiled widely.

"What? I am going, you are not," she said and didn't understand why he was standing there.

"No, that's where you are wrong," he smiled.

"What do you mean?" Ziva asked.

Tony took her hands in his and kept on smiling, "I'm coming with you".

"What?!" Ziva shouted maybe a little bit too loud than she should have.

"Shh! You heard me! I'm coming with you," he said and looked excited, "I love you and I don't really wanna be away from you again so I'm coming with you! Let's go to Brazil! Let's found out your missing piece together! Two sets of eyes are better than one!"

"Do you hear yourself? Do you understand what you are saying right now?" Ziva made sure.

"I'm telling you, I'm very serious about this and I wanna do this – I wanna do this with you," Tony said and smiled. He was sure, well not really, but he knew that this was something that was had to be done and he wanted it. He wanted to be with her and if it meant traveling around the world, he'd do it. Just as long as he was with her, everything would be alright.

"This is insane, Tony," Ziva pointed out and stood up. She didn't understand anything. Just a little while ago, they were saying goodbye and now he was coming to Brazil with her? In her mind, that sounded like a horrible plan. She thought she'd go through the changes and find the missing piece all by herself – Tony wasn't part of the searching.

"I know! This totally insane but who cares? This is my life and I wanna live it! And I wanna be with you! So screw everything, I'm coming with you!" he said and sounded excited. He looked at her with eyes that were desperately trying to convince her to change her mind in this last moment. He didn't want a goodbye, he wanted to be with her. All the time in the bedroom, at work, in her and his places, the movies, the moments, the laughter – how could someone just throw that away? It should be cherished till the day they would both die.

"You cannot do this. You have work, the team and -"

"And you," Tony pointed out and smiled, "I have you too. Work will wait, the team will eventually understand and I will get my chance with you outside of everything. We would be out from the office, from our homes – far away from all the familiar things. All we could count on would be each other," he trailed off with his green eyes sparkling with hope, "Can you manage that?"

"I, um," Ziva didn't know how to response. He was about to step from the edge for her. The team was his family, it was all he had when he felt like he had no one, they were the only ones who never left and he was about to throw all that away just to be with her? She could already feel the disappointment that the team would have to face when someone, who had been there right from the start would leave? And what if they wouldn't come back? What if they would stay somewhere else for the rest of their lives?

"Oh God, Tony! I cannot do this! You cannot do this!" she shook her head.

"Stop with that already!" he said, "That doesn't do any good to anyone! If we wanna do this, we should just do it! We should just go for it and stop with the regrets!"

"But how can you just leave?" Ziva didn't understand. This was all so sudden.

"You did it, so why can't I?" he said seriously and shook his head. He tried to smile again, "I – We - can do this. Why wouldn't we leave now and come back later?"

"But the team is your family and you love them and -"

"I love you too," Tony point out and looked deep into her eyes, "I love you enough to do this. You don't love me yet, at least not that much, but I promise, I'm very lovable, so you will learn to love me one day. This Eat, Pray, Love -adventure will do good for us, so let's do this!"

"Eat, Pray, Love?" Ziva furrowed her brows.

"It's a movie. Julia Roberts is playing the lead and – Well, that isn't important now! The important thing here is that you and me will do what she did in the movie!" Tony chuckled, "Except that you don't have to find anyone and pray that much..."

Ziva shook her head furiously, "What are you talking about?!"

"The movie! Okay, I get it, it's not that important!" Tony corrected them both, "But anyway, let's do this!"

"Fifteen minutes until the flight to Brazil leaves!" the announcement said and Ziva turned to look at the speakers, the gate and Tony. This was out of line, this was unheard of and never planned.

"Fifteen minutes to make a decision," he said, "I'm gonna buy my ticket now. I may have to flirt to that pretty lady, so don't be jealous," he smiled and rushed to buy his ticket.

Ziva looked at the man who ran around like a headless chicken. She looked at him and couldn't stop feeling the anxiety and pressure. She wanted to go all by herself and find what she was looking for. Tony was supposed to say goodbye and stay here. Now he was coming with her and looking at her with those hopeful eyes. Ziva shook her head and placed a hand on her mouth. She couldn't make a decision in fifteen minutes.

"Got it! I flirted and smiled and look what I got!" he said and showed her the tickets, "Did you decide yet?"

"You cannot come with me," she said quickly, "I am sorry, but I have to do this all by myself and you will stay here and try to find a happiness without me. Everybody are replaceable, even me. So you will be hating me for a while but maybe one day you will find the strength to forgive me. I am not doing this because I want to hurt you. I am doing this for the both of us. We have been so long in this same situation that we are stuck and we cannot get out unless one of us does something. I am choosing to be the one and I am getting on that plane and I will leave and you will stay here and tell the team how sorry I am once again".

Tony's smile faded, his heart skipped a beat and his throat turned dry.

"You love me so much that you would sacrifice everything for me. I love you enough to let you go. This is for the best, trust me," she added and smiled sadly, "I have to go now".

"No! Wait!" This time Tony realized to stop her. He grabbed her arm and stood face to face to her, "You can't just leave".

"I can and I will," she shook her head, "I am so sorry".

"But you can't leave. You said you love me, you can't leave after saying something like that! You just said that you love me enough to let me go! That is some kind of a love, I think, so you cannot leave! I won't let you," he stood his ground and pierced his gaze through her.

Ziva shook down to her core, "I did not -"

"You did say you love me!" Tony said, "You can't just take that back!"

"I have to go," Ziva changed the subject.

"And I'm coming with you," Tony said, "Look, I know you don't want this, but we can do this. I wanna know how this works out. I'm not begging for your permission this time, I'm suggesting you into it. We're doing this and we're doing this together! You and me are going to Brazil! End of story!"

Ziva seemed baffled, "I, um -"

"Good, me too! Let's go!" Tony dragged her through the gates and into the plane.

Ziva didn't argue, she thought maybe he was right. Maybe she could find something with him - or at least try. He loved her so much and that was too much to just thrown away.

She smiled when she sat on her seat, "I am not taking it back," she said and looked at Tony, who looked back at her and smiled.

Aw, look at that. Our little couple is heading towards new adventures together! This is happy, right!
Oh, and realize, that Ziva is still hesitating. She feels some sort of love towards Tony, but it is not as strong as his love is. Maybe one day she'll get there.
Okay, see you in the next chapter xo

~ L