Kate's funeral.
To be quite honest, I cried when I watched it. Several times. She was a great character and everyone who only watched NCIS because Cote de Pablo was in it, you missed out on two great seasons before she came along. Don't get me wrong, I love Ziva waaaaaaaaay more than I did Kate and I'm very sad that she's gone, but still.
I hope I can do it justice.
Disclaimer: What will happen if I create a disclaimer for my disclaimer? Would that disclaim what my disclaimer is disclaiming and make them mine?
The mood on the plane to Kate's funeral was sombre.
The Director had claimed the front of the plane as her office while the rest of them were cramped in the back. Abby's eyes were already puffy from crying against McGee's shoulder, who only held her awkwardly. Gibbs was as stoic as ever, not uttering a single word the entire flight there while Ducky tried, to no avail, to cheer them all up a little with some story from his youth that nobody was paying any attention to.
And him?
He was sitting there, feeling guilty, because at the moment he was feeling Ziva's loss more acutely than Kate's. He had only said goodbye to her a few hours ago and already he was missing her terribly. He wished she could be with him, curled up in his lap as they flew across the country, but he knew she didn't belong there yet. The rest of the team had yet to find out that they were soulmates. McGee probably suspected something after he saw them holding hands when they came to fetch Tony's car, but Tony knew the Probie wouldn't say anything.
He was a little worried about Abby's reaction to Ziva when she hears that she will be filling Kate's spot on the team. He knew she wouldn't accept the Israeli Officer without a fight, because she would feel that Ziva was going to try and replace Kate even if it wasn't her intention. Well, he could only hope that she would cut them some slack because of the soulmate-bond.
Ducky he wasn't worried about much. Sure, the old man had a deep soft spot for Kate, but at his age he would understand that the soulmate-bond cannot be fought. At least he would accept Ziva as a team member and Tony's soulmate, even if he chose not to like her.
The Director wouldn't be a problem, as she didn't know Kate and she and Ziva are supposedly such big buddies. He would have to get permission to date a co-worker though, but he was positive she would allow it. And if she didn't Gibbs would hopefully be willing to convince her.
McGee already suspects something and Gibbs already knows, so there he was okay. Truth be told, he was very surprised at Gibbs's acceptance of the whole situation and couldn't believe his ears, but he decided to just accept it and he happy about it.
Now he just had to get past the dreaded funeral, the next few days alone and then he'd have Ziva back in his arms where she belongs. He smiled at the thought, which made Abby glance at him strangely. He only kept smiling at her, albeit a bit sadly, but eventually she went back to burying her face in McGee's shoulder.
When they finally landed, they had a silent drive to the hotel where they were supposed to stay. They checked in and everyone went to their separate rooms for the evening. Tony found it hard to fall asleep in an empty bed and contemplated calling Ziva, but realising it was three in the morning in Israel, he decided against it.
Waking the next morning to a call from the front desk, he groaned when he had to get up after only getting at most four hours of sleep. He dragged himself downstairs to meet the others for breakfast and found them in mostly the same state as himself, all with dark circles under their eyes. All of course except Gibbs, who was used to sleep deprivation.
After breakfast they all donned their back clothes out of respect for Kate and made their way to the church.
The service was nice, befitting of an Agent who gave her life to the job and someone as wonderful as Kate.
Abby was crying on Gibbs's shoulder today. The rest of them were only sitting there silently, saying their goodbyes and their prayers.
As they made it to Kate's grave, her final resting place, they all lined up to pay their last respects.
He was the first to lay a blood red rose on her coffin. As he bent down, he remembered the time he brushed his teeth while she was in the shower. He smiled when he thought of how angry she was when she found out he was in the bathroom with her. That sponge she threw at him had hurt more than he wanted to admit, but being Tony he had shrugged it off.
He watched as after him first Ducky, then McGee and Abby went to lay down their roses, each taking a second to remember their friend. After them came the Director and finally Gibbs.
They all stood silently as the leader of their team looked down at the beautifully crafted wooden box. Gibbs stood silent for a moment, clutching the rose tightly in his hand while he most probably remembered their fallen teammate. He smiled then, a rare occurrence for him. They saw his lips move as he placed the flower down on top of theirs, but none of them could hear the words he uttered.
Tony listened as Abby asked a woman who was presumably Kate's mother if she could play a song for Kate and the woman said yes.
Their spirits lifted somewhat as the tape player in Abby's hands started singing a happy jazz tune that made you want to tap your feet to the rhythm.
In front of him walked Gibbs, flanked by the Director and their Goth while he followed with Ducky and McGee.
He had said his goodbyes to the woman he once thought he might be beginning to love, but knew he never would. And now he was going home to wait for the arrival of the one he did.