His watery eyes looked up to the dismal heavens, his vision blurred with streaking tears.
Briefly, he wondered if she was up there watching him.
He would never know.
Composing himself momentarily he soldiered on.
'Zi was the most amazing woman I had ever met. Her power, her beauty, her strength, her kindness.'
Inside Tony his heart throbbed again, the depth of his loss making itself thoroughly known.
And he sobbed. Because for Ziva David Tony would cry 1000 rivers. Tear tracks continuously shone down his face relentlessly.
Again attempting to compose himself enough to talk, he rested his palms over the table with his notes, bracing himself against it.
'For 8 years our lives were intertwined, she was in my life, I was in hers. We survived devastating obstacles, we helped each other, we looked out for each other.'
God dammit, why did this have to be so hard?
'In the last year we started edging closer to each other, really caring for each other, sharing things that really mattered.'
He looked up again, seeing nothing but knowing the faces watching also had tears cascading down their cheeks.
'She was my partner, my friends, my supporter, my favorite person in the world.'
Now it was time to say it. After everything, now it was time.
'There was one thing I never told her though. I was getting closer to it before she was taken away from me.'
He could practically feel eyes burning through him.
He spoke up, louder.
'Ziva David was also my soul mate. I loved her. I love her. And there will never be a moment where I will stop loving her.'
Damn the tears. Why couldn't they just go away? He was almost done now.
'Now I've finally said it, but its too later.' he continued painstakingly. 'She is gone and I am left behind. And the only thing I know is that I will never, ever stop loving her.'
And then he broke down in front of everyone completely and sobbed his heart out.
Because she was gone.
And he was not.