Yeah okay, so this one's a little fluffy and a lot cheesy but hey, I needed a little fluff, so sue me.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I was kidding, please don't sue me. ;)
He worked it out then. He knew why he had spent the whole day thinking about her, worrying about her. He knew why he had felt a need to be the one she talked to, why he wanted to be the one to hold her when her past became too much to handle by herself. And he knew why his heart had done the things it did when he had woken that morning to find her still sleeping peacefully on his couch.
Looking at her there, the same place she was now, he had, for a moment, seen what it would be like to wake up to her face in the morning. He had felt what it would feel like to cover her with a blanket when she fell asleep in front of him because they had been talking and lost track of time. He had heard what it would sound like to hear her breathing slow and to listen to those deep, even breaths as she slept. And now, looking at her in his living room, her hair damp and her eyes trained on his TV as she watched his movies and ate his popcorn, he wanted it.
He wanted to wake up to that face every morning, he wanted to lose track of time with her and lie awake at night just her listen to her sleep, and he wanted it all to be his. To know his were the eyes she would fall asleep thinking about and to feel safe in the fact that his would be the arms she would take comfort in when things were too much. He wanted her to be his.
'Are you just going to stand there all night?'
Her voice snapped him out of his reverie. She hadn't turned her head but somehow he knew she could feel him staring at her, he assumed it was a ninja thing.
'Well that depends, are you going to get out of my seat?' he responded, teasing.
She looked at him then and he noticed something. She hadn't replaced the mask. She wasn't hiding anymore. He could see the hurt behind her eyes, he could see what years in Mossad had done to her and he could see what she felt, but he could also see something else. There was less darkness. Sure there was pain, and yes, there was suffering, but he had seen them all before. What he hadn't seen before was the light, the tiny glimmer of something that made all the bad stuff seem smaller. Something he could only describe as hope. And when she smiled a teasing smile back at him, that light grew and he felt like he was watching the petals on a flower open as the sun rose, or a baby open its eyes to the world for the first time and in that moment he felt it too. He felt hope.
She felt different as she watched him wait for her to reply; for once the smile on her face was completely genuine. Yeah he had made her smile before with their light-hearted banter but even then, even when she thought it was real, there had always been an underlying current, something telling her he was only this way around her because he did not know the truth, he did not know who she was, but she had opened up to him. Last night she had showed him who she was and yet here he was, standing a few feet away, teasing her as if she was the same Ziva he had always known. There was no pity, no horror, and no fear. And that made her smile. Really smile.
'You are going to have to fight me for it Tony'
He laughed, he couldn't help himself, the mischievous glint in her eye accompanied by the idea that anyone could take her in a fight was enough to make him chuckle.
'Well, I did do those three taekwondo lessons as a kid, I think I'd be in with a shot' he listened to her laugh softly before continuing, 'however, I think if it came to a fight we may be spending tonight in the emergency room, and I hear the surround systems there are nothing like the one I have here.'
20 minutes later he had showered and changed and the two of them were sitting on his couch waiting for the next movie to begin. He had let her choose and smiled when Audrey Hepburn lit up the screen, strolling down a Manhattan street, perfectly made up, pausing only to gaze into the window of Tiffany's jewellery store. It was a world so far from their own, he wasn't sure why she had chosen it but Breakfast at Tiffany's was a classic and he wasn't complaining.
He felt her relax beside him and he couldn't stop himself looking over at her. Her elbow resting on the arm of the chair held her up and her feet were tucked up on the couch beside her, left hand resting gently on her leg. As he watched she relaxed just a little more into the couch and her lips parted to let out the smallest of sighs.
Turning his head back to the screen a small smile crept to his mouth and he was once again reminded of that afternoon's revelation.
Yep, he was sure. He loved her.
Aww. How cute. haha you know I love your opinions, do share them :)