Title: Illuminated

Author: IronIsraeliButterfly

Chapter Title: Walking in Israel

A/N: Chapter Seven is upppp! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! This is going to be slightly fluffy… Thanks for all the hits and alerts, but could I have some more reviews? (Please :D) Thanks ZC for a review on every chapter. Much appreciated. I need more flúffy songs, so pm please.

"I used to think maybe you loved me
Now baby I'm sure
And I just can't wait till the day
When you knock on my door"

-Walking on Sunshine

Gibbs rolled over in the bed to face the bright white sunlight that came streaming through the windows. He walked over to the porch and inhaled deeply as memories of the previous night came hitting him with full force. Ziva had been married. She had had a son. She had a vendetta to pursue and she was not going to rest until she found every single person who had caused her the pain she had silently carried in her chest for so many years. Gibbs was reminded of himself, twenty years younger.

"It's my fault. I was away for too damn long, sir."

"Trust me. None of this is your fault."

"Leanne wanted to start a family, but I told her we couldn't afford it. Maybe when I made staff sergeant, you know. But I'd never thought that she'd…"

"I know exactly how you feel."

"How do you live with it, sir?"

"Sergeant, you live with that question every day until you find the answer."

"And what did you find, sir?"

Gibbs hadn't answered. But now he realized that Ziva was his answer, and even though she had hidden that crucial information from him, she was still the (second) love of his life. It wasn't just a girlfriend. The information Ziva had given solidified the fact that they were meant to be, even if she was twenty years younger than him. They had the same pain, the same experiences, and they had dealt with it in the same way. He was determined to take her home, even stay in Israel if it meant that he could be with her.

Ziva appeared at his hotel door an hour. "Sorry I'm late," she said, adjusting her t-shirt. As he hugged her, he got hit by several metal objects. "I had to run to the office."

"What the hell do you have underneath there?" he demanded. Ziva looked unperturbed.

"At my waist? Extra bullets, my sig, two grenades, and a knife." A twinkle lit her eyes as she pulled out her cell phone. "And I have my backups, but I'm not telling you where."

"Are you expecting any trouble, love?" he asked, grabbing the cell phone Malachi had given him when he had landed in Israel.

"No, but it pays to be prepared. Today, ahuvi, we are going to a tourist attraction called Mini-Israel. It is a park of miniatures of the landmarks in Israel. It is absolutely adorable, down to the miniature pomegranate trees that are actually living. Anyway, the point is we can see a lot and then you can decide what you want to see and what you want to give a miss."

"There doesn't have to be a point to where we go, Ziva, I just want to spend time with you." He said, pulling her closer. She reached up and clasped her arms around his neck.

"But I want to show you where I grew up, what I'm fighting for. I want you to meet Israel from my point of view."

"I fell in love with Israel when I fell in love with you. It has to be good soil if it produced you," he husked, leaning in, and kissing her brainless. He knew that the idea was to pamper her, make her realize how much she had had been missing and then she would begging that she could home to the United States.

"Did you eat breakfast, Jethro?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Mm-hmm, but I could always eat again," he said with a smile.

"Not a chance!" she laughed, slapping him playfully on the chest. "You'll want to go where we're going."

"I want to go where you are." Ziva laughed again. God, how he missed that sound.

Ziva pulled on his hand as she led him out the door and into the hallway. "We'll have time for everything, Jethro, while you're here." His heart dropped slightly that she had put a timestamp on their relationship.

Mini-Israel is located in Latrun, in between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and was a key battle place in the 1948 Israeli Independence War. There are tanks and bullet casings all over the hills, put there as tribute to the fallen. "You know who Mickey Marcus was?" Ziva asked as she took a particularly steep turn.

"The guy from Cast a Giant Shadow?" Gibbs asked, and then smiled guiltily.

"Don't worry, I won't tell Tony," Ziva assured him. "Anyway, one of the battles occurred in these hills. They made these roads, actually." He sighed. She always knew what he was thinking. It was something that he had fallen in love with.

As they strode between the miniatures of each of the building, Ziva pointed to several things and listed the history behind it. Gibbs was astounded by how much she knew. He knew she had a photographic memory but this was simply outstanding.

"I used to walk around here when I was sad or frustrated," Ziva admitted as they looked at a miniature of the Bahai Gardens in Haifa. "Some people go to the beach, but I came here. It reenergized me. It made me remember what I was fighting for. I just watch everyone here and these little landmarks and it made me feel like I wasn't alone. It gave me hope." She dug her hands into her pockets, and he put his arm around her shoulders and placed a kiss on her cheek. She smiled slightly, and looped her arm around his waist. He fell in love with her all over again as they strolled around the park.

As they neared a model of the Knesset, the Israeli parliamentary building, Ziva sighed looking at the little soldiers taking their Hashbaah, their service pledge. He watched the little plastic figurines and the rising blue and white flags and looked over at Ziva, her lips tautly set in a firm line. He knew she was thinking about her own Hashbaah and her dead husband. He put her hands on the cool metal railing and leaned in. "Jethro," she asked, "are you okay with everything I told you last night?"

He gulped. He had no idea that she would have put on the spot like that. But then he realized, he was okay. If he wasn't okay with it he would be a hypocrite. And he pulled her into a hug and said:

"Ziver, I love you for it."