Title: Illuminated

Author: IronIsraeliButterfly

Chapter Title: Song in Israel

A/N: This one is for ZivaCentric, because of Haifa :D. 1,001 hits last time I checked on my last chapter… so where are the reviews? If you don't know the song, I seriously suggest that you check it up. Oh, and of course, for Clairebear.

"For you, there'll be no more crying,
For you, the sun will be shining,
And I feel that when I'm with you,
It's alright, I know it's right"

-"Songbird," Fleetwood Mac

Ziva settled into her bed in an apartment in Tel-Aviv, smiling as she pulled the duvet cover up to her chin. Today had been one of those perfect days that you saw in those sappy romantic comedies that she wouldn't admit, even if they took off her left trigger finger (she was able to shoot with both hands, of course). They had gone to Haifa in the morning because she knew that was something that he really wanted to do. They had gotten a special tour of the magnificent Bahai Gardens, which weren't typically open to the general public. "He owed me a favour," Ziva explained. "And I love Bahai because what they believe in."

Afterwards, Ziva and Gibbs journeyed to one of the army bases for an elite combat unit, called the Golani. Gibbs was impressed watching the teenagers fight like there was no tomorrow. "That move is called bursting – attacking with both hands at once, and using your legs. It is unique to krav maga."

"That's what you're trained in?" Gibbs asked, watching the soldiers loaded down with forty kilos of weaponry

"Yeah. I wanted to be a fighter pilot or in the Navy but when I went for my physicals, I was more suited for combat. They stuck me in all male unit as an experiment. We did some of the most dangerous things possible. I was a commando. I fought dirty. That's why I went into Mossad. I didn't want to be Mossad. I wanted to be a professional dancer and singer. But when I was in the army I realized where my place is."

"I always thought your father pushed you to join the Mossad."

"He didn't want me to join. He wanted me to be safe. He wanted me to be in Aman – that's the Intelligence Corps - pretty safe job according to him. But I wanted to fight. Did you know that Israel is the only country that has a draft for women?"

"I do now." Gibbs said, pulling her closer. He was so proud of his lover. She was so strong in more ways than one.

"Allo, Ziva!" A tall, lean, muscular man with a t-shirt and shorts walked over to them.

Ziva's eyes sparkled with merriment. "Moni!" she got up and hugged him. "Jethro, this is the man who taught me how to fight." Gibbs shook the man's hand.

"Nice to meet you," Moni said. "So, want to go fight? There's a guy over there, he's pretty promising. Not that I think you can't take him."

Ziva walked over to the guy who didn't seem perturbed that he was fighting a girl. Gibbs leaned back to watch. This was going to be good.

Punch, duck, kick, and the guy was on the floor, Ziva victorious.

"Haven't lost your touch, have you, Ziva?" Moni asked.

"Never," Ziva said with a smirk as she placed a leg on the guy's back.

"To you, I'll give the world
to you, I'll never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you,
It's alright, I know it's right."

As Ziva snuggled deeper into her comforter, she thought of something wonderful to do in Jerusalem, close to his hotel. She dialled the number.

"Ziver?" his voice sounded joyful that she had called him.

"I'll be there soon. I just thought you might want to see Jerusalem at night. It's absolutely breath-taking."

"Everything's breath-taking with you around," he murmured. A jolt went through him. It was the same feeling he realized the night before he asked Shannon to marry him. It was that feeling of certainty, like this couldn't end badly. In a certain way, his marriage to Shannon hadn't ended badly, because they were still in love when she died. Now, he felt like there was Ziva who was going to fill that void. No. He wasn't going to use Ziva as a stopper for his pain. He did that to his three ex-wives. Ziva was the end. He was going to transcend his pain and make it right. Ziva was his answer to the question the Sergeant had asked him so many years before.

He could feel Shannon behind him as he walked onto the balcony to survey the beautiful city, all lit up, the oldest mixed with the most modern. She seemed to be pushing him into the right direction.

"Its forty-five minutes to Jerusalem," Ziva had said.

"So you'll be here in twenty minutes," he laughed.

"Meet you in the lobby."

Gibbs went to meet Ziva in the hotel's lobby. She looked absolutely beautiful. It never failed to amaze him how every time he looked at her his breath was taken away. They had been trekking all over the north of Israel that morning and when anyone would have looked dead beat and tired, she looked positively radiant. Her skin was glowing, and there was a sparkle in her eyes. She was wearing a simple outfit, jeans and a black t-shirt and her hair tied up in a high ponytail. "Hey," she said quietly.

"So where do you want to go?" he asked.

She smiled coyly. "I'll show you."

They walked along the old streets of Jerusalem, Gibbs wondering when he should tell her. As they reached the Jaffa Gate, near where they had first re-joined each other in Israel, Ziva turned to Gibbs.

"Jethro, why are you here? You realize I'm not going to come back with you. So why are you trying so hard?"

"Why aren't you coming back? Oh… wait, Ziva, this is a whole plan to —"

"You're sounding like Abby. No, it's not a plan. I missed you. I love you. I want to be with you. But I've got a job, and I have to do it."

"You're beginning to sound like James Bond."

"And you're beginning to sound like Tony," Ziva retorted. "I need to do it. There's no future for me in the United States. Abby hates me, and probably the rest of the team does too."

"Abby misses you a lot, Ziver, and so does everyone else. McGee especially. He goes crazy without you. He starts talking to the air, wishing you were there. There is a future. You and me. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"We were together six months and you didn't say anything about the future. Nothing. Not even about a date. Now, when you realize this is the end, you're grasping at the straws. It was a mistake for you to come here. You wasted your time. I can't believe that I wasted my time from tracking down the killer of my family to spend time with someone who can't—"

"Commit? Really, Ziva? Do you know what my plan was when I would come back? I was planning on taking you to dinner that night and telling how much you mean to me. And then I was going to ask you to marry me. And every day after you left I dreamed that maybe you would knock on my door but you didn't come. You left me in the lurch, Ziva. I haven't felt this about another woman since Shannon. What am I supposed to do if you leave?"

Ziva was silent for a moment. And then she responded in the language that transcended all other languages. Music. Tears began running down her face.

"And the songbirds are singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before."

Gibbs looked at her, not believing what he was hearing. And then he realized there was the perfect part of the song to sing to her.

"And I wish you all the love in the world,
But most of all, I wish it from myself."

And then their voices blended in perfect harmony in the cobblestone streets in Jerusalem.

"And the songbirds keep singing,
Like they know the score,
And I love you, I love you, I love you,
Like never before, like never before."

Paris wasn't the city of love. Jerusalem was.

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