So I think I unknowingly lied about this being a one shot.

Thanksgiving.

The team had just wrapped up a case involving a naval officer who turned a turkey in to a bomb for a joke and accidently took out part of a neighboring house. Over the years they had some strange cases but this one had to make the top 5. The team stood around the bullpen laughing and talking about the day's events.

"What I can't get is why you would think that it is a good idea to fill a turkey with cherry bombs in the first place," McGee laughed.

"I guess that's just a special kind of stupid," Gibbs responded.

At this point Abby chimed in, "speaking of turkeys, isn't it about time that we head over to Ducky's?"

Tony looked down at his watch. "Right, and speaking of time, I guess I should head to the airport to pick Ziva up."

The drive to the airport took 22 minutes. As he stood outside of the terminal exit his mind continued to wander. He hadn't seen Ziva in 2 months. The last time was at a going away party the team threw her the day before she left for New York. They had talked a little and everything was fine. A bit tense, but fine. From that day till now he had received 5 emails, 7 texts, and 2 phone calls, one of which was asking him to come pick her up from the airport.

A slowly growing trickle of people began to descend the stairs. Tony assumed that a flight had just landed. And then he saw her. She was walking down the stares looking just the same as she always had. The same crazy hair. The same cargo chic style. The same smile.

She came to rest right in front of him with a bright smile on her face. "Hello Tony," she said brightly.

"Hey," he said mirroring her expression.

There was something in her eyes that he had never seen before. It was the look of someone who was completely content, the look of someone at peace.

They grabbed her luggage and loaded into the car. For the first five minutes no one spoke. It was a silence that was both easy and thick. It wasn't uncomfortable, but there was a lot left unsaid.

"So, how's the big apple?" Tony asked looking at her through his peripherals.

"The apple? What apple?"

"You know the big apple, the city that never sleeps, the empire city, the greatest city in the world…. You know… New York." He said with his usual flair.

"Oh, well why could you not say that in the first place." She said in mock annoyance, though Tony could clearly see the smirk she was trying to hide.

"It has been great. I enjoy working as a translator. It is nothing to exciting but I guess that is what I have needed. Less excitement. I am really looking forward to starting classes in the fall."

"Have you decided what you want to go to school for."

"I have been thinking of a few things. International relations could be interesting, but it is a lot like what I am trying to get away from. I have never been one for politics anyway. Maybe International studies or anthropology would be better suited. I think I would like to help people and still be working for good… but just not by taking out the bad."

Tony nodded, listening to what she had to say.

"I was also thinking linguistics could be a good fit."

"What are you leaning more towards," he said taking a moment to look at her while stopped at the red light.

"I don't know yet," she said a little apprehensively, "what do you think?"

"I think that this is your decision."

"Yes it is, but I would still like to hear your opinion."

The light turned green and Tony began to accelerate through the intersection.

"Well… if you don't like politics I would stay away from International relations. International studies or anthropology could be good… but it just doesn't strike me as a good fit for you. Linguistics… just sounds like you."

She smiled at him from her side of the car. He gladly returned her smile before returning his gaze back to the road.

"I am a little nervous about working full time and taking a full class schedule. It will be a lot of work," she confessed looking out her window.

"You will be fine," was his quite reply.

The silence lapsed between them a little more at ease this time. It was several minutes before Ziva broke the silence again.

"So how have you been? Anything new?"

"Work's the same old, same old. People die, we investigate. People murder, we investigate. People hack in to the Pentagon, we investigate." He said all this as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Someone hacked in to the Pentagon?" Ziva questioned, her interest spiked as her old reflexes stirred.

"Yeah… but that's suppose to be top secret," he admitted with an impish grin that she was all too accustomed to.

"Well your secret is safe with me," she smiled.

"And… I have been seeing someone." Tony said this looking out the windshield, doing his very best to not glance her direction and to look and sound as relaxed as possible, like this was no big deal and a perfectly normal conversation for them to be having.

"Oh…" she replied with her best attempt at a genuine, un-encumbered smile.

"Her name is Mairin. She's a curator for the natural history museum."

"Mairin, that is a unique name."

"It means 'star of the sea.' It's Irish. She was born in Ireland. She moved to the states when she was 12."

"In Hebrew it means 'sea of sorrow'." Ziva said this with out thinking of how it would sound. The car fell quiet again for a few minutes.

"How long have you been seeing her?" Ziva did her best to feign nonchalant interest again.

"Almost two months. She was supposed to come tonight to meet everyone but her family flew in at the last minute. I will be ducking out a little early to join them."

"So it is serious? You are meeting each other's families so it must be."

"Maybe," he replied, the ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Are you happy Tony?" Ziva asked tentatively.

"Yeah… I think so," he replied, thinking back to a conversation where this same question had been asked. It seemed like a lifetime ago. "Are you?"

"I believe I am." Her voice was quite but certain. Though there was a part of her that was jealous, she was happy that he was happy. She was happy that he had moved on. More than that, she was just happy.

The remaining minutes in the car were held in silence once again. Through the ever-growing comfort in the silence of two people who knew each other completely, the realization hit Tony that though they had both moved on, they had not lost each other.

They arrived at Ducky's house a moment later. When Ziva walked through the door the people who meant the most to her in this world immediately surrounded her. Abby squealed and engulfed her in a forceful hug, followed by McGee and Jimmy. Ducky took her hand in his with a cheerful "welcome back my dear." Finally, she came to Gibbs. He pulled her in for a hug and whispered in her ear, "Glad you could make it home." Over his shoulder she locked eyes with Tony. He also carried a look in his eyes that she too had never seen. It was the same look that was in her eyes. It was peace. Here in the arms of her 'father,' Ziva knew that this was were she would always come back to, no mater how far her life took her, so she whispered back, "Always."

I'm not sure yet… but I think this story might be far from over…