A/N – Someone suggested that I should have written Tony and Ziva's wedding. I like that suggestion. I was going to go back and do it in the other story, The Summer After Disaster, but I changed my mind. I'm doing it as a memory in this chapter. That way we get to see it, but I don't have too many stories still going at once. This chapter has very little forward progress, but a couple of good memories. This is a T chapter, definitely.

Disclaimer – I don't own NCIS or the characters.

Chapter 2

As she sat in the car, Ziva looked down at her wedding ring. She could remember that day perfectly. She thought back to it.

Ziva stood in a large room with Abby at one side and Jen at the other. They were helping her get into her white dress. It was a strapless piece that was floor length. It hugged her every curve and flowed in just the right way. It was simple and elegant. Ziva honestly felt like a princess in it.

Jen stood up from helping her with the dress and ruffled her loose curls, so that they fell a little over her shoulders. She then smiled from behind Ziva in the mirror as she placed the veil in her hair. Ziva smiled back.

"I'm going to go out and make sure the boys are getting everyone seated, Ziva," Abby said. "I'll be right back."

Abby left the room in a hurry. She had been able to tell that Jen wanted a few words with Ziva.

"I know the wedding isn't a sham, Zi," Jen said. "My father has an idea that it isn't either. The only people who think it's a sham are Director Vance and JAG A.J. Chegwidden. But, the others just think this is some out of the blue awakening for the two of you. I'm having a hard time getting Tobias Fornell to accept it as a real wedding, yet he is here in the audience and he plans on staying to see that you two actually go off on the honeymoon."

Ziva smiled. "Thank you for everything, Jen," Ziva said. "I'm glad you are here to be my maid of honor."

Jen smiled again. "Thank you for making me that, Zi," Jen said with a smile.

The door opened and Abby and Gibbs walked in together. Gibbs blushed a little at the sight of Ziva all done up like she was. He was smiling though.

"You look beautiful, Ziva," he said. "Just like giving away one of my girls."

There was a tear in his eye and there was also one in Ziva's eye. Jen hurried over with a handkerchief and dabbed at it.

"No crying until after the ceremony, or during it. I don't want your makeup to run before Tony sees you all fancied up," Jen said sharply and followed Abby out of the room.

They met up with the boys in the hallway, where the others couldn't see them. It was almost time. Jen was a little fidgety and McGee looked like a stone, as though he was in shock over this whole thing. How this wedding had come together so fast, no one was really sure. But, Jen and Abby had worked very hard to make it happen in just a few days.

The music started and Abby moved off with Isaac. Jen watched as Abby's blue bridesmaid dress swished behind her as she walked off arm in arm with Isaac. Isaac didn't dare to glance back and see his pregnant fiancée standing there.

They were halfway to where they were going and McGee and Jen moved off. Ziva watched them as they went. She counted their steps for something to do.

"Relax, Ziva," Gibbs said. "I know this is about more than the law, even if it is a little sooner that you had in mind. Just follow your heart and you two will succeed. After all, you've waited long enough and known each other long enough."

Ziva nodded, but looked at Gibbs. Her mouth was hanging open.

"I approve," he whispered. "Rule twelve is stupid for you two anyway."

Ziva smiled at him as she began to walk with him, slowly down their makeshift aisle in his backyard in Alexandria. She didn't look at the audience and at first she only looked down at the ground. Her eyes slowly rose to find Tony at the end of their aisle and suddenly it all made sense to her.

She was marrying the man she loved more than anything in the world. She had loved him for a whole lot longer than she cared to admit. But, she would admit it to him if he ever asked her. She had always loved Tony. It was love at first sight. She had always trusted Tony; that had happened at first sight too. She wanted to run to get there, but she focused hard on keeping pace with Gibbs, so that she didn't look too eager to the two in the audience who thought this was all a sham.

They finally made it to the alter.

"Who gives away this woman today?"

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs, her father," Gibbs said, with a tear twinkling in his eyes. He turned to Ziva and smiled at her. "I love you, kid. You'll do great."

He kissed her on the cheek and placed her hand in Tony's, an old symbol of giving away the bride.

The words that continued were completely lost on Ziva as she stared into Tony's eyes. They were saying traditional vows, because there had not been much time to write their own.

"Do you, Ziva David, take this man, Anthony DiNozzo, to be your husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better of for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" the preacher asked.

"I do," she said in barely more than a whisper, unable to figure out where her voice went.

"And, do you, Anthony DiNozzo, take this woman, Ziva David, to be your wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better of for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" the preacher asked him.

"I do," Tony said, looking straight into Ziva's eyes and bearing his soul into her through his eyes.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss," he said and closed his little book.

Tony grabbed Ziva by the waist and pulled her close to him. He pressed a kiss to her lips and dipped her backward a little bit, making this kiss far more dramatic than Ziva normally would have been comfortable with in public. Though, Ziva, somehow, had forgotten that she was in public at all. She laced her fingers through his hair and held him there, where he belonged and kissed him passionately, until he forced them apart.

"We are in public, Mrs. DiNozzo," he whispered to her, kissing her on the cheek.

He could tell her cheeks had gone a little blushed, but not many others new her that well, where they could see the difference in her tanned skin. Tony quickly brushed a tear from her eye and smiled at her, kissing her one more time, before turning to face the watching crowd, so that they could begin the reception. Ziva returned his smile and also turned to face the watchers.

Ziva was smiling in her seat at the memory of nearly losing herself in front of all of their friends, family, coworkers, and fellow Federal Agents that day. Tony glanced at her as they pulled into the driveway of their apartment, since they now both lived at Tony's place.

"What are you smiling about?" Tony asked.

"Our wedding," Ziva said quietly. "I changed my mind, Tony. It was definitely not too soon to do that."

He smiled at her and leaned over and kissed her. "We can always think about what we're going to do about NCIS after we celebrate a little more. Personally, I think that honeymoon was a little too short for my liking."

Ziva giggled at Tony and wiggled her eyebrows in a way that he had always done to her when he was being suggestive and inappropriate. His eyes widened as he saw this and he turned off the car.

Tony opened his door, got out, and walked around to open her door for her. She took his hand as she stepped out of the car. He held her close, as though afraid she might disappear from him any second and they walked up to their apartment.

It was still completely amazing to Ziva that they were now married and living together when only a few weeks ago they weren't sure of where there lives were going. This was all different and it was a change that many people considered too big with too many big steps involved all at once. But, Ziva and Tony had adjusted to the change rather fast. They enjoyed being around each other too much to not enjoy all this change.

Tony unlocked their apartment and allowed Ziva to enter it first. He kissed her as soon as they were in. He pushed her back up against the wall and Ziva was reminded of something else in that moment as she kissed Tony and laced her fingers through his soft hair.

Finally, they were in Paris, the place where they were on their honeymoon. They were at the same fancy hotel where they had stayed so many years ago to pick up that witness for NCIS. Tony had picked it and surprised Ziva with it. He carried her over the threshold of the suite and set her down on her feet as soon as the door was closed behind them. They could both feel a need for each other that had never been quite that strong or quite the same.

Tony grabbed her waist and pushed her back right into the door and kissed her deeply and passionately. His tongue was at her bottom lip, but she opened her mouth before he could ask for permission. Their tongues engaged in a wild dance for dominance, neither winning or loosing. Ziva's fingers laced through his hair and held his face to hers with such strength that neither was sure how it was still possible to breathe.

Tony's hands were on Ziva's back and tugging at the dress she wore on the plane to come up. Ziva moved her butt off the wall so that the dress would cooperate with Tony. As she moved forward, her hips crashed into his, increasing their need for one another. He grabbed her butt and squeezed it lightly and then allowed his hands to wander all over her body and explore, again, every single contour and curve that she had. When he got to the scars on her back, he stroked them lightly and kissed her neck passionately, making sure she knew just how loved she was, despite everything that she had ever been through in her life.

They were in that same position again, in a different location with different clothing on, and under nearly identical circumstances as they thought about the fact that they were now Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo.

Ziva wrapped her leg around Tony's waist and pushed her hips harder into him, begging him for what she really wanted. He complied.

Abby was standing in Gibbs' living room with Jen looking at her as though she was nuts. She had stormed in and stopped as soon as she had seen Jen there. She was, of course, looking for the older Gibbs and not the younger and pregnant Gibbs.

Gibbs came out of the kitchen to see the girls staring at one another and he sighed heavily. "Abby?" he said.

"Why, Gibbs? Why didn't they just come back? I thought it was assumed that this mission meant that we were all coming back? What more is there to think about? I mean, I know they are married and living together and everything now…. And I know that they are still under heavy investigation from Parsons, but why didn't they just come back when Vance said he wanted them? I don't understand, Gibbs! I'm so angry at them! I just want to go over there and head-slap them! Why didn't you head-slap them, or you, Jen! I want them back on the team! I want all of them back, it won't be the same without them!"

"Abby," Jen said sharply. "They will make a decision in their own time. They are dealing with quite a lot right now."

"So what? They need jobs don't they? I mean they really can't have enough savings to do this for very long and not work, right? Even McGee came back to work right away, and he's a famous author, under a different name, but still! So what? They are married and living together and adjusting. Is that all the excuses you are going to give to me?"

"Abby," Gibbs said. "Tony and Ziva have had quite a year. First, the explosion in the elevator, which changed them in ways that none of us expected. They never really got used to that change and then Eli David was killed, along with Jackie Vance. That was difficult on Ziva and Tony was there for her in ways that she had not expected. She got her revenge and thought she killed Bodnar, only to find out that she hadn't actually killed Bodnar, while she brought in Yaniv instead of Ilan. They were in a major car accident, where Tony lost his car and Ziva was giving him rides to work almost everyday.

"Then, we were all put under pressure from Parsons, who managed to lift every single dirty thing we've ever done somehow from every record that was destroyed. We still need to work on how he found out all of that information, which is your job, not anyone else's. That was stressful enough before he caught Ziva in the interrogation room and questioned her about an indiscretion she had with Adam Eschel, who is a foreign operative and off-limits to her. Tony was hurt over that, but they managed to repair it. Then they resigned from NCIS, confusing them further, and were, some short while later, pulled into a top-secret, classified mission that was conducted by my daughter who I thought was dead for a while.

"They have had no time to adjust to any of this and then all of a sudden, they are married and living together and going on a honeymoon. This is a lot of change. They haven't exactly been given the time to think anything through about work or their future. This time is much needed for them. They need to grow accustomed to living together and being a married couple before they can decide if they are going to work together or work at all. Just be patient with them Abby, they have a lot to process."

"They most certainly do," Jen said. "Growing closer, one of them hurt and the other there more than should happen, a fight for revenge and succeeding and finding out you didn't, an indiscretion that hurt one of them, an investigation by the DoD, resigning from the job they both love, getting even closer, going on a mission, getting even closer, completing the mission, getting married, going on a honeymoon, living together, having their jobs offered to them again. That's a lot, Abby. That would be overwhelming to the absolute best trained Mossad Officer I've ever met before, which was Ziva. They need time to think it through and work it out before they can make a decision. This was their opportunity to make a decision and go through with it completely. They need to talk it over and work it out among themselves. Give it time."

"Fine, I will give it some time," Abby said, feeling very resigned and as though the father/daughter pair was ganging up on her in her emotional state. "But, that doesn't make me any happier with them."

"No one said you had to be happy about their decision, Abby," Gibbs said honestly. "But, it is their decision to make and no one else's. I don't wish any of you to contact them and try to convince them one way or the other. They need the time, like Jennifer said, to process everything that they are going through and have gone through over the last year."

"I know," Abby said again. "I just wish it was easier for them. They've never had it easy, you know. Especially not with… never mind."

"Especially not with rule twelve?" Gibbs asked. "No, I didn't make it easy on them. Did I know how they felt about each other before the wedding and before a wedding was suggested? Yes, I did. I have known for a very long time that they were in love and perfect for each other. But perfect doesn't mean nothing clashing. I'm sure they have something to get used to with living together, though they are kindred souls in some respects."

"Tony was never good at opening up his home to others, and now it is not just his home. They are combined and that is huge," Jen pointed out as though to emphasize the points that were already fairly well flogged by this point in the conversation.

"I know that," Abby said. "He's never had any girls over before Ziva, did you both know that?"

They nodded their heads in unison, but Abby was finally seeing what they were talking about in the amount that they had to absorb for information and changes to their lives and relationship over the last long year.