They walked into Tony's new apartment. Ziva noticed it was very nicely furnished already. The kitchen had a center island and it was very open with a breakfast bar. The dining room adjacent to the kitchen then opened up to the living room. The living room had a huge sliding bay window that led out onto the balcony. The balcony looked over the ocean. It was very serene. Very romantic. Something she was sure Tony would get a lot of use out of. Ziva smiled noticing Tony had already unpacked all of his movies and put them on the built in book shelf next to the big screen. Another thing that he would get a lot of use out of.
"So what do you think?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.
"It is very nice. I see you have already unpacked all your movies."
"Does that surprise you?" He said teasingly.
"Not in the slightest." She said honestly.
He smiled at her. "Well let me give you the tour. Obviously kitchen and dining room on the right living room and balcony overlooking the ocean on the left. I am very happy about the ocean view." He said grinning. "And down the hall here is the bathroom. Now there are two doors. One going in from the hall and one going in from my bedroom. I am most excited about the jet tub." He said raising his eye brows at her.
She giggled. "I bet you are."
"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day? We can go to for a walk on the beach, watch a movie, or test out the jet tub." He said suggestively.
She just smiled. "In your dreams on the last one. The beach sounds perfect."
He knew she was going to say no to his last suggestion but he was hoping she would have said yes anyway. It was fall so they weren't going to lay out and sunbathe. They headed down to the beach both taking their shoes off and carrying them as they walked down near the edge. They walked in silence for a good fifteen minutes. Bumping into each other every so often.
"What are you thinking about?" Ziva finally asked breaking their silence.
"You." He said stopping and turning to look at her.
She looked up at him. "What about me?"
He smiled down at her. "How much I am going to miss you."
She blushed slightly turning to keep walking. The wind was blowing softly making the smell of the ocean even stronger. She loved the smell of the ocean. She loved the feel of the sand between her toes.
"What about you? What are you thinking about?" He asked keeping pace with her.
"I am thinking about how DC will not be the same without you and how much I will miss your childish pranks."
"Just the pranks?" He asked.
"And you." She said looking at him sincerely. Ziva rarely showed her vulnerability but when she did it was a beautiful thing to him. He moved his shoes to his opposite hand and took her free hand in his now free hand. Interlacing their fingers they walked in silence a little while longer.
Tony noticed the sun starting to set and pulled her to a stop and sat down in the sand. The wind blew a little harder and he noticed Ziva shiver. He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. She laid her head on his shoulder and cuddled into him as they watched the sun go down. It was very poetic he thought. Sitting on the beach watching the sun set with the woman he could never have.
They sat there until the sun had long ago fallen below the horizon. They both stood silently and walked back to the apartment hand in hand.
"So are you hungry? I actually have food in this apartment." He laughed.
"I am famished." She replied.
They both went to the kitchen and began to search thru the cabinets. They decided to make pasta with some Alfredo sauce. He also found a bottle of wine and poured them a couple of glasses.
They chatted quietly about random things. Their favorite childhood memories, pets they had, Ziva talked about her time in the Israeli army. After they cleaned up the dinner dishes they made their way to the living room bringing the bottle of wine with them.
"So you wanna watch a movie?" Tony asked.
"Sure. Can we watch that one where the ship sinks? I do not remember the name of it. I just know you keep bugging Abby to watch it with you and since I have never seen it either I was hoping you would watch it with me." He had never heard her ramble before. But he was pretty sure that was her rambling.
He smiled. "Sure." Did she really think he would say no? He stood up and put the movie in while she poured some more wine and settled in the middle on his new black suede couch. It was very comfortable. He came back and settled in next to her so that their thighs were touching. She handed him his glass as the movie began to play. About twenty minutes into the movie they had both finished their glasses of wine. Ziva had moved so that she was lying against the arm of the couch and her feet were in Tony's lap. He absentmindedly rubbed her feet.
She couldn't concentrate on the movie. His foot massage felt amazing. She tried really hard to focus on the movie. But her mind kept going back to him rubbing her feet. He stopped rubbing her feet and just laid his arm across her legs. She was sad that he stopped but glad at the same. Now she could concentrate on the movie.
They had made it halfway through the movie and Tony knew the naked hot sex scene was coming up. He snickered slightly. She sat up and looked at him confused. It hadn't been a funny scene. So she didn't know why he was laughing.
"What is so funny?"
He laughed a little more. "Just keep watching."
She narrowed her eyes at him but laid back down. Finally she figured out why he had been laughing when the main character came out naked and let the cute guy draw her. Her eyes widened. As the scene went on it got more intense when they ended up in the car making love. Ziva became very uncomfortable.
Tony looked over at her noticing her discomfort during this particular scene. "You ok Zi?"
She sat up moving her feet from his lap and standing up. "Yes, I just really need to use the restroom." She started walking towards the restroom hoping that when she returned it would be over. She spent a couple minutes trying to recollect herself. She splashed some water on her face. She walked back to see he had paused the movie for her.
"I didn't want you to miss the best part." He said smirking at her. She smiled back at him and instead of lying back on the end the couch she sat close to him again pulling her feet up underneath her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close him. She laid her head in the crook of his neck. The movie played another half hour and then he heard her soft snores. He chuckled lightly to himself. He moved carefully to lift her off the couch and took her to his bedroom. He laid her gently on the bed and covered her with the blankets. He kneeled next to and brushed the hair out of her face. Then stood and went back to the living room. Her turned Titanic off and found a throw blanket and settled in on the couch. All the while thinking about the gorgeous woman sleeping in his bed.
She woke the next morning in an unfamiliar place. She slipped out of the bed and went in to the living room where she found Tony sleeping. She walked in to the kitchen and started cooking breakfast.
Tony woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls. He smiled. He loves cinnamon rolls. He rolled off the couch and folded the blanket up. She turned and smiled when she saw he was awake.
"I hope you are hungry. I made cinnamon rolls."
"Yum! My favorite."
They ate breakfast in a comfortable silence. He loved that they didn't have to constantly talk when they were around each other.
After they were done Ziva asked to use his shower in which he said he didn't care. After they both showered they decided they were going to drive threw Rota so that Tony could become more acquainted with the city. They spent the day exploring the city and shopping. They didn't get back to the apartment until closer to dinner time. They decided to try this Spanish take out place they had seen earlier.
Tony knew Ziva was leaving in the morning. Ziva knew she was leaving in the morning. This was going to be their last night together. It was sort of sad for both of them.
"So what time does your plane leave in the morning?"
"0730."
"Are you going back to the hotel tonight?" He asked hoping she would say no and that she would stay with him for the night.
She hesitated for a moment seeing the look in his eyes as he asked the question. "I probably should since we are leaving early tomorrow." She said regretfully.
"I promise if you stay with me tonight I will get you back to the hotel early tomorrow morning." He said grinning at her.
She couldn't help but smile back. "Okay. I will stay with you tonight. But on one condition."
"Name it." He said.
"You have to sleep in your bed tonight and let me have the couch. It was very sweet of you to give up your bed last night but…"
"No buts. How about this instead? We can share the bed." He said slowly gauging her reaction before continuing. "We are both adults. I can behave if you can."
She laughed. "Okay Dinozzo."
They finished their meal and then headed to the bedroom. They both changed and then slipped into the bed. Both laying there for a few minutes just staring at the ceiling. Ziva rolled over on her side facing Tony. Tony turned to stare into her deep brown eyes. She didn't have to say anything but he knew she wanted him to hold her. He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her into him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her head into his neck. They both fell asleep comfortably.
The alarm went off at 0500. They both groaned neither wanting to move from the comfort of each other's arms. Once they got around they made their way to the hotel to pick up the director. She was waiting in the lobby for them. She smiled when she saw them walk in.
"Tony can you drive us to the airport? I sent Jardine and Vardigo home to sleep before they had to go to work."
"Yes ma'am."
The car ride was too short for Tony and Ziva's liking. He parked the car and walked them in all the way to the gate. Rota security was a little more relaxed then America's security. Tony waited with them until their boarding call.
"That's us. I will be in touch with you Dinozzo. Good luck. Be safe." Jenny said and gave Tony a hug.
"Thanks Jen." With that she boarded the plane giving Tony and Ziva a moment alone.
"So I guess this is where we say goodbye." Tony said.
"Not goodbye. Just….see you later." He pulled her into a hug.
"Final boarding call for flight 254. Rota to DC."
She pulled away and looked up at him. "I have to go."
"Call me when you get there?"
"Of course."
She smiled and boarded the plane. He stayed until the plane flew off. Then he left and headed for the office. He was suddenly very nervous.
A/N: WOW longest chapter yet. Hope you guys enjoyed. REVIEWS are great things! Next chapter Tony gets his first case as Rota team leader YAY!