NCIS
WHERE'S DINOZZO?
DISCLAIMER: NCIS and characters do not belong to me.
Summary: Tony goes missing and no one knows where to start looking for him. Will they find him and will Ziva finally tell him she loves him, or will it be too late?
CHAPTER 25: MARRY ME ZIVA DAVID...
ONE MONTH LATER...
It had now been a month since Ziva had returned and after four years, things had returned almost to the way they had once been.
Ziva had once again taken back her old desk and she was again dating Tony.
There was still a feeling of loss between them and they knew that would never change, but at least now they knew they could work together again.
Tony's full sense of humor had returned, also to return were his pranks and names at Tim. It seemed the NCIS family had been mostly healed...Tony and Ziva worked every day at getting back what they had once long ago had.
One night Tony and Ziva were out and he could stand it no longer. He had the ring in his pocket as they walked in the park. It was like Déjà vu as he stopped and turned to face her, but the last time they had been at restaurant.
"Ziva, I have something to ask you." He said and seemed a little nervous. "What is it, Tony?" Ziva asked. "I know you will probably think it's too soon, but I have to ask." Tony told her.
"Tony..." Ziva warned. "Ziva David, will you marry me?" Tony asked before she could say anything more. "Tony, I..." Ziva began.
"Ziva, please don't tell me it's too soon. You know that I have never stopped loving you. You said yourself that you have never stopped loving me, then a month ago, we talked and you told me about your dream. Then we agreed that maybe someday that would be us. What if that someday is now?" Tony asked taking her hands.
She did not pull her hands away, but looked into his sincere face.
"Tony, we have just gotten back together and started dating again." Ziva told him. "I know that, Zi. Please don't ask for time to think about it." Tony said. "Tony, I've only been back a little over a month..." Ziva reminded him.
"Ziva, I'm not trying pressure you." Tony told her. "That is exactly what you are doing, Tony." Ziva argued.
"So I guess..." Tony began. "If you think the answer is no, Tony. Then you are wrong..." Ziva began.
"So the answer is yes?" Tony asked hopefully. "Why do you need to know now?" Ziva asked.
"Because the last time I asked, you said you needed time to think about it and by the time you were..." Tony began.
"I know what you are going to say...by the time I was about to answer you. I lost our baby and then at that point there was no way I could say yes." Ziva told him.
"A lot has changed then since then, Zi." Tony told her. "I know, Tony. I want to be with you and marry you, but..." Ziva began.
"Then what's stopping you? Because I already told you that I won't hurt you or let anyone else hurt you." Tony told her.
"It's complicated." Ziva told him and he laughed. "Remember what you told me when I told you that, years ago." Tony asked her. "Yes, I remember. I cannot explain..." Ziva began.
"What can't you explain, Ziva David? You used to be one of the bravest people, what changed?" Tony asked.
"A lot," Ziva stated and started to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.
Taking his hand, she twisted it behind his back.
"Ow…Ziva, you can let go!" Tony told her. "You should never try to grab my arm like that." Ziva told him. "What are you not telling me?" Tony asked.
"What makes you think I'm not telling you anything?" Ziva asked. "Because every time we get into a conversation about getting, married or something even close to it. You try to walk away or act like you don't want to talk about it." Tony told her.
"That is because I do not want to talk about it." Ziva told him. "Why won't you tell me?" Tony insisted.
"Because I cannot," Ziva replied. "Can't or won't?" Tony countered. "A little of both I guess." Ziva replied.
"Talk to me, Ziva." Tony told her.
"Okay, I just want to wait a little longer before we get married." Ziva told him. "Then we will wait as long as you want...until you feel ready to get married." Tony said showing her the ring.
"Tony, that's the..." Ziva began. "The same ring I bought four years ago. I always thought you would come back and we would work things out...so I held onto it." Tony told her and she looked at him.
"Tony, it has taken us years to get to where we are now. I do not want anything to change that." Ziva told him.
"If we get married, things would change...for the better, Ziva. We could have the family you have dreamed about." Tony told her. "We could never have the family I dreamed about. There would always be a part of our family missing." Ziva told him.
"Ziva, we will never forget our baby. We need to move on though…"
Tony told her and she slapped him as hard as she could.
"…What was that for?" Tony asked.
"I find it hard to forget our child." Ziva told him. "That is not what I said. We lost our baby and nothing will change that...we will never forget him or her." Tony told her.
"I know, but I still hurt everyday and the thought of having another child..." Ziva began. "You feel like it would betray the memory of the child we almost had." Tony said. "Yes." Ziva replied and he lifted her face to make her look at him.
"Do you think our child would have wanted us to be unhappy? At one point in our lives, Ziva we were so happy and even happier when we found out you were pregnant. I don't care if you want to have any more children...I just want to be happy spending the rest of my life with you." Tony said putting one hand on her cheek and she placed her hand over his.
"Then yes, Tony, I will marry you," Ziva said quietly and he leaned down to kiss her.
After a minute, he pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"Are you sure? You're not doing this because..." Tony began.
"I am sure, Tony. I do know our child would have wanted us to be happy. You are right about everything you have told me." Ziva said, and then hand in hand they walked out of the park.
TONY'S APARTMENT...
After a while, they ended up back at his apartment to celebrate. They sat on the couch and she had her head on his shoulder.
"Do you want me to take you back to your apartment?" Tony asked noticing she was falling asleep. "Do you want me to leave and go back to my apartment?" Ziva countered.
"No, I was just trying think of what you would want." Tony replied. "No, Tony, I just want to stay with you a while longer." Ziva said. "Do you want to talk about the wedding?" Tony asked.
"Small." Ziva replied.
"What?" Tony asked confused.
"I want a small wedding." Ziva told him. "Okay, we'll have a small wedding." Tony said.
"In the summer," She told him.
"That's just a couple of weeks away." Tony told her.
"I know. I just wanted it to be our NCIS family and your family." Ziva told him.
"Don't you want your..." Tony began. "No, I do not want my father there." Ziva already guessing what he was getting ready to ask.
"Okay, if that's what you want." Tony told her. "That is what I want." Ziva replied as her eyes closed.
"Ziva," Tony asked. "Hmmm," Ziva replied.
"When do you want to tell everyone?" Tony asked.
"Tomorrow, I was going over to see Abby so she could show me pictures of Kate. We can tell everyone then." Ziva replied and fell asleep.