A/N This second chapter came out way longer than I expected, so I've decided to split it in two parts. This first part starts in the orchard and covers the first day of... whatever follows. This is the actual "Bubble" the title refers to, so expect lots of fluff :)
Warning: adult activities are mentioned (hence, the rating). Nothing explicit, anyway.

She says burying the list doesn't make her feel better, and all his doubts about letting her do this alone come back to him. As much as he wants to respect her decisions and trust her instincts, he's worried sick, because he's never seen her so broken, and lost, and desperate, and the idea of letting her face her demons on her own makes him panic.
Besides, he's not sure he's ready to be alone himself.
This time he decides to try to insist. He tells her that she doesn't have to do this alone, he tries to make her see that coming home is not about the job, it's about them, that he can make this journey with her, and he chokes on his words, because now that he's saying it out loud everything is becoming more real, and his love for her and the fear to lose her constrict his heart and bring tears to his eyes.

He wants to kiss her and hold her and never let her go, but he just kisses her hand and looks her in the eyes and tries to convey everything he's feeling without words. He physically can't speak right now.

Her touch on his face makes every inch of his skin burn, while his own tears burn his eyes and his throat.
Her forehead is on his, they share air and vulnerability, and somewhere deep down he finds the strength to utter a few other words. The most important.

"I'm fighting for you, Ziva"
"I know"

He can feel her breathing become more labored as she buries her face on his neck, and his arms encircle her completely, bringing her as close as possible.
After a few moments, she pulls away and looks him in the eyes, and he sees determination and adoration in hers.

"And I am fighting for you." She whispers. "I want to be whole for us."

Her voice breaks on the last two words, but he hears what she couldn't say anyway. They both know the last two points of the list are about them, they have no reason to pretend anymore.

This is the trigger. They can't hold it any longer. Her hands are still on the back of his head, and his find their way to her face as they get closer and closer, until their lips meet.
The first touch is soft and short. They start exploring each other slowly at first, and then she is the one to deepen the kiss, which escalates quickly, fueled by years of sexual tension and by the overwhelming feelings that they kept inside for much too long.

When they pull away they're breathless, but they're both smiling. The following kisses are soft and unhurried again, and just when things are heating up, he stops her.

"It's getting a bit cold out here."

She smirks, and for a moment is tempted to mock him for this cue. She wonders briefly if this very British comment about the weather is a Bond way to voice their clear intention to get naked. Because in fact, it's not that cold, if they stay fully dressed.
In the end, she decides that humming in affirmation and nibbling his earlobe is a much more effective response.

They walk to the house hand in hand, and the relatively short path is walked through in a much longer time than necessary, because they stop a few times to exchange fleeting kisses.
Once they approach the house, though, the rush is back. He's out of his jacket even before she has fully opened the entrance door, and he gets her out of her sweater halfway through the living room. When they cross the threshold of her bedroom, they're both barefoot and she's unbuckling his belt.

He can't suppress a chuckle as he looks over her shoulder.

"What?" she askes, puzzled.

"At least you don't have a twin bed."

She snorts and brings his attention back to the important stuff with on open mouthed kiss that leaves him dizzy.

It's not their first time. They had given in to their mutual attraction and curiosity that summer Gibbs was in Mexico, but things were a lot different then. So this feels like a first time anyway, and it's nothing like they expected. The initial urgency fades away, and they take their time to explore each other again, to memorize every inch of the other's body, because it's been too long, and they don't know how long it's going to take before they get another chance.
The other's arms are a safe shelter as they both fall apart, and in the end they exchange breathless smiles, and words are not needed.

He settles with his head on her chest, and lets her subsiding heartbeat lull him as her hands travel through his hair and beard.
His fingers trace random paths on her arm, her ribcage, the side of her breast, and every other point he can reach. He considers a second round, but exhaustion takes over him, as all the emotions of the day and the past four months finally overwhelm him.

She watches him fall asleep, and a wave of fondness floods her. She stays awake for a long time, enjoying the sight, and the feeling of his warm breath tickling her chest, and his smell, and the weight of his head, and his presence and closeness and the new level of their intimacy.

The following morning is sunny enough to have breakfast on the patio. The atmosphere is peaceful, and they eat in comfortable silence, until Tony's playful side comes back to make an appearance.

"So" he starts, "this is what you had in mind when you invited me to join you, uh?".
His flirty smirk reminds her of the expression he wore during another breakfast in the open, a long time ago in a Parisian café.

"Among other things" she replies, with a grin that matches his.

Her mood has lifted a lot since the previous day, and she feels like playing along.
They deserve a break, they need to be serene at least for today, and she won't let anything cloud the moment of joy that they've waited for so long. Just for today, she can leave her pain and her imminent plans aside.

"Actually I had planned to bring you to Haifa. There are some beautiful beaches there. You know, crystal white sands and all."

"Did you just -?" he cackles. "Are you seriously quoting McWriter?"

"You have to admit that would have been an appealing scenery" she laughs, and he laughs with her.

He pecks her and then whispers to her ear, "It's good to hear you laugh."

This simple statement does things to her heart, and for a moment she considers giving him a serious answer, but then she is reminded of all the times he had been nosy about her boyfriend of the moment, asking her if they made her laugh, and decides to go on with the joke a little bit longer.

"Well, you know, even if you're not as hilarious as the veterinarian I was seeing last year, you certainly have your moments", she teases him.

"HA! Very funny."
He's about to shoot his witty reply, but she shuts him up with a kiss, and he's more than okay with leaving it at that.

The rest of the day goes by quickly, in a silent agreement to create a bubble of normalcy and just enjoy it as long as they can.
They cook together, she finally teaches him how to make falafel, or at least she tries, before he sidetracks her by planting kisses all over her neck and they end up making love on the kitchen table.

Later, as they're cuddling on the couch, sipping hot coffee, he convinces her to show him pictures of her childhood. He knows it's a risky request because right now she is struggling with everything involving her family, but his intention is actually to make her talk about things of her past that make her smile, so she doesn't forget to hold on to happy memories too, and not just drown in the sad ones.
He succeeds, and even if a few tears are shed, they're mostly combined with smiles and tender expressions.
In the end, she thanks him, because she sees what he just did, and she couldn't be more grateful.
She gives him a picture where she wears a gown with a flowery pattern, her hair are gathered in a sloppy side ponytail, and she has a grumpy expression.

"Here. You should keep this one, so you have an embarrassing picture of my childhood too" she adds with a knowing smile.

He founds that picture adorable, and not embarrassing, but he plays along.

"I promise I'll mock it every day, as it deserves.", he says in his most solemn tone.

She cocks her head to the side, narrowing her eyes, and before he knows it, it's his turn to get sidetracked by her kisses.

They use the last hours of light to have a walk in the surroundings, and she shows him the tree that used to be her favorite to climb as a child. They sit under its shadow for a while, her head on his shoulder, and they exchange funny tales from their childhood involving incidents with tree climbing.
She mocks him a little, amused by the fact that his aversion for the woods has apparently very deep and far away roots.
He takes the cue and suggests they go back to that soft and comfortable couch of hers, or maybe even the bed. This last innuendo earns him a punch on the bicep. A very soft punch, though.

The sunset makes the sky explode in a thousand shades of orange, red and purple as they go down the high ground they were sitting on. The marvelous sight stuns him, so he stops her to watch it, and after a moment puts his arms around her waist.
For some reason, it's exactly that moment of romantic cliché that reminds her that this lighthearted break is not meant to last, that she has to stop this and send him home and start doing what she was planning to do.
Now that he's here though, now that they've crossed the invisible line they've hovered over for years, it got much harder to make that move.

During the evening, he notices that her mood is shifting, a wistful expression appears on her features every once in a while when she thinks he's not looking, and he knows that the moment they both dread is approaching.
When they finally go to sleep, she snuggles with her back against his chest and surrounds herself with his arm, entwining their fingers and letting his whole body be her cocoon.
He thinks of how they fell asleep the previous night, how open that position was, and realizes this is her subtle way to hide, but he doesn't push it. He's not eager to face a confrontation about their imminent separation either.

A/N sorry if the ending feels unfinished, but as I said this chapter and the next are meant as a unit.
Coming up: the conversation that made Tony go from his distraught and bearded version in the orchard to the clean shaven and accepting of the airport...

Last but not least, a big thanks to everyone is reviewing, favoriting and following this story. You guys are amazing!