I Can't Resist Your Charm

"I am dreaming."

"Was that a question or a statement?"

Tony stood outside Ziva's door. It was late, very late. She was in a robe, he was in dishevelled clothes and his face was sweaty.

"I do not know what to say," Ziva said.

"Probably something along the lines of 'you need a shower," he said, shrugging. "At least you're speaking to me."

"What are you doing here? And where have you been?"

"I am so sorry Ziva," Tony whispered. She could see it in his eyes; he really meant what he was saying. "I promised I would be at your ceremony and I wasn't, and for that I am sorry."

"Yes, well, it's nice of you to apologise in person."

"I was on assignment, alright? In Mexico, Vance sent me. The only reason I'm back is because I begged him, I begged him Ziva, to let me come back here for one day so I could talk to you."

"That's the reason they invented cell phones, Tony."

"I needed to talk to you in person."

Ziva was silent.

"I'm not finished. I broke my promise, and I apologised. I had a good excuse but I should have called."

"Yes you should have. Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to stress you out on your big day. But the only thing I didn't do was give a gift of consolation."

"I understand, Tony."

Tony handed her a small box, about the length and width of her hands placed together. "Please, please forgive me, Ziva. I can't take it when you're mad at me. All I want is to resolve it." Daringly, he leaned in to her and kissed her cheek. "I owed you one," he whispered, walking away.

Ziva watched him walk away and he couldn't resist turning around for a second to get one more look at her. Their eyes met for a split second in the semi-darkness. She broke the gaze and closed her door, sitting on the sofa with the small box clutched in her hands. She was a little reluctant to open it, especially since this had been the last thing she had expected him to give her. Carefully, reached inside the box, looking away as she did so, and pulled out...

A gold bracelet.

Ziva frowned. It was beautiful, but she had always thought Tony was one to give more...meaningful gifts. But then she looked more closely at it. It was a charm bracelet with five charms on it:

A small gold gun: this made Ziva laugh but instinctively reached for her own weapon, which she almost always had with her.

A tiny American flag to symbolise her new citizenship.

A little planet Earth, which she assumed was to represent her multilingualism.

A miniature Star of David, for obvious reasons.

And finally, an Eiffel Tower, only just bigger than her thumb nail.

She swallowed and took a deep breath. She fastened the clip around her wrist. It was a perfect fit.

"Hmm, charming," she remarked. "Charming indeed."