A/N: Just in case anyone is concerned, I'm not giving up on MIT. But I'm thankful God's been giving inspiration for shorter stories so you guys aren't just left with nothing while I sort the details out. As always, thanks for your patience. For OrtonsMistress, because you asked and it made me wonder what could have happened. Enjoy! ~Aliyah

Ziva set the shovel aside and stood. Tony smiled at her. "Feel better?"

"No," she said honestly, feathering her fingers through sun lightened tresses, "but it is a start."

Birds created a soft background chorus in the trees that surrounded them. "You don't have to do this alone." He nodded in the direction of the house. "Come back to DC with me."

The look Ziva gave him was something akin to exasperation. "The first thing on my new list was - I will let go of the badge."

His tone mirrored hers. "I'm not talking about NCIS. Listen, you can bag groceries for all I care." The next words held his entire heart and her expression softened with them. "Just come home. I just want you to come home...with me."

She dismissed the idea before he could be more convincing and took a step away. "I don't think that's a ver-"

Tony snagged her waist and Ziva started paying attention fast. "Listen, I know it's hard." His voice caught and he wasn't sure he could keep it steady while he begged for yet another in a long, broken line of second chances. The plea poured from his soul and came out in a whisper, his eyes shiny with tears that might not remain unshed this time. "And I know you wanna change." Her gaze flickered over his face and he could tell she was really hearing him this time. "I can change with you." He brought her fingers to his lips, pressing the ghost of a kiss to them. None of everything else he wanted to say was spoken out loud, but he hoped she could read it in him with that special languages they'd always shared.

The tender way her eyes studied him while his thumb rubbed gently over her hand melted Tony completely and he struggled to wait for her answer. She took her hand from his grasp and smoothed both palms over his scruffy cheeks, cradling his face with a reverent touch. Resting their foreheads together, she closed her eyes but he couldn't do the same and risk letting her out of his sight. Despite his vow to wait, he was unable to prevent a final appeal from escaping. "I'm fighting for you Ziva."

"I know." She moved her fingers gently over his skin, resting in that moment for several seconds before pulling back slightly and meeting his gaze, then hesitantly touching her lips to his. Tony groaned and grabbed her tight against him, breathing a shaky sigh onto her cheek and claiming her mouth with a heartfelt intensity and fear that this might very well be their first real kiss and also their last.

He broke the caress and squeezed his eyes shut. "Please tell me that was a yes." He really couldn't take any other answer, not after one ruined visit and four months of searching, praying to find her in one piece.

Ziva swallowed and looked into his clear green eyes. "What would you change for me?"

"I'll resign from NCIS," Tony blurted out immediately. "The papers are all drawn up. I left them with Gibbs just in case." His thumb rubbed slow circles on her side. "I knew if I ever found you, there was no way I could let you go/go of you again."

"But Tony," Ziva protested, "you love NCIS!"

"I love you more." Her eyes widened and he took advantage of lips parted in surprise to kiss her slowly. "I love you Ziva." She started to shake her head and he cupped her cheek. "I've been a cop for almost twenty years, maybe it's time to try something new."

Tears filled her eyes. "Are you...are you sure?"

Tony pressed his mouth to her temple. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he murmured huskily. She wrapped her arms around his waist and he buried his nose in her curls. "I'm sorry it took me this/so long."

Ziva nuzzled her face into his neck. "I love you too."

He stopped breathing. "Really?"

Tony could feel her smile against/on his skin. "Yes."

Letting herself savour the security of his arms and the impossible knowledge of his love, she finally eased away and held out her hand. Tony's fingers meshed with hers, fitting just like puzzle pieces and reminded her of their time in the car after Berlin. Deep emotion in his eyes told Ziva he was thinking of that night too. "I should've said it then."

He stopped walking. "Me too. In the hotel. But I knew you needed to focus for the mission." Tony took a few steps, letting their hands swing between them. "When we danced I wished you were really mine and wanted to be with me."

"I did," she said softly. "I remembered something my father said when we danced together before one of his trips. 'My Ziva, someday you will dance with a man who deserves your love.'" Ziva smiled. "I wonder if he ever knew he was talking about you?"

Tony didn't deserve that gift but couldn't find the words to say it, so he just squeezed her hand instead. They were almost back to the house before she turned to him. "I will go home with you Tony, but I'd like a little more time in Israel first."

He couldn't claim that the country was on his favourite's list. Israel was where he lost her the first time, and yet Israel was also where he found her again and the house, this place, felt like their own little haven. His nod was only slightly forced. "As long as you want."

"Thank you." Ziva picked an orange and headed inside, glancing over her shoulder. "If you ask nicely, I'll share."

Tony grinned. "What do I get if I say it in Hebrew?"

She smirked. "Come and see."

NCIS

Another week passed before Tony's courage regrouped enough for Stage 2. He found Ziva sitting on the couch with a book while warm sunshine flooded through the window behind her. She looked like an angel. He cleared his throat and her eyes met his with a smile. "Hey."

"Hi."

Tony moved close and hesitated for the space of a few heartbeats, then knelt before her. Ziva's eyebrows drew together/forehead furrowed when he reached for her hand. "Ziva, I love you more deeply than I ever knew I was capable of. These last four months without you, not knowing if you were safe or even alive, were agony. Now that I've found you," his lips quirked up in a half-grin, "I want to spend every day by your side. I want to wake up with you and fall asleep in your arms and share every moment in between. I don't have much to offer, just my heart, but I promise I will cherish you with everything I am for the rest of our lives." He took a breath, his bravery faltering. "Ziva David, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

She pressed her fingers to her lips as a few tears broke free and rolled down her cheeks. Dark chocolate eyes searched his and Ziva shook her head slightly. "Tony, I have so much baggage. You do not know what you're getting into."

His heart stuttered but he joined her on the couch, not letting go of her hand when he leaned in to kiss the tears away. "I know Ziva," he whispered. "I've spent eight years watching your back, I fought the desert and death to bring you home, I've seen your darkest hours and I love you. Let me help you carry it."

Ziva's whole body trembled and she launched herself into his arms. Tony held her carefully, soothing away the sobs until her back finally stopped heaving and she pressed her forehead to his collarbone. "Yes," she said so softly he wasn't sure it was real. "I love you Tony, yes."

He swallowed hard and made her look at him. "Yes you'll marry me?" Only in his wildest dreams has that been her answer.

Reminiscent of her action outside Gibbs' cabin, Ziva placed her palm over his heart. "I want to belong with/to you. I am tired of keeping you at arm's length, denying my heart what it has wanted for so long. The way you looked at me after Ray, I have never forgotten." Her hand moved to his face. "To become your wife will be my honour."

Though he wanted to swallow her in a fierce embrace and smother her with the gratitude welling up inside, Tony restrained himself to a brief, tender meeting of lips. "Thank you Ziva," he murmured, "thank you."

NCIS

They wasted no time, taking a ferry to Cyprus that very day where their vows were said and promises made that would last a lifetime. Returning to the house that night with engraved white gold bands adorning their left hands, Tony and Ziva stopped outside and let it sink in that they were now husband and wife. With an impish grin he scooped her up in his arms and carried her over the threshold. Ziva laughed and swatted at him. "Now you practice calvary on me?"

"Chivalry," he corrected, kissing her nose. "Now you have to let me." He set her down slowly. "This is real? Because ever since you said yes I'm afraid to wake up and find it all a dream."

She pinched him and he squealed, rubbing the injured spot. Ziva smirked. "You did not wake up. It is real."

Tony pouted. "You could've done that nicely."

She rolled her eyes at his drama. "Do I need to kiss it better?"

"Yes." He held out his arm and her lips caressed the spot. He enclosed her in an embrace and lowered his head to her shoulder. "I love you Ziva. I'll never get tired of finally getting to say it out loud."

"And I will never get tired of hearing it."

Tony sighed. "We need to call Gibbs."

Ziva tensed. "He is angry that I disappeared, that I did not come to the team for help."

"He's worried Ziva. Gibbs doesn't do well when his girls are in trouble."

"Do you think he still sees me that way?" Her voice was small.

Tony lifted her chin. "Gibbs loves you Ziva. That's not going to change. You're his daughter, remember?" She nodded, seeming unsure, and he laced their fingers. "Come on, we'll do it together."

Grabbing his laptop from the table, Tony led her/his wife outside and set it up, shooting a quick email to McGee. I need Gibbs in MTAC Tim. Only Gibbs. He knew use of the probie's first name would make it seem more serious.

The video call came through five minutes later and he squeezed Ziva's hand before answering. Gibbs took in the two of them and breathed a sigh of relief. "Ziver."

Ziva blinked hard at the use of her nickname. "Hello Gibbs."

"You okay?"

She glanced at the man beside her and offered their boss a smile. "Yes. Perhaps more than I have ever been."

Gibbs shifted his stare to Tony. "When?"

He hesitated. "Two weeks ago." He tried to head off the lecture. "She wasn't ready Boss. I didn't even think she was going to let me in."

"I'm sorry Gibbs," she whispered.

Gibbs let her away with breaking Rule 6. "Comin' back?"

"Not yet. But we will."

His gaze narrowed. "We?"

Tony lifted their joined hands and brought them to his lips. "I need you to file those papers I left with you Boss."

For once they seemed to have left him speechless. "Rules fifty-one and five void twelve."

Ziva shook her head, taken off guard that he would let it go so easily for them. "It is not about the rules Gibbs. I want to change, to be a different person, so I cannot come back to NCIS. Tony is willing to change with me." He was treated to her smile and the fond expression coming more and more frequently since declaring their love in the orchard.

Gibbs dragged a hand down his face. "Don't be strangers," he finally managed.

"We will not." It was a promise.

Even in the fading light the wedding rings caught his attention and he grunted. "Congratulations."

Tony's grin was impossible to contain. "Thanks. I still can't believe she said yes."

Gibbs looked at Ziva. "Keep him out of trouble."

"I will try."

He aimed a hard glare Tony's direction. "Take care of her. She's my kid, you answer to me."

Tony kissed Ziva's cheek, seeing her joy at the declaration. "On it Boss." Then he sighed. "Guess it's the last time I say that."

Twelve years of working side by side, Gibbs felt the loss too. "Stay safe Tony."

He nodded. "You too Gibbs. Try not to give the new agents too much grief." Tony nodded. "Tell Tim I think he's going to make a great Senior Field Agent."

"See you when you get home."

Ziva answered for both. "Goodbye Gibbs."

The call ended and Tony leaned forward, head in his hands. "No going back now."

"Any regrets?" There was a hint of concern in her words.

No," he replied firmly. "But it's going to take some getting used to."

She turned her ring. "So will this."

Tony looked back. "You hungry?"

Ziva shook her head slowly. "Not really." They hadn't eaten since lunch but the nerves were taking awhile to wear off.

"Time for bed then," he observed.

The eagerness she anticipated was missing from his tone. "Yours or mine?"

"Yours, but uh..." he rubbed the back fo his neck, "no pressure for anything tonight, okay?"

Her brow furrowed and she wanted to ask why, but it had been a whirlwind day and Ziva thought maybe he couldn't get in the right headspace for passion and intimacy after everything that had happened. "At least I will not have to keep my distance this time." Berlin again came to mind and laying a foot away when she wanted more.

His hand slid under her hair. "I want you so close I can feel every breath."

Ziva laid a brief claim on his mouth. "I like the sound of that."

Tony held her wrist to his lips, feeling the faint thrumming of her pulse beneath the soft skin, and couldn't find any more words.

NCIS

Three days later they stood on opposite sides of the bed and brought the top sheet down, then shook out the light comforter, white linens making everything look fresh and clean. Ziva fluffed the pillow on her side, though they had yet to choose permanent sides. "I want to change my name."

He grinned. "I thought you just did."

"Yes," she agreed, "and I will like DiNozzo much more than David. But I meant my whole name."

Tony frowned. "I don't follow."

Ziva smoothed minuscule wrinkles from the covers. "Ziva Miriam David is who I was. I don't want to be that woman any longer. This change needs to be more than just symbolic."

"You're serious."

"Yes."

He didn't know what to think. "Did you have anything in mind?"

Ziva nodded. "Nadia Renee. That would have been both first and last before you gave me yours."

Tony knew she hadn't just picked that out of nowhere. "It have a special meaning?"

She played with her Star of David. "Nadia is hopeful, Renee rebirth. Together they are what I want from this new life."

"Nadia Renee DiNozzo, hopeful rebirth. That has a nice ring to it." He spun his ring. "I understand, I'm just...really attached to Ziva. Y'know, brilliance, light of my life?"

Ziva regarded him fondly. "I will still be Ziva for you and the team. But to anyone who does not know me, I want to be Nadia. It will be a fresh start."

Tony fingered the bedspread. "We could just name our kid that."

She gazed at him in surprise, having not foreseen that tangent. Then her expression became neutral. "I have an IUD, but children are not...out of the question."

"Do you want kids?" He didn't ask it lightly.

"I did, I suppose, when I was little. The darkness of our world now makes me hesitate. It is...something we can think about." Ziva turned it back on him. "Do you? I have understood that you fear small humans."

Tony swallowed. "I know I'd try to be better at it than my old man. I'd really like to see what a little girl with your hair and my eyes would look like. But we have some time to decide."

With that out of the way she came to the next important issue, crossing her arms. "I hope you have not outgrown sex Tony." He almost choked at the question and Ziva stared. Three days of marriage and he had done nothing more than hold her at night. Enjoyable, but she had dreamed of something much different.

"No." He cleared his throat. "Not at all. I just...I didn't want to rush you." At her confused look he tried to explain. "So much has changed Zi - this summer, coming here, saying 'I love you', getting married. Those are really big deals. I wanted you to have a chance to get used to all of it before I asked you for more." He also wanted to prove he'd changed, but that was beside the point.

Ziva walked slowly around the bed. "You are my husband Tony, you have every right to ask." She ran her hand down his arm. "Do not deny yourself or me ahava."

Tony didn't know what that meant but he liked the way it sounded rolling off her tongue. "It's kinda sudden though, right? We never even dated."

She chuckled. "No, but we spent eight years flirting and growing closer. You are my best friend. Our love is a natural outflow of that history."

"So," his heart hammered, "you're-you're ready for that?"

Ziva tugged him down to kissing level. "Very. I have been looking forward to this moment since we said 'I do'."

Tony's breath rushed out and he quirked a half-grin. "We just made the bed."

Her sultry look was a promise. "We can make it again."

"Are you s-"

Ziva cut him off. "Kiss me Tony."

His grin widened. "As you wish."

The couple fell back onto the freshly made bed and in the long, sweet hours that followed gave each other everything, each part of themselves, until nothing was hidden anymore.

NCIS

On Friday he caught her humming while she made challah bread and he brushed the hair aside to kiss her neck. She looked over her shoulder with a smile he matched. "It's nice to see you happy Zi."

She slid the pan in the oven and wiped her hands, turning to face him. "You have yourself to thank for that."

His arms snaked around her waist, the freedom to touch her like that, to touch her at all, causing a lump in his throat. "I think you're giving me too much credit."

"I like that there's someone out there who makes you smile," Ziva quoted softly, remembering. "What I did not tell you was that someone who sat across from me every day could make me smile and bring joy to my life like no one else I'd ever known."

Tony cupped her face, his thumbs stroking over her cheeks, and stared into her eyes. He swallowed back tears at her admission and bent his head to kiss her, gently at first and then deeply, desperate to convey even a fraction of what she meant to him through the action. Ziva clung to him, pressing herself closer and pouring back into him everything he was trying to say to her. Finally they broke apart and both had tears to wipe away. "I have never felt so complete in my entire life," he whispered hoarsely. "Zi, you're my missing piece."

"And you are everything I never let myself need," she countered, running the pads of her fingers of the soft scruff of the beard she'd asked him to keep. It made him look older, more mature, and different. It said something about his focus while he searched for her and Ziva didn't want to forget how hard he'd worked, how long he looked, to find his way back to her. She had never been that important to anyone and it totally overwhelmed her to know she was to him. "I love you."

He closed the gap between them and drowned her in a wave of love and passion as he indulged in her mouth. Stopping at one kiss had not been an option since their very first and she melted into him, allowing him complete control and freely giving of herself everything she'd previously denied him. Overcome by this new and yet ancient bond between them, Tony pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth and wrapped her in a firm embrace, holding her to his chest, feeling the rhythm of her heart beat in time to his.

Ziva closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, something that now lingered in her-their bed, on the sheets, and even on her skin after they made love. His essence was becoming part of her and filling all the empty spaces from each time someone had let her down. There was a certainty in knowing his promise meant forever and their rings would always be a reminder of the day their lives became joined as one.

How long they stood like that she had no way to measure until the warm, sweet smell of baking challah began to permeate the air. Reluctantly she untangled herself from her husband's arms and peeked in the oven to check on the loaf. It was almost ready, but there was enough time left to kiss the wonderful man standing next to her and let herself be in awe of the fact that he was hers and the honour of calling him husband something she would have for the next fifty years. Belonging to Tony was a reality she would never get tired of. He was her most incredible gift.

NCIS

Tony and Ziva lay snugly in the center of the bed, her head on his chest and one leg nestled between his, in nothing but their skin. As it was their honeymoon, the couple had hardly bothered with clothes since the first time they came together and cherished each outpouring of intimacy the way only those who had known loss could. Nothing was permanent, nothing was safe, nothing was guaranteed, but they would make the most of every moment they could grab hold of.

It was the middle of the afternoon and Tony had never been so content. His fingers stroked lazily over Ziva's bare back and she placed a handful of soft kisses along his collarbone. "What will you do now, for a job?"

He was getting used to topics of conversation that popped up in unexpected places. "I'd thought about teaching film somewhere, but that seems a bit too cliche. Coaching maybe. That Phys. Ed. degree has got to be good for something."

"You miss basketball." The observation didn't require an answer. "I think you would be good at it. You have learned from NCIS how to be a leader, those skills should not go to waste."

Tony kissed the top of her head. "And you?"

Ziva was quiet for a long time, her hand moving slowly over his chest and abdomen. "I would like to teach. For all of my adult life I have been afraid of ruining the innocence of children with my past, but perhaps their light will rub off on me instead." His arm tightened just enough so she knew he was listening. "That would mean going back to school and maybe I could get a waitressing job to fill in time. It always looked interesting in your movies."

"And just think of the cute little outfit you'd get to wear." She poked him in the side and he captured her hand. "Where are we gonna live?"

Moving off of him, Ziva settled on her side and Tony mirrored the position, facing her. "Should we just get a bigger apartment, or would you rather a house?"

"I don't like to think of having all our resources tied up in a mortgage," he commented. "Maybe a townhouse or..." he felt out the idea and kept going, "or an apartment in one of those historic old buildings, a place with lots of character, maybe one with a rooftop garden as seen in Just Like Heaven. I know you'd enjoy that."

She pursed her lips and he was almost distracted enough to interrupt their talk for some more making out, but held back because he sensed it was important to her. "You may change your mind when you hear this." Ziva sighed. "For all Eli's mistakes as a father, I must have meant something to him. Either that, or he was trying to buy my love. Regardless, he has left me everything." The way she said the word told him it was not an insignificant amount. "I'm going to sell the Tel Aviv house, it never felt like home, but this," she waved her hand to encompass the room, "this I will keep. A little piece of my life where joy and laughter reigned."

Tony brushed his knuckles down her cheek. "Maybe Eli had a sentimental streak after all." Her brow furrowed as she failed to follow his reasoning. "This is the house where you were born Ziva. His little girl, his princess. Why else would he keep it all these years?"

Ziva had never thought of it that way and hoped her husband was right. It was nice to think that she had held part of his heart after all. "Thank you."

He smiled easily. "Part of my job, to remind you how valued you are." He stretched out on his back. "So, any more serious issues we have to resolve before we can get back to one of the fun parts about being naked?"

She was glad he was able to balance the deep moments with humour and a light touch. Eyeing him lazily, Ziva twirled a piece of hair around her finger. "And what makes you think I am going to stay in bed with you all day?"

The delight in her expression gave her away, but Tony played along anyways. "Oh, I see how it is. Bribery's required now? Fine. I'll treat you to the special DiNozzo massage. I've been told I have magic fingers."

"That I cannot pass up." She moved to her stomach. "We shall see if you are as good as advertised."

He drew his lips over her shoulder. "And if I am?"

Ziva glanced at him. "Then I will stay in bed. If not...I will think of some penance you must pay."

Tony grinned. "Bring it on David." His amusement faded as he realized he'd have to come up with a new way to address her when teasing, then he let the moment pass and continued. "I have no intention of losing."

Closing her eyes and trying to relax as her husband began doing delicious things with his talented hands, Ziva realized she'd never known joy like this was possible and she wanted to savour every second.