Eighteen Years Later...

High School graduation came rather quickly that year. And with it, came many changes. Tony was Director of NCIS and Ziva retired. Tali was dating Timothy (No Middle Name) McGee, Junior, and Ari had taken a page from his father's book and hooked up with a foreign exchange student from Israel.

At Ari and Tali's graduation ceremony, Tony and Ziva were proud. Ari was joining the Marine Corps, and Tali was "grandfathered in" at NCIS.

"You know, Zee, if Gibbs was here, he'd be proud. Ari's off to the Marines and Tali's joining NCIS. I'd say we did pretty good." Someone head-slapped Tony.

"Ya think, DiNozzo?" It was Gibbs. "I may have retired back to Mexico, but I was not missing this."

"Ari Michael DiNozzo. Tali Caitlyn DiNozzo." The rest of the names were drowned out by an immense ovation for Tali and Ari, who both waved to their parents and friends.

It's hard to believe, but Tony and Ziva had known each other for about 30 years, and they were married now for almost 20 of them.

It just goes to show that, sometimes, the one you're meant to be with is right in front of your face the entire time.