Ziva Returns

Return

Ziva's P.O.V.

I spent the entire flight to D.C. thinking about what I was going to say to Tony. I was so nervous that he wouldn't want me back. What if he has moved on already? What if I'm too late?

When the plane landed in D.C., I grabbed my bags and hailed a cab to take me to a hotel. I will stay there until I can find something more permanent.

Once inside my hotel room, I debate whether or not I should go and see Tony now, to tell him that I'm back. It's 11:56pm. Will he still be awake? In the end I decide that the longer I wait to tell him, the more likely I will be to talk myself out of it altogether.

I walk out of the hotel room, locking the door behind me. I head down the elevator, into the lobby and then outside of the hotel to hail another cab.

'I really need to get a car' I think to myself.

Once the driver pulls up outside, I pay him and then step out of the car. I'm so nervous I just stand there looking at his apartment building for what felt like hours but was actually only a few minutes.

'You can do this Ziva. Its only Tony' I think to myself. After giving myself a pep-talk, I open the door to Tony's apartment building and slowly walk up the stairs towards his apartment.

Once outside Tony's apartment door, I hesitate again. Before I could completely chicken out, I knock once on his door.

No answer.

I knock again, a little harder this time. Then I hear a voice say "coming!" from the other side of the door. Then suddenly the door is pulled open and there Tony is standing at the door. He is wearing grey tracksuit pants and his Ohio State jumper.

"How much will it be?" Tony says not having seen me yet, as he is looking through his wallet for money. When I don't respond he looks up.

"Ziva?!?" Tony say, a look of shock displayed on his face.

"Hi, Tony" I say. I look down at my feet scared of how he is going to react. The next thing I know, I am getting pulled into a bone crushing hug. I wrap my arms around him as he buries his head into the crook of my neck.

"Ziva, oh my Ziva!" he cries. He hugs me tighter than I ever thought possible. All the emotions I have been holding in since then suddenly pour out as I begin to cry. It feels wonderful to be able to hold him again. I have missed him so much. We stand there just holding each other, not speaking for a few minutes, before he pulls away just enough to look at my face.

"What are you doing here? I thought I would never see you again?" he asks me.

"Couldn't live without you, I guess" I say, remembering the time that he had once said that to me. By the smile that just appeared on his face, I can tell that he remembers it too.

"Come inside. Have you eaten yet? I ordered pizza, it should be here soon. Would you like to join me for dinner?" he asks, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"No, I haven't. Yes, thank you , I would love to join you." I say as I walk inside his apartment and take a seat on his couch. An awkward silence settles over us. Tony stands at the end of the couch shuffling his feet awkwardly.

"So..." he starts, but was then interrupted by a knocking at the door. Tony turns around, grabs his wallet from the table where he left it and opens the door. A pizza delivery guy is standing on the other side of the door.

"That'll be $27.95, thanks" the delivery guy says. After Tony hands him the money and collects the pizza, he shuts the door and walks over to me and places the pizza on the table.

"Dig in" he says. We both grab a slice of pizza and take a bite. We continue to eat in silence until all the pizza is gone. I leaned back on the couch and looked over at Tony.

"I've missed you" Tony says.

"I have missed you too" I say.

"So, what are you really doing here?" he asks. I look to the floor.

"I really meant what I said before. I miss you and I can't live without you" I start. "I came back in the hope that you could forgive me for pulling away every time that you try and get close to me. While I was in Israel I did a lot of thinking and I have realised that you are the only person that has always been there for me; even when I didn't know that I needed you. I realise that me staying behind in Israel was the biggest mistake that I have ever made. The other reason that I came back was because I was hoping that you and I could start over again? That we could be more than friends...if you want to?" I finish.

Once I finished speaking I look up at Tony, he had been quiet all through my speech. Several emotions were crossing his face, none of which I could determine that name of.

Instead of speaking, Tony leans in and kisses me. At first I am shocked, but eventually I respond by kissing him back. He kisses me with more passion than I thought he was capable of. After a few minutes of kissing, he pulls back and leans his forehead on mine.

"You have no idea how long I have wanted to be with you for" he says. "You are the most amazing, beautiful, sexiest, Israeli ninja that I have ever met. I would love for us to start over, for us to be together." He finishes talking and leans in and kisses me again.