20A/N: Hello again, readers! This is my first song fic, though I have wanted to do others before. Those just kinda fell through, you know? Okay, so this is a Tony/Ziva fic (obviously) set somewhere in season 7 after Jet Lag, to the song Innocence by Avril Lavigne. I really love this artist and all of her work, and this song (for me, anyway) fits really well with this pairing. So, here goes! Please review! I love them! They literally make my day soooo much better. Thanks, guys!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tony or Ziva or anything else recognizable from the show NCIS. I also do not own the song Innocence. They belong to DPB and Avril Lavigne respectively.
Tony was in his car, heading home from work. It was Friday and the team had the weekend off and he was planning to sleep in tomorrow and do absolutely nothing all weekend, just because he didn't have to. He turned on the radio to a random station and the first few bars of a song started playing through the speakers.
Wakin' up to see that everything is okay
The first time in my life and now it's so great
Slowin' down, I look around and I am so amazed
I think about the little things that make life great
I wouldn't change a thing about it
This is the best feeling
This innocence is brilliant
I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect
Please don't go away
I need you now
And I'll hold onto it
Don't you let it pass you by
For some reason, the song made him think of Ziva. While the old Tony DiNozzo chased skirts like there was no tomorrow (and with them, there wasn't), he hadn't chased Ziva. He had tried, of course, but with the first words of their relationship being he asking him if he was "Having phone sex?" showed him that she was bolder than any other girl he'd ever gone out with.
I found a place so safe not a single tear
The first time in my life and now it's so clear
Feel calm, I belong, I'm so happy here
It's so strong and now I let myself be sincere
I wouldn't change a thing about it
This is the best feeling
Okay, now this song was creeping him out. This was exactly how he felt with Ziva- safe and happy. Okay, sure, his brain went a little fuzzy whenever she was around, but everything else hit the proverbial nail on the head. He'd never felt like this about anyone else before in his life.
This innocence is brilliant
I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect
Please don't go away
I need you now
And I'll hold onto it
Don't you let it pass you by
Instead of taking the street that would lead him to his apartment, he took the one that led to Ziva's. She didn't live too far from him, but it was out of the way enough for him to wonder why he was going that way.
It's the state of bliss, you think you're dreamin'
It's the happiness inside that you're feelin'
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry
It's the state of bliss you think you're dreamin'
It's the happiness inside that you're feelin'
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry
It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry
He could almost see her building now. "What am I doing?" he asked himself. He didn't just drive past her apartment for no reason. As he passed it, he saw her car in its parking spot, looking small and innocent, but he'd seen what the driver could do in it.
This innocence is brilliant
It makes you wanna cry
This innocence is brilliant
Please don't go away
I need you now
And I'll hold onto it
Don't let it pass you by
On an impulse, he pulled the car over across from her building. He knew where her apartment was, because he'd been over there a number of times. He sat in his car, wondering what his next move would be.
This innocence is brilliant
I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect
Please don't go away
I need you now
And I'll hold onto it
Don't you let it pass you by
Tony didn't want another moment to pass by. Yes, that sounded really corny, and he'd be the first to admit that, but it was true. He loved Ziva. He had realized that when she was dating that lying bastard, Michael Rivkin. He had wanted to talk to her, so he'd gone to her apartment, Ziva hadn't been there, but Michael had. It wasn't Tony's fault that Michael died.
Tony walked up the two flights to Ziva's third floor apartment and knocked on the door. He heard her moving inside then the door opened and Ziva was standing there, still in her work clothes, but wearing nothing on her feet.
"Tony," she said in surprise. "I was not expecting you."
"I know," Tony said. "Can I come in? There's something I need to tell you."
"Of course," she said, standing aside to let him in. "Would you like a beer?"
"Sure," Tony said. Ziva went into the kitchen while he went into her living room. He sat down on the couch and, a moment later when she returned with the drinks, she sat next to him.
They sat in silence for a moment and then Ziva broke it. "You said you came here to ask me a question? Fire," she said.
"It's shoot, Zee-vah. Not fire," he corrected her, like he always did.
"Whatever. Just ask the question," she said.
"Well, it's not really a question. I need to tell you something," Tony said, not knowing how to start.
"You can tell me anything, Tony," she said.
"I know. That's something I love about you; I know I can trust you. When we're out, working a case and some crazy starts shooting at us, I know you'll always have my back, and you know I'll always have yours. You're beautiful and smart and witty, about everything except American idioms, and bold, and unafraid." He stopped for a second to collect his thoughts.
"Tony, what is it? Why are you telling me these things?" Ziva asked him.
"Because I need to say them. Just hear me out, please," he said, looking her in the eyes. She nodded in response. "In the car on the way over here, I had every intention of going home and spending a weekend hold-up in my apartment, doing nothing. Then, this song came on. It was about not letting things pass you by, before it was too late to do anything about them. I was going to change the station, but instead I listened to the rest of the song. It was exactly how I feel." His gaze had never left her eyes through the whole monologue. "It made me realize something, Ziva. Something, I'd already known, but would never say."
"What?" she asked.
"I love you."
A/N: So? What did you think? I really really really love this song and I feel like it works perfectly. Well, thanks for reading! Please review! I love them and they give me incentive to write faster! If you like this paring and you haven't read me other Tony/Ziva fic called A Family Divided, I've gotten some really good reviews for that, so apparently people like it. You might, too.