Chapter 09: A new tradition to be celebrated

Ziva finished the last touches on the Hanukkah table an hour before nightfall, thankful for Gibbs allowing them to leave early so she could silently celebrate that long lost tradition. That whole week had been difficult but they had been able to wrap up their case, punish the ones who had dared to hurt the innocents and try to make things right for a small family that Christmas.

She sighed out loud as she imagined the difficulties the New Year would bring to her teammates' lives, but she was glad that she was alive and well to share another bright year with her colleagues.

And this end of the year had become even more special thanks to her special friend who had delighted her with tiny gifts for each Hanukkah day.

Instead of a gift, for this last day there was just a Christmas card on her desk. In it, a small message filled with promise, that made her feel warm inside, eager to finally talk to her secret gift-giver.

"See you at your home before nightfall for the kindling of the eighth candle."

No signature on the card, just those simple words which brought trepidation to Ziva's heart as she looked around her living room, checking if everything was in its place before her visitor's arrival. She finally went to the window facing her street, looking down trying to identify whoever was coming to her home for that little celebration.

She smiled at who she was seeing, and simply perched herself behind her curtains and watched for a while.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes were gone and no movement downstairs. Ziva sighed as she checked her watch again, glanced at the car parked in her street and finally decided to take matters in her own hands. She stood up and went to her phone, dialing a phone number she knew by heart.

She heard it ring once, twice, before a familiar voice answered it.

"McGee speaking."

"Are you coming up or not?"

"Uhm… Ziva?"

"Yes," She went to the window and looked down to the car parked on the street, finding his surprised face upturned looking at her window from the parked car across the street. "You've been cooling your heels for over twenty minutes in there trying to figure out if you should come up or not. Hurry up, we need to light the Menorah as soon as the night falls."

"Ah… oh… okay. Give me a moment and I'll be there."

They disconnected and Ziva was surprised to find herself humming as she fixed a decoration here and there on her mantle, enjoying the joyful display of pictures on it. There were pictures of the team, Gibbs, Abby's Hippo and even one of Palmer in scrubs. Her own dysfunctional NCIS family.

She smiled at that thought and looked up as a timid knock was heard at her door.

In hurried steps she approached the door, opening it to find McGee in his thick winter coat standing there, rolling on the balls of his feet, an adorable confused look on his face and a brown paper bag carefully held in his hands.

"Was it that difficult to come upstairs?"

McGee frowned at her, biting his lower lip. "How did you figure it out?"

Ziva grabbed his arm and dragged him inside, closing the door after him. "Please, I'm an investigator. I investigate things for a living. But thanks anyway, it was very sweet of you of buying all these gifts for me."

"Ah… it wasn't sweet. It was a very well planned move." He said, looking around her room and smiling at the tasteful arrangement of her table, with several traditional Hanukkah dishes and a beautiful silver Menorah right in the middle of it, in a position of honor so one could see from any position in her living room.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've known for a while how much you missed celebrating the traditions of your people and I've imagined that just because you're an American citizen now it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to abandon your roots." He said, waving his hand in the air to make his point.

Ziva smiled brightly at him, making him loose his train of thought as he looked at her, gulping nervously as the way she was looking at him.

"You really think that?"

"Sure!" He said, gently guiding her with a hand on her back towards the table, studying the arrangement with curious eyes. "After all, being Jewish is a huge part of who you are. You wouldn't be you if you weren't you, and being you means being Jewish and…that's one of the things that I… I mean we… we love about you." He frowned as he realized he was rambling.

"McGee," Ziva said gently, interrupting him before he dug a hole deeper for himself. He blushed and shut up. "Thanks."

He studied her face curiously, saying softly. "You're welcome."

They stayed like that, gazing at each other for a few seconds, until he realized he was still holding the brown bag in one of his hands. He blushed self consciously and offered her the bag.

"It's Kosher wine. I've been told that's supposed to be very good."

Ziva took the bag from his hands and delicately opened it, finding a well known brand of Kosher wine in it.

"Thanks, McGee."

He nodded and took the chance of looking at the Menorah, studying it curiously trying to figure it out. "So, how are we supposed to do this?"

Ziva smiled at him, let the wine bottle on the table and ran to the light switch, turning it off so the whole room fell into darkness, only the faint light of the street illuminated them in the room. She slowly approached McGee's side and lit a match, lighting the Shamash candle on its candle holder.

McGee silently observed her movements, afraid to interfere in a centuries old ritual, which was being repeated throughout the world at that moment by thousands of people, just because they were supposed to remember a miracle which happened hundreds of years ago.

Once the Shamash candle was lit, Ziva turned to him, her beautiful face illuminated only by the faint light of that single candle.

"Now we say the first and the second blessings of the Hannukah, then you light the candles one by one, from the left side to the right side."

"Okay, the blessings… Ah, I can't pronounce those words, I really…" McGee blushed, chagrined, but Ziva took his hands in her smaller ones and spoke out loudly the words she had heard throughout her childhood, finally remembering good times of her infancy as the foreign sounding words came naturally to her lips.

Borukh Ato Adoynoy Eloyheynu Melekh Ho-oylom Asher Kiddeshonu Be-mitsvoysov Ve-tsivonu Lehadlik Neyr Shel khanuko.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah.

Borukh Ato Adoynoy Eloyheynu Melekh Ho-oylom She-oso Nissim La-avoseynu Ba-yyomim Ho-heym Ba-zzman Ha-zze.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.

McGee moved his lips along with her, trying to follow her speech, but even his extensive research on the holiday was unable to grant him the fluency needed to pronounce those strange guttural sounds, clacking his tongue to speak the words that came naturally to Ziva's lips.

Once she was finished, she grinned, receiving a joyful grin in return. She took the Shamash candle and gave it to McGee, giving him the honor to light the other candles.

"Ah… me?"

She nodded, smiling at him.

He bit his lower lip and gently touched the lit fire on the stick of the left-most candle, smiling as the first fire started to burn before his eyes. He glanced at her just to check if he was doing it all right, and he was elated to find her nodding approvingly at him.

With her approval, he slowly started to light the candles from left to right, stopping only when the eight candles were lit. While he did that, he was surprised to hear Ziva humming a song under her breath, before she started to sing in a soft alto voice a song which bespoke of miracles and wonders.

Al hanissim ve'al haniflaot
Al hatshu-ot ve'al hamilchamot
She-asita la'avoteynu
Bayamim hahem, bazman hazeh
Al yedey kohanecha hakdoshim.

Vechol shmonat yemey Chanukah
Hanerot halalu kodesh hem,
Ve-ein lanu reshut lehishtamesh bahem
Ela lirotam bilvad
Kedai lehodot leshimcha
Al nissecha veal nifleotecha ve-al yeshuotecha.

Translation
We light these lights
For the miracles and the wonders,
For the redemption and the battles
That you made for our forefathers
In those days at this season,
Through your holy priests.

Mission accomplished, he stood up and put the Shamash candle back on its own candleholder, admiring his work with a satisfied smile on his face.

Both stayed there, in the darkened room, illuminated only by the flickering lights for a while, enjoying the silence which fell over them. He was happy that his little endeavor had put a gentle smile on his friend's face, so he stayed in silence as she still hummed the song, one of her hands grasping his arm and squeezing it in thanks.

He gently touched her hand on his arm, smiling softly at the lights. He was touched when she leaned closer to him and, still humming, rested her head on his arm, in a side embrace that warmed his heart.

After a while, he chanced a glance down to her face, finding her brown eyed gaze studying him with a gentle smile on her lips. All restlessness which he usually associated with her was gone, as before his own eyes was just a beautiful woman humming a centuries old song in the comfort of her own home, genuinely happy.

That was exactly what he had been trying to achieve when he planned his little endeavor.

Seeing his satisfied smile, she sighed and got closer to him. "Why are you smiling like that?"

He kept his eyes on her face, becoming suddenly serious as he decided to risk everything in a single second. Ziva somehow must have sensed the change in the atmosphere, as her pupils dilated and she wetted her lips as he leaned his head and gently, oh, so gently, took her lips in a soft kiss, their breath barely mixing as he carefully worshiped her mouth with his lips.

She stood frozen for a second, before she took a deep breath and opened her mouth, inviting him in, an invitation that he gladly took. He lifted one of his hands and ran it through her hair, the silky strands gliding between his fingers as he opened his mouth and sank deeper into her delights.

Yet he kept his exploration light, keeping a tight leash on his desire as he gently tasted her for the first time, the light of the candles surrounding them of an almost dream-like atmosphere.

He forced himself to stop, taking a deep breath as he left her soft lips alone, giving enough distance between them so he could touch her forehead with his, as both breathed deeply trying to regain their calm and slower their thundering hearts.

He finally took the chance of opening his eyes, finding her awed gaze fixed on his face. He leaned his head to the side and looked around curiously. His action confused her, as she had no idea what he was looking for after such soulful kiss.

"What?"

He looked down at her, his gaze filled with joy and a love that took her breath away.

"The world didn't end."

She had to laugh at that.

"No, it didn't."

They hugged, turning to gaze at the flickering lights again, enjoying the atmosphere of the Hanukkah's candles, hearing in the distance a lonely violin skillfully playing a mourning melody in the night.

THE END

a/n: This was short and sweet. I hope you've enjoyed this little tale.

Cheers!