Tony awoke when the warm body he was wrapped around began to tremble. He raised a gentle hand to stroke back his wife's dark curly hair and whispered into her ear.

"Shh babe," he said, "it's okay. You're safe, nothing is going to hurt you now."

It took a few minutes but he felt the shaking stop. Ziva's eyes opened slowly and they were filled with fear until her gaze rested on him. Then the fear was replaced with tears and her lips formed his name as she rolled over and buried her face in his chest.

Tony clung to her, his arms firm around her back and waist, wanting her to feel safe. He brushed a kiss on her temple, then moved to her cheek to get rid of some of her tears. Finally his lips found hers. The kiss was short but loving, a way to tell her without words that everything was going to be okay.

It had been two years since the explosion at an abandoned warehouse that had nearly taken their lives and had wiped out Ziva's memory. She awoke in the hospital after four days, wound so tight that she almost gave the doctor a concussion when she threw him against a wall because he tried to take her blood pressure.

She was angry because she didn't remember her own name, let alone those of the strangers suddenly surrounding her. The skills she displayed were as natural as breathing but the razor sharp reflexes scared her, because she didn't know why she had them.

Tony fought all of them - Gibbs, the doctors, his friends - to be allowed to spend close to every single of his waking moments with her. Ziva was his partner and she needed him. When Ziva had opened her eyes in the middle of the night to find a man she did not recognize sitting beside her bed and holding her hand loosely, Tony was smart enough to make no quick movements as he faced the Sig that appeared from under her pillow.

In as few words as possible he explained their connection and his presence in her room. Ziva kept the gun aimed at his head a full thirty seconds longer while sweat trickled down his back until she saw something in his eyes that she believed.

She put the gun away, looked down at their joined hands and asked bluntly, "Are we involved Agent DiNozzo?"

As much as Tony wanted to lie and say yes, to give he and Ziva the chance they'd always missed before, he didn't want to start their friendship like that. So instead he swallowed hard, shook his head once, and decided to be frank with her.

"It's Tony and no, we're not." His voice grew quieter. "But so many times I have wished that we were."

Ziva tilted her head to the side. "Then why are we not?"

His eyebrows rose and Tony was slow to form the excuse. He sighed. "I guess it was never the right time."

She shook her wild curls. "There is no such thing as the right time. You either make a choice or you walk away."

Perhaps it was the amnesia or perhaps it was because they were having one of their first honest conversations in five years of working together, but suddenly Tony realized they had a chance now to do something different, to start over. He could finally do what he should've done a long time ago.

"Okay then," he stated. "I know what I want and I'm making my choice. But let's start as friends first, shall we?" The corners of her lips lifted when he flashed his dazzling DiNozzo grin and offered her his hand. "Tony DiNozzo."

Ziva slipped her hand into his, noting that it fit there like this was how it was supposed to be. "I have been told that my name is Ziva David, but it does not ring any gongs."

Tony choked off a laugh by pretending to cough, unsure how this Ziva would take it. But her English slip reminded him that the woman he'd fallen in love with was still in there somewhere, even if she didn't remember.

"Bells," he corrected, the familiarity of doing so calming him, "'doesn't ring any bells.'" Tony frowned. "Well, it's easy to get confused when you don't know who you are. Gibbs, our boss," he added to clarify, "calls you Ziver sometimes. The Director calls you Agent David. Probie and Abby generally stick with Ziva. And I call you Zi, Ninja, Crazy Chick, Probette, and Zee-vah, to name a few."

Ziva arched one eyebrow at him. "You are trying to confuse me."

He chuckled. "Not yet. Sorry."

She shook her head. "I do not like apologies." Then her eyebrows drew together in a dark line. "I do not know why I said that."

"Rule #6," Tony quoted automatically.

"A rule for what?" Ziva asked.

"Gibs," he explained. "Gibbs has rules, fifty-one of them, and none are written down. You kind of learn as you go." Tony shrugged. "Rule #6 is Never Apologize - it's a sign of weakness."

"I see," Ziva replied slowly, though she really didn't.

They talked for most of the night as Tony tried to catch Ziva up on her life as he knew it. By the next day they were clearly friends, and as the days passed and her condition improved, Ziva grew to respect that man who stuck by her so faithfully.

For his part Tony was aware that because she didn't remember him, he could be whoever he wanted to be now. Ziva didn't know him as the philandering playboy with a smart remark for everything. She was getting to know a more serious man who used his humour to make her smile and not to rile her up.

After a week Ziva was allowed to go home with strict orders from the doctor and Gibbs that she was not to be left alone. So Tony stayed, and took some time off work to help her get reacquainted with her life. The first few days were sad, watching Ziva walk around her apartment as if she'd never been there before, picking things up and looking at everything as she tried to get a clue about who she had been.

Three weeks after the explosion both of them were back at work, though Ziva was starting from scratch, learning to be an investigator all over again. In time she began to fit into her place on the team, though her relationships with Gibbs, Abby, Ducky, and McGee were still in the baby stages. She slowly learned to trust them all again, but especially Tony, who had already proved she could be confident in believing that he'd always have her back.

Weeks became months and Tony and Ziva went from friends to best friends to a shadow of something more. Her past remained a blank except for the small section they'd filled in. Ziva knew nothing of her mother or Tali's deaths, of joining Mossad, about what happened with Ari, or any of her time at NCIS.

The only thing she carried with her was Somalia. Ziva often dreamt of her time in the terror camp, but because she didn't remember the actual event, they scared her even more. And Tony was always there, to help her through, to talk to her until she could fall asleep again, to hold her hand when she needed comfort but would not admit it. She began to depend on him.

Gibbs watched as Tony and Ziva grew closer and slowly became more attached, and more dependant on each other. But he never quoted Rule 12, figuring that Ziva had lost enough, and Tony never asked. When they started dating his nod was a silent blessing, and a year after the explosion Ziva was wearing a diamond ring.

Ziva had an identity now, and a year of memories that confirmed it. Her past was not something she dwelt upon and the blank years had stopped bothering her in recent months. For the first time she could remember, she was content. And as far as she was concerned, Tony was the reason.

Tony and Ziva were married in a simple ceremony, surrounded by their friends, only a few months after their engagement. They were now approaching their first anniversary and despite their sometimes explosive fights, they were happy.

But sometimes there were still nights like tonight when what Ziva didn't remember continued to haunt her. After soaking Tony's shirt with her tears, Ziva drew a shuddering breath.

"I am sorry," she said, pulling back from her husband.

Tony wasn't ready to let her go just yet. "Don't be." He slid his fingers into her hair. "What was it about this time?"

Ziva frowned and rubbed three fingers across her forehead. "There was a man I did not know. He walked into a building and it exploded. There was..." she paused, struggling for words, "...debris and bits of...people laying everywhere. And one little girl missing a pink sandal." She lifted her eyes to his. "My heart is breaking but I do not know why. Should I know her? I feel as if I have lost something dear to me."

Tony's eyes widened and he tightened his grip on her. He hadn't been there but he remembered the night he was tailing Ziva when she came to DC to get Ari, and she told him about losing her little sister. Oh gosh, he thought. She just remembered Tail's death!

There were some things about her past that they had not told her, some gaps they had not wanted to fill in. Tali and Ari, the reason Somalia happened, her fall-out with her father - those memories they had weeded out from what was shared. If she never remembered, which seemed to be the case as the months passed, they did not want extra things for her to grieve. But this was the first sign that Ziva's amnesia might not be as permanent as they'd thought, and as sometimes Tony had hoped.

He didn't want Ziva to remember who he'd been before. Her love this time had matured him, he was a better person for being with her. And while he loved Ziva as she had been and as she was, he liked the Ziva who was his wife. The old Ziva had only ever been his partner.

Ziva realized he was not with her and tapped his cheek lightly. "Tony."

"What?" he shook himself. "Oh, sorry Zi. I was just thinking." Tony brushed his thumb down her cheek. "The dream sounds awful. Is there anything I can do?" He knew he needed to talk to Gibbs before he started explaining the dream's significance to her.

She looked at him strangely, but did not ask. Dropping her hand to his chest, she voiced once of her fears. It was something Tony was still getting used to, Ziva talking about feelings. The old Ziva never seemed to be afraid of anything.

"What if I never remember Tony? What if I am always the woman without a past? Will you never get tired of being married to a nobody?"

"Ziva," Tony took her face in his hands and held her gaze. "I love you. You are not a nobody, you are my wife. There is nothing wrong with you. You are strong, beautiful, graceful, and confident. You have the best smile, eyes I nearly drown in, and when you kiss me sometimes I forget my name," he joked. "Someday when you look in a mirror, I hope you see what I see. Besides," he leaned close and captured her soft lips with his, "one of these days maybe you'll remember something good."

Ziva's eyes were shining and the smile he loved spread over her face. She laid her palm against his cheek, staring at him. "I do remember something good, every day."

That was all the invitation Tony needed and he kissed her with all the love in his heart. The remaining hours of the night passed by without notice, so lost were they in each other. And when they finally did fall asleep again, Ziva was curled up in Tony's arms, a happy expression on her face. Even though she didn't remember who she was, when she looked into her husband's eyes she knew she'd found everything she'd ever need. With Tony she was home.

A/N: "Something good" line shamelessly stolen from The Bourne Supremacy, which I started watching on TV while I was babysitting last night.

I have the idea to possibly continue this with Ziva's memory returning more and more and her reaction as the old her to be married to Tony. Also Ziva dealing with the emotional trauma of everything she didn't remember and feeling lied to because of everything that was left out.

Let me know if you are interested. And as always, I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading :D