"I hope Bobby Wilson asks me to dance," Megan Andrews said with a dreamy look on her face. Her blonde hair, blue eyes and perfect complexion made her one of the prettiest girls at the military academy.

"I'm sure he will," Caitlin Roberts said. "You'll probably have all the boys lined up to take their turn dancing with you."

"I hope you're right," Megan said as she resumed packing her suitcase. It was the night before spring break and the girls were packing to head home for the next week. "I know that my mom is planning a special day to go find a dress for the ball."

"Me too," Caitlin said excitedly. "There's a wonderful dress shop where I live. All the dresses are originals. I wouldn't want to go to the ball with the same dress as someone else. I think I'd positively die!"

"What about you, Kam?" Megan asked, turning her attention to their third roommate. "Do you have a special day planned to find a dress? You know that Lucas Peters has his eye on you."

Kam swallowed hard and nodded. "Yes, I have a special day all planned out. We're going to go out and find a dress and go to eat lunch at a little café in town." She desperately tried to hold back her tears as she spoke. Having started school only a few months after her mother's brutal murder, she had never found it in herself to be able to tell anyone what had happened. The longer she had kept it to herself, the harder she had found it to talk about it and now… well now she just lived in a make-believe world where she still had her mom. She missed her every single day but it was times like these when it hurt the worst. The freshman military ball was the event of the school year. She knew that her mom would have loved to have taken her shopping and they would have had a wonderful time picking out a dress and just spending time together. Now…now that had been taken away from them because of a ruthless, horrible man. She hated him so much. She always would.

Megan zippered up her suitcase and stood up. "Come on… we don't want to be late for dinner."

Caitlin and Kamran both followed Megan out of the room. Somehow she had become the unofficial leader for the trio and they usually allowed her to take the lead. Kamran's thoughts weren't on dinner as they headed to the mess hall though. They were on the task she had of trying to find the perfect dress with no one to help her do it.

xxxxx

"There's my baby girl," Sam exclaimed as he spotted his daughter coming through the gate. "Is it me, G or did she grow six inches?"

"If she did, I think she'd be looking at a career in woman's professional basketball," Callen said, grinning at his partner. "It hasn't been very long since her Christmas break. That would be quite a growth spurt."

"Daddy!" Kamran threw herself into her father's arms exuberantly as he hugged her tightly. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, baby girl," Sam said. "More than you'll ever know." He released her and she immediately went to Callen to embrace him.

"I didn't think you'd be here, Uncle Callen," Kamran said, smiling. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm really happy to see you too," Callen said. "Your dad thinks you've grown six inches, but I'm pretty sure it's only three."

Kamran giggled. "You two are silly."

"Let's go get your bag and then we'll take you out to dinner, wherever you'd like to go, okay?"

Kamran nodded, her eyes sparkling. "That sounds perfect, daddy," she said.

xxxxx

After a lively dinner at a local restaurant where Sam and Callen mostly listened to Kamran chatter about her friends and school activities, Callen headed home and Sam and his daughter headed to the boat. "I wish Aiden had the same spring break as me," Kamran said with a soft sigh as she looked out over the water. There were some nice things about the boat, but she still missed her house. Then again, if her mom was on the boat, she was sure it would be fine.

"I do too, sweetheart," Sam said. "Unfortunately, it just didn't work out like that this year. Maybe next year."

"That seems a very long time away," Kamran said sadly.

"Are you okay, Kam?" Sam asked. He could tell by her expression that everything wasn't quite as perfect as she had made it seem as dinner. "School's going well, isn't it?"

Kamran nodded. "School is fine. My grades are good and I have lots of friends…"

Sam nodded. "You're sure nothing is bothering you? You know you can talk to me, baby girl, about anything at all."

"I know…" Kam said, trying to keep her emotions intact. She was quiet for a few long moments and then she finally spoke. "The freshman military ball is the weekend after we go back to school."

"Oh that's the problem," Sam said, smiling. "Don't worry about that. I'll give you money for a new dress, shoes and whatever else you need for the dance. You're going to be the prettiest girl at that ball."

At that point, Kamran could no longer control herself and she burst into tears as Sam looked on helplessly. "Kam? Sweetheart, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I…I…I don't have anyone to…to take me to get a dress…" she said through her sobs. "No one can help me."

"G and I can take you to get one," Sam said. When his words only caused his daughter to sob harder, he knew he had said the wrong thing.

"You and Uncle Callen?" Kam wailed. "You don't know anything about dresses."

"What about Kensi?" Sam asked, grasping at straws. "I bet Kensi would take you. I'm sure she knows lots about dresses." He really knew no such thing. It wasn't like Kensi went around wearing fancy dresses, but he assumed she had gone to one or two dances in her day. Maybe Hetty would have a dress for his daughter but somehow he didn't think getting a dress from OSP was going to cut it.

"Auntie Kensi?" Kam asked, her tears slowing as she at least seemed interested in that possibility. "You really think she'd take me?"

Sam nodded quickly. "I do, sweetheart. I'll talk to her tomorrow at work, okay?" He was going to be working a sporadic schedule this week. He knew that Kamran had plans with her best friend, Bridget for the following day.

Kam nodded, as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Thank you, daddy. That would be very nice."

Sam smiled, relieved that his daughter had stopped crying. It broke his heart that her mother wasn't there to do these kinds of things with her and he was frankly out of his element about some things. He could have only imagined the look of horror on G's face if he had informed him they were going dress shopping. "You've had a long day… why don't we get some sleep," he suggested.

"Okay daddy," Kam said as the two headed below deck to get some rest.

xxxxx

"Good morning, Sam," Deeks and Kensi greeted him as he came into the bullpen.

"G's not here yet?" Sam asked, looking at his friend's empty desk.

"He's with Hetty," Kensi explained. "How was your homecoming with Kamran?"

"It was good," Sam said, looking at her thoughtfully. "Actually, I'd like to talk to you about that if you have a minute."

"Of course," Kensi said. "What's up?"

"Last night, well, Kamran kind of had a breakdown over an upcoming dance at her school."

"Nobody asked her?" Deeks asked. "Boys that age can be little jerks. She's a cute girl, Sam. Tell her she'll be fine."

"No," Sam shook his head. "This dance isn't like that. The kids don't pair up for this. Well, I'm sure some of them do, but they all go and it's just a fun night for them."

"So what's the problem?" Kensi asked.

"A dress."

"Ohhh…" Kensi nodded understanding at once and feeling very bad for his daughter. "That's a hard one, Sam. I can only imagine how she feels." Michelle hadn't even been gone a year yet and Kam was at an age where a girl definitely needed her mother. She herself had never really been that kind of girl, but she could well imagine how Kam felt. She knew that Michelle and her daughter had been extremely close. "So you want me to take her to look for a dress?"

Sam nodded. "If you could. I would really appreciate it, Kens. I mentioned that G and I could take her but she wanted no part of that."

Deeks, who was in the midst of drinking some coffee, almost choked when he heard that. He put the coffee cup on his desk and looked at Sam in amusement. "You and Callen looking for dresses? I would have paid good money to see that."

"Well, it's not happening, Deeks so you can keep your money," Sam told him.

"Even so…" Deeks' eyes brightened up as Callen came back into the bullpen. "Hey Callen…Sam told us that you and he are taking Kamran out to look for a ball gown."

Callen stared at Deeks for a long moment, trying not to show how unnerved he was by this. "Uhhh…really?' he asked, finally turning to his partner with his face a carefully constructed mask.

Sam chuckled. "Relax, G. Deeks is pulling your leg. Kensi is going to take her."

"Oh… that's good," Callen said with a sigh of relief. "Not that I wouldn't do anything for your daughter, Sam. You know that I would, but, I don't know anything about dresses for a teenage girl and I'm guessing you don't either."

"You're right about that," Sam said. He then turned back to Kensi. "Thank you, Kensi. I owe you big time for this."

"You don't owe me anything," Kensi said softly. "I'd do anything for you and your children, Sam. I hope you know that."

Sam nodded as he gave her a soft smile. "I do know that, Kens… It's one of the things I love about this team. You guys are family…you always will be."

xxxxx

When Hetty found out about the upcoming excursion, she insisted that Kensi take a day off from work to accompany Kamran on her dress-hunting expedition. As did each team member, Hetty felt her own share of the guilt from the tragedy that had befallen Michelle and she would do anything in her power to help Sam and his family with whatever she could.

Kensi arrived at Sam's boat at 9 on the dot. Sam walked Kam down to meet her. He was going into work a little late so as not to have left Kam on her own. "Hey, Kens," he greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm good, Sam," Kensi said. She turned to Kamran who gave her a shy smile. "How are you today, Kam? All excited to go find the prettiest dress at the ball?"

"That's probably going to be one of my roommates," Kamran said. "One of them is going to an original dress shop and the other one, well, she's so pretty she could probably make a trash bag look good."

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Kensi said. "You're a beautiful girl, Kamran and don't you worry. We're going to find you the perfect dress. You ready to get going?"

Kamran nodded as Sam handed Kensi a credit card and a bundle of cash. "Spend whatever you have to," he said softly. "I really want this to be special for her. Lunch is on me too…wherever you want to go."

"I can cover lunch, Sam," Kensi said with a shake of her head.

"Please, Kens…" Sam said, giving her a heartfelt look

Kensi nodded, feeling a surge of emotions. "Don't worry, Sam. I'll make sure she has a good day."

"Thank you, Kensi."

xxxxx

Kensi had done her homework before the shopping trip with Kam. She had spoken to both Hetty and Nell and had a list of shops which would have suitable dresses for a teenage girl. "So, do you have any idea what kind of dress you'd like to get?" she asked, giving a sidelong look to Kamran as they drove along.

"I don't know," Kamran said with a shrug. "I've never done anything like this before. I've had dresses for weddings and things like that, but this one needs to be special."

Kensi nodded. "I see…well don't you worry. I'm sure we'll find something." The first three dress shops were definite fails. One, a vintage shop Nell had recommended, Kam had immediately nixed. The other two shops seemed very generic and Kam sighed in discouragement as they walked back to Kensi's car.

"I don't think we're ever going to find anything," Kam said.

"I have a list here, Kam," Kensi said, trying to boost her spirits. "There are plenty more places to look."

"I'm going to be the ugliest girl there," Kamran said with an overly dramatic sigh.

Kensi smiled. "Trust me, Kamran. There's no chance of that happening. I'm sure you're going to look perfect.

However, two more failed dress shop attempts had Kensi almost as discouraged as Kamran. Finally, they found one that seemed to have possibilities, at least from the dresses in the window. "Ooooh," Kamran said, her eyes shining as she picked out one and showed it to Kensi. "I think this is perfect."

Kensi took one look at the dress and quickly shook her head. "Take another look at that dress, Kam and ask yourself what your father would think if we went home with that." The dress was much too revealing for a girl her age with a plunging neckline. "That's meant for someone older…MUCH older."

"Okay," Kam said as she continued to look. She picked out a few which Kensi approved of and they headed to the dressing room. After trying on three and finding something wrong with each of them, Kamran tried on the fourth one and looked instantly transformed. It was a peach colored dress with a lace overlay with embroidered flowers and sequins. It had lace at the top as well and was more than suitable for Kam's age group. Not to mention she looked absolutely stunning in it.

"Oh Kamran…" Kensi breathed as Kamran twirled around, obviously enthralled with her choice. "I think that's perfect… You look beautiful."

"Thank you, Kensi," Kamran said, smiling at her shyly. "I love this one. I think it's perfect."

"I think you're right," Kensi said. She glanced at the price tag of $300 and had no idea if Sam had known how much such a dress was going to cost. She quickly sent him a text asking about the price. It took only a few moments before he texted back that it was fine. "Now all we need is to find you some matching shoes and a purse and you'll be the most beautiful girl at the ball."

Kamran changed back into her clothes and they took the dress to the cashier. "This is a beautiful dress," the cashier gushed. "Do you need alterations?"

"We actually have someone who is going to do that for us," Kensi explained. Hetty had already offered to do it and Kensi knew it would be a labor of love.

"Enjoy it," the woman said to Kamran who thanked her and she and Kensi headed out of the store.

"Why don't we take a little break for lunch?" Kensi suggested when they got back into the car. "We can rejuvenate and then look for some shoes and a bag.

"That sounds good," Kamran said with a smile.

They found a small seaside café and sat down to enjoy a peaceful meal. "So, what do the boys have to wear to this ball?" Kensi asked as they ate their sandwiches.

"They just wear their dress uniforms," Kamran explained. "They don't have to suffer like us women do."

Kensi chuckled. "That's the truth and I don't think it ever changes," she said.

"But you don't have to worry about that…right?" Kamran asked, looking at Kensi curiously.

"What do you mean?" Kensi asked.

"I mean, you and Uncle Deeks are engaged, aren't you?"

Kensi found herself blushing although she had no idea why. "Yes…yes we are."

"Do you know when you're going to get married?" Kamran asked.

Kensi shook her head. "We haven't finalized the details yet." They had a long way to go as far as that went.

"Well, I think you're a very cute couple," Kamran stated. "I hope you have a very happy marriage."

"Thank you, Kamran," Kensi said, smiling at the girl. She really was very sweet. It was a shame what had happened to her mother. Rather than dwell on that though, she forced her thoughts onto more positive things. She didn't want any negativity to spoil Kamran's day.

xxxxx

The shoe and bag shopping was much easier than the dress shopping had been. They even found a crystal bracelet which matched the dress perfectly. "I guess we're ready to head back to the mission and let Hetty work her magic," Kensi said to Kamran who perked up.

"I've never gone there before."

"Well, your dad discussed it with Hetty and they agreed that you can be trusted not to ever tell anyone about it," Kensi said, stressing the importance of that.

"I would never tell anyone," Kamran said. She didn't ever want to put anyone in danger, especially after the tragedy of her mother's death. "I would die if anything happened to daddy."

"I can't promise you that will never happen," Kensi said softly, "but know that our team will always do everything in our power to make sure he's protected."

"I know you will, Auntie Kensi," Kamran said, tears brimming in her eyes. "And I pray for all of you every night that you will always be safe."

Kensi nodded, feeling her own emotions beginning to flare. "Thank you, Kamran…that means so much to me and I'm sure it will to the others as well."

xxxxx

When they got back to the mission, Deeks and Callen gave Kamran a guided tour before the girl was taken in hand by Hetty to try on the dress so she could work on it.

"That's a very special girl you have there, Sam," Kensi said.

"Don't I know it," Sam said. "I really appreciate what you did for her today." The sparkle in her eyes and happy expression on her face had been a far cry from the sobbing child of just a few days ago.

Kensi shook her head. "Trust me…it was my pleasure Sam. Any time…any time at all and I really mean that."

"I know you do, Kensi. Thank you."

The guys returned to work and Kensi decided to do a little bit too so none of them were paying too much attention when Hetty escorted Kamran out into the middle of the bullpen. They were all speechless when they saw her in the dress. Sam immediately had to try to get his own emotions under control. She was a perfect vision of her mother. She looked lovely and so grown up. It made him wish more than anything that Michelle could have been there to see her. "You…you look beautiful, baby girl," he finally managed to say as she walked to him.

"Really, daddy?" Kamran asked as she looked up at him.

Sam nodded. "Really, sweetheart. "It's the most beautiful dress I've ever seen."

"You really do look lovely," Callen said, finally able to voice his emotions. Like Sam, he saw the resemblance to Michelle and was also having a hard time keeping himself together. "You're going to be the prettiest girl there."

"Thank you, Uncle Callen," Kamran said, giving him a hug.

"What Callen said," Deeks said, also choked up by the moment as Kamran smiled at him.

"Auntie Kensi was really helpful," she said to him with a mischievous smile. "Maybe sometime soon, she will let me help her find a wedding dress."

They all laughed at that and were able to get past the strong emotions that Kamran in her dress had stirred up. Sam knew there would be many more difficult, emotional times upcoming, but with the help of his team…his family…he felt he would be able to get through them.