Dagger sat on her bed. Sunlight from the window streamed in. She had woken up with the sun and hadn't had any nightmares last night. She could barely remember the last time she had gotten a full night's rest. She felt great and she had decided to spend the morning in her bed until it was time for training.

Unable to keep her hands off it, she grabbed her new weapon and examined it closely. The leather bindings at the hilt looked worn and smooth. This had to have been used many times for there to be indents in the leather.

Etching at the base of the blade caught her attention. Small runes in Mando'a were carved into the blade, Kotep'an, is what it said. Next to it was two sets of tally marks, one set of five followed by a set of four.

It looked like a last name and the generations who had the blade before her. It truly dawned on her then that this dagger was a family heirloom. One that had been passed down for nine generations before tragedy struck the family. Her heart ached for someone she had never even met.

She had her family, her brothers, but she had always wondered what it would be like to have more. To have a mother, a father. Jango Fett had been the closest thing he had to a father, but he couldn't be there all the time. He couldn't do everything.

She traced her finger lightly over those markings for a long time. It was almost an hour later when she pulled herself out of her thoughts and realized she had five minutes to get to training.

Dagger placed the blade in her thigh holster and secured it well. She had never had an issue with loosing her dagger before and she sure wasn't about to start now. With her helmet secured on her head she walked out her room and towards training.

~B~

She made a dozen excuses after training to Echo and Fives, they were trying to get her to go out with them to a club. She turned them down, stating that she was tired and she would go out with them tomorrow if that's what they wanted. The pair had reluctantly agreed.

Dagger knew she should be going out with her friends and she felt bad about lying to them, but she wanted a night to explore on her own. She wanted to see what it was like to be on her own, maybe even see what it was like to be a girl. Never in her life had she been able to be someone who wasn't hiding herself from the world. Dagger wanted one night to not worry about having her secret found, not worry about being a good soldier.

So she threw her cloak over her shoulders, pulling the hood over her head. Making sure she left all of her GAR uniform behind aside from her ID card and commlink she left the barracks. She needed the card so she could get back in at the end of the night.

Dagger walked down the sidewalk, unsure of what she would find but excited about the possibilities of everything. She smiled as she passed Old Man Bean's store and fondly recalled their previous excursion.

She almost felt bad about going out without Echo and Fives. After the thought came into her mind she shook her head. No. She wouldn't feel bad about having one night to herself. She would go out with them tomorrow if they asked again which she was sure they would.

Although she was doing this tonight rather than training. Maybe she would have to limit her nights out so that way she would be able to keep training. She wanted to try out her new dagger.

Stopping in front of a shop that had to be at least 20 blocks from the GAR barracks she lowered her hood. No one would recognize her, no one had followed her.

Dagger read the glowing neon sign in the window, "Astra's Boutique"

The clothes in the window looked interesting. She wondered if the clothing was for people going out for the night. Deciding to investigate she opened the door and entered the boutique.

Even though it was getting dark outside, the store was warmly lit and inviting. Dagger realized then that she had never been clothes shopping before, everything she owned was standard issue. What was she supposed to do?

With a slight frown she scanned over a rack of clothes, she couldn't quite determine if it was a top or a bottom. So many various items lined the racks, it was almost overwhelming. How would she know which one she should get?

"Hi! Welcome in! Is there anything I can help you with?" came a cheerful and feminine voice from behind her.

Dagger would be a liar if she were to say it hadn't startled her. Doing her best to not flinch she turned quickly to see who had spoken. It was a human girl! With a swallow she responded, "hi- um- I'm new to this world and I wanted to go to a club, but I don't know what to wear."

"Oh! How exciting! I bet we can find the perfect outfit for you. I'm Astra! What's your name?"

Dagger studied the girl for a moment, they were about the same height. Dark skin with wonderful purple and blue hair that curled tightly around her head in a bouncy way. Her eyes were a stunning grey color. With a small smile she responded, "I'm Dagger."

Astra quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the store. Dagger was taken aback by the way the stranger touched her so easily. The energy she gave off was happy and excited.

Dagger was glad for the help because she had no idea what she was doing. She looked around and realized there was no one else in the store, "where is everyone?"

"It's just me right now. We are usually super slow around closing anyway. And I see that look, no I wasn't about to close before you got here so don't worry about keeping me here late."

Dagger just nodded. Astra riffled through a few racks of clothing, pulling out items seemingly at random before tossing them to Dagger for her to hold.

The trooper just stood still and held everything that she was given. She felt awkward and still but in all honesty she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Once her arms were almost overflowing Astra stopped and ushered her to the back of the store.

Dagger stood outside of the small room that Astra had let her to and asked, "what do I do now?"

"Well you gotta try these on. How else will you know which dress you like?"

Dagger squinted, she repeated Astra's words to try and understand, "if I like the dress… Will it tell me?"

She laughed slightly, "wait, what?"

Dagger looked down embarrassed, the other girl obviously was going to think she was weird, "I'm sorry, I've never done this before."

Realization flashed in Astra's eyes, "oh, honey. No, no. It's ok. Don't be embarrassed. That's why I am here. Astra is going to take care of you."

The trooper laughed a little at the reference to herself in the third person, "thank you. Will you help me with these? I've never put on a dress. Or anything like this for that matter."

With a wink Astra entered the dressing room, "girl I got you."

She started taking clothes off the pile and hanging them up along the wall. Dagger quietly watched as the pretty fabrics shifted and shimmered in the light. She had never seen such beautiful clothing. It was all so soft and beautiful.

It was feminine.

The thought almost startled her. Everything in her world, in her life, was masculine. She did everything with men, she even pretended to be one. She had never been given the opportunity to be feminine.

She started to bounce with excitement. Dagger wanted to be a girl. Not just physically, but be able to look and act like one. Even if it was just for the night. Astra noticed her quiet mood change and gently asked what she was so excited about.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Dagger asked in response.

"Girl of course. I've never leaked a secret in my life," Astra replied with sincerity.

"Ok, so this is going to sound crazy…."

Words tumbled out of her mouth and she couldn't have stopped them if she tried to. Astra listened intently and seemed to take it all in stride. When Dagger was done talking she nodded in understanding, "so you are a female clone, fighting in this war for the Republic. You have never been able to be a normal girl and now you want a fun night out to see what it is like?"

Dagger nodded sheepishly, Astra continued, "That has to be so hard to keep that kind of a secret from everyone close to you. Baby girl you are so strong."

She was practically gittering when Astra moved forward and enveloped her in a hug. Dagger froze as her hair was petted softly. Even though she had just met Dagger she felt a connection. The way she told her that secret, Astra could practically feel the stress of admitting it radiating off of her. She had a lot of interactions with clone troopers, but never had known a female one.

Astra decided right then and there that she would make sure Dagger had the best night of her life tonight. She would be the girl friend that Dagger never had.

After releasing her from the embrace, she set right to work getting Dagger to try on all of the clothes that she had picked out. She explained everything in detail making sure that she wasn't condescending about it.

With each dress she tried on she would turn to Astra and ask what she thought. She avoided the mirror when she could, she wasn't used to seeing her own reflection or face.

Astra noticed this and tried to coax her into telling her what she thought of each outfit. She took careful note of her body language with each new dress. She made sure to keep the conversation light and flowing. Dagger was quiet, but little by little she started to respond more.

Dagger's eyes lit up as she glanced in the mirror to see the dress Astra had just laced up for her. She recognized that look, Dagger liked this one.

The trooper twisted slightly to watch the skirt flow back and forth. The skirt was a beautiful light purple color that faded up to black where it connected to the corset type bodice. The black corset was modice with a high neckline, and with no sleeves her muscled arms were bare. The length was cute and fell just above the knee and didn't seem like it would rise too much when moving or dancing.

Dagger smiled, "I like this one best."

"I do too, now let's find you some shoes. I think boots will be best. Clubbing and heels never mix well," Astra advised as she pulled Dagger to the shoe section of the boutique.

Fitting Dagger with some short and stylish boots, and encouraged her to take a look in the mirror. The girl shyly admired her reflection. She felt normal and that was the craziest part.

She felt like a regular human girl, she looked like it too. Not a soldier with a secret. She felt like she wouldn't have to worry about anything because there was nothing to worry about. No one would recognize her like this.

Dagger went and grabbed her cloak, she dug through the pockets and asked, "how much do I owe you for the dress and boots?"

Astra smiled bright as she hummed playfully, "I think it's worth a drink."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm coming with you. I'm going to take you to my favorite club in town and you're going to buy me a drink," Astra explained.

Dagger felt her cheeks heat up, "y-you mean you want to come with me?"

Astra looped her arm through Dagger's and guided her out of the boutique, locking it behind her, "friends don't let friends go out on their own. No matter how new the friend."

Dagger smiled, "you are really nice Astra"

They chatted happily on the short walk to the club, Luna's is what it was called. Even from outside they could feel the base in the music pumping. Inside it was even louder and Dagger was blinded by the colorful lights. She stared in awe until Astra dragged her to the bar.

The bartender took her cloak, promising to take good care of it and made up two drinks for them. Astra whooped with joy when the bartender told her it was Lady's Night. Apparently, that meant that they were allowed unlimited rations of alcohol for free.

Dagger didn't understand how that was a good business model, but it made Astra happy. Therefore, she would accept it. She also accepted the bubbly green drink that Astra handed her. It tickled her nose as she drank, but the taste was pleasant enough.

"Have you ever drank before?" Astra asked as she leaned in to be heard over the thumping music.

"No, but I know what it does and I sure don't want to think about anything for the rest of the night," to prove her point she slammed the rest of her drink.

Astra laughed and swung her arm around Dagger's shoulders much like Echo often did, "don't worry, I'll take care of everything. You don't have to think at all if you don't want to."

Dagger smiled, it was short lived as she saw some clones walk into the club from across the room. Astra followed her line of sight and realized what had changed her mood so suddenly.

She quickly stepped in front of her line of sight so that Dagger had to look at her instead, "hey, don't worry about it. You said it yourself, they don't even know what you look like. I can guarantee that the only reason they would notice you is because you are so gorgeous. Just use a different name ok?"

The trooper looked at her skeptically, "ok I guess I'll be a Logan for tonight."

Astra rolled her eyes, "absolutely not. You pretend to be a dude your entire life and now you get a chance to pick a new name and you choose Logan? No. Tonight I'm calling you Lilah. Come on, let's go dance."

Dagger finished her drink and nodded. She allowed herself to be pulled into the mass of dancing people in the center of the club. She had never wanted to dance before, but now it was the only thing she wanted to do.

Observing Astra and the others around her she mimicked their motions. Her friend smiled as she started to sway. Despite what the Madam on Kamino had said, Dagger was a quick learner. It seemed that Dagger was a natural at dancing. A lot like martial arts or fighting she would turn her body gracefully swaying to and fro with the beat.

She closed her eyes and lifted her arms. The feeling of music pumping through the air and rolling over her skin was exhilarating. She felt safe even though she was surrounded by strangers, perhaps because she was surrounded by strangers. She had never met them before and she would never see these people again. There was no need to hide. Dagger could let the world see who she was and she loved it.

As it would seem, the world was watching. Those dancing closest to her would turn slightly, stealing subtle glances of the joyful way that she moved. A patron or two at the bar were delayed in their ordering of drinks because their attention was stolen by the way she danced with no inhibitions. The woman who danced with nothing to hide, with nothing to lose.

From one of the tables along the edge of the room a set of amber eyes were trapped. He barely even heard the music in the air, much less the conversation of those around him. He was entranced by the beauty on the dance floor.

Running a hand over his hair he studied the way she moved. She looked so familiar, yet he knew that he had never met the girl before. He sure wanted to, she was gorgeous. The way she danced seemed to call him. Like a siren singing to a sailor, he was trapped in her spell.

The man moved to stand, brushing off his friends who called for him to stay. Moving through the crowd he couldn't bring himself to look away. He made his way to her, he was drawn to the girl and he wanted to say hello.