Ash was confused Gacen had said they were going shopping but as far as she could tell they were still floating in space, he'd been gone for a few hours normally she would go find him but she wasn't looking forward to the gala so didn't mind if he was distracted. She no longer had her military ranking so couldn't use being a soldier as an excuse to not dress up, she didn't know the first thing about it and didn't really want to. But it was necessary to fit in especially considering Amy's mission, Ash thought back to the galas the republic used to throw hopefully this gala wouldn't be as interrupted. The gala was being thrown on some rich persons planet called Cantonica no doubt the target was some bigwig executive or business man.

From outside the door she heard some shuffling "Ok Ash are you ready" Ash frowned did he already have his outfit. "I SAID are you ready?"

Ash walked up to the door turning on the lock "sure I'm ready" promptly she heard a wumph as Gacen crashed into the closed door

Ash couldn't help but grin "oh very funny Ash come on open the door" Ash chuckled to herself unlocking the door.

A few seconds later Gacen came prancing through the door, he was wearing a ridiculous red suit with tailcoats and a black and red top hat. He twirled into an elegant pose "soooo what do you think" Ash frowned at him trying to stifle laughter

Ash raised her eyebrow "I think you look like a nexu tamer" Gacen scrunched up his face "is that seriously your outfit?" he glowered at her nodding

Gacen brought a box into the room "I guess not everyone has my impeccable taste" he put the box down

Ash frowned "what's this" she had a hunch she knew but was hoping it wasn't that

Gacen gave a devious smile as he lifted the lid "it's dresses of course this is what I meant when I said shopping" Ash peered into the box which was full of dresses

Ash chuckled "dare I even ask why you have this" there was certainly a wide array of options to choose from

Gacen laughed "ah well that's a good story me and Risha took a job to smuggle these to some crime family but oh no we 'lost the shipment'" Ash sighed of course "needless to say Risha liked a lot of the dresses so we created a clever lie and I won many boyfriend points it was a win win" Risha certainly seemed eccentric

Ash rubbed her forehead "and I have to wear one of these?" Gacen frowned he seemed at least sympathetic

"well not if you really don't want to but it'd help you fit in, it's just those Risha didn't take so the selection isn't perfect" Ash appreciated his concern but he was right she'd stick out like a sore thumb without it and their job was to blend in

Ash looked away "I uh I've just never done this sort of thing before I don't wanna embarrass myself" Gacen chuckled

he gestured to himself "Ash first of all you really have nothing to be embarrassed about but also you're gonna be next to this I don't think anyone will think you're the one embarrassing yourself" Ash chuckled that was fair

Ash smiled "yes I was wondering where Gacen went Marching band conductor do you know?" Gacen chuckled good he did know how ridiculous he looked

Gacen began rooting around in the box "okeeey let's see what would you look good in ooo what about" he pulled out a big poofy pink dress and raised an eyebrow "this?"

Ash glowered at him "I'd sooner see you in that than me" Gacen grinned

he looked at the dress "I bet I could pull it off" he began rooting around again "ok that was my one joke serious now how do you feel about golds and silvers?" Ash sighed in no universe did she want to sparkle

Ash rubbed her forehead "no part of me wants to shimmer Gacen" Gacen nodded continuing to root around

Gacen turned to look at her "uh short or long?" Ash eyes widened why did she have to choose she didn't wanna look exposed

Ash blushed "uh I guess long" Gacen nodded rooting around a little more before he stopped

Gacen nodded "here we are" he pulled out an elegant white dress that went over one shoulder "I think you would look amazing in white" Ash looked at the dress it didn't look awful

Ash held her arm "uh I dunno Gacen are you sure" Gacen frowned at her he seemed to be losing patience

Gacen brought the dress over "ok it's this or the pink one take your pick" Ash's eyes widened, she quickly took the dress and headed to change fine she would wear it.

She held it up in front of her it didn't look so bad to be honest Gacen was definitely right about the colour. It looked a little small though she chuckled it's probably not built for athletic people still it seemed better than the other options. She put the dress on and looked in the mirror she felt very awkward but she looked ok not awful and to be honest that's all she needed. It was a little tight but still fitted the only real problem was the bottom of her legs sticking out but still could be worse.

She put her jacket back on and walked back out to Gacen, she walked in and he gave a clap beaming at her.

Gacen grinned "told ya it wouldn't be so bad you look awesome, girls better watch out Ash you'd knock em dead" Ash folded her arms she appreciated him being nice but still felt weird

Ash looked away "well uh thanks but let's just get this over with" Gacen nodded gesturing for her to take his arm, Ash gave him a long glare so Gacen relinquished the gesture.

later…

They arrived outside the event in good time Ash looked at the other guests, a lot of their outfits were either a lot less 'elegant' seeming kind of low budget or way too elegant with frills and side bits she'd never understand this culture. She could see Amy waiting near the entrance wearing a red jumpsuit dress and waved as they walked over.

Amy smiled "well well well you two certainly made an effort it's nice to see you looking so pretty Ash" Ash felt herself blush as Amy turned to Gacen "and I wasn't aware you knew the leader of the local carnival" Gacen sighed

he folded his arms "you guys are just jealous of how good I look" Ash had to admit Gacen certainly fit in wether or not that was a good or bad thing was yet to be seen.

Amy raised her eyebrow "uh huh" Ash couldn't help but chuckle "as I told you just blend in and if anyone asks I'm uh on the can" they both nodded at least this wasn't complicated.

They made their way into the event and Amy quickly broke off from them to do her 'business'. Ash turned to Gacen "So what now failed magician we just wait around" Gacen seemed to brush off the comment

Gacen smiled "well I know where I'm going I'm heading to the buffet table galas always have them" Ash followed him to the buffet table and was suddenly hit with a huge wave of deja vu looking down at Gacen filling his plate had she done this before?

Ash chuckled "woah Gacen I'm getting crazy deja vu right now" Gacen smiled at her seemingly understanding what she meant

Gacen chuckled "well this is like the mirror image of when we first met" Ash's eyes widened it totally was "I remember you thought I was an ass and that the smuggler program was a waste of time" Ash frowned that did sound right

Ash folded her arms "and you thought I was an uptight soldier yeah I remember" Gacen chuckled as he began to eat

Gacen frowned "then cipher nine totally crashed the party the prick" Ash chuckled that was certainly correct "over 7 years later and we're doing the same, well with a few differences" Gacen seemed to sway slightly as he talked

Ash smiled "yeah more things change more they stay the same right?" Gacen nodded "what did change though I used to hate you" Gacen raised his eyebrow

"same as most people Ash I badgered you until you opened up to me and ya know broke you out of that uptight soldier shell" Ash nodded that seemed accurate she had to admit having a good laugh was useful and the old her wasn't the sort of person she wanted to be again.

Ash surveyed the room "I guess you're right" she turned to Gacen who was taking a swig of alcohol "ya know I heard Darth Nox was part of the team that crashed that party" Gacen spat out the alcohol coughing for a few seconds

he tried his best to compose himself "oh yeah? that's interesting" Ash frowned maybe she shouldn't have pushed that she had said she'd wait until they found Risha Ash just wanted to be sure.

That spit take was pretty much proof "um yeah just interesting it was so high profile, you ok there Gacen?" Gacen continued to cough for a couple more seconds

Gacen hit his chest "yeah I'm good just some booze went down the wrong pipe don't uh worry" he took a few deep breaths "uh um you know that gala was my first date with Risha" Ash wracked her brain she did remember seeing Gacen with a woman that day clearly she hadn't committed it to memory properly through.

Ash smiled "huh no kidding" Gacen nodded eating more of his giant plate "how are you feeling about uh all this then?" Gacen frowned

"I uh I'm feeling ok about it I'm not so confident in the uh leads but it's like you said it's better to get it done and know than worry about it any more" Ash nodded this must be tough especially considering his dependancy but she was glad he wanted closure.

Ash hesitated "and uh how's the well booze situation" Gacen sighed looking at Ash seriously

"well it's a little better but it's not something that's gonna be 'fixed' I've always drank in moderation but normally I had something to hold me back but after Belsavis I well I didn't that's I think why things got so bad" Ash nodded she understood somewhat but it did genuinely seem like she was getting her friend back so who was she to judge his methods "shit the only thing that stopped me from drinking myself to death was the threat of you leaving, I uh really couldn't lose anything else so thanks for setting me on the right path" Ash smiled she was glad her meddling hadn't been too destructive "but I dunno maybe if we find Risha things will get better who's to say" Gacen smiled Ash didn't want to push him anymore and it seemed like her trust was somewhat working, the distraction of the Risha mystery also helped. Gacen grinned "but for now I have seafood tray with my name on and I want me some king prawns" Ash chuckled she felt she could go for seafood too.

As they made their way over Ash saw Amy shuffle over to them quickly "Ok guys did anyone ask about me?" Ash completely forgot about that luckily no one had asked.

Gacen slapped his forehead "oh yeah that's what we were here for" Amy frowned at him

she sighed "great thanks guys" Amy looked around frantically "well on my cue we're leaving" Gacen gasped looking upset

"but I was about to get some seafood" Amy gave him a puzzled look "fine what's the signal" Ash saw Gacen begin putting seafood into a bag of course he brought a bag.

suddenly the lights all dimmed and flickered off Ash heard from the darkness "THAT" from Amy as she felt her grab Ash's hand. They quickly dashed out of the gala, Ash wasn't gonna even ask how a power cut helped her kill her target bounty hunters always had their methods.

Soon they were at the spaceport as Amy caught her breath "awesome that went off without a hitch thanks guys" Gacen smiled

He picked some seafood out of his bag "hey we got free food out of it not too bad if you ask me we should do this more often" they both chuckled while Ash folded her arms

Amy smiled "it's certainly been fun thanks eccentric clown and Ash you were great too" Ash nodded Amy was certainly something but she somehow hoped it'd be a while until they met again. "alright see ya" Amy headed off leaving Ash and Gacen in the spaceport

Gacen turned to Ash "sooo back to the hunt for my wife" Ash nodded she hoped that'd somehow be less weird than this

Ash smiled "sure thing" Gacen began eating more seafood "did you have to bring a bag?" Gacen chuckled as he stuffed his face

he grinned "would it really have been like me if I didn't" he had a point not a good one but a point…