"Oh man, that was a hell of an episode," Luna commented, staring at the screen as the credits rolled. "It's so cool that they have a genderfluid character…that poor girl though…"

Astra grinned at her. "Right? Episode four is my favourite."

She couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement that Luna was enjoying this show. She couldn't explain why, but she'd been relieved and grateful when Lily and Cobalt had left them to it. Spending time alone with Luna was great, nicer than any time she'd spent with anywhere else, though part of her worried that it was just because of her parents. She hoped not, but she couldn't think of any other reason. It was best not to dwell on it.

"Agh, I want to find out what happens next, but these episodes are so much longer than I thought they'd be." Luna said, pounding her fists on the pillow she had on her lap.

Astra grabbed the remote and paused the program. "We can take a break if you want," She suggested. "We're halfway through, so now's probably a good time."

Luna blinked at her. "All right, well…what else do you want to do?"

Astra paused. She hadn't actually thought that far ahead. "I don't actually know." She admitted.

Luna shifted and looked to the ground. "Maybe we could…go grab some lunch together?" She looked flustered, confusing Astra. What was so awkward about lunch?

She shrugged. "I dunno, I mostly just wanted to chill in here. Maybe we could just play a game or talk about stuff?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, talking sounds nice." Was that a flash of disappointment in Luna's eyes as she spoke? Feeling a pang of concern, Astra sought to make her feel better.

"Tell me a story about yourself!" She prompted. "I love hearing you talk; you should do it way more."

Luna's face turned red as she grinned sheepishly. "You're just saying that."

"No, really!" Astra grabbed a pillow and held it close, wiggling deeper into the bed and gazing at Luna eagerly. "Tell me anything!"

"Okay, let's see, uh…" Luna looked thoughtful. "I guess there's the time I first saw a huntress in action, outside of the sparring matches I'd watch between RWBY and JNR."

Astra leaned forward, excitement rising in her chest. "Yes, please!"

Luna settled back and leaned against the bedpost. "Okay, well…I would have been about six. Ilia was babysitting Blaze and I while our parents were on a mission. We were at the park and she'd gone to get some water. The moment she was gone, some teenaged humans came up to us," Her face darkened. "It started just as them making fun of us but then they started taking it further. They were pulling at my tail and Blaze's ears. We both got really scared and I was terrified that we'd get really hurt."

"If they did, I'll hunt them down and kick their asses." Astra whispered.

Luna chuckled. "They didn't, don't worry. Ilia showed up again just in time. At first, she just tried intimidating them but when they didn't back down, it was pretty clear they were looking for a fight."

Astra stared at her, fully enraptured. "Did Ilia beat up some teenagers…"

"I wouldn't say 'beat up'," Luna corrected. "But she did tase them a bit with her weapon. They ran off crying like children."

Astra wiggled and clapped her hands together. "That's so cool! I mean, I'm sorry that happened to you, but it's cool Ilia was there to stop them. You must really look up to her, huh?"

Luna nodded. "She couldn't always be around but she's such a big inspiration."

"Is she why you wanted to be a Huntress?" Astra inquired, leaning forward with interest. She'd always been curious to know her partner's motivations.

Luna looked thoughtful. "No, I don't think so," She admitted. "Being a Huntress has always felt just like…the natural thing to do, to me, at least. All of my family and all of their friends were and I'm good enough at fighting. I never really considered anything else."

"Neat!" Astra chirped. "I guess it makes sense that you'd want to follow in your family's footsteps."

"What about you?" Luna asked. "Is it what you've always wanted?"

"Nope!" Astra replied.

Luna blinked in surprise. "Really? I always imagine you'd practically been born with a hammer in your hand."

"Hah," Astra chuckled. "I can see why you'd think that, but I actually wanted to be a ton of different things as a little kid." She smiled, remembering fondly. "I think the earliest thing I wanted to be was a princess until I found out that the kingdoms weren't actually ruled by royalty. Then I wanted to be an explorer, but apparently that doesn't pay very well. And then there was the time I wanted to join the police force," She wrinkled her nose. "Seven-year-old me was not immune to Atlas' propaganda."

"So, what changed?" Luna prompted, gazing at her with curious lilac eyes.

Astra grinned. "I started hearing stories," She replied. "She hopped off the bed and started pacing as her memories filled her with that childlike excitement she'd felt back then. "Stories of Remnant's newest legendary heroes; of Team RWBY, Atlas' own Happy Huntresses, Teams CFVY and SSSN, Penny Polendina, Oscar Pine, Jaune and Ren…but my greatest hero…" She paused, her eyes shining. "The coolest, most badass woman in all of Remnant…the legendary, amazing Nora Valkyrie." She wiggled just thinking about her, with her awesome Semblance and powerful weapon, her boundless energy and intelligence in battle, not to mention that she was a trans woman as well, adding an extra bonus to everything…

Luna grinned at her. "So, Nora's your biggest inspiration, huh? Honestly, that checks out."

Astra darted up to her. "She's just so cool!" She squealed. "And even now she's still out there kicking ass while also being a mother to five kids, three of which she and Ren adopted because they were orphans once and know what it's like…you're so lucky you got to grow up around her."

"It was fun, that's for sure," Luna admitted fondly. "She could be a bit…much for me sometimes, but having her around was never boring and she always encouraged me."

Astra sighed wistfully. "I don't know what I'd do if I ever met her. Faint, probably."

"If it helps, she'd definitely love you," Luna offered. "She loves meeting people that match her in energy."

Astra felt like she could burst into hopeful, excited tears at any moment. "Do you really think so?"

Before Luna could answer, the dorm door burst open. Astra turned to see Cobalt bounding into the room, looking uncharacteristically enthusiastic.

"What's got you so excited?" Astra asked. "And where's Lily?"

"She's talking to her mother," Cobalt responded. "But guys, the coolest thing just happened!" He looked as bouncy as Astra often was. It was…weird to see from him.

"Clearly," Luna chuckled, leaning back. "I don't think I've seen you so openly excited in years. It's coming off you in waves."

"I got a date!" Cobalt revealed, his eyes shining. "With Storm Hunter!"

Astra felt a sudden pang of uneasiness upon hearing the name.

Luna squealed in delight, not seemingly to notice Astra's discomfort. "Cobalt, that's so cool! You've been crushing on them for weeks!"

Astra shuffled her feet, not knowing how to give her warning. "Cobalt, I…"

Cobalt glanced at her inquisitively. "What's up?"

"I just…you should be careful about this." She tried, begging inwardly that he wouldn't take it the wrong way.

Cobalt's ears turned back. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, an edge to his voice that Astra didn't like.

"It's nothing terrible, it's just…" Astra took a deep breath. "They're from Atlas. We went to combat school together and they…well, they kind of hung around a lot of Atlas'…more discriminatory kind."

Cobalt narrowed his eyes. "What, like, they bullied Faunus?"

Astra shook her head. "They never did anything themselves…not directly, anyway. But when anything did happen, they kind of just…stood and watched. Even when they were right there, they never got involved, and I would sometimes catch them laughing along when their friends made rude jokes."

She thought Cobalt looked slightly uncomfortable now, but a stubborn expression remained on his face.

"I'm sure they were just too shy to do anything," He insisted. "Some people are like that. And even if they did agree with anything, they've probably learned since then. I've never caught them laughing at anything like that before."

Privately, Astra didn't think that was the case, but she didn't like that Cobalt seemed offended and she didn't want to push it. "Yeah, you're right," She looked away. "I'm sure it's fine now." She forced a smile. "I'd uh…be happy to help you prepare on the night."

Cobalt seemed to relax, to Astra's relief. "Yeah," he replied. "I'd appreciate that."

"So, uh…when's the date?" Luna asked, helping to ease the tension.

Cobalt turned his attention to her. "Friday night," He replied. "We'll be meeting at the school gates."

As Cobalt and Luna discussed, Astra only half-listened, worry pricking at her gut. She didn't want to force Cobalt to call anything off when the problem might not exist either, but she didn't want to have to see him with a broken heart either.

She didn't understand much about romance; she'd never even had a crush before and had no idea what it would feel like if she did. But she knew one thing for sure- a relationship wasn't going to be healthy if one party discriminated against the other. She begged, for Cobalt's sake, that Storm really had changed. If they hadn't and ended up doing wrong by Cobalt, she'd beat them into the ground.