Astra was severely struggling to pay attention to today's history lesson. It wasn't that she didn't want to pay attention, but the separation of Atlas' school and government was something she'd heard about a million times by now. After the war, the Atlas council, alongside Weiss and Winter Schnee and the Happy Huntresses, had sat down and had a serious talk about how the late General Ironwood had abused his power, and then they agreed that nobody should have that much power, they decided to separate the two systems, Winter was made the headmaster of Atlas Academy, blah, blah blah. Astra had certainly heard enough of Atlas' elite complain about it, though it wasn't as if things had drastically changed. Overhauling decades of systematic and societal flaws within 20 years simply wasn't possible, even if Robyn Hill was trying her best.

Her thoughts on the politics of her former kingdom of residence aside, Astra had another distraction- Lily. Her teammate seemed almost as distracted as she was, constantly checking her scroll, a look of constant concern drawn across her face. She almost looked like Luna.

Unable to resist her curiosity, Astra leaned over to Lily, hoping Ilia was too caught up in the lesson to call her out for it. "Hey," she whispered, "You good?"

Lily jumped a little and looked up. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing," She tucked her scroll away. "Shouldn't you be paying attention to the lesson?"

Astra didn't respond, simply lifting an eyebrow. Who did Lily think she was talking to, exactly?"

Lily heaved a sigh. "Okay, fine," She resigned, "Emerald and Neo went out on their first official Huntsman mission this morning, and I'm kind of worried about them."

Astra stared at her. "You mean they got their licenses? You never told us!"

"Didn't I?" Lily blinked. "I guess it kind of slipped my mind."

"Well, what's the problem?" Astra asked, "I wouldn't have thought there'd be anything to worry about with those two together." The woman who'd taken down Cinder Fall, and the Ghost? Seemed like a pretty good combination to her.

Lily gave a small shake of her head. "I know they're both more than capable, but it's just…it's been so long since my mom's been out in the field, and last time Neo fought, she almost died. And I trust them to have each other's back, but they're still only two people. They could still get hurt."

"Hmm…" Astra felt thoughts stirring in her head. "There are only two of them, huh?"

Lily gave her a wary glance. "What are you getting at?"

"I don't know yet," Astra rested her elbows on the desk and her head on her hands. "Let me think about this…"

The lesson continued, and Astra barely heard a word of it. She was too busy thinking, turning her idea over in her head like clothing in a dryer. Emerald and Neo weren't a full team, but what if they were? What if Astra happened to know two teamless huntresses who could help fix that little problem? Yes, it was genius, perfect, even. Astra could solve everyone's problems…if she could just convince everyone involved…

"All right everyone, that should be it for today's lesson," Ilia announced from the front of the class. Astra's attention snapped to her. "If you have any questions, please let me know, and remember to read pages 81 to 92 in your textbook."

As Lily stood up to leave alongside everyone else, Astra grabbed her arm. "Stay here," She instructed. She turned to Luna and Cobalt, before they could leave too, "You too! We've got work to do."

Before any of her teammates could question her, she leapt over her desk and scrambled down the rows of desks, running over to Ilia as the teacher was tidying her desk. "We need to have a discussion!"

Ilia lifted an eyebrow at her. "Anything to do with the lack of attention you were paying to the lesson?"

"Nope!" Astra replied gleefully. "I've got a proposition for you." She whipped around and pointed a finger at Lily, "And it's all thanks to her!"

"Uh," Lily blinked. "What?"

Excitement fueling her every moment, Astra grabbed a piece of chalk from Ilia's desk. "I'm borrowing this," she darted up to the blackboard behind the desk and slapped her hand on it as she turned to face the others, which hurt more than she was willing to show. "We have a situation of dire importance!"

"Yes Miss Katt, go ahead and use my blackboard, I don't mind at all." Ilia's voice held a light note of sarcasm, but Astra didn't care, quickly pointing her chalk at the older woman.

"I'm endearing and you like me for that! Mom told me so! Anyway" She turned back to the board and quickly scribbled Emerald and Neo's faces on it. "These two are Huntresses, but does anyone see the problem here?"

She was greeted with blank faces and confused stares when she turned around, and with a sigh, turned back and drew a circle around the faces. "There are only two of them! Lily told me that she was worried about Emerald and Neo because they're not part of a full team, and she's right!"

Lily raised her hand. "Uh, that's not exactly what I said."

"Shush!" Astra waved the chalk at her, and continued, "I, however, am a genius, and I've come up with the perfect solution to this problem!" She turned back to the board and added two more faces next to Emerald and Neo's. "Tada!"

Cobalt squinted at the board. "It's, uh…" He glanced at Luna, who shrugged.

"Come on, guys!" Astra waved her arms at them in exasperation. "It's Ilia and my mom!" She continued to add to her drawing, "Lily's mom and her girlfriend, and my mom and her girlfriend, on a team! Together!" She pointed excitedly at her drawing, "Look, they're holding hands!"

It made perfect sense to her. Team RWBY were living proof that a team comprised of two couples were clearly very effective at teamwork, and besides, Astra didn't really know any other hunstmen that were currently lacking a team.

Ilia stared at her. "You think Neon and I should create an official huntsman team with Emerald and Neo?"

Astra nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly!"

To her disappointment, nobody else lit up with excitement or praised her for her brilliant plan. Instead, they looked downright doubtful.

"Is that a good idea?" Cobalt asked, "I don't think either pair really know each other all that well, do they?"

Ilia shook her head. "Emerald seems sweet from what I remember of her, but I've never even met Neo before. I have no idea how the four of us would function as a team."

Luna gave Astra a look that was both hesitant and guilty. "I think it's a sweet idea, but it doesn't seem practical. We don't even know how any of them would feel about being part of an actual huntsman team."

"I wouldn't be opposed to it," Ilia admitted, "But Luna's right, it's not as simple as that. There's a lot of things to figure out about forming a huntsman team, especially one that hasn't been assigned by an academy."

Astra felt her spirits fall and her tail droop. "None of you think it's a good idea?"

Her response was an awkward silence, and a sorrowful look from Luna. None of them had faith in her plan.

Astra sighed and put down the chalk. "Look, I know it's not going to be as easy as I made it sound, and I know we'll need to check with everyone first, but this isn't just about soothing Lily's worries. My mom needs this," she turned her gaze to Ilia. "Has she ever told you about the team she was a part of before we moved here?"

"A little," Ilia responded, "She told me that Team FNKI was her team throughout her life in Atlas, but nothing really more than that."

"They were more than just a team to her," Astra explained. "They were her only real friends. She was popular with a lot of people and always threw these parties, but Team FNKI were the only ones who really had her back." She hoisted herself up to sit on Ilia's desk. "…But, when she decided to move here with me, she fell out with them. She was already missing a lot of missions, and they felt like she was abandoning them by moving to another kingdom. The team broke up, and she's been on her own ever since." She hadn't even realized she'd wrapped her tail around herself until she felt it brush against her leg. "I'm the reason my mother lost her team. I want to be the reason she gets to be part of a new one."

Astra knew she was the only one who'd really seen the toll Team FNKI's breakup had taken on Neon, and even then, it was only when she thought Astra wasn't looking. Looking for a new team herself would mean admitting her grief, and Neon was too proud for that. But maybe if it was presented to her as a way to spend more time with her girlfriend, or a favour to two other Huntresses, maybe then…

Ilia looked sympathetic. "I had no idea she was going through that. But I still don't know if…"

Stubbornness coursed through Astra, and she hopped off the desk to walk up to her teacher. "Haven't you ever wondered what it's like?" She prompted, "Being on a team? I know you've never had one of your own before, but there's something special about having a team," She paused to glance at her own teammates. "You can trust them to always have your back and be there for you when you need them. Isn't that something you guys always try to teach here? The value of teamwork?"

Ilia was silent for a moment, then gave a small sigh of resignation. "Okay. If I can arrange to meet with Neon and the others, I'll talk to them about it. I can't guarantee anything, but I do want to help your mother."

Lily blinked at her in surprise. "Really? You think this could work?"

"It's at least worth a try," Ilia told her, "If it doesn't work out, then it doesn't work out."

Astra beamed, her excitement returning. "Great! We'll go and talk to our parents about it, right, Lily?" She shot her teammate a hopeful look.

Lily shook her head. "I can't believe we're actually doing this." Her words were disbelieving, but the affection in her voice was clear. Astra knew she was hooked, deep down.

"Thank you!" Astra called to Ilia as she followed her team out of the room, her head full of ideas and plans. She was already thinking of potential team names.

"You can pay me back by paying attention in class next time," Ilia responded, her words stern, but her voice teasing.

As the team headed back towards their dorm, Luna hurried up to walk beside Astra, letting her arm brush against hers. Astra glanced at her and was surprised to see sympathy still in her girlfriend's eyes.

"Hey…" Luna's voice was soft and quiet. "You know it's not actually your fault that your mother lost her team, right?"

Isn't it? "Yeah, I know." Astra forced her voice to stay light.

"I can feel your guilt," Luna reminded her gently, "But your mother's an adult. She makes her own decisions; it's not like you forced her to do anything. It isn't your responsibility to fix her life."

Astra sighed. "I still want to."

"I know," Luna grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "And I'm going to help you. Just…stop blaming yourself for other people's choices, okay?"

Astra pushed down her feelings as hard as she could and gave Luna a smile. "Thanks. And…I'll try." She just hoped Luna couldn't sense her hesitance.