Luna awoke to see Astra's face mere inches away from hers.
"Good morning, beautiful!"
Luna's instinct usually would have been to scream and throw a punch at whoever was greeting her so unexpectedly in the morning, but she erupted into giggles when the surprise quickly wore off. "Good morning to you too. What's got you so excited?"
Astra leapt away. "Did you forget what day it is?"
Luna yawned and sat up, blinking blearily at the calendar on the far wall. Oh, right. "It's my birthday?"
Astra threw her hands up. "It's your birthday! Happy birthday!"
Every other year before this, Luna had spent her birthday with her family, waking up in her own house after being allowed to sleep in for as long as she wanted. A few months ago, she would've been disappointed not to do the same this year, but waking up to be eagerly greeted by her girlfriend was not an unwelcome change.
She smiled at Astra. "Thanks."
Astra bounced, before leaning over and grabbing her arm. "Come on, get out of bed! Get dressed!"
"You seem more excited about this than I am," Luna chuckled as she obeyed. She noted, as she looked around the dorm room, that the other half of her team were missing. "Where are Lily and Cobalt?"
Astra's eyes sparkled. "Busy. Come on, I already picked out your outfit!" She darted over to the cupboard, threw the door open, and pulled out Luna's purple dress, the same she'd worn on her and Astra's first date, and the pale purple jacket Luna usually wore.
Luna walked over and took the clothes from her, yawning again. She was used to Astra's weekend energy, but this was twice as much as usual. "Give me a minute. Unless I fall asleep." Heading into the bathroom, she left Astra bouncing behind her.
As she got changed, she wondered what exactly Astra and the others had planned. She'd been expecting a celebration of some kind, but had figured that it would come later in the night, or at least lunchtime. A morning party would certainly be an odd choice.
All the same, she knew she'd appreciate it, no matter what it was. When she'd started the school year, she couldn't have imagined that anyone other than Cobalt would go to the effort to throw her a birthday party, let alone to have her entire team committed to it. Maybe she was being a bit of a broken record, still constantly surprised by how wrong she'd been about how her life at Beacon would go, but this was seemingly one of those things you wouldn't expect until it happened. At least, not if you had severe anxiety.
Once she was dressed and had gotten her hair tied up, she opened the bathroom door to a still-grinning Astra, who squealed and lit up even more when she saw her.
"You look so prettyyyyyyyy!"
"You're the one who picked this outfit," Luna pointed out.
Astra wrapped her in an unexpected hug. "Yeah, but I forgot how amazing you looked in it. Now, come on!" She pulled away and tugged Luna by the hand towards the door. "We're having breakfast in the cafeteria."
"Oh yeah?" Luna couldn't help but ask. "And why would that be?"
Astra huffed. "I can't tell you! Just come on!"
Luna let herself be dragged through the halls, unable to stop smiling at Astra the whole way. Yeah, for the first birthday she was spending away from home, this already wasn't so bad.
The cafeteria doors were closed when they arrived, which was normal for a Saturday, Luna realized. Coming here for lunch when the cafeteria wouldn't even be open was certainly odd, which meant this was definitely going to be a special birthday thing.
Astra swung open the doors, and Luna was met by a chorus of 'happy birthday', from not just Cobalt and Lily, but several other people as well. Team SCY were also there, along with Jaune, Coco, Ilia, and most surprisingly of all- Luna's sister and parents.
Astra bounced ahead and turned to grin at Luna. "Are you surprised?"
Luna stared at everyone and chuckled. "Yeah, okay. You got me." A party, she'd been expecting, but with her family as well? Well, that was even better.
Blaze bounded over, looking just about as thrilled as Astra. "We were just going to give you a video call but Astra convinced us to actually come here instead!" She and Astra exchanged a high-five, which surprised Luna. Had her sister and girlfriend been talking, or was it just their similar energies that had them so casual around each other?
"Today's going to be great," Astra told Luna enthusiastically as Lily and Cobalt walked over to join her, "See, this is going to be going all day. I got permission from Glynda and Coco to let us have the cafeteria to ourselves for the whole day and I've got so much planned."
"But you can retreat back to the room any time you want if you get too overwhelmed," Lily added, giving Astra a nudge.
Astra nodded at the reminder. "Right. If things are getting too much, just let me know, and we can slow things down, or you can take some time to yourself, or whatever you want."
Luna grinned. "Thank you, guys, this is really sweet of you."
"Hey, it was all Astra's idea," Cobalt replied, tapping Astra on the shoulder. "We were just going to have a regular little party in the dorm, but she insisted that you deserved more."
Astra waved a hand. "Ah come on, you guys still helped a lot. Now, come on!" She pumped her fists in the air. "Let's have some fun!"
As the party kicked off, Luna found herself swept up in numerous activities, all hosted by Astra, of course. First, she was given a chance to catch up with her parents, who happily voiced their approval towards Astra for putting so much effort into the party. Apparently, she'd gotten hold of Blake's number from Coco, and had secretly phoned her and Yang to beg them to attend, though it hadn't taken much convincing.
Then they'd played a variety of party games, including several rounds of charades, which had put the partygoers into interesting teams, especially when Blake and Yang had been put on opposite sides, resulting in embarrassing competitive flirting that Luna hoped wasn't a sign of what she and Astra would be like when they got to be their age.
Never Have I Ever ended up being the most entertaining game of the night. Yang had presented Luna with a small bottle of alcohol to play with, making everyone promise not to let Glynda know that alcohol was being consumed by a first-year on school grounds. The rest of the teenagers had to settle for soft drinks, even though Lily and Cobalt were both eighteen, which Luna lightly teased them about. The game was highly entertaining, with embarrassing secrets being revealed from everyone in the room, mostly from Jaune, but the funniest occasion coming from Blake forcing Coco to confess the time she'd drunkenly mistaken a large boulder for a Grimm, and had run headfirst into it.
There were a few times where Luna had indeed gotten overwhelmed by the noise and heightened activity, and she'd left the room to be alone with either Astra or her parents, where quiet conversations were had until Luna's anxiety had calmed down enough to return to the party, after which Astra had made everyone calm down for a while. Luna was more grateful for those moments than she could really say.
By the end of the day, Luna was more exhausted than she'd been from any mission or combat lesson, albeit more mentally than physically. Entering the dorm with the rest of team LLAC in tow, she flopped face-down onto her bed and lay there for a moment, appreciating the muffled darkness of her pillows.
Astra popped up beside her. "Hey, did you want to open your presents now?"
"Mmm," Luna didn't lift her face from the pillow. "Give me a minute."
Astra poked her. "Hey, come on, at least open Lily's now. She worked really hard on it!"
"You absolutely do not have to open it now," Lily's voice contradicted from across the room. "Take all the time you need."
Luna waved a hand weakly in the air. "No, I want to. Just…" She rolled off the bed and thudded onto the floor. "There. Now I can't fall asleep by accident." She pushed herself up, sitting against the bed. Astra and Cobalt sat down beside her as Lily carried over a rectangular package, wrapped in purple.
"It took me a while to figure out, but I wanted to make you something special," Lily handed her the package. "Astra and Cobalt helped, though."
Luna gently pulled away the wrapping until she held the gifted item in her hands. It was a photo frame, but one crafted from little vines, leaves, and flowers, sealed and preserved by a clear substance Luna didn't know the name of.
She turned the frame in her hands, tracing her fingers over the smooth details. "Lily, this is beautiful."
Lily blushed modestly. "I've never crafted anything like that before, let alone with my Semblance," she admitted, "But I thought we could take a photo of all of us to put in there."
Luna grinned. "Sounds great to me. Get over here, then."
Her team gathered close to her and leaned in close as Lily held out her scroll and snapped a photo of the four of them grinning widely. Luna's team: the best friends she could ask for. How did she get so lucky?
"Alright," Lily stood up, "I'm going to go and see if I can get this printed anywhere."
"Aaaanndd I need a shower," Cobalt announced, standing up and stretching. "Dancing is exhausting enough, but keeping up with Storm's moves is a whole new ball game."
As Lily and Cobalt left the room, Luna let out a small sigh, leaning back against the bed. She felt as if she could sleep for an entire week, and would have liked to, were it not for classes.
"Did you have fun today?" Astra asked quietly, remaining beside Luna.
"I loved it," Luna replied honestly, "Sorry if it doesn't seem like it. I'm just really tired."
Astra gave an awkward chuckle. "I may have gone overboard."
"You didn't," Luna assured her, "That was the best birthday I've ever had." She'd never had a birthday that she hadn't enjoyed, but spending one with her family as well as her girlfriend and best friends, with consideration to her need for social breaks? Nothing could top it.
"Good," Astra replied, seeming satisfied. "You deserve the best."
Feeling a warm wave of affection for her, Luna leaned against Astra and buried her head in her neck. "I know you're not ready to say it back yet," she murmured, "But I really love you."
Astra's skin warmed under Luna's cheek.
"Heh. I guess I really did do well today then, huh?"
"You do amazing every day," Luna chuckled, hearing her voice grow drowsy with every word. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Astra didn't reply, but instead rested her head on Luna's, and warm contentment filled the air as silence filled the room. Even though she was probably sweaty from the day's activities, Astra smelled only of vanilla and cinnamon, and there was nowhere else Luna would have rather been.
There, snuggled against her girlfriend and satisfied from the day of partying, without meaning to, Luna fell asleep.
