"So, you got into a fight today huh?"

Astro kept his gaze down at the ground as he felt his mother take a seat beside him on the roof of the castle. Climbing up here helped him get away from most people, but without his own pair of wings his mother and grandmother were always able to reach him. "I'm not going back…" he muttered.

Star sighed as she looked up at the sky. She'd had a feeling that going to school might not have been the best move for him. Her mother thought it might help to interact with others his age, and the Commission was all too happy to have him out of their hair for a bit… well, except Hekapoo for obvious reasons. She didn't seem to like the idea of Astro being in the same place as her daughter.

Phoenix academy had changed quite a bit from back when she was a kid. But she still didn't see him thriving in that kind of environment. Still, he had wanted to give it a shot and… she didn't want to hold him back. "You don't have to go back. But we do need to talk about what happened," she said. "You know you were wrong, don't you?"

He balled his fist up. "They insulted you…"

"Asterossa…"

"He called you… something bad. I couldn't just let him get away with that."

Star put a hand on his head. "Listen Astro, I understand how hard it can be when someone insults somebody you care about. But you can't just go breaking someone's arm every time they call me, or your sister, or your grandparents a name. People in our position have to get used to being called all types of things," she explained.

"But that's not right!" Astro snapped. "You're a good Queen! You're doing the right thing! So why are they getting in the way and getting mad about it?!"

"Not everybody is going to go along with change so easily Astro. Even if it's the right kind of change. Sometimes you have to just ignore it," she said. "Believe me, there's a long list of people I've wanted to knock out. But we're supposed to lead by example. It sucks sometimes, but it's what it means to be a Butterfly."

Astro grunted, but nodded. Even when his mother and grandmother explained this stuff to him, it just sounded so wrong sometimes. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"Well, you did break someone's arm," Star pointed out. "I feel like I would kind of be a lousy mother if I didn't do something about that. So… no dessert for a week."

Astro's eyes widened. "...you can't just ground me?" he asked.

"You'd just spend all your time in your room training and reading. Wouldn't be much of a punishment. But dessert on the other hand, I know you care about," she said, poking his nose. "Sorry kiddo, but it's gotta be done."

Astro groaned and slumped back. This was awful. His grandmother was making pie tonight too. Maybe he could sneak a piece later and… no. He knew his mother would ask eventually, and he wouldn't be able to lie to her. It wasn't in him. "By the way, I got a little something for you," she said.

The boy looked at her confused. He had just gotten in trouble, but now he was getting a gift? She pulled out a pair of scissors and held them out towards him. "Here you go. I thought that you could use these whenever you get upset."

Astro stared at the scissors, and then back up at her. "Like… to stab people?"

"What?! No!" she said, quickly shaking her head. "To find an empty dimension so you can blow off some steam. Whenever you get so angry you just can't take it, just find somewhere you can go nuts until you calm down."

Astro slowly took the scissors from her, and then put them at his side. "Thank you mother," he said bowing his head.

She giggled and patted his face. "You don't have to thank me sweetie. I get being stressed out," she said before smirking. "Hey, do you want to see how I cheer myself up when I get sad or upset?" she asked. He nodded curiously, and she pulled out a laser pointed. "I told Rhombulus there was a really tiny monster assassin in the courtyard that needed to be crystalized."

She turned on the laser pointed and aimed it down to the courtyard, and in a matter of seconds Rhombulus came shooting into view and running towards it. Star moved it around, and the mother and son watched as he chased after it. Astro laughed. "Ha, that actually does make me feel better."

Star nodded. "I know right. You can tell Rhombulus almost anything and he'll believe it. He really isn't the brightest guy," she said, wincing as he ran into a tree.

Astro hummed. "Mother?"

"Yes?"

"Why… why is somebody so dumb on the Magical High Commission? Don't you think it's worrisome that somebody like that has such a high ranking position?" he asked. His grandmother had explained what the commission was for, and… well, he might not have liked Hekapoo or Omni, but they seemed competent.

Rhombulus on the other hand…

Star scratched her head, not entirely sure how to answer. "Uh… nepotism I guess? I honestly haven't been able to figure it out myself sweetie."

Star walked out towards the gardens with a pout on her face. She spotted her son spreading some mulch out near the roses he and her mother were so proud of. "There you are! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?" she asked.

Astro looked up towards her confused. "Uh… I've been here all morning. Sorry, did you need something?" he asked standing up.

"Did I need something?!" she asked in disbelief. "Astro, we're getting our family portrait done today! I thought you were in your room getting ready!"

The prince did a double take. "What? Why would I be…?"

"Whelp, it's too late to get ready now. Just going to have to take it as you are," she said grabbing his hand. She pulled the boy along towards the castle.

"W-why would you want me in the picture?" he asked. Traditionally the family portrait was meant to be of the Queen, her daughter, and the king if he was present.

Star scoffed. "Why wouldn't I want you in a 'family' portrait?" she asked. "It would kind of defeat the point if you weren't in it."

"But I'm not…" He was her son. And not even her real son.

"C'mon, we're already late as it is. Your grandmother is going to throw a fit about you taking it like this, but it'll be fine. At worst we can have another one done later. I wanted to get two anyway. One where we look goofy and a serious one for the family history room. We can make this the goofy one," she said laughing.

They reached the throne room, and Astro saw Nia standing in front of the painter, while his grandparents stood off to the side. The moment Moon saw him, her eyes widened. "What the-?! Asterossa, why aren't you ready? I told you the portrait was today, didn't I?" she asked, walking towards him.

"I didn't know I was going to be in it…" he muttered.

Moon sighed. "So much dirt on your face. You can't take the photo like this," she licked her thumb before wiping at his cheek. "Oh, I'm only smudging it up worse. Really, why wouldn't you think you would be in the photo?"

River laughed. "Oh come now dear! He's a young boy! Of course he'd rather play in the dirt than sit still for a photo," he said amused.

"Sorry grandmother…"

"It's fine mom. This will be the silly one. We'll take the real one later."

Nia pouted. "Hey! How come I had to get all dressed up if we're going to do the silly one first? That's not fair!" she said putting her hands on her hips. She had spent all morning doing her hair and going through dresses for this.

"Okay look, we'll do two silly ones. One now, the serious one later, and then we can do another one with your grandparents and everybody else in it."

"So Astro gets to take two silly ones?"

"Nia…"

Astro stood in the family room and stared up at the pictures decorating the wall. Of all the family portraits in the history of the Butterfly family, there was no doubt that theirs would be the one that stuck out. At least until someone else tried to top it anyway.

"That's my favorite one you know."

Astro looked up and saw his mother smiling as she walked towards him. He smiled back as she stood next to him and looked at the picture. "Mine too."

They had taken a number of portraits that day. Much more than they had planned. The royal artist had made enough money to retire. Still, he couldn't believe that of all the ones she had picked to hang up in here, she chose this one. He had still been dirty from outside. And he, his mother, and Nia, were all making the most ridiculous faces they could muster.

"Grandmother still can't believe you hung this up…"

Star shrugged. "We looked the happiest in this one. Though it was a nice change of pace from all the same plain faced ones in here. Besides, it's not like anyone outside of the castle is gonna see it," she said proudly.

Astro hummed. "Mother… why did you want me in the portrait?" he asked.

She turned towards him slightly surprised. "Are you still wondering about that?"

"Not really. But I was too nervous to ask when I was younger and…" He was afraid he might not like the answer. Back then it had still been so hard to think of himself as a part of the family, no matter how much they had treated him like it.

Star laughed. "Because you're my son silly," she said, kissing his forehead. "I told you back then, it's a family portrait. It would have been a waste if you weren't in it." Astro smiled. Even after all this time, it was nice to hear those words from her.

"Thank you."

A/N: Thought I would do some mother-son content with Astro and Star! Astro was really self-conscious about his place in the family growing up (lot a lot of kids who get adopted) but Star always treated him like one of his own! As far as she was concerned she called dibs on Astro so that was her son from the moment she took him in lol.