A Note from Unfunny Joke:
This was written as a reply to RBSU's first contest. The theme was "Celebrating the New Year". I really don't know if this is exactly what they wanted, but I just had to write it anyways. I don't want to waste space here, so check my profile for the behind the scenes of this story.
Story: Tradition
By: Shawn "The Unfunny Joke" Wheeler
Disclaimer: I do not own either of the characters depicted below, or any affiliations they might have.
Summary: The spirit of a tradition can live on despite whatever small changes are made.
Traditions are a part of life. Year after year, countless people take part in them with not so much as a thought about it. They can be something widely recognized and practiced by many, or they can be small personal gestures shared only by a select intimate few.
Quite often it is these smaller, seemingly insignificant traditions that hold the most meaning. With Beast Boy, this was surely the case.
It was New Years Eve, mere minutes before the chiming of midnight, and while millions of people were celebrating loudly and preparing to welcome the coming year with a bang, young Garfield sat on the roof of Titan's Tower with a single quarter held tightly in his grasp.
It was tradition. It was family's tradition. Each and every New Year's Eve, no matter where they were in the world, Beast Boy and his parents would always go outside. Each would have a quarter. During the last ten or fifteen minutes before twelve each would make their final wish of the year and then set the lucky coin out under the stars in hopes that it would come true. After going back inside to do the usual countdown and party, they would recollect it and keep it safe until the next time it was needed.
He still had his parent's quarters. They were kept in small plastic holders in his room, a reminder of the good times they shared. He also still had his quarter and would continue to wish upon it for his lifetime.
He knew the whole thing was cheesy, at least a little, but it was still his favourite part of the year. It was all about hope, and that was something Beast Boy loved to think about.
Of course, he shared this tradition with the others, offering to have them all join him in it. Granted, none of the other Titans put as much thought and time into it as he did, but they all humoured him and participated, and that was all that really mattered to him.
Beast Boy looked towards the shining night sky before closing his eyes and putting his full concentration on his wish. For years now it had remained the same. He simply wished that those he cared about would remain safe and out of harm during the year to come. Finishing that thought he squeezed the coin a final time before setting it gently on the rooftop.
He smiled and turned around to head back into the festivities. He had to stop abruptly, however, in order to stop from running face first into the person who had been standing behind him.
"Raven?" She had a way of sneaking up on people that managed to baffle even heightened senses. "Hey. Is it time for the ball to drop already?"
He saw her head shake slightly in reply. "No. Not yet. There's still about ten minutes left."
"Oh good, I was a little worried that I'd missed it. Thanks for coming to get me."
"It's okay Beast Boy, I was coming up to make my wish anyway."
Upon hearing what his empathic friend had just said, one of Beast Boy's eyebrows rose slightly. She had came up to what?
"Make your wish? I thought you would have come up here earlier with the others like you did last year."
"Yes. I probably would have…"
His brow furrowed in slight confusion. "But?"
"Perceptions can change in a year. I didn't really put much stock into wishes and lucky coins." She paused to hold out her open hand, showing the single copper penny it held. "But now I'm starting to rethink that philosophy. It is okay that I'm not using a quarter, right?"
The grin that crept onto Beast Boy's face could easily have been seen on Tamaran.
"You know Raven, I can't see why it's not."