Prompt 1: Beginnings
Set just after 'Sisters'.

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Despite what people seemed to think, growing up with Azarathian priests had not made Raven a complete cynic. Oh, she'd always have her doubts about some things, like the validity of Beast Boy's claim that he once beat Cyborg twelve times in a row at DDR, but the "rust bucket" had accidentally (or, perhaps, purposefully) sat on the remote and erased the scores. But there were, however, certain superstitions that the empath would always hold dear.

Watching the sunrise was one of them.

The sky was still dark as Raven climbed the stairs leading to the roof of Titans Tower, her cloak billowing dramatically behind her. Arella had always taught her that one could tell what the day had in store simply by observing occurrences that lay within the hour that the sun rose, the beginnings of the day. Since this time was normally when tie Titans were still asleep, Raven turned to another seemingly accurate indicator thus far.

The weather.

It didn't matter how the weather turned out, her mother had told her, only how it began. If a day started out overcast but eventually became sunny, the former would take precedence and the day was bound to go downhill from there. The converse also held true. This rule, this ritual that Raven had practiced since her days in the Azarathian temples had never left the empathic teen, and every morning she'd climb the long stairs to the top of the Tower just before the sun rose.

Sometimes Raven wondered whether or not her little superstition that she'd become so dependent upon was all in her head, like the way other people put so much faith in those little zodiac scrolls sold at liquor stores and super markets. Perhaps when she saw the first shining rays of the sun before it was enveloped by stormy clouds, her mind was prematurely set to pick out the highlights of the day, and automatically considered those coming twenty four hours good without having truly experienced them. It was a question that Raven pondered now, as she took a seat near the edge of the Tower.

She didn't levitate; she didn't feel the need to. This wasn't a matter of meditation, it was merely a means to an end. Why did she bother following this odd practice anyways? Whatever happened would happen, so why did she feel the need to know in advance? For a reason she couldn't quite explain, the empath realized that she took comfort in knowing how her day was going to go. That wasn't to say she wanted to have every detail of her life shoved in her face in neon lights; anything but. Her only desire was to potentially prepare herself for what-might-be.

Whether or not sitting on the roof of the Tower and watching the sun rise or allow itself to be hidden was a form of prediction was questionable to Raven, and often so. And yet there were some days, days like the past three mornings, when the weathers' daily 

forecast seemed all too accurate. The beginnings of each of the past three days had been stormy and dark, not a ray of sun to grace Jump City's shore nor Titans Island. The afternoons often turned out to be pleasant enough, but that didn't change the fact that yesterday Raven had been betrayed by someone she'd put her faith in.

Again.

Oh, certainly, she'd first thought that Malchior of her ancient texts was the proof she needed to discredit her silly morning practices, but he only ended up proving them to be all too accurate and, following his treachery, Raven continued her daily journey to the roof to watch the sunrise weather.

Golden rays had just begun to reach over the horizon, the first seen in three days, and Raven watched with a serene yet solemn expression. Could this be the beginnings of a good day?

"Raven? Dude, it's like, two in the morning! What're you doing up here?"

Or not.

The empath turned to face her green teammate Beast Boy, more than slightly annoyed that she'd been interrupted.

"It's six," she spat, shooting daggers at him. The changeling didn't notice as he sat down beside her.

"Same difference," Beast Boy shrugged. Raven shook her head and turned to face the sun again, thinking that perhaps if she ignored him, he'd go away.

"So how're you feeling?" Beast Boy poked her in the shoulder tentatively, as though this would ease her irritation with him. "Y'know, after the whole Malchior turning out to be a giant di-"

"I'm fine," she snapped, her smoldering gaze flickering towards him for a quick second before returning to the sun that was slowly but surely rising with a glaring brilliance.

So much for the beginnings of a good day.

A silence fell between them as they sat beside one another, but it wasn't a comfortable one.

"…Hey Raven?"

"What?" She didn't look at him.

"It's…it's gonna be okay." Beast Boy's words were slightly unexpected, if not startling to the empath, and she tore her gaze away from the sky to regard him with a slightly less fiery glance.

"Yeah, I know."

The sun was now shimmering above their heads, a new silence falling upon the two friends; one of trust and solace. It was because of this that Raven trusted today, judging by its comforting beginnings, would be good.

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I won't let you fall apart.
-The Fragile/Nine Inch Nails-