A/N: Hey! *grin* This chapter took longer than I expected it to, but I'm happy with it, at least.

Thank you to MesuNeko, ShadowTrooper1414, Shadow Spears, HipsterL, Above the Winter Moonlight, Candy Crackpot, Lena-luvs-cats, Codename-SN, leafpool5, Blue16Talons, XavierForest, pikaree1, and 3 guests for reviewing!

Title: The Sound of the Wind

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Friendship/Drama

Warnings: None

Summary: After he turns Mana into an akuma, Allen stops speaking. But nothing is going to stop him from being an exorcist. Nothing.

Disclaimer: Like hell I own D. Gray-man.

Allen registered the wet cloth on his forehead before anything else, but it was enough to jolt him awake, eyes snapping wide open as he sat up quickly.

Above him, someone yelped, retreating just in time to keep their heads from colliding. He blinked, his sleepy brain slow to catch up, and then looked up to meet Lenalee's surprised eyes.

Lenalee blinked, too, and then she laughed.

"You scared me!" she chided, not looking bothered in the least. Allen gave her an apologetic smile, and she returned it easily and then continued, "Are you alright? You passed out inside Komurin."

Allen grimaced slightly, but assured her, I'm fine. I apologize for worrying you.

"It's fine!" Lenalee reassured him with a careless wave. "I'm sorry about my brother's invention, though. He's a little much sometimes."

And then she laughed, light and fond enough to make Allen smile. Her eyes were warm; he supposed she loved her (insane) brother very much.

He offered her a smile and signed, At least he keeps you on your toes. Then, while she suppressed a few more giggles, he looked around. They were in a room piled with books on books, scattered with papers; he didn't recognize it at all. Where's Tim? Is he okay?

"Gah!"

Timcanpy swooped over from nowhere – Allen guessed behind the couch he was sitting on – and Allen grinned in relief as he nipped Allen's ear lightly and then settled on his head, tail coiling around him until it trailed to fall off one side of Allen's head.

"Tim's fine," Lenalee assured him, imitating Tim's name-sign with a thoughtful nod. "I don't know what General Cross did to him, but the damage had been fixed by the time Brother looked at him."

Allen smiled gratefully; he had no doubt that Lenalee had asked Komui to look at Tim. Thank you. And then, Are you okay? Where are we?

"I'm okay," Lenalee promised. "Brother would never hurt me; the tranquilizer just had to wear off." She gave that the eye-roll it deserved, and then continued, "We're in the Science Department research room. Everyone is busy repairing the castle so they're all gone. Hear them?"

Allen listened for a moment, and then nodded; that explained the banging and clanking he could hear, not that distant at all.

Lenalee tipped her head thoughtfully, frowning at him, and then commented, "You couldn't call out when Komurin got you." She was obviously worried by this; her brow was creased, and her eyes a little more intent on Allen than he would have expected.

Allen grimaced; that had gotten him in trouble more than once. Unless Cross kept a half-attentive watch on him, which hardly ever happened, he was on his own when he got in trouble.

But for Lenalee, he smoothed the grimace into a smile and gestured up at Tim. That's what Tim's for. If I need someone's attention, he'll go and give them a tap for me. Or a bite.

Lenalee didn't quite look convinced, and Allen wanted to grimace again. He knew she only meant well, though – she seemed very kind.

What happened to the Innocence? he asked, quite deliberately changing the subject as he remembered.

It worked; Lenalee reached into her pocket and pulled it out, and Allen relaxed; it was still intact.

Thank you, he signed, and reached out for it.

Lenalee gave him a quick smile as she released it. "If you bring it to Hevlaska-" She signed the name, H-Innocence. "-she'll take it." A half-second's pause, and then, with a warm smile, "Welcome home, Allen."

Allen faltered, letting out a soft breath of surprise; that was the second time he'd heard that.

Thank you, he signed, half-numb.

Welcome home, he repeated to himself, distant.

A month after he came to the Order, Allen met Marie.

The man was sitting at one of the tables when Allen came to get lunch; Allen was a little early, so there weren't many people there, but since he was wearing an exorcist uniform, Allen thought he should introduce himself.

He set his food on the table close to him, and the man's head swiveled toward him, brow creasing slightly.

Another moment passed, and the other man smiled.

"Hello," he greeted. His voice, Allen noted, was mellow and deep. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Marie."

Ah! Allen had been wondering when he'd meet Marie.

One of Marie's hands was on the table, so Allen reached over and traced five capital letters onto the back, swift but careful. Hello.

Marie's brow creased again, and then his eyebrows lifted in realization, and he gave Allen a nod.

"You must be Allen, then," Marie commented, turning his hand over and shifting it a little closer to Allen in invitation. "Lenalee's told me about you. How are you settling in?"

Allen gave Marie a pleased smile and traced, Just fine. Everyone is very kind.

Marie chuckled quietly. "Yes, the Order has great patience when it comes to exorcists. And in recent years it hasn't been a bad place to be at all. Most of us like seeing new faces." The corners of his eyes crinkled slightly. "Kanda's mentioned you too, you know."

Allen huffed. Kanda was a huge pain; they'd met a couple of times since their mission together, and every one of them had ended in a fight.

Marie laughed outright this time. "He thinks the same of you, I'm sure. Daisya's taken to asking about you just to hear him rant."

Daisya has the right idea. Allen hid a grin; at least he wasn't the only person out to bug Kanda.

"Don't tell him that, he'll get a big head," Marie told him, amused. Allen's smile softened a little. It was nice that so many people here had people that they cared for. "Our general has his hands full already with the two of them."

I don't envy him.

"Me either," Marie agreed. Then, a little more seriously, "Komui's told you already that he won't assign us alone together, hasn't he?"

Allen nodded; while either one independently could be easily managed, both of their disabilities together could mean trouble for Allen, at least, in battle. After a moment, with a sheepish smile, he added, Yes.

"That only holds on missions," Marie said firmly. "You can come talk to me anytime, remember."

Allen ducked his head a little to hide a helpless smile.

These people were so nice.

Alright Marie, he traced. Thank you.

Marie gave him a smile. "Of course."

*smile* I hadn't originally included to include Marie to this extent, but I needed an extra scene and I had a three-month time skip to work with, and this was what came to mind. (In hindsight, it was silly to even consider not having a focus, but I thought it would be more difficult.) And the first scene... is more important than it currently appears. *grin* I'm working on making larger story alterations. Anyway, thank you for reading, and please review!