A/N: Hey! *smile* So I finally decided to crosspost some AO3-only stories over here, which is an adaptation from the norm. *laugh* I'll tell you a bit more at the end, but for now-

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.

"Baba!" Mother called, and when Baba poked his head in, smiled wanly. "Allen's awake."

That took a few moments for Baba to process, but when he did, a wide smile spread across his face, and he darted into the room, half-bouncing in excitement already. "Really? Awake? You mean he's talking and moving and everything?"

"Moving," Cross confirmed, a cup of wine swirling in his hand and a deep frown on his face. Baba couldn't understand why. This was good news! "He hasn't said anything yet."

"That's amazing!" Baba exclaimed, smile bright and hands clasped together. "Can I see him, Mother?"

Mother smiled again, more fond this time. "Go ahead, Baba. Cross and I will be here if anything happens."

Baba nodded eagerly and ran into the room where Allen always was. Who knew what Allen was like? Cross hadn't said anything when he'd arrived or in the time since, so Baba would just have to find out for himself.

Sure enough, when he came in, Allen was up and out of bed on shaky legs, looking around the room. He spun around when Baba closed the door behind him, clearly startled, and Baba grinned at him.

This was great! Allen had been in such bad shape when he arrived, with his injured face and unresponsive manner, but look at him now, healed and walking – if Baba could only see him smile, it would be the best thing that happened all month.

Allen was still staring at him with wide eyes, so Baba crouched down in front of him and held out a hand for Allen to shake.

"Heya, Allen," he greeted happily. "I'm Baba! I live here with Mother. You've been staying around here for a while now, but we haven't gotten to speak yet."

Allen stared at him for a moment, and then hesitantly reached out and took Baba's hand, shaking it briefly before he dropped it again.

Then he flashed Baba a soft, shy smile.

"Look at that smile!" Baba crowed, beaming at Allen, who looked startled again. "Best thing I've seen all month!"

Allen blinked, and then smiled again a little wider.

"We've been real worried about you," Baba continued, reaching up to ruffle Allen's hair. "But I'm glad you're okay now!"

Allen's smile faded, and his head dropped. He shrugged.

Baba's smile turned sympathetic. "Not much of a talker, are you?" he asked conversationally. "That's okay. Mother says I talk enough for ten people anyway!"

Allen giggled softly. Baba grinned.

"Do you want to come out?" he asked Allen, cheered by the boy's responsiveness. It was a miracle, Baba swore it. A wonderful one. "You've met Father Marian already for sure, but have you met Mother?"

Allen shrugged and then shook his head, then glanced at the door expectantly.

Baba bounced to his feet and took Allen's hand, beaming. "Then let's go!" he declared, tugging gently. Allen followed, a smile on his face again.

In the other room, Cross and Mother were still at the table, mostly silent and staring at each other. Baba wondered if he'd missed something. Was he supposed to be quiet, too? No, Mother would have told him.

Oh, dear, they'd almost worked through the whole bottle of wine. Baba should get another soon, maybe.

"Mother!" Baba called, tugging Allen forward and presenting him happily. "Allen's awake!"

Mother already knew that, of course, but Baba was still giddy. Allen half-ducked again, cheeks pink, and Baba grinned. And he was cute, too!

"I see that," Mother replied mildly, giving him her attention nonetheless. She nodded to Allen. "It's very good to meet you, Allen."

Allen smiled back and waved with his free hand.

"I see you're doing better," Mother added, studying Allen, frowning for some reason. "But it can't have been easy. How are you feeling?"

Allen shrugged.

"Aren't you going to answer her, brat?" Cross asked, half-glowering at the child, a half-scowl on his face.

Allen sort of flinched, and then opened his mouth, visibly hesitated, and then closed it, shrugging and shaking his head.

There was a short moment of silence, and Baba felt some of his giddiness fade into concern.

"Baba," Mother said at last, quiet and rough. "Get some paper and a pen. If this child doesn't know how to write already, he'll have to learn quickly."

"On it, Mother," Baba agreed, letting go of Allen's hand.

Mother knew best, after all.

When Neah finally got his ass out of his metaphorical bed, Cross was going to beat his ass until he got back in it.

Allen, as it panned out, did know how to write, but just barely. Regardless, within a few weeks, he'd gotten into the habit of carrying a notepad and a pen everywhere, so that he could cover the pages in his sloppy, sloppy handwriting.

Cross, meanwhile, was stuck on the idea of how the fuck am I going to train a traumatized, mute kid to be an exorcist.

It had been three months since the kid woke up, and they hadn't left Mother's yet – Mother wouldn't let them, for some reason. How irritating.

"You're being difficult on purpose," Cross snapped at Allen, apropos of nothing.

Allen frowned at him, then reached for his ever-present notebook and scribbled something out, before ripping the paper out, balling it up, and chucking it at Cross. It hit his face and tumbled onto his lap, and Cross scowled at the brat before picking it up and opening it.

I don't need to talk to fight.

…Huh. That was interesting.

First, the kid was apparently more perceptive than originally anticipated. Cross added that to his ever-growing list of grievances to take out on Neah when he woke up.

Second, that had been a very un-Mana thing to do, and Cross had to admit that he very much wanted to know if he could make the kid show more of that in the future, because frankly, he had been hilarious before all this.

And third-

Yeah, that was probably true.

Cross stood up, turned on the brat kid, and crossed his arms with a smirk.

"Then put your money where your mouth is, brat. We're going training."

An unreadable look – unnerving, Cross was very good at reading people – crossed behind the brat's eyes, and then he nodded, hopped off the chair, and smiled at Cross. It was a fake smile, but still a smile.

Cross was going to wipe that smile off his face, he swore it. If anyone needed harsh training, this kid did.

There we go! *smile* So that's the first chapter of the heretofore-unseen mute AU. Anyway, to expand on the ideas above - I didn't want to cross-post some of these stories because I wanted to be able to commit them all to a schedule, but then I decided I'd just sort them into scheduled and unscheduled updates. That information is now on my profile: I've sorted my stories into 'scheduled', 'unscheduled', 'hiatus', and 'discontinued'. For now, though, thanks for reading, and please review!