A/N: Hey! It's been a little while. *smile* But I haven't forgotten, I promise!
Thank you to Lena-luvs-cats, in-silent-seas, MesuNeko, Kosho-rinnnn, xXxPhantomxXx, pikaree1, Shadow Spears, alphawolf96, and guest 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.
"I've never seen Master Kanda give someone so much attention willingly before."
Allen tipped his head up and looked at Toma, who was visibly curious. Pushing the ongoing song to the back of his mind, he reached into his jacket and fingered the edge of his notebook in preparation, and then gave the finder an expectant look.
Unlike Kanda, meant to be bedridden for another five months, Toma had recovered fairly quickly. While he still winced with each movement, he was up and about two days after Guzol's death.
Looking uncertain and hesitant over his own words, Toma explained, "Most people need to yell to get his attention, especially during battle. But you-" He stopped, but didn't take his eyes off Allen's.
Allen blinked, and then smiled, shrugged, and shook his head. Tim took off from there and tugged at Toma's jacket, and with a half-smile, Allen patted the ground beside him in agreement. After a long moment of hesitation, Toma sat down, a noticeable distance away as if uncomfortable.
For a few moments, Allen wrote.
I don't know why Kanda pays attention. I don't know why he knows sign language, either. He hesitated, and then tacked on, Maybe they're related. And then he passed the notebook to Toma, and held out his hand for Tim, who plopped into it to be delivered back to Allen's head.
A few notes slid into Allen's attention while Toma read, and he shook his head softly, slumping slightly in place again. He wished Guzol's final words could have been to Lala as she was. But he knew this would be enough for Guzol. Just enough.
Tim tugged gently on Allen's hair, and Allen reached up to brush his tail off, distracted. Before he could scold the golem, though, Toma looked back up, handing the notebook back.
"I never knew anything of it before now," Toma admitted, still cautious; Allen hadn't failed to notice that he'd handled the journal carefully, not even letting it near the bandage on his left hand, and he hadn't touched Tim.
Allen just shrugged. Then he looked down and wrote, Where are you going to go next? and held out the notebook to Toma.
Toma took it and glanced down, and without looking away, answered, "I'll be going back to the Order with you." He hesitated for a moment, and then, belatedly, passed the book back and met Allen's eyes. "I'm sorry talking to me will be more troublesome than with Master Kanda."
Allen started; he didn't think anyone had ever apologized to him for the time it took to communicate via notebook. After a moment, he smiled and shook his head, waving one hand dismissively and then offhandedly signing, It's okay.
For a few more minutes, both of them were silent, and Allen listened to Lala sing again.
"Thank you for saving me."
Allen returned his gaze to Toma, surprised. Toma was looking at him again.
"You didn't have to," Toma continued steadily. "But you did. So thank you, Master Walker."
Allen thought for a moment, and then reached over, squeezed Toma's shoulder lightly, and gave him a kind smile and a nod.
He would have done the same for anyone – no one deserved to be attacked for something they weren't. For someone else's misconceptions and misunderstandings.
Allen couldn't see if Toma smiled, but for a split second, the corners of his eyes crinkled.
A moment later, he stood up and gave Allen a short, formal nod. "I'll leave you to your work, Master Walker."
Allen's smile softened, and he bobbed his head gently, adding a playful half-salute as Toma turned away. When the man was gone, he stood up, stretched, and started walking.
He'd check the area for akuma again. He wanted to make sure Lala and Guzol weren't disturbed.
The journey back to the Order was quiet – quiet enough that Allen could pass the time listening to the echoes of Lala's song in his mind. Toma, while more thoughtful and relieved now, as opposed to wary and aloof as he had been before, was still reluctant to talk to Allen, so they passed most of the train ride in silence. Allen palmed the Innocence in his jacket, and the song became a little louder.
Aside from his own and those his master kept, Allen had never encountered an Innocence before. He didn't know what he'd expected, but- Lala and Guzol had deserved better than what they'd gotten.
Allen had never, in his memory, ever been angry at an akuma before. Not when every akuma he'd ever known had just floated, with that stricken look on masklike faces, as they rained destruction on their surroundings. When the crying soul was the most noticeable part of the weapon.
This akuma, though, had spoken – it had laughed, it had taunted. It had taken glee from the tragedy it wrought.
And for a moment, Allen had forgotten that it wasn't the akuma's fault at all.
With a silent sigh, he closed his eyes and made a sign – cupping one hand around the closed fist of the other, not quite touching, and then pressing them together and pulling them to his chest.
End, it said, and then a little more. A little gesture just for him and the akuma, not really meaning anything, but offering a little closure to each akuma that Allen released.
He hadn't made it to the akuma after he and Kanda destroyed it – the first time since he'd created it that he'd failed to send off an akuma. Because he'd forgotten. Something else had been more important.
A shiver traveled down his spine, and he shook his head sharply and forced down the urge to apologize to Mana. Lala and Guzol had deserved more – had deserved his attention.
The akuma had been released. He hadn't failed.
With a short huff, he forced his gaze back to the window.
They'd be back at the Order soon, and soon after that, he'd be sent on another mission with another exorcist, and he would save more akuma.
And next time, he wouldn't forget.
There. *smile* It's on the short side and very transitiony, but I'm pleased with it nonetheless. Now, this is the only arc I have planned at the moment where essentially nothing changes, but... yeah, nothing changed. *laugh* Thank you for reading, and please review!