#OH RIGHT i have to fight that STUPID cave crab again which is why i need a stronger train ughhhh

[triforce-of-mischief]

i should try to play spirit tracks again

[italicwatches]

Comic Girls - Episode 05

It’s kind of rude to just claim the one working bathroom for two hours for a shower without checking with anyone first, right? That’s not just me? I’m not going crazy here?

Anyways anime. Comic Girls, episode 05! Here we GO!

-We begin with a gorgeous ocean, and clear blue skies…Is it a beach episode? It’s the girls on a boat! Koyume has dragged them all here for summer fun! This may be difficult, considering the others are what you might call indoorsy.

-Opening!

-To the beach proper! Koyume is super enthusiastic about her bikini! Look, look, everyone! Oh they’re looking. They can’t stop looking. I think you broke Kaos.

-…Koyume please stop turning the entire beach gay. You’re causing a ruckus.

-Also the other three didn’t bring swimsuits because…Well…Like I said, they’re indoorsy types. Do you know what Kaos’s typical summer memory is? Closing the blinds tighter so the room stays darker and cooler, aiming a fan directly at her face, and drawing all day. Fine, they’ll go rent swimsuits!

-As ever, Kaos ends up looking small and innocent and adorable. While Tsubasa boldly goes for a tiny bikini with zero shame and shows off her muscles! Such bold muscles! Okay, so what’s Ruki going to wear? Ruki doesn’t want to. They already picked out your swimsuit, go go go. …I think she pulled a runner. Actually she just couldn’t dare come out, even though Kaos likes what she sees.

-Okay, out to the beach!

-Why are all three of you just sitting there.

-Well, in order: Tsubasa thinks those cliffs would make for a great background for an epic battle. Ruki is seeing all these swimsuited couples and getting ideas for a beach chapter. And Kaos just doesn’t want to go anywhere near that much water. I told you, they’re indoorsy types. So Koyume finally abandons them…

-And makes new beach friends out by the water! It’s her intense power. As opposed to Kaos’s ability to be a small Disney princess. She’s summoned a small crab army. Crabs, attack the interlopers stealing their Koyume away! …No? Kaos you need to learn to use your power for evil.

-But soon enough they’ve got Kaos out in the water with an inner tube, and…Kaos that’s not love you’re feeling, that’s a jellyfish stinging your foot. The sea has claimed her for its own! And finally they even get Tsubasa and Ruki to ditch the sketchbooks and come have fun in the water. Fun like playing with a beach ball…Which leads to Ruki despairing over her lack of, shall we say, bounce. And when the others try to comfort her, now she’s just surrounded by bounce. Yes. Bounce.

-Also Kaos is getting thirsty. Thirsty enough that she eats a beach ball to the face. But yes, they get up to all kinds of fun! Playing in the water, playing in the sand, playing with water guns, eating frozen treats…Until finally, the sun is low in the sky, and it’s a wonderful, gorgeous view. The clear warm sky, the glow on the water, the sound of Ruki’s sketchbook being carried away by the tide…Wait what was that last part???

-Finally it’s back to the dorm, where as soon as Tsubasa and Kaos get back…It’s a dark room and some vintage gaming action, as the others are out shopping. Tsubasa gave no fucks, and Kaos was just plain scared of going to fancy fashionable places. Speaking of, cut over to Ruki and Koyume, who are trying stuff on, and Ruki doesn’t much like wearing sailor outfits herself…But she certainly enjoys watching another girl strip out of one. God dammit Ruki, stop saying the quiet part loud. Even the employee heard it.

-But okay, fancy clothes bought, and Ruki’s super enjoying having someone to hang out with that actually has fucks to give. They should go get some fancy pasta! Cut back to Kaos and Tsubasa, who are eating instant ramen in the dark bedroom. The contrast is…shall we say…profound. Then it’s back to Ruki and Koyume, who have their fancy pasta…As a couple enjoys a fancy drink together with two straws. …I think that’s the first time we’ve actually seen a guy the entire show so far, outside of manga sketches.

-And it has Koyume realizing her difficulties of getting anywhere in her shoujo manga dreams without enough experience…Ruki tries to perk her up by talking about her own success, but, well, that also means admitting she has never laid with anyone. Or even gone out with anyone. DESPAIR. And at the same time, she’s so thinly stretched that trying to have a relationship between school, manga work, and basic human existence…There’s no more room left.

-But you, Koyume, you might just be able to pull it off! Is there anyone you like?

-BIG SPLASH IMAGE OF TSUBASA IN CASE YOU DIDN’T GET IT YET

-S-She, um, that’s, she doesn’t know any…You know Tsubasa pretty well by now, Ruki thought. And then all of Koyume’s passions just start spilling out. Just go on a damn date with her you dork. …So Koyume’s panicking now.

-Episode 05: Amisawa-san, Do You Cosplay?

-And we’re back! They’re waiting for the train, and Koyume’s trying to be all “but I can’t love girls, I’m a girl!” Koyume, again, let me introduce you to the hot new trend of yuri. It’s like all the shoujo manga you admire, and the erotic manga Ruki writes, but instead of the guy, it’s another girl. Also, Tsubasa’s been getting asked out by girls ever since middle school. She’s about as dense about it as a neutron star, but…

-Also Koyume’s idea of a date with Tsubasa is being lost in a terrifying cave when the noble hero in her cosplay cape shows up to save her. I mean everyone’s into something…

-Back at the dorm, Tsubasa and Kaos are still playing fighting games. Tsubasa is letting out her chuuni side…When Tsubasa is attacked by Nyaos long enough to lose the round! And that turns into an argument which turns into wrassling which turns into OH GOD THE DOOR’S BEEN OPENED IT’S TOO BRIGHT yeah so the others are back.

-And now Ruki has to shove Koyume in there. Go on, do it. But Koyume panics. Again. …Cue the landlady, with two tickets to the amusement park that expire, tomorrow! Whatever will she do? Oh, if onl—KOYUME WILL TAKE THEM wait what does she do now? …You really have no self control, do you, Koyume.

-To the park! After Ruki’s slick way of backing out of the offer, and Kaos’s…Well…She tried. Give her a pat on the head for effort, the little moeblob. Anyways the point is Koyume and Tsubasa are here on a d-d-d-d-d-dato, and Koyume doesn’t know what to dooooo. Oh god this poor girl. …Also NATURALLY Ruki and Kaos are secretly here to observe and possibly coach if need be. They will get these two together if it kills them! (Also good lord how much did the landlady spend on getting everyone into this damn amusement park just for some young love to bloom?)

-Soon, Tsubasa is treating Koyume to ice cream. And a cute ear headband. And a stuffed animal. And snacks. Name whatever you want, and she’ll make it happen! Um, er, how about just a nice picture of that mascot character? TSUBASA WILL TAKE HIM DOWN WITH ALL OF HER MANLY MIGHT

-Tsubasa

-Tsubasa that’s not how it works

-That’s not how anything works

-Tsubasa no

-Tsubasa yes. That poor mascot worker clearly got punched at least once.

-But what now? Now, Koyume’s able to relax a little and take the lead as she loves this place…But where will they go? The haunted house? A thrill ride? Or…That’s a terrifying rollercoaster. Tsubasa quietly clings to Koyume’s sleeve. I know the fear of loop-de-loops, Tsu—

-SUDDENLY LANDLADY

-SHE WAS HERE THE WHOLE TIME

-HERE TO OBSERVE THE DATE

-Anyways Tsubasa has a panic, Ruki finds she loves rollercoasters when they go on after the pair to observe, and Kaos just breaks. I’m afraid we need to replace her with a new one. Oh hey, there’s a cosplay area! Complete with someone dressed up like Tsubasa’s protagonist! Really well, too. They should totally get a picture! And the dark hero…Panics and flees?

-…Wait. Hold on a tic. I need to roll back. Timestamp 17:22, aaaand comedic reversal of the video footage go go go Okay, back to timestamp 12:45. The flashback to when Tsubasa was asked out back then! Hrm, short bob hair, more black than brown…Okay, got what I needed. Forward MARCH!

-Back to the present where the dark hero takes off her wig and it’s…Bright brown hair tied back. Okay, so it’s not the girl from the confession, which was my first thought. That whole bit I just did was pointless. Pointlessssssss.

-Especially when the landlady comes up and recognizes Miharu and Mayu…And oh. Oh. It’s two of the girls’ editors, isn’t it. Yep Mayu there, in the fancy dress, is also known as Amisawa-san, Kaos’s editor. And she just fuckin’ OWNS IT when she has nowhere else to go. I suppose that’s all you can do.

-Back to Tsubasa and Koyume. When Mayu has been shanghai’d into the observation effort…As Tsubasa and Koyume end up having a real talk, and Tsubasa totally expected Koyume would have a boyfriend. Look how cute you are, anyone would totally want you! She could find someone for you right now! But Koyume…There’s only one person Koyume wants…Come on, Tsubasa. Get it. Get what’s going on. Understand what this dear bishoujo in front of you wants you stupid idiot!

-Nope, it’s their turn on the ferris wheel and they both just fall back into easy patterns. YOU STUPID IDIOTS. Of course, now they’re up in the middle of the air on their own in a tiny carriage, the entire world shrinking to just them…Koyume, you love her just accept it already you stupid dork. But, when the conversation turns to manga, all of the doubts that Koyume pushes down with her sparkly genki attitude just come spilling out. The fear that she’ll never make it, that all of her effort is for naught, that she’s doomed to failure…

-And then Tsubasa reaches out, takes her hand, and just keep moving forward. You already have so much fun drawing, and that’s all that really matters. Just keep moving forward. She’ll be waiting for you on the other side, however long it takes…

-So by the time they come back down they’re talking about how unlike herself Koyume was and the others hear it and DID YOU FINALLY CONFESS?! Wait have you four been there the entire ti—LANDLADY DEMANDS YOUTHFUL LESBIAN ROMANCE Also by the time they all leave, Kaos is feeling all unsure again and finally Mayu has to haul her up and learn from your friends how to be confident in yourself you stupid moeblob. abababababa

-Credits!

-Aftercredits? Wait…That’s a terrifying ghost at the haunted house. Like a Ringu girl. And she’s…Crying?

Dammit Koyume, you were so close. Well, maybe next time. Unless we end up learning more about the lives of the adults around these four stupid idiots. That’s possible too. Or…What the hell was with that after-credits scene…? …We’ll figure it out next time, in episode SIX of Comic Girls! Wait for it!

[pengychan]

Te Rerenga Wairua - Ch. 14

Title: Te Rerenga Wairua Summary: Found by the gods drifting at sea, Maui always assumed he had been thrown in it to drown. When that assumption is challenged, there is only one way to find closure: speaking to his long-departed family. But it’s never a smooth sail to the Underworld, and he’ll need help from a friend - plus a token that fell in the claws of an old enemy long ago. Characters: Maui, Moana, Tamatoa Rating: K Prologue and links to all chapters up so far here.

Tupuna had absolutely no idea what to make of that kid.

She’d been sceptical from the start, to be completely honest. Larvae were always tiny, of course, but the one that had come out of Tīaka’s surviving egg was even smaller than average - a rickety thing she wouldn’t have expected to live past a week, really. She had wondered, though not aloud, whether the egg had been damaged in the fight with the eel that had eaten the rest.

“Ah well,” she remembered saying. “Can’t win them all. I’m sure you’ll have better luck with the next clutch.”

It had seemed like the best thing to say given the circumstances, and she had shrugged off the way her daughter had turned her head away. Tīaka had always been a bit funny in the head, after all, and of course losing her first clutch - not to mention both of her claws due to her very questionable choice of a mate - had been a blow, but she’d come to see things her way eventually.

She wasn’t the first nor would be the last to lose her eggs; Tupuna herself had lost plenty back in the day, and Tīaka was the only one of her brood she’d seen surviving into adulthood, except for a son who had done his duty and then had been consumed by his mate, as every self-respecting male should. Shame that none of his offsprings had survived, but that was how life went.

Given some time, Tīaka  would come to her senses, shrug it off, and leave the doomed offspring alone - or eat it, though it wouldn’t make much of a snack - before moving on to look for another mate. Life without her claws wouldn’t be easy, but Tupuna was willing to share meals and watch her back for as long as it took, if it meant ensuring her line wouldn’t end there.

Except that Tīaka was stubborn as a rock and dumb as a barnacle, and she hadn’t come to see things her way at all. She stayed in the back of the lair, hardly talking and eating just enough to survive and limbs folded around her only offspring, for weeks. Tupuna had known they were in trouble when she decided to give the larva a name, because naming things is the first step to getting unnecessarily attached.

Defying Tupuna’s expectations, Tamatoa did live past a week and even began getting slightly bigger, if at a slower rate than one would expect. He would remain easy prey for a long time in Lalotai, and there was simply no way Tīaka would be able to protect him for that long, maimed as she was. That would certainly force her to face the facts and give up, Tupuna had thought.

Gods, had she been wrong.

“You can’t be serious! Are you even listening to yourself? Leaving Lalotai! We’re not supposed to–”

“There is no way Tamatoa can survive here until he’s big enough. I can’t protect him from most of what lives here, and you can’t watch us all the time. If we find someplace safer to be until he’s grown, then he’ll have a chance.”

“This is beyond stupid, even for you - you really got your father’s brains. It’s a runty larva. It’s not worth the hassle. You need to have another clutch of eggs and forget all about– Where do you think you’re going? Don’t turn your back to me, young lady! You come back here right now! If you do this I won’t be coming with you, you hear me? You’ll be on your own out there, you and that–”

“Gran! Look! Look what I found!”

Tamatoa’s frankly annoying voice rang out suddenly, snapping her out of the memory. Tupuna allowed herself a moment to roll her eyes behind closed eyelids before she opened them and glanced down. Tamatoa, still smaller than one of her eyeballs, was waving a claw for attention, yet another piece of mother-of-pearl in his other one. Just how many of those useless things did he have to find before the novelty wore off?

“You have an entire pile of those,” she pointed out.

“They’re so shiny!”

“It doesn’t make them any more useful, small stuff.”

That caused Tamatoa to huff. “I’m not small!” he protested, and Tupuna snorted out a chuckle almost in spite of herself. To be fair the boy was growing quickly enough, at a rate that came remarkably close to their species’ standard, and would likely hit a growth spurt soon. Maybe he wouldn’t stay a runt after all, but he was still so tiny compared to her.

“Oh yes, you are,” she said, flicking an antennae at him. “Tinytoa.”

“I’m getting bigger! This seashell is almost too small for me, see?” he added, spinning on the spot to show her. “I’ll need a bigger one soon!”

Oh Gods, not again. Last time he’d changed seashell - a necessary measure until he became old enough to harden his own shell - he had been absolutely insufferable: no shell seemed to be good enough for him. He’d refused to get into perfectly fine ones, claiming that they were too ugly, and for some reason Tīaka  had agreed to look for better ones until that fussy little nuisance saw one he liked. And then he’d insisted on keeping the old one, too.

She was spoiling him, that was it. Who even cared what the shell looked like, as long as it did its job? It was for protection, not for something as pointless as decoration. Back in her day she had to fight her clutch mates for decent shells, sometimes to the death. It was eat or be eaten, siblings or not. That at least ensured that the strongest would come out on top; she had little doubt that, had Tamatoa had to go through the same, he wouldn’t have lasted–

“Oh! Can I have one with mother-of-pearl in it? That would look perfect!”

Gods, he must have taken after his father.

With a sigh - why, why had she agreed to leave with them? - Tupuna leaned her head down and closed her eyes. “Ask your mother when she comes back from her evening stroll. Until then, how about a fun game of keeping quiet?” she added, hoping he wouldn’t start singing like he had last time she’d been trying to take a nap. No self-respecting giant crab would waste their breath on something as pointless as singing, but since he’d heard some human fisher singing Tamatoa had gotten into his head that he should do it, too. And, somehow, he seemed to think he was good at it. “First one to make a noise loses and–”

Her words were covered by a sudden rumbling noise, which was nothing new: there were occasional eruptions in the archipelago, but they generally resulted in a little noise and nothing more. However, what followed that time was new: before the echo was even faded there was another rumbling noise, much louder and much closer, and something caused even their cave to shake, the pool of water connecting it to the ocean suddenly rising in ripples and small waves.

Tamatoa let out a shriek, dropping the piece of mother-of-pearl to go hiding behind one her limbs; Tupuna, on the other hand, immediately stood. The cave stopped shaking within moments, with no damage to be seen anywhere, but something had happened outside… and all of her instincts were now telling that something was wrong.

“Gran?” Tamatoa called out, voice shaking, when she stepped towards the entrance. She turned to glance at him with one eyestalk, not breaking her stride.

“You stay here.”

“What was that?”

“How would I know? Just stay where you are.”

“Where’s Ma?” he asked. Tupuna didn’t bother replying to that last question before leaving, because of course she could only repeat herself - “How would I know?” - and that would be pointless. She would know once she was out, anyway.

And, as it turned out, she didn’t need to get very far from the cave to figure it out. The peak that turned one side of the island into a steep cliff had halved in height, and the tons of rocks, boulders and other rabble that were now into the water, explained everything: a collapse, caused by the tremors of a nearby eruption. All said and done, nothing to worry about.

Except that Tīaka, who never wandered far from the cave’s underwater entrance, was nowhere to be seen. With a renewed feeling that something was not right, Tupuna slowly approached the mass of rocks that had fallen down into the ocean. She only realized exactly what she’d been looking for when her eyes found it.

One of Tīaka’s limbs was poking out of it, limp and still. Tupuna didn’t really need to approach any further to know she was dead, but she did either way, and smacked it lightly with her claw. It stayed limp, and she let out a long sigh.

“Of all evenings to go out and stretch your legs,” she muttered, reaching to get the rocks off her daughter’s body. Her shell should have been tough enough to withstand even that crushing weight, and indeed it was barely cracked, but her head, thick as it had always been, simply wasn’t thick enough. With no pincers left to shield it, she’d had no chance.

It had been quick if nothing else, Tupuna supposed. It wasn’t something she’d had ever wished to see, but death was part of life, and she’d seen too much of it in to let it take her aback for long. She had tried her best to keep it at bay for as long as possible, but the time comes, sooner or later, with no distinction for the old or the young. It had happened, so she may as well make the best of it. She dragged the body in shallow water closer to the cave’s entrance, used her pincers to widen the cracks on the shell to expose the flesh beneath, and walked back into the cave.

“Gran? What was it? What happened?”

For a few moments Tupuna said nothing, staring down at her grandson. Leaving Lalotai to give him a chance had been Tīaka’s idea, one she’d gone along with rather grudgingly and for her daughter’s sake alone. Giving him a chance at all had been Tīaka’s idea, her wish, but now she was gone and nothing was left to keep her there. She could leave him to fend for himself, and return to Lalotai. Even on his own, he’d have more chances to live than he would in the realm of monsters; that wouldn’t be going entirely against Tīaka’s wish, all things considered. His mother’s body would provide nourishment for a time. If death claimed him regardless, then it was meant to.

I can go home.

He’s all that’s left of your line. Tīaka is gone, but he’s still here.

He’s weak.

He’ll grow stronger.

Unaware of her thoughts, Tamatoa took a few hesitant steps forward. “Gran?” he called out.

Tupuna stared down at him for a few more moments, a tiny little thing with a fancy seashell and no clue of what had just happened, no clue of her musings. Finally, she sighed and turned back to the exit.

“Come, boy,” she finally said. “It’s time to eat.”

***

“Human, we’re out of food.”

“I know.”

“If we just stop for a bit to catch some fi–”

“We can’t stop.”

“So, can I eat–”

“Both chicken and pig are off-limits.”

“Aw, c’mon! How about a compromise? I just eat the chicken’s wings. I mean, it can’t even fly, so why would it need them?”

“Tamatoa. You’re a decapod, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“So correct me if I’m wrong, but you happen to have a pair of limbs you have absolutely no use for, either.”

“Well, I guess– Hey! That was a low blow!”

“I know. My chicken’s wings are off limits.”

“Fine, fine,” Tamatoa grumbled, and rested his chin down on his claws again. “But I’m still hungry. Aren’t you– Oh. I guess you’ve got to be. You look terrible.”

“Noted,” Moana said, her voice flat. Truth be told, she wasn’t just hungry: she was also bone tired. While the Ocean pushing the boat forward was making their journey faster, she still had to maneuver it to make sure it stayed on course - which meant she couldn’t take a minute’s break. Stopping wasn’t an option at all, not with time so tight and Maui’s life hanging on how quickly they could get to him.

“No, really. I am sure that if you turned me back my size, I chewed you some and then spat you out, you wouldn’t look half as bad–” Tamatoa paused when Moana gave him one single, long look. “… Right. Not a nice thing to say.”

Moana managed a ghost of a smile. “You’re getting the hang of it,” she said, reaching to tug at the sail. Her limbs felt stiff and heavy as wood, but she forced herself to ignore it. She would rest later, she thought. After they caught up with Maui she’d hit him with her oar, then sleep for a couple of days, and finally resume hitting him with renewed energy. She refused to imagine a scenario in which she didn’t get to see Maui again.

“Would you like me to sing?”

“Huh?”

“To help you stay awake.”

Oh no. Please, don’t.

“Talking will do just fine,” Moana said quickly, raking her brain for something to say in order to distract him.

“Oh. By the way, you never told me if you liked–”

“Is the entire island an entrance to the Underworld?” Moana blurted out, causing him to trail off and blink at her for a few moments before he shook his head.

“Nah, not really. The island is big - and I do mean, big. What we’re looking for is the cape at the northwestern tip. You can’t miss it, because there’s this big cliff - Te Rerenga Wairua.“

“The leaping place of spirits?”

“Yep. It’s quite a drop, and word has it that spirits have to leap from this cliff to get to the Underworld. No idea why. Maybe to make sure they’re dead? ‘Cause if not, they can be certain they’ll be deceased when they get to the bottom.”

“And that’s all they need to do to get in? Leap?”

“And then climb down the roots of some old tree. Hine-nui-te-pō is usually hanging there - like, not from the tree, just around there. And by usually I mean all the time. If you’re dead, no problem - she’ll let you through and then come and go as you please. If you’re alive, she kills you and then lets you through. Unless you’re the Manaia, of course. They got on well - she chose them as the messenger and all.”

“… Any chances she may be off for a stroll?”

“While I like your optimism, human, there is literally not a chance in hell. She never leaves the entrance unguarded. That’s how Maui managed to get away when she caught him trying to sneak in - she couldn’t follow him.”

“If he got away once, he could do it again,” Moana pointed out, gaining herself a rather unimpressed look from Tamatoa.

“Because he ran off when he realized he couldn’t win, babe. Do you think he would run off now, after coming this far?”

No, Moana knew, he wouldn’t: this time it was personal, not just a stunt like many others before. “So our only hope is to catch him before he tries.”

“Exactly. Also, you’re gonna have to watch it when we approach. Two seas kinda meet right off Cape Reinga and that creates some pretty strong currents. Not a problem for me, but for your boat…”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, adjusting the sails slightly. “Do I keep going this way?”

Tamatoa glanced up at the stars, tilting his head one way and then the other. “Yes, this direction for a while more, then we turn south. I’ll tell you when.”

Moana glanced up at the stars herself and, through the veil of exhaustion, she thought she’d seen something familiar. “… I’ve sailed these waters before.”

“Oh, right. If you go north instead of south, you’ll wind up at Te Fiti’s island. It’s… maybe a day and a night of navigation away? I could say something corny about life and death not being too far apart, but I’m too hungry to bother. By the way, if you still had the heart of Te Fiti we might actually have a chance against the Goddess of Death, but noooo, you had to give it away, huh?”

“I didn’t give it away. I returned it.”

“Pfft. Semantics,” Tamatoa muttered, and leaned his head down on his claws again. Too tired to even begin to argue - what would be the point? - Moana just focused on staying on course, occasionally glancing up at the sky. Stars were still there to guide her, only a few of them hidden by a veil of clouds, but it wasn’t stars she was searching for, not really. What she hoped to see, each time she lifted her gaze, was the outline of a hawk flying against the moon. She had no such luck.

Maybe he’s already there. Maybe he’s already dead.

Moana’s grip on the rudder tightened, and she forced herself to chase away the thought. She would find Maui on time, and she couldn’t allow herself not to believe as much, even for a moment. “If he dies on me, I swear I’m going to kill him,” she growled, causing Tamatoa to snicker. Somehow, the sound made her feel a bit better.

At least until he began humming a suspiciously familiar tune.

***

It was just dawn when Maui finally came within sight of Cape Reinga.

The ocean below him raged, as always in the meeting point of two seas, but soaring through the air he was unconcerned. He had plenty to fear, sure enough, but not from the ocean - not that time. He flew past the raging waters, onto the island, and came to land at the very top of the steep cliff. Te Rerenga Wairua, the leaping place of spirits. Maybe he would take the leap that day, after all, but not without a fight.

Never without a fight.

Maui let his gaze wander across the horizon, taking in the sight, and finally drew in a deep breath. Trying to sneak past the entrance was a far more attractive strategy, but one that was doomed to fail. He would know: he’d tried before. And besides, last time he’d gone all sneaky on a goddess, he’d sort of almost broken the world. He’d rather not make that mistake again.

This is on my head, and finally called out.

“Hine-nui-te-pō! Great woman of night!”

Nothing happened for several moments: there was only the sound of the waves and the wind, but Maui did not move. Nothing happened in Cape Reinga that Hine-nui-te-pō could not hear; she must have heard him, and she would soon show hersel–

Maui had no time to finish that thought: all of a sudden the wind stilled and, with the faintest sound of splashing water, she rose within his sight. Tall as a mountain, feet firmly planted before the entrance down below, Hine-nui-te-pō towered over the cliff Maui stood on, blocking out the sun and causing a cold, cold shadow to fall over him.

Her skin was red as the earth she’d been made from, her eyes black as night and her mouth too wide - a cut from ear to ear, filled with sharp teeth of black obsidian. Mouths opened on the palms of her hands as well, and those palms were now upturned, as though she was accepting an offering. Her hair was a tangle of dead seaweed, which fell onto her shoulders and down her back like a shroud.

“Maui of the Men,” she spoke. Her voice was the gargling of the deadly riptide, the last breath of a drowning man, and it held no small amount of mockery. “No longer trying to sneak your way in like a thief?”

Maui gave a somewhat sheepish grin. “Yeah, about that… I’m sorry. That wasn’t a nice thing to do, trying to sneak past you and kind of subvert the laws of existence. I figure I do owe you an apology.”

A tilt of a massive head, and a sneer. “Why, you are capable of this much. Very well. Apology accepted. Shall you do it the right way and throw yourself to your death?”

Well, she was about as pleasant as Maui remembered her. He made him best to grin and make himself look as nonthreatening as possible while still holding onto his fishhook. In the end, he resolved to lean on it. “We both know the fall wouldn’t kill me,” he said. “But hey, thanks for the suggestion. Nice to see you’re still so friendly. It’s been a while since last time.”

“Not long enough,” was the remark. Her eyes, black as the blackest night, narrowed to slits; even her eyelashes looked much like fangs. Maui shrugged.

“Fair enough. Look, I know we didn’t part in friendly terms, and I know there is a good reason why I’m not exactly on top of the list of your favorite people…”

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself,” Hine-nui-te-pō spoke up. Her voice was different now, she caress of water rising to cover your nose and mouth. “I’ve disliked you from your first breath. It had nothing to do with your actions - fools must be expected to act like fools.”

Well, Maui thought, that was new. He opened his mouth to ask what exactly had he done before he was even born, but she resumed talking first, and the reply chilled him to the bone.

“Saved by the gods. You think they saved you from the brink of death, but you were past it, Maui - you were dead. You were mine, as all of the stillborn are. You came into this world too early to survive . ”

Stillborn. Something about that word was terrifying, but in a way there was relief there, because it confirmed everything he’d suspected and hoped since Tamatoa had revealed him what he’d witnessed one day, long ago. It gave him a certainty he’d been desperately looking for.

I was not abandoned. I was buried at sea.

“And yet here I am,” Maui heard himself saying. Hine-nui-te-pō spread her arms. Yes, she seemed to be saying, here you are.

“Your soul was on its way to me before the Ocean took you and the other gods decided you should live - though the reason why is a mystery to me. Why you of many? And what right did they have to take what was mine, without even consulting me? Death is my domain, not theirs. That was a slight I could not ignore. That first breath you drew was stolen from me, like all those you’ve drawn since. To make you a demigod was adding insult to injury.”

From this moment on, every breath you take is a gift from me.

His parting words to Tamatoa after he had ripped off his leg echoed in Maui’s memory, but of course that had been different. He had taken the decision to spare him; Hine-nui-te-pō had to bow to a choice someone else had made. And that someone had not been him.

“It wasn’t my decision, either,” he finally said, and to his mild surprise the goddess nodded.

“No, it was not. I am saying your very existence is an insult, not that I blame you for it.”

“Ah. Thanks?”

“Should you decide to forfeit your life and take your place in my realm, you’d be welcome in it. But,” she added, her unnaturally large mouth stretching in a smile, “I suspect that is not what you’re here for.”

All right, Maui thought, that was it. “I am here with a plea,” he said, gaining himself an unimpressed look. Between that and Te Fiti, it seemed that getting unimpressed looks from goddesses was what he did best those days.

“I do not listen to pleas. Other gods may be prayed upon for good winds and currents, for good harvest and nets full of fish. With them, you can bargain. Death does not bargain. It grants no boon, it heeds no prayer.”

“Just hear me out. I only ask to be let through for the shortest time. There is someone I need to find, and once I do–” Maui began, and trailed off when the goddess laughed, with a sound like crack of thunder. He sighed. “Can’t you at least let me finish before you laugh your head off?”

More laughter. Maui rolled his eyes and threw his fishhook over his shoulder. “Okay, really. Glad to see you have a sense of humor after all, but– sheesh, are the mouths on your hands laughing, too?”

The laughter finally died down, and Hine-nui-te-pō looked at him, fangs still bared in a grin. “You cannot truly think, even as a joke, that I will allow you to come through alive. No living, breathing being can cross this entrance. Not humans, not monsters or animals, not gods and certainly not you. Other gods may have made exceptions for you, but I will not do the same.”

“The Manaia could cross,” Maui pointed out, and the smile immediately faded from Hine-nui-te-pō’s face. When she spoke again, her voice was icy. Not a surprise: if there was anybody she had been in truly good terms with, except for the souls of the dead - her children, as she put it - that had been the Manaia.

“The Manaia is the messenger. They–”

“I hear they’ve vanished.”

“No one else alive will cross the entrance,” the goddess bristled. “Which begs the question - how desperate are you to get in? Because that can be arranged, at the price of your life. You cannot gain access without losing it first.”

Oh well, Maui thought, that had been worth a shot. It wasn’t like he’d expected it to work, but sneaking in undetected was impossible, and at least he had tried to be polite about it first. “I see. I am pretty desperate, really, so I guess I’m going to have to go through you.”

A snort. “Do you truly think you have any chance to best me?”

“Not really, but I might surprise myself. I did that a couple of times lately,” Maui said with a shrug, and lifted his hook. “And if I can’t, then I die and get through regardless.”

“That is the only possible outcome.”

“Can’t blame a guy for trying, tho–” Maui began, but he didn’t get to finish that sentence: the next moment Hine-nui-te-pō let out a drum-shattering shriek, the kind that could almost split the sky, and lifted a hand to bring it down on him, the mouth on its palm wide open. She was almost fast enough to get him.

Almost.

“CHEE-HOO!”

The hand struck the ground he’d been standing on, but missed him; all that those teeth got to bite into were rocks. In his hawk form, Maui darted away - and barely managed to avoid being hit in mid-air by the goddess’ other hand, and yet another set of teeth. She had more teeth than anybody had any right to, and not only on her face and hands: she had teeth on the back of her head, too, and in other weird places.

Being pierced by any one of those meant death, and Maui was all too aware of it. With a screech, covered by Hine-nui-te-pō’s own, he flew up above, blood rushing in his veins. He may be dying soon but at the moment, in the heat of the battle, he felt wonderfully alive.

It’s Maui time.

***

When the horrifying shriek reached her, cutting through the air and mist like a knife and making her feel as though her heart had suddenly stilled in her chest, Moana instantly knew who it had to be. One look at Tamatoa, who had stilled as well and was looking up at her in what was nothing short of horror, confirmed what she feared: they were too late. Hine-nui-te-pō had been roused.

No, Moana told herself, exhaustion suddenly gone. It was late to stop that fight, but it wasn’t too late: it would have been worse yet to arrive to find only silence, the signs of a battle, and no Maui. That would have meant it was over.

But it’s not. It’s not over until–

“It’s over,” Tamatoa croaked, taking a few steps back. As though that would get him any further away, with the boat still sailing forward through the fog. “Human, turn the boat and– oh, wait. You’re not going to turn the boat are you?”

“Nope.”

“You’re going to head straight for Cape Reinga and in the middle of the fight.”

“Yep,” Moana said, and glanced at Pua - who seemed paralyzed with terror. “Pua, get in the hold with Heihei.”

No reaction.

“Pua–” Moana started, but was cut off when Tamatoa suddenly took it upon himself to open the latch, push Pua in - causing both him and Heihei to protest loudly - and slam it shut.

“There. Not that your pig is any safer now, unless you listen to me and turn this boat!”

You don’t have to come, Moana wanted to say, but she had no time to: the next moment there was another shriek, carried by a sudden gust of wind that caused the mist to finally, finally lift.

And there, before them, was Cape Reinga.

In any other circumstances, it would have taken Moana’s breath away - not out of terror, but simply for the sheer magnificence of that place: above raging waters stood a majestic, steep cliff under an iron gray sky. It had an otherworldly beauty to it, and she could very easily believe that was where the world of the living and that of the spirits were connected. At the moment, however, there was no time for her to marvel, because all he could focus on was the gigantic form of red earth form towering over the cliff, lashing out at something - someone - who flew and danced and shifted just out of her reach. Maui.

“He… he’s holding his own,” Moana muttered, breathing out a sigh of relief.

“Great. Amazing. Looks like we’d actually hinder him. So how about we sail away and let him do his thing?” Tamatoa spoke, a hopeful note in his voice, only to groan when Moana shook her head and kept maneuvering the boat towards the island. Hine-nui-te-pō was still trying to strike Maui, causing stones and rocks to rain down into the raging waters below. “Human! Seriously! Turn this boat! There is nothing we can do that Maui can’t!”

“We’ll just get closer, so that if Maui needs any help we can intervene!”

“And get ourselves killed!”

“We might not need to do anything! Unless something goes wrong–”

Another furious shriek caused them both to recoil, and they turned just in time to see Hine-nui-te-pō striking out at the sky in a vicious backhand… and, this time, hitting its target. Maui was struck out of the sky, once again in his human form, and hit the ground violently while his fishhook plummeted down the side of the cliff, into the churning ocean below.

“… You mean, something like that?” Tamatoa spoke, deadpanned.

“Yes,” Moana heard herself saying. “Exactly like that.”

***

Losing his hook again was, to put it mildly, a gigantic pain in the butt. And more pain would be on the menu if he didn’t get his hands back on it as quickly as possible, because of course he had absolutely no chance without it as opposed to having about one in a million with it.

And I was doing so well.

He had taken one hell of a blow in mid-air and the impact with the rocky ground hadn’t been much better; if he lived long enough to bruise, he was going to feel that for a week. It might even have been enough to make him lose consciousness if not for the fact good old Hine wouldn’t stop shrieking, keeping him from blacking out even if he’d wanted to.

He saw the jaws in her palm coming down at him with a triumphant cry, and he rolled aside just on time, avoiding being crushed by a hair’s breadth. He ducked under another attempt at swatting him with the other hand, and ran as quickly as he could towards the cliff’s opposite edge. He’d seen his fishhook falling there, and he could only hope he hadn’t fallen someplace where the water was too deep, because without shapeshifting powers there were limits to how deep down he could go. It was a desperate attempt, because he knew Hine-nui-te-pō would almost certainly get him before he could even try finding it, but it wasn’t like he had any other choice.

At least I’ll go with a bang and without dragging anybody else with me. If Moana had come with me, she’d be–

Maui reached the edge of the cliff, ready to leap, expecting to see churning ocean below. And he did see just that, raging water and sea foam barely covering rocks as sharp as fangs… plus something else, something in the middle of all that chaos that really shouldn’t have been there.

A familiar sail with the symbol of a spiral in the middle.

… Well, of course Little Miss Wayfinder had found the way. It was what she did best, other than reading minds and proving him dead wrong. He never learned a lesson, did he?

Momentum working against him, Maui very nearly stumbled down the cliff and into the ocean, but he was able to stop himself by throwing himself on the ground. He rolled aside just one time to avoid yet another blow, mind scrambling to come up with another course of action.

That’s where the hook fell. She’s trying to get to it. And if Hine-nui-te-pō sees her, she’ll kill her where she stands.

All right, he decided, new plan - keep the her attention well away from that particular area. It wasn’t much of a plan, and it was seriously lacking in the ‘how not to die’ department, but it wasn’t like he could be picky at that point. He’d improvise. Shapeshifting may be his main ability, but ‘sort of winging it’ came a close second or third. Definitely in the top five, anyhow.

With a leap - he didn’t need his hook for those - he landed well away from that side of the cliff, and turned back with a grin. He would have never thought he’d be pleased to have the undivided attention of the Goddess of Death, but then again life was unpredictable, always a surprise behind the corner.

All things considered, he didn’t think he was done with life just yet.

“Come and get me, lady,” he called out, shifting his weight and ready to leap out of reach again. “You’ll have to be faster than that.”

***

“Can’t you go faster?”

“I’m trying!”

“If she sees us, we’re so dead.”

“I know! I got it the first ten times you said it!”

If you really got it you would have turned this boat around, Tamatoa thought, but he didn’t say anything; at that point, it had become clear it was useless to insist. Instead he just clung to the mast, and tried his best not to throw up.

The ocean around them was raging, pushing back against them, and there seemed to be rocks everywhere they looked. He had no idea how the human could manage to keep that boat afloat without it capsizing or being thrown against the rocks or the cliffside by one of those violent waves, but it made his admiration for her go up another notch, if somewhat grudgingly. After all, she was getting them on the path to certain death.

Or, more accurately, slightly to the left of it.

Tamatoa refused to turn, he refused to see just how close they were to Hine-nui-te-pō as she shrieked and howled, hitting and clawing at the cliff where Maui was, surely trying his best not to be turned into demigod purea. He seemed to be holding her off for now, but without the hook he had no chance.

“I can’t get any closer!” the human groaned in frustration. “The current is too strong, and–”

A rumbling sound caused her to trail off, and Tamatoa looked up just on time to see a couple of boulders and a rain of smaller rocks falling from the side of the cliff to plunge down into the ocean, clearly dislodged by Hine-nui-te-pō’s onslaught. They missed the boat, but not by much, and the impact raised enough water to throw them back. As the human struggled to overcome the backlash, Tamatoa peered up at the cliff above them.

You’re not blind, are you?, his Gran’s voice echoed somewhere in the back of his mind. Half a cliff crumbled on her, that’s what happened. Stop asking questions with your mouth full.

Tamatoa shuddered and flattened himself against the floor, feeling immensely tiny, like he had been that day millennia ago. After all, right now he was only a little bigger than he’d been–

… Wait. Wait a minute. Why am I still small?

Tamatoa stood again, frantically looking around, and he saw what he needed just moments later: the tip of a rock just above the surface… and little to the right of the boat, close enough for him to leap on it. Which was precisely what he did.

“Wha– Tamatoa! What are you doing?” Moana’s voice reached him a moment later as he struggled to hold onto it despite the waves crashing against him. Two sets of pincers came in handy for that kind of thing, but he really could have used another leg to hold on. Clinging to the rock with all he had, he looked back at Moana.

“You can’t get through here with the boat.  Get away from here - out the current!”

“But the hook fell–”

“I know where it fell, I’m not blind! Just get further away and then turn me back my size! I’ll get the hook for you!”

Comprehension dawned on her face the next moment, and she immediately nodded, maneuvering the sail to get out of the rough spot. It took her less than a minute to get to a safe distance and, once she did, the lifted a hand to point at him. Tamatoa didn’t hear the word - she wasn’t close enough for him to hear through the raging water, inhuman screeching and whatnot - but he felt its effect, and how. The next moment there was that indescribable sensation of being inflated, and he found himself sinking beneath the raging water and towards the bottom of the ocean, the rock he’d been clinging onto hardly large enough for him to rest a limb on.

It was a good drop down to the bottom of the ocean, maybe a hundred feet, but it worked fine for him. Down there the current was less strong and, despite the sand being raised by Hine-nui-te-pō’s movements - Tamatoa preferred not  to wonder just how close she was, and was inwardly thankful of the fact she hadn’t spotted him before he sank into the churning water - he could see around easily enough if he squinted a bit. And, thankfully, he didn’t have to look far.

Back when he’d found it, almost a thousand years earlier, Maui’s fishhook had been stuck in the middle of a coral reef, and getting it out of there had been kind of a pain, especially since it had gotten him into a heated argument with a Megalodon who happened to live nearby. Now it was resting on sand, thank the gods, and it was easy to pick up. Which was good news, since the moment he stepped away a huge boulder crashed into the sea and sank right on the spot he had been moments before.

It wouldn’t have been anywhere near enough to hurt him through his shell, especially underwater, but– half a cliff crumbled on her, that’s what happened – Tamatoa still didn’t like how close it had been. He moved quickly, away from the cliff and well away from Hine-nui-te-pō. He had no idea what they next step may be, but hopefully the human had a plan. She usually had one, and hey, he’d recovered the hook, hadn’t he?

As far as he was concerned, he’d done his part.

***

Moving away from the worst of the currents was a struggle, especially since she didn’t dare move too far away from the island: should the wind change, it may have been nearly impossible to get ashore quickly. So Moana just moved along the coast, and maneuvered her boat closer when she finally saw a spot where she could get her boat on the ground. She couldn’t seen Hine-nui-te-pō now, as she was hidden by the cliff itself, but she could hear her all too well… as she could hear Maui’s shouts and jeers, unmistakable even though he was too far away for her to grasp the words.

Please, just hang on a bit more. Only a bit longer. I’m sure Tamatoa will–

There was another shriek, a crash so violent that the entire cliff seemed to shake, and then a rumble that Moana immediately recognized as trouble. She looked up to see several boulders falling off the side of the cliff… and plunging down straight at her.

For a moment, it was as though time had frozen. She knew in a split second that there was simply no way for her to move away quickly enough, that even jumping off the boat wouldn’t be enough to avoid them, and she found herself unable to move at all, the hands holding her oar suddenly numb.

Grandma–!

“Hey! Human!”

Moana recoiled when something huge suddenly blotted out the sun, coming between her and the falling rocks so quickly she had barely enough time to register what was happening. The realization hit her the same moment the boulders hit Tamatoa’s shell, causing him to stagger and give a noise that sounded a lot like all air had been blown out of him. They bounced off along with more than a few handfuls of trinkets, raising huge splashes, but Moana hardly even noticed.

“Tamatoa! Are you all right?”

“Uugh,” he groaned before stepping back. He shook his head and looked down at her, the grimace turning into a grin. “Sure I’m all right, babe. My shell’s tough,” he said, but his voice sounded somewhat shaky despite his best efforts. Still, Moana had no time to wonder about that. “Let’s… just get out of the way before this whole thing collapses on us, okay? I think we can get ashore on that spot over there.”

“Did you find…?” Moana began, and to her relief Tamatoa held up a pincer, Maui’s hook firmly in its grasp. “Yes! You’re the best!”

“Oh, I know.”

Getting ashore was mercifully quick: there was a small sandy spot at the base of the cliff, with a path that led right up towards it, and that was where Moana drove her boat. She jumped off onto the sand the same moment Tamatoa stepped out of the water and put the fishhook down.

“Okay, how do we get it to him? I was thinking I can try throwing it, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea, because I can’t really see the top of the cliff. What if I miss and throw it back in the ocean? Or hit Maui? Or I could hit Hine-nui-te-pō, and I think that would only make her madder…”

“It’s all right. You’ve done enough for us,” Moana said, kneeling down to grasp the hook. “Stay here. I’ll take this to Maui.”

Tamatoa blinked. “Wait, what? Let’s pretend for a moment that’s not suicide, but there is no way you can drag that thing all the way up to–”

“Iti haere.”

“… Oh, right. You can if you cheat, I guess,” he muttered while Moana stood again, the hook now small enough to fit in her hand and mercifully easy to carry. “But my point that it’s suicide still stands. The moment Hine-nui-te-pō sees you–”

“No point in getting his hook back if I don’t give it to him,” Moana replied, and turned to run up the path that led to the top of the cliff, praying the gods yet again that she wouldn’t be too late.

She didn’t get very far.

“Wha– no! Hey! Stop running!”

Moana let out a cry when a huge claw grabbed her by the waist and pulled her up, keeping her from going any further. She tried to squirm out of Tamatoa’s grasp, but her efforts were entirely fruitless. “Let me go!”

Tamatoa scoffed, holding her before his eyes. “To have you go die for sure? Nope. There is no way I’m letting you–” he began, and suddenly trailed off when Moana pointed at him with the hand wearing the bracelet. His eyes widened a fraction when she spoke in a hiss.

“Let me go. Now.”

“Human–”

“I’ll shrink you if I have to, and then you’d never get to return your normal size should I die there. Good luck getting the bracelet back from Hine-nui-te-pō,” she said, causing him to recoil. For a moment he looked genuinely hurt, and she sighed. “I don’t want you to risk your life, but I’m going. So please, let me go. I don’t want to do this.”

For a moment, Tamatoa just stared at her, looking utterly confused. When he spoke again, it was in a whine. “I don’t want you to get killed, babe,” he said, and Moana bit her lower lip.

“Believe me, that makes two of us. But I’ll never be able to live with myself if I do nothing and Maui dies,” she pleaded. Above them the sounds of the battle - shouts and drum-shattering shrieks, cries of defiance and the sound of shattering rocks - seemed louder than ever, covering the low rumble of thunder in the distance. “And besides,” she found herself adding, forcing herself to smile, “I made it past Te Ka, and everyone said it was impossible. I might just get lucky again.”

You’re not getting past this one by singing at her, Maui’s voice echoed somewhere in the back of her mind. But Tamatoa, who had no idea yet how she had exactly dealt with Te Ka, hesitated. Then, finally - and slowly, in a way that bespoke all of his reluctance - he put her down.

Thank you, Moana wanted to say, but every word she uttered was wasted breath, every moment she lingered wasted time. So she just nodded at him, turned, and ran as quickly as he could up the path. As she ran, the shrieks and the wind and her own rushing blood filling her ears, she failed to hear Tamatoa’s mumbled plea.

“… Please be back.”

***

In case anyone’s wondering what the jab about a useless pair of limbs was about, here you go.

***

[Back to Chapter 13]

[On to Chapter 15]

[tornrose24]

Only a Voice part 6 (A Moana fan fic/ Little Mermaid inspired AU)

Remember that this fan fic can also be found on fan fiction.net under my other name HolyMaiden24. Also the beginning A/N is slightly different here than in the fan fiction.net version.

This time:

-Moana sings a familiar song and we get to see her canoe

-Maui FINALLY recognizes Moana

-ominous trouble is hinted at for the future

-The author takes advantage of the A/N at the end to do something stupid that doubles as a shout out to another Disney film.

-*Somewhere on the edge of the fourth wall* Tamatoa stared in confusion at the writer, who looked like a blonde haired, green eyed version of Belle from Beauty and the Beast (that’s the closest we can get to describing the author’s actual appearance, unless you opted for Rapunzel). “Look,” The writer sighed as she held her hand out. “I know I take things too far, but I don’t want to anger a character that I really like to the point that I’m no longer on their good side. I just don’t want you going after the reviewers and I guess I wanted to express my affection at the same time. Plus trying to find your tsum-tsum is a pain in my rear so maybe that had something to do with this.” Tamatoa didn’t answer so the author took out her laptop. “Ok, there is only one way to redeem myself.” She typed something in and within seconds, there was a flash and the crab returned to his giant 50 ft tall self. “Is that better?” She asked. “I suppose I won’t kill you.” Tamatoa decided, though he was relieved to be turned back to normal. “Thanks!” The writer smiled and waved. “My gosh, I can’t believe that I would ever write a Disney fan fic. I even keep forgetting that you’re a Disney character. I thought I would at least write something for Beauty and the Beast since that’s my favorite film of them all... though funny enough I did have a mental image of a Beauty and the Beast AU for Tangled with Flynn as some sort of snake monster.” The writer added under her breath with a laugh before a thought struck her. “I’m writing a Disney fan fic.... I could do anything I want in the Disney universe.... Wait a minute, that means I could–! Hey, do you know where I can buy a bunch of tomatoes?!” The writer turned to Tamatoa who was now just confused. “Uh... no?” “Never mind, I can just write a bunch out for after this chapter!” The writer waved as she hurried off. -*back to our A/N*- I lucked on this in doing the most important section ahead of schedule which is why this came out so fast. Of course I might need to give myself another break since I got a paper I need to focus on. Anyway, I think this is a chapter where something that happens is bound to make my readers a little happy. Oh yeah and hopefully I don’t have to do a disclaimer on the song since you already know where it comes from.

Chapter 6: Compromise

Finally free to be herself in a place that very few were aware about, Moana allowed her spirit to escape through her singing as she walked down the dark tunnel with Pua beside her. She had no need for a torch as she knew where she was going after coming here so often. “We read the wind and the sky when the sun is high,” She sang the song of her ancestors as she hurried to get to the end of the tunnel where a faint light reflected onto the rocks and the sound of a nearby waterfall could be heard. “We sail the length of the ocean breeze.” Already she could feel her stress evaporate and she hurried the pace. “At night we name every star, we know who we are.” She finally reached the end of the tunnel to come across a large cave that seemed as if it could fit her entire village. Instead there were many great boats and canoes from an era long ago when voyaging was more of a way of life rather then staying in one place and occasionally visiting the other islands. Here was her heritage in all its glory and it was one that she was most proud to be a part of. Some of these boats were probably too old to be used again, but Moana felt that she knew better as they all still seemed to be alive and sturdy enough to go back on the ocean. “Who we are, who we are.” She sang as she broke into a big smile and ran towards the other side of the cave where a large body of water was connected to the ocean outside and the daylight filtered through a great waterfall and into the large cave to illuminate it. She raced towards the one boat that she treasured above them all; it was not as grand looking as the others, but it was just the right size for maybe one or two people to ride upon it and on its sail was a great spiral that reminded her of a whirlpool that could be found in the ocean. “I’m back!” Moana greeted the boat with a grin and got upon it. “I almost rode another boat a few days ago, but I still hope that it will be you that I get to ride out into the ocean!” She closed her eyes as she placed a hand on the sail cloth, while she could hear Pua catching up to her. “Can you remember it Pua?” Moana asked as she tried to recall how it felt to be on the ocean so many years ago. “Remember that one time we did go upon the ocean? How the surface below us rocked back and forth and eased our fears? Remember how the ocean smelled or how the wind blew against us? Remember what it was like to move without walking?” It had been so long, but that time when she got kidnapped was the only time where she was sure that she had ever truly experienced the ocean without being pulled away from it within seconds. She wanted more of it–what it felt like to ride over a great wave, to feel total control over a boat and move without walking, to let the sea and the winds guide her along her way. “Aue, aue,” She sang as she imagined this all in her mind. “We set a course to find a brand new island everywhere we roam. Aue, aue, we keep our island in our mind, and when its time to find home we know the way.” She wanted so badly to follow the path of her ancestors that her grandmother told her about so often. No one on this island seemed to like going out very far beyond the reef other than to meet with other islands, but she wanted more than that. She glanced down to find the oar that went with this boat and when she picked it up, she walked a little ways away from the sail but closed her eyes again as she allowed her daydreams to take over. “Aue, aue, we are explorers reading every sign,” She could envision the kakamora coming towards her upon their great ship and she pretended to paddle away from them as fast as she could. The wind was howling in her ears and caressing her long hair and the imaginary sun in the great blue sky warmed her body. If she could be pushing the oar through water instead of air then it would all feel a lot more real. “We tell the stories of our elders in a never ending chain.” She could see them coming towards her as they picked up the pace, but she stayed determined. She would never let herself be captured or bound against her will like last time. “Aue, aue,” She sang as she readied her oar. “Te fenua, te malie. Na heko hakilia,” The creatures were coming and getting on her boat. “We know the way.”  She held her oar out and right when she got to the end of the last note, she took a mighty swing as she pretended to knock her imaginary foes away. What she didn’t plan was for the oar to not only make her spin around due to how much force she put into it, but she felt it collide into something that created a loud ‘SMACK!’ sound. The impact was strong enough that it made her stumble backwards and nearly trip over her own feet. “Huh?!” She opened her eyes to see that her oar had collided right into the man without a voice, who was practically kneeling over and clutching his stomach in pain. “Oh my gosh!” She quickly let go of the oar as she hurried towards him. “I am so sorry!” She apologized as she had a hand to her mouth. “Are you alright?!’ The man waved his hand in an ‘It’s ok, I’m fine’ sort of way without looking up. “I didn’t mean to do that, I was pretending to hit something else!” Moana tried to explain herself before she realized that he was in the cave with her. “Wait, how did you find–oh.” She groaned as she slumped her head back. “Of course you followed me here.” Can’t I ever just have one moment to myself? She bitterly thought. No of course not because someone must hate me. Maui didn’t bother to answer as he sat down on the canoe while clutching his stomach and winced as the stinging died down. That attack should not have been that painful to him and yet the little princess somehow managed it. He wanted to know what the heck she was pretending to hit at and how on earth she managed to pack so much force in that one swing. Was she preparing to go up against a monster in the future? The realm of monsters would be in deep trouble if she ever entered it, if that were the case. “You won’t tell my dad about this, will you?!” Moana pleaded. “This is the only other place near the ocean where I can be alone without him getting mad at me!” When the man finally looked up, he was still wincing in pain but he still gave her a raised eyebrow and an annoyed look that clearly said ‘Are you serious?!’ Moana tried to protest, but she realized it wouldn’t help. Trying to resist and fight had gotten neither of them anywhere and it made matters a lot worse than they should have.  It made her all too aware of how much of an immature child she had been acting lately and she was just tired of it all. She gave up, let out a sigh, and sat down next to her companion. “Look, I’m sorry about all that I’ve done.” She began. “I know I’ve been acting like a spoiled brat instead of a chief like my father wants. And I know that some of the things I’ve done were unforgivable and I can’t take them back. Its just that being the next in line is a lot to take in sometimes and I just happen to find comfort in the very thing he hates.” She let out a frustrated laugh. “And I guess the way the things have been recently is clouding my judgement so I’d do anything to get a moment to myself.” As Moana shut her eyes and held her knees to her chest, Maui was finally starting to see the girl in all her vulnerability and not as the person he had known up until now. She was very spirited as well as being insanely stubborn, but when she was on that boat and singing her head off she became the happiest that he had ever seen her. It didn’t surprise him that much, considering who she had descended from, but he did find it odd that she (and to a certain extent, her own father) had to treat it as a forbidden delight. “I guess you heard me singing and saw me playing pretend on the boat, huh?” Moana asked. “The truth is that I don’t just go to the ocean to rebel against my father. I feel more like myself when I’m by it and I can relax after I have to deal with a lot of work. But more than anything–more than finally becoming a chief or getting my tattoos to mark my passage into womanhood–I want to take a boat out and sail upon the ocean. I want to do everything that my ancestors did and I want those simple things, like riding upon its surface. I know that sounds weird for someone like me, but I guess my parents just had to have a child who wanted to connect to the sea instead of the land.” She let out a weak laugh. “I try to, even if it isn’t easy at times. I take pride in the fact that I’m going to be the leader of my people and I want what’s best for them so I’m not as ungrateful as I must seem to be. I’ve tried to ignore the call of the ocean, but it still keeps calling for me.” She rested her head on her arms now. “Maybe you know what I’m talking about and maybe you don’t. Its ok if you don’t.” She added as she opened her eyes. There was a silence between the two as they reflected on the things that made them odd or out of place amongst the others. The only sound was that of the waterfall as it fell into the ocean below, and yet it was a comforting sound within what would have otherwise been a dead silence. Pua sat down upon the sand and observed the fact that, for one moment, there was no annoyance or amusement in Maui’s eyes towards Moana. Instead there was an unusual empathy within them that didn’t seem in character for him. It was interesting how, just within simple things like in the eyes, that there was more that could be revealed than within words or actions. And the truth was that he did understand that need to not be tied down in one place forever and that he did want to do what was best for the humans, even if it was difficult at times. “Father probably gave you a reason as to why he doesn’t want me to be near the ocean without an escort, let alone be in a boat, didn’t he?” Moana asked as she let go of her knees and let her legs hang off the boat. When Maui turned his head to nod at her, she continued. “One reason why my father doesn’t want me near the ocean is because his friend drowned in it when they were my age.” Moana began. “They tried to sneak out, but they took the wrong boat and the waves swallowed them up since it wasn’t designed to surpass them. Father obviously survived, but to this day he is afraid that mom and I could go the same way if we ever go out into the ocean. Yet there is also another reason that is a little more well known to the others,” She turned to Maui. “Did he tell you that I went missing when I was a child?” Maui nodded. “That’s the only part of the truth that he is open to sharing.” Moana prepared herself for this. “He doesn’t believe my story of what actually happened, so promise you won’t laugh when I tell you? I know it will be hard to believe when you hear it.” When Maui shook his head no, Moana told the story that only her grandmother believed in. “When I was a child, Pua and I also tried to sneak out in the dead of the night to get to the shore. What I didn’t expect was for these strange looking little creatures to come out of nowhere and kidnap the both of us. The next thing I knew, we were on the sea on a ship that was more like a large floating island of wood, debris, and who knows what else all tied together. Even the creatures looked as if they wore things that they collected throughout their lives.”
Wait a minute... Maui frowned at this as he realized that Moana was describing the kakamora’s ship. She even confirmed it when she continued “Grandma told me later that the creatures were none other than the kakamora. You know, like in the stories? I know its hard to believe, but anyway they kidnapped me because they knew that my father would do anything to get me back and they wanted to get supplies from him. I was ok with it at first until they said that they were going to eat Pua.” This was starting to sound oddly familiar to him. Actually it was familiar enough that it was as if it happened not that long ago. But it hadn’t been that long ago, hadn’t it? Wasn’t it many years ago long before this girl was even born? “So I kicked one and Pua and I tried to run away before they could hold us down. I had my hands tied behind my back and I could only kick them away. They caught up to Pua and I went back to help him when one of them sprayed something into my eyes and I was blinded by it.” Moana shuddered at the worst part of this memory, unaware of what kind of images she was creating in her companion’s mind. “I was terrified and I couldn’t see anything but darkness. I could only scream for help as they tried to surround me.” “NO, NO, NO!” He heard a child scream as he soared through the skies. “FATHER! MOTHER! SOMEONE HELP!” He looked down and he could see that the kakamora were surrounding a child and a small pig upon their ship. He had no clue why the little pests kidnapped a child, but he would not let them get away with it. “The next thing I recall is that I heard a bird cry out and they quickly let me go. It must have been a really large bird if they reacted like that.” The second he let out a cry in his hawk form, the kakamora realized who he was and let go of the child, who stumbled around as if she couldn’t see where she was going. “But then I was hit by something and I feel overboard into the sea.” The child suddenly fell into the ocean in the chaos and the pig was squealing its head off as it hurried to the edge and cried for the child. Without even hesitating, he dived towards the water and shifted into the form of a man right before he hit the water. “I thought I was going to drown. I was so terrified and I couldn’t swim at that time. Whatever hit me was making me fall asleep and just when I thought that I was going to die, I felt a hand grab me and I was pulled to the surface.” He found the girl as she struggled to swim up, but the binds that held her hands together made it impossible, so he grabbed her and swam up as fast as he could until they both broke through to the surface. He only allowed himself enough time to look at the child and he saw that a purple-black substance had covered her eyelids and she had lucked out in closing them before it could have gotten right into her eyes. She also had a dart lodged somewhere around her shoulder, which must have knocked her out and he realized that he had saved her just in the nick of time. He quickly turned himself into a hawk again and held onto her with one of his talons while the other went to grab the pig, who was terrified out of its mind. He lucked out in getting them as far away as possible and was forced to dodge the spears that were thrown at him. “I got you, kid!” He yelled. “Just hang on, I’ll get you somewhere safe!” There was only one known human inhabited island nearby where this child could have been taken from, but he first needed to get her a salve on her eyes before something bad would happen to them. “I fell asleep, but when I woke up I couldn’t see anything except for this blurriness in my eyes.” Moana waved a hand over her eyes. “I heard a man’s voice and when I was afraid that I had lost my sight forever, he reassured me and said that I wouldn’t and he even put a salve over them. Obviously he was right.” She laughed. He remembered the child and how terrified she had been; it made him happy to reassure her that she would be alright and she got excited over her adventure, which was an odd reaction for someone who went through what should have been a traumatic experience. Was Moana really that same child he rescued?! The same Moana who not only found him on the shore but had also been giving him so much heck was also the same child he once saved and who had offered her friendship without knowing who he was? “I remember that he joked about having the same thing happen to him and he told me that he saved Pua as well as me. When I thanked him, he pretty much sang the words ‘You’re welcome!’” She beamed as she threw her arms out and sang those words that he so often said in nearly the exact same tone he would use if he chose to sang it. It was this little detail that helped confirm that the child and this girl were truly one and the same. “I couldn’t make him out in my blindness.” Moana’s smile dimmed a little. “I wish I could find him and thank him once more. He didn’t find it crazy that I would want to go back to the ocean after what happened, and he supported my desire. He even told me that I could make a great explorer and that I could probably find myself in Lalotai one day. He was possibly one of the few people to ever support me being out there on the sea.” Moana let out a more genuine laugh before she frowned. “But its weird, I had this sense that he was lonely and depressed for some reason. So I wanted to be his friend and that seemed to make him a little happy.” During this whole time, Moana was unaware that Maui had this incredibly wide eyed look on his face as he listened to the entire story. In fact, if she had bothered to look, she would have seen that his jaw was about ready to hit the ground. How the heck did he not see it before?! Even now he was starting to see that it was indeed the same girl with the same features, though they had changed and matured a little since then. He could even finally see her true eye color now, which was a warm shade of brown. The more he looked, the more he couldn’t deny that Moana was indeed the same girl. Oh gods, that was right–when the people were calling out to her they used her exact name! How could he have forgotten that?! How did he not make that connection sooner through that alone?! He wanted to slap his face a hundred times over for not realizing this before; it could have saved him so much trouble. But wait a minute, didn’t that mean–? Maui looked down to see Pua finishing up with drawing a familiar looking fish hook in the sand and the pig determinedly pointed to it when he looked him in the eye. This time, Maui was able to figure out what Pua was trying to say through that symbol. Even the pig remembered him! In fact the pig was the only living thing on this island that knew who he really was! How could he have missed that too?! No wonder the creature still kept kept trying to draw his fish hook in the sand! The shocked look on Maui’s own face was enough for Pua to let out a big smile and sigh as he himself finally confirmed that both the demi-god and the man before him were truly one and the same after all. All Maui could do was quickly nod his head and put a finger to his lips before Pua could do anything to alert Moana. The pig’s eyes widened in confusion and Maui quickly stopped what he was doing before Moana could continue. “Maybe one day I’ll find him again, because I remember his voice.” Moana continued with a smile. “Its one of those voices you can’t forget. Its warm like when the sun is at its highest point in the sky and you feel better when you hear it. It was deep, but it was a friendly voice that was a little smug sounding at one point, but when he laughed I could just imagine him to be this big, happy guy. Even when he hugged me it felt the same way. Its like if you were to hug a mountain and the mountain hugs you back and you feel safe because of it.” When she turned her head, she saw that the man beside her was giving the most awkward look imaginable, though it was quickly joined by an amused smirk. She had no idea why until she remembered what she said. Uh, wow kid. Maui couldn’t help but think, although he liked how she described his voice and how he gave out hugs. “Argh its not like that!” Moana frantically waved her hands as she felt herself blush with embarrassment. “He could have been my dad’s age or even my grandmother’s age! He might not have even been human or–I just don’t–I swear I’m not romantically interested in him, I just want to see what he looks like and say thank you again!” Moana blurted out before she cringed and held her face in her hands. “Oh gods, why did I say any of that?!” Her reaction made Maui smile, but it also hid just how much he was frustrated. Only one thing could have changed everything and Moana would have known that she was sitting right next to the person who saved her long before they were at each others necks. If he could only say the two words he liked to say the most to mortals, then this matter would have been cleared in an instant. Of all the times he wished he could of had his voice back and not taken up that offer in the first place, this currently had to top them all. Someone out there must have really hated him to allow this to happen. Oh wait yeah there was (he was probably having a laugh over it somewhere under the sea) and Maui just had to fall for it. Unfortunately, if Moana realized who he was, then there would have been a good chance that she would have seen him as just a character in her life rather than an actual person, which he had to avoid if he wanted to survive his current ordeal. If she was the person who was to help him get out of this, then she had to know him for who he was which meant that something needed to be changed in their interactions with each other. Maui glanced back to the sail as he realized that there was now another reason why he would need to get his voice back as soon as possible. Moana had opened up to him more in this day than in the majority of the time he knew her since he showed up and though he couldn’t flat out tell her who he was, there was perhaps something he could do instead for her if he was extremely careful. After all, he didn’t earn a reputation of being a trickster for nothing. He got back up onto the boat and picked up the oar to examine it and when Moana finally turned around and saw what he was doing, she was able to pick up the hint he was trying to give her. “Can you sail?” She asked as she tried to forget the awkwardness of the last moment. “Not just any boat, but this kind?” Maui looked up from the oar and smiled as he nodded in confirmation. “Could you–?!” Moana excitedly began but then she realized how eager she seemed and how fast this could go in another direction. “Could you teach me?” Her voice was a little less certain. Instead of answering, Maui weighed the oar in his hand at an agonizingly slow pace as he gave Moana a waiting look. It took her a couple of seconds to get why he wasn’t answering her. “You... you want me to stop fighting with you, right?” Moana asked. He nodded but he still did the same movement. “And I’ll have to do everything you tell–err, show me, right?” Same reaction. “Ok, granted that might be hard but I guess you’ll find a way. And you won’t let my dad find out right?” Moana asked as she frowned. “If he finds out, then we both get in trouble.” She warned him.
This time he shook his head no. “And you better keep your promise and not tell him if you really mean to help me! I mean it, no take backs!” He nodded and Moana let out a relieved smile, though she was not fully convinced about this just yet. “Thanks.” Maui set the oar back down, got off the boat, and began to walk away. “Wait, not right now?” Moana asked as she hurried to get up and catch up to him. Maui only turned to give Moana a look she couldn’t read. “You’ll give me a sign or let me know though, right?” Maui nodded and turned around to head back. “By the way,” Moana added as she caught up to him as she realized she owed him something in return. “I–uh–thank you for helping us.” She finally said. “I don’t know what you’ve gone through and I don’t know where it is you need to go to or why when this is all over... but I just want to thank you for all your help and for putting up with me and the others in the meantime.” This made Maui hesitate and Moana waited to see how he would react. He turned around and gave her an appreciative smile as he placed his hand on her shoulder. She could once again feel the strength within his grip that matched his size, yet his hold now felt comforting. She watched as he mouthed something and she knew, without a doubt, what he was trying to say to her. ‘You’re welcome.’ Meanwhile, Pua was frustrated as he caught up to them. Why wouldn’t Maui allow Pua to let Moana know who he was? Did it have to do with his current appearance or why he couldn’t speak? He watched as Moana slipped out of Maui’s grasp and began to head back to the pathway that lead back to the island. As Maui turned around to follow her, the little creature let out a grunt of annoyance and trailed behind him while glaring at the former demi-god. But then, without any warning, something strange happened that caught Pua’s attention thanks to the amount of light that had managed to enter the cave through the waterfall. He thought he saw the ink on one of the tattoos on Maui’s arm waver for a moment like water rocking back and forth. Then the ink suddenly changed in shape and a small something that Pua could barely make out with what little light there was in the cave merged out of it. Whatever the thing was, it had a human shape and it gave Pua a quick wave before it merged back into the tattoo, just as Maui froze up and looked behind his shoulder. Maui moved his arm in a specific direction to try to see where he had felt the strangely familiar sensation upon his skin and even touched the spot with a hopeful look in his eyes. Maui looked at the spot for a couple of seconds before he gave up and walked away. Pua tried to comprehend what he just saw but he decided to save it for another time and continued to follow the others.

Later that night, Sina sighed in relief as she watched Moana speak to the man who she used to butt heads with until now from a distance near the fale. She was glad that her daughter was finally looking more at ease and that she seemed a little more confident now than she did this morning. She was also grateful that the tempest between the two had finally ended as it would make things much easier for everyone. “See, I told you so.” Sina felt Tui wrapped his arms around her and she placed her hands upon them. “I don’t know what happened since her practice, but its nice to see her smiling a genuine again.” He commented. “Well I suppose you were right this time.” Sina admitted. “What do you mean ‘this time’?” Sina snorted and let out a laugh. “Ok, you have been right more than once. Otherwise I doubt I’d have married you by now.” “And I would have had to rescue you from the big bad eel instead of trusting you to do it yourself.”
“Oh gods,” Sina groaned but she appreciated her husband’s sense of humor. “I wouldn’t have minded a little adventure but luckily I wasn’t that Sina.” “While we are on the subject,” Tui began as he traced imaginary circles on his wife’s arm. “Are you feeling any better? Your illness has been going on for quite sometime.” “It comes and goes.” Sina sighed. “Usually in the mornings.”
Tui stopped tracing the circles as a thought struck him. “You don’t think–?” He began. “I mean it sounds as if–” “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Sina smiled as she caught onto what he was trying to suggest. “But its been so long since it happened before and I don’t know if it could happen again at this rate.”
“If it were, then I wouldn’t mind it.” Tui confessed. “That would be only one of two reasons why I would accept you being sick. The other is that I would get to tend to you.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Oh you tease!” Sina chuckled as she playfully swatted her husband on the arm. “You don’t really mean that!” Meanwhile, Moana waved farewell to her new friend and began to head back to the fale. Although she didn’t entirely trust him just yet, she was still hopeful that he would keep his word so now it was a matter of how this odd arrangement would work. As she walked to the fale, she saw her grandmother starring up into the sky some distance away. Confused as to why the woman was not at her home (and so far away at that) Moana headed towards her grandmother. As she got closer, she saw that her grandmother wore a very concerned look on her face and she was gripping her cane rather tightly. “Is something wrong?” Moana asked. “Are you considering a new tattoo?” She joked. Tala chuckled. “Ah, it would be fun, but no I’m afraid not.” She frowned at the dark night sky and the stars that illuminated it as well as a little of the moon that glowed brightly above them all. “Moana, I must ask you something that may sound odd. Does something about the sky seem out of place to you?” Moana took a moment to look at the night sky. “No?”
“Look everywhere.”
Moana obeyed and looked at the sky, but she couldn’t find anything out of place. “I don’t see anything.”
“Not even above us?” Moana looked up. “Nothing seems wrong.”
“Our ancestors used the stars to guide their way across the ocean to help them know where they were going.” Tala held her hand out in the position that the wayfinders used with all her effort. “As long as we had them, we could find our way. Yet there is a set of stars that has been missing for many nights, no matter how much I have looked. Up, down, left, right, I have looked everywhere and yet they are gone.” “Which ones?” Tala’s hand dropped. “That would be the ones that make the shape of Maui’s fish hook. It was said that following that constellation would lead you to him, no matter where he is, yet they have vanished without a trace.” The way Tala sounded concerned made Moana worried. It was never a good thing if her grandmother was deeply concerned about something. “What could that mean?” Moana asked. “Something must have happened to Maui and I fear that whatever it was, it was enough to make his stars vanish.” Tala bit her lip for a moment. “I doubt he is dead, but I have a bad feeling that whatever it was that caused the stars to vanish, it was not good. There’s no telling what will happen if this isn’t changed and I hope for Maui’s sake that this isn’t because he lost the favor of the gods or committed a terrible crime.” Tala shook her head and smiled. “Well, see you in the morning.” She made her way back to her fale and left Moana staring up at the night sky. “There would have to be a reason why his constellation has vanished.” Moana spoke to herself as a fear crept up inside her. “What could he have done to lose the favor of the gods, if there is no other reason?” She closed her eyes. “Please tell me that’s not the case.” She pleaded in hopes that the demi-god could hear her. “If you don’t live among us then you at least live on in our stories. You must know how much you mean to us so please don’t let us lose our faith in you. Otherwise I’d grab you by the ear and demand that you fix this.” She added with a scowl. She hoped that whatever had happened would be something that could be fixed and be done as soon as possible.

Well on one hand, Maui FINALLY knows who Moana is so now its a question of how soon SHE figures it out/learns who he is. On the other... well, we shall see since it looks like there still might be trouble on the horizon. And yeah, I confess that I wanted her to share Ariel’s role with Maui a little because it made too much sense. *laughs* I’ve rarely written out adorable married couple interactions, so I admit that the little interaction between Tui and Sina was enjoyable. Ok, ok. I better get this answered since I know you guys have asked me this a few times. So some of you wanted to know if I will make Tamatoa use Maui’s voice and some of you have probably been wondering that and haven’t asked in a review yet. If you don’t want any spoilers, I’d recommend avoiding this, but here is the answer. Ready? Ok? Alrighty then. Starting now. .....I’m horrible at this. Ok, NOW! You were warned. The answer is no. I’ve already hinted at it in the story a few times but I’m going ahead and confirming that Tamatoa is NOT going to use Maui’s voice because I cannot see him doing that. He’s a rather vain fellow and to him that would be stupid as he would rather use his own voice. I got something planned and I promise it will be good, but please be patient and try to avoid asking anymore about it because I don’t want to spoil anything that might be unique to this AU. Ok, then, I think I’ve gathered enough tomatoes now. Until next time, my readers. -*Somewhere in Renaissance era Paris, France*- What should have been an enjoyable festival was quickly ruined as the sky rained down  an endless storm of tomatoes upon the heads of what was a mob of cruel and mocking party goers. “WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!” One of them screamed. On a wooden contraption that was somehow spared by this rain and in front of a person who had been tied down to a wheel was an oddly dressed female who was manically laughing her head off as she threw her hands to the sky. “REVENGE! SWEET REVENGE!” She cried out in joy. “IT’S NOT SO FUNNY WHEN YOU ARE ON THE OTHER END, IS IT YOU SICKOS?!” She yelled out to the crowd. “WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS SOONER?!” She let out an evil sounding laugh. “GODS I LOVE BEING A FAN FIC WRITER!” “She is clearly an agent of the devil!” A creepy man in black pointed at her from his chair. “Grab her and burn her at the stake!” The female only let out a delighted grin and pulled a sword out. “FOR JUSTICE!” She screamed her head off as she leapt off the podium and ran towards the man. “THIS IS FOR THOSE WHO GET OPPRESSED BY PEOPLE LIKE YOU, YOU MISERABLE OLD-!” -*this scene is not to be continued as it deviates too much from the fan fic and we can’t afford a pointless filler chapter. The writer’s revenge fantasy in a Disney film is not as important as this fan fic and does not fit in with the fan fic in any shape or form. We apologize for any inconvenience and offer Disneyland balloons to make up for this.*-

[pengychan]

Te Rerenga Wairua - Ch. 7

Title: Te Rerenga Wairua Summary: Found by the gods drifting at sea, Maui always assumed he had been thrown in it to drown. When that assumption is challenged, there is only one way to find closure: speaking to his long-departed family. But it’s never a smooth sail to the Underworld, and he’ll need help from a friend - plus a token that fell in the claws of an old enemy long ago. Characters: Maui, Moana, Tamatoa Rating: K Prologue and links to all chapters up so far here.

A/N: by unpopular demand (read: no one fucking asked) here’s two flashbacks at the price of one. Neither of them happy.  You’re welcome.

***

For centuries, especially after finding himself stranded on an island with plenty of time to think and not much else, Maui would sometimes wonder how could he not realize Tamatoa had been the one behind the attacks.

As more and more humans spoke of missing ships and expeditions, of a monster raiding their villages in the cover of darkness to take anything valuable, he should have known right away. Everything, from the target - treasure rather than food or the pleasure of hunt - to the locations, none of them far away from Tamatoa’s island, should have been one huge red flag with a dozen arrows on it, all of them pointing towards his old friend. How could he not see it?

The answer was simpler than he would have liked: he hadn’t seen it because he hadn’t wanted to. It had to be some other monster, because why would Tamatoa do a such thing? He knew how important humans were to him. And he was his friend, or so he had thought, so of course he had dismissed the idea he may be responsible. It had been some other monster in the area Maui that would hunt down. That was it. It couldn’t be Tamatoa, because he was his buddy and he knew him well. He would never, he had thought.

… Would he?

He would, and he had. The day Tamatoa made a mistake, raiding a village before sundown and allowing the villagers to see him and describe their attacker, Maui wouldn’t tell what was it that enraged him most: his actions, or the sense of betrayal.

I trusted him!

He stormed to the island Tamatoa had made his own, swam through the underwater entrance of his cave with that thought in mind pulsing like an infected wound through the disbelief. Part of him had hoped there could be some other explanation, that he would be proven wrong. For the first time in his entire life he’d welcome being wrong, if that meant he and Tamatoa would get to laugh together at the stupid thought he’d had - but those hopes were dashed the moment he reached the empty cave.

It was only empty in the sense that Tamatoa was not there, because all kinds of treasure and shiny trinkets were scattered about. Far more than there had been last time he’d been there… and some of them, those at the very top of the pile, looked familiar even though he’d never seen them, because the villagers had described them. The Chief’s family heirlooms, shining with gold and gems, taken no more than three days earlier.

It was him. All this time, it was him.

A sound of splashing water warned him that someone else was emerging from the sea into the cave, but he didn’t bother turning. He kept staring at the treasure, his grip on the handle of his fishhook tight.

“Hey, who’s-- oh, hey, Maui! About time you dropped by again! What are you doing here, man? If you think you’re going to drag me into another of your--”

Whatever Tamatoa was about to say next died in his throat when Maui turned, his face twisted with fury. His eyes moved slowly from his face to the treasure, then to his fishhook, then finally back to Maui. He straightened himself, the wide-eyed look of a child caught with his hands in the sweets jar fading into wariness. “Don’t you know it’s rude to just let yourself in--”

Maui let out a snarl, and hit the closest wall of the cave with his hook, causing the whole place to shake and small rocks and pebbles to rain down. Tamatoa yelped and took a few steps back, trying to say something, but Maui ignored whatever he babbled. It didn’t matter. There was one thing he wanted to hear from him, and one only.

“Why?” he snapped, taking a menacing step forward.

Tamatoa flinched back. “W-well, because it’s good form not to show up and--”

“Don’t even try, Tamatoa,” Maui cut him off. The human’s pleas to do something to protect them - people who had seen their homes destroyed and heirlooms stolen, who had never seen their brothers and sisters return from what should have been a brief and easy voyage - still rang in his ears, along with his own rushing blood. “Tell me why.”

“Look, buddy, I don’t know what you’re talking--”

“I am not your buddy,” Maui cut him off again. “I am the hero of men. And I am also an idiot, because I trusted you and forgot what you are.”

“... An old friend?” Tamatoa tried, his voice a bit weaker than before. He had taken a few more steps back, but now his rear was pressed against a stone wall, and there was nowhere for him to run - if not through Maui, who was not up to let him go anywhere until they had a good talk.

He scowled. “A monster,” he spat. “I was wrong thinking you were any different. Sinking ships, raiding villages--”

“I didn’t do anything!” Tamatoa protested, lifting his claws. “I--”

“They have seen you, and you have their treasure in your cave!”

“Well, I… I just found it! And it could have been another like me they saw--”

“THERE ARE NO OTHERS!” Maui roared, causing him to flinch. “Do you really still think there is anyone but you left? They’re all gone, thank the Gods - good riddance of all of you!”

The fear on Tamatoa’s face vanished in a flash of anger. “Don’t,” he warned, his voice clipped and cold, but Maui was beyond even hearing him.

“Unless you want me to finish the job nature started and butcher you where you stand, tell me why you did it,” he growled, pointing his hook against him. His anger was barely in check and he knew, without a shadow of doubt, that if he’d been facing anyone else - any other monster except Tamatoa - he wouldn’t have bothered threatening: he would have simply delivered, and ensured he could never hurt a human ever again.

“Why?” Tamatoa repeated, and scowled. “Because treasure is wasted on them. Because I take what I want,” he said, and took a step forward. “Because I’m tired of having to stay out of sight. Because they’re fun to clobber and I look really, really cool while doing it.”

Maui ground his teeth. “Cool? Have you gone mad? Humans are helpless against you. None of those is a good enough reason--”

“Oh, but it’s a good reason to beat up a monster or two every once in a while, isn’t it?” Tamatoa shot back, and leaned closer. “Because it makes you look good and they’re fun to clobber. Why shouldn’t we do the same? Why is everyone fair game except your darlings?”

“That has nothing to do--”

“Didn’t you go and steal fire because you figured your precious humans could use it? Killed a giant eel because it was inconveniencing them, and buried its guts to get coconut trees for them? Beat up the sun itself? Didn’t you chase monsters away from their territory to make space for humans? Take treasure from the deep to give it all to them, beating up everyone in your wa--”

“ENOUGH!”

Maui swung his hook, causing Tamatoa to yelp and make a hasty retreat. Maui glared up at him, eyes aflame. “This is nothing like anything I did! You only want to hoard treasure, while all I did I did for humans--”

“No,” Tamatoa cut him off, his voice sharp. “You want to hoard praise. You want to show off. You like to think you’re so much better, but it’s all about yourself, ‘cause your mama left you to drown and you’re not over it. At least I’m honest about-- ow!” he trailed off with a cry when Maui swung his hook again, and this time caught one of his claws.

“All you are is a COWARD! They stood no chance against you!”

The blow caused the giant crab to scramble back, eyes wide, and lift both claws to protect his head, eyes darting around the cave. He was at a disadvantage in there, and he had to know it. The cave was large enough for him to sleep in and hoard his treasure, large enough to take a few steps, but not nearly enough for him to move around easily - not anymore. If a fight broke out, Tamatoa’s own size would work against him, giving Maui the upper hand almost immediately. And it was tempting, oh Gods, wasn’t it tempting, with fury burning in his chest and thudding in his head.

Yet, Maui made an effort to lower his hook and control his voice before speaking again. “Listen here and listen good, old buddy,” he all but growled. “You can count yourself lucky I considered you a friend at any point, or else you’d be done for, here and now.”

“H-hah! I’d like to see you try--”

“No,” Maui cut him off. “No, you wouldn’t and you know it. So be thankful I will not do it and listen,” he added, taking a step forward. “I don’t want to hear another peep from you, or about you, ever again. Which of course means that you’re never to bother humans again. Because if you do, I’ll hear about it and I’ll make you regret it dearly. Is that clear?”

Tamatoa scoffed. “Well, who would have guessed. So I’m not the exception anymore, am I?”

“Believe me, the fact I’m not ending you here and now makes you very much an exception. Now, I won’t ask again. Did I make myself perfectly clear?”

Tamatoa narrowed his eyes, giving him a look of pure malevolence. “Crystal,” he all but spat.

“Good,” Maui spat back. “I’ll be taking back the heirlooms you stole from the village you raided last, and if you try to stop me--” he began, gesturing towards the pile of treasure with his hook, but he trailed off when he realized something was wrong with said hook. It didn’t feel like it was the right weight, the right size or the right texture anymore, and… why was it sticky?

With a frown, Maui turned to look at the object he was holding in his hand, and screamed. It wasn’t his hook he was holding, not at all.

It was a severed crab leg, covered in blue blood.

***

“AH!”

Maui awoke with a scream in his throat that only came out as a choked out gasp because he’d tried to breathe in at the same time. He stared up at the stars, chest rising and falling fast, and it took him a few moments to realize where he was. He sat up, trying to breathe slowly, and to his relief Moana hadn’t stirred: she was sleeping only a few feet away, curled up next to the fire, her face turned towards the ocean. It was a relief: he really didn’t want to have to explain what had jolted him awake.

Purposely avoiding to turn in the general direction of the all-too-noticeable being currently sharing the island with them, Maui silently reached for a couple of logs, placed them in the fire to keep it from dying down before dawn, and settled back down to slee--

“Nnnnh….”

Maui immediately sat up as if he’d just rested on a needle, and turned to look to the spot where Tamatoa slept without even thinking about it. He was resting some distance away, but still close enough for some of the fire’s flickering light to show his features. He was screwing his eyes shut and shifting slightly in his sleep, his breath occasionally coming out in shuddering gasps and bioluminescence briefly flickering on and off. It looked like Maui wasn’t the only one unable to rest well that night.

Good, he thought. He tried to make himself lie back down, and go back to sleep.

Except that he couldn’t.

***

For centuries, especially after returning to Lalotai for the final time and making it his home - like he should have done centuries earlier, his Gran would have said - Tamatoa would stare at the stump where his leg should have been and wonder why hadn’t he taken Maui’s threat seriously enough.

He had know that he’d find out, even before he attacked that last ship, because of course another one going missing right in that area would be as good as a written confession, if he knew how to write to begin with. And of course he’d heard loud and clear what Maui had promised he’d do if he tried to pull that again - but hearing it was one thing, believing he would go through with it another. Sure, he had been mad, but hadn’t he seen him mad before? Of course he had. Maui was a bleeding heart when it came to people he knew, all bark and no bite. Tamatoa knew him well.

And besides, he was his buddy. He could threaten, but he would never, he had thought.

… Would he?

He would, and he had. He’d come for him little before sunset, while he was idly catching fish in low water beneath the highest cliff of the island, and for the first time since Tamatoa knew him he had hardly wasted any words: a thundering growl had been the only warning he’d got before Maui had launched himself on him from the cliff above, hook in his fist and clearly meaning business.

“Wha-- hey!” Tamatoa had yelped, and lifted his pincers just one time. The blow threw him back, but he took it without damage. “What’s was that abo--”

“You know EXACTLY what that was about!” Maui roared, and attacked again - and then again and again, forcing Tamatoa back towards the rocky shore, raining down blow after blow. “I told you humans are off limits, and you harmed them for the last time! I should have ended you last time instead of leaving you alive to do it again!”

For a moment, Tamatoa was unable to feel anything but incredulity; then, as he blocked another blow, said incredulity was washed away by anger. “Is that IT?” he snapped, and caught the hook in mid-air, blocking it with his claw. Maui snarled and tried to pull it back; Tamatoa resisted, glaring down at him. “Seriously? You’ve known me for thousands of years! I helped you slow down the sun for those useless, tiny, short-lived things, and now you turn on me because a few of them are whining over lost treasure that was wasted on the--”

“You were warned, and I was wrong to trust you,” Maui snarled, and managed to pull the hook free. Still, he didn’t try to strike again - not physically, at least. “You’re not worth the worst of them, you bottom-feed--”

It took less than an instant for anger to turn into boiling fury, and Tamatoa struck sideways, catching Maui on the side of the head and throwing him ashore. It would have been enough to kill any of his precious humans, but Maui wasn’t one of them anymore and he was immediately back on his feet, hook raised and teeth bared in a snarl.

Bring it, his expression said, and Tamatoa did.

They had traded blows many times, but never for real: while it had caused the occasional bruise or limp, neither of them had really gone into it with the intention to hurt. Now, they both fought to maim and kill - but despite all the viciousness they knew each other too well for the fight to end quickly. Maui was lighting-fast, almost impossible to hit, and Tamatoa’s shell was tough enough to withstand the blows, his pincers coming up to shield his unprotected head and neck before Maui could deal any serious damage. They kept clashing, tearing down trees and cracking rocks, neither of them gaining the upper hand as the sun went lower and lower at the horizon, making it look as though the sea and the sky were bleeding. For a moment Tamatoa thought it would never end, that they would stay locked in fight for all eternity, or until one of them collapsed - then, finally, a well-placed blow struck Maui’s hawk form out of the sky.

He was thrown on the ground, once again in his human hide, the hook knocked several feet away… too far for him to reach. With a cry that held rage and triumph in equal measure, Tamatoa slammed his claw down on him. He was fast, he could move quickly if he wanted to, but not quite enough. Maui rolled away right before Tamatoa struck, cracking the stone in the spot he’d been only an instant earlier, and that was it. Tamatoa never got another try.

For a moment all he felt was a grip on one of his legs, and then a pull. He heard a ripping noise, not unlike that of a large sail being torn, loud enough to cover Maui’s grunt of effort. He watched Maui staggering back with something in his hands that, for a few moments, his mind failed - or refused - to recognize.

Then, suddenly, all that his brain could register was pain.

There was a scream, one Tamatoa didn’t even realize had come from him. His own voice sounded alien to him. He staggered back, or tried to, but something was wrong, he couldn’t balance himself, he was hurting and leaning on one side and something was wro--

Tamatoa tried to catch his footing, but he had nothing to lean on on his front left, and agony kept him from thinking clearly enough, from trying anything to stop the fall. The ground rushed up to meet him, and he let out another scream when he hit his injured leg - no it’s not injured it’s gone there’s nothing but a stump - on the rocky ground.

Before him, Maui stood in silence and watched, Tamatoa’s leg still in his hands, twitching weakly. It was only when the blood reached his hands that he recoiled, as though snapped out of a trance, and stared at the severed limb he was holding. He shuddered, and dropped it as though it had caught fire. He stepped back, shaking his head, and turned to look at Tamatoa. Through the haze of pain, Tamatoa couldn’t even tell what the look of his face was.

Didn’t I tell you to keep away from humans, Tinytoa?, his Gran’s voice echoed somewhere in his mind. If they catch you they’ll pull you out of the shell, crack you open and eat you up.

But Maui wouldn’t, he tried to protest, except that he couldn’t. He found himself unable to speak, unable to scream again, and he wasn’t even that sure anymore. He didn’t know what he’d do to him now. He didn���t know anything past the fact that he was hurting. Tamatoa closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, trying with all his might to move, at least to get his weight off the bleeding stump, but he couldn’t do it, his entire body numb with shock.

“Maui,” he managed. He wasn’t sure what he meant to say - whether he wanted to threaten him or to ask for help - but a threat now would be laughable, and help did not come. Instead there was pressure on his back, and he knew Maui was standing on him even before he opened his eyes and forced himself to turn his head and look up, too weak to fight anymore and unable to even speak, to beg or bargain.

Maui was holding the fishhook high above his head, against a red sky, ready to deliver the final blow. He looked every bit the hero he had made himself out to be all along, about to vanquish yet another monster, one of many. Had Tamatoa focused on his face, he would have noticed his expression was anything but a hero’s: it was that of someone who’d rather be anywhere else in the world. But he did not look closely enough, cobwebs of darkness starting to cloud his vision, and just let his head fall back on the ground with a whimper.

“I had warned you,” Maui was saying somewhere above him. His voice shook but, once again, Tamatoa failed to notice.

This is it, this is how it ends, he thought. He’ll take the treasure back to his precious humans and they’ll celebrate all night long. Maybe he’ll take me to them, too, so they can crack me open and eat me up. What’s a celebration without food?

In reality, the fatal blow had never come. Above him, the hook had stayed lifted up in the air for several moments before it began to shake and, in the end, it had been lowered slowly.

“Just in case you ever think about harming humans again, old buddy, I want you to remember this,” Maui had finally spoken, forcing his voice to stay cold. On his skin, Tamatoa’s effigy had disappeared from his chest to form again behind his shoulder, in an entirely different context, leaving Maui to hold onto the sun on his own. “From this moment on, every breath you take is a gift from me.”

In Tamatoa’s nightmares, however, things would often go differently, and that one time was no exception. Above him, Maui laughed and tightened his grip on the fishhook.

“No hard feelings, Crabby. It’s a hero thing,” he said, and brought it down on his neck, causing the world around him to explode in pain.

***

Throughout her life, Moana had been awakened in a variety of ways. By sunlight, by thunder and rain, by her people’s chattering and singing, by the sound of waves, by her stupid chicken being himself, by Pua’s snout against her neck, by the screech of Maui’s hawk form - just to name a few.

However, a blood-curling scream from a creature fifty feet tall was definitely on top of her Would Not Recommend list.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!”

“What the-- no, hey! What’s gotten into you? Stop it!”

Maui’s bellow reached her ears as soon as she sat up, along with Pua’s squeal when he ran off from her side to go hide behind her boat. He was standing before Tamatoa’s trashing form, struggling to keep him down as he scrambled in the futile attempt to get up. His bioluminescence, a threatening display last time she'd seen it, came on and off wildly and without control, a flurry of light and color making the sight all the more chaotic. Maui may have not been able to hold him down normally, but this was no normal situation: Tamatoa was weakened, and probably would have had trouble standing either way.

“Stay down, idiot! You’ll just make your wound worse!”

Moana didn’t remember jumping on her feet, but she must have done so, because the next moment she was rushing by Maui’s side - although he seemed to need no help, not really. Tamatoa had stopped thrashing, and his screams had died down into a series of choked out gasps, claws reaching up to cover his head. When Maui tried to reach for him, he flinched.

“No,” he whined, and seemed to be trying - with very little success - to make himself smaller. The colors on him glowed brightly once more before dulling and then fading. “Don’t. Please please please don’t.”

At a complete loss, Moana turned to look at Maui, who shook his head. He seemed as taken aback as she was. “I didn’t do anything, honest! I just tried to wake him up and he panicked.”

“Why did you…?”

“He looked like he was having a nightmare, or something, and I thought I should snap him out of--” Maui began, only to trail off when Tamatoa let out another whine - “It hurts!” - and tried to reach for the back of his neck. He immediately stepped forward to grab his claw. “No, wait - don’t, right back at you. Look at me, Crabcake. Don’t touch it. It’s only going to make it worse.”

Tamatoa froze at the touch, one pincer still up to cover his head. One eye looked down at Maui; in the faint light of the moon and the fire Moana could see it was wide with fear, like he was expecting Maui to tear off his arm any moment, or--

… Wait a minute.

He looked like he was having a nightmare, or something.

Not since I ripped off his leg.

Please please please don’t.

Moana found herself thinking back of the worst nightmare she’d had in her life, when she’d stood helplessly watching darkness consume her island, her people, her parents. She remembered the terror upon awakening, those horrible instants when she’d been unable to tell dream from reality. It had only lasted moments, but she’d been healthy and well - not barely recovering from a deep wound and the resulting blood loss. Tamatoa was far from well and, with Maui standing before him, he was still trapped in that limbo where reality and nightmare are one and the same.

“Maui? Let me handle this,” Moana called out, putting a hand on his arm. “Step back.”

Maui frowned. “Are you sure? He’s freaking out and--”

“He’s scared. I think it’s best if he doesn’t see you standing too close. Just trust me.”

He did, of course, and stepped back as she had asked. Moana drew in a deep breath, and put a hand down on Tamatoa’s pincer, well aware of the fact he could kill her in instants if he lost it. She smiled up at him, trying to look like she meant it. “Hey. Remember me?”

Tamatoa, who’d been staring at Maui’s retreating form, blinked and looked down at her. For a few moments, he just seemed dizzy. Then he frowned, resting his head down on the sand. “Human,” he muttered. That seemed to calm him down almost right away; if anything, Moana guessed, because her presence was a rather strong hint that his nightmare had been just that. A fading nightmare. “The smart one.”

“I won’t be offended if you call me Moana, you know,” she said lightly, and gave his claw a light knock. “Mind if I climb up?”

He didn’t even seem to hear her question, and Moana decided to take it as a yes. “My neck hurts,” he complained, staring at her as she stood on top of his claw, then he frowned again. “I’m not dead though, am I?”

“Of course not,” Moana reassured him, and reached up to place a hand between his eyestalks. “You’re alive and well. You just had a nightmare.”

“But it hurts. Maui was--”

“It wasn’t him. There was a bit of an accident with the Kakamora, remember?”

“... Oh. Right,” Tamatoa muttered, then he seemed to perk up some. At least, his antennae and eyestalks did. “But I took their treasure! Right? I think I took their treasure.”

“Sure you did. It’s right over there. No, no, don’t,” she added quickly when Tamatoa tried to turn. “Don’t turn. You’d only hurt your neck. It is there - just trust me.”

The look he gave her was somewhat doubtful, but he did settle down again, head leaning in slightly against her palm. Moana gave him a tentative scratch, and was rather amused to see his eyes narrowing a little, and his frame relax another fraction. It reminded her of Pua’s reaction to head scratches, and she had to hold back a laugh at the absurdity of the comparison.

Mom, dad, I’m back. This is Tamatoa. He followed me home. Can we keep him?

Tamatoa would probably be mortally offended if he knew about that thought, so she made a mental note to share it with Maui once well out of his earshot before speaking again. “Now try to get some sleep, okay? You need to rest and--”

“You said I was amazing,” Tamatoa cut him off. His voice sounded sleepy, and keeping his eyes open seemed to be taking him an effort. Whether it was because of exhaustion or because Moana had found the right spot to scratch - didn’t crabs usually fall asleep if scratched on the abdomen? Might be interesting to try that if she ever got a chance - she couldn’t tell. “You meant it, right?”

Didn’t care either way, huh? “Sure I did.”

“Honest?”

“On my ancestors,” Moana said, and it wasn’t a lie, really. What he’d done was amazing.

“But I’m not shiny any--”

… Really now? “Who cares about that?”

“I do!” Tamatoa whined, and Moana almost rolled her eyes. How could he be so dense?

“Look, you took on a ship full of Kakamora all on your own and won. How many can say the same? Maui couldn’t,” she added, half-expecting Maui to protest, but instead he stayed silent. That was unusual, but at least it helped, because Tamatoa’s dimming gaze stayed fixed on hers. There was a twitch on his face that looked remarkably like an attempt at grinning.

“That’s right. Heh. Pretty glad I didn’t…” he paused, and whatever he was going to say next - ‘eat you’, most likely - was lost in a yawn. “Hey, about the song, did you… did you like…?”  Tamatoa yawned again. His eyes slipped shut, and he mumbled something else, or tried to.

“Shhh,” Moana said, and rested her forehead against his. “Just slee--”

"Srrnnnk-zzz..."

… Well. That had been quick.

Slowly, Moana pulled back and climbed off the pincer. Tamatoa’s snoring went from painfully loud to barely audible within seconds, and then, with a snort, it ceased. That was a relief: if he’d kept that up, there would have been no more sleep for them. Although, come to think of it, Maui looked like he’d be getting no more sleep regardless. He was biting his lower lip, absent-mindedly rubbing his hands as though he was trying to clean them, and his gaze was fixed on Tamatoa. More specifically, on the stump of his missing limb. He must have guessed what the nightmare had been about, like she had, and he looked quite uncomfortable about it.

“Are you okay?”

Maui recoiled, and gave her a lopsided grin. It wasn’t very convincing. “Sure. Say, mind if I borrow your boat? Just to go fishing. I won’t even shut you into a cave this time.”

Moana made a face. “How nice of you. You’re not even subjecting me to a musical number,” she joked. Much to her surprise, Maui paused and reached up to rub the back of his neck.

“I, uh. Didn’t apologize for that, did I?” he muttered.

“... For the musical number? It wasn’t that bad--”

“I left you there thinking you’d never make it out of that cave,” Maui explained, avoiding her gaze. “You could have died in there, but I didn’t care. You had something I wanted - the boat - and I just… didn’t care what happened to you as long as I had it and could leave with it.”

Oh ancestors, please no. That wasn’t the kind of talk Moana wanted to put up with at the moment. “Well, I did make it out,” she pointed out. “The Ocean chose me for a reason and so on. And besides, I’d say everything that came after that counts as an apology. If you don’t think so,” she added lightly, reaching to grab her oar and hand it to him, “feel free to catch some breakfast for me as well.”

Maui stared at her for a moment, then his expression melted in a grin. “Hah! I’ll make sure to keep some fish aside for you. The big guy over there eats plenty.”

“Yep, I’ve seen it. But as long as it keeps me off the menu, I have no complaints,” she commented, causing Maui to chuckle.

“I think you’re firmly out of it, no worries. Looks like he’s taken a shine to you,” he said. Moana stared at him, dead-panned, and Maui shrugged. “Well, I thought it was funny. Bet Crabcake would agree.”

Because you have the worst sense of humor, Moana thought, but decided not to say as much. After all, that meant they had at least some common ground left, and she supposed it was sort of a good thing.

Not that it made their sense of humor any better.

***

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