#hey if any of you catch the really discrete song reference I'll love you forever

[fallen-gravity]

Protection

Fandom: Moana

Category: Gen

Relationship: Moana & Maui

Word Count: 3,080

Summary: Sometimes, words just...aren’t enough. Sure, they’re really great and really helpful if they’re well inteded and coming from the right person- but sometimes? Sometimes you just want to be held.

Notes: 

Okay, look. Moana loves being held and touched and hugged. I will stand by this headcanon until either the day I die or the day the Moana team themselves denies it as canon. Whichever comes last.

Three times Moana needs comfort from someone else in the movie, and all three times she goes about recieving comfort through touch. It’s undeniable. The first time, when she’s talking with her mother, Sina just carefully brushes her hair out of her face for her. The second, during Tala’s lines of I Am Moana, Tala holds Moana’s cheek in her hands. And lastly, and most importantly, When she and Maui are saying goodbye she launches herself into his arms and hugs him. It’s unavoidable fact.

Also, fun fact! This story was originally supposed to be in Moana’s perspective, but now that I’ve gone through and written it I realized it works just as well in Maui’s ;)

Enjoy!

If there’s one thing Maui’s learned about Motunui since his arrival, it’s that after the stars come out, everything just seems to come to a halt. There’s not a single hint of life evident in Moana’s village after everyone turns in, and nobody comes out until the sun rises the next morning.

It’s almost impressive. During the day, nobody seems to stop moving. Everyone always seems to have something to do, and everyone keeps at what they’re doing until they turn in for the night. Rise with the sun and sleep with the moon. He’s almost surprised Moana’s one of them at all, because when they’re out on the water together or on those occasional nights where they’d stargaze down by the shore, she seems like she never sleeps. Not once. As a matter of fact he’s sure he’s fallen asleep on her when they’re stargazing more times than she’s fallen asleep on him, and he doesn’t even need sleep.

Speaking of which, that would probably explain why he’s so bored right now. It’s the middle of the night, and the moon high above his head shows no sign of setting any time soon. He’s sitting in his fale just kind of staring out the window waiting for either the sun or for Moana to rise. Whichever comes first, honestly.

He doesn’t even really need a fale. Because he technically doesn’t sleep, he doesn’t really need somewhere to go at night. Even if he wanted somewhere to go, he could just as easily turn himself hawk and find refuge in a tall tree in the forest than he could come in here. But when he first arrived, it had been Moana herself who offered to construct him one. Think of it as a place to come to if he ever needed it, she had said. That, in addition to the fact that Moana’s typically a really hard person to say no to got him to where he is now.

Normally, on nights like these when he doesn’t feel like bothering to fall asleep, he would wander the island. Sometimes he’d walk, scavenging through her village or up and down the shoreline looking for something to do. Sometimes he’d turn hawk and simply circle the village from the air, but he usually only does that on the clearest, warmest of nights when he’s sure he’d be able to see the entire village from the sky. On rare occasions he’d even turn lizard and scavenge through the forests.

Not tonight, though. Tonight it’s kind of chilly, and no matter what form he could take to wander it wouldn’t be worth the ridiculously cold breeze passing over Motunui right now. So instead, he’s settling for staying tucked away inside the warmth of his fale with a newfound appreciation for its existence just kind of waiting for something interesting to happen. He could go to sleep, he supposes, but he tried that last night and the night before to no avail, so he’s sort of resorted to hold off on sleeping until he actually feels tired. If he can actually get tired at all, that is.

He kind of shrugs to himself, and settles himself against the back wall of his fale, staring out at the doorway. He really should find something better to do, because he knows that realistically it’s still gonna be a few hours before he sees another soul out there, but he supposes that’s also technically his fault for not really filling his fale with many things to entertain himself with.

He goes to make a mental note to remind himself to do that in the morning, but a small ruffling sound from somewhere outside startles him from his thoughts. He blinks, just to be sure that it’s really still the middle of the night and that he hadn’t fallen asleep without realizing it, and when he’s absolutely certain that it is still in fact still dark out, he stands. He walks to the doorway of his fale and half-leans on it as he looks around for the source of the noise.

It’s not long before he catches the small figure of another person wandering outside and turning their head around like they’re looking for something. The way the moonlight catches on the person confirms that yes, this person’s definitely a girl, and the way her hair just spills out in curls confirms that-

Wait a minute.

Maui squints towards the figure. “Moana?” He asks, and the girl kind of freezes in place for half a second, startled by the name. But then she squints in his direction, mirroring his actions from only seconds before, and takes a few unsure steps toward him.

“Oh, Maui. Hi” Moana mumbles...unhappily? Maui gives himself a second to look her over. Yep, there’s definitely something wrong with her, he can tell even in the poorly-lit moonlight. Her shoulders are kinda slouched over, she’s not standing as straight and proudly as she usually is, and her big brown eyes that are already barely holding his gaze almost look like they’re shining a bit. But Maui can tell that it’s not the moonlight or any sort of happiness to see him that’s causing it.

“I’m glad I caught you, actually” Moana says, even though she doesn’t look glad. She takes a few more unsure steps toward him. “Can we talk?” She asks, awkwardly rubbing at her arms, dropping her gaze towards the ground. “I was going to go ask my parents, but I don’t want to bother them when they’re sleeping.” She mumbles, and pauses in her thought as another comes to her. “Did I wake you up?” She asks, and Maui frowns.

“Demigod. I don’t need sleep”

“Right, right” Moana waves a dismissive hand in the air. “Sorry” she apologizes, and Maui’s frown deepens, because that’s not really something she should be apologizing for.

“Anyway,” Moana says, clearly trying to pull the conversation back on her. “Can we talk?” She repeats, and gestures vaguely with her head towards his fale door. “Can I come in?” She mumbles, and Maui sighs quietly.

He hates it when Moana gets like this. When Moana gets all sad and quiet and completely unlike her. He really does. Because he wants to help her, wants to be able to comfort her and assure her she’s going to be okay, because he knows she is, but he’s really bad at comforting people. Comforting words almost never come to him when he needs them, and Moana’s the absolute last person he’d ever want to hurt by mistake when all he’s trying to do is make her feel better. But at the same time, he can’t stand the sight of that sadness showing in her entire body. It’s uncomfortable and he doesn’t like it at all.

“Sure” Maui nods, and steps inside to make room for her. Moana slinks inside, and once she apparently decides she’s far enough in she slides to the ground in a sitting position. Maui frowns, and moves to plant himself in front of her.

“Are you...okay?” He offers, and when Moana finally meets his gaze that deep sadness in her eyes lets him know he already made a mistake.

“Not really” She mumbles, and begins to rub at her arm again. “I’ve just been thinking about some things recently and it’s making it really hard to sleep, you know?” She asks, and waves a hand as if to tell him it’s not a question he’s meant to answer. “I don’t know” she mutters, and shifts awkwardly, unsurely bringing her arms around her legs. “I mean, I know being Chief isn’t something I should be worrying about” she drops her head to her knees, making her words almost inaudible. “But the first island we come across on our first voyage, and already the Chief’s son is trying to convince me I’m not good enough or something” She mutters, and starts shifting her position uncomfortably again, and she’s kind of staring at him like there’s something she isn’t telling him. “I mean, I know that’s not true, but it’s hard not to think about what he said. It was really hurtful” She finishes, and a bit of anger hardens his gaze inadvertently at the thought that anyone would think that Moana’s not good enough. To be Chief, as a person in general, it doesn’t matter. Moana’s the best person there is and if this Chief’s son, whoever this guy thinks he is, thinks anything less of her, than that’s his problem, and not one in the least he should be projecting onto her.

“Moana, that’s not-” Maui starts, and pauses to sigh. “That’s not true, okay? I don’t want you to think that way. I don’t know who this guy is, and yes, I want his name, because I don’t want someone going around trying to convince you you’re something you’re not, because, you- you’re a really good person, Moana, and I’m sure you’re a really good Chief- even though I don’t really know what being Chief is like-” He pauses to shake his head. “But I’m sure you’re still really good at it anyway, because, y’know, you’re ‘Moana of Motunui’ and all that, and-and it’s just not right that someone would say you aren’t, even if they’re kind of a Chief too, but that doesn’t technically mean that they’re-”

He’s suddenly cut off by something knocking the air out of lungs by trying to squeeze him to death, and when Maui spares a glance downward he sees that Moana’s wrapped her arms around his chest in a tight hug.

“Maui?” she mutters, and not a single trace of her sadness seems to have left her voice.

“Yeah?”

“You’re rambling” Moana mumbles, and without warning she shifts herself closer to him and wraps more of her arms around him. “Do you think we could maybe just…” She pauses, like she’s trying to figure out how to ask her question. “Hug for a little bit?” She asks, and smiles up at him sadly. “You don’t need to say anything else. It’ll make me feel a lot better”

“Oh” Maui blurts out loud, because hugging actually would be a lot easier than sitting here trying to come up with some sort of comforting or motivational speech for her. “Okay, sure” he shrugs, and the moment he wraps his arms around her to reciprocate her hug Moana grips onto his sides and tightens her hold on him. And Maui almost thought she’d been kidding, and was only saying this to get him to stop talking, but right away he feels the tension she’d clearly been holding for too long have melt away underneath him, and ever so slightly she relaxes herself against him.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to change the fact that she’s still really upset, because when her tension melts away, the first thing that Maui notices is that she’s shaking. Frowning, he adjusts his arms around her and tugs her closer to his chest. Moana gasps really quietly at the motion, and adjusts her arms around him as well to allow herself to settle comfortably against him.

For a solid minute, neither of them move. Maui tries really hard not to focus on the fact that she’s still trembling against him, and instead tries to focus on her breathing. It’s slow and choppy, clearly that of someone who’s not doing okay, and he does his best to match his with hers. It’s not easy, because hers seems to be breaking, but eventually he manages to slow his own breathing to match in time with hers, and for whatever reason this consistency is enough to calm both of them, if only a tiny bit.

Wait. But Moana’s breathing is choppy and breaking, and it’s an entire octave higher than it normally is, almost as if she’s-

Maui bites down the urge to recoil at the thought. “Moana, are you...crying?” He asks tentatively, and she pulls her face from where she’d apparently squished it against his chest to look up at him.

“No” she claims, but her voice is definitely breaking right now, and those are definitely tears building in her eyes. He may be a little out of practice when it comes to reading emotions on other people, and Moana knows he is, but there’s no way she thinks he could possibly be that ignorant.

Maui bites down on the urge to snort incredulously. Sure. Of course she’s not crying. He’s clearly mistaken. Oh, it’s not like she’s coming to him for comfort in the middle of the night or anything. Nah, she just came by to say hello and accidentally slipped into his arms. He goes to actually say that out loud, maybe to get some sort of laugh or smile out of her, but then he glances down at her when she kicks at the ground to help herself settle into him more comfortably and quickly finds that he can’t.

Moana’s completely curled up against him, legs squished together and turned off to one side. Her arms are barely reaching halfway around his sides, but she’s gripping onto him like a lifeline. She’s leaning her head against his chest, right over Mini Moana, and her curly hair is spilling messily against his chest and over her shoulders. Her large brown eyes only appear larger at the sight of tears pooling in them. He realizes abruptly that only one of his arms is enough to fit around her entire frame. He’s just sparing a glance down at her, he’s not even moving his head, and he can already see her in her entirety.

He’s never really realized how small she is before.

Sure, by mortal standards, compared to others in her village, she’s pretty average sized. She’s a little short compared to the adults, but that’s not really surprising. He already knew she was short, because she has to look up at him if she wants to meet his gaze if they’re both standing.

But...he never really thought about it more than that. He never really thought about how...how much bigger he is compared to her. About how easily he could cradle her in his arms if he wanted to.

Not just that, either. Now that he really thinks about it...a year hasn’t even passed since they restored the Heart together. At the most, he guesses it’s been about six months. Moana- Moana’s still young. She’s still a kid. Sixteen, sure, but he knows that’s not considered an adult age even by mortal standards. She’s so short because she’s still young and she’s still small- smaller still because she’s curling up into a ball- small enough that he could easily scoop her up into his arms and hold her without a second thought.

Just by sparing a glance down at her, just by noting that she’s significantly smaller than he is, something he really probably should already know, he finds himself suddenly overwhelmed by this feeling of...he’s not sure. Whatever the feeling is, all it’s making him want to do is pull her closer, hold her tighter, and keep her there until he’s sure she’s okay. Until she’s well and safe.

...Protectiveness?

He’s feeling protective over Moana? That’s-that’s ridiculous. He’s well aware that Moana can defend herself. He’s personally experienced what she can do with that oar of hers and he knows better than anybody that it’s best not to cross her when she’s got it in her hands. He’s fought by her side countless times, and sure- he’s definitely wanted to keep her safe in battle. He’d definitely rather take a blow for her than to watch her get hurt. But he knows that she doesn’t really need his help, that she could defend herself just as easily if he weren’t fighting beside her at all.

But this- this type of protectiveness- this gentle wanting to cradle her and wipe her tears away and make sure not to let go of her until she’s well and happy again-This is different and Maui’s not sure he’s wanted to stand by someone and protect them like this...ever, as a matter of fact.

And it’s...a little awkward, if Maui’s going to be completely honest. It’s such an open and soft and vulnerable feeling and not something he’s used to being.

But...this is Moana. Moana’s the least judgy and most empathetic person he’s ever met in his entire life. She’s the first person he’s ever willingly told about his backstory, and she’s the first who hasn’t judged him for it. She sat down and listened and when he finished she responded back. She encouraged him and taught him that he is the only one who can make him who he is.

So sure, opening himself up and letting himself appear vulnerable isn’t something he’s used to doing. It’s not something he’s ever done, really. Because being open and vulnerable can get you judged and hurt if you’re not careful.

But Moana- Moana would never judge him. Moana would never hurt him. And most importantly- she kind of needs him right now. She needs him, and that thought alone only makes him want to hold her even tighter.

So he throws his doubt to the wind and more or less just kind of lets his protective instincts take over. He shifts his arms away from around her back and moves them to her shoulders. As gently as he possibly can, he scoops her up and holds her to his shoulder. Immediately, Moana sniffles loudly, but after a brief moment she comfortably rests her head over his shoulder and kind of leans into his hair. She reaches her arms up to instead wrap them around his neck, and it’s almost shocking how quickly her trembling seems to subside at being able to hold him just as easily as he is her.

Now that his face is out of her line of sight, he rolls his eyes at her in fond exasperation and folds his arms around her even more. And even if he can’t see her face either, he feels like he can almost see her smile as she tightens her hold on him at his gesture.

“How are you feeling?” He tries for sarcasm and teasing, he really does, but oversteps right into fond territory. “Any better?” He asks, and she huffs out a small but genuine laugh as she adjusts her head to bury it into the crook of his neck.

“I do now”