#patiently waiting for Moana 3 so they can finally be canon

[anotherlikeyou]

Moaui crumbs... save me

Moaui crumbs...

Save me Moaui crumbs...

[sombrashe]

The Hospitable | Part 3 | Day One

content non-binary oc (they/them pronouns), teenager oc, extensive death talking, canon familial death, explaining death to a child, survivor guilt, child oc

Stepping over my discarded bags I make my way to the bed where Marina now lies facing the ceiling.

"What's up, buttercup?"

"I miss Mommy."

"I do too."

"When is she coming?"

"She's not, it's just you and me now."

"Why?"

"Do you remember Nana Bela? How when everything started to get really cold and Nana got really sick? Do you remember what your Daddy told you?"

"Nana Bela is in heaven... is Mommy and Daddy there?"

"Yes, Mommy, Daddy, Ainsley, Maggie, Dom, everyone. They're all in heaven now. This train is the reason we're not in heaven with them."

Her sudden tears shatter my heart completely, I pick up the pieces enough to comfort her. Sitting down I wait until she crawls in my lap to wrap her in my arms. The hug is awkward with the amount of layers we have on but I don't stop until she pulls away. Looking up at me with damp cheeks I cup her face and wipe those tears away with my thumbs. I tap my forehead against hers.

"I know this is hard to understand and it's going to be hard, but I'm going to need you to listen to me no matter what now, okay? Just like how you listened to Mommy and Daddy."

She gives a simple nod and I know she isn't going to follow the rules. She's still just a baby. So I make a vow to myself. I will never get mad at her for anything simple again, no more older sibling complaints. I'm the adult now and I need to act like one. Smoothing her hair I stand and make my way back to the bags littering the floor. Picking them up one by one I place them in a row on the left side of the bed. My suitcase stays propped against the end of the bed waiting to be unpacked. Making sure to keep the right side clear I bring Marina to my side to assist me in unpacking. Starting with my original bad I open it to see it overflowing, a few items slip out and onto the bed and floor. Leaning down I pick up Shirley Temple and place her at the top of the bed. Going through the items I place everything in rows to get a real look at exactly what I'm left with. Ten pairs of socks and underwear, two pairs of full-body thermal underwear, an extra pair of jeans and a few pairs of plain oversized shirts, three brand new sudoku puzzle books, the entire Thirst series, a case full of mechanical pencils, pens, led and a polymer eraser. Moving a step over I let Marina pull everything out of her bag and match what she could. Fourteen pairs of socks, ten pairs of underwear, four pairs of thermal underwear, some shirts and pants, a cute sundress, three pairs of matching pajamas, two coloring books with plenty of crayons and pencils, and a few Little Critter books mixed in with some Berenstain Bears. She notices, trapped at the very bottom, a copy of The Little Mermaid and Moana.

"Okay, let's put some of this away, yeah? Make some more room so we can open the biiiig suitcase."

Marina grins and starts gathering socks in her arms with most of them slipping through and landing on the ground. Running she stands patiently. While her back is turned I gather the fallen items and open one of the top drawers. She simply chucks everything in there without care for order. Smiling I shake my head.

"Do you want the left or right drawer?"

She thinks about it deeply, her little hand resting on her hip mimicking our Mom's thinking pose. Finally, she taps her finger against her chin much like our Father.

"Right! Oh, please."

Taking a moment I slide the unopened drawer open and split our socks correctly between the drawers. Luckily Mom folded the pairs within one another so I don't have to worry about organizing them to fit. Walking over to the bed I explain to her to only grab her own underwear and place them neatly within her drawer. She does good and places them in order of days; Monday gets pink, Tuesday gets green, Wednesday gets purple, Thursday gets black and white cats, Friday gets yellow flowers, Saturday gets stripes and Sunday gets polkadot. Noticing, I follow suit, matching colors with one another. Making sure the drawers are nice and snug I pull open the one directly below. Using this one for my thermals I make sure she gets the third and last drawer for her own. Once the drawers have your sparse amount of clothes I close them tightly. Walking back to the bed I remove my parents' bags from the bed and set them gently on top of the desk to be opened later when Marina was sleeping. Gathering our collective book collection I put them on the small shelf built into the wall a few feet above the desk. Coloring books go in the top drawer and sudoku goes in the bottom drawer. Sighing I take a look around and take in just how little items we have. Keeping our folded clothes on top of the bed I lug the suitcase onto the bed with a deep huff. Jeez Louise. Before Marina can unzip the case I tell her we have to go through the front pockets first. She greedily rips open the top one and starts pulling things out without a care in the world.

"Marina, stop. STOP."

I don't mean to shout, but items are ending up on the floor and tears start as I pick them up. She shrinks into herself with a pout as I use the heel of my palm to remove the wet droplets from my bottom lashes. I give her a gentle forehead kiss and apologize, explaining that we really need everything to be organized or else we'll lose it. Smoothing her hair I hand her the pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste to run into the bathroom. A small room with a shower, toilet, and sink crammed into it. I don't see what she does with them but I do hear a drawer slide open and then snap closed. She runs back and holds out her pudgy hands wiggling her fingers to get more items. Finishing pulling everything out of the pockets I take inventory. A six-pack of toothbrushes and a three-pack of toothpaste, a full-sized Head and Shoulders shampoo with matching conditioner, a full-sized Aveeno baby wash, two full-sized CeraVe face washes, and a brand new pink waterpik. Handing the items off one by one Marina places them within the bathroom meticulously. When she returns she gives me a thumbs up and crawls onto the bed once more. I finally let her open the suitcase and we're met with loads of stuff. Where undergarments would normally be kept instead it's packed to the brim with velvet-wrapped hangers. Removing them all I take a moment to hang up the clothes already folded and waiting. Coming back from the closet I see Marina has already started to unpack. She mimics me and attempts to slip the clothes from the case onto the hangers but struggles as the velvet trips her up.

"Sissy."

She's starting to pout again and I make a deal with her. She hands me the clothes and I'll hang them up for her. She hands me ten shirts and five pairs of jeans all much too small for me and I wonder how Mom knew to pack stuff for Marina. Ignoring the nagging in my chest I robotically hang up her clothes. Her sundress and nice flower girl dress from Martha's wedding are hung up next. Next, she hands me two pairs of shoes, a pair of sneakers I've never seen before, and her glossy black flats. Placing them on the floor in the closet I walk back to her holding up our Mom's fancy event dress, black velvet that drapes over the body holding the wearer's shape. Biting the tip of my tongue I quickly hang it up and shove it to the middle of the closet, a small bit of wood hiding it from view. Next are all my clothes. Nearly my entire wardrobe is rolled and shoved into the bag, vacuum sealed bags were used to make room and I take a moment to open them as Marina struggles to follow suit. The first two are full of plain shirts and band tees, the next one is full of jeans, skirts, and shorts. At the bottom is a few extra plastic hangers that I use on my jeans while my skirts and shorts are shoved into my drawer alongside the few pairs of mismatched pajamas Mom shoved in. Finishing hanging everything up I shove the two pairs of sneakers, a pair of black heels, and a pair of basic flats into the closet. Any extra hangers are hung up and our now empty bags are placed on the closet shelf. Clicking the door closed I walk over and let myself fall face-first onto the bed. Marina follows suit and gives a dramatic sigh before patting me on the back. I smile to myself and look over at her, my cheek pressed against the mattress and I look her over. Finally, after a few minutes of silence, she peeks out to see me staring.

"I wanna walk around."

"Tomorrow, I promise. People are still finding their rooms. We'll get lost if we go out there now."

"But I'm hungry now."

She sighs and buries her head into the mattress again. Right, food. I nod and force myself off the bed. All the snacks must have been eaten or else Mom would have made sure a few were packed. No wait. I move myself over to the desk and pull Mom's tote closer to me and don't even have to rummage before a few snacks peek their way up at me. Pulling them out I realize half the bag is food. A half bag of family-sized Cheetos, unopened movie theater-sized bags of Nerds, Twizzlers, and Reece's, and a box of chocolate chip protein bars. Ripping open the box I grab three out and in the other hand, I grab up the Cheeto bag. Walking back to the bed I lay everything out. Opening a protein bar I place it in Marina's hand who happily starts munching away. Walking into the bathroom I feel relieved that there is already an unopened pack of toilet paper sitting wedged between the toilet and sink. Ripping the plastic open I stack remove a roll, put it on the holder, and rip off a few pieces to use as napkins. Before leaving I make a mental note of where Marina places all our toiletries and am pleasantly surprised at how well organized she is. Exiting the bathroom I hand over the paper and watch as she gently folds it before continuing to eat. Opening the second protein bar I have to remind her to eat slowly or else she'll get an upset tummy. Taking the third one for myself I finally force myself to look out the window and upon the darkening landscape. Nibbling on the bar I click on my phone. 87%. 6:27 pm. It's been six hours already? That doesn't feel right, but then again I have no clue what time I arrived. Chewing on my bottom lip I ignore the rest of my bar and lay it on one of the built-in nightstands adorning either side of the bed. Walking over to the TV I decide to plug it in and with Marina's input (even though I should have known) I put in The Little Mermaid. Crawling onto the bed I let her crawl into my arms as she happily crunches on cheesy styrofoam. We watch the movie on repeat until the train eventually starts moving and we soon fall asleep to the slight rocking.