Princess Tiki and Her Fresh Fish Prince
Summary: During a trip to the Evans' plantation, Troy gets cursed with a spell that leaves him "all wet and scaly." Now it's up to the pineapple princess Tikito set him free before he ends up as somebody's dinner. A TROY-SHARPAY fairy fish tale.
Disclaimer: Again I don't own HSM, HSM2, or the song Humuhumunukunukuapua. I just thought it deserves a background story since it's just so adorably cute and I'm disappointed that it wasn't part of HSM2.
Chapter One: The Spirit Brews
"We're almost there!" Ryan announced as the mini van rolled forward on the rough road flanked by trees and plants. Troy tuned out Ryan's narrative on how his parents bought this island and made their fortune here before they moved on to real estate and managing country clubs in the US mainland. He instead strained his eyes on his window. There was still nothing to see but lush foliage all around them and endless dirt road. But a few seconds later, the seemingly eternal cavern of green gave way to wide open scenery. It was the vastest field Troy had ever seen in real life. Rows upon rows of pineapples blossomed in the sun on the extensive plain and up the slopes of the hillsides surrounding it. And as the van moved forward, Troy glimpsed beyond the pineapple plantation sloping downwards on one side giving way to the sparkling crystal clear waters of the Pacific.
"Do you own the coast as well?" Troy asked. The view was growing more and more breathtaking by the second. He could now see the large rocks that appeared to be rising from the blue waters near the white sand beach. He could just imagine himself relaxing down there, allowing the surf to wash him over with Gabriella beside him. It was a nice romantic idea.
"Oh yes, we own that too, at least that part of the beach," answered Sharpay. "All the way up to the foot of Mt. Fufu." She pointed to the end of the beach where the coast and the pineapple rows abruptly ended to give way to an ugly jagged rocky mountain. It almost seemed like an aberration to the rest of the scenery. It was as bare as the hillsides surrounding it were lush. Yet it appeared to be lording over the rest of the valley and the sea below it.
"Mt. Fufu?" chuckled Chad. "Like that stupid volcano in your silly song during the school variety show at the end of term?" He laughed again.
Sharpay gave him a death glare and Chad stopped laughing. "It's not a stupid volcano and it's not a silly song at all. It happens to be based on a real local legend here."
"Oooh, legends? How interesting," piped Gabriella. "I'd like to hear about them."
"That would be a perfect thing to do during the bonfire tonight," said Ryan. "Right now, let's get you settled in."
The mini van finally stopped in front of a large house in the middle of the plantation. As soon as Troy stepped out of the van, the heady scent of pineapples invaded his nose, making his mouth water for the juicy fruit.
Ryan and Sharpay led the way inside the house. It had large windows to allow in the fresh mountain air coupled with sea breeze. But unlike the Evan's mansion and Lava Springs Country Club in Albuquerque, this one was rather minimalist in décor with a few island accents. Still, it looked as luxurious and comfortable as the other Evans' properties. Five locals in flowery island costumes carrying ukuleles greeted them at the spacious living room and began singing island songs while handling out fresh coconut juice still in their nuts. As he sipped his welcome drink, Troy couldn't help but feel a bit envious at the lavish luxury Sharpay and Ryan lived in. But he made a mental check at himself. He was tempted with luxury like this last summer and it almost cost him his girlfriend and his friends. He assured himself he would never trade what he had for this, even if it was nice once in a while.
The singers finished with a cheerful greeting of "Aloha!" Troy applauded them with the rest of his friends before it was halted with a cry from somewhere further inside the house:
"My little Tiki!"
Troy saw that it was a large native woman in a flowery dress. She looked to be in her 70s. She had graying hair and looked wrinkly. But she had a pleasant smile on her face as she hobbled unsteadily towards Sharpay.
"Mama Liat!" cried Sharpay as she hugged the older woman like a very dear old friend. She had a genuine expression on her face that was a rare thing to behold from Sharpay. He could see too that she was trying to blink back tears. Troy could tell this woman meant a lot to her. "Oh I've missed you so much!" Sharpay whispered.
"I missed you too, my child," the old woman openly cried. She pulled away to grasp Sharpay's face to stare at her. "How pretty you've grown… beautiful." She gently stroked Sharpay's cheek like a doting mother. "He smiles upon you, blessed one."
For a moment Troy thought he saw mild surprise form in Sharpay's face, but it was gone before he could observe further. He wondered what the old woman meant, but he figured it was probably some religious reference among these people.
Sharpay pulled away from the old woman and turned her towards her brother. "You remember Ryan?" she said.
"Of course," said the old woman as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. "Little Ryan, now such a handsome young man. She hugged Ryan and the Evan's male hugged her back though he did so rather awkwardly. They pulled away almost immediately and the woman turned back to Sharpay and took her arm.
"I've missed you so much my little Tiki!" the woman gushed affectionately at Sharpay. "It's been years!"
"Tiki?" Chad whispered to Troy and to Ryan on the side with an amused grin.
"It's her nickname for Sharpay since we were little kids," replied Ryan softly. "It's a long story."
"Everyone, this is Mama Liat!" cut in Sharpay. "She was our very first nanny from the day we were born on this island." One by one she introduced all her friends and the old woman only nodded to each in acknowledgement.
"And this one's Troy," Sharpay said when she got to him. Troy expected to just get a nod. But the old woman instead pulled away from Sharpay and approached him. She suddenly grasped at the side of his face and appeared to scrutinize him intently before she lit up in a smile.
"Ahh! He is your young man, my little one." She turned to stare intently at Troy. "The spirit blesses you, my son. You will make my Tiki very happy."
Troy suddenly felt very uncomfortable and he could see Sharpay blush slightly. "Oh, no, no Mama Liat!" she said. "Troy's my friend."
But the old woman smiled and the next words she said made him feel even more awkward: "He will be more. He is the one."
There was a long uncomfortable silence that was finally broken by Sharpay's nervous laughter. "Oh, Mama Liat, you say the silliest things." She hurriedly turned to Gabriella. "This is Troy's girlfriend, Gabriella."
Mama Liat turned to her and her smile faded. "Ahhh, maiden of little faith," she snapped at Gabriella before turning away towards the kitchen. They all watched her go out silently, puzzled at her sudden rudeness.
"You must forgive Mama Liat," said Ryan apologetically in particular to Gabriella. "She's old, she doesn't know what she says sometimes. But she means well." Ryan followed with an invitation for refreshments on the veranda outside and everyone else followed him. Troy however hung back a bit. He noticed Sharpay remained silent and was staring out the window, her gaze intent on the bare mountain.
"Sharpay… they've all gone outside now," he began.
She just nodded without looking up at him or removing her gaze from the mountain. "Go, I'll catch up," she said.
There was nothing more for Troy to do but follow Ryan and the rest. But before he lost sight of her completely, he noticed something fearful in her expression that he had never seen before. Somehow the idea of Sharpay being afraid when she never appeared to be afraid of anything in her life, unnerved him more than what that creepy nanny said about him.
The snacks served to them outside were excellent. After they were full on pineapples and fresh fruit juice, they were shown their rooms upstairs. Troy was sharing a room with Chad and Jason. It was fairly large with a nice veranda that had a view of the west side of the house, the plantation and Mt. Fufu. When Troy stepped out he could smell the fresh mountain air and the sweet pineapples. It was wonderful here and he thought how much fun it was to live here permanently one day instead of just for a week.
"Enjoying the view?" Gabriella spoke behind him. Troy turned around to greet her with a hug.
"It's a nicer view since you've come in," he flattered.
"You're rather romantic today," she replied as she kissed his cheek.
"I intend to all week. We need some catching up."
The final term of school before graduation had left both with very little time to spend with each other in between basketball practices, academic quizzes, drama practice and reviews for exams. In the last few months, Troy felt a lull in his relationship with Gabriella. As much as he loved her, there simply wasn't enough time to enjoy themselves alone. But they hanged on to each other and promised that as soon as other priorities were out of the way they could get back into their romance. When the Evans Twins who were by this time their friends, invited them along with Chad, Taylor, Jason, Zeke and Kelsi to a week's stay in their island vacation home, Troy thought this was the perfect opportunity to finally revitalize their relationship.
"It's nice of Sharpay and Ryan to invite us here," added Troy. "We're going to have a blast before we go off to college."
"Yeah, really nice of her just before college," Gabriella said unenthusiastically as she pulled away from him and he could sense she was upset about something.
"Hey, what's the matter? I thought you'd be excited to go to college."
Gabriella sighed. "I am, it's just that I'm going to be away from you. I'm going to California and you're on the other side of the coast… with… " she mumbled something unintelligible.
"With what?" he asked.
Gabriella shook her head and said nothing but her expression told him it was something worth badgering her about.
"With what Gab?" he asked gently.
She bit her lip. "With Sharpay," she said knowingly.
Troy was rather startled. It's been months since Gabriella mentioned any hint of jealousy towards Sharpay. He thought that was long gone by now. They appeared to be friendly enough after the Lava Springs incident.
"Gab, I'm not even going to be in the same school as she'll be going to."
"But you'll be in the same city and I'll be a time zone away," she argued.
"I'll call you every night. I probably won't even see her. Gabriella, she's just my friend. Our friend."
"She certainly wanted to be more than that with you last year."
He was startled at the rising tone of her voice. "That was last year. It's different now. She's different," he assured her.
"Is she really?" she challenged then shook her head. "I don't think so. I think the whole year she's just been putting on act to get into our good side!" She began pacing around on the veranda. "How could I have been so blind?! I actually believed her! All of us believed her!"
Troy was confused. "What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?"
She stopped pacing. "I just realized it when that woman said something about you and her. I think she planned that with her nanny just for dramatic effect. It's Lava Springs all over again! She's tempting you with all this!" She gestured to the plantation view. "Then she'll try to steal you away from me again!"
"W-what? Gab, I think that's really just… don't you think you're overreacting?"
"OVERREACTING!" she thundered in a way he had never heard her before. "Oh wake up Troy! Can't you see what she's doing? She's setting us up! All of us, just like last time. She's going to get into your good graces again so she can move on to you. Maybe not now, maybe not this week here. But when we get to college, she'll certainly have enough opportunity and I won't be there to stop it." She crossed her arms and faced away from him.
Troy put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Gabriella, that won't happen. Look, I don't believe Sharpay would do that again. But if she is, she's going to be disappointed." He gently turned her to face him and cupped her chin with his hand. "Because this week it's going to be about us. I promise."
He kissed her softly. But as his lips touched hers, he pulled back immediately. He felt the air around him tense. When he looked up, somehow the bright clear skies only a few moments ago disappeared to be replaced by gray clouds. A long shadow from Mt. Fufu draped the rows of ripening pineapples, dimming the entire field. And perhaps it was just his imagination, but somehow he heard the bare mountain in front of him give a rumble in protest.
A/N: I just saw HSM2 last night when it finally premiered in Asia. I wrote this a few hours after. I was a bit disappointed that Sharpay's and Ryan's fish song wasn't included in the movie when I've been listening to it constantly on the soundtrack. It's just so adorably cute, I had to write a story about it. So tell me what you think so far.
By the way, I got the name "Liat" from the musical South Pacific. She was Bloody Mary's daughter. I just couldn't think of a Polynesian name so I just used hers.