"Hey curls, waiting for the ocean to bring you something? Maybe this time a liver, or... Oh! I know, the thing on the inside of a blow-fish that makes 'em go 'blahhtt'," Maui twirled his hook and changed into the spiny specimen, landing with a squelch on the beach.
"Happy birthday to me too, thanks sharkhead." Moana tried to look indignant, but her smile came to easy, especially when Maui was around.
"Oh, birthdays, I've had a lot of those." Mini Maui walked across Maui's chest with a birthday cake sporting a single candle. He stopped, looked around with a big grin. Noticing that nobody seemed to be celebrating though, he blew out the candle, threw the cake over his shoulder and sat down in dejection. "Not a lot of celebrating, of course." Maui said with a trace of wistfulness.
"Parties aren't all they're cracked up to be," said Moana, getting up off the sand and coming to stand beside him. "Sometimes it's just nice to be with those closest to you."
For a moment, there was just the moon on the ocean and the uncountable stars stretching away forever.
"So," said Maui, looking around suspiciously as if he thought Hei Hei might be sneaking up on him. The chicken would try to peck a hole in his foot and he wanted to make sure he didn't mistakenly kick it all the way to Ta Fiti. "So, what would you like from ol' Maui for your birthday? Demi-god of wind and sea can get you a star if you want, just got'ta aim right…" He started to whirl his fish hook, but Moana stopped him with a rushed laugh, imagining the earth changing implications of kidnapping a star!
"No, no," she said, putting her hands up so he would stop the whirling. "I actually wanted to give you something." Dropping her arms quickly so they encircled his massive neck, she kissed him smack on the lips.
Surprise and a head-rush of exhilaration flooded Maui's senses. He couldn't control the response of wrapping his arms around dipping her back, deeper into the moment. Mini Maui, on the other hand, was having a silent screaming fit that finally seemed to penetrate Maui's thick skull.
"Wait, what?!" he said, suddenly breaking contact. He unwittingly let go of Moana and she dropped with an "oomph" to the sand.
"All right," she said from beneath the tent of hair that had flopped over her face. "I guess that's a 'no'."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" sputtered Maui, clutching at his thick hair and shaking his head. "Human, demi-god! Moa, there's just no way that it could work!"
"That's the only problem you have?" asked Moana, pulling back her thick tresses to look at him.
"Come on, curly, you know I think you're adorable!" He kicked sheepishly at the sand and mini Maui batted his eyes at her while little hearts floated and popped like bubbles around him. "But surely you've heard of Hina and Kahikiula? They got together and there was nothing but trouble!"
"I know," Moana said, doodling in the sand with her fingers. "But I can't help the way I feel."
Suddenly, Maui's face changed from a look of consternation to something sly, as if a lightbulb had turned on (wait, what's a lightbulb? tee hee). He strutted over to Moana and flashed a big, cheesy grin. "You still want a gift for your birthday?"
"…yes…" Moana said hesitantly, remembering that Maui was a trickster.
With a flourish, the demi-god presented her with his hook.
"And what am I supposed to do with that?" She asked, getting to her feet, hands on hips.
"Oh no," said Maui suggestively. "I believe you mean 'what are we going to do with that?' "
He suddenly spun the hook around Moana's waist and pulled her in close so that they were both within the magic's aura. "Hang on, curly," he said. With a buzzing sound of intense power, Maui changed both himself and Moana into hawks.
The screech she gave as he swooped her off the ground would have made Hei Hei proud.
"Maui, I can't fly!" she screamed at him as he pushed her skyward.
"Better learn quick, curls!" he shouted back before letting her go to tumble into the wind. "It's just like sailing! Only with wings…and a tail… and … gravity!" Moana had plunged straight down toward the dark ocean. He swooped down in time to save her from the waves and pushed her back toward the sky.
"This is not a gift, this is a nightmare!" She tried getting her wings to work as Maui tipped her once more into open air. "Sailing," she said to herself and closed her eyes, feeling for the wind as she would have had her hand been on the boom of her boat. She felt an updraft tickle her feathers and let the current fill her wings.
A moment later, she was among the stars.