DISCLAIMER: I do not own Moana. All rights belong to Disney. Any references to the culture of various Polynesian nations are researched thoroughly, and please let me know if I make any mistakes. *Whispers* I really hate mistakes.
Demi-gods and mortals aren't the best of mixes. Generally the demi-gods perform great feats and the mortals worship, and then life goes on. Tangaroa warned him of this, so did Pele and the others gods and goddesses. But no one at any point throughout his existence had ever warned him he would be stranded on a desert island as a punishment for stealing the heart of a goddess. And no one ever said that a sixteen year old, sassy, curly-haired daughter of a Chief would rescue him from his island by way of yanking his ear down and demanding he fix his mistakes. Throughout the entire journey to restore Te Fiti's heart he'd been slightly in shock of how almost uncaring Moana was of his hero, and demi-gods status. He'd watched her while she slept sometimes, completely unable to comprehend just how young she was. He simply couldn't comprehend that someone so young would take on such a quest, and he couldn't get over how much energy and sheer determination she had in her. Throughout the entire journey he'd watched her get up and go despite Tamatoa, despite Te Ka, despite him leaving her. Maui, shape-shifter, demi-god of the wind and seas, and hero of all had found himself at a total loss when it came to his curly-haired friend. He'd spent little over four weeks by her side, Wayfinding and guiding her, and had borne witness to her kindness, and sweetness, the boundless bravery, and the mountain-like resilience. He'd seen it then. Sixteen was too young for anyone to face a fire-demon, and the Realm of Monsters. She'd never faltered, never backed down, never stopped. After Te Fiti was restored, and their quest was over, he'd wished her well and left. About six months later he'd seen her, sailing the Ocean with her family, and her village. The sheer natural ease about her despite her young age was more than enough to dispel any fears he'd ever had about her being on the Ocean. It was engrained in her blood and senses, engrained far more deeply than his tattoos and the legends of him in history. Which was why he'd circled the island they'd been on, and landed.
The people of Motonui had been shocked when a demi-god had landed in front of them, but no more so when Moana had ran straight up to him and jumped in his arms. The familiarity with which she'd greeted him had left all but her parents in complete and utter awe of her. When he'd mocked her laughingly and she'd hit him the entire fleet of villagers had looked like they were preparing to be smited. But he'd grinned at her as easily as breathing, and they'd relaxed. When they'd argued, the people had watched the slip of a girl get right up in his face and yell at him. They'd chuckled nervously when he'd thrown her off the boat and into the Ocean. And they'd gasped when she whacked him with her oar. It was one of their longer arguments about absolutely nothing in particular, and had ended when he'd snarked at her lack of respect. He'd expected to be whacked again with the oar, but she'd pushed him off the boat, and he'd pulled her with him. The Ocean had gotten sick of it and dumped them both back on the boat. The villagers were absolutely silent until Heihei had gone to walk off the boat, and they'd both lunged straight for him, and fallen off the boat again. Delirious laughter was all that was heard until Heihei fell in the water, and normality returned to the villagers. He'd visited about two months later when they were all at Motunui. That time around there were smiles when Moana leapt into his arms again, and he'd grinned and called her "Curly". He stayed two weeks and then left to go on a quest with Moana. They'd journeyed to Lalotai to prevent an uprising of monster spiders. When they returned to Motonui he'd grinned and left her for another three months. Yet again he'd been drawn to the adventurous girl who was his dearest friend and so he travelled back to her. There were three different tribal Chief's there, obviously meeting to discuss trading with Motonui. So Maui's arrival had been seen as a mark of favour towards Motonui. It had been a true shock to the three other Chiefs to see a mortal casually greet a demigod with a hug. One of the Chiefs had asked if Moana should be bowing before him. He'd hesitated, having never considered it. It had never crossed his mind that bowing to him as a sign of respect should be something that Moana would do. He'd chanced a look at her and had seen how awkward she looked. And in his mind he thought that Moana of all people should never have to bow to him. Not the one person in his entire life who'd looked at him for who he was, and cared about him. She'd sassed him, and fought with him and beside him, and cheered for him, but she'd never bowed to him. He knew then that Moana had told the story, but she'd left out her part out of modesty. For some reason modesty suited her, but he knew that the Chiefs would never be able to respect her. And he knew just what would get them to respect her, and piss her off at the same time.
So he'd wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to his side, and in his most impressive voice declared that "Moana Waialiki, Master Wayfinder, Protector Of Motunui, Defeater of Tamatoa, Restorer of Te Fiti, Explorer of Lalotai, and Hero to All" would never have to bow to him. And he'd grinned when the esteemed 'Master Wayfinder' stamped on his foot and elbowed his ribs. The other Chiefs had hesitated and then bowed to her, and his grin widened when he noted how awkward Moana looked. The seventeen year old had looked ready to punch him. And punch him she did. Hard, right when he least expected it. He felt his his arm jolt and he glared at her. She had a good right hook on her. He'd stayed two months this time, and had hung around helping her teach the people to Wayfind, and to hang out with the little kids who loved the stories he told. The tall, well-built demigod was a common sight around Motonui by then. He was known to them for helping harvest the coconuts and the taro root, and building canoes and fishing. He was also known by the way Moana, who was normally exuberant and cheerful seemed to grow even more so when he appeared. And the way that she smiled when he boomed in laughter. It was a friendship for the ages. When Moana turned eighteen they all celebrated, him most of all. He'd entertained them all for hours, telling stories of their adventures together and spinning them wildly just to annoy her, and when she tried to punch him he held her high in the air and continued over her outraged protests that they had "absolutely NOT done that". And so it continued, he'd disappear and reappear and steal her away on some wild adventure, or he'd stay awhile depending on what was happening. Every few months one of the villagers would see his giant hawk form and wave a hand, knowing that Moana who was transitioning into being Chieftess, would jump at the opportunity to see her friend. When Moana turned nineteen he was there to drag her away for a dance, which he promptly called "The Friendship Dance". It consisted of them dancing around each other curiously before they launched into jumping closer to each other and then back out again in a circle. Occasionally they'd hit each other, and then they'd laugh loudly at each other before turning their backs to each other and appearing to fight enemies together. Maui would mock fall and Moana would pull him back up and vice versa miming the support of a good friendship. The dance ended with them staggering, hunched over pretending it was old age, and then they clasped forearms and gave each other a hongi as the dance ended with them crouching as if to die. Around them other dancers joined up learning the steps off them. It was a wildly successful dance, and if anyone noticed Maui smirking smugly and Moana hitting him just a bit too hard, well it was a common enough sight.
In the months and weeks in between his visits to Moana, Maui re-established his mien as Demi-god by blessing islands and performing great deeds of bravery (or so he thought). He spread his stories, and his favourite one to tell after his immediate exploits was the story of Te Fiti and her restored heart. The story of a certain stubborn, curly-haired, soon-to-be Chieftess was popular especially around tribes that didn't know Motonui. He absolutely adored exaggerating her exploits and expressing moral outrage when he told them that she'd 'ORDERED' him to get on her boat. The best part of it was when he told them that Moana had sung Te Ka to sleep, and restored Te Fiti through song. Particularly when some of those tribes visited Motonui, and whispered in shock of how short and small she seemed. How slight and slender the future Chieftess of Motonui was compared to the massive, hunking Demi-god who described the adventures. The most hilarious part was that they assumed he was under-exaggerating as Maui was notorious for boasting and bragging about his own exploits. Which meant in turn they thought Moana had single-handedly taken down a living, breathing, raging fire demon and raised the Goddess Of Life, back to life. It didn't help that Moana was naturally modest when it came to being a hero. He loved running away right before she could catch him when she found out what he'd done. And so their friendship developed to the point where they both knew what the other was going to say before they could say it. Particularly in public where Maui would open his mouth to say something, and Moana would send him a look and he'd snap his mouth shut and glare at her. The only thing sweeter than their friendship was the fact that Maui respected her parents. Tui and Sina didn't approve of their daughter running off with a demi-god to fight battles and do demi-god things. But they couldn't deny that the strange friendship that existed between them was good for their daughter. He'd come one month to find Moana not there, and he'd elected to stay and help the village. Throughout his time there he'd been attentive and jaunty, he'd talked and laughed with the children and helped the adults. But Tui and Sina had seen the change in him the moment Moana had stepped off the boat and onto shore. Something in his posture softened, his smile became a little less of a smirk and far more genuine. He'd complained about Moana leaving him and how he'd been absolutely helpless and how the village had had to help him. Moana, used to his antics by then punched his stomach and hugged him tightly calling him a big baby. She was twenty-one when he left for a year, never expecting the shock of his life when he returned.
Please leave reviews! I need to know if I need to correct anything, and I really appreciate your thoughts on my fanfic. Again I hate mistakes, and have no wish to offend any cultures. Also: SPOILER ALERT! Next chappie may be a bit triggering, it's why this story is M rated.