Here is a Moana story that I came up with after repeatedly watching said movie. I tried to base the gods on real Polynesian myths, but I didn't stick to them exactly, as you will see. But the names and what they are gods/goddesses of I stuck to as closely as possible. Please enjoy!


The girl opened her eyes to find darkness. She was in water, probably the ocean, but she was far below the surface, where not even the brightest ray of sunlight could reach. She was again content for a while, but became restless again as another thought occurred to her. Who am I?

She remembered sailing with a man, no, a demigod, facing a lava demon, restoring life to Mother Earth. She remembered dancing in a village, a proud smile on her father's face while her mother laughed and swayed along. She remembered a storm, terrible and raging, and a scream that echoed her name through the gale. She knew who she was, or who she used to be.

'Who says they are not the same?' a voice asked in her head.

'I am different now,' she replied.

'How are you different?'

'I am…more.'

'What is more?'

She paused, uncertain, the beat of life pulsing through her. 'I am the coming in and going out. I am the life surrounding the islands. I can be soft and gentle, or I can be strong and fierce. I fuel the rain, and I relieve the sun's heat.'

The life swelled around her, bearing her up to the surface to see stars, bright and clear, and so detached from the world. She looked around to see what she knew was herself.

The voice that was in her head filled her to the brim, pouring out in hot tears as she was overwhelmed.

'Who are you?'

'I am the embodiment of the ocean!' she thought.

'Say it!'

'I am the ocean!'

'Say it!'

The water left her lungs and she screamed. "I am the sea!"

The entire ocean lit up like a beacon, then all of that light poured into her, washing away all thought and reason. Everything that she had said rang true to her own ears. She became so much more than she was, yet more herself than she'd ever been. Then, in an instant, it was over. She was borne to the shore of an unknown island, where she lay until dawn. As the sun rose, she sat up and knew who he was: Tama-nui-te-ra. She knew of his wives, and of his sons, and of how Maui beat him to make him travel more slowly across the great sky, where Ranginui lived.

Water lapped at her feet, and she looked down, an unconscious smile tugging at her lips. Before she knew it, she had waded waist-deep into the soothing waves. She closed her eyes, feeling the life. The sun watched her curiously for a moment, then wondered, not at her, but at why he had noticed such an insignificant being. He immediately ignored her again, banishing the thought from his mind as he focused on his travels.

Her gaze went up at him once again for a brief moment, noting that she could see his great boat as it sailed the sky. It didn't blind her as it was supposed to. She looked back down, focusing on the great expanse of blue that stretched out to the horizon. The questions she had asked came back to her.

Where am I? She was on an island over a hundred miles away from Motunui, her home. It was inhabited only by animals. Being alone brought forward her other question, one only she could answer.

Who am I? The only sound for a while was the waves gently lapping against the shore and her thin body. A body! Half of her was so thrilled with the thought, the new half. That part had been looking for a way to become for such a long time. It had yearned to become for so many years, and slowly the years had turned to decades, the decades had turned to centuries, and the centuries had turned to millennia. All of the others had become on their own, but it had not been possible for the being. It analyzed everything, taking in the experience.

First, it noticed it had a sex. It was female. Most of the others had become males, preferring the larger stature, superior strength, and greater influence amongst the humans. But they hadn't become for very long. They all reverted back to their other forms, finding the mortals to be beneath them. Besides that, it was glad to be female. There was a power inside of the fairer sex that the other half didn't possess. At least, males didn't possess it in the same way, and not nearly in the same amount. So, the being was pleased to be female.

Once the novelty of being female was noted, she moved on to the physicality of her new body. The sand was pleasant on her feet. She buried her toes in it, relishing the feeling of the grains moving against her human skin. The water that beat against her was nice and cool, setting off the heat of the sun, which warmed her as it sailed higher into the sky. She noticed the warmth, and the sweat that it produced. The sweat caused an unpleasant sensation that irritated her skin. Instinct prompted her to raise her hand and draw her nails across the irritation. Ah, that was relieving, and her new half made the connection with the words itch and scratch.

She stood there in the sun as it moved higher and higher, and the heat grew greater and greater. It finally got too uncomfortable, so she swam out into the cool water. Her old half took in a great breath of air, and she dove down into the depths. The girl let her air leak out in small bubbles as she took in her new perspective of the sea life. When she her lungs were empty, the older part of her screamed for them to go up and take another breath, but her new half inhaled the water, calling to mind the smoothness of her first inhalation in a while and calming both halves of herself. The new half noted the need for breathing and assured the old half that air was in the water, too, just in a different way. How else could fish breathe?

The light slowly diminished, and when it had been gone for a while, the water grew cooler. Finding her eyes not suited to see in the darkness of night, she swam back to shore. As soon as she stepped onto the sand, a cool breeze made her shiver. She took a moment to register the sensation and equate the word cold with it before realizing that she needed fire. It was a very mortal thing, to need fire, but she reasoned that she had become, so it was only right for her to make some.

Her new half quickly realized something. She had been the opposite of fire for her entire existence, and she had no idea how to make any. Her old half laughed at her as she gathered wood and awkwardly tried to create heat. She finally relented and let her old half show her how to do it. When the wood had released its heat, she drew close to the flames. Hesitantly, curiously, she reached out to touch it. A cry left her mouth as she jerked her hand back. The unpleasant sensation registered as pain. It was in the form of a burn, something that the older being hadn't felt before, or even truly understood in its whole concept of reality.

She sucked on her fingers, trying to alleviate the pain. The sucking brought her focus to another new feeling: a dry throat. She needed water! Considering she had been water for the longest time, it was a novel thought. Knowing that salt water would only increase the dryness, she sought out a freshwater pool. The long draught of cool liquid soothed her in a way she had never known, at least not the new half. The water made the burn hurt worse, and she decided to find out if she could heal.

As the water glowed blue, the pain dulled before disappearing, and she was pleased to find out she could. But what else could she do? A pang in her midsection made her gasp in surprise. Her other half told her it was hunger. She could smell a delectable scent that she translated as mangos, but she wanted the meat of the sea to be the first thing she tasted.

She noted her two halves of her mind were coming together, and the referencing between the two was getting harder. She finally decided to treat this whole night as a new experience, and would refer to it as such. She promised her other half that once the novelty wore off a little, her personality would come back to the surface.

Using her power, she perused her options then selected a large tuna. She slowly scaled the fish before sectioning it and cooking it over the fire, careful not to induce anymore pain by touching the flames. When her meal was hot and ready, she let it cool for a few moments before taking a bite. Taste was the best sensation yet! She ate until her stomach ached, then decided to save the rest for the next morning. Exhaustion tugged at her mind, something she recognized, just in a different form than what she usually experienced. Stoking the fire high, she gathered leaves and made a bed before lying down. Her eyes were heavy, and when she closed them, it felt good. Her mind wandered through the day before she fell asleep and was given the novel experience of dreaming pleasant dreams. As she slept, the question came back.

Who am I?

When she awoke, she whispered the answer aloud.

"I am Moana."