(A/N: This chapter is going to focus on Maui, at least towards the beginning. It also contains a theory I have regarding the Heart of Te Fiti and Moana's grandmother which, now that I think about it, should be pretty obvious, yet I haven't heard anyone bring it up. Oops, I should probably stop with the spoilers.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 3: Meddling
Maui lay on his back, looking up at the stars in the sky. The boats drifted along gently, tended to by the wayfinding night shift. Maui paid them no mind as he simply enjoyed the peace and quiet. Being a demigod, he didn't require much sleep, but he did like to take time to relax from time to time.
Now was not one of those times. His thoughts kept drifting to the brave, smart, kind, beautiful woman who had kissed his cheek. It seemed his thoughts were always on her, and had been for some time. Their little moments together had become time he treasured, and whenever he was away from her, all he wanted to do was go back.
It had happened gradually, and he had been too stupid to recognize it. They were good friends, and he had been blinded by those feelings of friendship, not realizing what other feelings were beginning to develop. And by time he had figured it out, it was too late.
He was such an idiot. How could he have let this happen? Or rather, he should have known this would happen. Moana was an extraordinary person. Never in his thousands of years had he known anyone like her. It really was no wonder the ocean had entrusted the heart of Te Fiti to her.
He sighed deeply. On his chest, Mini-Maui gave him a sad look. The demigod nodded down at him. "I know, buddy, I know. It sucks." He glanced up at the sky, his eye landing on one star in particular. "Hope you have better luck than me, Evangeline."
He looked at Moana's hut. She was surely asleep by now. He wondered if she was dreaming about him. He wasn't a complete fool; he had been observant enough to realize that she had developed feelings for him as well. And, of course, how could she not? He was Maui after all. He'd had countless women, and men, fall for him.
There was just one key difference. Those people loved Maui, the demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all. Not her though. He knew that his title and status meant nothing to her. He could be a disgraced, exiled, ordinary mortal, and she still wouldn't care. That was, perhaps, the hardest thing about this, knowing that her feelings were genuine.
However, he still didn't know how deep those feelings ran. Was it just a crush? Did she really like him, or was it full-blown love? That was something he did not know. If it wasn't true love, then he hoped to spare her pain and prevent it from coming to that. It was part of the reason he kept leaving. There were no more monsters to fight, he had cleared them all out long ago.
The last monster he had fought was the timingila, aka the 'whale swallower'; a giant shark monster that very much lived up to his its title. That had been 10 months ago. The rest had fled as Te Kā's darkness receded. Ever since then, search as he might, he couldn't find any monsters to fight, or even great deeds to accomplish. There was literally nothing for him to do.
That had been the problem 1,000 years ago. After he had shaped the world, he had literally run out of things to do for the people. They hadn't needed a hero anymore. And as time went by, and one generation gave birth to the next, he had become less important, less worshipped, less loved. That had hurt. After everything he had done for them, the mortals no longer needed him. They were capable of doing things for themselves, and he went by unneeded, forgotten.
That was when he had gotten the stupid idea to steal the heart of Te Fiti. Surely if he gave the mortals the power of creation, they would love him again. At least that had been the plan, one that had gone horribly wrong. And now he had a permanent reminder of it on his back.
Restoring the heart had fixed his mistake. And with all the monsters that had appeared as Te Kā's darkness spread across the world, the mortals needed him once again. And so, Maui had gone back to being their beloved hero. He'd flown all over, fighting and chasing off vicious beasts of all shapes and sizes. In between, he would visit Moana and her sea-bound tribe for a few days before taking off to be a hero once again.
But as time went on, and the monster sightings had become more and more rare, he was faced with the same dilemma he'd had 1,000 years ago. He would no longer be needed. The only difference this time was that he had a place he could go to and people he could be with. Having real friends and people who really cared about you was very different from having fans who only loved you for the things you've done for them. And so his visits to Moana and her people become lengthier and more frequent.
And then the trouble started. One day he had noticed a change in Moana that had nothing to do with her growing up. It was in the way she spoke to him, the way she looked at him, acted around him, touched him. He cursed himself for not noticing it sooner, but seeing as he had never had a true friend like her, perhaps he hadn't been able to see it. And so he had made his visits shorter and stayed away longer, hoping that whatever feelings she had developed would go away.
They didn't. If anything, they seemed to have gotten stronger. And if the situation weren't complicated enough, these periods of forced separation had brought on a revelation of his own. He felt the same way as she did. In fact, he may have felt this way before he even realized how she felt about him, and just hadn't realized it.
"Uh!" he groaned, rubbing his face. "What a mess. See, this is why demigods should not interact with mortals for so long. Things become complicated. Seriously, what happened to me? Did I get dumber while stuck on that island? I never stayed with any particular group of mortals for so long before." He began lifting his head and letting it drop onto the hard wooden boat. "Stupid. Stupid. Stupid."
He knew that if he were smart, he would just leave and never come back. But if he did, he knew it would hurt Moana, and that was the last thing he wanted. Besides, she would never forgive him if he left and never came back. Heck, knowing her, she'd probably come after him.
He'd tried to stay away anyway. More than once. His resolve never lasted long though. His weakness irritated him. How could someone as strong as him be so weak? Still, he'd rather have her in his life held at a distance than not at all. But then he would eventually lose her to time. He didn't think he could bear to see her die while he endured. It was a no win situation for either of them.
A splash of water interrupted his thoughts as he was sprayed. Startled, he turned over and looked over the boat, expecting to see the ocean mocking him. Instead, he saw a large manta ray swimming beside the boat. It splashed him again with its flipper, and Maui cut his eyes at it. "That's you, isn't it, granny?"
The manta ray went still, floating unmovingly beside the boat. A glow began to emit from it, and the ghostly form of an old woman appeared on the boat. "The name is Tala. You would do well to remember others' names."
Maui rolled his eyes as he sat up. This wasn't the first time he had met Moana's grandmother. Spirits always appeared the way the were remembered best by the person they came to. Having never met her himself, the only reason she appeared to him as an old woman and not a shapeless spirit or a Will O' the Wisp was because Moana had described her to him as such. Had she appeared to Moana's parents, she would have looked the way they remembered her best, most likely younger and more familiar to how they knew her for a majority of their lives. It made Maui wonder how she looked to herself when she saw her reflection.
Moving to a sitting position, he gave the spirit a bored look. "Any reason why you're bothering me instead of playing with dolphins?"
Tala smiled. "I couldn't help but notice that you were brooding. Would you care to talk about it?"
Not with her. That would be too awkward. "Nope, I'm good. Thanks. You can go swim off now."
He flopped back down on his back and looked at the stars again. The glow of Tala's spirit did not fade, and he could feel her gaze on him. He resisted the urge to groan. What was it that made old people always feel the need to meddle in the younger generations' affairs? And he was a lot older than her.
Lifting his head, he gave her a curious look as he asked something he'd been wondering about for a while now. "Why'd you come back anyway? Don't you want to move on and see your loved ones?"
Tala chuckled. "My dear boy, the afterlife isn't going anywhere. I'll get there eventually. But I'm not done with this world yet. I've been trapped on Motunui all my life; I want to see what else the world has to offer."
He sat up again. "And you chose the underwater world?"
"I took an interest in it. I always loved the ocean."
Maui rolled his eyes. "I'll bet; you are Moana's grandmother." He gave her a knowing look. "By the way, I know how you did the whole manta ray thing. You used the power of the heart of Te Fiti so you would come back as one after you kicked the bucket." He raised an eyebrow. "You do know that it was the heart that was keeping you alive. That's why you croaked right after you gave it to her."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "There were more important things to worry about. Like the world ending. Beside, death gave me my freedom. The freedom to see the world."
"Yet you keep coming back here."
"I keep coming back home, Maui. The same reason you keep coming back. You should know that home is not a place. That is why you keep returning here."
Maui didn't like the way this conversation was going, and he stood up. "Yeah, well," he gave a forced yawn, "I guess I'll turn in for the night. Later, granny. Have fun with the fishes."
He hadn't taken more than three steps before Tala's voice stopped him. "I approve, you know."
Maui had frozen in mid-step. He remained where he was for a few moments before asking, "Approve of what?"
An amused chuckle escaped the old woman. "Come now, Maui. Lets not play these games."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Tala shrugged. "Very well, then I'll speak plainly. I know how you feel about-"
Whirling around, Maui pointed his hook at her. "You don't know anything."
She mocked him with a knowing smile. "I know you're afraid."
Surprise crossed the demigod's face. "Whoa, whoa, wait, hold up there. Maui does not feel fear."
"Everyone feels fear, Maui. And anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves."
He stomped down on the deck, nearly tipping the small boat over. "I'm not a mere human. I'm Maui, the demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all. I fear nothing."
Tala gave him a skeptical look. "You were afraid of the heart of Te Fiti."
An annoyed grunt escaped the demigod. "That… That's a cheap shot."
On his chest, Mini-Maui pulled down some tapestry. On the left side was a hook, on the right side was a manta ray. Mini-Maui made a mark under the manta ray, then flashed Maui a mocking grin.
Scowling, Maui flicked his chest. "Hey, don't start that keeping score stuff." He looked back at Tala. "Ok, you had me on the heart thing, but I got over it. And just for the record, I wasn't 'scared' of it; I was just cautious since it was a magnet for trouble. And like I said, I got over it. Now I fear nothing."
Tala raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you running away?"
A chuckle of disbelief escaped him. "I'm not running away. Do I look like I'm running?"
"You're running from your feelings."
That shut the demigod up. Even Mini-Maui looked surprised before he recovered and added two marks beneath the manta ray's side. Maui glared at his little friend before flexing his chest muscles, causing Mini-Maui to bounce around. "I swear, if you don't cut it out, you will be living in my butt crack for the rest of the week."
Mini-Maui scowled, but rolled up the tapestry, crossed his arms, and began fuming. Maui nodded in satisfaction and looked back at Tala, looking completely serious. "You want to have a serious talk about this, granny, then fine, let's talk. Why do you think I'm running away from my feeling?"
A teasing smile crossed the old woman's face. "Because you're a bumbling idiot."
"Ah!" the demigod cried in frustration, throwing his arms into the air. "You're as infuriating as your granddaughter. Now I know where she gets it from."
"Maui…"
"You know the stories. Relationships between mortals and demigods always end in tragedy. One will continue to grow older while the other stays the same. The same will be true with Moana and me."
Tala shrugged, looking thoughtful. "Some people would find it very appealing to have a spouse that remains young and handsome indefinitely." She gave him a curious look. "Or is it you who does not want to be with someone who will eventually end up old and weak while you remain young and strong?"
Maui snorted. "As if I'm that shallow. I just don't want to lose someone I love."
Tala sighed deeply. "Maui, we all lose people we love at some point. Parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, spouses, grandparents, they all die eventually; some before others, but we all eventually reunite on the other side."
He pointed his hook at her. "Not me. I'm a demigod. Eternal life has its perks, but it's also a curse. I've know demigods who have taken their own lives after a loved one has died, just so they could be with them again. You would subject me to that pain? And what about our children? If I don't take my own life, will I be forced to endure their eventual deaths as well? And our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren? Will I be forced to forever watch generation after generation of my descendants die while I remain unchanging. The death of a single child has been more than enough to make some parents give up on life."
He slammed his hook on the floor, once again nearly tipping the boat. Tala just stared at him with a blank expression while Maui breathed heavily. His emotions began to settle, and he sighed, turning away. "This is why relationships between demigods and mortals are discouraged. They always end in pain. Even if they're just friends."
He sat down, keeping his back to the old woman. On his chest, Mini-Maui hung his head. Maui offered his little friend a small smile and patted his chest, comforting the sentient tattoo the only way he could.
He felt a hand on his arm as Tala gave him an encouraging squeeze. "Pain is a part of life, Maui. But we do not sacrifice the good times just so we can avoid the bad. I care about my granddaughter, and I care about you. I want to see you both happy. And from the looks of it, that happiness lies with each other."
Maui snorted. "You're crazy, lady."
She smiled, looking amused. "You may be a lot older than me, Maui, but wisdom comes with age, not unchanging years. You get a whole different perspective on things when you actually grow old and see your life pass you by." She gave him a look. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe you have been looking for love in the wrong place?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked, not even turning around.
She shook her head. "Maui, Maui, Maui. All your life you've been trying to win the love of everyone to fill the empty space in your heart. You've craved it since you were denied the love of your parents. So you became a hero so the mortals would love you. But that is not real love. It's hero worship. They only love you because of what you could do for them. Real love is different. And, often, it is a lot closer than you think. Sometimes it's right in front of you."
She patted his arm before stepping away from him. "Consider this, Maui, is not a lifetime of happy memories worth a few bad ones? Yes, the bad ones hurt, but we also have the happy ones to bring a smile to our faces during our sad times. Should you not take whatever happiness you can get while you can get it? In the end, the decision is up to you."
She faded away after that. The manta ray seemed to wake up, and it submerged, leaving Maui with his thoughts. An annoyed growl escaped him at the old woman's meddling. It seemed that no matter what generation it was, the elderly always tried to share their words of wisdom, whether others wanted them to or not.
"Old people," he grumbled. "They just can't mind their own business."
On his chest, Mini-Maui was trying to get his attention. He looked down at his little friend, and Mini-Maui motioned towards Moana's hut. Maui raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" Mini-Maui slapped his face. He grabbed Mini-Moana, swept her off her feet, and kissed her. Maui's mouth dropped open in shock. "What? No, I'm not going to do anything of the sort. I don't care what some old lady says. We both know this is for the best."
Mini-Maui scowled and returned Mini-Moana to her position on the boat, and crossed his arms, openly pouting. Maui gave him a look of disapproval. "Hey, don't give me that. The answer is still no. I'm not subjecting myself to the pain."
Mini-Maui motioned towards Moana's hut, as if to ask 'What about her?' But Maui just shook his head. "She'll move on as long as I don't encourage her. And if she ever does confess to me, I'll turn her down gently. But she's smart, I'm sure she's already figured out why this can't work. Otherwise she would have made a move. Moana isn't the type of girl to sit around and wait for her prince to show up. She knows what she wants and goes for it. Now, we are going to bed, and we are not going to talk about this anymore. Ok? Ok."
Mini-Maui crossed his arms in protest as Maui pushed aside the curtain to his designated hut and went inside. He hadn't been inside for 10 seconds before a scream had him poking his head out again. This was followed by a loud commotion and more shouting. Maui quickly scrambled out of his hut and turned into a hawk, flying over to whatever was going on.
Flying over the boats, he immediately saw the situation. A group of warriors were scrambling about, trying to catch a lone Kakamora. It was much smaller than the others, indicating that it was a child, and its war-paint had been washed off by the water. It appeared to have stowed away on one of the boats, waiting for most of the community to fall asleep before attacking. It wielded a spear that was just the right size for it, and it swiped it at the warriors and pole-vaulted away from them.
The Kakamora suddenly found itself cornered by three warriors looming over it. It swung at them threateningly, but the weapon was too small to be of any real concern. They lunged for the Kakamora, but the little critter jumped up and kicked off the wall of a hut, going over the warriors' heads and landing behind them. It used its spear to once again pole-vault itself away from them… and right into the wall of muscle that was Maui.
The demigod looked down at the little pirate. The Kakamora immediately jumped to its feet and pointed its spear at him. Maui merely raised an eyebrow at this. "You're quite the little fighter, aren't you?"
The Kakamora began yammering in its native language before throwing its spear at the demigod. Maui easily caught it and tossed it aside. "Right, lets get this over with."
He reached for the Kakamora. It turned to run, but was grabbed in the demigod's large hand. Tossing it into the air like it was a ball, he turned to the open ocean. "Ok, lets see how far I can throw." He began twirling his arm, building up speed. "Happy landings, little guy."
"Maui!" His arm froze mid-throw. Turning, he saw Moana making her way over to him, her people parting to let her through. "What do you think you're doing?"
He flashed her a smile. "Hey, kid. Come to see how much distance I can get with this guy?"
He held up the Kakamora, and a dizzy mumble escaped the creature from being spun around. Moana frowned in disapproval, throwing a glare at Maui. "Put it down, now."
The smile left his face. "What? It'll be fine. He'll float."
"Down, now."
Scowling, Maui dropped the coconut-wearing pirate. It bounced on the floor, seeming to snap out of its dizzy state. It jumped up and began shouting and shaking its finger up at Maui. He glared at the Kakamora. "Watch it, shorty, or I'll step on you."
"Maui," Moana scolded. She got down on her knees so she could speak to the Kakamora more on its level. "It's ok, little guy."
The Kakamora snatched up its spear and jabbed it at her. She scowled at it and her hand shot out, slapping the top of the Kakamora's hand. "No, bad Kakamora. Bad." The Kakamora didn't back down, and she continued looking and speaking to it like a parent disciplining a naughty child. "Put the spear down. Put it."
The Kakamora refused to listen, and Maui bonked it over the head with his hook, then used it to pin the creature down as it kicked and pounded the ground with its fists. "Don't bother playing nice with it. He's a Kakamora."
"Maui," Moana grumbled. She pushed his hook aside and picked up the Kakamora. "There, there. That's a good Kakamora." It responded with more gibberish and began slapping at her. She slapped its swinging hands right back. "Stop it. Be a good little pirate. No hitting. Or stabbing."
Maui just stared dumbfounded as he watched her try to interact with the creature. He exchanged looks with the other tribe members before glancing at Mini-Maui. "Am I the only one seeing something wrong with this picture?" He looked back at her. "Moana, it's a Kakamora. It just tried to kill us. We should just throw it overboard."
She glared at him. "It's a child. We are not throwing him overboard."
"He's probably going to cut our throats while we sleep. Heck, that's probably what he tried to do before he got caught."
"Maui," she said sternly, "we are not throwing him overboard."
"Come on, he's wearing a coconut, so he'll float."
The Kakamora had calmed down in Moana's arms, but it seemed to understand what Maui was suggesting, and it began waving an angry finger at him as it blabbered nonsense. The demigod glared, bringing his face up to the creature. "Don't test me, you little pygmy."
"Maui…" Moana warned.
He looked back at her. "He's a Kakamora. A murdering pirate. Do you really want to risk keeping him around?"
"Well, I'm not going to leave him to die," she argued back. She turned the Kakamora to her and began speaking to him as one would an infant. "You just had a bad upbringing, didn't you? Yes, you did. But we can fix that, can't we? Yes, we will. We'll teach you to be a good boy."
The Kakamora seemed to be confused as it cocked its head to the side. The other tribe members looked uncertain while Maui stared at them with hooded eyes. "I think I'm going to be sick."
She looked back at him. "I'll take responsibility for him. And it could be good to have a Kakamora ally in case we run into others in the future. It could help us avoid fighting or raiding."
Maui groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Moana!" Her father had finally arrived, her mother right behind him. He surveyed the scene before him, seeing his daughter holding a Kakamora child. "What's going on?"
Maui gave him a look and held his arms out to Moana and the Kakamora she held, as if telling him to do something about his daughter and her new friend.
Still smiling, Moana simply turned to her father and held up the Kakamora. "We have a new member."
Tui stared at the creature for a few moments before giving his daughter an uncertain look. "Moana…"
"I know what you're going to say," she told him, "but I'm the chieftess here, and I've made my decision. He's staying."
Tui looked at her and saw that she would not budge on this. He gave his wife a questioning look, but Sina just shrugged. He sighed in resignation and turned back to his daughter. "As the chieftess commands."
That seemed to settle things. Everyone returned to their beds as those on night duty went about their business. Moana smiled in satisfaction and looked down at the Kakamora. "Looks like you're one of us now."
"I think you're making a mistake," Maui told her. "He can't be trusted."
"It'll be fine," she assured him confidently. She set the Kakamora down. "So, what's your name, little guy?"
The Kakamora just stared at her. Moana wondered if he understood her, so she pointed at herself. "My name is Moana. Moana." She pointed at him. "And you? What's your name?"
"Wapapalu!" the Kakamora cried.
Moana blinked, not sure if she heard correctly. "Um, what?"
"Wapapalu!"
She stared at him for a few moments before smiling. "Ok, Wapapalu it is."
"I still say you're making a mistake," said Maui.
"Maybe," she gave the demigod a knowing smile, "but it's mine to make."
Maui reluctantly grunted in acknowledgement. If she wanted to spend all her time keeping a watch over the Kakamora to make sure it didn't hurt anyone, then that was her choice. But if the little pirate harmed one hair on her head, he would personally crack the little coconut open.
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)
Far away, at the bottom of the ocean, the sea floor began to shift. A darkness with flickers of light within it emerged from the fractures that had begun appearing. It swirled through the water as it sped to the surface, heedless of anything in its path.
Bursting from the water's surface, the black mass came together in the sky and took form. It emitted a monstrous roar, the likes of which the world had never heard before. Glowing eyes of light shined through the darkness that made up its face, looking at something far in the distance.
"Maui…" the beast growled, speaking in a deep, rumbling voice.
Its form broke into a shapeless mass and sped through the air, disappearing in the darkness.
(A/N: Alright, a lot happened here, starting with Maui getting a nice pep talk from Moana's grandmother. I always though it was peculiar that Tala died immediately after giving the heart to Moana, so I figured that maybe her time had already past and it was simple the heart keeping her alive, so once she gave it up, she died, but not before using its power to resurrect as a manta ray. At least that's my theory/head-cannon. I'm getting off topic though. Both Tala and Maui raised some good points on both their ends. You can't blame Maui for not wanting to experience watching his loved ones dying again and again while he never dies, but then Tala also has a point about not sacrificing the good times just to avoid the bad. A bit of a conundrum, isn't it? I also wanted to break the cliché of And now what's this, they now have a pet Kakamora? Ah, I shouldn't say pet, but is what Maui said true, is Moana making a huge mistake. And what is this dark entity that has awakened with Maui on its mind stay tuned to find out.)