I do not own Moana nor any characters affiliated with the story, all rights belong to Disney.
Tui was dragged to the front of the frightened crowd and thrown down before Ruatapu's feet; Sina scratched and clawed to get to him but was held back by a few of the evil tyrant's minions.
"I remember you," Ruatapu sneered, "You're the reason I lost my eye."
Tui glared up at him defiantly, unafraid of what fate awaited him.
"Of course you were much younger then, and on a completely different island," the older deformed man said casually before he reached down and grabbed Tui by the hair, yanking him to his eye level, "So allow me to return the favour..."
"NO!" Sina screamed.
"Sina, no!" Tui halted her before she could do something foolish, gritting his teeth from the pain.
Ruatapu threw him to his thugs who held him down against a tree. As hard as he could, Tui nearly broke free of their grasp when one of them punched him full in the gut, causing him to bend over in pain. They grabbed him by the hair again, holding his head up as their leader came forward with a machete in his hand.
"Now, just a little off the top," he chuckled and pulled his arm back.
Tui closed his eyes, accepting his fate, when the whole village heard the sound of a horn blowing.
"RUATAPU!" a scout yelled as he ran to them, "We have incoming!"
"How many?!"
"One, sir! It's the Demigod Maui!"
Tui opened his eyes and looked at Sina who whispered happily, "Moana..."
Ruatapu didn't hear her but instead turned his gaze to the lagoon where a single canoe came rolling in, "The shapeshifter... Lock up the prisoners! And throw this one in the pit!"
He turned his attention back to Tui and sneered, "We're not through yet, boy."
Sina and the others were herded into the wooden cages they themselves had been forced to build and Tui was thrown into a deep hole they had dug. A few guards were left behind to watch them whist the rest of the murdering troupe ran to the beaches to ambush the intruders. Sina pushed to the front of the cage to stare out into the night, hoping to watch what would happen and see her daughter.
Tui heard most of the guards leave and dropped to his knees in prayer, "Gods, please keep her safe..."
*PAGE BREAK*
Maui squinted his eyes as they approached the island, watching the scrambling movements of the Fefe Tele, "Well, they know we're here."
"Can you see any of my people?" Moana asked him, but really just hoping that he saw her parents.
"Yeah, they're in some big cage just past the village and they threw a big guy into a hole... looked kinda like your dad..."
Panic crossed her face, "Is he okay?!"
"I can't tell," he shook his head, "But we'll find out soon enough, they're preparing to ambush us..."
She waited for him to continue but he paused, "... Maui, you have to summon the army..."
He closed his eyes and sighed, "... I know..."
She watched as he suddenly he grabbed his giant hook, jumped nearly 100 feet into the air, and began to chant:
Ou te valaau atu ia te outou
Ou samania e
faaali mai oe lava ia
Ou te poloai atu ia te outou!
Moana shrieked; suddenly they were surrounded by the skeletal souls from Manu'maniti. All of them ran on the waters surface to the beach, bellowing as they went. Her amazement was interrupted by a loud "CHEEEEEEHOOOOOOOOO!" coming from above and she looked up to see Maui twist his hook and then a blinding flash of purple filled the sky, forcing her to cover her eyes. When she looked again, her eyes widened in fear to see a giant sea monster before her: At least 150 feet tall, arms and torso of a man, webbed hands, and the head of a fish with a long dorsal fin running down the back. The only clue that it was in fact Maui was the tattoo of a fishhook along his side, and he turned to look down at the little canoe.
"Stay safe," the low, guttural voice that only sounded a hint like Maui came from the creatures lips. She swallowed and nodded, her eyes still wide in shock, and he charged towards the boats on the shore, thrashing his arms and destroying them one by one. She quickly adjusted her sail and cruised to the shore, anxious to get to her people and make them safe again.
Ruatapu watched the scene before him and for once in his life, he was genuinely afraid. A ghost army and a giant sea monster? It was his nightmares come to life.
"SIR!" One of his generals shouted at him, shaking him out of his trance, "The sea monster is attacking our ships! We won't be able to leave!"
"The villagers boats are on the other side of the island, you fool!" He spat at him, "We'll escape on those! Everyone to the ships!"
"RETREAT!"
The Fefe Tele ran away in panic as the ghosts of Manu'maniti began to chase them, picking off the stragglers one by one.
The villagers watched the scene in horror behind their bars and all of them dropped to their knees, praying to the Gods to spare their lives. Sina looked up and gasped as the Fefe Tele ran past them and were chased by a demon army of sorts. Most of them chased after their captors, but a few stayed behind and looked at the prisons curiously. She began to scream as she watched them advance towards them with, she could only assume, the intent to kill them.
"NO!"
The skeletons stopped and looked to their right to see the mortal woman who accompanied the Demigod running towards them.
"Not them, they're not Fefe Tele! They're not a threat!" Moana panted, quickly standing in front of the cages.
The skeletons nodded and joined the rest of their brethren in chasing after the running mortals, their targets made clear.
Moana sighed in relief and turned around to open the cage doors. As soon as she did, her people busted out of the cage and rushed her: hugging, cheering, congratulating, thanking her, even kissing her hands as they caught them. It overwhelmed her and she began to panic when she couldn't see her parents when someone from behind her grabbed her and spun her around into a tight hug.
"Mom!" she cried happily when Sina's arms went around her, but it only lasted a moment, "Where's dad?!"
"Over here!" Sina pulled her over to the deep pit where Moana sighed in relief to see Tui at the bottom, alive and unharmed.
"Dad!" she cried, "Hang on!"
She looked around and found a long rope and tossed it down to him. She and Sina and many of the other villagers held onto it as the Chief of Motunui climbed out and quickly wrapped the two women in his life into the warmest embrace ever in their lives.
"You're alive!" Tui cried as he kissed his daughters cheek, "And you found Maui!"
"Yeah," she chuckled, a tear rolling down her cheek, "And apparently we got here just in time."
Everyone around her chuckled when they heard someone towards the back shouting.
"Chief! They're taking our boats!"
Moana ran over to the ledge where the messenger was and looked out to see all of their canoes getting further and further out to sea, and the skeletons were nowhere. She looked all around until she finally saw the souls of the damned walking back towards her. While her people backed away in fear, she ran towards them.
"They're getting away!" She shouted.
The skeletons didn't move.
"You can run on water! Can't you go after them?!"
They remained silent.
She pushed her hair back in frustration when she saw the skull tattoo on her wrist, and it began to turn red. Suddenly she understood.
"... The deal was you were to save my people and my island... and now that the Fefe Tele have been chased away, the terms have been met... is that it?"
The 'leader' she spoke to nodded its skeletal head before it vanished in front of her with a green wisp of smoke. One by one, the skeletons began to disappear until the only inhabitants left on Kahoka were the freed mortals that dwelled there.
Moana looked back out to the canoes, "This isn't over, they can still come back!"
Tui walked over to his daughter and placed his hand on her shoulder, "We have no boats, Moana. We cannot go after them."
She smiled devilishly and turned to the lagoon, "MAUI!"
The people gasped with fear as the giant sea monsters head poked out from the lagoon and stared at their chief. She pointed to the sea and screamed, "They're getting away!"
Maui turned his head and saw the six or seven canoes that had belonged to the people of Kahoka being stolen and quickly transformed into a giant hawk to catch up to them. Moana watched as he got close then suddenly shifted into a shark and dove into the water a fair distance behind them.
Maui glided through the water and under the boats as fast as he could, determined to get in front of them for a big surprise. He chuckled to himself as he cleared the last boat, turned himself around, and blinked.
Ruatapu screamed in terror as the giant sea monster with the torso of a man and head of a fish rose from the water directly in front of him. Even though he knew who the deity was, the alien voice shook him to his core as it roared at him, "Ruatapu, I sentence you to death for your crimes! You will never terrorize my island, my people, nor anyone else ever again!"
The last thing he ever saw was the giant webbed hand as it came crashing down on top of him, sending him to his death and completely destroying the canoe.
The people of Kahoka cheered as the Demigod dispatched the remaining Fefe Tele. They had lost their boats, but they all knew how to make new ones in no time. Their homes were destroyed, but together they would build an even greater village. Their crops were almost completely gone, but they would start over. Moana looked around and smiled, finally feeling like a real leader as she watched her people rejoice, knowing that she had in fact protected them. It was when her wrist began to singe in a mild burning pain that she was reminded that being a Chief wasn't in her future at all.
Her parents grabbed her for another hug, breaking her out of her concentration. She held them tighter than she ever had before, refusing to let the tears in her eyes fall. When they pulled back, there was no hiding the sullen look on her face and they immediately took notice of it.
"What is it?" Tui asked her gently.
"Mom, dad..." she took a deep breath, "I learned something while I was gone, and that is that I love Maui. And I want to be with him."
Her parents opened their eyes wide at her statement, but she continued, "But he could never be tied down to one island... I wish to go with him, and give up my role as Chief to someone who will be much better at it than me."
Tui and Sina looked at each other in shock, not sure of what they could even say: it was their daughters rite as the Chief to pass her role on to another when she chose to, though traditionally that was to another heir. They gaped as she walked between them and called above the crowd, "Ariitea!"
She smiled in delight as she watched her old friend come running out of the crowd and holding his lovely fiancé Leikea's hand, dragging her with him. He only let go to hug Moana, who then hugged Leikea after. When he noticed how determined she looked, Ariitea furrowed his eyebrows, "What is it?"
Moana smiled and turned back to the crowd, "People of Kahoka, all of you have my blessing as you look to your new Chief."
Everyone looked around at each other, completely puzzled.
"Chief Ariitea!"
His eyes opened in shock, "What?! No! I'm not able to be the Chief!"
"Ari," she smiled at him, rubbing his arm, "You've held this place together for five years, taking on so many of the things I had a hard time doing with ease. You'll be a much better Chief than I ever will be. I am giving this honour to you because I know you'll do wondrous things with it, and because you deserve it."
He was speechless.
"And Leikea," she turned to his beautiful fiancé, "You will no doubt help him in any way that you can, and I wish you both all of the happiness in the world."
The shy, slender woman smiled and bowed, "Thank you, Moana."
Moana bowed in turn and turned back to Ariitea, "If it weren't for the Fefe Tele, you would have given her father the rest of those pigs you promised and have been married by now. I wonder if he'll make an exception and allow you to marry her anyways as the new Chief?"
The crowd chuckled and a stocky man came forth, obviously Leikea's father, "I will allow that. After all, who better to marry my daughter than a Chieftain?"
More laughter erupted and Moana addressed the crowd again, "Then everyone, I give you Chief Ariitea! Let us prepare a wedding celebration for him as best as we can! LAKOHI!"
"LAKOHI!" the crowd bellowed back, and despite all of the destruction around them, they began to celebrate.
*PAGE BREAK*
Maui made it back to shore, completely exhausted from the form he had taken on and the battle he had fought. As soon as he was clear of the water, he dropped his hook and sank to his knees when he looked up to see a wonderfully familiar face running towards him.
"Maui!" Moana cried as she jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him everywhere.
He chuckled as she did, "Whoa, easy now, princess! I just fought a big armada; I need a little time to rest before I do any other activities."
"Oh, shut up," she rolled her eyes and kissed his lips, "I'm so happy you're safe... you did it."
He beamed up at her, "We did it, Moana."
She smiled and helped him to his feet, "Everyone's fine, including my parents. There's a lot of damage, but in no time at all it'll be as good as new."
"Well, the good news is the Fefe Tele are no more, so they'll never have to about those pirates again," Maui nodded as they walked back to the village, "I wonder where that tattoo will appear."
She chuckled, "Come on, everyone is putting together a feast with what we have to celebrate the victory, and they're dying to fawn over and say 'Thank You' to their favourite Demigod."
"Oh, well I could use a little mortal adoration," Maui smirked, not noticing that Mini Maui was leading a chorus of tattoo people in chanting his name over and over.
"I'm sure you could," Moana giggled and carefully looked back over his shoulder to watch the ocean sneak up onto the shore and pull his hook into the water like she had asked it to. Determined to keep his focus on the people, she pulled him a little faster, "Come on, we're even trying to pull together a quick wedding and that means coconut soaked cake."
"Ooooh," he felt his stomach grumble, the promise of food becoming more and more enticing by the second, "I definitely can't say no to that! ...But what about Taito?"
A chill ran up her spine at his question, knowing full well he would still fight the inevitable. She cleared her throat and replied, "Let's not worry about that tonight. For now, let's just enjoy our victory and our people. Okay?"
He looked at her a little funny and she swallowed, hoping he wouldn't push the matter. Finally he nodded, "Okay."
Together, they walked up to the fresh fires as the sun finished setting behind them.
Authors Notes: I know what y'all are thinking, and I promise everything will be alright ;) you'll just have to keep reading to find out how they get out of this mess. Don't forget to review!