The Fear Of Tomorrow
And so, even if the ageless creature felt meaningless within this very world,
he could still mean the world to somebody else...
AUTHOR: Sorry, this time the programme/lines went a little wild
Not much later they had gathered around the small earth oven, hungrily shoveling the cooked 'ulu-porridge into their mouths. Actually it tasted pretty fine. Fine enough, that Penina feared Maui could ask for another second helping after his very fifth portion. Tamati was laughing when the demigod set down his empty bowl - causing his mother to raise a brown eyebrow at him. Moana grinned at the scene while still working at her second refill. Her belly hadn't received something warm since they left Motunui a few days ago. ~ When did we set sail again? I think today must be the third day... huh. Already? ~ Puzzled she blinked down at her food.
~ Time passes fast when having fun...~
"Did you make these carvings?"
Now that his mouth was empty he asked what had occupied his thoughts for a while. "They are pretty good."
The young mother turned her head towards the wooden timbers of the entry, looking at people and patterns of different events, which had been made with love all these years ago.
"My husband made them", was the short response, one could clearly see that memories were bombarding the women's head. Penina kept her composure though. Instantly the two voyagers realized this seemed to be a difficult topic and Maui wondered if he should apologize.
- So his father really is... -
"I am not very talented at handiwork", she admitted calmly, smiling at them with a glum, yet proud expression, "It isn't pretty or memorable, broken and not very warm to say the least - but it's our home. And it's a good home, *winks at her little son, who was nodding insistently* don't you think, Tama?"
"AHUH! ^^", the boy chimed from somewhere NOT beside the others.
Luckily a sudden noise ended the awkward silence - and as his mother saw what approached, her solemn mood crumbled.
"Oh, not now, Tamati!" Penina rolled her eyes at the kid, who was carrying a bunch of weird looking objects towards the longhaired foreigner, "he barely finished eating!"
Not knowing what to expect Maui stared at the stuff that was about to be piled up beside him.
Moana bend around his massive back to take a look at the things.
"Here! These are my toys!" Tamati said proudly, still bringing more and more self-made-looking stick-figures.
His mother gave a sigh. Smiling thankfully at the young women Moana reached her the empty dishes, even Maui's, who now was bombarded with storytelling by the little boy.
"I made all of them myself - almost! This is Itiiti! Ö-Ö " Excitedly he extended his small arms, holding up what seemed like a doll. A wooden clump resembled its head, small branches formed the limbs and it was covered with coconut fibres and a rough peace of bluish cloth. A color, which wasn't very common, Maui thought. This was what he missed quite a bit these days, the different colors. Back when he was still a child and way-finders had spread across the ocean to explore new lands, people had always worn what nature had to offer. Green and reddish leaf-skirts, dried grass interwoven, wearing shells and feathers and everything colorful, that showed they were one with nature and the ocean.
In Motunui however, thousands of years later, people wore real fabric and cloth with patterns and images printed on them, but sadly they only used dies made from earth or flowers and due to that he found their clothing to be rather boring. Except for the village chief and the royal family of course. He glanced over at Moana - but instead his face bumped into Itiiti.
"He's my best friend and he's always watching over the others Ö-Ö He's making a lot of trouble, when I don't watch him though, so we take care of each other. Here! - You can hold him!"
The boy propped up the sordid-looking doll and Maui raised an amused eyebrow at this. "Hey, Itiiti *takes the doll* heard you're a troublemaker - how come?", he said in a playful tune and Tamati chuckled, already reaching for the next one.
"This is his wife, Agaga", brings up his hand to shield his voice from the toy, motioning for Maui to lean down, "(She can be a bit problematic at times, she always hits him when he's making trouble! - And she is yelling a lot!)"
Maui chuckled at this, replying :"(Gotcha, women can be frightening at times!)"
Immediately he felt cold spikes boring into his back as the two women stared him down with narrowed eyes - he better turned back towards Tamati. - Ouch! -
Grinning sheepishly the demigod get to hold another of the boy's friends.
Penina eyed him with what Moana presumed was either suspicion or happiness, or maybe both. Then she unexpectedly addressed the young teine. "Since our 'men' are busy playing, would you join me for a short walk? Nothing big, just a bit around the hills."
Moana gladly obliged, not wanting to deny the chance of the women's cool demeanor to change. She had warmed up to them during the day, even inviting them into their home. "Yes, of course!", the girl said with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Maui's ears had also peaked up, but strangely he didn't bother to say anything.
Setting the empty wooden bowls aside, Penina shakily tried to stand up, one had firmly pressed on her belly. For a split second there was pain in her face, however she already stood on her feet before Moana's helping hands reached her. "I'm fine, nothing to worry about!", the women assured her with a halfhearted smile, striking some curls behind her ear. The huge nacreous-rings she wore tinkled with each step she took. As she gestured for Moana to step out of the hut first, the women stayed in the doorway for a brief moment. Watching her son as he dragged every single crappy toy to the demigod, piling them up in his baffled arms.
"We won't be gone for long. Don't you dare go down to the shore with him, do you understand?", she propped up a demanding finger at Maui, who felt more than a little offended. - Tsk, Demigod of the wind and sea, powerful warrior who fought giant ales and seven-eyed bats, summoned for babysitting. - He rolled his eyes, which didn't seem to please the young mother at all.
He gave a low grunt at her strict demeanor.
"Yup, no shore. Guess I will abduct him and take him for a tour around the underworld instead."
A brief glint of terror scurried across her face as she realized this man would really be capable of doing so - her worries only coming to a hold when a wide toothy grin spread across his dopey face.
"Just a joke", he added with a wink, just as Tamati scrambled up beside him.
Ö.Ö "We go to the underworld!?", he gasped excitedly.
"NO!", both of them deadpanned in unison, causing the boy to pout.
Then Penina cracked a smile at the heavily tattooed man. "You got the responsibility, demigod!", she told him once more with a cocked eyebrow, to which he nodded and turned back to the kid, making an annoyed grimace, so Tamati's grumpy expression immediately faded. "WAHAHAHAHA!" XD
For a brief moment she caught herself thinking, if this oversized, unabashed guy had children himself. At least he was sheer entertainment. Before she stepped out of the fale and joined Moana though, there was something else she had to tell him.
"And Maui", amused she recognized the slightly pestered look on his face,
"Thanks a lot for your hard work today. I really appreciate, what you did for us."
Finally getting to hear, what he had been waiting for the entire day, Maui grinned from ear to ear, almond eyes happily squeezed shut as he dropped onto his back - Tamati tumbled onto his belly in surprise. As both lay there with their hair hanging from their heads and both having this remarkable tooth gap and a necklace with teeth around their necks, those two really resembled one another.
"You're welcome", she huge man replied, letting his face relax with a more calm expression.
- Hell yeah! -
She snorted and shook her head at them, then left.
Outside Moana stood, not really witnessing what had happened. However, when she saw the happy expression on Penina's face, she knew that Maui most likely had something to do with it.
~ I guess she got to like him a little bit. Just a little. ~
In silence she joined the pregnant women, who slowly headed for the path, that lead towards the palm trees. It was quiet for a while and Moana seemingly enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere.
Sunset was at it's mere end, only a few beams of light squeezed through the fresh green leaves, while the horizon slowly darkened, orange changing into violet. On the other side of the island the night sky had already risen.
Her bare feet struck the ground, soft grass tickling her skin as they kept on walking at a slow pace.
Penina was the first one to say something, when they had made a safe distance. Out of earshot.
"How old is he?"
Moana, who abruptly awoke from her own thoughts, assumed she was talking about Maui.
"I don't really know. If I had to guess, I would say a few thousand years old. *eyes drawn to the ground* But then again he ages differently - if he ages at all; so he could be even older, I guess..."
The women nodded in agreement, albeit she was a little shocked by this answer. As a human there would already be quite an age gap between him and the girl, but centuries!? This lead her even more to the assumption, that this man meant trouble for Moana. A lot of trouble. Yet for some reason his bubbly personality made him seem a whole lot younger than one would think at the first expression of his mature body, more like a child or a teenager even, when he pouted.
Behind the deep green bushes and ferns, the palms came into view.
"Since when are you married?"
Trying her hardest not to suffocate at her own saliva, Moana cleared her throat. ~Waaaaaait - What kind of conversation is this!? ~
"Nonono! NO! - we, we are just friends!", she assured with a shaky voice and Penina noticed the girls hands had immediately began fumbling around with her hair. Absentmindedly twirling brown curls around her fingers. She was nervous.
"I see", a knowing smile crept into the mother's face," so that's how it is..."
"What!? No, really, there's nothing between us - we met in order to restore the heart of Te Fiti and we have remained friends ever since then, but no, um, no romantic stuff happening here!", the girl tried to reassure herself out of the clearly obvious situation, but she knew how utterly untrue this sounded. ~Dang it, why can't I lie as good as he can!? ~
There was silence for another moment as Tamati's mother chuckled to herself. Suppressing the mentioning of the goddess of life, she wondered if they were aware of the looks they constantly gave each other.
Back in the afternoon, when Moana and Tamati had collected more material for the roof, Penina had been watching them the entire time, resting calmly in the shadow of the trees. Listening to their conversations, her lil' son's babbling or the tunes they hummed. Every now and then, when the girl had walked by, the young man's head had turned her way, eyes following her for a brief moment, before response had told him to concentrate on his work instead. It really had been an amusing thing to watch as his head always snapped back and forth and after a while, simply decided to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Apparently Moana was oblivious to all that, full of zest for action she had carried branches and thin stems to the piles in front of the hut, preoccupied with the boy's stories. And later on, when the girl had climbed up the hut to help him cladding the roof, it was her blushing at his closeness. Trying to avoid his gaze, she hadn't been able to take her eyes of his muscular back and the handsome tattoos - and no blame on her for that one! He truly was an intimidating sight.
Quietly she had observed their infatuated glances, shy approaches and gentle touches as they worked together like the well attuned team they were.
This was the first thing coming close to entertainment on this goddamn island for YEARS, so Penina as an amused viewer had always enjoyed a good tale of romance. What had struck her as odd however, was that Maui hadn't made a move on the girl just yet!?
He didn't seem like the shy type of guy, nor could he keep his emotions at bay, they always popped up on his face immediately, being the hyper fella he was.
When they had sat down and watched the sunset together, side by side on the finished roof, the experienced women could tell he only had eyes for Moana. He had been looking at her the whole time, laying completely still - and Penina had kept her fingers crossed, that he would go for a kiss - but NOPE. Life is a giant disappointment.
"Do you want some 'romantic stuff' to happen then?", the women asked with a strange undertone in her voice, that reminded her of someone... light and a bit mysterious.
[('Is there something, you want to hear?')]
Moana tuned to look at her with a puzzled expression, unsure of what to say.
This women walking beside her, she really wasn't that much older than herself. Still young and at the same time having the compassion of a mother, that went through a lot in her short life. ~ It really is weird... some people, they can grow old and die as bovine, unexperienced and ignorant as they were when being young. Even a demigod, who lived for over a decade doesn't behave very mature for his age. And then there are these people, who haven't even been around for long, and it still occurs they know more about life, than many others do... it's strange... ~
"I'm sorry, maybe I went a little too far", Penina excused herself, not meaning to upset the girl, "I've simply come to notice this and that and I figured it was worth a try to ask, what his intentions are."
Rattled the girl kept on walking. "His intentions?", she repeated more to herself than for the sake of their conversation.
The women suddenly stopped cold in her tracks, turning to her with a serious expression.
"I don't want to crush your hopes of finding the love of your life, dear", Penina continued with a rather scary voice this time, "but men aren't made the way we wish them to be."
- Man, how many toys has this kid!? - Maui grumbled to the load of weird-shaped stick-figures in his brawny arms. - They're not even real toys, it's more like stuff he collected at the shore and then gave them names!? -
"Most of them I found down at the shore and then I gave them a name!^^ ", Tamati chirped happily, sitting on the demigod's upper leg, "All but Itiiti! - Tāmā made him for me when I was SOOOOOOOOOOO *presses his thumb and forefinger together* OOOOOOOO tiny!"
Maui's big hand reached for the wood-head, pulling him out from beneath his many companions.
Due to the information he had gathered, the kid's father must have left them quite a while ago and to be honest he didn't really want to know why. The longer he thought about the short lifespan of humans, the more worries he had and due to this he simply didn't bother to think about his dad too much. Which was a lie.
Immediately Tamati grabbed the doll and swapped a dried ball of mud (who was named I'a) with Maui, who confidently let out a sigh to indicate he was relieved, that it had been the last one of his toys he had to greet that day. Left on the ground beside him though, there was a purplish bracelet.
"AH! Taulima!", the pepe declared and reached for it.
Holding up the beautiful ornament, Maui blinked puzzled at the sight of it. The taulima consisted of cut purple amethyst, framed by thin golden lines, a work so delicate and noble, almost too incredible to be made by human hands. But could it be? Taking an interest in the jewelry, the man sat down the amount of toys.
"Huh, I thought mommy wore it?!"
Maui just nodded, not really listening. With his huge hands he examined the neat bracelet and after a while realization hit him.
Of course this was way too detailed to be made by human hands - because it wasn't made by a mere mortal.
"Your papa brought you that?", Maui asked, his brows furrowed. Tamati gave a nod.
"Do you know where he got that from?"
He watched as the boy's lips firmly pressed together and a clueless finger poked into his cheek. He was thinking. "UUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuummm...", trying to buy time, "uuuuuuuum... something like 'Pikola' or ... 'Takiko'!?"
Now, these names couldn't have been more wrong for the place he was looking for, but Maui now knew his assumption had been right: This invaluably piece of jewelry hadn't been made by human's at all, nor by any other mortal that is to say. - Oka fefe... I've been away for a long time... -
This worried him. After a thousand years, he hadn't come to think that island could ever be discovered. It lay so very far away from civilization, he never had any concerns. But it seemed, that people hadn't wasted their time, while he had been banned to that godforsaken island. They had ventured on. Exploring areas far from his reach - maybe even farther than he himself had ever been. He suddenly felt very numb. New tribes on new islands.
For the first time in months after his amazing adventure together with Moana, he truly had to face the fact that the world he once knew, didn't exist anymore. Everything had changed.
What if it wasn't a good idea to take her there after all...
What if they had also changed, if the humans had interfered - just like it always was the case!
What if she wouldn't like it at all?
If it was just a giant waste of her time...
"Why are you so sad? Ó_Ò ", Tamati asked softly. Confused, as to why his big friend suddenly hung his head.
Maui then noticed how quickly his mood affected the little kid. His tiny hands were firmly gripping onto the doll. "Do you want to hold Itiiti? Ó.Ò ", he asked in a shy voice, now offering his most precious toy to him, "He can make tears go away!"
An intent smile appeared on the demigod's face. "Sorry for worrying you, Tamati,", he mumbled, trying to shield the kid from climbing further up on himself, "I'm good."
Of course Tamati ignored his bad excuse, wiggling Itiiti closer into his face. With an imitating, grumbling voice he said: "HEY! Ò3Ó You don't be sad! - No reason to be sad here!"
Deciding it would be best to simply hide his doubts for the time being, Maui acted along.
"Ah, sir Itiiti! Nice to meet you in person!", he grumbled back, with a voice just as deep as Tamati had pretended to sound. A brief smile lit up the boy's face, before he went back to acting.
"Don't be sad, or Moana will hit you with her oar! She says that makes your grumpy face go away - so don't be sad! Ò3Ó "
Cocking an eyebrow at the wood-headed doll, Maui wondered, what else this girl had told him. Thought he didn't deny there was some truth about it. "Thanks a lot, I'm feeling much better now, Itiiti!", he gave a meaning nod.
But Tamati wasn't convinced. Rebuking him, he put down his doll-friend. "No lying, says mommy! Ò-Ó ", propping up a demanding little finger - then he had another idea, "Ah! WAIT!"
Climbing over the demigod's huge upper leg, he scattered around and took something out of a nearby corner of the mostly empty hut. "I will show you the coolest thing I got!" ÒvÓ
By now Maui simply longed for Moana's soon return.
"Um... yeah, you're probably right about that..."
She stared at the women with a gaping mouth. ~ I... what!? I know... I mean, I think I know!? Of course men and women are different but/ ~ Once more her thoughts were cut off by Penina:
"They might seem dear and loving at first, but pretty often all they want is, what you're body has to offer. If you know what I man." By now the sun was completely gone, only a bright blue shimmer at the horizon reminding of its existence. Instead the moon slowly rose behind them.
"They don't think the way we do, Moana. *puts one hand on her belly, a strained look on her face* Sadly it's a matter of fact, that - while it is a women's goal in life to find a partner to get children with - this is not what men are hunting for... it's most likely, that they want to have as many descendants as possible..."
Moana didn't really know what to response. Had she wanted to go for a walk just to tell her that? Or was there more to it? ~ Why is she telling me all of this... ~
What the women explained to her, sounded like her own experiences and Moana had to accept, that these only confirmed her own believes about men, since at first... she had never planned to get married at all. She actually still didn't.
She had never been looking forward to romance, nor did she ever consider falling in love. For some reason this had never seemed to be an issue to her and when the other girls were bragging about which boy of the village was the best dancer or strongest fisherman or hottest drummer, her eyes had been drawn to the wide, blue ocean instead.
Longing for the thrill of adventure, no responsibility and freedom.
Things she would never be able to have as the next chief of their people - and most of all not when being someone's wife - or worse: A mother. Which was a horrible thing to think, because she loved children! Of course she did and to be honest, children were one of the only things she was looking forward to in an arranged marriage - but sadly this daydreaming had a snag to it.
There was either family or the little bit of freedom she had finally found by sailing the sea - even if this would only last for a while. And she wasn't sure, if she would be willing to give this freedom up just yet.
On top of that, there was still her problem of finding a fitting mate, a husband she liked and her family would approve of...
And then there was Maui.
"Penina,", the girl's soft voice broke the quietness of the night and as the women turned to look at her, she saw, that Moana' eyes were drawn to the stars high above. Shining and shimmering so pretty, yet far beyond any human's reach. ~ Heh... he lassoed the sun... ~ She felt her heart and confidence crumble under the pressure of reality. ~ I wonder, if he could fly high enough... to reach for the stars... ~
"What happened to your husband?"
Tamati returned with a bundle of cloth, which was tightly pulled together, not to reveal, what was inside. Presumably the kid still thought Maui was 'sad', so he wanted to show him the coolest thing he possessed. "There!", he whispered under his breath, pouring the cloth's content into his big, leathery hand.
=.=
"What... what am I looking at here?", the demigod deadpanned, unimpressed by the smallish white stubs. They were so very tiny, the man couldn't really see them in his palm.
Tamati crept a whole lot closer, still talking in a hushed tone, as if he was about to reveal something mystical. He tried with all the might of a five-year-old to sound as cool as Moana the night before, when talking about their amazing adventures.
"My teeth!" *-*
...
Maui's first thought was to - GET RID OF THESE CHIDREN'S BONES!? - But he then hardly fought the urge to throw the tiny stubs away. "Aha...", he croaked hastily. Yup. Yup, kids definitely were creepy.
But one look at Tamati assured him, that these huge glimmering eyes admired the teeth more than anything else. And he didn't have a clue why."Aren't they super cool!?" *-*
His small fingers kept on holding Maui's huge, vigorous hand, making it feels as if butterfly-wings ghosted along his skin. + OOOOOOOH, I hope he thinks they are cool! +
"Um... sure."
The boy gladly looked up at the giant man, beaming a content smile at him in appreciation. Never had there been a real friend to look up at - most of all none who could transform into his favorite animal or with tattoos, that moved. Maui was awesome - he was more than awesome - and he had Pua and Moana and the funny chicken and Tamati just hoped they would stay here forever.
Still holding his big hand the kid said:
"And tomorrow you will climb up Oneone with me, right, Maui?" ÓvÒ
That was... when the man perceived his mistake.
With a dry throat he watched the boy, who was so completely lucky to have met the voyagers, it wasn't bearable. He shouldn't have done this - should have never allowed this fragment of hopes to build within his mind. - What have I done... -
Slowly Maui balled his hand into a fist, placing the tiny stubs back in Tamati's own little hands. He was very careful not to drop them, but the kid's confused expression made it even harder for him to do, what had to be done. "Maui?", Tamati asked, not sure if he had done anything wrong. Wondering what his big friend had planned to do next. Quietly the demigod picked up the boy and placed him beside the nodded off Pua on the ground, then he gave Itiiti back to his care.
Taking place in front of the kid, who's both hands were occupied with holding things, Maui sat down cross-legged. He looked rather grim, no longer cheerful.
He wasn't good at this, Moana would have done this so much better - but she wasn't here now. Again. A deep sigh leapt his throat as he closed his eyes to collect the strength it would need to say the inevitable.
"Tamati, buddy,", the man watched in terror as the little boys fists pressed his doll firmly to his chest, making a face as if he didn't want to listen. He knew what was about to come.
+ No... don't want them to go... *panic* They-they just arrived!? Why would they want to go already!? +
"We will leave shore tomorrow morning."
"His name was Salimalo,", the women replied drily.
The lack of emotion within her voice scared Moana a little. Something bad must have happened to him. Something really bad.
They had sat down on some rocks, that were gathered around the hillside, where dozens of white flowers bloomed, illuminated by the bright moonlight.
"He was the one who built your fale, wasn't he?", the girl asked softly, not wanting to cause Penina any more pain, than she already had experienced.
At this the women chuckled. It was a sad noise and a glimpse of shame in her wet eyes revealed, that she hadn't talked about this for a very long time. Maybe she had never told this to anybody at all.
"We built it together, he and I. Way back before Tamati had ever caught a glimpse of this world. We had been happy back then. *looks out to the see* Or at least I thought we were."
Moana wasn't sure whether they should continue talking about this subject, but for some reason it felt right to do so. She had the impression, that Penina had kept these feelings to herself for a very long time. And she clearly knew, that even if people tried to shield their feelings from the world, that if they built up an armor around themselves, they would even more so silently drown in their sorrow, without anybody realizing.
"Heh, he was just like your friend," her soar voice had cracked, now there were teardrops running down her cheeks. Bittersweet tears. "Strong and proud, a warrior - an explorer, just like you guys... *lips quivering*... it's a shame how the gods never allow you to forget..."
So that was the reason why she couldn't stand him. ~ Maui reminds her of Salimalo...
she was gruff to him, because she couldn't bear to see him... and yet she let us stay. Offered us food and a place to rest... ~
A warm hand curled around the shivering one, that loosely hung from her lap and as Penina's teary face looked up at the girl, who's gentle action made her feel so much more helpless, she saw that Moana's eyes also grew watery. Her mouth was tightly pressed shut, big brown eyes bathing her with attention. Full of empathy and love and so very understanding.
Giving a sad laugh, the young mother shook her head. " I can see why he likes you - *smiles thinly, wipes away the small waterfall* - now stop being emotional or we both won't be able to stop bawling our eyes out! *winks at the girl with reddened eyes* - And you don't want him to know you cried, that's the worst for a man, always remember that!"
The young teine also gave a brief chuckle at this.
Penina leaned back against the rock, letting the cool breeze ruffle her hair, her braid swinging calmly behind her. Tightly holding Moana's hand. There was some strength in her touch, the unshakable believe of a leader. Where did she say she came from again?
"Ahhhh, why am I even doing this. All of this...", she mumbled with a tired voice, her eyes closed. At that point Moana had decided it was best to just lend the lady an ear. To listen at what she had to say.
"I didn't want to scare you", she said all of a sudden, "All I wanted, was to tell you about the consequences of being an amorous fool." Rubbing small circles on her belly, another tear escaped her puffy eyes. "It's hard to be a mother. *swallows the lump in her throat* And it's even harder to be alone. Of course you would think there are the children, but that's not the same. No one to hug you, when you can't sleep. No one to stroke your back, when you are sad. Nobody to laugh with, when Tamati makes a hilarious face at my cooking. *agonized smile* It's just that... Maui reminded me so much of him - the need for adventure and his bubbly personality, childish demeanor, always seeking for the fun way out...
Only ever say 'yes', if you know he is the right one. *opens her eyes, head still resting against the rock, giving the girl's hand a squeeze* If each and every fibre of you're body and soul, both, are convinced, he is it. Don't let yourself be blinded by things you want to see, but are not there. That's the advise an abandoned women can give you, Moana."
For a man like Maui, there wasn't much he was afraid of. No gory sight could make him shiver, no creepy darkness tremble with fear. But what he couldn't fight - no matter how hard he tried - was guilt. And the look Tamati presented him just now made him wish, he had never taken a step on that cursed island at all.
The boy's face was contorted, eyebrows as tiny as they were frowning so heavily his dull eyes weren't visible anymore and the poor little guy just kept on pressing his head deeper into his toys, which he hugged so tightly his limbs slowly turned red.
Maui didn't know what to do.
"Tamati, Moana and I, we can't stay here. We're in the middle of a journey and -"
He was shut up as the kid shook his curly head. + No. NO, I don't want them to go... +
"You see, Moana also has to go back home eventually?! There are people waiting for her, her own mom and dad...", he tried, but at this the kid trashed around even more. "NO!"
As he lifted his tiny human head, there were tears streaming down his twisted features, pouting, face red with anger and frustration and he kept on shaking. "NO! NO I DON'T WANT THAT!", he insisted stubbornly, narrowing his eyes at the man's chest. It was never good to look at an adult when crying.
"Tamati!"
At that the kid flinched. Dropping all of his toys at once.
Suppressing heavy sobs which shook his whole body, he turned his back towards Maui. Silently crying.
- Kefe, what am I supposed to do... -
Rubbing his neck the demigod contemplated if he should just stand up and ... run away, but this wouldn't solve an argument with a little kid - in fact it never helped a thing other than to clear his own head. But he was the adult. And he would have to make things right in some way.
Feeling the assuring pat of mini-maui and mini-mo on his chest, the man took another deep breath. - Here I go again: -
"Oh boy, what's the matter?", suddenly a deep rumbly voice with an Jamaican accent purred, "Is there somebody crying?"
The kid stopped shaking for a moment. Sitting all still and listening. Surprised.
+ ... Itiiti!? Ó.Ò +
Maui dearly hoped this stupid attempt would work. It wasn't every day a demigod played the voice-actor for some crappy little doll. "There's no need to be sad here, is there, buddy?"
There was a sniff coming from the kid.
Approaching, Maui held out the toy to Tamati, wriggling it around as if it was the one talking. "Hey...", he said softly, resting a wooden hand on his shoulder.
Instantly the kid snatched Itiiti from his puzzled hand, pressing the doll firmly against his heart. He still wouldn't turn around though.
That's it, the demigod confessed. - That's all I can do. Didn't work... -
Unexpectedly a quiet voice caught his attention. It was barely audible and cracked... coming from the kid. "Bad Itiiti, you're always making trouble! - No, I don't! I was just - You made them go away! No one likes you! - That's not true!" In between silent sobs the boy talked to the doll, acting as if it answered and responded grumbly all on his own. Worried Maui glanced about the kids shoulder.
"Why can't you behave!? *sob* - I do, I try to be good!? I am not bad! - Yes you are! You broke the bowl! - Not on purpose! - And you lost mommy's favorite ring! - You know that was an accident! - But mommy's still angry at you! *scolding* You're small and you're stupid! No one likes you! *sniff* And now... now they don't like you either, be-because you are always making tro-houble. You're bad... *sob* Nobody likes you..."
Taken aback at the bitterness in the child's voice, Maui watched as the doll slowly sunk in Tamati's hands. With an utter numbness he hung his head.
"Tāmā liked you... He never shouted at you, Itiiti."
Just then a warm big arm curled around the boy, carefully, yet the embrace was strong and dearly. It really was hard not to love that kid, Maui thought to himself, hugging lil' Tamati close to his chest as snot and tears kept on flowing down his small face.
"I miss him...", the kid's sore voice breathed as he revealed the teeth he had kept during all this in his tiny palm.
This nearly broke Maui's heart. "People...", he gulped at what he was about to say. Showing once more how awfully limited a human's life was... "People don't decide, when they have to go, Tamati."
Brown curls slowly swung up and down with an agreeing nod. "Yeah...", then the boy once more held up his hands with a indignant look, tears still flowing, "But he could have at least waited for me *sniff* to say goodbye!? Ö-Ö"
Unexpectedly this caused a halfhearted chuckle from the demigod. Of course a kid could not comprehend what bothered mankind ever since the very beginning of existence. Sadly death wasn't as easy to explain as plucking coconuts. He sighed - but again Tamati made his voice heard.
His eyes still drawn to the white stubs within his hand, in the other he held Itiiti.
"... Maui?"
"Hmm?"
"You can be different animals, right? ", he still sounded cracked and sad, but a little more hopeful, which made Maui's heart beat with joy. He truly was willing to do everything in his power to make the kid happy again.
"I can transform into them, yeah. *tilts his head* Why?"
Tamati then squirmed around in the man's arms to face him. Sheer determination played on the young boy's face, eyes still puffy, but wiped dry. "Can you transform into a fish? Ó.Ò"
Confused the man looked rather dumbfounded.
"Uuum, yeah?", he replied, unsure of where this conversation was heading.
Instantly the boy's eyes grew wide and he motioned for Maui to come closer. With an cocked up shrubby eyebrow the demigod leaned down, wincing as the kid yanked his raven curls away to whisper hasty words into his ear: "(How deep can you dive?)"
- OOOOOOOOH NO! Nope, Penina will skin me alive!? -
"Tamati, you heard what you're mommy said! The ocean's a no go!", he reassured a little troubled as huge brown children's eyes gasped at him, "What do you want down there anyways?" Though if you asked him, he really didn't see a problem with visiting the shore.
Again a tiny finger waved the man closer and as he rolled his eyes, Maui once more stuck out his ear. "(This tooth)", the wispy child breathed, proudly holding up the fang he wore around his neck, "(was given to me by my father...)"
Confused the demigod stared at the sharp thing. - Um... yeah. We had that already, hadn't we? -
"(He must be very lonely on the bottom of the sea , so I want to give him something to remember me! ÖvÖ And since I have his tooth, it's only fair to give him one of mine!?) *blares full-throated into Maui's ear* AND YOU CAN BE A SHARK!? THIS IS PERFECT!?"
Shocked by the sudden VOLUMNE of the kid, Maui shot up, wincing at the beeping in his ear. "This *tries to get rid of the beeping-sound by sticking a tiny finger into his auditory canal* this is your father's? Like - from his JAR?" Dumbstruck the man gulped at the definitely inhuman fang.
Tamati frowned. "Huh? But I told you that before! - Are you that old?! Ö3Ö"
"Uh... yeah!? But I thought - *dawns on him* Wait a sec!? What do you want me to do!?"
With a wide grin the boy offered his flat hand to him, desperate as if he hadn't cried about the end of this world only moments before. Maui's brain hadn't even began to rattle, when the tiny stubs fell into his hand.
- How the heck... - "ÖvÖ Give a tooth to Tāmā!" - ...did I end up with such a quest!? -
When Moana stepped back into the hut, she caught the two of them making a pinky-promise.
"Hey, what are you doing?", she tried to sound more cheerful than she was. ~ Let's just hope he won't notice... ~ Wide-eyed the guys turned their heads, not expecting any witnesses.
"Nothing!^^", Tamati replied with a giggle, scrambling out of Maui's lap. Instantly suspicion rose in her. The girl stemmed her fists to her sides, eying them with different emotion. "Maui?"
When the hunk of a man stood up he visible avoided her gaze. - That was until he spotted the reddened eyes.
To her dismay he instantly rushed to her side, to get a better look - not wasting a second as he realized her nose and lips were also alarmingly puffy. She had cried. "Moana?", he said puzzled, worry lines protruding from his forehead. This day truly had turned out a lot different, than he had thought. "What's up with you? - Are you hurt!?"
Immediately she withdrew from his intense stare, glad there wasn't too much light coming from the small fire. "I am just tired. That's all", she mumbled and her cut short demeanor upset him even more.
He stood very close, bending down to her eyelevel, raising a big brawny hand in concern - wary she saw he was in the process of touching her cheek, but panic rose in her. Patting his arm she took another step back. "I am okay, really."
The demigod replied with an unbelieving frown, at which she insisted more drastically:" REALLY!"
And blew a curl out of her way.
She was sorry to leave him standing there with things unsolved, yet she wasn't in the mood to explain everything to him. "I will tell you tomorrow, okay? Now stop goggling at me like Tamatoa! *smiles thinly* We had a long day and I am very tired. *squirms under his uncomprehending gaze* I am going to bed now and you should do the same."
Tamati watched in silence as Maui's concerned grimace turned into anger. "Fine then!", he spat at her, "I'll sleep outside!" Disgruntled he set into motion, heavy steps shaking the ground as he passed her. This - this was just perfect. Annoyed she ruffled through her hair, letting slip and audible groan.
"I heard that!", the demigod yelled from outside, though she didn't bother to turn around and frown at him. ~ Ugh... he won't tell me his problems - but when I don't spat it out instantly he's pissed beyond believe!? ~ She was too tired and dismayed to keep up with his giant ego at that point. Tomorrow would be a better day to handle him.
"Tamati?", she addressed the kid, who had watched the entire scene in silence. He still held that weird doll in his hands. "Your mommy will be there soon - Say, who is that?" She tiredly pointed at Itiiti.
A wide, hopeful smile appeared on the boy's lips.
When Penina appeared on the clearing a while later, she wondered why the demigod sat alone in front of the hut. Arms crossed and grumbling to himself.
Then again he didn't seem very chatty at that moment.
Sleep didn't come easy that night. Even though Moana was offered an 'ie tōga she constantly rolled around, unable to find a comfortable position. Different things were nagging at her all at once; Salimalo and Penina, the horrible fortune that had awaited their tribe, Te Fiti, the fact that her stubborn friend and Tamati concocted something they wouldn't tell her - everything somehow circling around Maui in the end.
As she turned over once more, the girl found herself face to face with a snoring Tamati, held closely by his mother. She had a calm look on her face, now that she could finally get some rest.
~ At least they are getting a night full of sleep. ~ Gladly Moana regarded the small smile carved into the boy's face. Then her eyes trailed of to the entrance of the hut, where pale moonlight was illuminating the outside world. Feeling a little safer as she spotted the looming shadow of a man. He probably sat there, cross-legged like a child, like always, she figured. Then her face dropped.
He had been so concerned for her well-being. ~ Poor guy...~
But as much as she would have enjoyed watching him from a safe distance: the radiant brightness of the moon was too glary - forcing her to whip around once more, groaning in annoyance. Now she stared at a dark wall. Sweet.
With time however she noticed the outlines of something, shape getting clearer while her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her. There against the wood leaned her oar.
Together with the marvelous gigantic fishhook.
His hook.
Feeling the pressure on her heart ease a little she nuzzled deeper into the mat, one eye propped open to look at their items. Yawning she then smacked her lips at a familiar warmth spreading through her torso. ~ Manuia le pō, Maui... ~
And after a long time she fell asleep. His special 'signature' dearly worshipped within her mind.
Later that night.
Tiredly she rubbed her eyes. It must have been in the early morning hours and the light of the stars and the moon that shone through the gaps of the hut awoke her. But not only that. Shuffling steps neared. Moana cocked her head up, now fully awake and on high alert. The hook was missing. ~ Maui! ~ Curiosity overcame her, studded with worries.
Whatever this bigheaded jerk was keeping from her, would find its end here and now! Silently she stood up, then made her way to the entrance, all the while Penina, was sleeping deeply, dearly hugging / "(Pua!?)", Moana whispered dumbfounded, staring at her pet pig happily smiling in its dreams. ~ Okay, what the heck is goin' on here!? ~
A shadow casted above the dry ground - and that's when the unquestionable yawn reached her ear.
"Tamati?", Moana whispered confused, just as the boy swayed around the corner. Overtired, head hanging low he practically slept while standing. Poor kid couldn't even keep his eyes open. A confused murmur leapt from his mouth, but he was simply to fatigue for a real conversation.
Hastily Moana bent down, grabbing on to his shoulders in worry. "Tamati, where's Maui?"
First the boy stared at her with a blank expression and since thinking already took him some time when wide awake - it took a whole while longer in this state. The boy shook his head.
"Caaan't ...teeeeell...", he slurred, almost snoring away in her arms.
"What were the two of you doing earlier?"
Silence. [Tere was a snore coming from the boy.] "TAMATI!"
He jolted up for a second, eyes wide awake, before falling back to his half-dazed state.
"Tell me where he is!", she pleated with more urgency now.
As answer came a slurry loud whisper: "But I promised *yawn* not to teeell you..."
The young teine wrinkled her nose, scowling at what the obstinate demigod had rammed down his throat. "He won't find out!", she reassured, feeling a little bit guilty for fibbing.
Tiredly the kid smacked his lips, blinking at her with half-lidded eyes. If there was one thing children were good at, it was NOT REMEMBERING PROHIBITIONS.
"Ocean...", he grumbled.
Moana insisted to keep him awake - just for one more second. "Why is he at the ocean, Tamati?"
He yawned again, then rubbed his eyes with tiny palms.
"Tāmā..."
[2/3]
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So yeah people. I am truly ashamed that I calculated this more than a little wrong. I put too much into the OC's backstory, considering they are only TWO of some more... next time I won't come up with a whole life behind them. Ughhhh... That for, I can promise the next chapter will follow soon, because if it wasn't so long everything could have fitted IN THIS DAMN CHAPTER!?
- Yeah... I am sorry, there isn't a lot MoanaxMaui going on currently, but therefore I guarantee a little more feelings in the next one and a visit of o' gramma! - Ah yeah, also everything about the OC's tragic backstory will be mostly hidden from Maui, so if you're interested in it, I will make you read the Author's note of the upcoming chapter.
But there's one question, guys. I know side-characters are often boring etc. - cause I myself really hate reading about them WHENEVER the real story is stuck (just like here). But I wondered, if you also - just maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe teared up a little bit as Tamati talked about his daddy. (Cause I cried, man. I cried. - but NO longer when rereading for the 4th time -.-) Also a shout-out to all single mothers out there, cause they're doing an amazing job! LOVE MY MOM! 3
PS: Yes people. That's what I did instead of learning for an very important psychology-exam. DAMN. (Not forgetting about math and Spanish, of course...) GAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
As allways drop by at Deviantart Skydrathik to see a pic of a scolding Penina:
art/Moana-x-Maui-X-667083704
fale - hut
Itiiti - small
Agaga - spirit
I'a - fish
taulima - bracelet
Kefe! - Fuck!
pepe - kid
Tāmā - dad
'ie tōga - fine mat
Manuia le pō - Good night