Author's Note: Well, I didn't get all of my applications done today, but I did completely re-do my resume, and I updated my cover letter as well. I'm all ready for a new career, or maybe to go back to an old career that I really loved.
I also didn't make it to the movie this evening, but I went ahead and bought tickets to the 10:30 showing tomorrow morning. Obviously, that means taking another day off work, but it's fine. I came in for a full five days the week before Christmas, when there was literally no one else in the office, so I don't think anyone is going to complain about my taking a couple of sick days.
I used to have such a good work ethic. I think I might be able to get it back if I was doing something I felt was really worthwhile. I hope I can do that again.
For now, I'm going to focus on this chapter, and when I'm done writing it, I'll begin some more applications.
Fair warning; we are picking up the pace a little in the next few chapters. We're going to be flashing back and forth a little between Maui's perspective and Moana's perspective.
Chapter Nineteen
Eventually, Moana sat down on the beach and rested her head in her hands.
"I liked it better," she muttered, "when we were friends. You have to admit, we used to be an incredible team. I…I really miss the ocean. I miss the way the water used to call to me. If I'm not Moana, wayfinder, chosen of the sea, then who am I? What was the point of it all? It's sort of…lonely, feeling like I've lost a part of myself. Maybe that's weird, but…I don't know, maybe it isn't. Flying was great, sure, but it wasn't…it was nothing like sailing. The ocean is where I belong. It's where I want to belong."
The surf bubbled a little bit, then receded. For a moment, Moana was sure that she was being ignored, until a spray of water suddenly shot out of the ocean and doused her head, soaking her hair and getting in her eyes.
"Agh! Hey!" Moana spat out water, gave the ocean a hesitant sort of smile, and pushed the wet hair back out of her face. "Wait, so…was that 'truce?' Because that would be fantastic. I am all for making up. No hard feelings, uh, mostly. It's just-!"
Before she could finish the sentence, she heard Maui's favorite war cry echoing from somewhere back inside the cave.
"Maui?" Spinning around, she stared at the cave, then took off at a run, leaving the ocean behind her.
As soon as she saw that the boulder had been moved, Moana knew that something was very, very wrong.
"No. No way. Maui?!" Kneeling next to the hole in the ground, Moana called down it, realizing even as she did so that it was stupid. Even if he was down there, there was no way he could hear her, now. Just like he'd said before, Rarohenga went on for thousands upon thousands of miles, and if she did draw anyone's attention, it'd probably be the wrong kind of attention.
Moana bit her lip and tried not to imagine the possibility that Maui might have been grabbed while he slept, maybe by one of the Turehu who'd come up on an errand and had caught him off his guard.
Wait…but that doesn't make sense, she thought, confused. Maui wouldn't have been off his guard. I mean, he knows exactly what danger we're in, here, and he wouldn't have had a hard time overpowering a spirit, right? They couldn't have just taken him, not here, so…
She remembered the triumphant, "CHAAAAAHOOOOO," she'd heard a few moments ago, and terrible realization hit her like a brick.
"AGH! Really? You have GOT to be kidding me. Why would he…and why NOW?" Moana shook her head, trying to silence the frantic warning bells that were now ringing in the back of her brain. "W-When I find that guy, I am going to give him SUCH a piece of my mind. He told me he was going to take a nap! A nap. This is definitely NOT a nap! Nngh…"
There was no point, she decided, in sitting there trying to guess what Maui had been thinking. If he was down in Rarohenga, then he was already in more trouble than she'd bargained for on this trip. She didn't even want to think about what Hine-nui-te-po had in mind for him if he got caught.
There was nothing else for it. Taking a deep, exasperated breath, Moana took a running jump and flung herself into the hole.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh-wh-whoa, what the heck?!"
She began to fall, and quickly broke the surface of the water. Then suddenly, to her shock, an aggressive jet of water hit her from below and sent her rocketing back up through the hole again until she sat down hard on the ground of the cave.
For a moment, she sat stunned, staring at the water, which was now receding back down through the hole.
"Oh no…no you don't," she muttered, glaring down the hole. "I am going down there, whether you like it or not. This isn't up for debate, okay? Chee-huuuuu!"
Doing her best imitation of Maui's war cry, she propelled herself off the edge and down through the opening again. Again, a spray of water met her halfway, totally engulfed her, and then shot her back up to the surface, this time depositing her roughly on her back.
Moana stared up at the roof of the cave, and took a deep breath.
"Okay," she said through gritted teeth. "So, remember when I said there were 'no hard feelings?' Well, now there are hard feelings. This is definitely not 'truce' behavior. What gives, anyway? I mean, first you try to drag me down into Rarohenga in a giant whirlpool, and then…wait, no?"
A jet of water was now perched at the surface, half out of the hole. It wagged back and forth at her, almost as though the ocean was trying to shake its head.
"You…didn't want me to go down to Rarohenga?" Moana frowned.
The ocean shook its 'head' again.
"Okay." Moana put her hands on her hips and glared. "I'm having a hard time believing you, because I distinctly remember almost drowning in a terrible, deadly whirlpool, or two, or three, like, what, three hours ago? Maybe less. What were you going to do, take Maui and then spit me back up on land, or something?"
The ocean nodded.
Moana's eyes went wide. "You WERE?"
Again, the ocean nodded, this time almost sheepishly.
"Wha…why?" Moana was incredulous. "I mean, isn't that what Hine-nui-te-po wanted? She wanted to get me down there so that she could kill me in revenge for my helping Maui escape, isn't that right?"
This time, the ocean didn't respond immediately. It swayed a little bit, obviously noncommittal, almost uncomfortable, before nodding once, not nearly as emphatically as before.
"She did," muttered Moana. "She probably still does. I'm sure she'd be thrilled if she got to turn me into a spirit today. It'd probably improve the whole atmosphere of the underworld, right? So…why can't I go?"
The ocean almost seemed to sigh.
"You don't want me to go," mumbled Moana. "You…don't want me to get hurt."
Hopefully, the ocean nodded.
Moana took a deep, slow breath.
"This,'" she said bitterly, "is a really, REALLY bad time for you to suddenly decide to regrow a conscience! You've been terrorizing my island for literally months, and NOW you don't want me to get hurt?"
The ocean sprayed a very small, rather hesitant jet of water at Moana's hair, tousling and flattening it again.
"Truce," muttered Moana, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, I got that the first time….and I appreciate that, I really do. It's just that it is kinda really important for me to get to Rarohenga right now. Can we maybe talk about this later? Please?"
Again, she tried to slide down into the hole. This time, the ocean didn't even let her make it into the water below. Instead, it sprayed out at her all at once in an overpowering jet, which pushed her all the way back against the far wall before it stopped and gave her a chance to breathe. Then, while Moana was gasping and spitting water, it rushed at the boulder from behind, and with several sharp bursts, forced the boulder back into place over the entrance to the underworld, disappearing through the only visible crevice at the last second before the hole was sealed off.
There was now a large puddle on the ground behind the boulder, ozing over the floor and dampening everything. Moana stood up and glared balefully at it.
"Argh! This…this can't be happening!"
"Well, well, well," murmured Hine-nui-te-po, goddess of the dead, as three of her robed and tattooed handmaidens marched Maui into her throne room. "Look who's come home at last…Maui, darling, welcome back. To what incredible divine gift do we owe the privilege of your company?"
She was smiling with every part of her face except for her eyes, and Maui could hear the brittle, harsh undertones in her voice.
The goddess was beyond angry. She was also triumphant, furiously triumphant, which made horrible little shivers run down Maui's spine.
"You win, Hine-nui-te-po." Maui shrugged, playing it cool. "I got sick of running from your minions, and I got bored trying not to drown every time I set foot in a boat, so I'm back. Good game, but I'm done running. You still wanna get married? I mean, I assume that ship has probably sailed, but I figure it couldn't hurt to ask, right?"
"I am not," hissed Hine-nui-te-po, "going to even dignify that last bit with a response. "I'm afraid I've lost interest in knitting my soul to yours…assuming you even have a soul, which I'll be very interested to find out once I kill you. You do know, Maui, that I am going to kill you. Revenge, they say, can feel so sweet. I wouldn't know…but I'm eager to find out."
Maui swallowed hard. "Yeah…I know."
"You do," murmured the goddess, "and yet you came back, presumably of your own free will. That is a bit unusual, isn't it? People don't usually rush to meet their fate so readily…and in your case, you'd be quite likely to live forever, under different circumstances. Why come back now?"
Maui shrugged.
"I told you," he said, "you won. There's nowhere for me to hide; you've made that pretty clear. Even the ocean's out to get me."
"So you can hide," suggested Hine-nui-te-po, "on the land, can't you? Or, is there some reason why you can't take refuge on the islands? Mortal villagers driving you out with carving knives again, are they? I always told you to be careful of those pesky mortals…no respect, no gratitude. You can't expect a thing from them. Nothing's changed."
"Guess not," muttered Maui, thinking of Tui and Sina, and the way they'd welcomed him into their home despite every objection they'd received from the village council.
"Maybe," purred Hine-nui-te-po, "I'll kill them, too. I've never liked mortals much; foolish, sniveling, insensitive, disloyal things that they are, and a few less up there just means a few more down here to help do the dirty errands that we can't be bothered with. Besides, it might be fun for you to watch the humans who betrayed you groveling at my feet, begging for a merciful time I the afterlife. I'm not completely without compassion, Maui…I do still feel for you, a bit. I'd be willing to give you that little satisfaction."
Maui just shook his head.
"Nah," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "Here's the deal, beautiful. If you want to keep me down here, you gotta agree to call off the ocean and to leave the islands alone, got that? Our little lover's spat is turning the human world into a real mess, and I've got a reputation to protect. Can't 'go down in history as 'the guy who was such an incredible heartbreaking love machine that he destroyed the entire mortal world.' That's not my style.,"
There was a shifting, snapping sound behind him, and Maui glanced quickly over his shoulder. It turned out only to be another Turehu, the girl Ngaire, who'd apparently joined her sisters at the last minute. She glared at him, then quickly looked away.
"Hmm," murmured Hine-nui-te-po. "What is it, Maui? Are you expecting someone?"
Maui shook his head, quickly returning his attention to her. "Who, me? Now, what kind of a question is that? Who'd I be looking for down here, except you, gorgeous?"
Hine-nui-te-po gave him a thin-lipped smile. "Oh, I wonder," she murmured.
Author's End Note: Alas, I leave you with another cliffhanger for the evening. There is so much to do tonight. Thanks very much for reading, and I'll see you tomorrow with more thrilling escapades of Mau in the underworld.