Chapter 1
Maui could smell the salty yet sweet aroma of the seawater that glistened in the sun as he flew high in the skies.
One of the best parts of his eagle form was getting a great view of the islands from above, that's for sure.
He was heading toward the island of Kaua'i with a brisk pace to speak with the chief and chiefess.
As he approached the island, he was greeted by hula drums and the sight of a familiar couple he sought after.
The man and woman were in the middle of the ceremonial circle of dancers with bright smiles upon their faces.
Maui could smell nothing but the savory scent of fresh kalua and a hint of flowers all around the village.
When the vibrant beat of the drums stopped, the dancers bowed and the villagers roared with applause at their performance.
The man and woman in the center proceeded to walk back to their seats overseeing the entire celebration.
When there was a moment where they weren't occupied with some other greetings he took the opportunity to announce himself by walking over to their chairs and giving a slight bow.
"Well hello there, your highnesses. I see you two are showing off your hula skills as always…", Maui said with a smirk.
The woman widened her eyes in surprise as she saw the burly demigod standing before her and her husband, "Maui, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you here to our humble village?"
Maui shrugged nonchalantly, "Eh…was just around the neighborhood, heard some great music and decided to take a gander. You two sure know how to throw a great party."
The chief chuckled, "Why don't you join us? We have plenty of food to spare."
The chiefess added while excitedly grabbing Maui's hand, "Yes, yes! Come on, when was the last time we three have celebrated together?"
Maui smiled at their warm welcome, and was very tempted to join them, but he had important news to get out of the way first.
He scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I'm flattered you guys, really, but…I actually got some message to share with you from uh…you know…the big guys."
The chief and his wife looked at each other with curious faces, immediately knowing who he spoke of.
Her siblings.
The chiefess took a deep breath in and sighed, knowing what was going to come next was going to be anything but good, "Maui," she started, "what is going on?"
Maui shook his head, "The gods told me to tell you to be careful, Hi'iaka. Specifically, Namaka said this."
The chiefess raised an eyebrow.
Namaka…was her eldest sister, and also the one she talked to the least.
She saw her from time to time but…the fact that she of all people told Maui especially to send a message of warning to her, made her incredibly anxious.
"Be careful of what? Why is Namaka involved?", she questioned, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
Maui gave the chief an uneasy look, and looked around to make sure no one else was trying to listen in, "There is a rumor going around that Pele has been trying to find you and your husband. Might be looking to start something or whatever. One of your brothers was the first to hear about it."
Hi'iaka's face fell into an irritated and angry expression at the mention of her older sister's name.
After that incident with her husband, she had wanted nothing more than to never see her ash ridden face again.
Knowing her, she expected her sister to be too busy seducing some guy or annoying Poliahu.
Being so interested in finding herself and her husband, Lohiau, was the last thing Hi'iaka expected.
Lohiau shifted nervously in his chair.
The mention of his ex-fiancee's name stirred up a deep fear in him that he hadn't felt in ages.
Hi'iaka noticed her husband's reaction and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
She then turned to Maui and spoke in a hardened tone, "Why in the gods' names does she care to find us? Doesn't she have other things to do?"
Maui sighed, "Listen, I'm just as confused as you are."
Hi'iaka grew upset at her husband's lengthy silence in the conversation.
She knew her sister scared him still, even after all these years of living a peaceful and normal life.
This angered her. He hated to see him feel this way, especially because of Pele.
She then put her hands on her forehead.
This added stress was not what she needed right now.
The last thing she needed to think about was her volatile older sister doing something to her family or even worse, taking her husband from her.
Lohiau then spoke, anxiety ridden in his voice, "Do you think she will actually come here? What would she even do?"
Maui shook his head, "Knowing how she is, the gods only know. I speak with her….occasionally…she's not much of a conversationalist I can tell you that much."
Hi'iaka rolled her eyes while crossing her legs in her chair, "Typical. Did Namaka have anything else to say?"
Maui furrowed his brows, trying to remember every detail that was told to him, "Nope, that's it."
Lohiau and Hi'iaka exchanged nervous glances, until finally Lohiau nodded his head, "Thank you for telling us this, Maui. I can't say we have any plans on what to do with this information now, though."
Hi'iaka looked at Maui again with a serious look on her face, "Does Pele know that you visit me and my husband regularly?"
He shook his head confidently, "No, no. Believe me, I wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like that. I-"
He was interrupted from the uncomfortable conversation suddenly by a pair of twin girls named Kailani and Kamea, who came rushing into the hut excitedly shouting, "Papa, papa!"
They both took each of the chief's hands and begged, "Watch us dance Papa, please, please, please! Our teacher just taught us a new one for the festival!"
The chief smiled warmly at his daughters, while chuckling happily, "Is that so?"
Hi'iaka looked at her daughters' smiling little faces and couldn't help but admire how adorable they looked with their little leis on their necks.
Recognizing the two girls, Maui chuckled as he bent down to greet them, "Wow, no hug for me? Sheesh…and to think I got GIFTS for you two…oh well, guess I'll just keep them all to myself…"
The two girls then immediately turned their faces towards the demigod and happily squealed, "Uncle Maui!"
They both toppled him into a hug, while giggling.
Kamea spoke excitedly as she sat besides him, "Uncle Maui, we missed you so much!"
Kailani then joined in, "Yeah, why have you been away for so long?"
Maui chuckled, "Oh nothing big, just been busy fighting huge monsters, saving the world, rescuing people…y'know…hero stuff."
The twins looked at each other in amazement and enthusiastically inquired him, "OOoooh, what kind of monsters?"
Maui smirked, "Huge, TERRIFYING monsters…ones you see only in your deepest, darkest nightmares….all in the dark realm of Lalotai."
Kailani asked with such incredible curiosity, "How big were they?"
Maui chuckled, "As big as the mountains of this island…actually, scratch that…those ones are small."
They both widened their eyes in amazement, imagining the size of such creatures.
"Were you scared, Uncle Maui?"
"Me? Psshh, no. I have slayed hundreds. Monster hunting is practically second nature to me by now", Maui said as he stretched his muscles and flexed his tattoos proudly.
Kaumea piped up with a smirk, "Mama says you were with a girl."
Kailani added in, "Yeah! Is she a pretty girl Uncle? When are we gonna meet her?"
"I wanna braid her hair!", Kaumea interjected
Maui put his hands up in the air, with an embarrassed look on his face, "Woah, woah, woah…a girl? Pfft, there is no girl! I have no idea what you two are talking about."
Hi'iaka smirked as he denied her daughter's accusations, "You did help her save her village though…didn't you?"
Maui shook his head, "Yeah, after she annoyed the crap out of me to do it. Believe me-"
"Persistent, huh? Reminds me of a certain someone…", Hi'iaka looked at her husband with a flirty look on her face.
The chief blushed as he saw his wife looking at him with a smirk.
Maui protested, while sighing in defeat "Listen, there is no girl, ok? Me and Moana are NOT…well, together in that way, I swear. Besides it's not like it would ever work out between us anyways. I mean I'm a demigod and she is a mortal…gods can't be in successful relationships with mortals."
Hi'iaka laughed, "You do realize my husband is a mortal, right? Well…used to be mortal."
Maui raised an eyebrow, "Wait, what? Dude, I thought you were a god?"
Lohiau explained, "I mean I was born a mortal, but she turned me into a god after we got married….because she loves me soooo much, right my darling?"
Hi'iaka blushed as her husband gave her little kisses on her cheek, "Weeell yes, but also because I got tired of having to bring you back to life so often, honey. I adore you, but do you know how exhausting that is?"
As he Maui looked at the couple lovingly embracing each other, he thought of what they said.
Moana being immortal…that certainly would be something…
Kailani and Kaumea's tugging on his hands snapped him out of his thoughts, "Will you watch us dance then, Uncle Maui? Papa and Mama are busy…"
Maui grinned at the two girls, "I'll do you one better, how about I dance with ya? Show you some of MY stellar moves, ey?"
The girls looked at each other with such excited faces as they ran outside the hut tugging his hand all the way.
The couple watched as Maui got taken by their daughters, and after a moment of silence Hi'iaka finally spoke,