Ch.8

The village fire burned brightly, tall, and proud, licking what little of the palm tree fronds were left. Sparks danced as they came back to the sand, onto the dancers in a cold ash, however they did not notice, nor care to. On there mind was a different situation all together, the praising of the Gods and Goddesses that were to help their young Chieftess and her chosen few on their journey.

Moana was sweating, her body coated in a glimmering sheen as she raised her hands high, and low, shifting her feet deeper into the sand with the rise and fall of her hips to the continuous rhythm that flowed from the gourd instruments. This song was familiar, she had listened, watched, and practiced her whole life to the music of Pe'le, the Goddess of fire and strength. However her heart was beating hard in her chest, she was afraid.

The people of her village had worked tirelessly making a canoe that was suitable enough to transport her, Maui, Kekoa, and all of the necessary supplies Moana deemed necessary to drop off to the few other villages scattered along the islands. She refused to take the ceremonial canoe, not wanting to lose such a wonderful work of art to the oceans temper. She had heard the whispers of the people, some doubting that their journey to Tafiti would in fact, bring peace to the ocean. But there was a part of her journey that she did not wish to share.

Moana's hands swam down from above her head in the sky, like rain falling to the earth, bending her knees she tapped the ground and stood slowly, following the now changing song, a song for the ocean, her hands and arms rippling. She was aware that she was commanding the song, dragging it out from the musicians as they kept up with her pace, but her heart and soul were anxious for the Gods to hear her plea. The rustling of her grass skirt, the nut anklet sending its own sound out, Moana kept her eyes lowered in a silent prayer to Tafiti, asking for her guidance. Then the song stopped abruptly, much like Moana knew it would, with one hand to her brow, and the other straight out, to see Maui standing there staring at her.

Maui was dressed in a red lava-lava, much like her fathers, his head adorned with the same leaves that were wrapped around hers. His long hair, conditioned with what little coconut oil they had left in the village, hung loose about his shoulders, and moved in the small wind across his chest. Neither of them made any effort to break the connection between them, Moana feeling the ripples of strength from him to her finger tips that were maybe a foot away from his chest. She watched his sternum rise and fall, sweat was glimmering off of him as well, beading down between his chest and rolling over his abdominals. There was something wriggling under the surface of his dark eyes, and she could not quite guess what it was, but how he was watching her was like how she saw birds looking down at the fish in the ocean. How long had he been standing there, watching her dance. Did he know what she was saying in her mind, the long string of prayers and pleads for a journey that would help her people, even if it meant the end of her.

"Moana, you were beautiful," Kekoa's voice managed to slither its way into her ringing ears, his hand sliding to take hers positioned near Maui's chest. With the stillness broken between her and Maui, she managed to take a deep breath, sucking in the heated night air, and what felt like static from a thunderstorm. Moana looked at Kekoa, dressed in traditional royal lava-lava, and headdress, his own hair was covered by dried fibers, and beautiful abalone shell.

"Thank you, I need to sit," Moana stuttered, her voice catching as she glanced back to Maui, the look in his eyes for her gone, now emotionless and staring at the depths of the fire pit.

"Of course," Kekoa spun her slightly, away from Maui, and with his hand on the small of her back directed her, "Come sit with your family."

Moana nodded, agreeing, she couldn't remember how long she had been dancing, but her thighs were chaffed, the red wreath of flowers about her waist had shifted so much, the ties holding it together were in knots and she was missing a few red hibiscus. Sina patted the ground next to her, gave her a brief kiss on the cheek and smiled at her daughter with affection. Moana smiled back, she must have danced well, and her mother was proud, she was the one who had taught her of course.

"People of Motunui," Tui pulled his great size from the ground, sand falling from his lap in waves, blowing about his ankles, "I want to thank you, for this beautiful, strong, and heart wrenching gift to the Gods," He looked about at everyone, and smiled, nodding, "I am so happy to be your Chief."

There was calls of cheer, clapping, whistling, and laughter, Moana smiled at the shape of her dads back, proud that he had made such a presence of himself within his people. Soon to be her people, and deep down, she hoped that she could commandeer that kind of affection, trust, and loyalty as well.

Movement beside her caught her attention, and she watched Kekoa settle down next to her, his movements sleek and quiet. Moana took it as something that he learned on the boats, to move with full knowledge of his muscles and joints. His hazel eyes turned to hers, and he winked, looking back at her father, listening intently.

Her father continued to speak about the journeys that Moana had been on, the islands that they had found (in which Maui took the praise with a full smile on his face), and how proud he was that in this time of peril, his own daughter was willing to take the storm on. She listened as long as she could, her eyes falling to the hot embers of the fire, watching them with unblinking eyes, her mind began to play tricks on her. Salamanders walking along the coals, licking up at the flames, shifting into feet and ankles, a shifting dress...

Her heart beat loudly in her ears, and Moana stood quickly, her father still speaking, not aware of the commotion that was going on behind him. She bent down to kiss her mother on the head, telling her she was just going to the bathroom, and turned and walked towards the bald palm trees. Kekoa watched her as she walked away, unaware of the mass of Demi-god that was already missing on the opposite side of the fire.

It was quiet, cold, and damp in the underbrush of the palm trees. Moana had made her way towards the ocean, but was veering inwards, still seeing glimpses of the beating waves in between the trunks of palms. Her hands were rustling with the headdress, pulling the flowers off and tossing them petal by petal down to the floor, leaving a long trail behind her. She was restless, her body wanted to go, and be on the ocean, on another adventure, but something, a feeling of doubt was stopping her. Doubt that she wouldn't be able to do this. Doubt of if her people would be safe until she returned to them.

Doubt of her plan.

"Are you trying to make it obvious where you are?" Maui crept up behind her, but she wasn't startled, her mind was too busy watching the waves roll in, wash the sand, and then roll back to where they came from. The moon bright enough for her shadow to stand out in front of her, she watched the black shape of his stand next to her.

"Can we do this?" Moana mumbled, not wanting to break the silence, but she needed some kind of confirmation that they could succeed. She looked up at Maui, with his profile to her, he definitely looked the part of Demi-god and it made her skin shiver, her pulse quicken, yet she couldn't look away.

Their interactions had been slight, quick, and in passing. A wink, a brush of a hand, a smile at dinner, they all played over and over in her mind at night. Moana stared at the underbelly of the fala at night, her body craving uneasy, restless, she rolled and tossed.

"You danced wonderfully back there, Moana," Maui turned his gaze down to her, the darkness not letting her see what he was looking at, but just the slightest head tilt let her know that he was now looking at her. He cleared his throat and took the wreath of leaves off of his mane of curls and let it fall down into the sand beside his feet.

"You humans don't realize," there was a long breath, a hitch in the intake and long release, "What those dances do to us Demi-gods, Gods, Goddesses when we are actually witnessing them." Maui shook his head, the sea wind catching his hair, and causing goosebumps to cover his skin.

Moana watched his chest rise and fall, deeply, as if he was trying to breathe in all the air in the sky. She watched his hands clench, and the height of him grow taller it seemed as he turned to her, the moonlight casting long shadows across his face. If she did not know what he looked like before, she would have been terrified, but now, it felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest.

"It's for your approval, to bless us on our journeys, on our harvest, our catches, and to thank you for all that you have given us," Moana stated from memory, what she had been taught her whole life. Plead to the Gods, ask for their favor, and honor them.

Maui smiled slightly, shifting to close the distance between the two of them he lifted his hands and ran them up her arms, over her shoulders, his voice was quiet, low, "Trust me, I understand, but when someone dances as well as you do," he grumbled, the words emanating from his chest, he ran his hands up the back of her neck and held them in the nape of her hair, "it takes everything in me to stop myself."

Moana was slowly rolling to the balls of her feet as Maui ran his hands up her arms, her limbs on fire, hands splayed behind her back as she stood on her toes, staring into his face as he stepped closer to her. Her stomach was in knots, her body rocking slightly with the strength of her heart she stared up at him and asked almost breathlessly, "Stop you from doing what?"

Im screaming, are you screaming? Just so you know, my proportion to Maui and Moana is not as extreme as what it is in the movie. I see Maui as more like The Rock, cause I mean...c'mon.