The three were settled around the fire after a quick dinner, unspeaking.

Moana looked from Maui to Tamatoa, her gaze stopping at his half-leg. Well… She thought, Now or never…

"What happened between you two?" She asked out of the blue, catching the attention of both of them.

Maui and Tamatoa were both caught off guard by the question, exchanging alarmed glances. Tamatoa was quick to look away, not daring to speak on the matter in front of Maui.

"Uh, look, crab cake and I have agreed to put that behind us, so let's just not bring it up, okay?" Maui replied, trying to get her to drop the subject.

"No, not okay!" She protested, gesturing to the crab. "You ripped off his leg and I don't know why! And whatever happened between you is obviously causing tension! You two can't get over your problems if you don't face them, and I am NOT going to let this go until you do!"

Tamatoa watched Moana with a wide-eyed stare, not expecting such intense assertiveness from her all of a sudden. Even Maui seemed a little surprised; Moana had usually approached topics like these more sensitively, but she knew she had to be stern right now if she wanted to get her point across to these two bullheaded dolts.

"… Look. I know that I don't know anything about your guys' history, and maybe I'm crossing a line by prying, but…" She sighed, calming her voice but still keeping an air of firmness in it, "… you need to face this, and I want to help. Maui, you're one of my closest friends, and…" She looked over to the crustacean, "… maybe you don't feel the same way, but I think of you as my friend now too, Tamatoa." This seemed to strike a chord in Tamatoa, but he remained silent as Moana continued, "Friends are supposed to help each other. Please, Maui, Tamatoa, let me at least try to help you."

Again, Maui and Tamatoa looked at each other, conflicted. The demigod knew well how persistent Moana could be; something had to be said. But he worried that talking about it might start up the fight again, and he could tell Tamatoa was worried about the same thing.

Moana bit her tongue, seeming to realize their concerns. Was she confident enough in how they've evolved as people to trust that they wouldn't resort to violence?

… She had to be. They're her friends. They were friends. Surely, after all this time and improvement in attitude, they could be friends again.

"So… what happened?" Moana urged, voice basically at a whisper now.

The following silence was almost painful.

After what seemed like an eternity, the demigod took a deep breath, and finally spoke. "I was… coming down to Lalotai to visit Tamatoa. When I got to his lair, there were… humans. Three dead, two still alive that he was about to end."

"They attacked first." Tamatoa growled quietly.

"How am I supposed to believe that?! A group of powerless humans attacking a giant monster crab?!" Maui spat back.

Narrowing his eyes, Tamatoa glared at the shapeshifter. "They had weapons, Maui! You saw that! You just can't face the fact that your precious little human subjects could ever do any wrong!"

Oh dear. This wasn't going well. Moana remained where she was, but gripped her javelin tightly, ready to get between the two if things got out of hand.

Maui had stood up now, eyeing the crab angrily. "The two people I did manage to save told me what happened! You attacked them!"

Tamatoa finally snapped, standing up as he angrily clicked his claws. "Of course, because humans aren't capable of lying, either! No, I MUST be the one who started it! I'm from the Realm Of Monsters, after all; we monsters are all the same, aren't we?! I'm no different from them, right?! I'm a greedy bastard with no feelings that only cares about myself! That's what you told me, isn't it?!" Venom dripped from the words he spoke, walking towards Maui as all his built-up rage and emotional torment from over the years finally came pouring out. "You think I didn't care, Maui?! Did you think I didn't learn anything from you, that I didn't love it when you came down to see me because I thought I was actually worth your time, that you didn't inspire me to try to be better, that I hadn't actually thought I could finally be close to somebody despite having lived my life in that godforsaken realm where the only thing you're supposed to feel for others is hate?!" At this point the crustacean was mere steps away from the demigod. "Well, you're wrong, Maui! I cared! Maybe I didn't know how to show it in a way you'd understand - I didn't even understand it - but I cared! But you always put the humans first, and did I ever complain?! You dedicated your life to an entire race that didn't even appreciate you! They left you on an island to rot, just like your parents left you to drown in the sea!" Standing directly in front of the shapeshifter, he continued, "I hated seeing you so pained, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing I ever did or said could make you feel better! Only the humans could do that, couldn't they?! You trusted complete strangers instead of me because I was never good enough for you!"

Silence.

Moana and Maui both stared wide-eyed, speechless.

The decapod regretted his words the moment they left his mouth. Seeing the demigod's speechless, vexed face made him take a step back. Tamatoa realized the weight and ferocity of his rant all at once, and one instinct came to his mind as he started to remember his crippling fear of the one he had just yelled at: Run.

Before anyone could say anything, the crab bolted away from the pair, ignoring the ache of his injuries as he disappeared into the trees.

Moana's breathing was shaky, and she cast a worried look at Maui.

Maui took in a deep breath, trying not to let all the emotions stirring up overwhelm him. He never in all his life expected that sort of outburst from Tamatoa. He had never realized just how much emotional turmoil the crab was experiencing from all this before now. He… genuinely thought the monster didn't care, at least not that much…

"I… I'll go talk to him…" Moana said quietly, hesitantly getting to her feet.

"No." Maui sighed, anchoring his hook in the sand. "I should do it."

Moana frowned, unsure of whether or not that would be a good idea or a bad one. "A-Are you sure?"

Maui nodded slowly. "… You were right. We need to sort this out." Leaving his hook behind, the demigod quickly went after the crab.

Moana glanced at the hook, then to where Maui walked off. Sighing under her breath, she picked up her javelin and followed after them.