Tamatoa had stopped by a grassy hill in the old village, unable to run anymore due to the pain of his wounds catching up to him from the sudden force he had put on them. He had his head buried behind his claws, cursing himself for the things he said. Stupid, stupid, stupid! If he didn't kill you before, he sure is going to now! Growling in irritation with himself, he almost didn't notice the demigod walking towards him. His eyes perked up from behind the claws, seeing Maui approaching, and let out a startled gasp as he stumbled backwards. He held his claw back up as a makeshift shield as he shakily spoke, "P-Please, Maui, I didn't mean to—"
"Cool it, crab cake." Maui cut him off, holding up his hands to show that he didn't bring the hook.
The crab stopped backing away, but remained very tense. This was an extremely uncomfortable situation.
Moana lingered by some neighbouring trees, far enough not to be noticed, but close enough to be able to hear and observe.
Maui attempted moving a bit closer to the crustacean, but got the hint when he just moved backwards in response and simply sat down a fair distance away from him. He had put one hand on his crossed legs and the other holding up his chin as he watched Tamatoa with a contemplative, conflicted expression. After a long stretch of silence, the deity drew in a slow breath, and spoke.
"… There were times when I wondered if… if I had been wrong that day. If you had been telling the truth all along." Maui started. He felt a pang of guilt looking at the crab now and thinking back on everything that happened. "I… convinced myself that you had to be the one in the wrong, so that I didn't have to face the possibility of being lied to by the humans I've done so much for…"
Tamatoa blinked, lowering his claw slightly as he listened to the man's words.
"… Killing those people was wrong. You could have avoided that." Maui said firmly, his stance on that definitely being unchanged. "But… you're right. I let my loyalty to the humans get in the way of my better judgment. I wanted to save those survivors, but I shouldn't have…" He shot a glance at the crab's ripped-off leg, wincing slightly. "… I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I admit that." He made eye contact with the crustacean once more. "But I need to know. I just… Tell me they attacked first. Tell me you're not lying."
Tamatoa watched his old friend, looking hurt somehow. "Maui," he said quietly, "I've said and done some awful things. But in all our years of knowing each other, have I ever lied to you?"
Maui bit his lip. Never. Tamatoa's never had any reason to lie to him. But wasn't this situation different? He could have been lying to try and save his own skin; Tamatoa knew how much he valued human life, after all.
… But that's just it. Tamatoa knows how much he values human life. Why would he go out of his way to hurt them if it wasn't for a good reason? They did have weapons. They did seem prepared to battle. What were the chances that they just "accidentally" stumbled across Lalotai completely combat-ready?
Maui sighed, putting his head in his hands as he processed all this, the lingering feeling of guilt building up. The crab frowned slightly, not sure what to do or say. He could tell the demigod was feeling remorseful, but Tamatoa was still terrible at socializing properly, and comfort definitely wasn't one of his strong suits.
"I'm so sorry, Tamatoa." Maui whispered. "All this time I just thought you were no better than those other monsters, I didn't… I just…" Another irritated sigh. Everything was so messed up.
Tamatoa looked awkwardly from side to side as he tried to figure out what to do, then scooted a bit closer to the deity. "I, um… can see why you would think that…" he responded. "Like I said, I didn't really know how express friendship like a human would. Not to mention I am pretty selfish. It makes sense that you would brush me off as just another monster."
Weird. A second ago he was yelling at the guy for what he did, but now here he was, trying to justify his actions somehow. The water pressure change from coming up here must have fucked up my head, the crab concluded.
"But you weren't like the other monsters." Maui argued. "You at least tried to improve. I didn't appreciate that."
"… Hm." Tamatoa looked away, again unsure of how to respond. This was indeed a complicated situation, but… strangely enough, he felt like they could get through it. That damned human girl might be on to something with this "talking problems out" thing.
"… Well…" The crustacean continued, "Should we just… try again…?"
Maui glanced at the crab, shocked to hear him suggest such a thing.
Tamatoa shrugged, closing his eyes. "I just… feel as though we've both gotten a fair amount of closure out of this regarding that day." Even he couldn't believe he was talking like this. He's been hanging around Moana too much, that's for sure. "… If you were willing to, I just… think it would be nice." The last part of that sentence was said very quietly. As much as he hated to admit it, Tamatoa had… actually missed being friends with Maui. The thought of getting that chance again was… while on one hand a scary thought, also somehow pleasing to him.
Maui was silent for a minute, but then gave the crab a small smile. "I… I'd like that."
Tamatoa returned the smile, a wave of relief washing over him.
They both jumped when Moana's voice suddenly came from behind them. "I knew there was more to you than just a pretty shell." She said with a knowing grin. "I'd say you're packing a little more inner beauty than you thought, Tama."
Tamatoa." He corrected. He then huffed and snapped his head to the side. "And I don't know what you're talking about."
This earned a quick laugh from both her and Maui, yet much to his surprise, he didn't seem to mind.
The trio returned to the beach, relaxing in the sand as they watched the stars. None of them seemed set on turning in for the night yet.
"How did you guys become friends?" Moana queried all of a sudden. "Is it okay for me to ask about your guys' story now that we've gotten the hard part out of the way, or…?"
Maui and Tamatoa exchanged glances, neither of them seeming to object to it.
"The whole story?" Maui asked, eyebrow raised.
"Oh, definitely." Moana grinned in return.
"Well, okay… Where to begin…"