Clouds shrouded the sky that night, blocking out the moon and letting Tamatoa's bioluminescence glow to its full glory. It's a shame that Maui and Moana were asleep and didn't get to see it. They had passed out soon after the story of his past with the demigod.
The crustacean watched the pair contently as they slept. This was the first night that they had trusted him enough to both fall asleep in his presence. He couldn't explain it, but that touched him somehow.
Funny. It seemed like only yesterday that Tamatoa was ready to rip these two apart and yet, here they were. Sleeping soundly beside the crab, not one violent thought going through his mind as he watched them.
Tamatoa felt a drop of rain fall on his head, then another, and another.
Oh, great. Of course the weather chooses this night to be a prick.
He sighed, looking over Moana and Maui carefully, and a thought crossed his mind.
... No, that would be too much...
... But he didn't want them to wake up.
Not because was starting to care about them, of course. He just didn't want to have to deal with their annoying chatter if they did stir.
Yeah, that was it.
Quietly, the crustacean crept over to the pair. With incredible gentleness, the crab lifted the two beings with one claw as he laid down, then laid them down against his body so that his shell would shield them from the rain. He looked over them once more, feeling their steady breathing through his skin. It was... comforting, for some reason.
Okay, he couldn't let them wake up like this. Obviously, all he was trying to do was keep the water off of them so they didn't wake up and bother him with their mindless chatter, but he was sure they'd take it the wrong way.
Simple. He just had to wake up before them, then put them back as they were. No problem; he didn't sleep as much as they did anyways, so he was sure he could rise before they did.
He laid his head down on his right claw, taking one more moment to stare at the pair.
... Was he really doing this again? The "friend" thing? It had been such a terrifying concept to him after Maui... He had grown to hate the demigod so much for what he had done to him, after all. Could he really leave all that behind?
... A small part of him still feared Maui too, though he wished he could say otherwise.
Naturally, he had his concerns about how this would go... It's not like he NEEDED these two for much longer anyways; he could take care of himself after he healed. He always took care of himself. He didn't need to think about anyone else. Why take the risk of betrayal?
... What if he messed everything up again?
...
Slowly and carefully, he brushed some of Moana's hair out of her face with his left claw before putting it down next to them.
... Yes. He could do this. He could care about someone other than himself again. He... cared about them. He didn't know how.
But how doesn't matter at this point.
The point is that he cared.
Closing his eyes, he too drifted off to sleep.