It was only natural that the whole island's population would gather to see them off. Not only was a well known demigod from the tales of the past thousand years taking his departure, but Feleti's beloved storyteller, the woman who once led everyone to discover this new home, was leaving as well. Not one person would dare miss the chance to see Moana off.

Families stood and waved as Moana stepped from the sand into the water and climbed aboard the sturdy boat that had been provided for the voyage. She turned around with a smile as Maui's voice reached her ears, hollering for attention. "Agh! Moana?"

Heads turned. The crowd parted. The massive demigod stood with a cluster of the island's children surrounding him. Not one child was dry-eyed, and two little girls were actually bawling their eyes out. The little ones were beside themselves, begging their new friend not to go.

"Maui, please don't go!"

"You just GOT here!"

Maui himself wore a wobbly smile."C'mon, kids. Maui's gotta mission to do. Uh …"

He attempted to take a step, but his fan club moved right along with him. He tentatively patted a few dark heads, his other hand keeping his fishhook over one broad shoulder and safely out of reach of small hands. Maui himself looked torn between amusement and fear. If he forced himself free he'd break their little hearts and he knew it.

From the boat, Moana grinned. "Softie."

Maui met her eyes and mouthed, 'Help me.'

The old woman burst into laughter and hopped off the boat. She clapped her hands."Okay, that's enough. Let the demigod go. How else am I gonna get across the ocean without Maui to help me, hm?"

Evidently the storyteller's words carried enough weight to the little tribe. A few whimpers and whines sounded, but the youngsters slowly pulled back from Maui. He rolled his shoulders and sighed quickly, flashing a knowing smile to the adults of the crowd. "Heh. Small but mighty, eh?"

Moana cleared her throat. When he glanced at her she nodded at the children. They stood together, faces downcast, watching Maui with wide, adoring eyes.

Maui looked from Moana to the kids, then back to Moana. He smirked and stuck his hook into the sand before crouching, spreading his arms apart in full 'hug me' mode. "Okay, okay, get over here you little – Urf!" He let out a near shriek as the pack of kids barreled him down gleefully.

"You done saying your goodbyes?" Moana asked slyly a few minutes later. She and Maui walked together back to the boat as calls of farewells drifted from the crowd of people behind them.

Maui grinned, fishhook once again resting against his shoulder. "Kids."

"They love you. It's what you wanted, no? Hero of all?" Moana reminded. She heard him chuckle softly as he gave her a hand up onto the boat again. Moana turned around and found a rather peaceful smile adorned her friend's strong features. "Yeah. It is what I wanted."

She smiled. "I know. And you've got my stories to thank." She jammed a thumb to her chest. Her eyes wandered out over the crowd. "Those youngsters live for the tales of Maui and Moana."

"Well, no one told me being loved by a bunch of kids could leave you trampled." Maui hesitated in climbing aboard and turned to survey the crowd. He blinked. "Where's our new chicken? He's still coming, right?"

Moana nodded. She placed a hand on his shoulder."He has his own goodbyes to see to, Maui."

Among the crowd stood Chief Kimo and Akamu, the two men facing each other solemnly. The elder placed a hand on the younger's shoulder. Akamu stood tall and serious, even as emotion clashed on both their faces. Without a word, Chief Kimo and Akamu embraced.

One seeing this, Maui looked up at Moana. He waggled his eyebrows. "Wait. The Chief is his father? They didn't tell me that earlier."

"Welp, you know now."

Soon Akamu joined Moana aboard the boat and took a place beside her, an uncertain smile on his face as he, too, waved back at their people and did his best not to look at the water. He glanced down as Maui leaned against the boat, preparing to push off. The demigod grinned up at him and murmured, "Last chance to change your mind, waterboy."

Akamu squared his shoulders. "Let's go. I'm with Moana."

"Thought so." Maui grunted and shoved the boat further into the water before leaping on board. The farewells grew louder from the shore as they departed. Chief Kimo raised his arms. Children's voices yelled, "Goodbye, Maui and Moana!"

Once they were out of earshot, Maui fixed Akamu with a curious look. "So, you're the son of a chief, huh?"

"I am."

"And Daddy's okay with this little voyage? He doesn't need you for pre-chiefly duties?"

At this, Moana shot him a mildly annoyed look, eyes narrowing. Maui snickered softly and tossed his hair, absently adjusting the sail of their boat. "What? This all just seems a little too familiar, you know."

"My father knows I made a vow, and he respects it. I will return," Akamu glanced sideways at Moana, who had turned herself to face the oncoming horizon, "only when I believe Moana no longer needs me."

Maui simply nodded. "'Kay. Just needed to make sure you weren't needed for kissing babies and whatnot. What? Oh come on, Moana, it's funny and you know it."

"I don't think even Mini-Maui is amused by a repeated joke."

Maui glanced at himself. The tiny, inked version of himself had his arms crossed and tilted his head to the side.

" … Seriously? Oh, don't give me that attitude."

Akamu sidestepped closer to Moana. "Does he normally smack himself?"

Moana smirked, still looking at the ocean ahead of them. She didn't have to look behind herself to judge that the sounds coming from her demigod of a friend could only mean he was 'arguing' with Mini-Maui. "Nah. Just his tattoo."

Maui wasn't exactly sure how it happened. Hey, he'd been busy making sure the boat was sailing smoothly and staying on course, so he wasn't to blame. He'd promised Moana he wouldn't pull any stunts on their waterboy. Yet when the sudden splash met his hearing he knew without a doubt who it was.

"I can't swim!"

The demigod leaned his head back and closed his eyes, groaning. "Of course."

The sound of Moana shuffling across the boat made him slowly looked over. The woman perched right at the edge, looking out at the floundering Akamu splashing wildly in the blue water. "Stay calm, Akamu."

Maui stepped beside her. The distance between the boat and Akamu was a whooping five feet. The young man's arms flailed and pounded at the water, his black hair clinging to his panicked face as he stayed exactly where he was. Maui grunted. "Well, he's not sinking. Should I …?" He held out his hook and pointed at it, face lighting up mischievously. "Reel him on in?"

To his surprise, Moana held up a delaying hand. Nothing about her spoke of concern, but her eyes never left the young man in the water. "We've got this, Maui."

"We, huh? You mean … Oh."

In the background, and completely beyond Akamu's awareness, a wave of Ocean rolled skyward and bobbed up and down before quickly re-forming with the rest of the water.

"Moana!" Akamu screeched, reaching at her as he began to bob up and down.

"Akamu, you're going to be all right. I promise you won't drown."

"Get me out. I can't swim!"

"Son, when you decide to voyage on the water, swimming's gonna have to happen one way or another." Moana knelt onto her knees at the boat's edge while a slightly baffled Maui watched from the sidelines. He knew Moana was fond of this boy, so she wasn't trying to intentionally scare him. Moana always sought for a way, no matter what. He could only guess she'd decided to use Akamu's accidental fall to educate him on swimming. Maui blinked and smashed his lips together to hold back a snicker. Just how did the boy end up in the water in the first place?

The silver haired woman was explaining to Akamu what to do. "You're bobbing up and down like that and not getting anywhere because you're not moving correctly. Look at my arms." Moana demonstrated her own arms swimming in the air. "Kick your legs."

Akamu spluttered and splashed. His eyes went wide. "You're leaving me behind!"

Maui narrowed his eyes and judged that since he'd left his sailing post, the boat had drifted by a few feet. "Trust me, kid, she's not about to abandon you."

"I can't move," Akamu gasped. "I can't. I'll drown. I can't swim."

"You will not drown. Ocean won't let you." Moana's voice became stronger now. She leaned over the water. "Just try, Akamu."

"If the Ocean's a friend, why can't it help me now?"

"Because you are not in real danger. Trust the Ocean. It will not fail you. You simply need to trust in yourself, first."

Akamu cried out and desperately clawed at the water for a few seconds. When he shouted again it was now with impatience. "Moana, please!"

Maui heard her heave a deep sigh. He watched as Moana slipped easily into the waters and swam up to the stranded boy, looping one firm arm around him before she brought him back, thought not quite giving up and continued to talk him through the motions of swimming.

"You were not in any danger," Moana said minutes later, sitting peacefully while Akamu bent over on his knees and shook. "This is something I'm afraid you'll have to get over soon, Akamu. We're surrounded by water. If real danger strikes us, Maui and I may not be able to watch over you."

The young man turned his head. A disapproving frown marked his face. "What about the Ocean? If your stories were true and so was what I saw that night … Could it not save me?"

"Of course. But it's like I told you, boy. You need to be capable of trusting yourself, too. Even I had to put up with troubles on the water without the aid of Ocean. Ocean will be there for you, though, no matter what."

The boy lowered his head, face withdrawn. "I … I apologize, Moana. I'm just … I don't think I am ready to trust the water yet."

A long, somewhat awkward pause followed. Maui finally leaned in. "So, are swimming lessons postponed for the rest of the trip? I mean, within two days we should reach Motunui, so …"

"Nope. We're making another stop," Moana interrupted. A slow, secretive smile spread over her face. "I … maaay have forgotten to tell you there's one place I wanna go to, first."

Maui's eyebrow lifted. He and Mini-Maui shared a dumbfounded glance and shrugged. "Okaaay. Where to?"

"You're not gonna be happy, my friend. Lalotai."

"Lalotai?" Maui stepped toward the very calm old woman, then back again, all the while stammering, "But, how, what in the … Moana!" He slapped a palm over his face.

"The realm of monsters?" Akamu asked, peering at Moana.

She shrugged. "What? You didn't think that was a real part of my stories, either?"

Maui gripped his fishhook and frowned. "Why do you want to go there?"

"To make amends, I suppose."

"Amends? He'll just want to kill you."

"Maybe. But that's kind of why we're going. Some time ago I started thinking about how we just left him like that. I dunno. Feel a little bad about it. And anyway, I have a peace offering."

Akamu rose to his feet and held up a hesitant arm. "Uh, who are you two talking about?"

In unison, one glowering demigod and one smiling old woman answered, "Tamatoa."

Author's Note: I'm so happy to have had a positive response to this story. Updates might be slow for a little while as I am in the process of moving. And yep, we're gonna see everyone's favorite, dazzling, villainous coconut crab. SHINY!

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