EDIT: Ok what the actual heck? I saw an error in this chapter and when I looked back in the original document, it wasn't there! If you guys see anything that ever seems out of place, please let me know and I'll fix it.
Somewhere where it was really dark, Tamatoa was in bioluminescent form and he was waiting as the writer (who was covered in green bioluminescent markings and a bunch of green jewelry) recounted something as she sat on his shell and cleaned her sword off with a rag.
"Long story short, Mickey sent Sora, Donald, and Goofy to stop me, so one died." She concluded. "And yes that was a Kingdom Hearts reference. Anyway, say you wrote a book and you want to get published. Would I try to sponsor myself through inkshares, kickstarter, or just go ahead with a self-publishing website?"
"I honestly have no idea what you are talking about and I think you have other matters to attend to." The crab responded as he pointed to the reader from beyond their screen. "And yes, I was referring to you specifically." He told you.
The writer looked up in confusion before she smiled and waved at you. "Oh hey, sorry! I got pretty busy cleaning the tomatoes off my sword. Anyway, onto those responses."
ChangelingRin: Hmmm... maybe? *Grins evilly* I think you were the first one to remember that line back in chapter 2.
Nausicaa of the Spirits: *sings 'You're welcome' and makes Tamatoa scowl* Ugh, elections... there's a reason why I avoid talking about politics in my fan fic but I hate how things have turned out. But on a plus side, that was an awesome song and I love how it's done in the film.
Child of Music and Dreams: *Also crackles evilly as she cleans her sword* I love it when we can be a little evil now and then.
Tamatoa's response to Child of Music and Dreams: *sighs* Then again it would explain why none of you outright hate all the other villains I get grouped with.
Silversun XD: Aw :) And dumbstruck Maui is adorable... though a Maui giving Moana a big hug is equally adorable (If we can't have a kiss, then I accept that hug. Even the illustrations from the books that show the hug is adorable). And I think she would so its a matter of how he'd react.
Subaku no Jess: Thanks :) Yeah let's hope Tamatoa is a good actor *pats Tamatoa's shell* I think it would be a sin not to keep Tamatoa from being a giant crab *Tamatoa coughs at this* but I'll see. I got an epic final battle planned that'll hopefully be awesome.
Oh ho! Tamatoa using 'You're Welcome' against Maui?! *Both Holymaiden24 and Tamatoa both have creepy wide grins at this and it doesn't help that both of them are bioluminescent... or at least one of them actually is* I so need to use that somehow if the story allows me to. I'm crediting you if it happens!
OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: Oh it would be a sin if I didn't make him go bioluminescent! I wanted to revisit the first chapter during the re-telling for dramatic effect and I'm glad to see that it worked. As for Tamatoa learning about what Maui is up to... uh... actually he DOES have something like that but I think he only uses it to watch 'Flight of the Conchords.' I also don't know too much about the differences in crab meat but they all sound good.
*Tamatoa looks at the necklace* Uh... No I didn't curse you. What the heck is she talking about? And why is the dragon... *goes to read fan fic* Oooh... ok that made sense.
Tamatoa's response to OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon: *is excited* Sure thing, Babe. *takes necklace and gives OfficialWhiteFireTheDragon a wink* And ah... sorry about what I did to your dragon friend. I guess I got too carried away back there but now that I think of it, I can see that I shouldn't ruin something that's perfect.
jhalpernkitcat: Yeah, we're doing ok for now. I'm not Jewish, but I guess that makes sense. So no imitation crab meat then? Just curious.
Mini Maui was there the whole time, he was just in hiding. Remember how he is a representation of Maui's conscience? It has a connection to this story in a certain way. I don't know if Maui's tattoos would return if he becomes human, but as you will soon see, something else starts happening as he continues to develop a connection with Moana.
Heh, Doctor Who... I got the reference. I honestly prefer the Russell T Davis era, I stopped watching that show some time ago. I'm not a huge fan of Steven Moffat's writing because of how annoying it is (the 50th anniversary episode was a let down for a number of reasons. I wanted the real Rose, dang it! DoctorxRose forever!)
Enigma: *hands Enigma the balloons* Heh, I can't imagine him getting braces besides the obvious 'shiny' addition. Actually I don't think he would care if his teeth were crooked or not... would he? I mean I got braces at one point in my youth so that was really hypocritical of me to say that in the first place.
Tamatoa's response to Enigma: Ok, ok I'll spare you. To answer your question, it takes a lot of practice in order to master such a feat and the amount of pressure in your grip has to be light, whether you are holding a coin or a struggling little human child. The bigger you get, the harder it gets, but luckily I have... maybe more time than I should have, what with living by myself and not having guests over as much as others would. But with lots of practice you can make this *pulls out a carefully designed cage made out of some sort of bone and lots of rope* and do this–
-?-
"Come on, come on!" Moana snarled as she kept smashing the button on her controller while she, Belle, Rapunzel, and Mulan were playing Super Smash Brothers. In fact, all of them were so engrossed in the game that they failed to see a cage come smashing down upon them and the TV.
"What the heck?!" Belle screamed as the girls quickly realized what just happened.
"No, no, I refuse to let this happen!" Rapunzel yelled out. "I DON'T WANT TO GET TRAPPED AGAIN!"
"Uh, who is that?" Mulan pointed at what was outside of the cage. Moana took a look and felt her heart stop when she recognized the culprit.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" She yelled up at Tamatoa. "IS THIS FOR WHAT HAPPENED BACK THEN?!"
"See Enigma?!" Tamatoa gestured to the cage with a flourish while the writer went from cleaning her sword to typing on her laptop. "Good enough to trap a few princesses!"
"Well not for me!" Moana yelled. "Let us out!" She demanded, but her foe merely laughed and strutted away from her and her friends.
-Back to the A/N-
Yup, Mini Maui is still around and kicking!
My knowledge of sailing is painfully limited so I had to do the best that I could. Also, if I get any of the hand gestures mixed up with actual sign language, I apologize in advance for that.
The lyrics are from the song 'Innocent Warrior' from Moana, if no one catches on to it.
Chapter 7 Upon the ocean
It was getting closer and closer to the long awaited day and the people of Motonui were getting more caught up in preparing for the visit. Even so there was always a guaranteed chance that you would notice something had changed if you paid attention to a certain interaction between two of the people on the island. Another thing you would have noticed a little more so was that Moana seemed to be a bit more confident in herself and looked a little less overwhelmed.
"I think we are about done." A woman showed Moana some tapas that were getting close to being finished and would replace some of the old ones in the community fale. "Though I don't know if we will have enough time to make new ones for trading or not."
"Why don't we focus on replacing the old tapas?" Moana suggested. "If you would like to make some to trade with, why not keep them on the small side?" She suggested. "There'll always be next time."
"We'll consider it." The woman smiled. She watched as Moana hurried off and was followed by her silent companion who had watched the future Chief interact with the women at the tapas. "Well at this rate at least the community fale will look good as new." She joked to a friend who was painting on a design for a tapestry.
"How are we on the coconuts?" Moana asked Talia as she and the others tended to the harvest.
"Well the new grove is still growing and we might need to wait for a bit for these ones to ripen up." Talia noted. "Father also wanted me to tell you that the taro roots will be ready in time, but it wouldn't hurt to let some of them grow a bit more."
"Ok, that's good!" Moana beamed as she hurried off to the fishing fale.
"How are we?" She asked the fishermen as they counted the fish. "Do the fish keep switching places on everyone?"
"They still give us a hard time, but I think were doing just fine." One of the men showed Moana a spear with a familiar looking head. "It's thanks to your friend over there that they can't get away from us that easily."
Moana turned to her companion, who just gave her a smile. "It does look as if the fishes wouldn't be able to slip away from the spearheads." Moana admitted before turning back to facing the fishermen. "Remember that we don't want to scare them all off. We will need to get a bunch more before the Chief visits, so maybe try to get as much as you can on the day before?"
After Moana waved to the fishermen and made to go off to her next task, she turned to the man beside her. "You'll have to show us how you make those." Moana began. "I could see that the visitors would want some and that would make trading easier. Plus I doubt you would want to make more than you'd like to in your free time." She quickly added.
The man gave her a careful look before shrugging. In truth, he wasn't entirely willing to pass on all his secrets but maybe he could make a small exception.
It was later on after Moana helped watch over the children at her grandmother's fale that the man pulled her aside and began to lead her to the cave. Tala paused in her story telling to watch the interaction and when she was pleased to see that there was not going to be a repeat of what happened last time, she continued the story.
"You'll show me now, right?" Moana asked. When the man nodded, she let out a big grin and had to keep herself from bursting out in excitement, otherwise that would get them both caught.
In the secret cave that was far from prying eyes, both of them had to learn that limited communication was not going to make teaching easy. Fortunately neither of them were willing to let this get in the way of things since they had done a more than decent job of interacting with each other up to this point.
Maui watched as Moana held up the oar. "So could you make a sign for each part of the boat and then just let me know if I get anything mixed up?"
He nodded.
"So what would the sign for this be?" She held the oar out.
He gave her a childish smirk and mimicked paddling the oar in the ocean, which made her feel a little foolish. Still it was more obvious and already the easiest to remember. "Ok, that made sense." Moana glanced at the sail before looking back to him. "Uh... and the sail?"
He made a fist with his hand.
"And I suppose the waves would be..." She did a waving motion with her hand that bobbed up and down like the waves of the sea and he accepted this with a nod.
"Uh..." Moana frowned as she looked at the extra parts of the boat that she was not as familiar with like the large pole in front of the sail. "I... I don't know what that is." She admitted. "I don't know what the ropes can do either." She felt embarrassed. "I mean I think I heard something once or twice but I don't know."
Maui eyed every part of the boat. The halyard, the shroud, and the sheet would be tricky to 'explain' unless he actually showed her how they could be used. If he encouraged her to try to ask someone about the terminology then it would raise questions which neither of them wanted.
He went ahead and moved behind the boat, forcing Moana to watch in confusion as he moved it into the water with the same ease as two men pushing a similar sized boat into the water together. "We aren't going out into the ocean just yet, are we?" She asked.
He shook his head no and didn't stop until the boat was completely in the water. When it did, Maui gestured for Moana to get on and she was more than happy to do so. It felt wonderful to feel the boat rock back and forth under her feet again, no matter how short it would last for.
Maui grabbed the sheet and handed the end that was laying on the boat to Moana. She waited to see what he would do and when he gave it a pull, she saw that the sail moved in one particular direction.
"Ok, so this helps with moving the sail." She quickly picked up on this with a smile. "So just do a pulling motion for this one?"
Maui nodded with a smile; maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he thought after all.
Sometime in the dead of night, Pua snuck into Maui's fale, which was not too far from Chief Tui's fale.
The fale did not have much in it, except for one sleeping giant of a man, a few spear heads that he had made, some coconut shells with scrimshaw upon them, and hidden behind a few baskets was the necklace of animal teeth that he had first sworn before he stopped wearing it on his first day on Motonui. Pua had a sneaking suspicion that Maui stopped wearing it because it would have made him look a little familiar to those who saw his image, but that was not his concern and instead he went to the sleeping Maui, whose head was flopped over to one side and whose left arm was exposed to the open air.
Pua walked over to the shoulder and waited to see if the strange tattoo from before would reappear. Sure enough, the strange grinning symbols on the shoulder shifted and parted to make a large circle and revealed a smiling figure that looked a lot like Maui. In fact it was the same figure Pua saw the day before.
The figure waved and moved to the side to show a young Moana and Pua playing upon Maui's skin.
So what was left of the tattoos did remember Pua; when the miniature version of Maui pointed at the tattooed version of Pua and back to the actual Pua, the pig nodded to confirm that they were also one and the same.
Mini Maui pantomimed pondering something with a hand cupped over his chin and a few question marks popped around his head before he pointed to his host, then pointed to a smaller version of the original tattooed version of himself, and then finally pointed to a non-tattooed version that looked identical to the current appearance of his host. Relieved to see that someone that could communicate with him would give the much needed answers, Pua nodded.
Mini Maui nodded back as the smaller versions of the two versions of Maui, Moana, and Pua were absorbed into the ink and a crowd of cheering people rose up from the bottom of the circle. Mini Maui gained tattoos upon himself to represent the demi-god before he had been changed and he acted out as if he were excited and enjoyed the people's praises. But as the seconds passed, the people continuously vanished and were replaced by more people and the excitement in Maui's face died away and he began to frown.
The ink shifted and showed Maui talking to a Chief, who pointed to a few monsters off in the distance. Maui took out his fish hook and when he approached the monsters he bashed them repeatedly on the head in a comical fashion until the monsters hurried away in fear. Maui approached the Chief with a smile of pride, but then the Chief merely smirked, turned away to his people, and they all left Maui alone. Maui had a very offended look on his face as he dropped the fish hook to the ground, but the offense died away into dejection and he turned away with a sad look in his eyes. A cloud then appeared over his head that showed the more human like form within it.
From what Pua could gather, Maui seemed to be tired out by something, but he had been taken advantage of in the past and was not acknowledged for what he had done for that Chief and his people. So why would Maui be thinking of himself as a human? Did he want to become one?
The ink then swirled together and this time it showed a rather unexpected scene, as Maui's smaller incarnation was in the company of a giant crab that looked more than familiar to Pua after seeing his image one time too many.
What did Tamatoa have to do with Maui being a human?
The tattoo version of Tamatoa moved his mouth as if talking and another version of Maui appeared, along with one of the humans. An arrow pointed at Maui before pointing at the human, then it pointed back to Maui, who then turned into the more human version that was currently asleep. Ok, so Tamatoa must have turned him into a human somehow, but then the arrow pointed to a scene that was a little lower on the real Maui's arm. It showed that Maui smiling at another human and this human hugged him before they grabbed his hand and took him away.
Pua was really confused about this part and Mini Maui saw this, so he just held his hand up and gestured to Tamatoa, who slammed a large shell on the ground in front of him. Mini Maui walked over to the strange object and began drinking something out of it, before he recoiled away after a few gulps. He opened his mouth and gagged like Heihei would when heaving up a stone and something circular came out of the smaller Maui's mouth before he collapsed into the sand and the markings that represented his tattoos vanished off his body. A great wave of water then came to take Maui away from Tamatoa, who grinned in sadistic delight as he scooped up the circular object into a shell on a necklace.
Pua watched as Tamatoa vanished and the waves carried the still sleeping Maui away before setting him upon a spot of land, where Heihei appeared to peck at his head before Pua's smaller incarnation came to find him. The tattoo version of Pua panicked and made to cry out to something and a teenaged version of Moana hurried to the scene to find Maui before she knelt beside him with a concerned frown on her face.
Mini Maui woke up to mimic clutching at his throat and when the circular object appeared again, he pointed to it and then pointed to his throat before acting out as if he were trying to say something. He give Pua a shrug and an apologetic, yet hopeful smile before the characters all swirled together until they changed back into the original tattoo that had been upon Maui's arm (the one that belonged to this current version, not the other one).
Pua had a hard time gathering what was going on and somehow Tamatoa helped Maui turn into a human, but what exactly was it that came out of Maui that the crab took? Was it his voice? What did it mean when Maui hugged the other human? And why exactly would the ocean bring Maui back to Moana of all people after all this had happened? He hated that he now had more questions than before.
Unknown to him, Mini Maui was also frustrated because there was a lot of additional info that would be hard to convey in a way that Pua would easily understand. This included the time limit, the bet, and just how important it was for Moana to develop a bond with Maui that would be strong enough to let him know that someone out there truly valued him for who he was.
Plus he was quite fond of that spirited human girl and he was sure that Maui was secretly fond of her too, no matter how much he would try to deny it.
The days began to pass and Moana and Maui's relationship slowly evolved into something a little more than a truce.
He taught her as much as he could about sailing, yet he would not let the boat go out of the cave just yet. He even had to change up when Moana could go to the cave so that her father would not get suspicious and there were a few times where they had to sneak out in the dead of night. There were some struggles with trying to teach her without words, but the actions alone was more than enough to replace them and the more Moana was quick to pick up Maui's cues, the more she was able to react in time to what she had to do. She had many questions about what could happen, such as if a wave were about to overpower her, and he would guide her in what to do. Some things were harder than others, but something like teaching her how to tie a knot properly and have her copy him was easier. She also learned that no matter how much she could watch the fishermen at their boats by the shore so that she could try to pick up more about sailing, it just wasn't going to cut it; their boats were just not built the same as hers was.
As Maui sat down on the boat and let his legs hang off after one of the lessons, Moana realized that the boat was once again in the water. In fact it was pretty far from the shoreline to the point that the water below had to be a good five feet deep.
And her teacher wasn't paying attention to her; one could say that he seemed rather distracted.
With an evil grin, Moana decided it was time for some well deserved revenge. She quietly backed a few feet away before she ran towards Maui with her hands out. The moment he turned his head and slightly shifted his position, she pushed him right in the shoulders (she remembered to avoid the sensitive part on his back) and watched in delight as he tumbled right off the boat and into the water with a tremendous, yet satisfying splash.
When Maui broke through the surface, he quickly turned around and had to move his water soaked hair out of his face to see that Moana was kneeling beside the boat and giving him a big grin with one eyebrow raised at him. He was confused as to why she had done this to him until he realized she was in the same position he was when he threw her into the sea.
Oh so that was it. She wanted revenge for that little incident and took her chance when he was distracted.
When Moana saw the man in the water give her a deep scowl, she dropped her smile and wondered if she took it too far again. She gulped as he let go of his hair before he swam towards her and she hoped to the gods that this would not ruin their agreement.
Instead, Maui reached out to grab Moana by the leg and pulled her right into the water alongside him. Her splash was not as spectacular as his own, but it was still just as satisfying to him.
When it was her turn to brake through the surface and move her hair out of her face, Maui let out a hilariously amusing grin at how utterly shocked the teenager looked. When she realized what he had done, Moana could only let out a laugh and slapped the water to splash a wave right at him. Maui took this as an invite to a fight and he splashed a larger wave back at her and even though she was hit by it, Moana did not back down from the challenge and an epic watery showdown ensued. Unfortunately it probably was not as epic as it seemed, but it was the fun that counted.
Moana could not stop laughing and even between splashes she could tell that the man was also laughing, even if she could not hear it. A part of her wanted so badly to know what that laugh was supposed to sound like, yet the other part just wanted to let go and have fun. It was only then that she stopped seeing this man as an unwanted guardian or just a teacher who she still had a hard time trusting to not tell her father about her lessons–instead he became a genuine friend. Maybe he wasn't the exact kind of friend most would picture for someone like her but she didn't care.
At night when Moana tried to measure the stars, Maui had to correct her position so that she had her arm straight out and her fingers were joined together, before standing beside her to do the same. Her hand was so much smaller and more slender than his own hand, yet it was starting to get some calluses though not quite as much as his own. The way was his own hand was shaped was so unusual compared to most other men to the point it almost didn't seem human-like, yet was clearly ideal for certain tasks and hard labor. Moana smiled at the sight of her hand and his own against the night sky, but as she measured the stars, she thought about the missing constellation. Perhaps her companion knew something about it?
"Have you noticed that Maui's constellation is missing from the sky lately?" Moana asked as she glanced at him. "Grandma noticed it and–"
Maui was alarmed by this question and looked up at the sky and every part of it that surrounded him before looking up as high as he could to see if it was over Motonui, but it wasn't.
That was not good. Nope, not good at all.
"So you're concerned about it too?" Moana asked as she dropped her hand. "I don't know why it vanished, but I hope nothing bad has happened to Maui." She frowned. "I mean some people still think he's just a story and some think he is still alive. I think he does exist, but I really hope he didn't do something to anger the gods. I know he did some things that were not favorable in some of the stories–including the ones we can't exactly tell the children." She winced at the memory of some of those tales. "But some of us still look up to him despite his faults."
"He's done so much for us–maybe more than we could have asked for–that I'd hate it if his legacy ended on a bad note. Actually I got inspiration from him when I sent those kids upon you so that I could get away." She chuckled as she grew thoughtful. "Someone who is both brave enough to face the worst of situations and smart enough to figure out a situation in a small amount of time... we need more people like that in this world."
Moana didn't see Maui look away, nor did she notice the look of guilt in his eyes. Normally such words would be taken as praises and would give him an ego boost, but it didn't this time around. She was giving him way too much credit than she realized.
Maybe he took the human race for granted after all this time. He had been focused so much on seeing them as a whole and was constantly trying to do everything for them to get their approval that he kept forgetting that there were those who had still believed him in and were not expecting him to constantly outdo himself for their sake. And just to twist the knife further, it figured that he got in this mess in the first place because he felt that the appreciation the humans had towards him was not entirely genuine as it used to be and wore off throughout the ages. Yet here was proof that someone still remembered and believed in him, even if she didn't know who he was. He hated being regarded as just a story instead of an actual person at times, so this confession meant a lot to him.
Except he was sure that that Moana would be more than upset if she ever found out the truth about why he was the way he was now and even more so if he lost the 'little' bet he made awhile back.
"But maybe its just off season and the stars will come back." Moana tried to reassure herself. "Maybe the constellation is elsewhere, right?"
The longer he stayed as a human, the more there would be at stake. He could not bring himself to disappoint Moana if she had to learn the truth and yet...
When exactly did it get to the point that he had grown to care so much about what one human out of an entire race felt about him? Why would the idea of disappointing her more than an entire race of mortals scare him like this?
All he knew was that he couldn't abandon her now just because he was terrified over what consequences he would face. He could at least fulfill her wish before he had to make a decision in the future about whether or not he would need to leave this island and spare themselves from a tragic end to this irony.
More time began to pass and Maui counted as it went from eight days, to six days, and eventually it got to the point where he had three days left, as did Moana for when the Chief would come to visit. He tried to avoid thinking about the future and instead just try to focus on the present.
He did what he could and helped Moana get the coconuts they needed, or the fruit from other plants. He showed her exactly how he made the barbed spears, though it was easier said then done and she ended up nicking herself a few times. He also watched as she talked about making a proper enclosure for the animals with a few villagers and agreed on double reinforcing some parts of them.
"Just keep that rooster in a basket though, he'd peck his way out of the enclosure if he knew what he was doing." A man pointed and sure enough Heihei was pecking at some rope that was slowly becoming undone by his sharp beak.
"I'll think on that." Moana promised as she picked Heihei up and carefully petted his feathers. The rooster made no protest to this and enjoyed the petting while it lasted.
Maui allowed Moana to show him around the island and the forested areas as she talked about the island and the history of her people as well as a little about herself. It was in the forest where she was allowed to be more adventurous and he could only watch in amusement as she took a large leaf and used it to slide down one of the oddly angled trees over a big ditch. She offered the leaf for him to do the same thing and he did– except his weight made the leaf snap in half and caused him to fall into the ditch and she had to watch as he crawled back up.
"I swear I didn't mean to do that on purpose!" Moana apologized, but there was a smile on her face. When she felt something grab onto her ankle, she looked down to see that her companion was holding onto it with a very sneaky smile while keeping his head turned to the side as a respectful precaution.
"Oh no, don't you dare do that again!" Moana began. "No I said don't!" She laughed when he tugged on her ankle, but he did not even try to pull her into the ditch. "Maybe next time you can get back at me when I deserve it!"
Moana herself oversaw everything to make sure that her village was presentable and that they had enough food for their guests, in addition to having enough goods to trade with. Everything was becoming a giddy whirl as the Royal Marae and the community fale were both completely cleaned and presentable, the coconuts were being picked, and everything else was coming into place.
The dancing lessons for the event was going along well and her own dancing was getting better and better with each passing day as she tried to find more time to practice on her own. She took inspiration from the ocean to keep her movements slow, steady, yet fluid and graceful, and those who saw this picked up on the changes.
"She's going to be beautiful." A healthier looking Sina smiled at Tala as they watched Moana dance outside the community fale. "I don't know what you said, but she's improved so much."
"Oh, I think she found inspiration where she needed it the most." Tala chuckled. "Her confidence is also playing a big role in all of this." She looked to the man who could not speak and watched as he smiled on in pride at Moana. "Though I think some additional help around here has somehow played a part."
The music ended and Moana was greeted with applause. She couldn't help but curtsey to her audience and let out a smile as her mother walked towards her. "You will make us all proud." Sina smiled. "Even our ancestors would find this enjoyable to behold."
"I hope it will be as easy as this one time." Moana nervously laughed, but Sina put a hand on Moana's shoulder. "Allow the music and the spirit of your soul to guide you." Sina advised her daughter. "Do this and all of Motonui and the people of Chief Hoani will see you for who you are on the inside."
"I hope I don't reveal too much!" Moana laughed.
Meanwhile Maui frowned from his spot because something about the name of the Chief sounded familiar, even if it might have been mentioned in passing before. Did he know a Chief that went by that name? He had met several in his time, so why did this one scream out at him?
Actually, wasn't there a Chief he had met that mentioned this island some time ago?
"That is a gift for the family of the Chief of Motonui! I did not promise that to you as payment for protecting us from those monsters!"
If there was ever a time that Maui's heart could stop for longer than a second, now was it. He felt himself get cold as the memories came back to him of what happened the night before he decided to turn into a human.
Oh gods, of all the things that had to happen to make this even more difficult for him, it had to be because a certain cheapsake that he stole from had to show up on the island on his last day as a human. And how many were coming? Nineteen? Who else would recognize him?! It didn't matter how much scarring had happened to him or how much else of him had changed because they would recognize him in a heartbeat! There was no way they would be stupid enough to think he was someone else, unless a miracle could happen.
Moana turned around to face her friend with a smile but then frowned in concern when she saw how troubled he looked and hurried off to who knew where. "I'll be right back." She told Sina and hurried after her companion with Pua close behind.
"Is something wrong?" Moana asked Maui as soon as she caught up to him. "You seem troubled by something."
Maui hesitated and turned around, but he could not bring himself to just shake his head and continue on like nothing happened. Instead he looked out to the ocean and tried to figure out why on earth he was brought to Motonui of all places if he was going to go on this massive guilt trip and face a more than likely enraged Chief from another island. One word was all that was needed to be said in order for everything to come undone if he was present for the event.
It all just built up into a frusterated anger that he was struggling to contain. He had no idea what it was that he wanted now and he had to be denied one more day because fate had to be a magnificent jerk to him.
Moana herself couldn't think of exactly what would upset the man before her (especially if he couldn't flat out say it). "You would let me know though, right?" She asked. Whatever was going though his mind was all too clear in his eyes and whatever it was, it was causing him a great distress.
She could only watch as he opened his mouth as if to say something, but when he remembered that he couldn't, he could only turn around and walk away. She watched as he briefly ran his fingers through his hair with one hand and pulled it up for a few seconds before it dropped back down. However, it was long enough for Moana to notice something rather odd.
She had stopped paying attention to the man's scars a long time ago, but there was something about some of the few on his back that had changed. The scars used to look so horrendous and yet some of them were losing their discoloration and were looking closer to his natural skin tone now. The one hidden under his hair particularly looked less like a patch of an uneven, jagged terrain of flesh and was starting to look a little closer to the ones on the rest of his body.
Moana chose not to think on this and turned away as she wondered what could be done to help her friend. She had no idea that the man was heading to his fale and she would never learn that the moment he was inside, he would let out a violent series of voiceless yelling and cursing that would go unheard to all. All she knew was that if there had been a way to know what was troubling him, she would try to help him in a heartbeat.
She didn't recognize this part of the island. The rocks, the trees, the flowers, the plants–everything was different, yet the sand and the ocean looked the same.
Moana glanced at her surroundings as she tried to figure out what sort of dream this was. As she kept walking, she thought she heard a woman singing in the distance, so she hurried towards the source. When she finally got close enough and hurried around a large rock, she was met with a strange sight.
A woman garbed in white garments, and who had long flowing dark hair with a crown of flowers upon her head, sang as she danced knee deep in the ocean like Moana's grandmother did. What made the sight so strange was that a wave of water from the ocean had risen up to her chest and appeared to be dancing alongside her.
"Ou mata e matagi," The woman sang as she gracefully waved her arms about. "Ou loto mamaina toa."
Moana couldn't dare to stop the woman with her own questions. Instead she watched in awe as the woman and the wave of water danced together in harmony.
"Manatu atu. Taku pelepele." The woman raised her arms in the air, but then the wave shifted out of sync and tilted at a strange angle.
"I have heard much about you, young one." The woman suddenly spoke out to Moana.
Moana heard a strange cracking noise and she turned around to see that a fale similar to her own grandmother's appeared right behind her as if by some sort of divine magic.
Drawn to the fale, Moana walked towards it and pulled back one of the tapas so that she could enter it. Much like her grandmother's fale, the tapas were tapestries of gods and monsters, but each one was moving upon the surface as if they were alive. From the creation of the world, to the great eel that lead to the coconut tree, they replayed their own stories for Moana to watch.
But then, as if they sensed her presence, the characters all stopped moving on the tapas. All except one figure that was crouched in front of a rock with his hands over his eyes as he rocked back and forth on his feet. Moana walked to this one and when she got close enough, the figure sprang up to reveal himself as a young child before he ran off to the side of his tapa, disappeared, and then reappeared in the next one. She watched as he cupped a hand to his mouth to call out for someone as he walked around but then noticed the eight eyed bat that was in front of him.
He moved as if he noticed something behind the creature and when he yelled at it, something small quickly fell out from behind it and landed on top of the child's head.
It was a small coconut crab no bigger then the child's own head, though he still seemed to require wearing a specific protective shell before he could develop his own.
"Is that–?" Moana realized that the crab looked more than familiar to her, having seen a larger version of him more than once. If the crab was who she thought it was, then did that mean that the child was who she thought he was?
The boy laughed as he took the crab off his head and lifted him up into the air for one minute. Even the crab seemed to be laughing in joy as he was held up in the air before the boy set him back down. Moana continued to watch as both the younger versions of Maui and Tamatoa hurried off to play and search for treasures hiding within the other tapestries.
"If only I had seen what was to come." The woman's voice lamented as if it were right beside Moana. When Moana turned around to try to find it, all the images had vanished off the tapas, save for one where a much larger version of the crab now bore a dark grin as he told something to the boy who was now grown up into the version of himself that Moana knew best. She watched as the demi-god's teeth began to grit down in anger while the crab moved closer and closer towards him and continued to say whatever he had to say until he towered over him.
"Instead a cycle of revenge has begun." Moana turned to try to find the voice, but instead she saw another tapa with the crab and the demi-god. Except this time it took a dark turn as an enraged Maui was shown ripping off one of Tamatoa's legs with a large hook with all the force that he could summon up. Moana could only stare in horror as the limb came off and the crab let out what should have been an agonized scream while Maui seemed to come to his senses and realized what he had done in equal wide eyed horror.
"Why would you show me this?!" Moana turned around to try to find the woman. When she couldn't find her, she hurried outside to see the woman standing near the ocean instead of within it. Now that she was facing Moana, the girl could she that she looked strangely like her own mother and yet not quite. Her mother did not have the same vibrant green colored eyes that this woman had.
"I chose not to interfere with current events as what has happened has been of his own choosing. Yet something has changed and I will not be able to reach you in time to stop what is to come." The woman apologized.
"What are you talking about?!" Moana demanded as she threw her hands out. "Does this have something to do with Maui's missing constellation? I'm only seeing images, but they aren't enough! I don't know what Maui and Tamatoa's falling out has to do with any of it!"
The woman could only turn to the ocean as a pillar of water rose out of it. "So long as you are by the ocean or within it, it will protect you from a certain danger." She held her hand out towards the pillar of water, which moved closer towards her. "If you stray too far from it, you will meet a terrible fate." She turned back to Moana. "Heed your grandmother's words, my child–appearances can be very deceiving, so trust with your heart. Only you and you alone will have the power to end it all."
"I don't understand!" Moana cried out in frustration. "I can't be by the ocean when I am needed to be in the village! How does that help me?! And what is it that must end?!"
A hand grabbed Moana's arm in a painful manner and she felt herself be pulled towards the fale, but the fale had vanished and instead the hand pulled her as far from the ocean as possible. Moana tried to look back to see who grabbed her, but instead there was nothing but darkness to greet her before it swallowed her whole.
"Remember my words, Moana." The woman called out one final time. "Remember who you truly are."
As Moana tossed and turned in her slumber, Tui got up and headed outside to get some much needed air.
"Just a few more days." He reminded himself as he ran a hand over his face as he faced the mountains and the forested area that was behind the village. "I won't even have to tell her. The last thing I need is to add onto the stress and–"
He heard a strange rumbling sound off in the distance that made him stop what he was doing. It was a strange sound that was somewhere far off, but not close enough to be anywhere near the village and it was too dark to tell where it was coming from.
He heard it again and this time he detected that it was coming from somewhere near the northeastern side of the island. He shut his eyes to try to focus on the sound and he could have sworn he heard another faint sound, like a stick cracking in half. No it was like many sticks were cracking in half.
He paused for a moment and waited in anticipation when the sounds ceased. Should he alert someone to go get help or wait to see if he was imagining things? He opted for the latter and waited for a long time, yet nothing happened.
"Perhaps it was just my mind playing a trick upon me." Tui tried to reassure himself, but he was not entirely convinced. He needed to take a group out to where he thought he heard that sound, but he would have to be careful about it. He didn't want to cause any panic amongst his people if something was amiss and he was already developing a bad feeling in his guts.
The next day, everyone was ahead of schedule or had just managed to make ends meet in time to have a little more free time. Even Moana found that she didn't have much to do besides help the children with their dancing and oversee the final preparations, but she couldn't help but wonder about the dream. She wondered if perhaps her grandmother would be able to tell her.
"Moana!" Her father called to her as she finished the dance lesson with the children and she turned to see him approach her. "I see that you have done a fine job thus far." He smiled at her. "It has been difficult but I am glad to see that you have pulled through."
"Thank you father!" Moana beamed with delight.
"I'm going to be exploring certain parts of the island for a bit." Tui told her. "In the meantime I think you have more than earned some time to yourself. So long as I see you come home by sundown." He added.
"I will!" Moana smiled.
"One more thing." Tui added. "Just be careful alright?"
"Yes!" Moana waved and didn't think too much about her father's words as she watched her father walk towards a small group of men and women before she turned back to her students.
"Are you sure you won't tell her?" One of the women asked Tui as they headed towards the mountains and forests. "It would be a good part of her training if your hunch is correct." She pointed out as she examined her spear.
"The last thing I need is to raise alarm amongst my people." Tui confessed to her as he allowed his happy masquerade to drop. "I don't know what it is that I had heard, but I fully intend to investigate before we take action. I want as much of the island explored as possible before it is time to head back."
"Suppose it was just one of the gods having a bit of fun." One of the men laughed.
As Moana finished her lesson, she walked off as Pua joined her again and she tried to think of what else could be done to occupy her time when she felt a hand grab her wrist. For one second she recalled the dream and the mystery hand, but when she turned to see a certain friend, she smiled in relief. "Oh, guess what?!" She exclaimed. "Father gave me some time off today starting right now!" She looked at him again to see if anything had changed besides the scarring, but the only thing that was different was the green lavalava he wore when he first came to the island.
Knowing that Moana had free time pleased Maui a little bit as this was perhaps the only chance he would get to bring her out into the ocean before it was too late. He let go of her hand and began heading towards the secret entrance to the cave.
"Where are you going?!" Moana asked as Maui made a gesture to follow her. She obeyed and wondered if he was going to lead her to the cave for another lesson.
"So what will you teach me this time?" Moana asked as Maui pushed her boat back into the water again. To her confusion, he paused in his task and pointed to the waterfall with a smile. She titled her head in confusion at this, but when he handed her the oar, she then realized what he had in mind.
"You mean–?" Moana couldn't believe this. "You're actually going to let me go out into the ocean?!"
When her friend nodded in confirmation, Moana felt her heart begin to race. Was she truly going to go back onto the water after all these years without anyone to stop her? "You're not joking with me are you?" Moana asked. "You're not going to stop me at the last minute and–" Maui tossed Moana the oar and she quickly reacted by grabbing it before it could fall to the ground.
She stared at the oar, which now felt as much as a part of herself as her own arm. "I'm actually going to go out onto the ocean." She whispered in awe. She let out a laugh and hurried to the boat to push it out into the water. "Are you coming Pua?" She turned to the pig, but Pua shook his head and stayed as far from the water as possible as he wasn't exactly ready to join his human friend out on the ocean just yet.
The moment the boat was completely in the water, Moana didn't stop pushing until she was knee deep in water and she could hop upon it. Maui immediately hurried to catch up and get on the boat at the moment the girl took the oar and began to paddle towards the waterfall since he knew that she would probably try to go off without him in her excitement (not to mention he still felt compelled to watch over her as the last thing he wanted was her dad to get a heart attack if he wasn't by her side).
Moana didn't stop paddling and she only briefly acknowledged that Maui had joined her and was sitting a little farther up on the boat now. She had become so focused that the moment she saw a flash of red pop out of the canoe part of the boat, she almost wanted to let out a scream and drop the oar.
The flash of red was only Heihei, who somehow wondered all the way into the cave and was stuck in the large compartment inside the canoe. He tilted his head in confusion at Moana, but she quickly grabbed him as carefully as she could and gently tossed him across the water.
"Sorry, but maybe another time Heihei!" Moana apologized as the rooster flapped his wings until he had landed right at the shoreline beside an amazed Pua. She turned around to get the oar and started paddling closer towards the waterfall while her passenger shot an amused smirk at the bird.
Moana didn't stop paddling and not even when the boat finally broke through the waterfall that poured water over her. It was only when she could finally see nothing but the blue sky and the ocean ahead of her did this dream truly begin to feel real, and yet she still kept paddling so that she could get as far away from the island as possible. She only briefly looked back to see how close she was to the village and began paddling the boat away from it until she could finally get up to free the sail so that the wind could catch it and allow the boat to glide through the water at a faster pace.
Excited to see the wind blowing against the sail, Moana became lost in the moment as she hurried to paddle the boat farther out as it went across the water. Gradually the waves ahead of her got bigger, but the boat was able to surpass each one, which also gave her a rush of adrenaline as she went over and up each one and she felt her insides roll around in excitement.
Finally the largest wave came and it was the one that marked the difference between staying within the reef and going completely out into the ocean. She held her breath as it came towards her and she prayed that her boat would make it. It had to, it was built for this very purpose! Slowly the wave came and just when the boat was close enough, it shot upward as if it could take Moana into the sky and in those few seconds she knew what it was like to be a bird. Seconds later the boat went over the wave and came crashing down with a tremendous splash.
Realizing what she had just done, Moana got up and turned around to see the last of the wave vanish to reveal that she was now facing the island that she had grown up in with only a reef between the two of them. There was no ground or shallow water below her, but the wood of the boat and the ocean holding it upright. The wind was blowing against her and the boat but it felt comforting instead of annoying.
She finally felt free with nothing to hold her back this time.
Thrilled at what she had accomplished, Moana let out a breathless laugh as she threw her arms out and just let it all her excitement come out in her joyous outburst. She took it all in–the scent of the ocean, the feeling of moving without actually walking, the sun down upon her and the sound of the waves–it was all that she wanted and more.
Meanwhile Maui just smiled and watched Moana as she was caught up in her excitement. He had no desire to try to disrupt her because not only was he trusting her to take over the boat by herself, but because that pure joy on her face was a wonderful sight to behold. She was following what was in her bloodline for many generations–something that had to be contained for way too long–and just seeing that she was truly meant to be out on the ocean made him feel a little proud that he was able to help her accomplish her dream.
He wasn't the only one who was happy for her though. Only one person on the island saw Moana's boat and she knew without a doubt that Moana was on it, but she didn't try to stop her granddaughter in any way.
Tala beamed as she caressed the pendant part of the necklace around her neck. The blue shell and the gray spiral was a perfect reflection of the ocean that Moana was now a part of. "Thank you for listening to my prayers." She thanked the gods for finally granting Moana's deepest wish.
Had Tala been given even a hint of what was to come–had she been aware of the long chain of events that first began the night before, or what would happen when Moana would return to the island–had she known exactly what would be at stake, she would have called out for Moana and yelled at her to not be out on the waters for too long. Had she told Moana to come back before the sun would be low enough to change the colors of the sky to darker hues on one side of the world while turning it to lighter hues on the other, then she would have had the earliest and maybe only possible chance to prevent what was to come.
Instead Tala smiled and returned back to her fale, unaware that the powers of fate would soon come crashing down upon them all like a great wave.
Sha, la, la, la, my oh my, look at the boy–oh wait that doesn't count this time.
Its funny how there are things I've considered tying into the story and then I'm all 'Ok yeah, totally doing that after all then' and the end result makes Maui suffer even more than he needs to. On the other hand the water fight was my personal favorite of the scenes to write out in this chapter.
One of the things I'm annoyed about in the original film is what the heck was the deal with Maui and Tamatoa and why the latter's leg got torn off, in addition to the fact that Tamatoa knew exactly what Tala must have told Moana. Ironically I was working on a 'what if' fan fic about Tamatoa's past before this one and some of those ideas have made a cameo here so far.
So I've done five or so chapters this January, but I need to slow it down as I don't want to ruin the quality of this story. I actually need to go back and edit some chapters that REALLY need it and rushing these chapters out may of had something to do with that. Because of how important the next few are, I may need to limit myself to three or even two chapters a month (and trust me, these will be the good chapters. I've been looking forward to them for a reason).
So I got some interesting news for those of you who wanted this fan fic to have a little more ship tease involved. I will be doing a special one shot called 'Ocean's Duet' and it can be regarded as canon to this story if you want it to (and it would take place during this chapter), so keep your eyes out for that. And now this way I can make all my readers happy while giving something exclusive to the shippers. I'm STILL holding to my rule of no full on romance until Moana is of age in that one shot, but hopefully what I can provide will be good enough... for now.
Anyway, I need to see how the princesses are holding up.
-*?*-
"You should probably hurry it up before Rapunzel goes insane." The writer watched from the shadows as Mulan cautioned three familiar looking Disney characters while she and the other three princesses were still trapped in the well designed and rather heavy cage.
And who was outside the cage ready to help them?
"Ok, on the count of three!" Hercules cautioned as he, Wreck-it-Ralph, and Maui were crouched down at the bottom of the cage. "One. Two. THREE!" They all lifted the cage up long enough for the girls to escape before tossing it aside.
"Oh thanks a lot you guys!" Belle sighed in relief. "I was worried someone wouldn't come to help us in time!"
"And that's my cue to leave." The writer decided. "But first... HEY!" She quickly popped out of the shadows and alerted the Disney characters to her.
"I totally ship you with Elsa from Frozen!" The writer pointed to Ralph, who was insanely confused at this.
"I have something similar to say about you guys, but not all of my readers want to hear it again!" She pointed at Moana and Maui.
"Also one last thing!" She pointed at Belle. "The live action remake of your movie better be good! I've been looking forward to it for ages!"
And with that, the writer ran for her life before any of them realized that she was part of the reason why they were all there to begin with.
"Wait a minute." The writer looked around in confusion as she realized someone was missing. "Where did he go?"
"Hey Tamatoa?" She called out, but there was no response. "Uh... fish dinners!" She yelled out the part of his song that was now a meme on YouTube. Still no response.
"Oh, this isn't good." She gulped.
(Also, for those of you who cared about who was who while playing Super Smash Brothers, Rapunzel was Yoshi, Mulan was Link, Belle was Robin, and Moana was Greninja.)