Happy Wednesday!
Three things before I set you loose:
1. This chapter is longer than intended because I didn't have enough content for two chapters to stand alone, and I couldn't move any of it over to the next chapter for reasons that will become obvious.
2. Fanfic doesn't have tags like AO3 does so I'd like to note that one of the tags for this story over there is "There's a happy ending but you have to earn it first.
3. Thank you all for the lovely kudos and comments, every last one of them brings me so much joy. I am baking you all a batch of secret family recipe cookies and kissing you on the forehead.
Bonus note that this chapter has a citrus fruit in the middle, if you aren't interested in that you can skip down to the scene change at the line and not miss anything.
UPDATE: This chapter also has some edits thanks to our friendly neighborhood Zabchan 3
The bright morning light screamed into her eyes and Moana pulled the blanket up over her head, snuggling further into the half asleep state where everything was still perfect, where she wouldn't wake up and find out everything was a dream. She was warm and comfortable and other than the pounding in her head threatening to toss her out of her happy daze at any moment, she had few complaints.
A large, gentle hand stroked her back, and she nuzzled against her husband's chest, memorizing the way he smelled like the sea breeze and sweat and sweet coconut milk, the warmth of his skin, the rise and fall of his breathing and the steady beat of his heart. He was here with her in the morning light, and if everything was not so terribly bright, it would be perfect.
"Good morning, beautiful." Maui whispered, running his hands through her hair.
He was far, far too loud, but she'd forgive him this time.
She murmured a "G'morning." in response, shutting her eyes tight against the light and any force that would ask her to awaken.
"How's the hangover?"
"Bad." She replied with a groan.
"Do you remember all the super embarrassing stuff you did last night?"
She pushed at his shoulder, refusing to fall for his teasing. "You're embarrassing."
"Only a lot." he replied, starting to sit up.
"Noo." She whined, reaching out to beg him to lay back down.
"Come on Chief, we're wasting daylight."
"What is wrong with you?"
"Do you want the full list? Come on, it'll help with the headache." He sat up, despite her protests, and bid her do the same.
"Cracking my skull open would also help." She grumbled, sitting up as well. "It would be really easy, it's just like a coconut." She squinted her eyes against the bright sunshine, cursing herself for drinking so much the night before.
She fumbled blindly around in the blankets, looking for her skirt, having kicked it off sometime in the night, frustrated with how warm the blankets had gotten but unwilling to put any distance between herself and the miniature sun snoring beside her.
Maui handed it to her, as well as her top and the tie for her hair.
"Thanks." She mumbled, clumsily gathering her hair back, the bun falling apart the first time but holding messily on the second, stray strands of hair falling into her face.
While she was struggling to put herself back together, Maui was rummaging about the baskets, taking out options for breakfast.
"Ooh, mango jam, your favorite." He called over his shoulder, obnoxiously loud, collecting the jar and bringing it over with a selection of breads and sweet rolls. He cracked a coconut open as easily as one might an egg, adding a heavy handful of herbs and salt before putting the top of it back on and shaking it.
"Here, this might help." He said, offering it to her.
"Might?" She replied, taking a sip anyway. As expected, it was a strange combination of sweet and absolutely foul, not too dissimilar to the mulled wine for ceremonies, but even worse somehow.
"It usually works for me." He shrugged, spreading jam on bread and taking a bite.
She reached over and grabbed a sweet roll, ignoring the open pot of jam. Her mouth was dry and she struggled to swallow, chasing it with a bigger swig of the coconut milk concoction.
It was even worse the second time around, and she passed it back to Maui. "Had enough of that, I'll take the hangover."
Although it was notably better than it had been, the sharp hammering in her head reduced to a dull but continuous scraping. She could work with that.
She looked around, taking in the camp and the beauty of the wilderness around it. It was so beautifully quiet, just the soft, familiar chirps of nature and the sound of their own breathing, far different from the noise and song and bustle of her village. Usually by this time she would have solved at least one crisis, and she wondered how they were doing without her.
Kai and the rest of her council could handle it, probably.
Still, she wasn't used to having a whole day stretched with possibilities before her, and she wasn't sure what to do with it.
"Anything on your mind?" Maui asked, between bites of bread and jam.
"Trying to figure out the plan for the day." She replied, taking a nibble of her roll, demanding her stomach keep itself together.
'Do you want to go sailing?"
She bounced up immediately, her entire self retaliating in pain that she ignored. "Absolutely, let's go right now." She had been wanting to explore around more since they had landed here, and had never had the time.
"Let me finish my breakfast, at least."
"Nope, you can eat on the go, come on come on we're wasting daylight." She grabbed his forearm and tried to pull him up.
"Okay, alright." He replied, after letting her tug at him impatiently while he finished his roll. "Can we pack a snack at least?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll meet you at the boat!" She replied, sprinting down to the water.
She was in the middle of checking the rigging when she noticed two things. One, that she had in fact used the wrong knot on her sail yesterday, like an absolute moron, the tension had caused the rope to snap in her hands. Secondly, and perhaps more important, she had a new tattoo. Wrapped partly around her wrist like a ribbon, stopping and starting on either side of her wrist, bright red ink shown on her fingers and arm.
Considering the way Maui received all his tattoos without needing to go under the needle it was understandable that something like that would happen to her, but she had no idea exactly what it was for. Just half of a ribbon?
She turned around just as Maui had reached the bottom of the hill, carrying a basket of supplies.
"Let me see your arm." She commanded, and confused, he reached out his hand to her. "No, the other one."
He shifted the basket to his other hand, and offered it to her. Running beneath his tattoos, but shimmering above when she touched them, was a deep crimson ribbon matching hers. She entwined her fingers with his and pressed their forearms together - the pieces matched up perfectly, patterned after the ribbons that had bound them the night before. She could help but notice the tattoo of herself over his heart had gotten the same treatment.
"You can't get rid of me now." She chirped happily, standing on his tiptoes to peck a kiss onto his cheek and barely reaching his jaw.
He kissed the top of her head. "I couldn't get rid of you before, either."
The day was beautiful for sailing, a gentle breeze pushing them across the sea. Moana trailed her fingers in the water, enjoying the cool touch of the ocean and the warm sun on her face.
Maui tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to face him, caught off guard by his kiss. He nibbled at her lip and pulled her into his lap, eliciting a soft little gasp when his attention wandered to her neck.
"Is it time to show me your bad behavior?" She asked, tilting her head back to give him better access to her neck. "Pretty please?"
"If you insist." He replied with a soft kiss that promised so much more, his hands already wandering to her breasts as his kisses returned to her throat, rough and possessive, leaving a trail of bright red marks that would take days to fade.
"Mm, you're making it hard to steer." She teased, her hands already slipping in their duties and the ship wandering off wherever the wind wanted to take it.
"Some master wayfinder you are." He replied, barely pausing in his assault, one hand tangled in her hair and the other pressing her lower back, forcing her hips against his, where she felt a hot and insistent bulge there, begging for her.
"Excuse you, I'm- hey that's not fair!" She whined, forgetting her complaints entirely as his kisses wandered to her chest, pulling her top down beneath her breasts with his teeth.
"What's not fair?" He asked, his breath hot against her skin, rocking his hips against hers as he teased at her nipple, sensitive and aching for his touch in the cool morning air.
"We're gonna get - oh - we're gonna get lost." She protested, giggling.
"Nah, I know exactly where we are." He replied, kissing up her breastbone, making her gasp and push her hips down on him, the twisting heat in her growing stronger and so very impatient.
A whistling and cheering to her right startled her, a group of fishermen returning back from a trip around the island ring. "Get him, chief!" One of them called, and she pressed her face into Maui's shoulder and groaned, trying to ignore the call of "Make pretty babies!" as they passed by, still whistling.
"I'm going to strangle them." She said, her forehead still pressed against her husband's collarbone, refusing to look up in case more embarrassment waited.
"Oh come on, they were cheering for you."
She nipped at his chest, harder than she meant to, but he didn't complain.
"Mm, maybe we should continue this back on shore?"
"Please?"
They barely made it past the beach, falling into each other's arms in the soft grass at the base of the hill, Moana's finger's fumbling at the ties of his skirt as he kneeled over her, his teeth finding her nipple in a way that she liked far too much.
"Not yet." He murmured, grabbing her hands and pinning them above her head. "Ladies first." He released her skirt with far more dexterity before sliding his hand between her thighs, slowly exploring what he found there.
She wriggled and squirmed, trying to free her hands to retaliate, but he had no intention of letting her go. She was already so slick and so ready, and his fingers quickly found everywhere she was sensitive. He teased at her entrance and her hips bucked against him. "Please." She gasped. "Please."
"What was that?" He asked, smirking as he pulled his head up from his chest, where he had previously been kissing and teasing and nibbling her sensitive breasts.
"Please." She said again, pressing her hips against his hand, which had mercilessly stopped its explorations.
"Please, what?" He replied, kissing her lips and waiting smugly for her response.
"Don't make me beg, you- you-" She struggled for words, whining as he moved his hand away, his fingers wet on her thigh. She nipped at his lip and he retaliated with a kiss that seemed to press her entire soul into the earth, nudging her legs apart with his knee and releasing her hands so he could grab her hips roughly and pull them up against his.
She opened wide beneath him, cursing the thin layer of fabric keeping them apart.
"You don't have to beg." Maui said, thrusting his hips against hers, pulling a soft moan from her throat. "You just have to tell me, what do you want, princess?"
"I want-" She stuttered. "I want- I want you to stop calling me princess."
He laughed, the tension between them popping and settling gently as he lay her back down, leaning over her with that stupid smile on his face.
"I will obey any order you give me, except that one."
"Any order?" She replied, eyes gleaming with mischievous glee.
He nodded. "On my honor, your wish is my command."
She ran her hands down his chest and grabbed his bulging cock through the fabric of his sparse clothing, hard and so ready to be freed. "Give it to me. All of it." She commanded, looking directly into his eyes.
"Mm, alright." He replied, one hand moving slowly to his hip. "But not today."
She threw herself back onto the grass in frustration."You just said-"
"I said I would obey, but not where, or when, or how." He smirked.
She pouted, crossing her arms impotently over her chest. "Are you just going to tease me all day?"
"I wasn't planning on it, but now that you mention it, I do really love to see you all worked up like this."
He was still kneeling over her, holding himself up with one hand. She should have felt small, her tiny frame pinned beneath the behemoth of a demigod, but instead she felt so safe, so secure, and so infinitely annoyed.
"You're so cute when you're mad." He continued to tease as he nuzzled her cheek, but she turned her face away from him with a huff.
He took the opportunity to kiss down her neck, and she did her best to ignore him, keeping her arms crossed tightly across her chest, but it was so hard to resist absolutely melting when he kissed her like that.
"Oh, you're that mad, huh?" He asked, running one hand up her thigh, tickling and teasing her again.
She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he slowly slipped one finger inside her, her hips betraying her as they rocked to keep up with the motion.
"Can you pretty please find it in your heart to forgive me?" He pleaded, kissing her cheek gently as his thumb traced tiny little circles on the sensitive nub of her clit.
"Mmm- maybe." She gasped, still facing away from him, her eyes shut tight.
He slid a second finger inside her, the pressure pinching for a moment before she relaxed and her muscle stretched, taking in all he gave and somehow still wanting more.
"Pretty please? I'll simply die of heartbreak if you stay mad at me."
She was so, so very close and knew she couldn't hold back, couldn't keep herself from giving in to his touch as it filled her every nerve with pleasure.
"Okay." She said finally, turning and throwing her hands around his neck. "Okay you're forgiven, just- please, oh please-"
Bliss washed over her in waves, again and again, her insides tightening around his fingers, as soft, contented moans escaped her lips.
"I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for long." He smirked.
She tried to find the energy to grumble at him, but she was too content to complain. "Just you wait I'm gonna-" She yawned.
"Oh, you're gonna get me, huh?" He replied, kissing her nose. "What you're gonna do is snuggle all close to me and say you're not going to fall asleep, and then you're going to be snoring less than a minute later."
He lay down beside her, and he was right, that was exactly what she did.
Moana woke up a couple hours later to the noonday sun shining upon her face. She groaned and stretched contentedly, looking up at the sky, where an eagle soared grandly in the warm sunlight.
"Good morning princess." Maui said, looking down at her with his stupid grin. He had gotten up at some point while she snoozed, and was sitting with his back against a tree with her head in his lap.
"Good afternoon." She replied, reaching up and running her fingers along the side of his face. "Don't you get bored just sitting there?"
He shook his head. "Nah, thousand years of solitude will teach anyone how to appreciate a quiet moment. Besides, you're kinda cute when you're sleeping. Other than the drooling, anyway."
She wiped her mouth with her hand and sat up, stretching again, appreciating the shine of her red ribbon tattoo in the light.
"Will you tell me about how things are run in your fleet, my chief? Is this new island home, or will we be voyaging again?" He asked, as she rested her back comfortably against his chest.
"I'm not sure." She replied, looking in the direction of the island. From her poor vantage, she could just barely make out the mountain looming over the rocky shore. "Everyone wants to stay here, and I don't blame them. It's perfect, at least, it's the best we've found."
"Are you just chasing something better?"
"No? Maybe? Something about this place just seems wrong. Like there's a danger we haven't discovered yet, or- I don't even know." She paused, thoughtful. "My mom thinks it's just me wanting to explore rather than make a home again."
"Do you want to keep exploring?"
"Yes, absolutely. I never want to stop seeing what's out there, I want to cross the horizon a thousand times and a thousand times more again. But.." She sighed, "My people are tired, and it is time to put down our roots and grow. We have babies to raise, and homes to build. It's time to rest."
"I can't say I have ever understood what that is like, but I think I might see it now. A home with you sounds like something I could get used to."
"Don't you dare let my mom hear you say that, I will never hear the end of how she was right. Find a husband and build a hearth, have a hundred babies and never think about voyaging again."
"A hundred babies?"
"At least a hundred. It is my duty to carry the next chief, like it's my duty to care for the wellbeing of my entire village."
He nuzzled the top of her head. "If it is your duty, then it is mine as well."
"To make a new chief, or to care for the village?"
"Yes. And anything else your heart tells you to do." He paused. "But maybe we could negotiate on the quantity of babies?"
"Fifty then." She teased, enjoying the look on his face.
"I was thinking.. One? I can go up to two, maybe."
"Coward. I want at least twenty with round chubby cheeks and your tendency to get on everyone's last nerve."
They spent some time drawing out the joke until they grew bored of it, moving on to walking the beach and splashing each other in the waves, lying in the soft grass and kissing until they were out of breath, talking about everything and nothing both at once. Moana told him about the goings on of the village, about who could weave the finest nets and who couldn't dance to save their life. About her dreams of the island they would one day call home.
"Tell me something about you." Moana asked, lying beside him beneath the wide sea of stars.
"Hmm, I've never been a big fan of taro root. Like it's alright." He replied, stretching his arms above his head.
"That's all you've got for me? Food preferences?"
"Food preferences are important in a marriage. I don't want to spend the next fifty years pretending to love poi. It can't all be secret hopes and dreams."
"Hm, alright." She admitted. As fun as it was to discuss the grand scheme of things, they did have a lot to learn about each other. "Tell me more."
"I can crack a coconut between my thighs."
"You can also crack one with your bare hands, come on."
He rolled over, pinning her to the ground beneath him. "You talk so much, you know that? Why are you so afraid of silence?"
"I'm not afraid of silence. I'm just excited about you, about us. I want to know everything."
"You are my everything."
"That's not how this works." She replied, more dazzled by the stars in his eyes than she had been of the actual sky above her.
"It is now." He replied, leaning down to kiss her, pressing his hips into hers in a way that made her forget any argument she might have made.
"Let me touch you." She said, running her hands down his chest and into the waist of his shorts.
"You really want to take away all my mystique, don't you? Let me have some surprises."
"Come on, you've touched me."
"I can do it again if you'd like."
She let out a soft gasp as he pressed his hips into hers, his thumb tracing little circles over her nipple through her shirt.
"I want to make you feel good. Like you make me feel." She gasped again as he continued to grind his hips against hers, slow and measured and so nice. "Please."
"Maybe just one peek." He replied, taking her hand and guiding her to him, tracing the length of him slowly.
"Oh, you're even bigger than I expected." She whispered.
"Still up for the challenge?"
She wanted to demand she could, and wipe the smug smile off his face, making him call her by her name, begging her the way he made her beg for him.
But she was admittedly sore from earlier and didn't want to push her luck. "Maybe we take it slow. Keep your mysteries." She pulled her hand away, wrapping both her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her.
He rocked his hips again, and she spread hers further, open and ready beneath him.
"Mortals are so easy." He teased, nipping at her bottom lip.
"Oh, like you wouldn't open just as wide at your chance to take a god."
"First of all, demigod. Secondly, what makes you so sure I haven't? Mortals, gods, sea monsters. I've taken and given my fair share."
She tried not to be intimidated by this, instead focusing on what was important. "Sea monsters?"
"Well, just the one, but what a one he was." He replied, wistfully. "He never visited our meeting place again."
"Aw, the first heartbreak is always the hardest."
"Oh, and who has that claim on you?"
She giggled. "Maybe I have some secrets too."
Maui started to respond, and stopped, lifting his head. "Did you hear that?"
She pushed him away, sitting up and looking around, trying to find the source when a loud and resounding crack and boom sounded from home, and she was up and running. The mountaintop had blown off, revealing a hot and angry volcano beneath, spitting hot ash into the cool night air.
"We've got to get over there." She yelled, racing down the hill, Maui beside her, scooping her up and getting her to the boat in record time, tossing her to the deck and pushing away from shore, paddling the small craft in broad, powerful strokes.
Her heart was pounding, and the ash stung her eyes as she looked desperately to see what was happening, and immediately wished she hadn't.
Bright hot lava poured down the mountain, headed right for the heart of her people.