Sorry, it took me such a long time to pen this. My boy is having his exams. Thus, this chapter was written in the middle of the night, while everyone else taking their beauty rest. My apology if there are grammatical slip-up. I appreciate your review, fave, kudos, follow... and now, time to enjoy the story.
"Moana! You are back!"
"Oh, my darling….!"
Moana sincerely hoped she could embrace her parents with the same rapturous sentiment as she did when she returned from her journey restoring the Heart of Te Fiti.
"Mom! Dad!" She equated their enthusiastic call.
The reassuring arms of her parents were almost enough to distract Moana of her thoughts that had been plaguing her for the entire length of the journey. But as soon as their eyes met, Moana was reminded of perilous story she left to reveal, of Akoni's demand and most disturbingly…. of Maui's capture.
How was she supposed to feel? With how they parted, the last words exchanged between them. Moana felt almost bitter at not having said something back, to allow Maui to sacrifice himself and let her anger to silence her. She could've turned around halfway when her feet regained their senses, but she didn't.
Why wouldn't he decide things without consulting her first? Did he care about how she felt if he died this way? Those thoughts were spoken with resentment. And then a profound guilt would wash over her as she rebuked herself for being ungrateful, followed by a deep sadness, an ache in her heart from where it was cracked.
After being her parents for years, both Tui and Sina could decrypt Moana's expression that currently bespoke of terrible anguish. They knew something…. something severe and catastrophic had occurred during the journey.
"Whenever you are ready, you can tell us what had happened," suggested Sina, affectionately guided Moana to their fale.
A few hours later, after a few dose of soothing coconut water and a bath, Moana finally ready to retell her tale. She congratulated herself for fortuitously narrating her 'adventurous' voyage without succumbed into uncontrollable sobs.
"So, they hold Maui a hostage?" inquired Tui.
Forget about me, about us. Live your life to the fullest, be that amazing Chief and Wayfinder you've been destined to be. Forgive me….
Moana didn't quite understand what Maui's last word entailed, but whether it was―it wasn't going to be good. He was bidding his farewell.
"He told me not to return."
She had tried to hide his sorrow under his dispassionate facade; however, Maui's parting words unlocked that in a heartbeat. The pain in her heart was as sharp as ever, undimmed by any sweet memories of their last few weeks together.
"I… I didn't even have a chance to say a proper goodbye," she stuttered, and then a faint whimper began to shake her lips.
"If I were more careful… if I were stronger and able to stop him, none of this would happen," Moana continued her self-deprecating rant. She clenched her fist in frustration, and her lips mouthing lines of cursing insults. A silent desperation lurked behind her anger.
"There there…." Sina rubbed her back gently. "He did it because he cared for you, darling. If you were in his position, wouldn't you have done the same?"
When she reached his hands to her daughter's slumping shoulder to express her condolences, Moana's composure finally worn down to nothing. Her eyes narrowed with rage, spilling angry tears. The extraordinary warrior wept her heart out into her palm, snorted and sobbed profoundly.
Tui studied her quietly. It was odd and painful at the same time to see his daughter whom he saw as an unbreakable warrior, sit brokenhearted and wept sore for the loss of one of the most influential men in her life. His heart ached for her.
After the moment of grievance faded away, when the calmness restored, Tui sat quietly and prompted to his daughter privately.
"Moana," he breathed. "I had done a lot of thinking while you are gone. And I have come to my own solution for the problem. I shall tell you tomorrow. I know it is hard not to worry about Maui, but I swear, I will do anything…. to save him."
The next night, the Chief called a few of the village elders and Moana was included in their urgent, secret meeting. He told them about his plan to put Tane under the blade in order to free his daughter from their contractual obligation and saving the island from war.
Tui was adamant that they had to keep away the mission from public knowledge, especially from his wife, Sina, arguing that the plot would only grieve the woman and make his position even more difficult.
"Without their leader, they won't have a war against us," the Chief laid his logic,"Because I am settling my debt with Akoni and Tane, it has nothing to do with the citizen of Kailua nor Motonui. It's highly personal. And as a precaution, we need to return all the wedding gifts three-fold, just to show our good intent and desire to keep good, peaceful relation."
However, that hopeless look across his face made Moana wanted to plead with him to rethink of everything. She imagined waking up one day to witness the horror of her father sneaking off to sacrifice himself for her and their people and leaving her mother with a terse note. She implored him to let her marry that psychotic bachelor, to let her be taken away. She would make Tane promised to never step his foot in Motonui again…. And so wouldn't she.
"No, Moana… don't put anyone else in danger. It's better this way. This would be my atonement so that I could enter the realm of spirit in peace. It is all my fault… and my past deed had finally caught up with me. You could train the warriors and told them to begin making armament just in case."
"But, Dad.. ―" Panic and desperation bled through her thoughts.
"Moana, this is for the best," Tui said with finality. "This is no time for comfort and ease. It's time to dare and endure."
His words tugged her delicate heart string and ripped it apart. Moana quickly closed her eyes, feeling hot torrents of anguished tears began stinging her eyes, but she refused to let it show.
"No! I am sure there is… another way," she opposed fiercely. Her heart ached when she realized they only had a short few months together compared to the whole lifetime they should have.
Tui gathered his perturb daughter in his warm embrace and whispered comforting words.
"Moana, remember who you are," he said softly."You are our Chief. You are the future of this island and our people. You are our only hope! Don't let fear decide your fate!"
"But I can't just let you... ―!" Her voice ebbed, swallowed by the sound of the crashing wave.
He picked her by her chin, tracing the delicate features of her face while wiping her wet cheeks with his trembling finger. At that moment, Moana just wanted to be his little girl―a girl who only hope to press him close, clinging to his being, and begging him never to leave her… forever.
"My child, one day you'll understand. There are things that must be done regardless of the love we bear. Sacrifice is the prove of love, and grief is the cost of it…. And this is a part of the burden we must bear." He planted a chaste kiss on her forehead."I love you, Moana. It's my greatest blessing to have you as a daughter."
She buried her head in her father's chest, while Tui running his finger on her long raven locks affectionately, and Moana tried her best to not to weep.
The appointed day of Tui's departure had come. Barely at the break of the dawn, a few of Motonui's best warrior were helping Tui to set sail. But, as though the gods had planned such a perfect timing, a few large boats surfaced on the horizon, expeditiously approaching Motunui's golden shore.
"Chief Tui, Moana…. My greeting," Tanemahuta was the first to moor his boat, and immediately came to his knee.
Moana hid her surprised expression, altering her men to take their battle stance. She knew better now. That weasel could be unfailingly polite when he needed to.
"Fancy seeing you here, Tane," Moana scoffed indignantly.
During the few weeks of her voyage, she had grown more and more resigned to making generalizations and assumptions about certain types of men, the sort of man who encompassed an air of charisma, all the while having boorish and almost fiendish qualities.
"Wait! We come in peace," declared the man with his usual thunderous voice.
"That what you said the last time you came here," Moana replied dryly. She pointed her taihia when Tane approached closer. "If you think you are still welcomed here, then you are wrong!"
Next to her, Tui made no comment on Tane's sudden appearance, but that unpleasant frown deepening on his face had spoken his mind.
The handsome warrior's brows scrunched up at once, drawing an intimidating look. But his expression eased all at once. "Let me explain," Tane said with a gentler tone, indicating his men to step back. "Please...," he said beseechingly.
Tane's genuine pleading voice convinced her, Moana gave the man the platform to tell his tale.
For a moment, Tane seemed to have an internal debate of what best to explicate the matter with much diplomacy. Finally, with an air of regret, he continued, "Maui asked me to take him to see Tūmatauenga. He gave his life away as a wager to return our land's fertility."
"What?!" she exclaimed, her hands coming up her mouth in suspense. Even though since the last time Moana saw the Demigod, she had suspected what that the end was near, but she had not envisaged that he would die this way―a sacrificial offering in return for Kailua's welfare.
"Where did you buried him?" Tui interjected. He wanted to make sure the Demigod was treated with respect and dignity, even after he died.
"Tūmatauenga asked me to go before he… ―" Tane pulled a large intake to fill the words. He apparently had difficulty saying the words out loud, despite his antagonistic relationship with Maui.
"How do you know Tūmatauenga had accepted the sacrifice," Tui prodded solemnly.
"Look at this…." Tane reached his hands eagerly into the sack that he'd been carrying, digging his finger to grab the black substance inside. "No more dry, infertile and unworkable ground! This is the best soil I have seen in years! And the whole Kailua have returned to be lush and green once more."
Moana tilted his head at the man, assessing him, as though trying to determine if he was being honest. Tane's expression was quite sincere and Moana was unable to refrain from the mortified gasp that escaped her. Reality finally struck her, Maui had done this to save both Motunui and Kailua. "You mean, Maui is now…. dead?"
She could hear her own voice quivered. It wasn't a question, so much an outspoken realization on her part. A million emotions were fluttering through her at the news. She could only imagine how much courage and selflessness on Maui's part to save someone he despised.
Tane nodded to her in acknowledgment and understanding.
"Yes. His life had reconciled whatever left of us."
"What about Akoni?" inquired Tui. The man had reason to be concern about his estranged advisor. Despite Akoni's lack of physical strength, he owned a powerful mind that could influence the whole island of Kailua to command them at his will. A valid question and not one that is all that easy to answer. After what had happened, the least Tane could do was offer as much of a truth as he could to the few person that he felt he owed his explanation the most.
"I'll promise I'll get to the bottom of that," he said, and without hesitation, grasping Tui's shoulder, a gesture of comfort. He fixed Tui with a serious expression and replied, "He won't hurt you and your family anymore, Chief."
Instantaneously, Moana was surrounded by rapturous shouts and earnest pleas for forgiveness. Both sides of Kailua and Motunui renewed their vow of allegiance once again.
Moana found herself in an almost trance like state as she slowly stood up and made her way through the cheering crowds. People around her were exchanging hongi, shedding tears of joy and relief. Her heart ached with the desire for a similar reunion of her own, but of course the immortal man she desperate to meet wasn't among the crowds.
She retreated to the ocean shore, sitting on the jutting rock watching the water racing against each other to hit the beach. The gleeful chatter still lingered faintly in the background, but mostly was muted by the sound of the crashing wave. It gave her the time she needed to contemplate. While her faith in men like Tanemahuta was cursory, the Chief of Kailua had ultimately surprised her in the end. He wasn't blameless, yes, but Tane wasn't evil either. The man had his reason, and with that Moana found it easier to forgive him.
For a few moments, Moana had a trouble accepting with her heart what her head already knew. Of all of the outcomes for Maui, Moana had anticipated death to be among them. Their last exchange was truly their last exchange. She would never see nor speak to the man who had been a fundamental part of her for the better part of her adult life. That was not an easy truth to endure.
"Moana?"
The voice made her look up. In front of her, Tanemahuta stood a distance away, appeared reticent, wrung his hands together as though he didn't know what to do with them.
"Hope you don't mind, may I speak to you?"
She regarded him with a kind smile, one Tane didn't feel he was deserving of. Unable to hold back, he blurted, "You have a right to be angry with me. I came to apologize," Tane breathed pensively. "I really didn't expect everything to end this way."
"Neither do I."
Somehow Moana managed to refrain from showing any bitter emotion.
"So with this, I would like to affirm my position. I know there is a lot that happened between us, but I hope, you don't see me as your enemy." Tane seemed to have relaxed a bit, the hard bit of the news was done and over with.
"...and also to tell you one last thing," he appended. "I've promised Maui that I will let you free from our nuptial arrangement. You are now free to marry anyone."
She considered his statement. The news oddly didn't sound as good as it should be in her ears. Moana knew she should be happy. The most important thing―the welfare and safety of both islands were restored, she was free to marry for love, and his handsome ex-fiance wasn't actually the man who had killed her best friend. If Moana could list out the solutions against their consequences, she admitted that Maui had chosen the best possible combination.
But, what good it had now that she could marry freely if the only person she desired to be with no longer here?
For a moment, Moana struggled to find the words, everything felt so absurd and unreal, to think that Maui had done this for everyone's: saving Motunui from war, restituting her father's misconduct and giving back her freedom.
"And I still would like to extend my proposal to marry you. I know our relationship started as merely an arranged political resolution. However, I find you could relate to me well as I do you. We are of compatible temperament, complementing abilities and similar intellect and background. I shared your interest of wayfinding and understand the challenge of being a chief at such a young age."
That took Moana aback. Unlike Maui, Tane was rarely suffered to any sign of reluctance, and indecisiveness. The man was inclined to be direct and explicit of his feelings from the start. That perhaps why, Moana had mistaken him for pursuing her affection sincerely from the time they first met.
"Tane, first of all… I have put everything between us in the past," Moana stated. "It will take me time to completely forgive you, but rest assure that I eventually will," she paused, regarding him with a serious expression. Revisiting the look of the man, he was tall, dark and handsome. Tane was charismatic and he had proven himself as a selfless leader who rose to his people's need beyond his own. Not only that, he wasn't afraid to admit mistakes. This was perhaps as good as it gets if Moana would wed anyone among the mortals. It was both strange and puzzling, while Moana could tell that Tane was attractive, this time round she didn't feel attracted to him.
"You are right, we are agreeable in many facets of our life. However, I believe that to truly love a person, you have to be more than ticking the checklist. Don't get me wrong, you are a great person Tane, and you own qualities that are very desirable in a man. I would be lying if I said I wasn't persuaded by the idea of us together. But it takes more than just similarity to make us share a powerful emotional connection that will last a lifetime," she managed. It was true that Moana had entertained the thought of them as a couple months before, when they first met. But after Maui, she no longer wished to consider the idea anymore.
The man next to her didn't challenge her opinion, he seemed all a little too docile and calm. Moana began to speculate what he was thinking, but she wasn't anticipating he would say next.
With a purposeful exhale, he finally asked, voice barely above a whisper,"You love him don't you?"
Tane regarded her for a moment, all sort of expression flashed through her face. There was surprise, denial, longing and finally sadness. Her face wrapped tightly against itself in visible anguish.
Moana's breath hitched, cornered by Tane's unexpected discovery. Was he that sensitive or was she that easy to read? The man's tone was fond, yet accusatory. It almost came across as jealousy. But if she wanted to make herself clear, she would have to do it now.
"I don't think I'll be ready to marry anyone anytime soon. I'm sorry, Tane," she settled discreetly.
He responded with an imperceptible smile upturning his lips, although there was still a sign of wounded pride and disappointment in his mannerisms. After a beat he finally said, "I wish you all the best in finding the right man that would truly make you happy."
And only Maui would do….admitted the internal voice in her mind. But, she was the first who discredited and pushed Maui away when he revealed his disguise, then insisting they could only be friends after he confessed how much she meant to him. Through all turmoil of emotions, confused feeling, and mixed signal, Maui had loved her. His love had never wavered.
That night, while the villagers and their Kailua counterpart were busy regaling each other with dance and food, Moana had snuck away, still trying to reconcile her senses with the cruel reality.
At least he didn't have to die a slow and painful death, Moana consoled herself, imagining how their fate would be if she allowed Akoni held both of them as his prisoner, torturing Maui day in and out just to make sure he was too weak to escape. In her sleeping sack, Moana brooded in silence, living through memories of Maui, the only man who explored her emotionally and intellectually. Despite Tane's affirmation of the Demigod's fate, Moana knew she would never free of him, the image of Maui, his cheesy smile, and silly antics would haunt her forever.
Almost a year later.
Moana sat by the beach. This had become her habit, observing the glimpse of people retreating from the sea, secretly hoping to find familiar imposing bulk among the citizen of her island.
Her eyes were distant, watching the glittering sea in the midday heat which currently under a threat of a large sinister stormcloud. The swell and lull of dying waves lapped against the shore, the saltwater creeping up then sloshing down. She sighed as her mind settled back into bittersweet nostalgia of events that had shaped her into Moana she was today. Of course, she still remembered Maui, thankfully her busy life as a chief gave her the perfect antidote and escape from her inconsolable grief.
Suddenly, the ocean nudged the heel of her feet, snapping her from her stupor.
"Oh… I really not in the mood of sailing, especially when a storm is underway," Moana muttered lowly, dipping her hands in the water. But the tendril was getting more persistent in its demand, it began to pull her legs insistently, instigating her compliance.
Moana figured out it may be something urgent or important. Normally, the ocean wouldn't be this unrelenting in its appeal except for some genuine situation. "Ok fine, I'll get the canoe."
The secret place that the ocean had in mind was apparently much further than Moana had predicted. She must have been sailing for a good couple of hours. The boat's ricocheting movement across the uneven surface of the water sent her into slumber. When they arrived at their destination, she was alerted with bullets of water falling from the sky.
She rubbed her eyes, blinking them rapidly. Wiping her wet face, she took her oar and began rowing vigorously while her eyes scanned her surroundings. In front of her was an unfamiliar stretch of golden shore.
Moana couldn't understand why the ocean wanted her there. After a good half an hour drenched in a tropical rain surveying the ground, she could safely conclude that the island was uninhabited. Why would it take her to a deserted island in a hurry? She thought, completely perplexed.
Rounding her resolve to return, Moana headed back to the beach. Inadvertently, her eyes caught a familiar silhouette of a tall, hulking man standing under the shadow of a coconut tree… waiting.
That can't be him.
Moana knew it's fatal to raise her expectation, to have them simply dashed seconds later.
As she drew closer, the image of the man seemed to transpire closer and closer to the semblance of a particular person she had in mind. As their eyes met, her expression went from shocked to outright incredulous, hands creeping up to her mouth to muffle her loud gasp.
"Maui?"