I do not own the rights to Moana.

Friend

I'm alone, Mini Maui is ignoring me. That's fine, who needs him anyway? Not me, that's for sure. I'm Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all. I don't need anybody. I don't need him, don't need the gods, and certainly don't need a curly-haired girl.

"My my. I finally get a chance to meet the mighty Maui I've heard so much about, and he's sulking."

"I am not sulking. Maui doesn't sulk."

No, but he does refer to himself in the third person apparently. A chill creeps down my spine as I realize I'm not as alone as I thought. Standing before me is a little old lady… who I can see through. A ghost, huh? Haven't seen one of those in a while. Mini Maui creeps out from his hiding spot on my back to get a better look at the newcomer.

"I'm not sulking," I repeat, and wave a hand at her. "Go back to where you came from and leave me alone."

"Could have fooled me. And I can't leave—not yet. Not when you still have a job to do."

I scoff at her. "Oh yeah, what's that?"

"Why to help my granddaughter return the Heart you stole to Te Fiti of course."

The chill comes back instantly as I realize the identity of the little old ghost lady. Mini Maui realizes as well, and starts jumping up and down excitedly. "Stop that," I say and lightly flick him off my bicep. "Curly-hair is fine. Last time we saw her she was sailing away from Te Ka."

She couldn't see me of course, but I could see her in my bird form, watching her be a good little mortal and go away from danger.

Ghost grandma gives me a wide smile. "Yes, well I've talked to her more recently, and she's going back to Te Ka to return what you stole."

What? WHAT?!

How can she just stand, well more like float, there and say that and be okay? She really must have been the crazy island lady.

"What do you mean she's going back? Why would you tell her that?! Don't you care about her at all? She'll die if she tries to confront Te Ka by herself!"

Mini Maui is echoing my sentiment, alternating between pulling out his luxurious hair and biting his nails. She doesn't seemed bothered one bit by our outbursts.

"Of course I care, that's why I told her to go back. Because if she doesn't, she won't just die, but everyone will die because of the darkness—which was caused by you. Besides, she won't be alone, she'll have you."

I turn away from her and shrug. "That's what mortals do, they die. What's the difference between now and later, give or take a few decades?"

She appears right back in front me, and I turn again. And again. But she's still there, no matter where I look. Mini Maui races across my skin towards her, rather than away. "If it makes no difference, then why were you so upset to hear she was going back?"

"Just that it's a pretty stupid idea, and she didn't strike me as the stupid type. Ol' drumstick on the other hand…"

"Leave Heihei out of this." She glides a bit closer to me, a bit too close to be honest. "Really? Are you sure that's it?"

I turn my back to her once more, not even caring when she reappears right in front as expected. "Positive. It's stupid to go back, especially after she nearly cost me my fishhook."

This time she gets a little bit closer, right in front of my face. "But it was never really about the fishhook, was it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Mini Maui starts jumping up and down excitedly once more, pointing at a picture of a curly-haired girl. I ignore his antics.

"Oh, is the great Maui suffering from memory loss? You say you left because of your fishhook, but you already learned that you are Maui even without it, just so you could use it again. So either you forgot the lesson, or forgot the lie you told about it. I maybe old, but even my memory isn't that poor."

"Oh yeah, how do you know that? You weren't even there."

"But I was, watching over my granddaughter just as I am here now, thanks to the gods."

I snort. Gods. Since when have they cared? Where were they for the past thousand years?

"No need to be so huffy just because they sentenced you to exile for one thousand years. I know toddlers who handle time-outs better. And stop dodging the question. Why did you really leave? Is it because you truly cared about Moana?"

Me care about her? Sure, the same way I've cared about the handful of other mortals I've come across over the years. I've known many mortals, hundreds if not thousands. With each gift I gave them, they showered me with affection, threw feasts in my honor. They lived, worshiped me, and died. No big deal. Even after one thousand years on that blasted island, they were still telling stories about how awesome I am. Curly-hair was no different.

"We're done here, now leave."

"Not yet."

I pick up my fishhook and throw it at her—something I should have done when her boney self first showed up. It goes right through it—something to be expected if it was an ordinary fishhook, but not a magical one.

"I'm afraid you'll find it's not that easy to get rid of me."

I throw a punch at her, not caring it won't land. I follow that up with chucking a rock at her, and another, just to get her to leave. Instead she doesn't, standing patiently the entire time. Mini Maui is still annoyingly on her side, pointing at the curly-haired figure, and I flick him off my chest for what has to be the millionth time.

"Fine," I mutter, if you won't leave, then I will." I grab my fishhook, change into a hawk, and fly away, to a higher spot on my new island, my own self-imposed exile unlike the last.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

I nearly fall out of the sky at her reappearance, but manage to keep the form together to land safely.

"What is your deal?! What do you want from me?" I shout at her. I'm really starting to see where curly-hair gets the stubbornness streak.

"To admit that you care about my granddaughter of course, and go and help her fix your mistake."

"Fine I care, okay?" I scream, exasperated and worn down. Then in a quieter voice, I say, "I care about ol' curly-hair."

"What's her name?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Are you deaf as well as forgetful? Has your old age finally kept up with you? What is her name?"

"Why? You're her grandmother, you should know."

"I do, but at I want to hear you say it."

Mini Maui, having finally returned from wherever spot I flicked him to earlier, starts holding up letters and mouthing out her name, trying to coach me into saying it.

"Moana, okay? Her name is Moana."

"There, was that so hard?"

Possibly one of the hardest things I've ever done actually, saying a name. For I have known many mortals over the years, but there's only one whose name I ever bothered to learn, to remember. For why bother learning the name of each ant that crawls beneath your feet? They die, only to be replaced by dozens more. The mortals have been as faceless to me as the ones tattooed over my body.

Until Moana.

There's something about that curly-haired girl that just won't leave me alone. It's not that she's a girl—I've known plenty of girls, well women, far better looking and affectionate than her. It's not even that she's so stubborn—I've known plenty of those types as well, the ones who even a flash of a smile from Maui isn't enough to sway.

It's the fact that she was the first one I ever told about the tattoo on my back about my origins. Mortals usually just accepted the demigod thing and never questioned my parentage. A few did, but I just lied about it, and distracted them with a new gift or story.

Moana was the first one I ever told the truth. She's the first one I ever bother to remember the name of. She's the first one I ever bothered to care about.

"From your silence, I'm guessing it was hard after all."

I collapse down on the ground. "Yeah, it was. She's the first mortal I've ever cared about, and she almost died because of me, because I didn't listen to what she was saying." I bury my head into my hands. "Because I was stupid enough to lead her to Te Ka. I nearly died the first time. How could I have been stupid enough to think a little mortal could have taken her on?"

A cold sensation touches my shoulder. "You're not stupid. Well, not about that. Thinking you could get away with stealing the Heart though… There's nothing wrong with caring about people. The gods may have given you many gifts, but they failed to give you one."

"Oh yeah. What's that?"

"Love."

"Love?"

Mini Maui starts nodding enthusiastically, though I'm less than sure about this nugget of wisdom. Why would I ever need love? What kind of a gift was that?

"Yes, love, or in your case, friendship. For while us mortals may not live as long as gods or demigods, we put our short lifespans to better use—we love, laugh, and care about one another. What is the point of living if you have nobody to share it with?"

"I share my life with plenty of people. With the mortals, with Mini Maui."

Mini Maui starts nodding and pointing to himself, trying to capture her attention.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

The smile on Mini Maui's face falls somewhat, and I can't blame him. He's been with me since… well, since I can remember. One of the gods gifts. According to them, he was supposed to act as my conscience or something, but he's more of an annoyance the majority of the time than anything. Though, considering he was my only companion on the island for a thousand years, I've grown awfully fond of the little guy. Almost as fond of little curly-haired as I am of him.

"Friendship, huh? I'll admit, that's a new one."

Nothing. No answer, no retort. The cold touch on my shoulder is gone. Glancing around I find myself alone once more. Well, except for Mini Maui of course, who's looking up at me with big sad eyes.

I roll my eyes at his actions. Really? Maui doesn't beg, not even Mini Maui.

I give in of course

"Fine. Let's go save ol' curly-hair—" He gives me a pointed look and shakes his finger at me. "You're right. Let's go save our friend. Let's go save Moana."

Friend.

The great Maui, shapeshifter, demigod of the land and sea, hero to all, has a friend and her name is Moana. And it's up to me to help her make up for my mistake all those years ago, and save everyone.

Hold on Moana, I'm coming.

Author's Note

I'd like to thank Menamai for the review. The movie tried to go deeper and angstier at times- Tui losing his friend in the storm, Maui's parents throwing him into the sea as a baby, but I think they were hesitant to go farther because it's a 'kids movie'. Which is one of the benefits of fanfiction.

Here's the long awaited chapter explaining why Maui decided to come back. We knew it was going to happen, but that's no excuse for Disney to not show us why. It honestly felt like there was a deleted scene that got cut because of time. Menamai and some other people I know think it was Mini Maui arguing with him. I thought so too, but then I tried it, and the story wasn't working. Mini Maui had 1,000 years to help Maui realize stealing the Heart was wrong and he should return it. Eventually I realized that Maui was just too stubborn, and would just banish Mini Maui to another part of his body to avoid dealing with him. Eventually I thought maybe the Ocean or a god showed up, but that still didn't feel right. But then I realized, why should Moana be the only one to get a visit from Gramma Tala? Once I had that realization, the rest of the chapter fell into place.

It also allowed me explore the whole reason why he left- claiming it was because of the hook. As Gramma Tala points out, he already learned that lesson. So instead I made it as his excuse, covering up for the fact that he had actually started to care about Moana, a first for him. Mortals up to this point were just faceless images who worshipped him, nothing more. The closest thing he had to a friend was Mini Maui, so having an actual mortal for a friend was new and scared him.

The chapter is the longest so far, and a bit heavy on the dialogue, but I felt like it needed to be. Otherwise Maui would just bully or intimidate whoever it was, completely avoiding his feelings. He can't get away with that with a stubborn ghost lady who can't be touched by whatever he might throw at her.

Next chapter is Moana's, post movie.