Author's Note: My husband braved the ice to bring me Chipotle. Now THAT is an expression of true love if ever I saw one.

Now that I am feeling magically romantic and significantly less hungry, let's finally have a meeting between Maui and Moana!

Chapter Seven

Confronted with the wrath of Hine-nui-te-po, Maui was considering his options.

Giant hawk? No, he decided, definitely not. Not underwater. Whale? Too slow. Shark? No good. I couldn't eat her, even if I wanted to. I may look scary, but even as a creature of the deep, I guess I'm just a big softie. Plus, it'd give me terrible indigestion. Let's see, what else have we got?

He was weighing the pros and cons of turning into a whitehead fish and rushing between Hine-nui-te-po's legs before she could crush him when he noticed movement from an unexpected quarter out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly to combat whatever was coming at him from behind, Maui was stunned to see the last person in the world he had expected hurrying towards them, gritting her teeth with that familiar, adorably determined look on her face. She was taller now, with curves, he noticed, where there hadn't been curves before.

How many years has it been, he found himself wondering. Three? Four? Can't be five, can it? Nah…

She had tattoos, now, too, but one in particular that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. There was the design of a fishhook curving around the brow of her left eye; one that Maui recognized as looking like every artist's depiction of Maui's own magical hook; the way it was drawn in tapestries and described by the most vivid storytellers.

She's the girl who tamed Maui, the trickster demigod, he thought ruefully. At least, that's what they say about her; I've heard the stories, the 'new legends' showing up all over the islands. Heh. It suits her, I guess.

He supposed that it should have annoyed him. After all, that was his symbol, his one and only gift from the gods. Still, he found himself perversely pleased by the idea that now, every time she looked at her reflection in the water, she'd remember him. There was something really kind of refreshing about that.

She wouldn't be able to forget him, even if she wanted to. He was etched in her skin.

That's…actually a little creepy, when I think about it, he realized. Then again, I've got her face tattooed on my chest, so I guess we're even? Maybe? Doesn't matter, not the point.

Moana had reached them by now, a little out of breath. She gave Maui an uncertain little smile.

"Uh, hi," said Maui. "This is a surprise."

Okay, that…that sounded really stupid, he thought, kicking himself internally. Come on, you're an all-powerful heroic demigod, you can pull off talking to a thirteen-year-old mortal girl. Well, fifteen. Eighteen?

Moana had, by now, turned her attention back to Hine-nui-te-po, who was glaring at her with all the disdainful force and elegance of the personification of death.

"Um, hello," announced Moana, dropping instantly to one knee in the sand and bowing her head before the goddess. "My name…is Moana, Chief of the village of Motunui, and I've…uh, I've come to offer my services on behalf of my people."

Maui just stared, totally unsure of where this was going.

"We have heard, on our island," Moana went on, gaining confidence as she let herself get more involved in her story, "of the terrible way that this half-mortal man is treating you, oh great goddess. Even the sea is angry that he has had, the, uh…the audacity to reject you, and the sea…well, the sea has started destroying our island and killing our people in its rage. For the sake of our people and as a favor to you, Hine-nui-te-po, I request permission to remove this man back to my island, where we can execute him for the crimes he has committed against us both. In so doing, we hope to calm the fury of the sea and to return to our peaceful lives once again."

She glanced up hopefully at the goddess, and Maui sighed.

Nice try, princess, he thought, but unfortunately, she's already got one up on you, there.

Hine-nui-te-po was smiling, now, which was never a very good sign.

"Poor little mortal girl," she murmured, shaking her head and reaching down to lift Moana's chin with her hand. "It's all right…you can get up. I won't harm you, I think. After all…I suspect that we have so very much in common."

Hesitantly, glancing uncertainly at Maui as she did so, Moana got to her feet.

"Now then," purred the goddess, "I admire your attempt to free your friend, I really do. Loyalty is so refreshingly, so sorely lacking around here these days, wouldn't you say?" She shook her head dolefully, shooting a significant look at Maui as she did so. "Still, I'm afraid it won't work. You see, I don't really believe that either you or your people has any desire to execute our favorite demigod. Why would you? Why on earth would you want to punish the man who, and this is in Maui's own words, I believe, 'saved your entire family from an all-devouring darkness,' hmm? No, no, I don't believe you would. He's your hero after all, now, isn't he? He was my hero too, once, little girl; I once thought that the brave Maui could do no wrong, like you do…but I was a fool. I was a fool, just as you're likely to be a fool if no one sets you straight. Our beloved Maui can't be trusted, not for a moment. None of his protestations are ever true. He'll only use you until he's gotten whatever it is he wants out of you, and then he'll cast you aside and run off to chase his freedom, just the way he has done for thousands upon thousands of years. DO you think that he cares for you? He cares for no one but himself. Don't make the mistakes I made, little one. Leave, now, before you, too, fall victim to his mischievous charm."

Maui just grinned. "Mischievous charm? Heh, kinda like the sound of that, actually. Still, come on, don't you think you're laying it on a bit thick?"

"Maui is a good person," insisted Moana. "Okay, so maybe he's made a few bad mistakes in the past; I'm not gonna pretend that he's perfect, or anything, but-!"

"Do you know what he did to me, little Chieflet?" Hine-nui-te-po raised her eyes to the sky and gently shook her head. "No, no, I'm sure you don't. I doubt he would have told you. Well, would you like to hear the story of how Maui the ruthless trickster tried to seal the secret of immortality for his beloved humans?"

Alarm bells began ringing in Maui's head, and he held out his hand frantically to forestall her. "H-hey, that's private business! I mean, you know…that's personal, just between you and me, babe."

Hine-nui-te-po gave him a sharp, icy look. "Why? You do. You use the story of our personal history whenever it's convenient for you; isn't that right, Ngaire?"

The blond woman, who had caught up with them and was now standing at her goddess's side, just nodded silently. Maui winced.

"Many, many years ago," intoned Hine-nui-te-po, turning her attention back to Moana, "I fell in love with Maui. He courted me, brought me gifts from the land and sea, showered me with affection and words of love, and promised that he would marry me as soon as we obtained my father's approval. There was some…slight difficulty there, and I ultimately decided that, with or without my father's blessing, I would marry the man I loved. He protested, put off the ceremony, made one excuse after enough to deter me from the wedding, until finally it became clear to me that he'd never intended to marry me in the first place. It was only when I caught him flirting with another of the Turehu that I realized he'd only been after me for my secret, the secret to immortality, which he had hoped to steal for the humans above. He betrayed me…and he abandoned me, leaving me to spend the rest of my life alone while he flew off to seek a life of adventure. He threw me away as though I meant nothing to him. No doubt, Moana of Motunui, he will do the same to you, in time."

Maui hazarded a glance at Moana, who was now staring wide-eyed, her mouth open in shock.

"You…you did WHAT?" She glared at him, her eyes blazing. "How…how could you?"

"Listen, listen, I can explain," Maui began, but Moana wasn't interested in listening.

"You can't just…ugh! I can't believe you! No wonder Hine-nui-te-po's angry. I would be angry. I AM angry. Do you know what they do to men on our island who abandon their wives and girlfriends like that? Do you?"

"Uh, yes, I do," muttered Maui, "but, Moana, seriously, it was like, I don't know, two, three thousand years ago? Everything's different now! I'm a changed man! Come on, you have to believe me."

Moana advanced on him furiously. "Why should I believe you? All you ever do is lie, like you did to this poor goddess! If I let my guard down for a second, you're just gonna play some kind of a trick on me, I know it!"

Moana's voice was just very slightly too loud, and something in the way she was gazing at him took Maui by surprise. He narrowed his eyes at her, saw something in her face that didn't' quite fit with the words that she was saying, and frowned.

"I…well, I mean, I'm a trickster demigod," he reminded her slowly. "Trickery is pretty much in my job description, so what do you expect?"

"You're horrible." Moana took three more quick, angry steps, closing the gap between them, grabbed angrily onto Maui's ear and pulled it down close to her mouth. "You're absolutely disgusting, treating a woman like that!"

"Ow, ow, ow, hey, seriously?" Maui pretended to struggle, but honestly, Moana wasn't pulling all that hard. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Hine-nui-te-po had dropped her guard and was now standing with her arms crossed over her chest, watching Maui and Moana with amusement.

"When I get back to Motunui," Moana hissed at him, "I'm going to tell everyone the truth about you. I'm going to tell them what kind of a man you truly are. I can't believe I came all the way down here just to save a person like you. In fact, I'm so angry that I'm going to leave…right…NOW!"

Maui knew his cue when he heard it. With Moana still firmly grasping his ear, he held his hook up in the air with both hands.

"CHAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!"

With a triumphant shout, he transformed into a shark in the blink of eye, which left Moana now hanging on to his dorsal fin. Taking the opening she'd made for him, Maui took off across the water before Hine-nui-te-po and her Turehu could gather their wits and take stock of what had happened.

He could just hear the goddess and her followers screaming in the distance as he and Moana broke the ocean's surface and struck out wildly for the shore.

Author's Note: This chapter was inspired by AO3 user Kinematics, who encouraged me to let Moana give Maui a tongue lashing in front of Hine-nui-te-po. Thanks very much for the suggestion!