Author's Note: I have a merciless migraine, and I just finished a two-hour play reading as a favor to a director from another theater company. I may not be able to finish a chapter tonight, but I have really strong feelings about trying to keep to a regular update schedule, so let's see if I can pull it off...

Chapter Ten

For a terrible moment, Moana felt truly helpless in the face of the ocean's rage. She wanted to scream, to throw things at the water, to be furious and betrayed...but there wasn't time.

"We have to get to the village," she gasped.

"We're gonna have a heck of a time making it past those waves," returned Maui.
Moana just shook her head, doing her best to navigate the roiling sea, slowly but surely drawing them closer and closer to the rapidly receding beach.

"It doesn't matter," she insisted. "We'll manage it. We need to get to the village to evacuate everyone before the whole island floods. There are still a couple of boats left, and if we pack as many people as possible onto our canoe, then-!"

"Put your people out in boats right now, and they'll all drown," shouted Maui, as the noise of the crashing waves increased. "We'd be sending them to their deaths, and us too. It'd be suicide, especially with much heavier boats. We'd never make it."

Moana was beginning to feel trapped and panicky, but she did her best not to show it.

Now isn't the time to freak out, she reminded herself. You can do this, Moana. There must be a way.

"There...there has to be something we can do," she mumbled to herself, shaking her head. "Oh, I know, we'll, um, we'll build a barricade! We can build a wall or something out of the rocks on the shore, only...there isn't enough time."

As soon as she said it, she felt stupid. Of course, building a wall out of rocks was something only a child would suggest, she thought, and Moana was beginning to feel more and more like a helpless child, which was infuriating. Now was when she most needed to be a collected, competent Chief.

Maui put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"No," he agreed, "there's no time. A barricade's smart, but we're not using rocks. Luckily, I've got a better idea."

"A better idea?" Moana grinned, relieved. "Okay! I'll try anything if you think it'll actually work. What's the plan?"

"I need you to get us onto the beach," said Maui. "It's gonna get ugly, but I can't pull this off from all the way out here."

"Okay, can do." Moana gritted her teeth. "Hang on!"

Years of practice had made Moana not only a master wayfinder, but also a reasonably good navigator in the toughest of conditions, and much better at keeping her boat upright in the water than she'd been when she'd begun years ago. It was a harrowing few minutes, but dodging back and forth, shifting her weight and moving in time with the sea swells she managed to get them all the way up to the beach without either she or Maui ending up in the water.

As soon as they rode up onto the beach, Maui jumped out of the canoe.

"Come on," he shouted. "I need your help."

"But," began Moana, "the boat-!"

"Leave it!" Maui shook his head emphatically. "We won't need it...I hope."

Dutifully, Moana leapt out of the boat, which, relieved of the weight, almost immediately floated back out to sea, where she watched it smash against a rock and turn to debris in the current.

"This...really better work," she mumbled.

"You're telling me." Squaring his shoulders, Maui turned to face the beach, with his back to the village. "C'mere, I need you to anchor me."

Moana blinked. "You what?"

"I need you to keep me steady while I do this," repeated Maui. "Put your arms around my waist and hold on as tight as you can. Don't let me fall over or get dragged into the sea. When I say push, you start pushing, and if it looks like I'm about to get dragged under, start pulling. Whatever you do, do not let go. You're gonna need to show me those muscles."

Moana had spent most of her life climbing amongst the rocks and crags of the islands, and so she knew she had some decent upper body strength, but even so, she suspected that she couldn't compare to a demigod. She reached out anyway, grabbed Maui around the waist and held him as firmly as she could, planting her feet deeply in the sand and trying to think big, strong, powerful thoughts.

Maui took a deep, slow breath, then rolled his shoulders back, glanced over at her, and gave her his best attempt at a rogueish wink.

"Did your Grandma ever tell you," he asked conversationally, "how Maui, demigod of the wind and sea pulled the islands up out of the ocean? It's a good story...not my favorite, like I said, but it's up there. It's got everything; action, adventure, and a relatable hero who you can't help but love. Hang on tight, now, here we go."

With that, Maui raised his fish hook above his head.

"CHAAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With a cry, he cast his hook as deep as he could into the sand at the very edge of Motunui's beach, and then he began to pull.

Moana felt the earth beneath her feet moving, and she squeaked and had to regain her balance quickly, forcing herself upright, doing her best not to let herself or Maui tumble backwards as he heaved at the ground below. He grunted and strained, the muscles on his back bulging as he struggled against, quite literally, the weight of the world, grasping the fishhook with both hands, his eyes shut tight.

Slowly, terrifyingly, as Maui and Moana pulled, the island began to rise out of the sea, higher and higher, until the beach itself was lifted out of the water. Amazed and breathless, Moana gripped Maui hard and braced him, hauling him back every time the sea began to get the upper hand in their tug-of war. The newly-emerged base of the island stretched down, down, and down into the ocean, which beat helplessly against it, desperately battering the uneroded rock to no avail. As the island continued to shoot upwards, the village was soon so high, so far away from the water that even after years of destructive effort, the sea couldn't have reached it.

Maui grunted, and then swayed. With one last final heave, he pulled the fish hook from the water, and the island shuddered, then settled again. The hook finally came up out of the ground, and Maui tumbled backwards, taking Moana with him. They both ended up in a heap on the sandy ledge that jutted out from the side of what had now become Mount Motunui.

For several long moments, neither of them said anything. Moana was too stunned, and Maui was breathing hard, struggling to inhale after the exertion of making a mountain out of an island.

"Hah," he rasped eventually, propping himself up on his shaky elbows and gazing down triumphantly at the sea below. "See that, ocean? Good luck flooding THIS guy. What'cha gonna do now, huh? Ugh."

He coughed, pulled in another shaky breath, and then collapsed again.

"Maui?" Moana leaned quickly over him, concerned. "Are...are you okay?"

"Yeah," gasped Maui. "I'm great. Just, uh, a little out of shape. Been a few thousand years since I last used some of those muscles, but I still got it! Che...chee hu, uh. Man, I need some water."

Moana gazed down the side of her new mountain at the ocean so far below.

"Hey," cautioned Maui, "don't go falling off the ledge. I'm in no shape to fly down and save you; not right now anyway. I feel like I could sleep for a week...maybe longer. Just sit tight, would you, until I get my breath back."

"It's...it's so far away," mumbled Moana dazedly. She could barely hear the sea anymore, could only vaguely smell it from where she stood. She felt an almost lonely sort of ache as she watched the ocean lapping miserably at the mountainsides for a moment before eventually subsiding again. Before too long, the sea was calm and very remote, almost as though it had given up, which was both an incredible relief to Moana and a sad sort of disappointment.

"Yeah," agreed Maui, sighing and shutting his eyes. "You're welcome. Not…not that you did too badly yourself. Even now, you still manage to impress me. Guess you haven't been skipping your workouts. Nice job, Chief."

Maui grinned, managed to get himself seated upright again, leaning back against a large rock. He winced every time he moved.

Distracted at last from the unsettling distance of the ocean, Moana stood up.

"You're hurt," she told Maui, frowning. "We need to get you back to the village where you can rest."

Gently, she put an arm under Maui's and helped him slowly to his feet.

"I'm not hurt," protested Maui, "just…"

"You're just exhausted," finished Moana. "Too much heroism for one day. Just wait until everyone in the village gets to meet the man who saved our island, not once, but now twice! Maui, thank you. I'm sure they'll be more than just grateful. They'll probably want to throw you a party. You'll be fending off admirers all day long; no, maybe all week! Trust me, they are going to be all over you."

Maui grimaced and gave Moana a doubtful look, but this time it was her turn to be encouraging. She gave his arm a squeeze, and was surprised and alarmed when she realized how much that arm was shaking.

"Just remember," he mumbled as they turned together towards the village, where terrified-looking people were finally beginning to emerge from their homes, "you promised you'd never let anybody run me out of the village, right?"

"If anybody gives you so much as a dirty look," retorted Moana loyally, "they'll have to deal with ME. Now, take it easy, one step at a time. There we go…nice and steady. You're doing great…"

Author's End Note: Now, I want to give you guys a little backstory here. I bet most of you already know this, but there are several different legends with credit Maui with pulling the Hawaiian islands out of the sea using his magical fish hook. This chapter is a little callback to those legends, which he references once or twice in the movie.

Wow, we're already at chapter ten, and 20,000 words! Not too shabby for a little over a week's worth of work. This story is really fun to write. I hope you're having as much fun with it as I am!