Author's Note: Sorry for the late update. I'd hoped to have two chapters out today, since I theoretically had the whole day to myself…but unfortunately, the morning did not go as I had hoped. I'm afraid the hospital trip was not a success.

You don't want to hear about that, though; you want to read fanfiction, and so let's get right to it, shall we?

Chapter Thirteen

Moana woke up uncomfortable after a couple hours of fitful sleep. Everyone else was gone.

She found her mother outside at the hearth, preparing the already steaming earth oven for dinner.

"Ah," Moana. "Mom smiled and got up as her daughter approached. "Feeling better? I thought you'd have wanted to sleep a little longer. Your father's still out; dinner won't be ready for a little while, yet. If you think you're up to it, would you mind getting me some of the washing? I left it next to the bed; didn't want to disturb you, but I'd better get started on it, or we're all going to smell like three-day-old mold by tomorrow morning. Can't have that."

"Uh…yeah, sure." Moana took a quick look around. "No problem, but…where IS Dad? And, uh…where's Maui?"

Moana's Mom opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment, the familiar, triumphant cry of a hawk came from somewhere over near the beach.

"Ah," said Moana's Mom, nodding. "I think that's him, now."

Moana turned just in time to see Maui, in the form of a giant hawk, gliding into the village with a huge net in his claws, teeming with every color of shining saltwater fish. He circled once, cried out again, and then landed in the middle of the village square, depositing the fish neatly on the ground before spreading his great wingspan and transforming himself back into his human form with the help of his magical fishhook.

"Oven's ready," called Moana's Mom, nodding at him. "Goodness, that's a lot of fish...we'll have to dry some for later. Moana, don't just stand there staring. Go be useful, won't you?"

Maui turned and gave Moana a genuinely self-important grin, holding up the net full of fish.

For the first time since they'd gotten back to Motunui, he was looking and acting just like his old self. Moana felt something in her chest relax, and she smiled back at him.

"Wow," she said.

"Right?" Maui laughed. "Motunui is gonna feast tonight!"

A lot of these fish, thought Moana, sighing to herself, are going to go to waste…but it was a nice idea, Maui, it really was.

All around the village, people were beginning to stop what they were doing to pay attention to Maui and his hoard of fish. The whispering and pointing began again, but this time, far fewer people were giving Maui dirty, deadly looks.

"Huh," snorted Maui, still grinning, completely in his element. "It's almost like they've never seen a giant demigod hawk before."

Moana rolled her eyes. "Let's just get some of these on the fire," she suggested, "before the birds come for them. I'm starving."

Just as Maui had predicted, there was a village-wide feast that night, with plenty of fish for everyone, and with several to spare once the meal had ended. Maui sat between Moana and her Dad, and helped to prevent wasted food by eating four or five helpings, before a stern look from Moana discouraged him from going in for a sixth.

"Hang on," she said. "Do demigods even need to eat? I thought you were immortal."

"Well, yeah, technically," returned Maui, shrugging and sneaking another whitehead fish into his bowl. "I mean, it won't kill me to go without food, but it sure doesn't feel great. I get hungry. I get seriously hungry, and trust me, being your village's go-to hero today has worked up an appetite. What's the problem, anyway? There's plenty."

"People," Moana informed him, "are starting to stare."

To be fair, she had to admit to herself, they had been staring ever since he'd arrived, or rather, they'd been glaring. Now, at least, some of the villagers of Motunui were slowly starting to abandon anger and distaste in favor of plain old human curiosity.

Moana's aunt Whetu was the first to get up the courage to speak to the dangerous demigod villain who had haunted their people's stories since long before Moana had been alive. She had been sitting across from him with an empty bowl for some time, frowning, obviously trying to decide if she wanted to ask the question or not.

"Is it true," she began hesitantly, "that you have four brothers?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah." Maui swallowed his fish and nodded. "And they're all named 'Maui,' too. That, uh, could get pretty confusing when I was growing up, let me tell you."

"Do they all eat like you?" Whetu was now shaking her head at Maui's empty bowl. "If that's the case, then I feel badly for your poor mother."

The older man sitting next to Whetu snorted a laugh, then caught himself, cleared his throat, and carefully rearranged his face into a glare again.

Maui, at least, had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed.

Moana, on the other hand, was surprised. She'd never heard anything before about Maui having any family, other than the parents who had thrown him into the sea. Then again, the more she thought about it, the more she was sure that her grandmother had mentioned something about there being brothers along on his boat when he'd first pulled the islands out of the sea. She hadn't spent much time dwelling on them, though; after all, they weren't the heroes of that story. Moana considered asking Maui about his brothers, but decided that right here, in the middle of dinner with all the village around probably wasn't the right time or place. She'd have plenty of opportunity later, after all.

"So…how about the fish hook?" Whetu's teenage son, Rangi, pointed almost accusingly at the hook which was never far from Maui's hand. "What can you really turn into? Can you really be a shark? Because my Mom says that-!"

"Tell you what," suggested Maui, grinning mischievously. "How about I show you?"

Moana put a hand on the fishhook before Maui had a chance to grab for it.

"Not here," she said. "How about we just eat dinner for now, and we can play with the magical hook later, okay?"

Maui rolled his eyes at her.

"You're just jealous," he said, "that you can't turn into a giant shark. Am I right?"

"No," replied Moana patiently. "Can't say I've ever particularly wanted to be a giant shark, or a giant whale, or a giant hawk, for that matter. I'm perfectly happy being me."

"As well you should be," mumbled someone amid the crowd of villagers. "As if magic and nonsense of that kind ever did anyone any good."

Moana and Maui both glared in the direction of the voice. It had apparently come from the angry old grandmother, Aroha, who didn't look like she'd touched any of her fish, and whose expression was just as sour as it had been when Maui had first arrived in the village.

"You just can't please some people," sighed Maui, under his breath. "I could tell you, like, five, no, ten super important things that you wouldn't have if it hadn't been for what you call 'magic.' The sun, for example. Your home. Your dinner. There are…so many options, here."

Moana gave him a comforting little pat on the hand. "Don't let it get to you. Have some more fish."

"Hey, Moana." Rangi apparently had another question.

Whetu gave him a sharp look. "Rangi, she's your Chief, remember? Please use your manners."

Rangi sighed. "Hey, Chief Moana," he drawled. "Is it true that you and Maui defeated, like, fourteen giant crabs with just your bare hands a fish hook? Seriously?"

Moana glanced over at her mother, and then at Maui.

"Um…no comment," she said.

"Hey, I wouldn't look like that if I were you, uh, Rangi," said Maui, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "Your Chief's pretty fierce. If I'm remembering things right, which I usually do, then I'd say it was more like twenty giant crabs…and a really evil-looking starfish."

Moana's eyes went wide. "Maui!"

Maui just laughed.

Later that night, after most of the village had gone back to tend to their own homes, Moana finished cleaning up after the meal and then went looking for Maui.

She found him seated by the path that had once led down to a beach, sitting and staring over at the ocean far below.

"Things look pretty calm out there, now," he told her when she sat down beside him. "I didn't have any trouble earlier, when I went fishing. It's gotta be exhausting, being angry all the time. Maybe the ocean's taking a break."

"Or maybe," suggested Moana, sighing, "it's gone off to terrorize someone else's island."

Maui shook his head. "Not likely; not while I'm camping out here. As long as Hine-nui-te-po knows where I am, she'll be coming for me. My being here isn't making any of you any safer, Moana; you have to know that."

Moana thought about giving him a speech, about explaining that it didn't matter one way or another, because she wasn't going to let him go back out there just to get drowned on the sea or dragged back down to where his angry ex-lover was waiting to kill him. Other than keeping him on the island, she couldn't think of any better options, at the moment, even if this wasn't exactly an ideal situation.

Instead, she said aloud, "Maui, I didn't know that you had any other family. How come you never talk about your brothers?"

Maui shrugged. "They're dead. Been dead for thousands of years. Not much to talk about, there."

"Oh." Moana felt a little stupid. "So, then, they were mortals, like your parents."

"Yeah," muttered Maui. "I mean, it's not like I ever knew them very well. We didn't grow up together. They were the ones my parents decided to keep; the ones apparently not ugly enough to end up at the bottom of the sea, like I did. They were older than me, too. By the time I made it back to my birth parents, I was already a teenager, and my oldest brother was already married with a couple of kids. They didn't have a lot of time for me, and the whole gift-from-the-gods thing made them a little jealous, I guess. Nobody was that interested in having me around, so it's not like I miss them, if that's what you're worried about. I barely knew them."

"But…I thought you didn't know your birth parents at all," began Moana carefully. "If you went back to them when you were a teenager, then-!"

"You're lucky, you know," interrupted Maui. "You've got a pretty nice family. I like your Mom a lot; she's got a sense of humor. Your Dad fits the definition of the word 'Chief" better than pretty much anybody I've ever met, too. The mans' got style. They're, uh, decent people, and they're proud of you. Yeah…you're really lucky. I'm glad."

Moana felt guilty, even though she was sure she didn't have anything she ought to feel guilty about.

"I…think the villagers are starting to warm up to you," she said, subtly shifting the topic away from happy and unhappy families. "That was pretty smart of you, going fishing and feeding everybody like that. I mean, the way to a man's' heart is usually through his stomach, right? So-!"

"It wasn't my idea," replied Maui. "It was your Dad's."

"Oh." Taken aback, Moana had to think about that for a moment.

Dad really is trying to help Maui find a place here, she realized. Mom, too. He's right about one thing; I am lucky. My family is…well, they've always been everything to me. I wonder what life would have been like if I'd been alone? Ugh…I don't ever want to have to find out. Even at times when it's felt like they just don't really get me, they've…well, they've always been there for me to come home to. I don't think I've ever told them how important that is. Maybe…maybe I should.

"We gotta do something about the ocean," muttered Maui, "and fast." He was glaring at it now, looking frustrated, and, instinctively, Moana rested her hand on his again, the way she'd done at dinner. This time, though, it lingered.

"Your people have done me a real solid, Moana," said Maui. "I don't want to make their lives any harder. I'm done being the villain in this story, at least for now. Let's do it; let's save the world. Tell me you've got a plan, wayfinder."

Moana nodded. She'd been thinking about it almost nonstop ever since dinner, and she had, in a way, come up with something.

"I do," she told him, "but it's not going to be easy."

Maui snorted a laugh.

"Of course it isn't," he said, shaking his head. "Okay, I'm all ears. Let's hear this plan."

Author's Note:

I started a Wattpad! I'm…still sort of figuring out how it works, but I'll get there. Thanks for the suggestions!

Since Moana is a relatively new fandom, I assume that some/most of you are part of some other fandoms as well. What other fandoms do you all read/write? I'm eager to find some of your work and check it out.