After a few minutes of lying there, looking at the stars, Makani couldn't keep from yawning loudly. Lulani copied her and the girls laughed softly.
"Ready to turn in?" Lulani suggested, and Makani nodded vigorously.
Lulani led her back to the treehouse that Akela had shown her and led the way up the ladder. She settled into her cot and Makani tried as best she could to get comfortable in the pile of blankets left for her on the floor. She ended up curled tightly in the center of the nest, a little bit of one of the blankets pulled over her. Somehow, she soon fell asleep.
When Makani awoke, she could not remember the dark dreams that had plagued her as she slept, but the feelings of unease and nervousness stuck with her even as she stepped off of the rope ladder and followed Lulani and Akela onto the warm, sunny beach.
Makani gauged the position of the sun. "I have to go," she gasped, suddenly realizing it was almost midday. She had slept in by so much!
Akela pouted. "So soon?"
"Yes, I have to get to the next island," Makani said frantically, leading the pair over to her boat and preparing it for sailing. "Lulani, could I have those fish that you were telling me about?"
"Akela, go fetch the fish," Lulani ordered, unmoving. As her brother scampered off over the beach, she knelt beside Makani. "Is there anything I can do to help, besides the fish?"
"I don't think so. You've already helped so much." Makani flashed her a grateful smile. "It's my turn. Once I find Maui and take him home, I will send my people to help yours."
Lulani grinned. "Thank you for sailing into our lives, Makani." In an act of kindness that utterly surprised Makani, Lulani pulled her close and hugged her tightly. After a beat of hesitation, Makani hugged her back.
Akela cleared his throat and the two girls quickly pulled away. He handed Makani two tightly wrapped, strongly smelling fish. "You're gonna wanna eat those today, before they go bad," he told her confidentially.
"Will do," Makani promised, placing them gently in the storage area of her boat. "Can you help me push it out to sea?" She moved to stand at the front of the boat, the cool water of the ocean lapping at her ankles.
"Shame we couldn't get you a change of clothes," Lulani said, observing her salt-stiffened clothing. "All of mine are dirty. We wash everything in a river deep in the woods once every two weeks."
"I'm fine," Makani assured her. "We do the same thing back home. Now, help me push!"
The brother and sister took up their positions at the back of the boat and the trio began to push and pull respectively. Soon, the boat was floating in the water, but they continued to push until the water was up to Akela's neck. Then, Makani jumped aboard and grabbed the tiller.
"Thank you!" she called as she began to steer the boat out of the island's gulf.
"We hope to see you again!" Lulani returned while Akela waved furiously and sputtered as a wave hit him in the face. Looking past the two, Makani saw that the other children were gathering on the beach, watching her leave. She stood carefully and waved both hands, seeing some children on the beach wave back.
"I will come back for you," she whispered, the words locking around her heart in the most serious of promises. "I will."
For lunch, Makani ate one of the fish. It was already cooked and didn't taste very good - one side was close to raw while the other was charred and made her mouth feel ashy - but a quick drink of water remedied that.
Makani was feeling hopeful. Maybe the first two islands had been failures, but at least she had been in a place where Maui had been, lived for a decade, even! That was better than what she had received at the first island, which was a twisted little girl and a forbidden escape.
"This is quite the adventure," Makani muttered to herself, scanning the horizon for anything resembling an island.
Something rippled a few feet away from her boat and Makani jumped. Then, she gazed at the water, waiting for the ripples to happen again. It's probably just a fish, she told herself, taking deep breaths and banishing stories of horrible sea creatures from her mind. It's just a fish, it's just a fish...
The ripples came again, bigger and closer. Makani prayed to the gods for more wind in her sails and the island to be much closer than it actually was. She felt panic rising in her throat and repressed childhood fears of being lost at sea began to rise, fears she had been ignoring for years...
Something breached the surface and Makani screamed, cowering into herself and readying herself for death.
A dolphin plopped back into the water and, a few seconds later, raised its head above the water. It chattered happily at her.
"Hello," Makani cooed, feeling incredibly foolish. "Why, you're not a scary sea beast at all! Hello!"
The dolphin chattered again and then ducked back underwater and leapt a perfect arc over the waves. Makani laughed and clapped.
The dolphin seemed to enjoy putting on a show for her. It flipped and twisted through the air, sometimes emerging in front of her, behind her, or on her other side. It became increasingly difficult for Makani to pay any sort of attention to her steering.
Finally, however, the dolphin did not surface again. The playful creature had been a welcome break from the monotony of the sea, but Makani assumed that even dolphins had better things to do than entertain bored sailors.
For dinner, Makani ate the second fish and fought down her apprehension at arriving late to the next island.