The next few hours before sunrise were torturous. Makani could not find sleep and had to content herself with staring at the wall of the cabin and thinking up possible scenarios for her reunion with her gramma, a long-lost uncle and Moana's old friend and love in tow.

Maybe Moana would be too sick to realize what was happening.

Or maybe she would accept her old family back into her arms with love and tears of joy, Makani a hero in her eyes until she died.

Possibly, she would be angered that Makani had found her secret son. Perhaps she had wanted him to remain a secret but, in her old age, forgot that Makani's journey would lead her right to him. Perhaps she never wanted Makani or anyone besides Konane to find out about her affair with Maui.

Or maybe she was already...

No.

Makani could not afford to think that way. She could not afford to think that this entire, magnificent, terrifying journey had been for nothing. She would find Maui so that Gramma could say goodbye. She would introduce Konane to the rest of the people on her island so he could have an even larger family. She would explain the dire situations of the other islands to her people and she would get them help.

Makani would be a hero, just like her gramma. She would follow in Moana's footsteps and become a true adventurer. It was what she had wanted since the first day she sat upon Gramma's lap and listened, wide-eyed, to her tales of grandeur and quests.

Maui was the key. This, Makani was sure of.

This led her to thinking - how had Moana and Maui fallen in love? She understood Moana's feelings, of course. She was human, after all, and from the stories, Maui had been quite attractive and had a much better character since his quest with Makani's gramma. But Maui? He was an all-powerful demigod! He had been roaming the oceans since before islands existed, let alone humans! How could he fall for a human who would inevitably die in what would surely be the blink of an eye to him? Did he truly feel things just like a human?

If so, had he ever fallen in love with anyone else? Was he currently in love? Is that why he had been missing for years, because he was hiding with someone he truly loved?

But then, did he still have feelings for Moana? Wouldn't he have sought her out if that was the case?

All of these questions, each leading to at least five more, swirled around Makani's head, and she hypothesized their answers as best they could. But by the time Konane bent to shake her awake and found her eyes wide open, she was no closer to understanding anything about the situation.

And Moana's failing health had them on a time limit. Soon, the answers threatened to be lost unless Makani and Konane could find Maui.

Maui was the key. It was the only think Makani was sure of anymore.

Haunani sent them off with hugs and food. She and her children waved them off from the beach as Konane steered them out of the island's gulf. Makani returned the wave, her arm bending back and forth until it ached and she was forced to lower it.

Konane was a much better sailor than she was, so she allowed him to steer the boat. He also knew where he was going and seemed much more sure of his success than Makani had ever felt while sailing to his island or any of the other ones.

"Tell me of your travels," he said after a few minutes of silence.

Makani thought. "Did you know that the other islands, the ones between mine and yours, are in trouble?" she asked.

Konane's brow furrowed. "No. How so?"

So Makani told him the stories. Of how she had arrived on each island, hoping for help and a kind adult to talk to, only to be denied the opportunity each time. She told him of the child cheiftess who kept her people as servants rather than comrades. She told him of the children exiled to the beach by their dying parents and guardians. She told him of her promises to help their people as soon as she had found Maui and returned to her own island.

Konane was silent for a long time after receiving this information. Finally, he said, "This is news to me. We are not a very outgoing people. In fact, I don't know the last person to have left this island. Much more often, people come to us."

"Your children," Makani recalled.

"Yes," Konane said. "My children. And you."

Makani nodded. "Konane," she asked, "did you ever visit my island?"

"No," Konane said softly. "My one greatest regret. I was angry at my mother, and confused. I was working through a lot of things and then my children started to age and I had to care for them and work for the people on my island...I kept saying to myself, over and over, 'next year. Next year.' Next year never came."\

The sorrow in his voice pained Makani. She rose and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Once we find Maui, we will return to my island and you can meet my family," she told him firmly. "You can meet Moana again."

"That sounds wonderful," Konane said gently. "Oh, I surmise that this isn't at all what you were expecting when you sailed out of your gulf!"

Makani laughed. It did seem funny, all of a sudden, how drastically her life had changed over the span of a few days. It felt like months ago that she had viewed her gramma as an uncomplicated heroes. "I suppose even heroes make mistakes," she mused out loud.

"Do you mean yourself, or Moana?" Konane asked with a teasing tone in his voice, but Makani was taken aback. Did he truly consider her a hero?

"I would hardly call myself a hero," she pointed out. "I was referring to Moana."

"You mean to say I was a mistake?" Konane teased, grinning with mock offense.

"I meant hiding you from us all these years," Makani explained, the joking tone gone from her voice. "We would have accepted you and loved you. We still will."

Konane smiled fondly down on her. "I hope so, child. I hope your family is just as kind and goodhearted as you."

Heart lighter, Makani sat down and felt the spray of the ocean on her face. She felt hope rising in her, a huge bubble of it that made her grin giddily and shiver slightly.

Maui is the key.