Moana stood before her parents, half as confident as she should feel, and she wondered if she'd even get a little bit of approval.
She took a deep, steadying breath, "I think that I've made my decision for my future husband."
Sina stared back at her, something unreadable within the older woman's eyes, "Who is it?"
"I'll bring him by in a few days' time. I want him to be here by my side." Moana tried to steady the harsh racing of her heart as she stared up into her parents' eyes, worry clear in their depths.
Tui took a deep breath, and Moana's eyes flickered up to meet his on instinct, "Do we know him, Moana?"
"Yes." It was unwavering, and it was still; she knew that they knew him or had at least met him before. He had become even more well known when he'd stopped by after returning the heart of Te Fiti by her side.
"Okay," Sina took a deep breath, "Bring him by as soon as you can to meet us, alright?" She hoped beyond all hope that her daughter wasn't making the same kind of mistakes that she had when she was her age.
"I will." Moana was confident usually, and yet now just seeing the look on her parents' faces made her stomach plummet; there was a story there that she'd never learned. A part of her still wondered what had caused the two of them to fall apart in the way that they had; she'd always figured that there had been love there to begin with and possibly attraction, the word that she sometimes worried over.
Moana retraced her steps to the stones and watched the glimmer of light on them; had she made the right choice? Would her ancestors' be proud? Would her grandmother be proud?
Her grandmother always had the best kind of advice, and yet Moana suddenly felt like she needed those words, that she wasn't quite sure of where she was heading from here.
Moana sighed as she took a deep breath and glanced out at sea, the sea that tempted her, made her feel alive, and challenged her more than anything.
She wondered briefly how Maui viewed her, whether he loved her in the way that she was trying to reach for, trying to replicate, and she wondered briefly if he was attracted to her.
The words came to mind with ease to break her heart, and she wondered if they'd become the way that her parents had, if she was already walking down that same path.
Moana had no idea why her parents were the way that they were, had no idea how they came to be that way, or what they were like when they were younger.
She wondered briefly what kind of advice her grandmother had bestowed upon them and whether she'd apply the same advice to Moana right here.