Once again sorry for the extremely long update! As I explained before I have started college so things have gotten crazy!
Shout out to CartoonJessie, BadOctopus for inspiring this story! And to my new friend Mangaia for providing me the correct translation for the chapter title! :D This chapter is for you!
And yes this chapter will also be separated into two parts! With part two following immediately after this! On a side note, this could possibly the last long chapter I'll write.
(Please note this chapter has not been edited whatsoever and I will edit this chapter at a later date, so don't be surprised to see changes later on)
And once again the possible OOC warning is still on.
Chapter Three: Kanohi Hautoa (Part One)
Hearing the name Hina had picked out for her sister only made Moana smile—not because that was the original name she'd wanted to pick out—but because it lifted her heart knowing that Hina wouldn't have trouble adjusting to her new sibling, and in the end that was all that mattered.
"Why Tala?" Maui asked squinting his eyes in amusement as he feigned his confusion.
Hina looked at her father and replied shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't know."
Moana remarked with a gentle tone in her voice as she cast her loving eyes on her daughter. "Well, I think it's a beautiful name."
Two hours later, Moana and Tala had been moved to Sina and Tui's fale where they would stay under their care for a month. But for some strange reason, Hina's placement became an issue as well...Maui didn't really understand why?
That was till his father-in-law came by around dusk—after he'd left Hina in the care of her grandmother—and called him to come to the beach where the two could talk man-to-man and father-to-father.
Tui stood near the shore, staring out into the horizon as Maui stood behind him. "So, um... 'Sup?" The Demigod asked in a semi-casual tone before he shrugged. His father-in-law finally turned around to face him with calm eyes as he slowly crossed his arms over his chest. His calm glance turned stern as he eyed his daughter's demigod consort. The stare made Maui felt like a little boy again and he hated that feeling.
He wasn't a boy anymore. He was a two or three-thousand-year-old Demigod adjusting to human life. And for some strange reason, his father-in-law couldn't see that he'd barely scratched the surface to actually understand what mortality really was? And now he was getting another lecture about it.
How did Moana put up with this her whole life?
Tui opened his mouth and Maui grew tense as his father-in-law spoke, "Please, help me understand what goes through your mind?"
Maui mimicked his father in law's pose and replied rather coolly,
"Uh, that depends what you wanna know? Seriously, ask me anything I won't mind."
His father-in-law was clearly un-amused and Maui could tell by the way his shoulders remained firmly in place and his stance strong and authoritative with all the air of a former High Chief.
Tui wasted no time to get straight to the point, "Do you care about Hinatea's safety?"
Maui immediately replied with a proud smile, "Of course." That question did irk him a little. But at the same time, he tried to follow Moana's example and see it from both sides. Tui was a father and grandfather. He had years of experience when it came to child rearing. Years that Maui unfortunately never had during the last thousand years since he'd been alive and despite having plenty of opportunities in the past—fatherhood never appealed to him.
In fact, sometimes he found himself in conflict with it now—but there was one thing he could agree with. He loves his daughters and he would do anything for them.
"I'm not trying to insult you Maui," Tui told him.
The Demigod simply took a deep breath and replied,
"I know, I know. Look, maybe I can be a little over the top." He paused and thought about the little throwing incident earlier today and quickly added, "And reckless too. But hey, I'm gonna try the best I can to keep my girls happy."
Tui added, "And safe." His expression softening a little as he turned to his son-in-law. "That was quite the dangerous stunt you pulled today. Flying with Hina at that height. She could've gotten hurt."
Maui held himself him back from saying something that would turn this simple conversation into a screaming match between them.
Tui continued on and said, "Keeping your children happy is one thing. But their safety will always be paramount above everything else. Or have you forgotten what happened to you all those months ago."
He didn't. He couldn't—and for a while, he had the scars to prove it. Out of all the dangerous feats, he'd been through that one left him truly terrified.
And it wasn't because he almost died but it was the thought that he came so close to never seeing his daughters—or any more children he and Moana might have—growing up or being able to hold his newborn daughter Tala today or watching Moana grow old.
He came so close to never seeing his family again.
Worst of all he still hasn't told Moana the full story about his little mishap at Whenua o Marama. And there was no need to either. The moon was safe and that Whale riding jerk got taken to someplace below the sea—Lalotai maybe? Not that he really cared. All that matter was they were all safe and he, Maui put in an effort in to make it possible.
Suddenly he felt his father-in-law's hand on his shoulder as he said,
"Remember Maui, children will need a mother and father to give them guidance in life..."
And Tui's lecture slowly faded from there.
Maui knew all that and he wanted to teach them everything he knew the best way he knew how by having fun and letting them chart their own course. Most of all he wanted to be their friend and dad, not one or the other. And he was a demigod so no task should be impossible for him to—
"Maui." Tui's stern voice pulled him back from whatever trails his mind and transported him to. Wide-eyed The Demigod slowly turned his eyes to face his father-in-law and saw the displeased look on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.
It was then he realized just how much of Moana's personality came from her father, and to be honest it secretly scared him to see the resemblance.
Maui forced an innocent smile as he cringed sheepishly before he straightened up and cleared his throat. He then spoke while chuckling nervously, "Um. You were saying?"
Tui shook his head in exasperated astonishment before he said,
"Never mind. It's sundown and dinner will be served soon." Tui then turned and made out of the beach. The former High Chief slowly turned when he noticed that his son-in-law didn't follow him.
Maui drove him to the point of pure vexation at times—and over time he found himself growing a bit more and more irate with his daughter's consort. But, he admired The Demigod's efforts to fully immerse himself among their people—even if he needed more time to exercise executing proper respect to him and the rest of village elders.
Tui called out to him. "Maui." His Demigod son-in-law turned to him, his eyes wide with bewilderment as he waved his arm over for him to come and join him. "Come. It's time we eat."
Smiling lopsidedly Maui walked over toward his father-in-law and followed him as he led the way.
The strong scent of dinner struck him like a rock near the ocean and Maui still couldn't get over how mouthwatering the food smelled or how much of it was prepared. There was roast chicken, roasted fish, oka i'a, Alaisa fa'apopo and there was more to come.
Then he realized that they were actually preparing to celebrate Tala's birth. The sounds of children's laughter echoed behind him, and he turned to watch as Hina stood up surrounded by a small group of two or three-year-olds, trying to balance an unhusked coconut on her head.
Sticking the tip of her tongue out on the upper lip in concentration Hina then bounced the coconut on her head.
IIIIIIII
The green unhusked coconut flew and landed on the top of Hina's half tied medium long wild curly hair as she stood trying to entertain the group of younger children—one of which was her now four-year-old sister Tala, who clearly took after Moana's side of the family. With her straight-wavy hair—that she obviously inherited from their grandmother Sina.
Among her other features were her slightly slanted eyes, long eyelashes, and nose—many claimed she would resemble her great-grandmother and namesake. The only two features she'd inherited from Maui was his dimples and the small gap between her two top front teeth.
Now at seven-years-old Hina's resemblance to Maui grew even more apparent but a few Moana's features were also coming in.
Her father's prayers were answered when it was clear that she'd inherited her mother's head shape, and the length of her nose's bridge was a mix between his and Moana's. It wasn't too short but it wasn't same length as hers either. The size of her head made her round eyes appeared bigger—and with the combination of her long eyelashes only added more to her femininity.
She still had a slightly delicate version of his wide nostrils and his lips. But that was okay—he was just relieved that she wasn't going to grow up looking completely like him. Which meant she had a chance.
"Check this out!" Hina carefully bounced the coconut off her head again and again and again, trying hard to remember her father's moves to keep it from falling off.
Maui proudly stood as he watched his eldest daughter at a distance crossing his arms over his chest. He then saw his youngest daughter got up and raised her hands toward the coconut her big sister was holding.
The children gathered around the two sisters and watched as Hina very carefully placed the coconut on her sister's head. Tala immediately stood very still as she gracefully started to turn spin around, trying hard not to let the coconut fall off her head.
Then the horns sounded, signaling the sign of oncoming visitors. Maui let out an annoyed groan and saw that the children were still playing. He whistled to get their attention. The children stopped playing and turned to see their Chief's consort standing before them.
And he said to them, "Play time's over kids!" The children immediately started groan and Maui raised his hand and waved them along, counting each and every child that walked passed him. He counted five out of seven kids and slowly made his way up toward the coconut tree where two small distinctive hands were seen gripping the bark.
With one thump the Demigod father of two made the tree shake hard enough for Hina to loosen her grip and fall onto his shoulder. He then lifted his hand and caught little Tala in the palm of his hand. He quickly pressed his hand to Hina's back and stopped any escape attempt she could've made.
His eldest daughter let out an irritated groan as she narrowed her eyes and pressed her cheek against the palm of her hand.
Maui heard the soft annoyed moan in his daughter's voice and immediately went to reassure, "Don't worry you'll get time to play with your friends later kiddo. But right now mommy wants us all at the beach."
He immediately grabbed Tala's sneaky little foot and pulled her back down from over his shoulder before he held her in place.
In a moment of attempted trickery, Tala let out a small sniff started to escape her nose.
Maui quickly put a stop to her fake tears before she before she could even start. "Hey, don't even think about it."
The two sisters grunted and turned to one another and that's when their emergency plan came to life. Hina slowly turned to her sister with a devious smile on her face and saw Tala bore a similar expression on her face. Hina gave her sister a wink and then immediately started squeezing her legs together as she said in a desperate voice. "Daddy I gotta go..."
Maui stopped in his tracks and turned to look over his shoulder. "No, you don't need to go anywhere but the beach."
"Not that 'go' Daddy. I gotta go, go!" Hina cried while biting her lower lip for the dramatic effect and to stop herself from laughing.
"Oh. Oh! Okay, okay, okay!" Maui quickly turned back and walked around for a place to set her down. And then Tala needed to go well. Maui, not wanting his daughters to soil his shoulders quickly moved them under his arms and scurried to the nearest spot he could find.
He set them down immediately and watched as Hina took her sister's hand and disappeared into the jungle with her. He called out to them, "Remember, yell 'Maui' when you're done!"
"Okay!" Came Hina's indistinct reply.
The Demigod put his hands on his hips as he looked down at Mini-Maui as he stood with his arms crossed and said in an amused tone,
"Who knew being a dad was such hard work?" Mini-Maui quickly raised a disapproving eyebrow at him and the Demigod added, "But it's worth it." Mini-Maui gave him an approving nod before he returned back to his original pose.
With a satisfied sigh, Maui leaned against the bark of a Papaya tree and waited.
Fifteen minutes passed and he grew hungry so quickly made his way up the tree and picked some of the ripe fruit off the tree.
Twenty minutes passed and he leaned his back against the bark with at least three to five whole Papaya skins around his feet. He glanced up at the sun every so often just so he could figure out what of time of day it was?
Thirty minutes passed. And finally, one hour passed and he sat there feeling righteously suspicious and worried that his daughters were taking this long. "Girls, c'mon we've made Mommy wait long enough!" He called them but he only got silence as his answer.
Grunting, Maui stood up and thanks to Moana and Tui for insisting that he leave his fishhook at home—he had to find his daughters the mortal way.
By walking.
This was going to be a long afternoon.
IIIIIIII
'Where are they?' Moana thought, now dressed in her two-piece red puletasi, tapa skirt complete with her waist bamboo belt, whale teeth necklace with the pāua pendant in the middle and elaborate red headdress, as she, her father and a few of High Village Elders were giving their guests, Matai Tūhuruhuru, his Tausi Apakura and their ten year old son—who had since run off to play with the other village children—a tour of Motunui.
"This is quite the peaceful village, Chief Moana. Tell me how you manage to lead such a magnificent place?" Tūhuruhuru remarked.
Moana smiled beside him as she very quickly adjusted her tuiga.
She replied, "Well, I believe it's very important to listen to all your villagers—treat them as family regardless of their ranks. And most of all do what you can to keep everyone happy."
Tūhuruhuru nodded considerably before his wife Apakura spoke out and asked, "And when do we get to meet your Faletua, Chief Moana?"
Moana, feeling incredibly agitated simply forced a polite smile and tried to stall them as much as she could. She very quickly changed the subject asking them instead of their island and their other children instead.
Apakura was happy to report that she and Tūhuruhuru were the proud parents of three children, two sons, and one daughter—and that their two children were still too young to come along on their journey.
Moana then enquired about the situation on their island and that's Tūhuruhuru assured her that their island and other islands were thriving despite the strange phenomenon three years ago.
IIIIIIII
Giggling the two sisters made their way to Waiola's house and very slowly climbed up the paepae. Pushing one of the side sheets apart, Hina peeked in and hissed to get his attention, "Psssstttt...Hiapo. Hiapo!"
The now twelve-year-old Hiapo stopped weaving the fishing net in his hands and turned his wavy dark brown haired head toward the side of his mother's half-opened fale and was surprised to see his Chief's daughters. "Hina? Tala? What are you doing here?"
The two sisters let themselves in as Hina explained, "We're trying to hide from Dad."
Hiapo was even more confused now. Especially when Maui never gave them any reason to hide from him. "What... did you two do?"
"Nothing!" They replied in unison.
Soon they all heard Waiola's voice slowly nearing the fale. Hina grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her along before they made their way out to the back. Hina and Tala jumped down the three-foot tall foundation. Leaving a worried Hiapo to rush over to the edge of his mother's fale right before Hina peeked her head up and whispered, "Oh and if you see Dad, keep him distracted!" She then lowered her head down for a minute before her head suddenly popped back up and added in another whisper, "Don't tell him Tala and I were here!"
Hina then got down again, grabbed her sister's hand, and the two quickly began crawling away from Waiola's fale toward the dense tropical forest beside her house.
Once she felt there were clear, Hina urged her sister to stand up and then turned to her sister holding her fist up. "Remember the plan?"
Tala smiled and replied lifting her own fist, "Yeah." The two sisters fist-bumped walked through the jungle and carried down the path to a secret hangout that only the village children knew about.
Five minutes later Hina and Tala's heads popped out of the bushes when they heard the unmistakable sounds of their friends laughing. Followed by an unknown boy's voice. Pushing her lips to one side and narrowing her eyes, a suspicious Hina lowered herself back down the bush and began crawling
The seven-year-old girl's eyes slowly narrowed when saw a boy—older and not native to her island doing her job—entertaining her friends.
Tala slowly peeked out from behind her sister, pressing her hands against the back of Hina's head. She saw a small glow appearing beside her sister and looked up to see a tall, lean, transparent person with a glowing mask standing beside her sister. With one eyebrow Tala pushed her lips to one side and squinted her eyes before she asked, "Who's that boy?"
Hina stood up and walked over toward them. Tala nearly fell forward but managed to stop herself. She turned to look beside her and saw that spirit was gone. She took another step forward and couldn't help but feel other invisible eyes watching her. She turned around and soon she saw all the invisible creatures that roamed their island. And listened to their voices as they hummed and whispered a name.
"Tala, c'mon!" Her sister called her.
"I'm coming!" Tala shouted back before she turned back to the creatures and said, "Tell me more later." Before she ran toward her older sister.
IIIIIIII
Maui walked down the slope having searched through every tree, fale, bush, mountain, cave and boulder he could find. And after every unsuccessful attempt, he'd made to find them, the Demigod found himself in a rather indecisive mood. In other words, he couldn't figure out whether to be mad or proud for his daughters' trickery.
Either way, he needed to find them and he'd made the decision at this point to find them by sky. So all needed to do was walk down this slope and head to his house, grab his fishhook change to a Giant Hawk.
Problem solved.
He carried on down the slope till he reached his land near the inlet and approached his large fale in front of him before he climbed up the eight steps to the top of his eight-foot-tall foundation when he suddenly stopped at the sounds of soft murmuring coming from inside.
He heard five voices. Two male—one he recognized as Tui's and three females—two he knew were Moana and her mother Sina. And the other two had to be their guests.
He had two choices now. Go on in and make things incredibly awkward for everyone or he could just go back down and continue searching on foot? He chose the latter and turned around.
Apparently, he forgot how heavy his footsteps were because the next minute he heard someone inside excuse his or herself before stepping outside.
He slowly turned around expecting to see Moana or Tui standing there. But was pleasantly surprised to find his mother-in-law instead. Sina smiled, placed her hand on his shoulder and waved her toward the door. A relieved Maui wholeheartedly went in and politely greeted their guests with the hongi before he excused himself and made his way to his folded sleeping mat and very quickly pulled something between the folds.
Moana quickly raised a suspicious eyebrow as her consort quickly excused himself and literally slipped out from one of the side sheets.
Her guests, the thirty-five-old Matai, and his thirty-two-year-old wife turned to one another in perplexity. Tui and Sina also spared each other a confused glance by their son-in-law's arrival to abrupt exit.
Moana excused herself for a moment and stood up before she walked out through the front of the fale.
Maui was a second away from changing forms when he heard Moana clearing her throat from behind him.
"Where have you been?" She asked in a soft demanding voice as to not alert her guests inside, "I expected you and the girls at the beach an hour ago."
"I know, I know. And I was on my way there..." He paused when Moana rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "I'm being honest here! I went to get the girls and we all were on the way down to the beach till Hina and to go and then Tala had to go. So I let them go and they ran off to... wherever they went?"
She stared at him, eyes flat. "So they tricked you."
"Pretty much." He replied.
She felt a headache coming and started rubbing her temples in response. Then she felt Maui's hands on her shoulders as he reassured her.
"I'll change into a Giant Hawk and find them. 'kay?"
She smiled, "Okay. But you bring them straight home do you understand?"
Maui grinned and replied with, "Yes Chief." He then lifted his fishhook ready to change when he felt that dramatic flare ignited in him. He turned to her with a daring grin on his face and very carefully took ten steps back before he sprinted and launched himself from the ground, using his legs as a boost he launched himself into the air and quickly thrust his fishhook downward. A flash blue appeared and there was the great Giant Hawk himself.
Maui let out an excited screech before he flapped his wings and flew. Leaving Moana to watch, shaking her head as she remained on the ground.
IIIIIIII
Hina made her presence known and she stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. Tala stood next to her sister and sensed what she felt. The four-year-old then leaned over, and in a moment of premonition she whispered with know it all tone in her voice, "This is a really bad idea..."
Annoyed, Hina gently pushed her sister to one side before she walked over toward them.
All the children turned to her after hearing the sound of footsteps and listened as Hina said, "Uh, who are you and what are you doing on my island?"
The non-native boy turned to her and mimicked her posture and he retorted,
"And who says this is your island?"
Hina replied with a smug smile on her face as she leaned forward and pointed to herself with her thumb, "Says me, Hinatea Waialiki of Motunui. Daughter of Chief Moana Waialiki and The Demigod Maui."
The Boy stared at her, his face flat of any emotion before a couple of laughs started to escape his lips. Hina and her sister stood there with bored looks on their faces as they watched him huddled over with laughter.
"Ooooohhh… that's rich! That's just rich coming from a pig-faced girl like you!"
Tala and the other children gasped. Hina narrowed her eyes in an irked manner, though deep down she wanted to cry. But she wasn't going give this big jerk that satisfaction. She decided to get mad instead.
After all, who did this stupid head kid think he was? What did he know?
She never asked to look like this, he didn't know that spent a whole week secretly praying to The Gods who raised her Daddy would make her look as pretty as her Mommy and grandma. He didn't know fact she spent the past three years wondering if the fact she wasn't pretty was the reason why Moon friend never came to see her again?
He's a stupid jerk who needed to get his butt kicked.
Hina simply walked over toward the ravine beside the hideout for a moment and dipped her hands in the water as he continued on completely unaware that she was gathering mud.
The Boy, thinking that he had his way, decided to amp up his game and started blaming her dad for what happened to Te fiti a long time ago.
SPLAT!
Mud smacked against his face and dripped down his cheek. More shocked looks appeared on the children's face as they stood behind him. Tala quickly ran over straight to Anuhea.
Hina felt a lot better and she grinned at the annoyed look on his face and put her hand on her hip as she gloated him on as payback for insulting her father and that hurtful comment about her appearance, "Well this little piggy just tossed mud on your perfect little face!"
The Boy wiped the mud off his face and stared at her with burning eyes. But seeing his reaction only added more fuel to her already growing ego.
He then shouted, "At least I know how to respect my elders!"
She mocked him waving her hands in midair,
"At least I know how to respect my elders!"
He grew angry and in retaliation picked up the mud she'd threw at his face and launched it right back at her. Hina quickly dodged it and the next one and the next one till he ran out of mud to throw right back at her. The Boy then picked up pebbles and began launching at Hina. The Village Children all ran and got out of the way while Hina continued on running and dodging The Boy's angry attacks.
The Village Children who unfortunately were in the line of the fire tried quickly to get out of the way and those who couldn't make it ended up getting hurt.
One of those children was Tala herself, whose forehead got cut when a sharp medium size pebble scratched on the right side of her forehead. The very second Hina heard little sister crying and saw her bleeding all bets were off.
She turned to The Boy with her narrowed eyes and with a very clear scowl on her face. She curled her mudstained hands into fists. "Hey Princey, let's go! Right here and now."
The Boy backed away from this crazy girl and cringed.
Hina wasn't going to let him get away with hurting her little sister. "What's wrong Pretty Boy? You too chicken to get your butt kicked by a girl?" She paused, straightened up crossed her arms over her chest and corrected herself while leaning her back forward. "Oh wait. That already happened."
The Boy felt his pride slowly start to press him. But he wasn't going to fight some wild little girl. "I'm not gonna fight—"
"Well, I dunno 'bout you, but if it were me, I'd feel pretty stupid for losing to a girl right about now."
Most of the boys in her village quickly turned to one another in worry while half of the girls there were comforting Tala and the other half were urging Hina to back down.
But the hotheaded girl didn't seem to get the hint because the next minute she started flapping her elbows and clucking like a chicken and kept doing it till she finally heard what she wanted to hear.
"Fine! We'll fight right here at sundown tomorrow!"
Then a loud screech appeared above them and they all looked up to see a huge hawk flying down toward them. The Boy stood there in awe and watched as The Giant Hawk dove down and quickly changed into a large, strong looking man with an astounding number of tattoos.
Tala ripped herself from Anuhea's arms and ran to him crying and screaming, "Daddy!"
Maui quickly put his Giant fishhook to one side and got down to one knee before he pulled his second daughter into his arms and then he saw the cut on her forehead. The other children quickly turned to Hina some of them had sympathetic and some of them had annoyed looks on their faces.
Maui patted Tala's back as he started letting out comforting shushes, "It's okay, okay, sweetheart. Daddy's here." Before he stood up holding a teary faced Tala against the crook of his arm while he directed his eyes to all of the children as he made an attempt to sound stern. "Now, can somebody here tell me what's going on? And how did my daughter's forehead get cut?" Soon the village children quickly surrounded them and all of them starting talking at the same causing a volcano of babbles to erupt.
He waved his free hand and signaled them to settle down. "Kids, kids, kids! Maui only has two ears here. Not one, not three, two. And I can't understand you if you don't talk one at a time, alright?"
The children thankfully quiet down and he smiled,
"That's more like it. Okay! So, what happened?" He suddenly called out after seeing a certain somebody trying to sneak away. "Hinatea, where do you think you're going?"
She stopped in her tracks and slowly turned to see her father raising his eyebrow while giving her a knowing look. Her shoulders slumped and she replied, "Nowhere."
"That's what I thought." Maui then said curling his index finger toward him. "Now, c'mere." Hina reluctantly walked back toward and rejoined the group before she sat down, cross-legged and grumpily crossed her arms over her chest as one by one the children told her father what happened that day.
IIIIIIII
Two wooden bowls were placed in front of the two sisters as Tui made his way back toward to where his wife sat and took his place beside her. Hina and Tala looked down guiltily before they looked up at their grandparents. Then they turned to their parents who sat directly beside them.
Hina looked down at the bowl her grandfather had carved on the day she was born before she diverted her eyes toward the piles of stone her father placed beside her.
"Hinatea." Her mother started, "Do you remember what your grandparents, father and I told you about those bowls?"
Hina nodded and said, "They're 'pose to be me and Tala's bowls of light."
Moana slowly nodded then Maui raised an eyebrow and added,
"And what happens when you do bad things?" The little girl looked down for a moment before she looked up at her father, hoping to find some sympathy but Maui crossed his arms over his chest and raised his eyebrow in an authoritarian fashion before he continued, "And what happens next?"
She sighed and replied, "We put a stone in the bowl..."
"Go on." Sina urged her while being gentle and firm at the same time.
"Umm..." Hina turned and reached over and lifted one of the small-medium size stones in front of her. She picked one up and just stared. What was this suppose to teach her?
She looked up at her parents and grandparents with a confused look on her face. Sina encouraged her to do what she had to do her by putting an imaginary stone into an imaginary bowl in front of her.
Following her grandmother's example, Hina placed the first stone, then her second and her third and last in her bowl she still didn't get it.
Hina then turned to Tala, who only had one stone to put into the bowl. Her little sister had a look of understanding on her face before she looked up at her parents and said in a teary voice,
"I'm sorry..." Tala put her stone in the bowl. Moana immediately opened her arms to their youngest girl. Their four-year-old daughter rushed over and clung to her.
"Hina, do you have something to say?" Said Tui as he gave his eldest granddaughter a stern stare.
The seven-year-old girl groaned then with replied begrudging, "I'm sorry."
Maui grabbed the folded u'a cloth beside him, slung over his shoulder, stood up and wiped his hands.
"Great! Now we've gotten that outta the way—" He proceeded to walk toward the door. He grabbed his Fishhook and used it to lift the sheet over his head. "I got some things I gotta do." Smiling he left out one high-pitched, "Bye!" before he took off.
Moana took a deep breath before she turned to her eldest and saw the forced grin on her face. Moana's expression remained stern as she said, "We'll talk more about this when your father gets home. And you will apologize sincerely this time. Take those stones out and do it again." Tui reached over behind him and pulled out another stone before he set the fourth stone in front of his eldest grandchild.
Hina raised her frustrated clawed fingers in the air and grunted in an annoyed manner before she leaned forward, pressing her face against the floor, her wild curly hair flowed down past her shoulders, hiding whatever disgruntle expression she had on her face as she started letting out incoherent muffled complaints and grunts while laying her face on the river stone surface.
IIIIIIII
Hours passed and the stars began to fill the night sky on the quiet sleepy village as everyone on the island, guests and villagers and The Chief's family prepared to sleep.
Moana got down on her knees carrying her sleeping seven-year-old daughter in arms as she prepared to set her down on the sleeping map beside her sister's. She didn't know what time Maui would return or whether he left the island without telling her again and left her to explain to Hina the severity of her actions. And he left her comfort their seven-year-old when she started crying from remorse.
She watched as her daughter shifted slightly and her daughter's upper lip started to twitch like it always did whenever she slept. That put a small smile to the now twenty-seven-old mother's face as she reached over and brushed her hand against her daughter's cheek. Then Hina's lips formed a small involuntary smile as Moana pulled her hand and sighed,
"What am I gonna do with you?"
She heard two loud THUMPS outside followed slowly by her consort's footsteps as he quietly tried to make his way up the stone foundation to their house, only for her to hear him stopping his tracks at the faint glow of a single burning candlenut inside a wooden bowl.
She stood up and turned crossing her arms the same time he entered their fale. Her feelings of annoyance quickly changed to perplexity when she saw the large moving sack he had on his back. Maui's eyes quickly moved to the bag he had on his shoulder and quickly hid it behind his back.
"What are you hiding?" She asked with an un-amused look on her face.
"Nothing." He said before more familiar growls and grunts came from the sack.
Moana's eyes slowly went wide.
No. No. Oh no.
The bag was ripped away from his right hand and suddenly found its way to Moana's as she stood behind him to open the sack. To her extreme surprise a four-fingered pink hand holding a bamboo blowgun popped out and she immediately pulled the blowgun away and pushed the arm down before she quickly closed it back up. Her eyes still wide with shock for a few seconds before her eyes slowly narrowed as she slowly turned to her Faletua.
She then spoke in a harsh whisper, "Why would you bring The Kakamora here?!"
"First of all it's not 'the' it's 'a' so that means only one and second of all, did you forget that snot-nosed kid challenged our daughter to a fight?" Maui reached over and took the bag back from her and said in a very casual tone, "And what better way to prep her than with this little guy or girl?"
Moana then pointed to the weapon in her hand and said,
"He—she—it had a blowgun."
Maui retorted, "That you just took away."
Moana groaned and buried her face in her hands letting the blowgun fall to the floor before she slowly lowered herself to the floor in pure exasperation leaving him completely confused by her reaction.
He tied the top of his makeshift sack good and tight so the little coconut-wearing beast wouldn't escape and put the bag down on the floor before he softly got down and sat down next to her as he put his fishhook down.
"You okay?" He asked her out of pure concern. Moana slowly pulled her face away from her face and let out a soft sigh.
"I'm trying to instill good values—"
"So am I." He stopped when he saw her glaring at him and quickly replied, "Sorry."
She sighed for a moment before she looked up at him with a small short lasting smile on her face before she turned away and stared at the floor, "Maui, wars can start from disagreements like this. And that's the last thing we all need right now."
Soon a solemn look slowly appeared on his face as he finally started to understand what she getting at. All the different villages slowly began to thrive again after the whole calamity he'd unknowingly brought upon the human race all those long years ago. And they wish to continue to thrive. But in order to that, they all needed to work together to make it happen.
He turned toward her and saw the despondent expression that carved its way into her face. "I'm just trying to teach her that aggression isn't the answer to everything."
He turned away from her a moment and took a deep breath before replied since they were basically letting things out into the open anyway,
"And I'm trying to teach her not to let herself get pushed around."
Soon a proud smile came to his face as he continued his voice once again filling with his usual energy, "You should've seen her Moana! The dodges, how fast she moved! You would've been so..." He turned to her and the energy in his voice slowly disappeared when he saw the next expression on her face, "...proud."
She had her eyes closed with her finger and thumb pressed against the bridge of her nose. Her mind filling up with thoughts of all the possibilities to even register the fact that he'd seen the whole thing when he flew the skies and did nothing to stop it.
Maui reached over ready to place a comforting hand on her shoulder when he suddenly drew back.
Maybe that was too soon?
But he couldn't stand seeing her this way. So what could he do to cheer her up? Then the thought immediately came to mind. The Ocean. The Ocean would cheer her up.
Moana turned and looked up when she felt the floor shaking slightly beside her and she saw Maui stood up, walked and picked up the bowl with the lit candlenut before he blew it out with one strong breath.
She let out of sigh and turned away, thinking that he was ready to go to bed. Instead, he turned toward their two children and made sure they were fast asleep before carefully walked over and sat back down next to her before he asked,
"Wanna go to the beach and clear your head for a bit, Princess?" She elbowed him in the gut as a small sniffle of a giggle escaped her lips.
She smiled as she turned to him while the small glow of moonlight peeked through the sides of the pola sheets and shined on her face slightly, "Thanks for the offer but I think I'll pass—" She suddenly cried out in shock as he threw her onto his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the house with her. Moana then told him in a harsh whisper, "Maui please put me down!"
"Nope." He told her as he carried her all the way toward the beach. "I say you've got way too much in your head right now Chief, and so, it's beach time."
She remained silent and he turned his head slightly turned to glance at her over his shoulder as he added. "You know I'm right."
Moana slowly turned her head to face him and their eyes barely met. And they both thought about how one was just as stubborn as the other.
IIIIIIII
But she had to admit that she missed feeling the waves touching her toes and the salty scent of the sea. Moana stood where she felt she belonged and danced to the sounds of its waters striking the sand.
He was right.
She needed this. And she hopes that she'll be able to think better with a clear head.
Maui watched her from the beach and savored how happy she looked as her hips—that had become attractively wider after bearing two children—gently swayed and how she moved her arms with the motions of the waves. He watched how her feet moved. How one went back and the other forward before one twisted diagonally to one side and the other followed right behind that foot.
Suddenly she stopped and her head whirled around back toward the direction of their fale. Wide-eyed she suddenly took off running back in the direction of their home.
He turned around and that's when he heard it, their daughters screaming in horror. Maui jumped to his feet and immediately ran behind her.
IIIIIIII
Hina screamed as she raised her mother's water gourd high up ready to throw it as she guarded her screaming little sister behind her. The little coconut armored person? With the puffer fishskin helmet free from its now torn bark cloth prison waved its blowgun before it took aim blew the blowdarts in the direction of the girls.
Hina ducked and pulled her sister down with her before she got up, let out a yell and threw the water gourd at its head.
The water gourd struck and bounced off its coconut armor and stunned the two sisters to silence. Tala held onto her sister's dress as Hina's eyes narrowed in an irked manner and she muttered, "I hate coconuts."
The creature prepared to fire once more. Hina and Tala started screaming again before she grabbed her four-year-old sister's hand and started running round and round and around their circular house trying to get away as the surprisingly cute—but scary little monster started chasing at them before it stopped for a quick second and looked up at the poutu. While the two girls continued on screaming and running the background. Hina suddenly stopped causing Tala to bump into her and fall to the ground.
"Where's—Ack!" Hina jumped back trying not to get hit by the blow darts firing above them and rolled backwards against Tala as her sister ducked down on her knees.
"Ow...ow...ow..." Hina grunted as she sat up and rubbed the back of her head. But she barely had time to think when another blow dart came flying her way. She dodged it and grabbed her sister and tried running in the opposite direction from the strange coconut armored thing.
"Girls!" Moana cried as she pushed her way through the front door. A dart flew her way and landed by her feet. She looked down and up toward the support poles. The creature stared at her and in a moment of recognition did a battle dance before it aimed its blowgun at her.
Moana's eyes narrowed before she raced to one side as the blow darts were fired. She made her way to her girls, scooped Tala up and grabbed Hina by the hand and ran out, pushing her way through the back of the fale where she jumped with her daughters and ran.
"Mommy what was that thing?!" Hina asked aloud as her mother took her and her sister outside through the back. "Kakamora!" Tala suddenly shouted. Hina simply stared at her with a bewildered look on her face.
Moana put Tala down beside Hina and ordered, "Stay here." Before she turned around and headed back to the fale. She only took two steps forward when she heard a crashing sound coming from inside.
Panicked, Moana quickly ran back but only made it about two steps when Maui came crashing through the back of their house and rolled on the grass. Maui grabbed the Kakamora and threw it against the tree.
The blasted coconut armored imp didn't know how to stay down so Maui put his Fishhook beside him, spread his legs apart slightly, bent his knees and leaned forward before he drew his bent arms back while clenching his fists.
Moana stopped in her tracks in astonishment and horrified wonder.
'Why isn't he stopping that thing?' She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't notice her disobedient daughters running up next to her.
The Kakamora stood up and got into a fighting stance. Maui then put all of his energy and fighting spirit into his face. He stomped his foot and brought all that energy out into a single powerful expression, his Warrior Face.
With his narrowed brows, eyes wide and his mouth opened his bared teeth temporarily clamped shut, "HA!" The Kakamora slowly drew away. Maui let out another threatening cry while putting all of his energy on his face, "RAH!" He stuck his tongue out in an intimidating opened mouth snare. And with that, the Kakamora fainted from fright.
Moana stood there with her mouth slightly agape as her youngest daughter slowly walked over and took her hand. Hina didn't even move from where she stood. Her young mind was trying to register what happened. Her Daddy just made that weird scary thing faint without even touching it.
How did he do that? Her mouth slowly broke into an ecstatic smile, after three years of trying to break the habit. Hina started stomping her feet in anticipation while trying to contain her excitement. But after ten seconds she couldn't take it anymore! Hina quickly ran up to him and screamed, "Daddy! Daddy! You gotta teach me!"
Tala quickly pulled herself away from her mother and ran up to her father. "Me too! Me too!"
Maui got down and looked down at his two daughters as he turned them both with an eyebrow raised and a half-cheeky smile on his face. "Do you girls really wanna know?"
"Yeah!" They replied.
"Well. If that's the case..." Maui paused and watched his daughter's looks of complete anticipation before he put his arms around them and stood up while picking them up at the same time to declare as spun all them around, "I'll be more than happy to teach you girls!"
Moana coughed and cleared her throat and gave him a knowing look. Maui immediately stopped and glanced at his daughters before he added, "Only if it's okay with your mother."
Hina and Tala immediately turned to Moana with pouty eyes. Moana crossed her arms over her chest and gave them all a stern stare before she sighed and shook her head.
"Think about it this way. Hina won't have to fight anybody and if there's no fight then there's no reason to start a war."
She raised an eyebrow and started rubbing her chin in consideration before she finally agreed,
"All right you can teach them."
"Yes!" The three of them went before the two sisters leaned forward and put their arms around their father. Moana walked over and carefully pulled Hina and Tala off their father's shoulders.
Maui turned to them both. "Okay, girls it's late so off to bed with you."
"Daddy do we have to?" Hina asked while her sister put her hand on hers before they looked up at him, pouting even harder.
Maui smiled and said with a shrug, "Oh sure, you two can stay up and watch mommy and I making kissy-faces."
Moana slowly turned toward him and saw that split second wink before she joined in and placed her hand on his chest as she said, "He's right you know. Daddy and I are gonna be out here all night just telling each other just how much we love each other." Moana then stood on the tip of her toes and slowly brought her head and lips forward to his, and stopped when they were less than one inches apart.
Hina made a face and cringed, "Ew! Ew! Ew!"
She took her sister's hand and pulled her along back toward the fale and ignored her when she protested, "I wanna see!"
Maui and Moana slowly pulled away and chuckled the very second their daughters disappeared back into the house. The two turned to one another and said in unison, "Works every time." Before they gave each other a high-five and a fist bump.
The Kakamora then came to and saw Maui there before he rushed over toward the Demigod. Maui sighed and quickly picked up his fishhook before he used it to bat the Kakamora straight toward a coconut tree. Sighing to himself he stated, "Well, that didn't go as planned."
Moana crossed her arms over her chest and pointed out,
"What more did you expect? And why did you bring one of those...things here on the island?"
"I told you I was trying to prep our daughter up for her fight tomo—later on, tonight."
She shook her head in disbelief and he continued before he moved to stand behind and beside her.
He placed his hand on her shoulder, "She has real greatness potential, Mo. You really should've seen her today. I think you'd be really impressed."
She rolled her eyes and turned her head slightly toward him.
"Imagine this." He lifted his hand to the side of his mouth and his arm around her shoulder. She turned toward his bicep and saw the scene that played out. He continued on narrating, "A great crowd gathers. Hah..." And Mini-Maui started raising his arms up and down in a cheering fashion as Maui cheered in a low husky whisper to give his voice the crowd effect, "Hina... Hina... Hina..." The Demigod raised his arm in a low fist pump and finished with, "You're so amazing!"
Moana looked up at him chuckling as she said, "I know she and her sister will become great people one day. I can feel that just as much as you can."
Maui then questioned in a teasing manner with one eyebrow raised, "She has a sister?" Moana's eyes went wide and gave him a good smack on the arm for that comment. He just laughed and said, "How could I ever forget Tala? She's... She's something else."
Moana smiled and added, "She's sensitive, empathetic—"
He turned to with a confused look on his face, "Empathetic?"
She answered his question and continued at the same time, "Compassionate. And I'm pretty sure she'll be quite the independent thinker when she gets older."
He let out a soft snort as his mind focused on the word independent thinker. That could mean one of three things. One she would have a mind of her own or two she would search for answers to every question that she had in her mind or three she would think what she wanted to think and not let anybody tell her otherwise. He hopes it'll be the third one.
Soon The Kakamora got up for the third time and immediately charged at the couple. Maui whacked the stubborn creature with his fishhook again and sent it flying back to the coconut tree.
Moana finally had enough and asked Maui to take the poor thing back where he got it. He rolled his eyes at her compassion for the 'poor' little guy or girl—it and walked over to pick up the unconscious little fella by the foot and carried the Kakamora over toward where his upside down fishhook stood. Maui lifted his hook and shapeshifted into a Giant Hawk before he used his talon to carry the unconscious creature while he flapped his mighty wings and flew.
Moana put her hands on her hips as she watched him fly away before she carefully made her way over toward her fale when she heard the sounds of a feminine grunt coming from behind her. Moana turned and saw it was Apakura, still dressed in her light red puletasi with her long straight hair done up in half-knot.
She sighed in relief the minute she saw Moana was still awake. "Chief—"
"Moana would be fine."
Apakura smiled gently at her before she approached the young mother of two as she explained, "If it's not too much trouble with you, Moana, may we talk—"
Moana cut her off gently and said. "Mother to mother?" Apakura nodded. A small smile came to the twenty-seven-year-old Chief's lips as she reached over and placed her hand on the older Tausi'sshoulder before she replied, "Of course. Let's talk more at the beach."
Apakura nodded in agreement and followed her lead as the two women proceeded to walk down to the beach.
IIIIIIII
Once again Moana revelled at the feeling of the seawater striking her feet while Apakura sat down on the sand with her legs folded under her. She stood there watching Moana dancing gently against the waves before she stood up and walked over toward her.
"Do you mind teaching me?" She asked. Moana smiled as she turned to her while she continued on dancing and replied,
"Of course not."
Apakura smiled and soon joined in and paid close attention to her movements. Moana watched her carefully and was surprised to see that after about twenty minutes she got all the moves down.
"Let me just apologize for my son's actions today," Apakura spoke out as she and Moana spun with their arms raised up toward the sky.
Moana then replied, "And allow me to apologize on my daughter's behalf too. She's... hotheaded at times."
Apakura couldn't help but laugh and added,
"Don't worry Tuwhakararo is too. I think it may have a lot to do with the fact that they're both the firstborn children of Chiefs." Moana laughed for a moment as she and Apakura performed the final moves to the dance before they stopped.
Moana smiled as she turned to Apakura and saw the friendly smile on the woman's face before she said. "I hope you're not offended?" Moana shook her head before she said, "So no hard feelings?" Apakura immediately shook her head, "Of course not. Children will be children."
The two women then exchanged a farewell hongi before they walked up the beach and headed toward the village path and soon headed their separate ways, each of them feeling remarkably better after the whole exchange as they entered their fales.
IIIIIIII
Moana was relieved the next morning when Tūhuruhuru and his wife Apakura came by to her fale each of them holding several layers of fine tapa mats and a i'e toga in their arms. Tūhuruhuru then politely requested that they formally settle the matter between children as to keep the good standing relationship between their two families.
The twenty-seven-year-old Ali'i nua smiled and invited them to come and discuss the matter in her fale fono.
IIIIIIII
Earlier that morning, Maui, Hina, and Tala went over to Waiola's fale and waited till the woman had stepped out before they made their way inside where an unsuspecting Hiapo laid fast asleep on his sleeping mat. Maui turned to his daughters with a devious dimpled smile on his lips, his daughters turned to him with the very same expression. Maui leaned over, bundled him up in his sleeping mat and threw the startled boy over his shoulder.
Hina and Tala followed after their father out into a secluded but dense part of their island where a large thick jungle laid.
After about a five to twenty minute walk, they found a small little clearing beside a small ravine and Maui pulled the sleeping mat off his shoulder and unrolled it with a strong tug causing Hiapo to quickly spin around. Hina and Tala ran over and grabbed his hands forcing him to a stop before he could fall into the ravine.
The twelve-year-old boy dressed in the un-dyed leaf patterned lavalava stood there in a surprised pose with his arms outstretched in front of him and his knees bent while his legs parted slightly to keep him in balance.
Hina walked the short distance over toward him with a smug smile on her face as she hid her hands behind her back.
He shook the dizziness from his head and studied his surroundings with his mouth agape then he slowly turned and narrowed his eyes at the seven-year-old girl. He was ready to give her a piece of his mind and then he stopped when he realized that logically there was no way she could've just carry him with ease by herself.
Which could only mean that her father was present too. Sure enough, he looked over behind her and saw Tala, and behind the four-year-old girl was The Great Maui himself. Despite his annoyance to be dragged back into their shenanigans, Hiapo asked them as respectably as possible. "What do you need me to do?"
Maui answered with a confident smile on his face, "Just stand there." He turned to his two daughters and called out, "Girls come with me!"
Hina and Tala raced after their father, leaving Hiapo to stand there and shake his head as they disappeared into through the thick forest in front of him.
IIIIIIII
Maui and his daughters squatted down behind a bush as the Demigod turned father of two-faced his daughters and explained while he was putting his hair up into a topknot,
"Now here's what you gotta do. Take your fear, pain, joy, rage and mix 'em up together into something the world still hasn't seen."
Hina and Tala nodded eagerly as their minds absorbed every single lesson their father was telling them. "Most of all, keep your real feelings inside. Don't let it show."
"Okay Dad," Hina replied. Meanwhile, Tala just knew just how bad that advice was. But before she could open her mouth to say thing something, he'd fastened the rope that bound his hair up then he motioned them to follow him.
IIIIIIII
Hiapo started pacing as he waited for the three kids, praying that his mother wouldn't kill him for his forced absence.
Maui called out to him, as he and the girls walked out, "All right Hiapo get ready!"
The twelve-year-old boy turned to him with a confused look on his face as he asked, "Get ready for what?" Maui then got squatted with his legs drawn slightly apart and got into a traditional war stance,
"Come at me."
Hiapo's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he stared at his Chief's Faletua in complete disbelief.
Has he lost his mind?
"I can't do that—do you know what they do to people who try and attack the Chief's fam—"
Maui the cut him off and retorted, "Uh, and do you know what they do to tweens who disrespect their elders?"
Hiapo crinkled his nose in confusion at the term. "Tweens?"
The Demigod let out a frustrated growl, "It means—never mind. Look, just come at me okay?"
The dread immediately filled his mind as he thought, 'I am so dead.' With one powerful yell Hiapo put up any brave face he could muster and rushed at Moana's Faletua.
Maui had to admit Hiapo had skill too.
'Maybe when I'm done here, I'll ask him if he's interested?' The twelve-year-old was finally close now and the notion came automatically to Demigod. He got into position as all of his emotions and mana into his face and brought it all out in with one single terrifying look.
Hiapo let out a loud boyish scream as he fell back on the ground. And then Maui laughed like he'd never laughed before. Hiapo tried hard not to cast a deadly glare at him.
"You okay?" Tala asked, now standing next to him.
He replied breathlessly, "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine."
"Pretty cool huh?" Maui stated proudly.
Hiapo slowly nodded before he slowly got up and dusted the dirt off his lavalava. "What was that?" He asked.
Maui and Hina turned to one another, both smiling as they stated at the same time, "Warrior face." He got down to Hina's height,
"All right Shark-bait, now it's your turn."
Hina could hardly wait.
List of terminologies:
Kanohi Hautoa: Warrior Face (XP)
Tausi: The Wife of an Orator Chief (For story purposes she will also be known as the wife of a Matai)
ie'toga: A large fine mat of high value in Samoan culture.
oka i'a: Samoan fish salad.
Alaisa fa'apopo: Coconut rice.
Hey guys, just a quick author's note.
I found an interesting post on Tumblr called: "How to praise writers and influence fics" And it has put down some really good points.
If you, the readers truly enjoy our works then leaving kudos (if you're in Ao3) or faving or putting a story you like as part of your favorite story + alerts or adding an author to your Favorite Author's list is flattering nonetheless. But if you really want to show your appreciation to the author, then please, and I mean review (or comment if you're in Ao3) their work. Let them know what you liked, hated, or overall felt okay with? Did some parts make you cry? Did some parts bring fiery rage in your heart? Give us feedback! Give us some form of acknowledgement that our work is being read and is or not making an impact in your life?
I know this is whole author's note is quite dramatic, but there is some truth to it. We as writers-literary artists seek critiques for our written masterpieces. Especially after we've put a lot of effort into our written works.
So, again. I apologize for having to ask.
But please and I mean please review.
And thank you to 3431Jessica for reviewing all three chapters of Hinatea! I'm so glad that you're loving this story! And don't worry there's more fluff (and a possible appearance of a teenage Hinatea coming!)