Hey guys, sorry for the extremely long update! But it's been hard keeping up with this chapter and school at the same time––and I ended up having to choose school then working on this chapter. But now I'm on term break till the first of May.

Now to let you know this chapter was originally going to be much longer (and have a different ending) but then I realized that I had too much going on, so began the process of three edits (in which I had to take out more than half of this chapter) at last, here is chapter five!

With that said, please forgive me if any of the characters appear OOC or if there are grammatical or spelling errors of any kind!

I hope you enjoy! :)

Chapter Five: Hāpai

Tala stood in complete shock as her tears were running down her cheeks, watching the scene by the edge of the sand dune. Hiapo and his mother were trying hard to bring Hinatea back.

She watched as her father rushed past her and ran toward the scene and effortlessly shoved or punched the men who'd even dared tried holding him back. That was until Tui stood forward putting himself between Maui and Waiola, Hiapo, and Moana.

And loud coughs resonated. Waiola turned the girl on her side to make it easier for the seawater to leave her already too fragile body.

Maui tried to move around his father-in-law, but Tui put his hands on the panicking Demigod's shoulders. "Lemme through!"

Tui told him as he held his son-in-law back, "Maui, you have to remain calm—"

Maui almost shoved him out of the way. "That's my daughter out there now lemme through!" Moana got up and quickly intervened as she put her hands on his chest, trying to calm him down. "Maui please."

"Move! Move!" Waiola shouted at them all as Hiapo lifted and carried Hina off the sand. He and his mother ran all the way from the beach to their fale.

Tala quickly jumped to one side and watched as her mother, father, grandparents and the rest of the villagers followed them.

She slowly turned back to face the spot where her father stood staring at flat sea before them.

Her eyes started to water again as the question left her lips, "What happened, Ocean?" The Ocean stretched forward and rubbed its watery tip against her cheek, comforting her before pulling itself back to become one with the rest of the sea.

More tears ran down her lips as she leaned forward and for once in her life, she wanted to scream at it for hurting her big sister but she didn't want to make The Ocean angry too.

She didn't want to feel angry too.

Sudden rushing footsteps came echoing from behind her, and then she was scooped up into soft and gentle arms. Tala looked up and saw it was her grandmother.

Sina carried her away from the beach up the sandbank and all the way up to the maota tofa.

IIIIIIII

All the pola sheets were closed, her grandfather and Hiapo's brother-in-laws waited outside, each of them was giving their accounts of the incident. Her grandmother put her down and very quickly made her way inside.

Tala stood there, watching, observing and taking in everything that was happening all around her; her grandfather's strong stance as he stood there with a calm look on his face but complete sadness and dread in his eyes. Her grandmother came out a few seconds later and stood beside him with her arms wrapped around his left arm as she also listened with a calm, collected look on her face.

Tala could tell that her grandparents' brave face was a result of their many years of experience from playing their roles in their village. The ability to remain calm even in the toughest of situations had become an admirable part of them just as it was a part of her mother. It was a big part of her, but it wasn't a complete part yet.

How would her mother deal with this?

'What'll Mommy do?' She thought before she turned her head toward the closed entrance and slowly walked over toward it and lifted the sheet and peeked inside.

Waiola, Hiapo and his eldest sister Aimata were tending to Hina and her mother was standing there…alone.

Where was her father? Tala peeked her head a bit more and she couldn't see him anywhere. Suddenly she heard a loud thump beside the large fale and she turned to see a hint of her father's broad shoulders walking toward the jungle surrounding their land dragging his fishhook through the soil as he disappeared through the trees.

Tala turned and headed toward the edge of the paepae and stared at the path her father had walked through. She headed toward the steps and was about to climb down when she felt Ikaika putting his hand on her shoulder. "Leave your father be, Tala. Go be with your mother." Ikaika gently pushed her back toward the direction of the front entrance to her fale.

Tala stopped. Her feelings were telling her that she needed to go with her father. She needed to go down the same path. Tala quickly moved past Ikaika and walked over to her grandparents, who were still conversing with Hiapo's brothers-in-law. She stopped and waited till they finished or till they noticed her.

They continued on talking for a few minutes and then Tui suddenly turned to his granddaughter. The little girl took a step forward and she asked, "Grampa, can I go find Daddy?"

Tui immediately nodded and they all watched as she ran toward the steps and rushed down before she dashed toward the jungle, following the path her father had crossed.

IIIIIIII

Snap… snap… snap…

Maui sighed from the curved trunk he'd been sitting on as he tossed away the thick pieces of the branch he'd been breaking and leaned forward with his eyes closed.

The Ocean appeared in a swell and stood in front of him. Maui then looked down and kept his gaze on the sand while The Ocean remained where it stood.

Tala approached the beach and watched as her father's hand clenched. Maui stood up gripping his fishhook and asked making a half effort to keep the bubbling of rage out his voice,

"You were suppose to protect her. So what happened?"

The Ocean couldn't speak and its involuntary silence was what made him snap. "WHAT HAPPENED?!"

Tala stopped in her tracks before she got too close to her seething father. She spoke out in a meek voice, "Daddy, The Ocean doesn't have a mouth to talk with…"

Maui's eyes slowly closed at the sound of second daughter's frightened voice. He opened his eyes and turned to The Ocean before he opened his mouth to spew out more anger, but he closed his lips as soon as he opened them. Tala quickly ran over and wrapped her arm around his wrist, "Don't worry Daddy, Hina's gonna wake up soon."

His heart felt ready to burst painfully out of his chest when he heard her words.

Children's innocence was so bittersweet.

He turned to her, feeling the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. Maui paused as he forced himself to accept the harsh fact while trying to remain strong. He picked her up and carried her by the crook of his arm as he walked back toward the curved tree trunk before he put his fishhook down and settled her down next to him.

"Tala, listen…uh…there's—there's a big chance that your sister's…" The words caught in his throat—he'd seen moments like these throughout his long, long life and he knew firsthand that children who spent too long underwater almost always perished. He closed his eyes and swallowed the lump forming in his throat—he couldn't get the words out of his throat no matter hard he tried.

Tala looked up at him and said, "She's gonna wake up again, you'll see." Maui turned to her and forced a smile before he lifted her up and pulled her to his shoulder. Tala put her arm around the back of his neck and told him, "She's strong like you."

His smile slowly disappeared as he closed his eyes. His face scrunched up in response to painstaking dread, realization, and grief crawling up inside him.

She wasn't strong. She wasn't lucky like he had been. They were no Gods to fix this mess now… He'd put so much of his faith dreams and his hope in Hinatea he unintentionally disregarded the fact that she was mortal and she would always be mortal, and now his little girl was paying the price for his mistake.

"No, she's not…" Maui said sighing in defeat, "I just… fooled myself and her into thinking that she's gonna become something amazing one day."

Tala pushed herself away from her father's shoulders and leaned back as she stood with her little feet out from his hands as she reached up to touch his cheek.

He opened his eyes and gazed upon his daughter's and he was amazed to see the internalization in her eyes, as she seemed to see right through him. Tala then said, "Don't all daddies think that?"

Maui let out a soft sad chuckle as he lifted her up and pressed his forehead against hers and said, "Yeah Kiddo, we do." Then he asked rhetorically, "When'd you get so smart?"

She replied unaware that she didn't need to answer, "Since forever."

More chuckles escaped his lips as leaned closer and pressed his nose to hers before he pulled her away for a second before he drew his young daughter close to him for another hug. His hands pressed against her back as her left arm sprawled out against his broad neckline and right arm barely curled around the back of his neck.

"You know I love you lots too, right?" Maui told her.

"Uh-huh." She replied in a soft whisper as she hugged him and he flung his arms around her in desperation for any form of comfort he could get, "Hina's gonna be okay, Daddy you'll see." Tala continued hugging him and didn't even mind if he'd settled her down to his lap and kept his arms around her as they stared at the beach, watching the sun slowly sinking into the horizon.

Then three hours later the resonating mournful conch shell horn echoed all the way from his and Moana's fale to the beach. The melody signaled to him that the very moment he'd been dreading had come.

A child of Motunui—his firstborn daughter had died tonight.

IIIIIIII

The fale would've been completely dark had it not been for that single lit candlenut inside the wooden bowl. The two look over toward the edge of the house and could barely make out Moana's kneeling form as she sat beside a certain someone's sleeping mat.

Maui's footsteps echoed from behind her and slowly got louder as he approached the spot next to her before he sat down, crossing his legs.

The two sat down as a long, dreary, insufferable silence passed between them. He gazed Hina after she'd been cleaned up. Her long wild curly hair was done up in a proper braid that was draped over her left shoulder. Her right hand rested on top on her left hand, and her face bore such serenity it actually looked like she was sleeping.

Wiping his corners of his eyes with his thumb and swallowed the lump in his throat.

Tala approached them from behind and watched as her father put his arm around her mother as she rested her head against him. Maui rubbed her shoulder as she pressed her forehead the crook of his shoulder and hid away her tears.

The little girl looked over to glance at her older sister as she lay there on her sleeping mat. Tala slowly walked over toward the sleeping mat and reached over to press her hand on her sister's cheek when Maui reached out and scooped her up before he brought her close to them.

She looked up and saw the sad looks on her parents' face and she turned toward her sister again and looked up at her parents in worry and for a moment she lost hope before she regained it again, "Hina's gonna wake up again." She said as she continued looking at them both. Moana looked down at the second daughter and slowly brushed some of her wavy hair off her face. "No, Tala. Your sister's not gonna wake up again." Tala felt her father handing her to her mother before he got up and walked out of the home.

Tala was confused; something inside her told her that she would... so why didn't her parents believe her? "But she's—"

Moana had her eyes closed once more. Tala reached over and touched her mother's cheek with her hand. Her mother opened her eyes and looked down at her as she pulled her daughter up and started patting her back, "I'm okay Tala. I'm okay."

But she wasn't okay and her young heart could sense that. She turned and caught a glimpse of her father sitting out on the paepae. Then she heard her mother sigh and said, "Okay, it's time to sleep." Moana stood up and held her daughter closer to her as she walked over toward her sleeping mat and laid her little girl down.

Tala looked up at her mother as she pulled her blanket up to her chin and then she said, "Hina's gonna wake up again, Mommy." She then felt her mother's hand on her cheek as she looked down at her with a sad smile on her face. Moana leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Tala then asked, "Aren't you going to give Hina a kiss on the head too?" Her mother looked down at her with pain her eyes as she leaned down and pressed her forehead against hers while she explained,

"I can't do that. It's tapu. And you know what tapu means right?"

Tala nodded and Moana gave her daughter another kiss on the head and told her, "Now, get some sleep… we have a big day tomorrow."

Tala watched as her mother got up and walked over toward the main entrance of the fale and pushed aside the sheet before she stepped out and sat next to Maui.

IIIIIIII

The two parents sat outside in silence as neither one of them had the courage to face one another… till Moana turned to him after she stared at full moon shining above them. She commented, "Do you remember Hina was born on a night like this?" Maui slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah?" He replied, "How's that gonna change anything?"

She answered, "I don't know…"

He closed his eyes and retorted in a soft dejected tone, "My point exactly." He remembered that night very well though. It was one of the most joyous life-changing nights of his life. But now…reminiscing that event only made the fact—a fact that he was still having trouble coming to terms with—even more heartbreaking.

Moana then chuckled and said, "Do you remember how small she was compared to you?"

That brought up a pleasant memory in him and for a slip second, he remembered the warm glow around the inside the fale from the numerous of lit candlenuts all around. He remembered how his then two-hour-old Hina wriggled and flailed in his hand, and just like a flame that beautiful moment was gone and he was back in the paepae staring at his bare empty palm.

He slowly curled his fingers inward and closed his eyes for a moment before looked on straight into the dark horizon. "I can't believe she's gone." The words escaped his lips before he could even stop himself. Moana hesitantly turned her head to face him and saw the internal struggle on his face. The way he sucked his lips in, the way he'd tightly shut his eyes and how his face scrunched up every few minutes as he fought to keep his composure.

This blow was just too hard—too unimaginably painful for even the strongest to bear.

This was too hard for them to bear.

"Hiapo told me what happened." She spoke out. Maui continued looking out as he listened and she continued, "There was a storm and they wanted to turn back…" She paused to take a deep breath just to keep the horrible images of her daughter screaming for them out of her head, "They wanted to turn back… and—"

He cut her off and said with knowing tone in his voice,

"She didn't let them turn back." A dreary silence transpired between them as neither of them dared utter the answer. Maui knew Hina wouldn't have let them.

"You were right." He sighed shrugging his shoulders slightly, "I… spoiled her and now she's paying the price for it."

Moana looked up at him and said, "Maui, it's not—"

"I wanted to give her everything I thought she deserved. I wanted her to give her the love my parents never gave me. But I screwed up and now she's gone…"

This moment brought back more memories to their previous child, who only lived within Moana for such a short, short time before he or she was taken away. Part of him wondered if their child's spirit was around here, witnessing this moment? But those thoughts only added to his grief and his thoughts to what could've been and what should've been.

"It's not your fault." She whispered back in an attempt to comfort him and alleviate his feelings of guilt at the same time. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his shoulder as her own grief became harder and harder for her to hold back, "It wasn't your fault."

He lifted his hand up toward his shoulder and clasped her hand and held it tight. She didn't know how to take it? Was he telling her it was all right for her to cry now?

She didn't want to cry—she couldn't cry… not while Hinatea's spirit was still around. It wasn't right… no matter how much it hurt. Death wasn't the end—at least not for her or people. But it was for him.

It was for both of them.

'I can't think like that.' She told herself. This was a period to celebrate their daughter's short life, not sit around in misery and grief. Despite her short time with them, Hina brought them as much frustration as she did happiness, and that's what she wanted to remember—the happy memories; from her first steps to her first words to her first tooth. She then said fondly,"Hina was always stubborn even on the night of her birth, she refused to come out. That's usually the first sign that she was going to be a very difficult baby." She felt the tears coming and forced them back as she continued, "And she was. But when she finally came out, she let out the strongest cries I'd ever heard." And in the end, delivering a healthy baby that was all that important to her. The past started flooding in, and the emotions she experienced through Hina's labour started coming in, all of them concerning another child left the world far too soon. The strange thing was, she no longer mourned for Hina's and Tala's lost sibling, she could feel her child's spirit here in the fale and deep inside her heart, just as Hinatea was now.

"Pardon us Chief Moana."

The pair turned and saw Tūhuruhuru and Apakura walking to their fale carrying gifts of food in their arms. The two stopped and bowed their heads to the grieving parents. Moana nodded back in acknowledgement and Apakura climbed up the stone steps, walked over to Maui and handed her gift to him before she took one-step down and stood a foot below them.

Then it was her husband's turn and Tūhuruhuru kept his stance strong but consoling as he walked up to Moana and offered her his gift. She accepted in graciously, "Thank you." She replied. Tūhuruhuru and Apakura looked at them both and said to Moana specifically, "We're so sorry for your loss."

Maui slowly nodded and replied, "Thank you." Apakura slowly frowned to the melancholic expression on his face. She then said, "If there's anything we can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask."

"We'll keep that in mind, thank you," Moana replied on her faletua's behalf.

Tūhuruhuru then asked, "I hope you mind if we extended our stay by two more days, Chief Moana?"

Moana replied politely, "You and your family are free to stay as long as you need, Matai Tūhuruhuru."

Apakura replied, "Thank you." Tūhuruhuru placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and they each bowed their head to Moana and Maui before they turned around on the steps and proceeded to walk down the stone steps.

Moana and Maui looked on and watched as they left. She turned to her faletua just in time to see him standing up before he back inside their home, leaving Apakura's gift behind as he proceeded to walk toward the entrance.

She watched with sad eyes as he pushed the sheet to one side and entered their home. Tūhuruhuru and Apakura were the first ones to give them a gift and to send their condolences for their daughter's passing.

The more she thought about it the more she painfully realized that her daughter had slowly been turning into a nuisance for the village. Hina was impatient, impulsive, spoiled, brash and quite easily distracted. She never attended council meetings or wayfinding teachings even if when it was required of her. Hinatea had caused more trouble for everyone else and yet that little troublemaker would and always will be her baby.

Her eyes slowly gazed up at the full moon before they stared down at its reflection on the ocean's surface, searching for any sign of Hina's spirit on the ocean. One hour passed and nothing came two hours and still nothing. By the time the third hour past; part of her wanted to curse it for taking one of her daughters away but another part of her cursed herself for having such thoughts.

It wasn't The Ocean's fault, it wasn't Hiapo's fault nor was it his brother-in-laws' and she didn't want to face the actual truth… it was far too soon for that.

Moana let out a soft sigh as she slowly stood up and reached for the baskets of fruits Tūhuruhuru and Apakura had given them, carrying them in both arms she turned around and headed back inside.

IIIIIIII

Once inside she saw that Maui had moved his sleeping mat and placed on the right side of Hina's and laid down. He rested on his right side while holding their sleeping Tala close to him as he continued on gazing mournfully at their eldest daughter.

Moana glanced at her bed and slowly walked over toward it before she pulled out one of the many stacks of mats that made up her mattress and brought it over toward the left side of Hina's sleeping mat and set it there. She lay down on the left side of her body and her grief-stricken fingers slowly reached over to brush against her daughter's cheek, but she managed to stop herself in time and reminded her mind and heart that doing so would be tapu.

She looked up and saw that Maui was fighting that inner conflict in him too, the fight between respecting the village's protocols concerning things that are tapu and his fatherly then looked up and heard him shifting slightly before he turned to lie on his back, while he draped a protective arm around Tala.

Their four-year-old daughter curled up and snuggled against him. Maui had a sad smile on his face as he looked down at their second daughter. Moana then got up and rolled up her sleeping mat before she stood up and walked behind him. She knelt down and unrolled her sleeping mat before she lay down and placed her hand on his back.

"I can't believe she's gone…" The words escaped his lips before he could even stop himself. He slowly turned to lie on his side and Moana rubbed his back and felt his shoulder blade move up slightly as he stretched out his hand and pulled Hina close enough for him to rub his forehead against hers. It didn't matter to him if this was tapu or not, he didn't care.

Maui closed his eyes and pressed his forehead closer against hers, till their noses touched as he whispered, "I never should've let you go in the first place… I'm so sorry Shark-bait."

Moana pressed her forehead against the middle of his back and shut her eyes tight, forcing her tears back once more.

IIIIIIII

Hours later,

Tala stirred and shifted before she finally took notice of the sounds of hitch pitch shaky but soothing hums resonating from outside the fale. Her little eyes slowly opened and heard the additionally sound one of the sheets fluttering at the edge of the house. Her little eyes moved toward Hinatea and she saw her sister hadn't moved an inch.

"Hina?" She called as she reached over to touch her but the sound of the humming grew louder and she stopped just before her fingers could even touch her sister's skin and saw someone standing out on the foundation of their home. Tala turned back to look over her shoulder only to find both her father had his back turned to her as he and her mother lay sleeping, with his arm around her.

Tala then turned back to her sister and said, "I'll be back." Before she slowly got up and carefully crept over to the other side. Her little pattered against the stone floor and her little hand pushed the sheet to one side and she looked up, eyes now wide with wonder as she saw a young man with dark long wavy-curly hair blowing into a small flute called a nguru.

The little girl took special care to focus on his features. The top part of his curly-wavy hair was pulled back and tied into a half-ponytail, leaving the rest of his hair to flow freely on his shoulders. He also wore a grass skirt made from fine Pandanus fiber and over was another skirt made from ti leaves that were held together by red fibers woven into the bottom edge of his attire. Another thing that made him stand out was the fact that he had a hue that glowed like sparkling blue stardust all over him, giving his skin a slightly pinkish complexion. She then looked down she saw that same blue glow in the shape of his faded feet.

Finally, The Young Man turned to her and Tala immediately knew he was a Waialiki from the shape of his eyes, cheeks and the size of his nose.

He held the nguru in his right hand and motioned her to come with him. Tala hesitated for a moment before she turned to face her family once more. Her mother was sad, her father was sad and her grandparents were sad too. She turned back to her ancestor and saw that he was still waiting for her. She made a decision.

She was going to help Hina wake up again.

List of Terminologies:

Hāpai:
1. To take up, support, shoulder.
2. To lift up, lift, elevate, raise, mete out.
3. To begin.
4. To set out, set off, start out, get underway (of a journey, etc.) - especially when used with the passive ending.

Nguru: A traditional Maori nose-flute that can be played both by nose and mouth.