Vicious.

It's not a word she thought she'd ever find herself using when it came to describing the way dad looked at her whenever she said something particularly stupid. Or insulting. Orstupid. Very very stupid.

Not in general, just saying it to him in particular.

She was right about hearing yelling from the village, as was the Ocean apparently. It was a mix of panic and anger, and panicking angry islanders were a thing to be reckoned with.

"The crops are turning black!"

"What about the fish?!"

And what were Moana's two cents in the dire situation being discussed amongst the people of her village?

Well.

"We can stop the darkness —saveour island!" She held the emerald stone Gramma Tala had given her up, waving it like it was their saving grace. Which it was.Is."There's a cavern of boats;hugecanoes. We can take them—find Maui, make him restore the heart.Wewerevoyagers.We can voyageagain!"

The reaction was...lackluster, if there even was one at all. She could see Moni near the back leaning against one of the pillars of the fale, looking pale but also embarrassed on her behalf.

Mom looked... concerned, is the best way she could put it. Not in a doubtful way (well, maybe a little), but she was glancing over at dad like she was expecting him to blow up.

To which he did — quickly, but silently. Always anastycombination.

She follows him when he storms out, albeit warily in his volatile state. His expression was dark and the downturn of his lips were already warning enough for her to watch her mouth.

When he hisses about burning the boats like she wasn't right there, Moana has a mini heart attack and does the only thing she can think of. She freaks out and grabs at his arm to pull him back.

"You can'tburn the boats!"

He doesn't even listen to her.

Because when does he ever?

She staggers back when he turns around roughly, shaking her hand off his arm as he holds the torch he had snatched near the fale close to her face. The light bounces off of her face, but it shadows dad's face darkly. He's never been this furious at her before, not even when he found out about her previous attempt at crossing the reef.

Swallowing her fear and ignoring the way it pulled at her gut, she held the heart of Te Fiti in front of him, expression taut but intent on getting her message across. Even if it makes dad hate her.

Because if there's one thing that dad's taught her, it's to think of the village first and their people's safety —thisis one of those moments.

"We were voyagers," she tells him firmly, brows furrowing at the same time his does. He's not theonlyone that can be stubborn. Her resolve only solidifies when he shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose irritably. "Wearevoyagers, dad.This—" she waves the heart in front of him again to get his attention. "—is ourduty. To restore the Heart of Te Fiti, like Gramma Tala said!"

"AGAIN!"

Moana staggers back at his sudden volume, eyes wide when he leans in so abruptly as he explodes at her, words bellowing so loudly that she's certain that everyone in the village and back at the fale can hear him clearly.

He snatches the heart from her fingers easily, holding it up at her like it was an insult. "There is noheart!There is no— novoyagers—" he shushes her when she sputters and opens her mouth to retort. "—NO!Moana, this is astone.This isnothing!"

And then he throws it to the side like an afterthought, turning his back on her like every other time she tries to make him see reason, ignoring the way she scurries into the darkness and falls to her knees to feel around for it. Even when she tries to get back in his way once she retrieves it again, he pushes her aside with very little gentleness in his man-handling.

"For once!" She cries out, her voice so very close to screaming. "Foroncewould you just—" She grabs his arm back again roughly before she's shook off again, pausing behind him as he keeps walking. "—listen!Listen to me!"

Dad stops when she screams at him then. Turns around real slowly to face her. And if Moana wasn't feeling so overwhelmed that she felt sick to her stomach, she would've laughed at the look he was wearing; somewhere between dumbfounded and irate.

But just when she thinks that she's finally gotten his attention, someone comes running from behind them after the sound of a call echoes out.

"Chief!"

For the first time, she'sfinallygotten her dad to listen to her, and she isn't about to lose it because of some 'important chief stuff' or—

"It's your mother."

All thoughts die immediately, her words withering on the end of her tongue like ash.

—

It's only when she's on the canoe that things begin catching up to her, hands shaking even as she pushes her oar through the calm waters to guide her canoe towards the reef. Gramma Tala's necklace feels both cold but warm against her skin; the pāua shell acting as a protective casing around the heart enclosed inside it. It thrums, sending a warmth through her skin that she doesn't know if she'll ever get used to.

When she looks over her shoulder, she sees her island, herhome.

Dad will be furious.

It's not a strange or unfamiliar thought — it was Dad, after all. But maybe he won't be. Not after...

...

Moana shakes her head. No use dwelling on it. Not now. She's nearing the edge, and for some reason, she has the sneaking suspicion that the reason things are going so smoothly so far is because the Ocean's actually...there.

She can feel it every time she digs the tip of her oar in and out, the way there's a strange current that's carrying hertowardsthe reef instead of away from it like it had before.

"You're unbelievable," she mumbles under her breath. The water ripples playfully in response, catching the starlight in fleeting dances across its surface.

Weird thing.