I Dream of Disney (Volume II)

11 - LŌKAHI [Maui x Reader] Part I

PART ONE: KŪLIA I KA NU'U 

"So. The Daughter of the Chief."

Moana sighed. It was unbelievable to think that she had finally reached her dream of sailing across the ocean, commanding her own boat and riding the current, and yet the demigod that she had rescued was still managing to make her miserable. Trying to fend off the mounting feelings of annoyance, she nodded and turned to her other passenger. 

"That's me," Moana said simply. Then she furrowed her brows defensively, "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. No problem."

The demigod lacked enough tact to hide that he clearly did have a problem. The man sitting on the far end of the humble boat, seeking what little shade was available beneath the sail, was reclining on his back with one arm pushed against the mast. That was where he had stayed for most of the morning, not moving much except to make a sarcastic comment or to try and convince the human girl that her pet rooster was too stupid to be allowed to live. 

"He's trying to eat his own foot!" Maui argued. 

Moana retorted, "Hei Hei has his own strengths!" 

Preventing the hungry demigod from eating Hei Hei, Moana defended her rooster companion - even though he was trying to peck off his own foot. For the seventh time. In a row. 

When it became clear to the Demigod of the Wind and Sea that the chicken would not be on the breakfast menu, he turned his sights onto other horizons. Instead of relying on the diminishing supply of food and water from Motunui, Maui managed to bait some deep-sea fish which he skinned, gutted and cooked with acidic citrus juices. Though she had never eaten black cod ceviche before, Moana had to admit that it wasn't bad. This led the human to decide that although his manner was pompous, his humour dry and his ego unrestrainable, the demigod actually wasn't as useless as she feared that he might be (even without his magical fishhook which granted him shapeshifting powers). 

This opinion of him changed when he tried to belch the alphabet. 

Moana tried not to sigh when she adjusted the rudder, noticing that they were slightly off course. From all of the stories that she had heard about Maui, she never expected him to be like this. To be honest, she wasn't sure what to expect but the muscular, dark-skinned demigod sitting cross-legged and sucking on a fishbone hadn't made her list of expectations. 

Though the human girl didn't find Maui attractive, she had to acknowledge that he was handsome. The brush of the sea had made his skin smooth and lustrous, while the sun had bronzed his face and shoulders, festooned by his long, wind-styled curls. For some reason that Moana couldn't understand, he always smelled briny. And he also smelled like ozone, sweet and pungent. For obvious reasons, she couldn't tell him exactly what he smelt like. Even though she loved the idea of telling him his scent was "pungent" when he was trying so hard to annoy her.

For a few minutes, Moana found peace again. She glanced out across the rolling waves, rocking together in collisions as beautiful and well-timed as cymbals in an oceanic orchestra. The blue of the sea now was a colour she had never seen before and she worried that she wouldn't be able to describe it: it was so much darker, deeper and more mysterious than the shallow turquoise waters of the reefs back home. Moana's heart panged. Even though she was living out her dream, she missed her island. Motunui.

"I'm just trying to understand why your people decided to send," Maui's face contorted in thought for a second, "Well. . . you."

"My people didn't send me," Moana said proudly, "The ocean did."

The second that she said those words aloud, she decided that they sounded much cooler in her head. Sitting on the edge of the boat with her hand settled on the rudder, she stuck the edge of her foot in the water and gently traced the surface. It rippled.