The Stars and The Sea

Chapter 16

Moana then had him practice charting the relative position of specific stars and which direction relative to the north, south, east, or west. He picked up on the sun and moon pretty quickly, though struggled with star charting. He expressed his frustration, but Moana assured him that she didn't expect him to know everything at once. Learning this kind of stuff took time. She reminded him that the only reason why she learned everything she knew so quickly was because of her time crunch to save Te Fiti.

She moved on to star measurement, using fingers to measure the position of specific stars or constellations.

"Here, hold your hand up like this," she said, adjusting his hand accordingly, "your index should point to this star here." She came to his side, quite close in fact, and raised her hand to demonstrate what his hand should do. After a quick glance, he mirrored her position.

"There ya go!" Moana praised, then quizzed him on its approximate direction, to which he answered correctly.

"So, what was Maui like teaching you how to wayfind?" Keoni asked one cloudy evening, making navigation challenging, so Moana took over.

"Snarky, he made it difficult at first. He didn't think I was worthy of it,"
"Really?"

"Fresh off an island cut off from the rest of the world, I didn't exactly know how to work a canoe," she reminded, which he didn't have a rebuttal for.

"I do remember this one night I was trying to measure the stars with my hand, and I wasn't doing it correctly, and he said, and I quote, "You're measuring the stars, not giving the sky a high five," Moana said, unable to stop her laugh even as she finished her sentence. Keoni couldn't help but chuckle as well.

"He certainly has a way with words, doesn't he?" She turned to face him over her shoulder.

"In his own weird way, yes, he does."

"And uh, what... what do your parents think of him? Do they like him? I mean, if he's around enough, I imagine they consider him like part of your family, right?" Moana paused, thinking about the interactions she'd seen of Maui with her family.

Initially, her father was hesitant to get to know Maui, concealing some level of resentment towards the Demi-god that the retired chief could only partially rationalize. In Tui's mind, the timing of the Darkness consuming Motunui and his mother's death struck Tui a little too deep into his heart. Sure, he and his mother had their disagreements, mainly about Moana's childhood, but Tui always loved his mother. And her passing when the Darkness invoked its wrath changed Tui's perspective on things.

When Moana had returned to Motunui with a beautiful flower-adorned canoe, and the Demi-god Maui in tow, Tui did not know what to think. Yes, he was eternally grateful that his daughter returned home safely and that their village was safe and healthy. But he also remembered his mother's stories about how the Demi-god had caused the blight in the first place.

Tui's stubbornness led to the conclusion that Maui had indirectly killed his mother. It took many overnight discussions for Tui to be able to let go and accept that Maui had redeemed himself and proved trustworthy.

And then there was Sina. Usually, Sina tended to go along with what Tui had to say or do. But in Maui's case, she saw both Tui and Moana's perspectives. Especially when Moana sat everyone down to hear Maui's story and how he became a Demi-god.

That dinner had been... interesting for everyone there. Realizing that everything Maui had done was simply because he wanted to be wanted and loved struck a chord in Sina's heart as a mother herself. Maui said he did not want pity, as he stated he learned he didn't need to prove his worth to anyone, especially not because of the gods. Yet Sina internally retained her genuine sympathy for him but never verbalized it.

Over time, especially on their voyages, whenever Maui stopped by on the voyaging canoes, Maui and Tui became friendlier with each other, both showing each other the respect deserved. Tui kept Maui humble, reminding Maui of his own humanity. And Sina was moral support, exchanging friendly conversations about all sorts of things.

The relationship between Maui and her parents had gotten off to a bit of a rough start, but eventually, they warmed up to each other, accepting the presence they all shared within Moana's life.

"It took time, but they accepted one another. Maui especially appreciates my parents."

Moana loved talking about her family, and Keoni picked up on that as she gushed about them, the way her face lit up brought a smile to his face as well. He adored the way her cheeks glowed, and how her nose scrunched when she smiled.

She was so damn cute.