*Moana POV*
I stood on the sand, next to the ocean. My arms swayed in the wind, imitating the ocean, the way my grandmother used to do. I'd been needing to clear my head, especially now with the loss of my father and the disappearance of Maui. For three days now I have been without either of the two men who mattered most to me. I remember it all very well.
*"Father, please?" I sighed, frustrated. "Moana, when have you ever called me 'father'?" he asked me dramatically. "Fine, Dad, can we please let Maui stay? Just until i can get a boat and we can make another voyage to the land he wants to see?" He sighed and looked at me with a loving expression. Then his gaze hardened as he looked at Maui, standing behind me. "Fine, he can stay until your new boat is finished. Good thing your hut has two rooms, otherwise he would not be in the same house as you." My mother gave dad a reproaching look. Maui bent to his knees and bowed like I had told him to. My mom smiled, but my dad scolded. "Get off of your knees." he growled at Maui. "Dad! What is wrong with you? He's only trying to be respectful!"
Mom cut us off. "Moana, come with me. We need to speak." She lead me away from the village, and to the edge of the water. "Moana, you have to expect this. He's your father, and his natural instinct is to ward off men." she said. "No, no mom.. You've got it all wrong. Maui doesn't feel like that towards me." I explained. She smirked at me and whispered in my ear. "Doesn't mean you don't." I blushed a deep crimson.
"Moana! Where are you?" I heard my name being called. "Moana?" I recognised the voice as Maui. "I'm coming Maui!" I shouted back. I hugged my mom and jumped up to go find him. I ran through the woods, not paying attention, when I felt something grab my hand. Next thing I knew I was being pulled into an embrace so soft that I thought it was the ocean itself. I felt a large hand on my back and another was stroking my hair. I knew it was Maui, but I knew what was coming next so I embraced the hug while he was still here. "Moana, I don't want to be the cause of your family being torn apart, but just know that I never wanted to leave you princess." he said. I had known it was coming, but when he pulled away, I realised how unprepared for this I was. I felt hot tears fall down my cheeks. "Princess, don't do this to me...I hate to be the reason you're crying." I hugged him again. He picked me up and spun me around. "Listen, curly. Remember, you are Moana. You know who you are. You knew who you were before you met me. You will always be you, okay?" he asked me. I shook my head no. He looked up at the stars, and I did as well. He began to dance with me, both of us still looking up, and eventually our eyes met. He leaned in, and I stood on my tiptoes. Then he stepped back and I fell face first. He looked at me with a wild expression. Then he turned, grabbed his hook and flew away. I curled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep. Mom was right, I was falling for him.*
That was three days ago. My father had stormed off after I yelled at him. He didn't like Maui, and I couldn't deny that I liked him when my father asked. He stalked off and my mother followed him. She came back to me an hour later and told me that he had a disease that ran in our family, and it has killed him slowly for the last fifteen years. I went to see his body that night, but I couldn't bring myself to stay.
Now I stood there, still swaying with the wind, and the ocean guiding my hips, just as Maui had the day he danced with me. I stepped off of the sand and into the water, the ocean automatically picking me up and carried me to my boat on the opposite side of the island. People stared at me as I packed a sack with rations, and found my canoe. Men started coming forward and boarding the boats. "No, please. This is a solo mission." I said and they hung their heads and smiled apologetically. My mom came out from the crowd. "My little minnow," she pulled a strand of my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. "go find him. You belong together." I shook my head. "I am not going to ask him to be with me. I just want him to visit me every now and then. And I also have to tell him about...." I trailed off, tears in my eyes. She nodded her head, and put her head to my forehead. "Be back before I'm gone?" she asked me and I nodded, knowing that without dad, she would be soon to go. I pushed my canoe offshore and jumped on, making it over the reef within minutes.
I tried to think of where he might of gone. I thought of the little island I found him on, under his hook. That was the first place on my list. Second was Te Fiti.
If he wasn't there, I decided I would check at the entrance of Laloti. I set my sail to follow Maui's fish hook constellation, and grabbed a banana.
About fifteen minutes in, I heard a noise coming from my boat, and sighed in frustration. "Please no." I pleaded. But, when I opened the little compartment, sure enough, Hei Hei was sliding from side to side with the waves. I sighed for the billionth time today and picked him up, setting him in the water. "Ocean will you take him to the shore of Motonui?"
The little chicken floated with the ocean, out of my sight. About an hour later I reached Maui's island.
"Maui? Maui if you're here, I need to talk to you!" I shouted until I heard him. "Moana?" he shouted back. "Maui." I said as I saw him emerge from his cave. "What are you doing here?" he asked me. "Maui. Demigod of wind and sea. Hero to all?" I questioned. "Moana don't start this." he said. "I am Moana of Motonui, you will board my boat, sail across the sea and pay your respects to my father at his grave site." I said, crying by the time I'd finished. Maui's face fell, his eyes showing sincere sadness and sorrow. "Moana...When?" he questioned, grabbing my hand as a supportive gesture. "The night you left." He gave me a sympathetic gesture. "Moana, about that night-" he started to say. "No! You don't have to say it. I already know." he gave me another questioning look. "What do you mean?" I sighed. "I know it was an accident. You were probably thinking of someone else. Then you snapped out of it, noticed who I was and backed out. Its fine Maui. I was too. I was thinking of my old friend..... Liani." I lied through my teeth. Liani was the man my parents had thought I would marry soon. Now mom says I can wait as long as I want to get married. I don't even know if I want to get married. To be truthful I didn't really have any future plans, until I met Maui.
He gave me a sincere look and nodded his head. My heart plummeted. He smiled and sighed in relief. "Glad we got that sorted out." he said. I got a bold idea, to test him, see if he is telling the truth. I leaned forward and he did too. I kissed him right on the....
