Smiling, Te Fiti made her way to her island as a crown of flowers appeared around her head.
Picking up Moana, the ocean carried her so she could better see. Te Fiti ran her hand along the dark sand of her island. Immediately, grass, flowers, trees, and anything that grew began to sprout out of the ground.
The ocean gently set Moana down on the reformed island before barfing out Maui and Hei-Hei.
"The chicken lives," Maui laughed.
"I'm sorry about your hook," Moana apologized.
"Well, hook, no hook... I'm Maui. Again, I'm sorry about Aukai."
Just then, the ground beneath their feet began to rumble. Looking down, Moana and Maui both saw they were standing on Te Fiti's hand. The goddess carried them up to better look at them.
Smiling, Moana knelt in respect, gesturing for Maui to do the same. Te Fiti looked at the demigod, causing him to stand back up.
"Te Fiti!" Maui said rather nervously with sheepish laughter. "Hey, I mean, how you been?"
Te Fiti said no words, but the annoyed look she gave him with a raised eyebrow was enough to say, "Really?"
Maui cleared his throat.
"Look," he said, "what I did was... wrong. I have no excuse.
"I'm sorry."
Her smile returning, Te Fiti brought up her free hand and opened it. A gift rested in her palm. A brand new fish hook.
Maui gasped excitedly and reached for it, but held himself back. He didn't need a fish hook to be Maui.
"You know," Moana laughed, "it'd be rude to refuse a gift from a goddess."
Excited, Maui grabbed the hook and yelled, "Cheeeehoooo!!!" in victory before Moana cut off his celebration.
"Thank you," Maui said to the goddess with a bow. "Your kind gesture is deeply appreciated. Cheehoo."
In a flash of blue, Maui transformed into a bug and flew away.
Smiling, Te Fiti brought Moana closer, pressing their foreheads together one last time before setting her down.
Maui turned back to normal, joining Moana as Te Fiti opened her arms. Green swirls spiraled from her heart and into the sea. Flower petals swirled down the beach before vanishing, revealing Moana's boat, good as new.
Moana smiled as she turned back to Te Fiti, who grew in size and went back to sleep.
"Moana," Maui whispered, looking away from the island goddess, "look."
Moana followed his gaze and what she saw caused her to gasp and cover her mouth.
Laying at the edge of the water, just a few meters away, was an unconscious boy.
Moana ran up to the boy and knelt at his side. His shaggy mess of wet brown hair was plastered to his face. He seemed to glow from the water droplets on his sand-colored skin. His strange clothes were also soaked, his previously stained shirt was now pure and white.
Moana brushed some hair behind her ear as the boy groaned. His sea-blue eyes fluttered open and met hers.
"Moana?" he asked.
"Aukai?" Moana asked. He brushed his hand along her face and hair as he asked another question.
"Can we please find a way to meet where I'm not unconscious on a beach?"
Moana laughed. Aukai was back.
"Aukai!" she said in joy as she threw her arms around him. Aukai smiled into her shoulder as he returned the hug.
Pulling away, tears of joy filling her eyes, Moana let out a laugh. She then gave Aukai something that originally caught him off-guard, but he smiled and returned.
A kiss.
Maui smiled. Mini-Maui smiled as well before bawling tears of joy like a couple of waterfalls.
Later, Maui refilled the boat's compartment with fresh fruits as Hei-Hei fell into the pile head-first.
"Gonna miss you, drumstick," Maui told the chicken.
"You could come with us," Aukai offered as he finished tying a rope on the boat.
"He's right," Moana agreed. "My people are going to need a master wayfinder." Maui just smiled.
"They don't need one," he said. "They have two."
Maui then lifted his necklace, revealing a new tattoo appearing. A small boat with a spiral on its sail. Standing in the back was a smiling girl with curly hair holding the oar. In the front, a boy with untidy hair, pointing the way with his cutlass.
The two teens smiled before throwing their arms around Maui, who hugged them back. When they parted, Mini-Maui gave them a sad smile as he waved goodbye.
"See you out there, Maui," Moana said.
"See you both out there," Maui agreed. "One more thing, consider me invited to the wedding."
Letting out a final "Cheeeehoooo," Maui morphed into a hawk and took flight.
After getting their boat in the water, Moana and Aukai began their new adventure for home.
——
Tui and Sina watched in amazement as life returned to their island.
Formerly black and dying plants regained their color and grew more beautiful than before.
But their amazement turned to joy as they looked at the sea. What they saw caused them to run towards the beach.
A small boat with a red spiral on its sail entered their reef.
Aukai expertly steered the boat towards the Motunui beach as Moana stood excitedly at the bow.
"Mom! Dad!" she shouted as she ran into her parents' arms once the boat landed.
"Moana!" Tui and Sina cried as they held their daughter in a hug. When they parted, Moana looked up at her father.
"I may have gone a little ways past the reef," she admitted. Tui let out a chuckle.
"It suits you," he said. He looked up at Aukai, who was finishing pulling the boat onto the beach.
The chief walked up to Aukai, glaring as if he wanted to punch him. But his face softened as he pulled the pirate boy into a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you for keeping my daughter safe," he said.
"No problem. She didn't need me." That was what Aukai wanted to say, but a single strangled word was all that came out.
"Ribs!"
"Sorry," Tui said as he set Aukai down.
"Dad, can you please not crush my boyfriend on the first day?" Moana asked. Tui just smiled.
"Boyfriend, huh?" he asked. "Good. I like him."
Pua led the rest of the villagers then came down to greet their chief's daughter. Hei-Hei tried to walk back into the ocean, only for it to turn him towards the village.
Later, Moana and Aukai led the village in pulling out the giant canoes out of the cave. When they were done, the ocean pulled back at Moana's feet, revealing a beautiful shell. Smiling, Moana bent down and picked it up.
She knew what to do with it.
On the mountain of chiefs, a large pile of stones sat in the center on the peak. On top of the pile was a beautiful seashell, marking the end of their time on that island.
But also the beginning of a new adventure.
——
(After Moana sees Maui again, she tries telling the kids of the village her story when she notices her crown missing. Smirking, she'd fold her arms and raise an eyebrow and turn towards Aukai, who pretends to look innocent. Aukai is no longer wearing his pirate clothes. Instead, he wears a blue Polynesian vest over his bare chest, a black tunic, a necklace with a single shark's tooth, and two brown leather bands tied around good biceps. Moana would hold her hand out to Aukai, and smiles, revealing he had her crown and hid it behind his back. After a quick round of keep away, Moana would grab his vest and pull him into a dip. She'd roll her eyes playfully before they both smile and kiss, Aukai placing the crown back on her head.)
Well, you can only guess what happened next.
The people of Motunui embraced their ancestry. Grabbing the boats from the cave, they sailed away from the island to find new ones.
People from the village all found their callings. Tui found out he liked the sea and was an excellent tiller man.
As for Sina, she was a natural sailor and knot tier.
Hei-Hei and Pua didn't become a chicken dinner with a side of pork chops. I guess that's good, too.
The giant manta Tala's spirit transformed into was always keeping a close eye on Moana.
Maui dropped in now and then to see how we were doing, which was also fun.
Moana always seemed to have a smile. She found her calling as her people's chief on the ocean, guiding them to find new islands as their ancestors had before them. She led with the grace and kindness her parents did before her. And most importantly, she knew who she was.
And as for me, I never really learned much more about my past, and I'm okay with that. Stuck with the name Aukai, gave up piracy, and stayed with the people of Motunui. Now, I know the one question you're all thinking about.
Did Moana and I ever get married?
Well, it took a while, and after years of asking and asking and asking, I'm pleased to say...
I finally said yes.
Aukai.
Okay, I asked her.
And we're living happily ever after.
You got that right, Princess.