The fight was finally over. Kong had managed to kill the great skull crawler, bringing balance to Skull Island, but also avenged the death of his parents, and also Tehela ...
After defeating his enemy, Kong breathed heavily, the body bruised and with several bleeding wounds, but he would live anyway. Moana worried about him, but he was strong.
Kneeling down, the giant monkey gently put his hand on the ground, allowing Moana to descend from his palm and return to the mainland. The young woman had recovered some strength and standing on a rock at the edge of the murky water, looked up at Kong, who still on his knees, continued to look at her. Looking into the powerful eyes of the titan, Moana still felt crushed by this presence, but also protected, knowing that Kong would never hurt her. He was a protector, not a destroyer. For long seconds, the young woman and the great monkey remained silent, looking at each other as if frozen in time, engraving that moment in their memory. Moana felt her heart beating hard, and smiling, put her hand on her chest and bowed respectfully to the titan, who saw her doing, made a slight friendly grunt. Moana was surprised to see him do the same, bowing his head in a respectful nod.
Although she was the size of an insect in relation to him, Kong saw in her, strength, courage, like Tehela once.
Then, after that silence, Kong slowly straightened up on his big feet, towering above Moana, and with a heavy, slow step, began to move toward the central lands of the island. Moana watched him, but was immediately drawn to a familiar voice behind her.
_ "Moana!!"
The young woman turned to see Maui running towards her and hug her tightly. The demigod was more than reassured, fearing that she was dead in the confrontation of the monsters. Moana was also happy to see him again and hugged him too. The two of them then watched Kong leave, without looking back, and surely reach his lair to rest after this infernal struggle.
_"He is incredible." Moana sighed, looking at him.
_"Oh yeah." replied Maui, quite in agreement. Moana smiled, but was sad to see him leave as well. Kong paused for a brief moment, glancing back over her shoulder at her, and seemed to be smiling, before resuming her slow march to the heights of the island. Moana and Maui watched him leave for a few more minutes, then decided to join their friends, where a sad sight awaited them.
********
Moana and Maui arrived side by side in the biggest and heavy silence, among the tall wild grasses. In front of them, Rapunzel and Flynn were kneeling in the mud, around the still body of the young moss, Tim. The young man was lying on his back, blood around his mouth and breathing very weakly. Flynn looked sad, sad, and Rapunzel let tears run down her cheeks, holding Tim's hand in hers.
_ "He ... he is dying ...." sighed the princess of Corona, helplessly. Moana, her heart beating and saddened, came to kneel with Tim, looking him in the eyes and seeing his wounds more than serious.
_"We can not do anything?" she asked, turning to Maui. The defeatist expression of the demigod confirmed her fears. Coughing blood, Tim managed to use his last strength to come and take the hand of Moana, who let him. Despite the pain, he smiles, tears in his eyes.
_ "I ... I wanted to prove my worth ... to show that I was not the coward that everyone thought ..."
_ "You've never been a coward, Tim ..." Moana replied sadly "... you did not have to prove anything."
_ "But I had to protect the royal couple from Corona ..." Tim said, turning his eyes to Rapunzel and Flynn "... because that is the duty of a patriot of the kingdom."
_ "You didn't have to sacrifice your life for us." Flynn said. Tim understood, but did not seem to regret the choice he had made. He squeezed Moana's hand in his own, feeling life leave him more and more, his vision becoming blurred and veiling from an obscure, more and more opaque veil.
_ "It was an honor to meet you ... Moana ..." he murmured in his dying voice. With tears in her eyes, Moana clenched her teeth, her heart shattered, and kissed Tim's forehead with a sincere kiss.
_ "All the honor was for me ..." she answered with all the sincerity possible. Tim smiled, then exhaled his last breath, closing his eyes forever and his hand releasing Moana's to fall to the ground, motionless.
_ "It's over ... he's gone ..." Moana sighed sadly, head down, putting his hand on Tim's forehead. Rapunzel took refuge in Flyn's arms, hiding her face in his shoulder and crying. Maui was sorry for them and also affected by this loss. Moana picked up one of the small seashells that she used as an earring and placed it in Tim's hand, closing his fist and placing it on his chest, so that part of her would always accompany him in his travel in the other world.
Gathered around the corpse of the brave young man who died as a hero, the group of survivors made a minute's silence for the repose of his soul, supporting each other in sadness and pain. Around them, the warm, gentle winds of the island rose, heading for the blue ocean. Moana felt in that wind, the powerful and benevolent presence of the goddess Te Fiti, who also expressed the pain that the young felt in her heart.
**********
A few hours later, after a slow and painful march, the Moana group had finally reached the beach, feeling the warm, dry sand beneath their feet and seeing the immense expanse of blue water as far as the eye could see, the fine waves coming to lick the edge. Tim's corpse was buried worthily on the edge of the beach, facing the sea, and again, the group made a minute of silence around the grave, whose engraved stone that was placed by Maui, would now be rocked forever by the winds from the open sea.
Hope returned for the group when suddenly, a large and majestic white veil adorned with the coat of arms of Corona appeared on the horizon. A large and powerful ship had arrived, throwing anchor near the shore and several boats were put to sea to reach the beach. Among the many sailors in the rowboats, Rapunzel and Flynn recognized two people in particular: the King and Queen of Corona! They had come in person!
The sovereign couple of Corona landed on the sand of the beach, escorted by sailors and guards, and it was an immense relief for the king and queen to see their daughter alive.
_"Mother father!" Rapunzel cried with joy, snuggling in their arms.
_ "Oh my daughter, I was so scared!!" the queen cried in her turn, clutching her daughter with force.
_ "We were so worried .... why did you leave this way?!" asked the king, both happy to see his daughter again, but also eager for explanations. Rapunzel grimaced with embarrassment, feeling guilty for causing them so much concern. Flynn joined them, the king and queen being reassured to see him too.
_ "Where are Captain Wagner and the crew?" asked the king, looking around him, perplexed. Rapunzel and Flynn exchanged the same pained look.
_ "There's only us ..." Flynn explained. "Wagner was a traitor, majesty, and his madness at costing life to a large number of men."
_ "There were so many sacrifices ...." Rapunzel said, her throat tight "... but luckily we were not alone ..."
On these words, she proudly pointed to Moana and Maui, who stood behind and dared not advance to all the white people they did not know. Rapunzel then invited her parents to meet Moana and the demigod.
_ "Mother ... father ... let me introduce Moana, leader of the Motunui tribe, and Maui, demigod of the sea." said the Princess of Corona. In front of these presentations, the king and the queen appeared at first very surprised, but trusting their daughter, greeted the two natives with respect, to which Moana and Maui also saluted.
_ "King and Queen of Corona, it's an honor to meet you." Moana said with respect.
Suddenly, the meeting was disturbed by the sound of a heavy and regular step, shaking slightly the ground and surprising everyone.
As she turned around, Moana stopped being worried and smiled as she saw Kong appear from behind the hills and step forward unhesitatingly towards the beach. At the sight of this great monster, the king and queen, as well as all the sailors and soldiers of Corona, remained frozen with fear, but Rapunzel and Flynn acted to reassure the sovereigns and the crew, beckoning the guards to lower their numbers. weapons immediately.
_ "Oh my god ...." sighed the king, stupefied.
From his stern look, dominating his colossal size, Kong gazed at this group of little humans in front of him, showing a face at once neutral but severe, hinting at his deep breaths.
_ "Mother .... father .... I present to you the king and god of this island ..... King Kong." Rapunzel said proudly. The king and the queen remained open-mouthed before this creature who defied all the beliefs and logic of this world.
At first hesitating, Corona's guards lowered all their rifles, trembling like leaves and not daring to move.
The king and queen were all the more surprised when they saw the young woman, Moana, advance without fear towards the giant monkey, the latter then looking at her. Kong dropped to one knee and tilted his huge body forward to get closer to the ground and see her better. Moana saw him doing, still as impressed by the size and power of this creature, this god ...
Kong's face was now only one meter from Moana, covering her entire field of vision. She could feel the warm breath of his big nostrils coming to whip her face and make her black hair fly. Back, all watched this supernatural scene with admiration for some, fear for others. Not saying a word at first, Moana and Kong looked at each other for seconds that seemed eternal, then, the young woman decided to speak.
_ "Kong ...."
she spoke in a calm and timid voice, showing a smile on her lips. The glow in the giant monkey's iris indicated an understanding and he emitted a neutral roar, as a sort of answer.
_ "I, Moana of Motunui, is eternally grateful to you for saving us, and for accepting to leave us alive. You are a great and worthy king, you are our savior to all."
With these words, Moana rested her knees on the ground and bowed to the titan. The king, queen and soldiers were at first surprised to see Princess Rapunzel, but also Flynn and Maui do the same and kneel respectfully before the creature.
_ "What Captain Wagner did was unforgivable ..." Rapunzel said "... attacking this island was unforgivable, and in the name of Corona, I apologize, hoping you will forgive us. For the good of all, it is better for this land to remain in the hands of its legitimate and only sovereign .... King Kong."
_"Long live the king!" Maui and Moana said proudly.
Faced with this decision, the king and queen of Corona would have wanted to protest, but faced with the insistent look of their daughter, they could only surrender. Sighing heavily, the king delivered his verdict.
_ "Corona gives up all desire to take control of this new land."
Happy to hear that, Rapunzel hugged his father, thanking him. Moana was reassured too.
_ "Let's get out of here now, let's go home." said the queen, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder. Rapunzel nodded, and Flynn too. The soldiers began to embark again in the rowboats to return to the ship.
_ "Moana ....."
The young woman turned around and saw Maui show him a look at once reassured to leave, but sorry for her. "It's time to go."
_ "But ..... and Kong?" she replied, her heart beating.
_ "Kong is at home here, but not you ..... think of your parents and your people .... they will always need you."
He was right, she knew it. But her connection with Kong had become so strong now that she felt bond to him. She did not want to leave him anymore, stay with him.
But on the other hand, she did not have the right to be selfish and to abandon her family. Torn in two, Moana poured a tear, her throat tight.
_ "That means .... that I will never see him again?" she said in tears. Maui could not answer that and sighed heavily. Faced with this reaction, Moana was even more broken.
_ "I'll leave you alone for a few moments, you'll join us at the rowboats when you're ready." said Maui, before turning around and walking away to the others. Kong remained calm, watching all this with a watchful eye and saw again the young woman from the ocean come to him, but this time, showing a sad face, drowned in tears.
_ "I ..... I'm sorry, Kong .... but I have to ..... leave now .... I have to go back to my family .... they .... they need me ... "she spoke, her throat gripped by sadness and struggled in vain not to cry, her fists clenched. Kong reacts calmly, but shows a disappointed expression in his eyes, emitting a darker groan. Nevertheless, she lives in one's gaze, which he understands.
With his giant hand, and the tip of one of his fingers, he came very gently touching Moana's hair. She let him do it, then walked to his muzzle, gently resting her hand and touching it one last time. Moana spread her arms and snuggled against Kong's muzzle in a hug, then kissed his muzzle.
_ "Goodbye ..... my king ....." she sighed sadly, wishing that this moment would remain frozen forever.
Moments later, after struggling not to crack, Moana had joined her surviving friends in the rowboats, who slowly slipped on the peaceful water and away from this island, towards the royal ship. Rapunzel, Flynn and Maui supported Moana with all their strength, because they too could never forget this adventure.
Once on the royal ship, Moana took a slow, absent step towards the bastinage, and feeling her hair fluttering in the wind, cast a last sad glance towards this island, at once majestic and monstrous, that kingdom of monsters.
Kong was standing on the beach, contemplating the departure of this human ship, and despite the distance, could see Moana look him in the eyes. Once again, he would be alone, but stronger than ever. Striking with force and pride on his chest with his powerful fists, Kong gave a loud roar that made the air vibrate and resounded throughout the island and beyond, as a farewell to Moana, but also a warning to all monsters who would dare to challenge him around the world...... the king was here!
THE END