The Stars and The Sea

Chapter 24

A couple of days later, one late morning, Keoni was working on assisting Lasalo and his buddies near the shore, the four of them working hard and chatting amongst each other. Keoni was quite impressed with himself that he actually managed to gain genuine friends here, and they enjoyed his company! It was a huge win for him, and he had expressed his personal pride with Moana of course.

As he focused on securing the roping on some traps, his ears picked up on the sound of someone calling his name. Swiveling his head, he turned towards the village, expecting to see his sister or Moana coming towards him, but much to his pleasant surprise, it was Enele.

Keoni and Lasalo shared a quick glance at each other.

"Your sister's sweetheart?" The older fisherman teased. Keoni just rolled his eyes, putting the trap down as Enele came by his side.

"What's up Enele?"

"Mind if I steal your buddy for a moment?" Enele asked, directing it to Lasalo, who just shrugged.

"Eh," came the reply. Keoni remained in perplexed silence as Enele pulled him away from shore, mumbling something to himself.

"Mind indulging me in your thoughts before you steal me away from working? Better be important." Enele just patted Keoni's good shoulder, eventually coming to a stop.

"Okay, bear with me a moment," the older man said, to which Keoni said nothing, "I'm only doing this because it's tradition and I know your sister would want me to do this just as a formality, but..."

"What is it, Enele?" Keoni interrupted impatiently.

"I'm asking for your permission to marry your sister."

Oh.

Keoni blinked a few times, having not expected that to be the reason Enele needed to talk to him so urgently.

"Wait, you're asking... me? Why?" Enele paused awkwardly.

"Well, I mean... you're Huihana's only family left... and her only male family member. It's custom to ask-" Keoni held his hand up, cutting Enele off.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there." Now it was Enele's turn to blink in confusion.

"Wha- what do you mean?"

"While I appreciate what you're doing, you don't need my permission."

"What?"

"For Laka's sake, I'm her little brother, I'm in no position to be dictating her life. She's as independent as one gets, as long as she's happy, I am too." Keoni explained. And Enele's surprise was evident, having not expected Keoni to be so forward-thinking.

"So... I can marry your sister?"

"I mean, yes. Obviously. I can see how much she adores you, and you complete her. I'm happy to be a part of your family." He remarked, giving Enele a warm smile, which was returned with a beaming smile.

"Cheeehoooo!" Enele cheered, to which Keoni couldn't help but feel like he wanted to just shrink. He was not a fan of random attention on him from strangers.

"Alright alright, go be with her," Keoni said, playfully shoving his soon-to-be brother-in-law back in the direction of his house, to which Enele just gave him two thumbs up as he headed off, and Keoni just chuckled to himself.

Shortly following Enele's request, he and Huihana went looking for Keoni, who they found with Moana chatting with some villagers. Upon seeing the couple, both of whom wore beaming smiles, Moana paused her conversation and turned to Keoni's sister and Enele.

"Well hello, you two! You guys look like you're in a great mood!"

"We have every right to be! We're getting married!" Huihana exclaimed, grabbing Moana's hands.