Whare Potae (The House of Mourning)

Chapter Seven

Author's Note: My husband braved the ice to bring me Chipotle. Now THAT is an expression of true love if ever I saw one.

Now that I am feeling magically romantic and significantly less hungry, let's finally have a meeting between Maui and Moana!

Chapter Seven

Confronted with the wrath of Hine-nui-te-po, Maui was considering his options.

Giant hawk? No, he decided, definitely not. Not underwater. Whale? Too slow. Shark? No good. I couldn't eat her, even if I wanted to. I may look scary, but even as a creature of the deep, I guess I'm just a big softie. Plus, it'd give me terrible indigestion. Let's see, what else have we got?

He was weighing the pros and cons of turning into a whitehead fish and rushing between Hine-nui-te-po's legs before she could crush him when he noticed movement from an unexpected quarter out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly to combat whatever was coming at him from behind, Maui was stunned to see the last person in the world he had expected hurrying towards them, gritting her teeth with that familiar, adorably determined look on her face. She was taller now, with curves, he noticed, where there hadn't been curves before.

How many years has it been, he found himself wondering. Three? Four? Can't be five, can it? Nah...

She had tattoos, now, too, but one in particular that he couldn't tear his eyes away from. There was the design of a fishhook curving around the brow of her left eye; one that Maui recognized as looking like every artist's depiction of Maui's own magical hook; the way it was drawn in tapestries and described by the most vivid storytellers.

She's the girl who tamed Maui, the trickster demigod, he thought ruefully. At least, that's what they say about her; I've heard the stories, the 'new legends' showing up all over the islands. Heh. It suits her, I guess.

He supposed that it should have annoyed him. After all, that was his symbol, his one and only gift from the gods. Still, he found himself perversely pleased by the idea that now, every time she looked at her reflection in the water, she'd remember him. There was something really kind of refreshing about that.

She wouldn't be able to forget him, even if she wanted to. He was etched in her skin.

That's...actually a little creepy, when I think about it, he realized. Then again, I've got her face tattooed on my chest, so I guess we're even? Maybe? Doesn't matter, not the point.

Moana had reached them by now, a little out of breath. She gave Maui an uncertain little smile.

"Uh, hi," said Maui. "This is a surprise."

Okay, that...that sounded really stupid, he thought, kicking himself internally. Come on, you're an all-powerful heroic demigod, you can pull off talking to a thirteen-year-old mortal girl. Well, fifteen. Eighteen?

Moana had, by now, turned her attention back to Hine-nui-te-po, who was glaring at her with all the disdainful force and elegance of the personification of death.

"Um, hello," announced Moana, dropping instantly to one knee in the sand and bowing her head before the goddess. "My name...is Moana, Chief of the village of Motunui, and I've...uh, I've come to offer my services on behalf of my people."

Maui just stared, totally unsure of where this was going.

"We have heard, on our island," Moana went on, gaining confidence as she let herself get more involved in her story, "of the terrible way that this half-mortal man is treating you, oh great goddess. Even the sea is angry that he has had, the, uh...the audacity to reject you, and the sea...well, the sea has started destroying our island and killing our people in its rage. For the sake of our people and as a favor to you, Hine-nui-te-po, I request permission to remove this man back to my island, where we can execute him for the crimes he has committed against us both. In so doing, we hope to calm the fury of the sea and to return to our peaceful lives once again."