Whare Potae (The House of Mourning)

Chapter Nineteen

Author's Note: Well, I didn't get all of my applications done today, but I did completely re-do my resume, and I updated my cover letter as well. I'm all ready for a new career, or maybe to go back to an old career that I really loved.

I also didn't make it to the movie this evening, but I went ahead and bought tickets to the 10:30 showing tomorrow morning. Obviously, that means taking another day off work, but it's fine. I came in for a full five days the week before Christmas, when there was literally no one else in the office, so I don't think anyone is going to complain about my taking a couple of sick days.

I used to have such a good work ethic. I think I might be able to get it back if I was doing something I felt was really worthwhile. I hope I can do that again.

For now, I'm going to focus on this chapter, and when I'm done writing it, I'll begin some more applications.

Fair warning; we are picking up the pace a little in the next few chapters. We're going to be flashing back and forth a little between Maui's perspective and Moana's perspective.

Chapter Nineteen

Eventually, Moana sat down on the beach and rested her head in her hands.

"I liked it better," she muttered, "when we were friends. You have to admit, we used to be an incredible team. I...I really miss the ocean. I miss the way the water used to call to me. If I'm not Moana, wayfinder, chosen of the sea, then who am I? What was the point of it all? It's sort of...lonely, feeling like I've lost a part of myself. Maybe that's weird, but...I don't know, maybe it isn't. Flying was great, sure, but it wasn't...it was nothing like sailing. The ocean is where I belong. It's where I want to belong."

The surf bubbled a little bit, then receded. For a moment, Moana was sure that she was being ignored, until a spray of water suddenly shot out of the ocean and doused her head, soaking her hair and getting in her eyes.

"Agh! Hey!" Moana spat out water, gave the ocean a hesitant sort of smile, and pushed the wet hair back out of her face. "Wait, so...was that 'truce?' Because that would be fantastic. I am all for making up. No hard feelings, uh, mostly. It's just-!"

Before she could finish the sentence, she heard Maui's favorite war cry echoing from somewhere back inside the cave.

"Maui?" Spinning around, she stared at the cave, then took off at a run, leaving the ocean behind her.

As soon as she saw that the boulder had been moved, Moana knew that something was very, very wrong.

"No. No way. Maui?!" Kneeling next to the hole in the ground, Moana called down it, realizing even as she did so that it was stupid. Even if he was down there, there was no way he could hear her, now. Just like he'd said before, Rarohenga went on for thousands upon thousands of miles, and if she did draw anyone's attention, it'd probably be the wrong kind of attention.

Moana bit her lip and tried not to imagine the possibility that Maui might have been grabbed while he slept, maybe by one of the Turehu who'd come up on an errand and had caught him off his guard.

Wait...but that doesn't make sense, she thought, confused. Maui wouldn't have been off his guard. I mean, he knows exactly what danger we're in, here, and he wouldn't have had a hard time overpowering a spirit, right? They couldn't have just taken him, not here, so...

She remembered the triumphant, "CHAAAAAHOOOOO," she'd heard a few moments ago, and terrible realization hit her like a brick.

"AGH! Really? You have GOT to be kidding me. Why would he...and why NOW?" Moana shook her head, trying to silence the frantic warning bells that were now ringing in the back of her brain. "W-When I find that guy, I am going to give him SUCH a piece of my mind. He told me he was going to take a nap! A nap. This is definitely NOT a nap! Nngh..."