Wairua (Immortal Soul)

Wairua

 Author's Note: First of all, this isn't the sequel to Whare Potae. Instead this is sort of a deleted scene from that story; a scene I decided I wanted to explore in more detail. We never heard Moana actually tell her father about her encounter with Grandma Tala in Rarohenga in Chapter 27 of Whare Potae, so that's what this story is about.

At around 5:00 today, my paternal grandmother, Roslayn Slaughter, passed away in her sleep at age 86. She and I were not close. In fact, we didn't like each other much. I stopped speaking to her a year ago, shortly after I got married, when she began verbally abusing my father because she didn't approve of my choice to have a courthouse ceremony instead of a wedding. It was a silly thing for either of us to get bent out of shape about, and poor Dad took the brunt of it. What nonsense. I wish we hadn't had that fight. Then again, fight or not, she wasn't a nice person.

Still, naturally, I've been thinking about her a lot today. I'm very glad the passing wasn't painful.

This is for her, I think.

Wairua

Immortal Soul

By Mercy Slaughter

"I have an idea," suggested Moana, as she, Maui, and the rest of her family sat around outside the house, enjoying a lunch of the whitehead fish that she and Maui had caught by the hundreds during their sojourn down to the sea. "Let's change the subject. I have a surprise for you, Dad; guess who we saw down in Rarohenga? Oh, and she looks great.Hasn't changed a bit!"

"Who?" Tui looked blank.

"Grandma Tala, of course!" Moana grinned at him. "She's one of the Turehu, now; the handmaidens of Hine-nui-te-po herself, which, I think, is kind of a big deal? She has these intricate woven robes that she wears, with images depicting the person she was in life, and she looks even more beautiful than she used to. Death's kinda like...I guess it's like a reward for all the good she's done, because she doesn't look unhappy or like she has to do anything too strenuous or painful..."

Maui, his thoughts entirely preoccupied with complex questions of emotion and Moana, hadn't really been listening at all.

"Maui," offered Sina, "more fish? You've barely had two portions...you must still be starving!"

He got the sense, from the look in Sina's eyes, that she and he had just been thinking along very similar lines.

"I mean, Hine-nui-te-po probably isn't the best boss in the world," Moana was saying, still animatedly telling the story of Tala in the underworld, "and I bet she's a real taniwha when she's angry, but I think Grandma's doing okay. She's still making jokes, making fun of everybody...she's still her. I thought you'd want to know that she's...she's doing great. Um. Dad?"

Moana's Dad, former Chief Tui, hadn't said a word. He was just watching Moana, wide-eyed, frowning, gently shaking his head.

"Then...it's true," he murmured, "what they say, about there being a life after death, and a whole world for the wairua, the spirits of those who have passed on."

"Um...of course?" Moana raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, obviously? Where do you think I've been for the past three days, playing hide-and-seek?"

Tui snorted a slightly incredulous little laugh, then held up his hands in a placatory gesture as Moana glared at him.

"Forgive me," he said. "My mother used to tell me stories of the gods in the heavens and deep beneath the sea, and worlds that exist for those who have ceased their life on earth, but...until very recently," he nodded respectfully at Maui, "I'd thought they were just that; stories, fairytales for children and for people who need something to believe."

Sina rolled her eyes.

"Tui here," she told Maui, patting her husband affectionately on the arm, "has always been a bit of a skeptic. It drove his mother crazy."

"Hah," agreed Tui. "It certainly did. She admonished me for refusing to waste my time believing in the stories and the legends that she said were 'the very backbone of our people, part of what made us who we are.' She insinuated herself into every ceremony, and she made sure there wasn't a child on Motunui who didn't know about the darkness and the promise that someday, someone would step forth to save the world...and I laughed at her."

He fell silent again, staring contemplatively, almost bitterly into his half-empty bowl.

"I laughed at her," he muttered. "It seems that in the end, I was the one who turned out to be the fool. You win, mother...as usual."

"Dad?" Moana gave her father a concerned look. "Are you...okay?"

"Hmm?" Tui looked up, shook his head, gave her an absent sort of smile. "Oh, yes. I'm fine, Moana. Please...help your mother to clear the lunch dishes. I'm having a difficult time moving very much today. I'm so sorry."

"No, no, it's no big deal!" Moana was on her feet and grabbing up her bowl before Tui had even finished his sentence. "You're fine! You rest, okay? Why don't you sit and keep Maui company for a little bit. We'll be back before you know it. No worries!"

Moana snatched Maui's bowl. Ashe and her mother removed themselves into the house to do whatever cleaning had to be done to keep the whole place from smelling like fish, Tui sighed.

"My mother, Tala," he told Maui, smiling ruefully, "would have enjoyed meeting you very much. More than that, she would have enjoyed watching me meet you. No doubt she would have relished the opportunity to rub in my face the fact that the 'the legends are true,' after all. I'm sure Moana's enjoying it more than just a little bit. She always did take her grandmother's side. They were...very close."

"Uh, yeah," agreed Maui, a bit out of his element in what seemed to be turning into one of those uncomfortably sincere conversations. 'Yeah, she mentioned that. Sounds like they have a lot in common, Moana and her Grandma."

"Oh, they do," agreed Tui, nodding encouragingly. "Every day, I see a little bit of my mother in my daughter, and it's...truly terrifying. They used to say that my mother was crazy...and I've no doubt that Moana is...well, a bit 'crazy' herself. She says the things that no one ever wants to hear, she tries the impossible, frequently frails, and, incredibly, sometimes succeeds. She believes in miracles and is usually disappointed, but she keeps believing in them anyway. Yes, she's a great deal like my mother was."

Maui reflected, not for the first time, that this Grandma Tala didn't sound so bad after all. Maybe, after he'd convinced her to stop telling everyone that he was the worst thing to ever happen to the islands, they could have liked each other, maybe even have been friends.

"She sounds like an impressive lady," he said aloud, realizing as he said it that he wasn't sure if he was talking about Moana, or her Grandmother, or potentially both.

"She is impressive," said Tui, obviously talking about Moana. "She's exactly what our people need, no matter how nervous and terrified it might make her mother and myself. She's terribly brave...and my mother, too, was terribly brave. It's brave to be different. I wish I'd told her that when she'd been alive. I'll have to tell Moana before I'm gone."

Slowly, Tui pushed himself to his feet, and Maui pretended not to notice his wince.

"She does need someone, you know," said Tui quietly, turning towards the house and then pausing. "Someone who appreciate her for who she is. Everyone needs that, I think. Moana needs it. Like my mother, she may not find that person here, in Motunui. She may need...someone else."

With that, Tui strode off into the house, leaving Maui alone and very, very thoughtful.

Author's End Note: I will be going to New York for the funeral, and I won't be back until Monday morning. Please don't give up on me; I hope to start the sequel when I return. Thanks, guys.