Searching for the Answer

A Moana x Maui Fanfiction

Chp 7 – Oceans Apart

3 months have passed since he left.

3 months have passed since I had been out on the open water.

3 months I have been in training to take over as chief.

"Mimi!" Akamu yelled, snapping Moana out of her deep thought.

"Moana!"

"Kam! Sorry, I was just in ….."

"Deep thought?" Akamu finished her sentence since this wasn't his first-time witnessing Moana zone out.

"….Yea…deep thought."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Sure. I guess I - "

Akamu grabbed Moana's hand and pulled her forward. "Let's take a walk on the beach."

They walked to the beach; each step silent but with familiar comfort. Maybe because they were used to this routine at this point. Maybe because the silence was the calm before the proverbial storm.

"Mimi?" Akamu softly spoke as he stopped walking and started looking out at the ocean. "What's going on?"

"Noth - "

"And before you say nothing again, I know something is wrong. You know something is wrong. You haven't been the same since you got back from being out at sea with Maui. You are distant like your mind is a million miles away."

Moana listened as she stood next to Akamu looking out at the expansive ocean with the sun rising right over the horizon. She knew he was right. She knew that Maui leaving hurt more than she wanted to admit. If she was honest, she felt abandoned. But how do you explain that to anyone else without sounding insane? How do you explain you feel abandoned being surrounded by all your family and friends?

Still staring out onto the freedom in front of her, "I know Kam, I have been distant, and I'm sorry." Stuffing her pain and grief further down, she turned to Akamu. "I miss being on the ocean but that doesn't mean there isn't joy here."

"So, why can't you just do both?"

"Huh?"

"Why can't you be on the ocean and run the island? Don't you need to train others to way-find?"

"I wish but my chief training is heavy, and Dad will never go for it anyway," They both started to walk down the beach again. "Not now at least. We have a couple of decent way-finders out looking for different islands right now. He doesn't see a need to have more."

"Why not? How can finding more islands be a bad thing?"

"Once an island is found without another tribe, I am expected to be the chief of that island."

Akamu abruptly stopped walking. "What!?"

"I just found out yesterday. The council has been talking and thinks it's best that I lead the new island and take a select few to train on the sea and then populate that island."

"Wh – When would this happen?"

"I'm not sure, I guess whenever we heard from them that an island was found. They could be on the way back now or it could take many more months."

"You can't leave Mimi, you can't, this island wouldn't be the same without you. Also, who is going to become chief of this island after your Dad steps down?"

"I don't know, Kam." Moana looked down at the sand as the ocean waded in and out feeling as if she was in a glass cage.

*Ke Akua Mountain (Mountain of the Gods)*

"Ro'e cannot be dealt with that way! This has to be swift and subtle!" Tangaroa shouted.

"She is powerless outside of the underworld, bringing her into the physical world is the only logical way to deal with her without complete failure." Kane rebutted, standing and walking to the edge of the room.

"She will never allow herself to be brought fully into this world." Maui warned. He knew her more than anyone and he knew her vengeance would stop at nothing to get her way.

"There has to be a way to deal with her and finish this foolishness." Lona chimed up, frustrated.

"Isn't she after this Moana mortal?" TK asked idly as he weaved an elaborate tapestry.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Maui's face scrunched forcefully.

"Well, if she is ultimately after her, couldn't we use her as, oh I don't know, bait? Ya know…to bring Ro'e here?

"Uh, how about no to that." Maui said defensively as he sarcastically pointed to TK.

"Well, son, TK may have a valid point. That may be the only way, to use her own vengeance and hatred against her?"

"Exactly," Kane walks back to the group, "her biggest strength is her greatest weakness. We use Moana to bring her into the physical world and then we destroy her."

Maui swiftly stood up. "No! We will not put her life in danger. Ro'e is crazy and the Gods should be able to handle her without bringing all of that darkness and destruction here."

Kane looked at Maui as he stood there defensively. He noticed his stance and a deepening of his furrowed brow every time someone mentioned Moana.

"Why is she after Moana anyway? She is just a mere mortal." Kane probed staring at Maui as he turned toward him. Maui tensed as he was about to answer.

"The reason why is not really relevant at this point, Kane, if it will work then we need to plan the details. And the sooner the better." Tangaroa interrupted.

Kane turned his attention to Tangaroa and put his hands up in surrender. "Detail planning it is then." He sits down as he looks at Maui out of his peripheral vision.

Maui takes a deep breath and closes his eyes as he also takes a seat.

"Now let's figure out exactly how this is going to work." Tangaroa commanded.

*Montinui*

"Moana, we need to test the basics of your knowledge on the first 30 days on a new island." Awhina stated as she approached Moana and her father. "It has been over 6 months since the way-finders left. We should expect them any day."

"That is a good idea Awhina, do you have the rest of the council committee together to go through all of the specifics."

"Yes, chief, and we have the new group to get way-finding lessons in anticipation of Moana leaving."

"Great, they should start lessons later today. Alright Moana, we will meet up later after your testing. I will be meeting with Atarangi to see if we have any information on different medicinal herbs on foreign islands."

As Awhina and Moana are walking away, a thick fog starts to approach the island. A bright white cloud that hovered above the water was moving quickly toward them. The movement was purposeful and much quicker than clouds usually move. As the fog crept up on the island, it quickly dissipated revealing Maui, Tangaroa, Kane, and TK. Moana's feet have never started running faster toward the shore. Her feet crossed the shoreline into the ocean, and she jumped into Maui's arms.

"You came back!" She squeezed his neck tightly as he chuckled warmly.

"Of course, I would curly, how could you think I wouldn't?"

They stood in each other's embrace for another few seconds as the rest of the world melted away until Tangaroa cleared his throat. Moana and Maui realized they were still around everyone as their eyes flew open.

"Uh yea, glad you are still safe," Maui stiffly patted her back and then held her out at arm's length before placing her on the ground.

"Hmmm," Kane stepped closer to Maui as he examined Moana and Maui. "So, this is the mortal worth killing over, huh?"

Maui's fist clenched at the comment, but he relaxed as he felt his father's hand on his shoulder.

"She will be here soon, we need to ready ourselves," Tangaroa stated as he made his way to stand beside Maui. "And you must be the lovely Moana I keep hearing about. It is a pleasure to meet you, young lady."

Moana instantly bowed in front of Maui's dad.

"Oh, please stand dear. The pleasure is all mine."

Moana blushed and averted her eyes at the comment.

"Pfft," Kane spat softly as he rolled his eyes. "Don't we need to get ready? She will be most likely be here soon."

"What is going on Maui?" Moana realizing the Gods must be here for a reason.

"Uh, yea. We are going to try to solve the issue here. Basically, we are going with your original plan curly…despite my warnings and hatred for it."

"How can we help?" Everyone in the village had finally gathered around to look upon the Gods.

Kane immediately stepped up, slightly blocking Maui. "You and Maui will stand on the highest point of the island while we will spread out to surround the island. We will need everyone to stay indoors and under no circumstances should they come out until we announce that it is safe. We don't know how Ro'e will first show up here, but we have to be prepared that it will be an aggressive attack. We will be spread out in order the maximize tactic and time. And everyone should expect a bad storm, possibly worse than the last one. Is the highest part of the island near caves at all?"

"There is a cavern about midway down the Mountain of Chiefs." Tui spoke up firmly.

Tangaroa made eye contact with Tui. "That will have to do," He turned to Maui and Moana. "You will need to be quick but try to pull her into this realm for as long as possible. The longer she is in the physical realm, the more she will be weakened. The caves will be your best bet but only after you start to see her physical form. That is key, once we see her physical form, we will come to assist you and end this."

"We need to get into position, it didn't take Ro'e long to attack before." Kane chimed in.

Tui, Sina, and Akamu approached Moana, Maui, and Tangaroa as everyone started to disperse.

Tui, Sina, and Akamu bowed to Tangaroa.

"Mom, Dad, Kam, please stay safe! I don't want anything to happen to you guys or anyone because of me. I will be with Maui on the Mountain of Chiefs. Kam, will you stay with them or with your parents? I don't want you to be alone in your hale."

"Of course Mimi, please stay safe." They both went in for a warm embrace.

"We love you, my little minnow. Please use your head and stay safe." Both Tui and Sina hugged their daughter tightly and with tears in their eyes they departed.

Tangaroa faced Moana and Maui. "This will not be easy, but it can be done. Have each other's back up there and communicate. Ro'e is sneaky and vindictive, your strength is in your teamwork. We will be close behind once she makes an appearance." Tangaroa walked toward the ocean as Moana and Maui walked toward the Mountain of Chiefs.

They walked in silence until they reached the bottom of the mountain.

"Do you think we can do this without anyone getting hurt?" Moana asked cautiously. Her eyebrows scrunched as she looked up at Maui searching for an ounce of hope.

"….I sure hope we can." Maui didn't make eye contact with Moana. His face furrowed and he looked down. Will any of us make it out of this?

About halfway up the mountain, they reach the cave.

"How deep does this cave go?" Maui asked as he peered into the dark abyss.

"Pretty deep, maybe a mile or so if you walk in the straight line. But it has a waterfall into a lake about midway into the cave."

"That's good to know, in case we need a quick way out."

After reaching the top of the mountain, they both stood side by side looking out at the expansive ocean. The sky was a perfect blue with a few fluffy clouds scattered throughout. The sun was high in the sky. Moana looked down at her village. It would normally be teeming with activity; fishermen on the sea, villagers getting tattoos, coconuts being harvested, baskets being weaved, children running around but now it was silent. The eerie silence that sits with horrid expectation. The fear in the air was thick. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to focus on the task in front of her. Just distract her long enough….. Just distract…. Just distract.

Maui noticed Moana softly mumbling to herself out of the side of his eye. He started reaching to hold her hand but stopped. "We are here together Moana and I am not going to let anything happen to you."

A slight smile formed on Moana's face. "And I won't let anything happen to you, either." She firmly nodded her head.

Maui chuckled at her response. Despite the fear and uncertainty of the situation, she still could make him laugh. She could still make him forget the world around him.

"How long do you think it will take her to show up?"

"I don't know. But I know how angry she can get, so it shouldn't be too long, but it could be some hours or in a few minutes. I'm sure she realizes I am back here."

"Why does she care that you are here, specifically?"

Maui's heart skipped a beat at that question. How do I answer such a loaded question? Is the whole-hearted truth better than a lie by omission? Could there be worst timing to tell her Ro'e is my ex-wife?

"Maui?"

"Uh, yea, by… by being here she sees that I am helping stop the deaths of innocent lives which makes her less powerful. She sees us teaming up again like we did with Te Fiti and that makes her furious. Tangaroa told me that the amount of lives taken after I stole the heart of Te Fiti was much greater than it should have been because Ro'e took advantage to increase her number of souls."

"Well, that ends today, no one else is dying for that soulless woman."

Maui chuckled to himself at Moana's insult. She was right though, she was a soulless woman and he doesn't really know why he made her his wife. Chalking that up to being young and dumb, he turns his attention back to Moana.

"Hey curly, I didn't get to ask you, how have you been doing since I have been gone?"

Her eyes lowered a little and she took a deep breathe as she thought about how to answer.

Could I tell him the truth? Now? That is has been painful with him gone and I really don't know why? That being confined to this island is tearing me up inside?

"Mo?"

"Uh, yea, uh busy… its been busy! Busy with chief training mostly. They have been testing me and increasing my duties a lot. So, yea, just swamped with work."

"Oh, oh okay, uh, that's good, right?" Maui lowered his eyes and looked straight ahead. His brows furrowed and his chest tightened a little. "Well, curly, I… I am happy for you. You will make an amazing chief someday. You definitely deserve it."

"Thank you." Moana said with a small infliction of pain as she turned her head, water slowly pooling at the edges of her eyes.

Maui sighed as his shoulders dropped and his hook hung loose in his hands. He turned to Moana to talk but was interrupted by something out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head to see dark, almost black, clouds quickly rolling in. He looked to the shore to see what looked like an army of the dead storming the beach.

"It's time."

Authors Note:

Thank you all sooo much for your patience and your time reading! I am back to writing and I am so excited for what is to come for Maui and Moana. And a special thank you to all who subscribe and follow this story - it truly encourages me to continue writing. I hope to soon have some more exciting news in the next few weeks! *Kisses and hugs*