Moana

Chapter Sixteen

The plan was simple.

Step one: Maui masters his fish hook powers. Step two: he destroys Te Kā. Step three: he restores the heart and saves the world. Easy.

Smiling, Moana made a pinch with her fingers and showed Mini-Maui, who smiled. Holding up a single finger, he transformed into a bug.

Maui was nervous to try, but he held his fish hook in front of him. In a flash of blue, Maui vanished. In his place was a little bug. He began to celebrate, but Hei-Hei ate him. Moana cupped a hand over her mouth, but Maui just turned back, holding Hei-Hei on his finger.

Smiling, Aukai looked at Mini-Maui and held his hands apart, showing a small space. Smiling, Mini-Maui held up two fingers before turning to a lizard.

Gaining a smile of his own, Maui swung his hook, transforming into a lizard. Hei-Hei landed on his back. Smiling, the demigod crawled to the edge of the boat and threw the chicken in. Moana just smiled and shook her head as before the ocean threw Hei-Hei into her arms.

Transforming, Maui jumped into the water before jumping out as a full shark this time.

"Cheeeehoooo!" he whooped as he turned into his favorite form, a giant hawk. Flying toward a cluster of rocks in the ocean, Maui gained the hang of flying, turning back to normal here and there to slice at the rocks before turning back into a hawk.

"Yeah!" Moana cheered.

"Whoo-hoo!" Aukai whooped. "You got it!"

Smirking deviously, Maui turned from a giant hawk into a humongous whale.

"Oh, come on!" Aukai shouted as the whale landed in the ocean, soaking both Moana and himself with a giant splash.

Smiling, Maui turned to normal as he landed back on the boat. After sharing high fives with the teens, he did his secret handshake with Mini-Maui, which was of a high five, a butt bump, and a fist bump.

Clucking, Hei-Hei walked into the water as his legs poked out of the surface. Fed up with the chicken's idiocy, the ocean picked him up, placed him in a basket, slammed the lid on top of the basket, placed it inside the storage compartment, and slammed the door shut.

Aukai and Moana all laughed.

"What do you guys say?" Aukai asked as he offered Maui the oar. "Next stop, Te Fiti?"

Maui took the oar but smiled. Spinning it around, he offered it to Moana, who accepted it with a smile.

As the weeks flew by, Maui began to teach both Moana and Aukai wayfinding. He taught them how to feel the current to see if they were going the right way. If the sail began blowing aside, he taught them how to fix it. He taught them how to tie knots the way he did by throwing one end over the other. He showed them how to measure the stars.

He taught them everything he knew.

As they sailed, though, Aukai felt... different towards Moana. He thought she was brave, kind, sweet, smart, and beautiful. She had always had those qualities, but Aukai was beginning to appreciate them a little more.

What was this feeling?