Chapter Text
To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
By Robert Herrick
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
The higher he’s a-getting,
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times still succeed the former.
Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.
Maui was pretty sure he had done a good job keeping track of time between visits to Motunui, but time had slipped by faster than he thought, because when he landed, Moana was leading a wobbly baby along the shore, holding both of their hands in hers to keep them from falling over.
It was bound to happen. It didn’t mean he had to like it.
“Hey, Chosen One!” He called across the beach, waving at her.
She broke into a smile when she saw him, hefting the kid onto her hip and walking over to greet him.
“Maui!” She chirped happily. “I’m so glad you’re here. Meet Simea!” She gestured to the baby, who had gotten her hands on Moana’s necklace and was gnawing on it.
“Hi Simea!” He said, smiling at her chubby cheeks. She already looked so much like Moana. “I’m your mom’s very best friend.”
“Her mom’s best friend?” Moana furrowed her brow.
“I know you’ve replaced me with some lame mortal husband, but come on. I’m still your bestie.” He put a brave face on, but his heart ached.
Moana started to laugh, and that hurt his feelings more.
“Maui, meet Simea. My baby sister. ”
“Oh.” He replied, feeling rather warm in the face. “Hello baby sister. Does Moana know that you’re chewing on her necklace?”
Moana giggled at his embarrassment. “This is what you get for taking so long to visit.” She offered the baby a different toy, and after a moment of cross eyed consideration, she accepted the trade, happily gnawing on the wooden sea turtle.
“I’m sorry.” He replied sincerely. “I’ve had cool demigod stuff to do, you know how it is.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” Moana replied, catching the turtle toy as Simea dropped it and handing it back to her. “Are you staying for a while? We just harvested a beautiful batch of sweet potatoes, we just need an excuse for a feast.”
Simea cooed in his direction and waved her toy at him.
“Simea says you should stay.” Moana translated.
“Well I know better than to argue with you and mini-you.” Maui replied, booping the baby on her squishy little nose.
The problem with visiting Moana was that he never wanted to leave. Even more so now that seeing her with Simea was doing all sorts of things to his heart that he didn’t want to think about.
Moana was mortal, he reminded himself. She would live, shining brighter than the sun in his otherwise dull life, and then she would burn out, and he would be alone again. If he was smart, he wouldn’t get that attached.
As he watched her dance with her baby sister, her skirts spinning and the baby giggling in her arms, he realized it was far too late. The best he could do was to make her world brighter, to give her as much as he could in the short span of her life. He could fill his heart with memories of her that would ease the ache of her passing.
Even as dedicated to her dance as she was, Moana still smiled at him, finding him easily in the crowd. He blew her a kiss. He couldn’t help it. She was impossible not to love, the bright star that she was, radiating joy into everyone lucky enough to know her.
A few minutes later, Moana stepped away from the rest of the dancers to cough aggressively on the sidelines, and worry struck him needlessly. Mortals got sick. Not to mention it was springtime, and the air was thick with irritants.
She passed Simea off to her mother and went to sit down, still trying to catch her breath. The crowd parted around him easily as he went to join her, grabbing her a drink along the way.
“Doing okay, Princess?” He asked.
She gave him a thumbs up before coughing again, and accepted the offered drink, taking slow sips between deep breaths.
“Swallowed a bug or something.” She explained.
He knew he had been worrying for nothing. It wouldn’t do to start getting nervous every time she caught a cold. He’d drive himself insane that way, and a thousand years in exile had already done enough of that.
She was strong, beautiful. Mortals like her would cling to life as long as possible.
Moana woke with a strangled gasp, her hands clutching at her throat as she took loud, deep gulps of air. The remnants of her nightmare clung to her skin and burrowed into her heart, thick vines wrapping tight around her, flowers blooming from her bleeding mouth.
“Simea.” Moana struggled to keep her voice steady. “I’m okay, I’m sorry I woke you up.”
Simea crawled into her lap, tears falling over her round cheeks.
She ran her hands over her own neck one last time, finding only the cord of her necklace. Just a dream. She’d had it several times in the weeks following her return from Te Fiti, but this was the first she had woken up gasping and drowning in sweat.
“You’re okay Simea, Shhhh-” She soothed, holding her sister close.
“Moana, Simea, are you alright?” Her mother asked, entering their room to check on them.
“I had a bad dream and woke her up.” She admitted, handing the scared toddler over to her mother.
Sina dried Simea’s eyes and kissed her little forehead before leaning over to kiss Moana’s as well.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked, patting Simea’s back as she hiccuped and sniffled.
“Just the flower dreams again.” Moana replied, shaking her head. “I’ll be alright.”
Her reassurances didn’t soothe the lines of worry on her mother’s face.
“You haven’t had one of those in a while.” She said, tucking a strand of hair back behind Moana’s ear. “I wonder what triggered this one.”
The only thing Moana could think of was maybe that Maui had visited recently, he was the larger than life reminder of her meeting the goddess, after all, but she didn’t say that. Sure, the catch in her throat she had caught when Te Fiti bloomed was likely permanent, but after everything she had been through that trip, it seemed like a rather small scar to bear.
Simea reached out for her. “Mana.”
“Mo-ah-na.” Their mother gently corrected, wiping the snot from Simea’s nose.
“Mahna.” Simea repeated, wriggling out of her mother’s arms and into Moana’s, burying her face in her neck.
Moana was only a little disgusted by the snot being wiped all over her neck. Better death by baby goo than magic vines, she supposed, nuzzling against soft baby curls.
The sun was barely beginning to rise, a glimmer of light peeking in through the open window.
“I’ll take Simea, Mom.” Moana offered. “You go back to bed.”
Sina shook her head. “Why don’t you take her for a walk and I’ll make breakfast.”
“Girls, did I miss something?” Tui’s voice called from across the house, followed by one of his massive yawns.
“Just some bad dreams.” Moana called back.
Tui sleepily lumbered into the room, kneeling down beside them. “Aw, my sweet baby girl.” he cooed, gently fluffing Simea’s curls.
Sina nudged him, and looked pointedly at Moana.
“Ah, my sweet big baby girl.” Her father said, ruffling her hair as well.
Moana took a breath and let herself relax. She was safe, her family all around her. No hungry plants here, just warmth and love.