Moana Makes It Right

 Part 3 of Moana Moves In, comes directly after Moana Search and Rescue.

***

Helen's scream was enough to scare me into action. 

I tried as hard as I could to wriggle my way into a standing position. My oar had landed about an arm's distance away from me, but my arm was pinned down by the chaotic twigs of the bush. My hair was caught in the brambles, and my knee felt like it had to pop. 

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" I shrieked, spitting more hair from my mouth. I reached down with my free hand and hammered the top of my knee.

Snap.

That wasn't a good sound. Pain shot up my leg in waves, and it took all my willpower to not also scream.

"I got it!" Steve called. He ran through Helen's tunnel and slung his shield onto his arm, preparing to strike. Helen, from what I could see, was trying to hold her balance on top of the frozen pond while being cornered by an animal that was definitely a predator. It refused to look away from Helen's face. 

"A fox!" I heard Steve say. "Don't run. It thinks you're a rabbit. It'll chase you."

"What should I do then?" Helen's voice, which was normally steady and composed, now trembled with panic.

"Stay still. I'll distract it. Hey!" Steve slammed the flat end of his shield down onto the ice. The thud alerted the fox, and it turned its head away from Helen.

"Get out of here!" Steve bellowed, making his voice louder and deeper. The fox only tilted its head in curiosity. Instead of leaving the pond, the fox crept closer to Helen, reaching out a round orange paw.

Helen clapped a hand to her mouth. The noise of their voices themselves weren't enough to scare the fox away.

Steve began to run out of ideas. He started slamming the shield down again, over and over on the ice. He switched from the flat end to the edge of the shield, carving the ice down into a dent. The surface shook with his force.

"Be careful!" I wanted to shout, but my own hair was choking me out. They couldn't hear me. I couldn't save them.

The fox began to bat at Helen, in the same way a cat would a feather toy.

"Hey! Hey!" Steve cried. He gave up and abandoned his shield, throwing it under the fox's feet. The fox yelped and shot up into the air. It couldn't get off the pond fast enough. We all watched it dart away into the nearby woods. Its sunny orange body melted into the dark.

Helen collapsed. Her breaths shook her entire body. Steve made his way over to her, getting his shield back onto his arm. He held her and tried to carry her off the ice, but he kept slipping and Helen's body was growing limp. It looked like she had fainted.

I desperately tried getting my oar again. It was so, so close. Close enough that my fingertips grazed the handle. I just had to get a bit closer, pull myself out of these brambles. I pushed and strained, until my middle finger could almost wrap around the end, and bring it in-

-something grabbed it away.

"Hey!" I screamed, more angry than alarmed. "Hey!"

Something small and dark moved through the bushes quickly. A shadow zipped around me on all sides, and one by one, I felt another tendril of hair fall free. They were sawing away the twigs, cutting me loose. 

"Raya?" I gasped.

"I'll need your oar," she said. Her voice held no emotion. "This is what I owe you now."

"Do you realize what we've gone through to find you? Helen was almost attacked by a fox, I fell out of a tree, Steve-"

Raya pressed some hair against my mouth. "Be quiet please. This is nothing against you."

"Then why are you leaving? Why won't you come back home?"

"That's not my home." Raya stated. The sound of sharp metal whooshed through the air as the final bramble was cut away. I was dropped onto the ground, hands stopping me from hitting my face to the dirt. My knee was limp and hot.

"It could be, if you gave it a chance," I begged. "Where will you go instead?"

"I don't know," Raya said. I wanted to believe she sounded sad. "Your oar is the last thing I need for my boat. It'll take me wherever I need to go."

"Wait, you have a boat? I love boats!" I said, trying to stand, but my knee buckled and I was instead crawling on the ground, trying to grab Raya's legs as she left the shrubs. In the dim moonlight, I could see a makeshift raft by the edge of the pond. It was set in the grass next to a thin stream of water, still running despite the cold. I followed the creek and saw that it went off into the forest where the fox had     run to. "Raya, no. It's dangerous there. Certainly coming back with us is better than going in there."

"How would you know?" Raya grumbled. "You've been a human's pet for however many years. You've never been outside of your comfort zone."

"Is that what you think?" I said, nearly laughing. I could hear Magneto's voice in my head going off on Raya, listing all the times we had gotten in and out of trouble. I latched onto her ankle, thinking my weight was enough to pull her back, but she kept on walking, dragging me through the sharp and frozen grass towards the raft. It stung my face, but I couldn't let her leave.

"Just let me go, Moana. It'll be easier."

"No!" I said, hoping to bring about some of Helen's stubbornness. I glanced over my shoulder to see her and Steve safe on the edge of the pond. They might be off the ice, but Helen wasn't moving. "If you're going, I'm going with you."

Raya suddenly stopped. She looked down at me, eyes wide and mouth tight. "Why?"

"Because," I realized nothing I said would change her mind. "Because you're right. I've been living in a human's house for five years. I'm ready for a change."

"You're lying," Raya muttered, kicking me aside. I rolled into the weeds by the edge of the pond. A couple tendrils of hair fell over the edge of the dirt and touched the surface of the ice. She stepped one foot onto her raft and began moving it back and forth, ready to go at any second. "You don't want to go with me. You're trying tactics to bring me back."

"Well if you're going, and I can't come, and I can't stop you, take this!" I unbuttoned the cape around my neck and threw it her way. She caught it quickly. Raya rubbed the fabric between her fingers and as she studied it, her eyes softened. "You're cold. At least if I'm going back to the humans I won't need one."

"This is handmade," said Raya softly. "Who made this?"

"She's grandmother. Years and years ago. They were for She's mom and her dolls. When She's mom outgrew the dolls, the clothes went to She."

"It's beautiful. Such a good color. I always did like red," she made a noise in her throat that might have been a chuckle. "You may be a human's pet, but at least you're having a good life," Raya smiled and wrapped the cape around her. It fit well. "I'm sorry I was so cruel to you."

"I'm sorry we didn't try to understand you. It was a crummy thing to do. Helen and I were talking on the way here. We'd like to watch your movie. To get to know you and make you feel welcome."

"That's all I ever really wanted," Raya confessed. "I can't help that I get so heated, so overwhelmed. So many dolls in that house and not one of them knew who I was."

"You must have felt devastated."

"I did. I felt like... like I didn't matter."

"You do matter, Raya. We're going to make an effort to know you."

Raya held the tip of her sword to my nose. "Do you promise?"

"I do. I promise."

Wordlessly, Raya bent down to give me her hand. I gave her mine even though I knew I couldn't stand up. I laughed a little.

"Raya, my knee, I think its-"

Crack.

Both of us fell silent, not even daring to breathe. Raya looked around. Nothing was on the pond behind her, but her right boot was still on the raft.

"Was that the-"

WHOOSH.

Plates of ice began breaking away rapidly. I shrieked and tried to tackle Raya to the ground, but her foot was stuck on the reeds that held the raft together. She began pulling me unintentionally towards the now-open stream.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Raya screamed. She was clawing at the ground, but the chunks of ice kept hitting her raft, eager to go down the river, and they were going to take her with them whether she liked it or not.

I couldn't even tell her she didn't have to say sorry. I couldn't even tell her everything was alright. The cracking noises continued, getting deeper and deeper and further away. It was cold, but not cold enough to freeze the entire pond. It was only cold enough to freeze a doll.

Raya was now halfway into the water. Her clothes were sopping wet and her arms shivering uncontrollably. The fear in her face was turning into something scarier- resignation. She was begging me to let go of her, but I couldn't. 

"Moana."

"No! I won't let you."

"You have to! Please."

 I slammed my free hand into the ground and tried pushing my way up the slope by hand.

"The ground's too hard, you won't be able to do it." Raya said. A sort of peace had taken over her voice.

"I can and I'm gonna!" I insisted. 

I pressed upwards again. I slipped, raking my palm across the icy ground. Raya fell deeper into the stream. Her body felt even heavier with the speed at which the water was flowing. I closed my eyes and braced to fall in with her and be swept away. 

I reached for a hold at the last minute.

"Helen!"

I had grabbed onto her boot.

"I came as fast as I could!" It was Steve! Helen's body was still limp in his arms. He set her down and reached out to grab my ankle. He used his super-soldier strength to lift me up, taking Raya and her raft into the air.

"Raya!" He cried. He sounded relieved.

She kicked the raft away and watched it somewhat longingly as it was swept downstream by the chunks of ice. It vanished into the big concrete tunnel that lead underground into the woods.

"It's me," she panted. "I'm coming back."

"Oh, thank God. Thank God," Steve could have been near to tears if dolls could cry. "Helen's fainted, she got really spooked by that fox. And then I didn't know if you had gotten out of the bush but I knew you couldn't walk and... you're wet."

"Yeah, that river really is something." Raya shivered and wrung out the red cape. It wouldn't do much good for any of us now.

"Steve, I think I dislocated my knee. I can't go home."

"You can and you will," he said. "Let's revive Helen with this cold water, and I can carry you back."

I had the largest hands, so I scooped up a handful of water from the shallows of the pond. This kind of cold would have knocked a doll right out of their body. I was surprised and grateful that Raya was strong enough to withstand it. I poured a little of it onto Helen's hands and head.

She sat up immediately, almost furious. "What the- oh! Raya! Moana! Is everyone alright?"

"We are, but you fainted," I told her. "We're fine. We're going home."

"You missed a lot," Steve laughed. "Let's go get warm."

Steve carried me bridal-style away from the pond, down the street, and through the bushes to She's neighborhood without the slightest complaint. I knew marriage wasn't for me, but I was grateful to Elsa for choosing such a selfless life partner. The four of us stumbled into She's backyard and followed the rectangle of light all the way up to the back door.

"They're home! They're home!" A little voice called. I knew it was Meiling. She seemed to have forgotten about Raya kicking her. Her face smooshed up against the glass was a welcoming sight.

She reminded everyone to be quiet before opening the door and letting us in. We were relaxed by a burst of warm air and the silent cheers of our family. She set up a cozy spot on the couch where we could get warm and dry. A kettle whistled on the stove, and a large candle was burning on She's school desk. Yeah, I thought. This could be home.

"So what happened?" Magneto asked. "You came back sooner than expected."

"I almost didn't come back at all." I said. I went on and on about the bushes and the footprints and the fox and the frozen river.

"You could have asked me for help!" Said Elsa, who was embracing Steve. "Do you want some ice for your leg, Moana?"

"What's this about your leg?" She asked. She brought us over a huge mug of tea to share. It was the apple cinnamon one She made a lot last fall. It was one of my favorites.

"I think I dislocated my knee. It doesn't hurt that much anymore but I haven't been able to walk."

"Let me see," She sidled up next to me and put both hands on my leg. "Count to three."

One, two three... snap! She forced it right back into place like nothing ever happened. I flexed my knee a few times. It felt a million times better. I thanked She and drank in the energy of the room. Helen was hugging her sister, Elsa was hugging her husband, and Magneto and Pocahontas refused to leave my side until I felt better. Who did Raya have?

"So I had a little plan for how to spend the rest of the night." She announced. I knew She was happy with the plan because She was biting her lip, trying to side a smile. She turned on the TV and the screen filled up with the picture of a furry-looking blue creature. 

"Sisu! That's Sisu!" Raya leapt up from the couch and starting pointing wildly. "Sorry. Huge dragon nerd."

"That's not what dragons look like to me." Said Meiling. 

"In our culture, dragons bring prosperity. They inhabit the water." Raya explained. As an apology to Meiling, she invited her onto her lap and the two of them snuggled under a big green blanket.

"In my movie, dragons are scaly and scary. They breathe fire."

"How different!" Raya said, amused. She took off her hat for the very first time and set it on Meiling's head. It was much too big.

"I thought we could all watch Raya's movie. Sound good?" She asked.

Everyone agreed. Midway through the movie, I touched Raya's hand. "How do you feel?"

"Better," she nodded. Meiling was asleep in her lap, sucking on the back of her hand. "You know, I don't really like kids. I'm not good with them, and I definitely don't want any of my own. But this one... I think we're gonna get along."

I smiled and squeezed Raya's hand. Pocahontas and I leaned our heads on each other's shoulders and let reality fade into the colorful world of Kumandra. It was time to be taught a different story.

Ioihi makamaka,

Moana of Motunui