Gonna run to my mum’s house for most of the rest of the afternoon but I did manage to get some cute shit written for this chapter before I go so here have some Bonding:
“Uh… weird question, but… do any of you guys know anything about sailing?”
“Are you kidding, of course I do!” Sora exclaimed confidently. Perhaps a bit too confidently though, something that Donald was quick to call him out on.
“No, you don’t,” the magician argued flatly.
“Eh, how hard could it be?” the Keybearer shrugged, going over to join Moana. She readily handed the rope over to him, pointing out the boat’s rudder in the process as well as she held onto the oar to be of some assistance when it came to steering. “Ok, so you just take this…” Sora began, somewhat unsteadily pulling on the sail only for the boat to turn in a fast, full circle as a result. Moana sent him a rather knowing look at this, though even so, he tried his best to play it off with a flustered laugh before trying again. “Alright, so this thing does… um…” his smile ultimately fell as he reached for the rudder, hesitating lest he end up turning the boat completely around altogether. “Ok, ok, I’ve got it this time, I know it,” he shook his head, gripping the sail’s rope tightly once more, only for Moana to do the same.
“You don’t actually know a single thing about sailing, do you, Sora?” she asked with an empathetic smile.
“What? No, I totally…” Sora trailed off, letting out a small, defeated sigh as he admitted the truth. “Don’t. Sorry.”
“Heh, don’t worry about it,” Moana laughed warmly. “You’re definitely not alone on that front.” Her humorous manner dropped as she looked back out to the sea once more somewhat diffidently. “You know, it’s kinda funny… My people, they were descended from voyagers. They used to sail all over the great sea, discovering new islands everywhere they went! Then… thanks to Maui stealing the heart of Te Fiti… they just… stopped. Without the heart, monsters started coming out of the ocean and… I guess it just scared everyone into staying on land.”
“...Is that why you’ve never left your island until now?” Sora asked, curious.
Moana nodded, gripping her necklace that contained the heart of Te Fiti safely within. “M-my… my grandmother told me the Ocean chose me for a reason, but… why would it choose someone who doesn’t even know how to sail…?”
Sora paused, thinking over this bout of doubt before offering her the most natural response he could think of. “Maybe… it’s not about sailing. Maybe the Ocean chose you because it knows you can do something that nobody else can.”
“You think so?” Moana smiled over to him, hopeful. “Well, I’d love to know what that something is… But, I guess that’s why I’m out here in the first place, huh? To find out.”
“If it makes you feel any better,” Sora began, leaning back as he looked to the clear skies ahead. “When I first left my island, I didn’t really know what I was doing either. I was lost and alone and scared and all I wanted to do was find my friends and get back home. But then… I met Donald and Goofy,” he nodded up to his companions as they sat a bit ahead on the boat. Both of them gladly returned his nostalgic smile, remembering that meeting and their very first adventure together just as well as the Keybearer himself did. “And… believe it or not, they were the ones who helped me find my way.”
“Find your way…” Moana repeated, largely to herself as she wondered exactly who she had to help her find her own way. Especially now that one of the only people she’d always looked to for guidance was gone.
