Note that this was posted on tumblr under my alternate name, tornrose24, and may go on deviant art under that same name. I may continue this, depending on how popular it gets. Also, Moana belongs to Disney.

Chapter 1: A young captive

Whenever she had imagined herself out on the ocean, she did not imagine herself to be captured by strange creatures wearing coconuts over their bodies and spears in their hands. Yet the young Moana chose that night of all nights to try to make another attempt to escape off the island with Pua in her hands and somehow she had found herself surrounded by several of these creatures who quickly covered her up like a wave crashing into the water. She had only one chance to scream before she had something forced over her mouth and her eyes and before she knew it, she had been taken upon a large, yet strange looking boat that was somewhere on the ocean where her island was nowhere in sight.

It had been at least one whole day since she had been taken off the island and the sun was due to set very soon. Her family and the whole village must have been worried out of their minds for her and must have either thought she was trapped somewhere on the island or had drowned at sea. And yet here she was, at the very top of the large boat that was almost the size of a mountain, with her hands bound behind her back and Pua right beside her.

The young captive of nine years or so was both terrified and excited at the same time. Her captors were both terrifying and cute at the same time. So far she had been treated fairly well, but her arms had been tied behind her back for so long that it was uncomfortable. It was now a question of why she had been captured in the first place.

From what she had learned from the voiceless leader (through a series of gestures, images carved upon wood, and lots of pointing), they had captured her so that her father would give them a very large amount of food and supplies in exchange for her safe return.

"And what about Pua?" She nodded to her friend, who had been dragged into this mess and yet stayed firmly by her side. The poor piglet was more terrified than she was, and yet he too was trying to see a way out of this strange situation they were stuck in.

The leader paused for a moment before drawing something on the piece of wood. He flipped it over to reveal a pig roasting over a fire which earned a round of thumbs up from a few of the nearby creatures and some very horrified squealing from Pua.

That was the last straw for Moana. With a yell, she got up on her feet and kicked the nearest coconut creature off the platform and sent him flying in a perfect arc out into the ocean. Before the leader or the others could have time to react, she quickly leapt off the platform and began to try to find a way to escape, with Pua squealing right after her.

All the creatures reacted and ran after the young girl and the pig, determined to stop her from getting away, but Moana was able to at least kick some out of the way as she desperately tried to find a way to either escape or get the stupid thing off her wrists so she could fight her captors.

She heard Pua frantically squeal and when she turned around, the poor piglet was trapped within a ring of those little creatures and their spears. All of which were aimed at Pua, who tried to scoot away from them as best as he could.

"Pua, no!" The little girl screamed as she hurried to the creatures and tried her best to kick them away. She was unaware that one of the creatures was walking on a plank of wood towards her with a strange tool in its grasp and when she finally noticed the movement from the corner of her eye, she turned around to face it.

All she could see was something coming out of the long circular thing that the creature held. She flinched and she closed her eyes in the nick of time before something sticky splattered over her eyelids.

"AIYYYEE!" She screamed as she tried to open her eyes but the strange substance already hardened over her eyes and rendered her blind. All she could hear was Pua squealing in terror for her and the sound of those creatures gaining upon her. Any of her excitement slowly died away to fear as she panicked and had no idea what she was doing anymore or where she was trying to scramble away to. "NO, NO, NO!"

"FATHER!" She cried as she felt the creatures surround her. "MOTHER! SOMEONE HELP!" She screamed as she felt them all cover her. She wanted this to all be a bad dream so that she could wake up!

She heard the sound of a bird's cry in the distance and suddenly the creatures got off her as fast as they could. Had she been able to see, she would have seen a large brown bird coming towards the ship, but she was trapped in darkness and could not feel with her hands so that she could guide herself out of here. Right at that very moment, something shot into her shoulder and while it hurt and made her yelp in surprise, it was nothing compared to the strange feeling of feeling a numbness take over in that same spot, like sitting on one's feet for too long.

In her confusion, she felt herself trip over something and began to fall down. She could hear Pua squealing for her, she could hear more chaos ensuing upon the boat as something crashed near where she had been, and all she could do was take a deep breath and pray she landed on something safe.

Instead, she felt nothing but water underneath her. She was going to fall into the ocean!

She felt the water swallow her up and she lost some of her hearing as everything above her died down to slightly muted sounds. She quickly realized that her fate was still not looking so good as she could not swim if her hands were still bound together. Especially if she had little experience in swimming within deep waters (thanks to the overprotective nature of her father).

Her body was getting number by the second and she felt a strange sleepiness coming to her, even though she didn't need sleep anytime soon. Whatever was on that dart was not going to help make her situation any better.

Slowly she sank and she felt her body protest against the pressures of the water and as it demanded fresh air in her lungs.

Was this how she was going to die?

Then, without warning, a large hand grabbed her and she felt herself be pulled upward at a very fast pace until finally her head broke through the surface and she was given a chance to fill her lungs up with as much air as she could. It was at that moment that true darkness took over and she lost all awareness to the world around her.

"Kid? Kid are you ok?" A very concerned voice asked as she became aware that she was laying down upon the sand and could hear the waves off in the distance. Was it all a dream, then?

She panted for air as she tried to sit up and she could hear Pua squealing in delight before he collided into her. She let out an 'Oof!" before trying to open her eyes, but to her horror, not only could she barely open them a crack but everything was blurry to the point that all the blues of the night sky and the sea blended together.

"No!" She cried out in horror as she tried to pry her eyes open some more, but they were stuck! "I can't see! Why can't I see?!" She wanted to cry–was this going to be forever?!

"Hey, don't do that!" A pair of hands quickly grabbed her wrists. The hands were alarmingly large (larger than her own father's) and it felt as if they could easily snap her arms like twigs and yet there was a gentleness about their grip that felt friendly. "I did what I could, but its going to take a day before it can come off. I had to put a salve over your eyes for good measure but trust me, you won't lose your sight. I actually had that happen to me once!" The voice–a man's voice–laughed. It was the kind of laugh that was full of life and very friendly and somehow Moana could tell that the laugh was as big as the man must have been.

"I kept running into things and I couldn't even dare try to get on a boat! There would have been no telling where I'd go! I could have been clear across the world or I'd go right into literal jaws of death!" The man's voice was equally comforting as it made Moana think of a warm day when the sun was at its highest and brightest. It helped make her feel better about her situation and she felt that she could relax after learning that she would not lose her eyes.

"Oh that's good!" She let out a sigh of relief. "I don't know what I would do if I couldn't see the ocean again. Or my family." She added. "I don't know how I'd be able to live if I couldn't see."

"Good thing I found you at the right time!" The man's voice now sounded smug. "I came soaring in and grabbed you from those little pests. Oh, and the pig." He added. "I saved the pig too."

"Thank you." Moana smiled as she felt Pua rub against her and she began to pet him. She heard the man take in a breath of air and he almost sang the words "You're welcome" to her. It sounded very smug and rehearsed as if saying those words were a sort of second nature to him, and it made her laugh.

"It was scary, but it was a lot of fun." Moana confessed. "I mean, it didn't turn out how I liked at the end, but I'd never imagine that I would get captured by those things ever in my life! but I got to go out into the ocean, like I always wanted to and I even got to kick those little weird things away when I tried to escape! I even saved Pua from becoming their dinner!" She was practically bouncing in her spot before she finally turned to face her savior.

She couldn't make him out that well, but she could see (or what she thought she could see) was long dark hair, strange pale things around his neck, and that he was possibly the biggest man she had ever seen in her entire life. It would have taken two men standing shoulder to shoulder to fill out his form.

If only she could see who her savior was! She couldn't see any of the details that were important, like his eyes! Worse yet, she could tell that her excitement was making him smile and she couldn't even see that! Only Pua could see him and he couldn't tell her since he was a pig!

"You are not like most children." He couldn't help but say. "Especially young girls your age, but I admire that. You'd even make a great explorer one day. Actually come to think of it, I'd almost want to see someone like you in a place like Lalotai." He chuckled. "I think the monsters would be really confused if they saw an excited young girl running around in that place without a care in the world.

"Who are you?" Moana asked. "I can't recognize your voice. Are you from another island?"

"Not... exactly." He admitted. "I suppose I belong to every part of this ocean."

"Maybe if you bring me to my father, I'm sure he'll reward you somehow." Moana continued.

There was a silence.

"Hello?" She asked and the man shifted a little.

"I know this'll sound weird, but I don't think I'd be up for a reward this time around. Maybe just... just don't forget about me?" He sounded lonely when he said that last part. "I'm used to helping others out and saving people's necks but..." He sighed. "I don't know, I don't feel like my usual self nowadays. I save someone, it feels good, then I got to move on and it happens again." He paused. "I have no idea why I just admitted that to a little kid." He scoffed at himself.

"Then how about you be my friend?" Moana asked as she stood up and held her hand out to the mystery man. "You sound like you need a friend." She added as kindly as she could. "What is your name–?"

The man hesitated and was about to say his name when–

"MOANA!"

"MOANA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The girl gasped as she heard her name being called by the villagers and she tried to figure out where they were. "They're looking for me!" She turned back to the man. "Are you sure you don't–"

"No, I think I'll pass. Having a chance to talk with someone for a bit was good enough for me."

"But what about your name?! I didn't get it!"

But instead of a name, the man moved closer towards her and she felt herself be drawn into a really, really, big hug. She was so tiny in comparison to him that she felt like he wasn't even a man to begin with. However, she could make out something important through the blurriness of her vision–whoever this man was had tattoos upon his body, because she could barely make out certain dark shapes upon his skin.

"You'll figure it out one day." The man softly told her. "Just... for now I'll remember you and your adventure that you got to experience."

Moana closed her eyes and returned the hug. The man felt as warm as his voice, even when she tried her best to wrap her arms around his body, but she could barely get her hands beyond where his rib cage was. It was like trying to hug the biggest mountain on the island, yet this mountain was able to hug her back. It made her feel safe.

She could hear her name get louder and louder and she could hear her father calling for her.

"I hope you get to go back out on the ocean, kid. It likes people like you."

Slowly the man moved away until she was out of her grasp and she heard him pick something up off the sands that was nearby.

"MOANA!"

"Grandma?!" Moana called as she turned around to face the direction of her grandmother's voice.

There was a strange flashing sound from behind her and she turned around, but there was no blurred sign of her rescuer.

It was as if he was never there to begin with. She didn't even get a chance to say good–bye to him.

The next day, when her vision cleared up and she could see perfectly again, she tried to figure out who the identity of her rescuer was, but no one saw anyone with her besides Pua. And because her father was so nervous about what happened, she was forced to see the ocean from a distance at her village, with Pua beside her.

"I wish you could tell me who it was who saved us." She sighed to Pua, who gave her a sympathetic glance. "All I know is what he sounds like and that he has tattoos on his chest. Or maybe more? I don't know."

There would be no way she would ever forget that voice. She would try to remember it for as long as she could, in case she ever saw the man again. In the meantime, she refused to give up her dream of going out into the ocean because there was now more things to look forward to when she did.

"Maybe one day I'll meet him again and find out who it was who saved me." She smiled. "At least I will be able to recognize him by the sound of his voice. Also, now that I think about it," She scowled "I'll need to make sure I never get kidnapped again."

She was not going to look at coconuts the same way again for quite awhile.

So yay or nay?

I wanted to see a Little Mermaid inspired AU for Moana (they both have the same directors and all) and I guess I went ahead? If I continue with this, the relationship between the two will be platonic ( I had mentioned in a post that perhaps becoming a human could involve someone wanting a person for who they are instead of what they are to avoid the need to prove oneself with a kiss in three days). I love the idea of Moana x Maui, but she was too young for that in the film and I like the friendship they already have.

And yes, if I do continue this, Tamatoa is taking Ursula's place. And maybe Heihei as the dumbest version of Sebastian in any Little Mermaid AU.

EDIT: cloth did not exist in that era from what I learned. I also forgot to include a word that I had to add in.