The stillness of the water around his boat as he sailed across the sea didn't seem right as he looked down at it from the mast. No waves at all from it; just stillness. He hopped off the mast – his feet landing on the boat with a thump – before feeling the current.

Warm... He thought, taking his hand out of the water, Well, I'm on the right track then. After looking at the ocean again, he saw it still wasn't moving. He wondered what was wrong with it.

"Are...you okay?" He asked it, walking as close to the edge of the boat as he could, "You seem pretty quiet. Is something wrong?" The ocean didn't respond, it just stayed still. Maui sighed.

"Look, if you don't tell me what is wrong, I won't be able to help you." He said, seriousness in his tone, "Now tell me!" Suddenly he remembered what had happened that time he tried to go fishing and quickly added, "Please." Still no response...

He growled in frustration, and just as he was about to scream – or throw a temper tantrum, whichever came first – the ocean came up and looked at him. Something about it felt...off.

"What's wrong?" He asked it, all anger forgotten as he once again became concerned due to the ocean not being itself, "Is...she okay?" And by she, he meant Moana. He remembered her telling him once that the ocean was her friend, so he had to ask. The wave looked down then shook its "head" sadly.

Oh no, oh Gods no... He thought, a look of worry on his face, S-She has to be fine! She just has to! He then looked around, trying to think of a shortcut to Motunui, even though he wasn't too far away from it. He wasn't close enough to see it as a speck in the distance either.

Pulling the stays, he straightened the sheet so it could catch wind so he could make it to Motunui faster.

After leaving his boat in the very shallow water on the shore, Maui went to go look for Moana. Worried, he thought, She better not have done something stupid...

As he looked around, he noticed her, sitting by the ocean with a look of sadness on her face. She was sitting on a large, dark gray rock that goes out a bit into the ocean, her knees to her chest and her arms hugging them with her head down.

M-Moana...? He thought, slowly walking up to her, a look of concern on his face. Suddenly he saw her lift her head up, looking out towards the ocean and Maui could see she was crying. He felt bad for her, but a part of him was also a little bit angry to see her this way, thinking someone may have hurt her. He then walked over to her, not noticing the sun beginning to be covered by grayish clouds. Or maybe he did notice but he didn't care, as long as he got to help her.

"You okay, kid?" He asked, slightly tilting his head to the side. Not bothering to look at him, Moana let out a huff.

"Yes, I'm okay." She said, sounding a little upset, "I can't sail right now though." Maui looked confused.

"You can't...sail?" He asked, "Why not? Isn't your dad okay with you sailing now since we restored the Heart?" Moana sighed, looking down.

"Yeah, he is..." She said as she looked at him, "I just...caught a sickness. Dad doesn't want me back on the waters until I'm better."

"What kind of sickness is it?" Maui asked, tilting his head slightly more out of curiosity.

"We don't know, but today I woke up with what seemed like a fever." Moana explained, looking back out at the water, "Sometimes I also get headaches. Luckily we have medicine people in our village to help with that." Maui looked a bit surprised about what she had said about her symptoms.

"Were there cramps? Anything else?" He asked, sitting next to her and fiddling with his hook.

"No." Moana said, "Just...fever-like symptoms, chills and headaches." Maui pondered the information for a moment.

Fever, chills and a headache... He thought, Sounds familiar, especially considering she likes the ocean so much, and there is an illness having to do with that.

He then stopped fiddling with his hook as he asked, "Did you...by any chance get a cut that could've been exposed to the water? You know, like the salty water." Moana giggled, but it didn't seem like her normal one. It seemed...different, as if she really was sick and didn't have a lot of energy.

"Maui, we're on an island!" She said with a smile, "Of course there's salty water! Especially since we're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean!" Maui chuckled.

"Okay okay, I get it." He said, holding his hands up in defense, "But how long has it been since your last time sailing?" Moana shrugged.

"Well we got back here after finding that island, before sunset." She replied, "And all I know is that I woke up with those fever-like symptoms." Maui sighed.

"Look, you're not helping here Curly." He said, giving her an unamused look, "I need details!" Moana rolled her eyes.

"Okay," she said with a sigh, "I got this cut, and I'm not sure if that'll help." She showed him a cut that had healed on the back of her wrist. Maui just stared at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Besides him, anyway. "I got it by...trying to husk a coconut with a rock. My hand slipped I guess, and...that happened." Maui looked up at her with a smile, trying to stifle a chuckle.

"Well if the rock is sharp ya gotta have some skill in husking a coconut with it!" He said, still smiling at her and trying to stifle a chuckle, though he didn't notice it slipping through his voice. Only she did, but she decided to ignore the fact he was most likely laughing at her mistake.

"Well, maybe something could've gotten into the cut and made me sick." She pondered, thinking, "Things like that happen too, right?" Maui put a finger up to his chin in thought. Then he realized that the illness she had was the one he had guessed earlier!

"Uh, Moana, I believe I know what type of illness you have." He told her, a look of concern spread across his face. Moana didn't like when he said her real name – not in situations like these – because it often meant something bad.

"Well, w-what is it?" She asked, feeling nervous and like she didn't want to know the answer, but she had to know so she could try to get better. Maui took a deep breath.

"You might not like what I have to say, Mo, but–"

"Just spit it out already!" Moana shouted, but even her shout wasn't that loud or strong. Maui held his hands up in defense.

"Okay, okay!" He said, now putting his hands over his lap, "You have a disease called" – another sigh – "vibriosis. It's a disease apparently caused by the Vibrios bacteria."

"Is it...deadly?" Moana asked, sounding slightly worried, "Like will I die if it's untreated?" Maui froze at her question. He'd never thought of Moana dying from a disease. Heck, he'd never imagined her dying at all! He'd usually forgotten that mortals would die eventually because he hardly stuck around to check on them because he was so busy with his duties and adding to his legacy. Moana, though, was different and he'd try to squeeze in a little time for her since he wanted to make sure she was alright.

"No, I don't think it can kill you." He said with a shrug, "It just... This strain of the illness... It can't kill you. Mortals like you have gotten it before, and when I'd visit to help them with something, I would see that one of their people who had the illness had gotten over it."

"So I'm going to be okay...?" She asked, smiling hopefully at him.

"Yes, Moana." Maui said softly, smiling back at her, "You will be, and I will stay here with you until you get better." Moana then hugged him, giggling.

"Thanks Maui." She said as he hugged back.

"No problem, kid." Maui said, his voice still soft.

Thinking back on it, Maui didn't remember what had caused him to become protective of her, but he'd guessed it was their very strong bond. If one was in danger, the other would help.

But in this moment, that thought didn't matter. What mattered was him being there for her.

So originally I was going to have Moana be sick and possibly dying in the beginning. But I decided to go with her being sick instead.

I looked up illnesses that are found in Hawaii and I found a waterborne illness. It's the illness I use in this fic and it seems fitting since Moana likes to be on the ocean so much, and wayfinding requires checking the water with your hand.

Also about husking a coconut with a sharp rock, let's just say it was flat and sharp. I don't know if that could allow someone to husk a coconut, but I decided to go with it anyway.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! There will be more one-shots coming soon!