Chapter Text
“Sina, make sure to let the tapa hang out to dry!” Her sister Aria said as she brought fresh coconuts into the fale.
Sina didn’t look up as she was focused on her work. It wasn’t just a regular tapa cloth, but a new tapa skirt she was preparing. Sina took the tapa outside so that it could dry and came back inside.
“Have you seen dad?” Sina asked glancing at her sister
“He’s still in the lagoon helping the fishermen” Aria said distracted “I still don’t know how they do it”
“Do what?” Sina asked confused
“You know, fish without accidentally drifting past the reef” Aria said with a slight laugh.
“Well, you can never be TOO careful” Sina chuckled. With a more concerned tone. “It also looks like rain, I hope they’re back soon”
“Me too. Did you finish the chores? We should probably get the earth oven started” Aria asked
Sina rolled her eyes. It had been seven years since their mother died; Aria took it upon herself to become the “maternal figure” in the house. Even though she loved her sister, she really hated it every time Aria was bossy
“Yeah, didn’t you see me hang up my tapa cloth for my new skirt?’ Sina said slightly sarcastic.
“Hey, I was just making sure. You know, for fun” Aria says defending herself.
“Being bossy isn’t all that fun Aria, it sure isn’t for me” Sina says walking out of the fale. Aria follows from behind
“Where are u going?” She asks
“Down to see if the fishermen need help” Sina says
“Sina the earth oven!” Aria yells
“Oh yeah, have fun sis” Sina says with a smug grin as she leaves. Aria shakes her head and walks back into the fale
Tui, the son of the village chief is just getting back with his friend from their fishing trip. “I’m telling you, we should take a canoe and go see what’s out there!” Loto said excitedly as he jumped down from the boat and helped Tui unload the catch of the day
Tui finishes placing the fish into nets that they would carry back to the village and looks up at his friend
“You know we can’t go past the reef. There could be monsters.. *he then walks closer to the edge of the water and looks out with an almost longing expression* still.. I’ve always wondered what could be out there. *he turns to his friend* I remember the stories, my mother told me as a child”
“Exactly! That’s why we should go and investigate!“Loto said excitedly
Tui takes a deep sigh and thinks this over before grabbing the fish nets to head back.
“Look out!” Loto shouts. Just as Tui walked away, suddenly he is smacked upside the head with an oar as he’s turning around.
Sina gasps, she was taking a canoe into the lagoon to see if the fishermen needed help and hadn’t noticed Tui coming up from behind her. x
She drops the oar clasps her hands over her mouth. “Oh my gosh! I-I am so sorry!! Terribly sorry, are you ok?!! She asks startled by what happened and even more so realizing she just hit the son of the village chief
Tui gets up angrily and turns to punch who ever just hit him “WATCH WHERE Y-” He stops in mid swing, his fist hovers in the air. Sina is very much afraid and remorseful.
Their eyes meet. Tui’s expression softens even though the blow to his head still hurts, he relaxes and puts his arm down
“I am so sorry-” Sina repeats again and Tui puts his hands up in a calming gesture
“No no, its ok. It happens” he says calmly
“ I probably just gave you a concussion!” Sina retorts.
“Well no, but I’ll be fine. Its ok, I’m sorry if I scared you” he says apologetically
Sina waves her hand at him “No don’t be, I wasn’t watching where I was going” she says
She studies his face for a moment and continues. Not exactly the best way to make a first impression is it” she says with a slight laugh
“I’ve been hit harder” Tui says still in a daze
There is an awkward silence. Loto is behind Tui with a smug smirk waiting for his friend to make the first move. He takes this moment of quiet to introduce himself
“Hey there! I’m Loto by the way” *nudges Tui who is still speechless* so are you going to introduce yourself or should I?” Loto says quietly but smugly. Tui gives him a glare
Finally Tui speaks up “I-I’m Tui. The chief is my father” Tui says a bit awkwardly as he opens up to initiate a hongi
Sina replies with a smile “I’m Sina. It’s nice to meet you Tui” she then reciprocates the hongi. She turns to Loto who does the same greeting
“I’m sorry, have we met before?” Tui says finally. He mentally kicks himself, well of course you’ve provably seen each other, you live on an island
“I think I’ve seen you around the village at some point yeah” Sina replies a bit puzzled
“Sina!” Her sister Aria calls having followed her down to the beach. Their father is just coming back from the lagoon and she’s helping him with his baskets
“Oh. That’s just my sister. I should get going, It was nice meeting you both. Im sorry again Tui, about the oar. I guess I’ll see you around” she says giving him a smile. He smiles back and waves slightly but doesn’t say anything as she races off.
Loto puts his arm around Tui “Smooth, very smooth” he says smirking
“Was that the son of the chief you were talking to?” Aria asks as they walk back to the village
“Oh, Tui? Yeah. The funniest thing happened actually. I might have accidentally hit him with an oar” Sina says sheepishly as she fiddles with her hands. Aria stops in her tracks looking at Sina like she just grew two heads then starts laughing as Sina playfully punches her in the shoulder
“That wasn’t why I went down there in case you’re wondering” Sina says as Aria just continues chuckling as she shakes her head at her dorky sister.
“You get into the weirdest situations sometimes” Aria says teasingly
“Like you haven’t” Sina replies rolling her eyes
There’s a brief pause before Aria speaks up.
“So, was he cute?” she asks with a smug smirk as she nudges Sina
Sina rolls her eyes and lets out a chuckle. When Aria goes back into the fale, Sina thinks back to what happened on the beach, about Tui and the incident with the oar. It looked as if he was about to hit her. She wouldn’t have blamed him. Maybe she’d see them again sometime like she had mentioned before leaving
After all, they do live on an island