As Tangaroa tumbled into the bay where Tamanuikiterangi, the wise on lived, he was pleased to see how well Maui Tikitiki-a-Taranga was growing. Many seasons had passed since Tangaroa had tossed Maui, wrapped up in his mother’s hair, on to the beach, giving him to Tamanuikiterangi. Now Maui was as clever as the old man and knew as much about hidden magic in the earth and the sky as his old koro.

One day tamanuikiterangi said to Maui, "Go on, go and find your whanau. I have been waiting for you to ask me but you have chosen to use magic instead. Put away your spells and let me do this one last service for you. Your time with me has ended."

And Maui left Tamanuikiterangi.

He travelled by day and when the land became too rugged he took the form of the kahu and skimmed over it. He crossed into his tribal land and found his family’s whare exactly where Tamanuikiterangi had said it would be.

When night fell and everyone had gone to sleep he crept inside and lay down beside his brothers.

The following morning Taranga looked at her four sleeping sons. Maui Taha…..Maui Roto…… Maui Waho…..Maui Pae……But there was a fifth person asleep with her sons. "Who’s that?" She shook the stranger roughly and shouted, "wake up, whoever you are! Where did you come from?"

Maui sat up and looked at his mother. His brothers sprang to their feet and rushed for their weapons to kill the intruder.

"Well may you ask, woman" said Maui. He stood up and faced his whanau. "I come from the heaving waters of Tangaroa where I was thrown by my mother who had wrapped me in her hair. I would have perished had Tangaroa not taken pity on me and tossed me to Tamanuikiterangi. He named me Maui Tikitiki-a-Taranga."

Taranga’s eyes filled with tears and she opened her arms to Maui.

"My son. My last born son. My potiki. My potiki who came too early into this world. Welcome back to your whanau. Welcome home."