Where does “*qaua” come from?
*qaua (Proto-Polynesian) comes from Proto-Oceanic *qaʀua(s),*kaʀua(s), from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *qaʀuas, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *qaʀuas, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qaʀuas.
Ancestry of “*qaua”, step by step