Unexpected Perfection (Emperor's New Groove)

Part Twelve

"Hey, there, Pacha. You know, you just missed your relatives," a voice halted us as we raced towards the house. We all looked to find an old Mr. Chuchau playing checkers with his friend, Mr. Huallpa.

"Relatives?" my dad asked, trying to clear up the misunderstanding. Nana and Papa didn't send us word that they would be visiting any time soon and it wasn't like them to surprise us.

"Yeah. We just sent them up to your house," Mr. Huallpa said.

I frowned and asked, "What did they look like?"

Mr. Huallpa smiled at me, "Oh, hi there Amara!" I couldn't help but smile at the old man despite needing an answer to my question.

I gave a short laugh, "Mr. Huallpa?" I raised my eyebrows expectantly, directing his attention back to our conversation.

He scratched his chin thoughtfully, "Well, there was this big guy and this older woman is..." he looked at his friend, Mr. Chuchau, "...How would you describe her?"

"Scary beyond all reason," he stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, that's it," The two old men smiled at us, happy to help.

We all gasped in shock, well, Kuzco screeched, frightened that the people who wanted him dead were so close. Scared for our family and still in need of certain supplies, we darted off towards the house.

~

My dad snuck into the kitchen when we realized Yzma and Kronk were in the house. He was going to collect the supplies we needed and quickly explain the situation to my mom. My mom kissed me on the cheek through the window as they talked. She was taking this whole 'the Emperor's a llama and crazy lady trying to kill us' thing very well.

Kuzco was standing next to me but as he was a llama, he was too short to see into the window. Hearing his name brought up in their conversation, Kuzco stretched his neck up to see them saying, "Hi there!"

Surprised by his sudden appearance and the fact that it was an actual talking llama, my mom reacted instinctively and smashed a pan into the Emperor's face. "Whoops."

We said our goodbyes outside as the kids distracted Yzma and Kronk. Kuzco stumbled over to us, still dazed from the hard-hit, as we hugged my mom. "You have a lovely wife. They're both very pretty," he complimented.

Shaking our heads we guided him away from the house and towards the palace. Kuzco staggered after us and looked at me with a smile and glossy eyes.

I laughed at his dopey look, "What?"

He sighed happily, "I love you, Amara." My smile dropped off my face at his words but I quickly laughed knowing he was still affected by the pan. Did my heart freeze at his delirious words? Yes. "I love Amara!" he shouted, his voice traveling quite a distance. I shoved my hands over his mouth and shushed him, worried that Yzma might hear him as we fled.

~

We had finally reached the palace after a stressful journey. Yzma and Kronk were almost always right behind us as we ran over hills and ziplined over canyons. At some point though, they had vanished from behind us. Now, we had finally snuck into the palace and found the entrance to the secret lab.

"So you're telling me that this whole time you knew Yzma had a secret lab? And you didn't suspect that maybe she turned you into a llama?" I looked at Kuzco, amazed at his own ignorance.

He rolled his eyes, "I thought it was just a fun hobby like crocheting or collecting dolls."

We stood before this creepy animal door with two tusks protruding from its mouth. Looking at my dad, he simply shrugged so I pulled the one on the left. A clasp moving was heard through the stone room when the ground under Kuzco disappeared and he fell through.

After a couple of seconds, a door behind us opened, revealing Kuzco with an alligator biting on his tail. "Okay, why does she even have that lever?"

I laughed as Kuzco kicked the alligator, "Because that was hilarious. You totally deserved that."

He walked over to us, "Oh, whatever."

My dad now pulled the correct lever causing the ground to flip us over, through the wall, and into a seat compartment? Squished between the two, we all looked around startled as a voice told us to, "Please remain seated and keep your arms and legs in at all times." Realizing we were on a roller coaster, I threw my hands up, smiling brightly in excitement. The guys, on the other hand, gripped the bar in fear, well, Kuzco slipped his arms around me after smirking at his excuse to do so.

"Oh, a doll collection would be better than this," my dad said, grinding his teeth. The compartment jerked forward and continued to drop straight down until we came to an abrupt stop.

We searched around the chemistry station until my dad found a closet filled with labeled bottles. All of our eyes darted around to find the human potion but were shocked to find the human section empty.

"Oh, my." Turning around we found Yzma and Kronk standing there. "Looking for this?" In her skinny hands, she held the bottle we needed.