Unexpected Perfection (Emperor's New Groove)

Part Fourteen

Whispers bounced off the walls as I made my way to the throne room where Kuzco was awaiting. What all the workers were quietly talking about was beyond me but I figured it was about Kuzco's miraculous reappearance since everyone thought he was dead.

I was fidgeting in anticipation of seeing Kuzco as a human again and learning what happened after my dad and Kuzco rushed off.

I pushed open the heavy doors and was about to announce my arrival when I heard voices in discussion.

"Oh, now, you-you...you stop being so hard on yourself. All is forgiven." Kuzco had his back towards me and I realized the short figure that just spoke was the old man that was thrown out the

window days ago.

"You're sure?" asked Kuzco in authentic concern.

"It's not the first time I was tossed out a window, and it won't be the last. What can I say? I'm a rebel."

Kuzco let out an authentic laugh. "Whoa, tiger." Rudy threw some punches at Kuzco that were quite impressive for his frail body. "Okay, buddy, take care." As Rudy walked away, Kuzco slowly turned towards me, muttering to himself, "Ah, he's a sweet guy."

I smiled, giving a small wave, "Hi, Kuzco."

He looked up at me and a grand smile quickly grew on his face. "Hey! You're awa-" I squealed, my excitement at seeing him as a human leaking out. Running the distance between us, I jumped into his awaiting arms. He laughed as he spun me around with our arms wrapped around each other.

"Look at you!" I exclaimed after he put me down. Kuzco laughed shyly, scratching his neck as I inspected his now human body. "Wait! Turn around," I commanded seriously. He looked at me worried but did as I asked. I gasped, making my eyes go wide. "Kuzco, you still have a tail."

"What?" he screeched. "No. This can't be happening." He desperately twirled his body around in an attempt to see it.

Deciding I made him worry long enough, I laughed, "I'm just kidding," he gave me a playful glare, "I'm sorry but it was a great opportunity."

"Oh, yeah?" he smirked, "Well, so is this!" His arms darted out towards me, his fingers assaulting my sides. My expressions alternated between uncontrollable laughter and annoyance.

"Okay, okay. We're even!" We stood there laughing but it shortly turned into silence. Leaning against a table, I asked, "So, what now?" I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared that Kuzco would return to the way he was. The way he was when I first met him, which was as a human.

He came to lean beside me, both of us looking out towards the empire as the sun lowered behind the hills. "Well, I'm going to start being the Emperor." I looked at him in question. "When we first met, you said I didn't deserve to be Emperor," I went to speak but he continued, "and you were right so now I'm going to prove to everyone, to you, that I won't rule the people but serve them instead."

I laid my hand on his shoulder, "Oh, Kuzco." He pulled me into a tight hug and I rested my head against his chest. "I'm so proud of you."

He smiled and then cleared his throat awkwardly. I'm sure he's not used to being praised for selfless behavior quite yet. "Well, anyway," he shrugged nonchalantly, "I was thinking that, uh, maybe I could join you when you travel the, uh, Empire. You know, to see more of my people and what they need."

Getting over my initial shock at his idea, I said, "I think that would be a great idea! You could join Deja and me for the first six months and then come back to the palace to work on everything you learned."

He nodded his head in agreement. "So...you're gonna be gone for a year?"

"Yeah." Just now I was realizing how long I would be away from my family. All the time I had spent away from my mom and siblings over the last couple of days would be nothing in comparison. Was I ready for that? I swiped away that doubt. It would be good for me.

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, I like yo– Amara?" Kuzco looked at me. My eyes popped up to his as I realized he was talking to me the whole time I was stuck in my thoughts.

My eyebrows scrunched together as I grasped his hand. "I'm so sorry, Kuzco. I got lost in my thoughts. I didn't hear what you were saying."

His eyes searched the ceiling, "Oh, it was nothing really. Yeah, promise." He looked at me and gave a tight-lipped smile that quickly dissolved as fast as it appeared.

"Oh, please, Kuzco, I know you well enough by now to know you're lying. Tell me again, I'm listening now," I quipped.

He took a big breath, "Alright. Well, you know, you and, well, your dad are the only people who have ever truly cared about me. You stuck with me even when I was a horrible person and all I did was betray and yell at you. You cared for me when I only cared for myself. I pretended to love myself but, looking back, I didn't love who I was, but now I love who I am when I'm with you." I quickly blinked my eyes to clear them but my throat remained heavy with emotion. "Sorry, that was kinda a mouth full."

I laughed, causing a tear to sneak out. "Please, keep going."

"Over these last couple of days, I have really grown to like you. Experiencing feelings I had never before when I was too occupied by my own vanity. In only a couple days, I have realized how amazing you are. You're beautiful on the inside. Not that you're not beautiful, ya know," he motioned towards me, "cause you are." He slammed his palm into his forehead and mumbled to himself, "Wow, I'm really not good at this."

I simply held his hand with both of mine so he continued. "Okay, what I'm trying to say is that if I have grown to care for you as much as I do over a few days then I can only imagine how much I'll love you, uh, not to bring love into it. I mean, unless you-". I put my hand over his mouth to stop his rambling.

I smiled at him, "It's my turn to talk now. I was not planning on any of this when I joined my dad on his way to the palace. I didn't expect to fall for a conceited llama, that's for sure. And I didn't expect to feel so sad about leaving my family and that's all because you're now a part of my family, Kuzco." He swiped his thumb across my cheek to dash away the tears. "I promise I don't usually cry this much," I weakly said, wiping my nose.

"I don't mind."