Unexpected Perfection (Emperor's New Groove)

Part Three

It seemed the sky shared our sadness as we exited the palace and made our way to the now gloomy city. Before we headed home, Dad had to gather a few supplies that we didn't have access to in our village. Thinking of home always brought such joy but now it taunts me with impending doom.

I won't lie, I have been thinking of leaving home for a while. So much so that my friend and I had started to make plans to leave next year. Of course, my family doesn't know yet but none of that means I wouldn't care if our home was ruined. I still wanted to come home after I experienced a bit of the world.

What saddened me most of all was seeing the pressure this put on my dad's shoulders. While loading the cart he mumbled to himself about what he would tell the village and our family. Oh! Mom and the kids will be so sad. Well, Mom will probably be angry more than anything.

I pet our llama, Misty, as these thoughts race through my mind. My dad softly told me we were ready and started pulling Misty's reigns towards home. Our cart jostled a little but looking behind me, I saw nothing unusual. Following my dad, we got sucked into the commotion of people and their carts.

~

The whole way home was shared in mutual sadness and confusion. Little conversion took place as we were both busy with our own thoughts. By nightfall, we had reached our home. Before we went up the last hill where our house rested I placed my hand on Dad's arm.

"Hey," I had to clear my throat as it only came out as a soft whisper, "We'll be okay. We always figure it out," though I wasn't sure how much I believed my own statement. Either way, it earned a small smile from my dad and he seemed to walk up the hill with less of a sag in his shoulders.

Approaching our home, we were welcomed by the voices of my little brother and sister.

"Mom, Mom! I think I'm still growing! Measure me again!" A small smile grew on my face. Tipo was always doing everything he could to "become a man".

My mom gasped, "Look how much you've grown!"

We had now reached the top of the hill, making our beloved family visible. Chaca pushed Tipo out of the way so she could be measured too. Before she could though, Tipo saw us out of the corner of his eye.

"Dad's home!" Both kids completely forgot about their growing competition and ran into Dad's arms. He held them up as my mom hugged him as well.

"Excuse me," I said to the kids with my hands on my hips.

Tipo mockingly snuggled further into my dad's arms, "What?". At the same time, Chaca sassed, "You're excused."

Faking sadness, I pulled out a bag of goodies, "I guess you don't get the candy I bought you th–", the air rushed out of my lungs as the two kids jumped into my arms. Unlike my dad, their weight made me drop to the ground. I gathered them into my arms, smothering kisses on their chubby faces. Tipo reveled in them but Chaca tried to push me away, I knew she was actually soaking it up though.

Tipo tumbled out of my arms, "Sissy," he pulled my arm, "Look at how big I am!"

"Oh my goodness, Tipo! You're almost as big as Dad!"

My sister stepped in front of Tipo, blocking him from my vision. "That's not as impressive as my loose tooth. See?" Using her tongue, she made it wiggle rigorously.

"Wow," I said, sounding impressed. That was disgusting.

"Ok, ok, you two. Our deal was that you could stay awake until Daddy and Sissy came home. Now say good night," our Mom said sweetly.

Here comes the whining. "Dad, do we have to?"

My dad smiled at their pouty faces, "No, you two can stay up." I lightly laughed at my mom's disapproving face. "We're just gonna be sittin' here tellin' each other how much we love each other. Right, honey?" Understanding the ploy, my mom smiled and played along.

The kids made sounds of disgust and said goodnight.

"So what did the emperor want?" Before the serious conversation could begin, I dismissed myself with the excuse of reading my siblings a book. I normally did this but am now very grateful to have a valid excuse. I didn't want to hear anything about us losing our house again, especially my mom's reaction which would no doubt be explosive.

I started walking into the home, "Dad? Just call me out when you need help unloading the cart." He smiled and then returned his attention to my awaiting mother.

~

I walked outside into the crisp night air. I found my dad at the back of the house sitting on the wooden bench we had near the water storage. He seemed lost in thought and the cart remained loaded with Misty still attached.

Leaving my dad to his thoughts, I unhooked misty and led her to the grazing area. Sensing my presence, he got up and walked toward the cart. His emotionless expression turned into curiosity, "Amara?" I hummed, showing I was listening while grabbing a jug from the cart, "Do you know what this is?" he pointed to a rather large, red bag.

"No-" we both gasped as the bag moved. He opened the bag and slowly, a black-haired llama raised its head, seeming to groan in pain. "Aw, poor guy. You don't look too good."

My dad put his hand on the llama, his caring nature ever-present, "Where'd you come from, little guy?"

"No touchy," the llama then looked at me, "beautiful lady."

We both jumped back, aghast at the talking llama. While my dad fell to the ground yelling, "Demon llama!", out of instinct I threw back the clay jug I was holding and hit it against the llama. The body slumped down. Immediately, I felt bad. I hesitantly checked and made sure the llama was still breathing.

I looked towards my dad, his eyes remained wide and unblinking, "Whoops. Now what?"