(Okay, here's one of my not-so-infamous author's notes! THIS IS JUST A TEASER. It is not the beginning of the fic, nor is it the ending or anything. Giving you the ending would be estupido, yesno? ... Ooh, how'd my Karnage accent get in here... anyway, it's just a little tidbit from someplace in the story to tide you all over for now. All you really need to know is that Kuzco's just thrown a minor Classic Spoiled Emperor Tantrum by the time you come in ....and Pacha isn't pleased.)
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"Siddown." Pacha said quietly, pointing to a large rock on the roadside.
Kuzco leant up against a tree trunk. "No thank you." He replied curtly.
Heaving a sigh, Pacha sat down and folded his arms. "Look, Kuzco, you say you want people to recognize that you've changed. .... Now don't take this the wrong way, but they might recognize it more if you showed it a little more. You were doing great when you first turned back to normal, but the minute we got back to the palace, it was almost like you were your old self again. I don't understand."
Kuzco picked absently at the hem of his poncho. "Well... " he began. "People expect it ... I'm afraid if I overdid it, they wouldn't ... I dunno. Some people just ... "
"One of those 'some people' wouldn't happen to be Zola, would it?" Pacha guessed.
Kuzco froze. "Well .... no?" He paused. "I mean, NO! Nononononononono, absolutely not. I mean ... No. Nuh uh. Zola me no likey."
"Mmhm." Pacha nodded.
"I'm SERIOUS, Pach!" Kuzco insisted, with a stomp of his foot. "I don't see why everyone's gotta be so gung-ho about this. 'Oh, you and Zola' or 'Oh, the future empress'...." He clamped his hands to either side of his head. "It's driving me INSANE! Did anyone consider I might actually not WANT to marry anyone?" He paused. "Not even her?"
Pacha smiled slightly at Kuzco's choice of words, but chose to excercise the better part of valor. "Well, it is a law," he reminded him.
"One of the few stupid ones I can't change." Kuzco muttered, kneeling down to pick at a tuft of grass.
"You think you have it so tough, Kuzco..." Pacha sighed. "Did you ever ask Zola where she was before she came to the palace? You might be surprised."
"She told you? And not me?" Kuzco blurted. "That's not fair! Tell me!"
Pacha looked around, then said quietly, "Can you keep a secret?"
"Yeah! Course I can."
"So can I." Pacha smiled, standing up and heading down the path.
~*~*~*~*~*~
(Yeah, that's IT.... It IS only a preview, ya know. I'd still like reviews tho - call me odd but I get a kick outta people yelling at me for not writing any more. Heh.)