The trio was getting close to the palace after walking all day. Atoc had been talking to her father for most of the walk, but every now and then she'd ask Kuzco a question. He was starting to grow on her.

She'd realized that everything he'd ever wanted had just been given to him. He'd never had to work a day in his life, that's why he'd ended up so spoiled and selfish. She hoped that this experience had taught him that not everything was that simple, that people had to work for what they got.

They reached a bridge, from which the palace could be seen, meaning that they were close.

"Okay. Once we cross this bridge, it's only an hour to the palace." Pacha told the emperor, excited to be so near to saving his village.

"Good, because believe it or not, I think I need a bath." Kuzco had been sweating all day, not used to the hot wool that covered his body. He also wasn't used to walking for as long as he had, everything was brought to him, or he only had to walk down the hall to get to what he wanted.

"I believe it," Atoc muttered from the back of their line. The bridge scared her a bit, it was old and very unstable. She didn't really want to walk across it, scared she was going to fall into the gorge below. When she and her father had gone to the palace they'd taken the longer way, since the cart wasn't able to go across the bridge. Oh, how she wished they had gone the long way.

"What was that?" Kuzco turned his head to look back at the girl, a little surprised to see her not right behind him.

"Nothing." She smiled like she was innocent, but the emperor had heard what she said. He was going to ask why she wasn't crossing when Pacha screamed, the boards beneath his feet breaking. He was only saved by the ropes that held the bridge up.

"Whoa! Kuzco!"

"Dad!" Atoc lurched forward, wanting to help, but her father shook his head to tell her to stay where she was, not wanting her to break through a board and fall.

"Kuzco!" Pacha called again, as the emperor thought for a moment.

"Yeah?" The llama stuck his head in the hole in the boards, already knowing what the villager wanted, and what he was going to do.

"Quick, help me up!" Pacha begged. Kuzco hopped over the hole, ready to go back to the palace.

"No. I don't think I will." He threw his answer back over his shoulder.

"You're gonna leave me here?" Pacha knew the boards wouldn't hold him forever. Atoc might be able to help him up, but then she also might fall through the boards.

"Kuzco!" Atoc was astonished. She thought he had some good in him, he had agreed to spare her village after all, but this was just cruel.

"Well, I was gonna have you imprisoned for life, maybe make your daughter a palace maid, since she's nice to look at," Kuzco looked down through the hole again, being completely honest with the man for possibly the first time, "but I kind of like this better, and I can still make your daughter one of the maids."

"I thought you were better than that!" Atoc cried. "I thought that maybe you were learning to be better! But you're just a selfish brat!" Her words cut through Kuzco, but he couldn't figure out why. Perhaps it was because he was the emperor and everyone was supposed to love him, but that didn't really feel right.

"Oh, come on." He glanced up at the girl on the cliff, only to see her eyes full of unshed tears. He decided that she looked better smiling, but then shook that thought away. "I had to say something to get you to take me back to the city." He looked back down at the dangling man, mostly to taunt him but also so he didn't have to see the look on Atoc's face.

"So," Atoc's voice had a broken quality to it, "all of it was a lie?" She had grown fond of the llama, he had seemed nice, a little stubborn, but nice.

"Well, yeah. No, wait." Kuzco paused for just a second. "Uh, yeah, yeah. It all was a lie. Toodles." He began to leave again, only for the man below the bridge to yell at him again.

"We shook hands on it!" Kuzco had reached the other side of the bridge, but he couldn't let Pacha get the last word, so he went back.

"You know," Kuzco stuck his neck down through the hole, "the funny thing about shaking hands is you need hands." He held out his hooves to prove a point. "Okay. Buh-bye." He took one step, ready to finally leave, when the board under him broke, leaving him in the same situation as Pacha.

"Kuzco!" Atco shouted. She might be angry at him, but he didn't deserve to fall to his death.

"Are you okay? Are you all right?" Pacha asked concerned, well maybe only a little concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm all right." Kuzco was in shock. Things like this didn't happen to the emperor. Now he had to be saved by a girl, if she would ever set foot on the bridge.

"Good!" Pacha punched the llama right in the face, making him spin around in the ropes. "That's for going back on your promise!"

Kuzco responded immediately with a swift kick. "Yeah. That's for kidnapping me and taking me to your village, which I'm still gonna destroy, by the way." He laughed to himself, spinning around in the ropes, only to see Pacha about to retaliate. "No touchy." Pacha headbutted the llama into the opposite cliff.

"Why did I risk my life for a selfish brat like you? I was always taught that there was some good in everyone, but, oh, you proved me wrong."

"Oh, boo-hoo. Now I feel really bad. Bad llama." Kuzco sarcastically slapped his cheek, only serving to make the man across from him angrier.

"I could've let you die out there in that jungle, and then all my problems would be over."

"Well, that makes you ugly and stupid."

"Let's end this." Pacha's patience had reached an end. He was ready to skin the llama and make a rug.

"Ladies first."

The two swung at each other punching, kicking, biting, and pulling. Atoc could only watch from the relative safety of the cliff. Then the creaking of the wood caught her attention, as well as the attention of the two men. The bridge collapsed, leaving Atoc unable to help, and the two men falling down the gorge below, bouncing off rocks and each other as they went. Until they reached the bottom and were stuck at the narrow bottleneck back to back.

"Are you okay?!" Atoc called down, but it barely reached their ears so she got no response.

"What are we gonna do?" Kuzco cried. "What are we gonna do? We're gonna die! We're gonna die! That's it for me!" While the emperor panicked, Pacha was looking for a way out of their terrible situation.

Hanging above them was a rope that had been part of the bridge. If they could get to it, they could climb their way back up. But they had to get there first.

"No, we're not. Calm down. I have an idea." Pacha put his feet on the wall of the gorge, preparing to work his way up. "Give me your arm." He linked one arm with Kuzco. "Okay, now the other one. When I say go, push against my back and we'll walk up the hill. Ready? Go." Kuzco was not ready, but Pacha pushed against the llama anyway, crushing him against the rock.

"Ow! You did that on purpose." Kuzco pushed back, shoving the village chief harder than necessary as his petty revenge.

"No, I didn't!" Pacha stopped himself from getting mad, knowing that he needed the emperor's help to survive. "Now, we're gonna have to work together to get out of this, so follow my lead. Ready?" Pacha pushed back, gently this time, so that they could start their walk up the gorge. "Right foot."

"Who's right? Your right or-or mine?"

"I don't care. Mine."

"Well, why yours?"

"Okay, your right! Ready?"

"Okay, got it."

"Okay. Right. Left. Right." They began to walk up the steep walls.

"Look, we're moving!" Kuzco was ecstatic that he wasn't going to die anymore. Then he looked down to see the crocodiles waiting below for their meal to fall into the water and screamed.

"Don't look down!" Pacha warned too late. "Now, stay with me. Stay with me. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right!" They reached the point where the gorge got too wide to continue up and were stuck again.

Atoc watched nervously, wishing she was brave enough to climb down the rope and help them up, but she wasn't. She was paralyzed just watching them try to get out of the gorge.

"Now what, genius?" Kuzco was unimpressed with the situation, he thought this was supposed to get them out of the gorge, not get them in an even worse situation.

"Working on it." Pacha looked up at the rope. If he stood he could reach it, which gave him an idea. "Okay, here's the deal. Stretch out your neck, and I'll grab the rope."

"How do I know you won't let me fall after you grab the rope?"

"You're just gonna have to trust me!" Kuzco decided that trying to get the rope was better than waiting for their strength to fail and being eaten, so he pushed Pacha towards the rope.

"You know, it's a good thing you're not a big, fat guy or this would be really difficult." Sarcasm dripped off every word the emperor said as he struggled to hold the larger man up.

"Almost." Pacha's fingers brushed the rope before he got a firm grip on it. "Got it!" He pulled it, only to have the tree branch above them shake, knocking off, and irritating, the scorpions who lived there. "It's stuck."

"Take your time. No hurry here." Kuzco felt something land on him and start moving around. When he looked down very angry scorpions were crawling on his chest, ready to sting. "Scorpions!" He panicked.

"Kuzco!" Pacha managed to grab the llama's tail before he fell to his death, only for him to swing around and get his face stuck in a hole in the wall of the cliff.

"Oh, no!" The branch broke under their weight and the remaining scorpions crawled down Pacha's poncho, scaring the man.

"Huh? Whoa!" He pounded his back into the cliff to crush the arachnids before they stung him. Unfortunately, the pounding on the rock woke up the bats that were sleeping in the cave where Kuzco's face was stuck.

"Huh?" Red eyes opened, scaring the emperor yet again. He wasn't sure how many more scares he could handle. The bats flew out of their hole, pushing Kuzco up with them which dragged Pacha along. The two of them nearly landed on Atoc, who scrambled away from the edge when she saw them flying up towards her.

She was so stunned at how they got back up she just sat on the ground where she had fallen in her haste and stared at their backs.

Pacha and Kuzco looked at each other, stunned. Then started laughing relieved to be alive. Only for the ground to start shaking under their feet. Pacha started to sink, as the ground beneath him was breaking off.

"Dad!" Atoc had just gotten him back, he can't die now!

"Look out!" Kuzco grabbed the back of Pacha's poncho and plucked him right out of the air, pulling him to safety. Then they watched the falling rock tumble down. Atoc pulled her father into a relived hug, crying a little as everything hit her. "Whooo! Yeah! Oh, look at me and my bad self." Kuzco danced around in victory. "I snatched you right out of the air. 'Oh, I'm a crumbly canyon wall, and I'm taking you with me.' Well, not today, pal. Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh-huh."

"You just saved my life." Pacha was still in shock from almost dying several times in a row.

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Huh?" Kuzco stopped his dance, realizing that he had just saved this man's life. "So?"

"I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That there is some good in you after all."

"Oh, no."

"Admit it."

"Wrong."

"Yes, there is."

"Nuh-uh."

"I think there is."

"Nuh-uh."

"Hey, you could've let me fall.

"Come on. What's the big deal? Nobody's that heartless!" Kuzco realized what he said and tried to cover it up. "Don't read too much into it. It was a one-time thing."

Atoc threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around Kuzco's neck, sobbing her thanks into it. He'd save her father's life and, while she still thought he was spoiled, she wasn't angry with him anymore.

Kuzco wasn't sure what to do. He'd never had anyone thank him like this before. After a moment of hesitation, he gently patted her back with his hoof. Atoc managed to compose herself and pulled out of the hug, leaving Kuzco disappointed that it was over and confused at his disappointment.

"Right. Sure." Pacha spoke up after Atoc had pulled herself together. "Well, we better get going. With that bridge out, it's a four-day walk to the palace." Pacha and Atoc turned to continue their journey, and Kuzco was shocked. They were going to help him even after he was just going to leave Pacha hanging there to die? After he admitted that he had planned to have Pacha imprisoned for life?

"What? You mean you're still taking me back?"

"I shook on it, didn't I?" Pacha asked, making a point.

"I'm sticking with him," Atoc grabbed her father's arm to make a point, "until this is all over."

"Well, yeah, uh," Kuzco was baffled at their kindness and ability to forgive him, "but I hope you realize that doesn't change a thing. I'm still building Kuzcotopia when I get back."

"Well, four days is a long time. Who knows? Maybe you'll change your mind." Pacha said optimistically as he began to walk back the way they'd come.

"Uh-huh." Kuzco didn't believe the man, he wasn't going to change his mind. He almost never changed his mind. "Four days. What are the chances of you carrying me?"

"Not good."

"What are the chances that I can ride on your back?" Atoc asked. Kuzco was thankful he was covered in wool because the girl couldn't see him blush when she asked that question.

"Not good." Kuzco's answered mirrored Pacha's and Atoc laughed. She was perfectly happy walking, she'd grown up walking everywhere so this was no problem for her, she didn't need someone to carry her around.