Chapter 4

Kuzco was very hungry when he woke, much to Pacha's pleasure. They ate a large breakfast of eggs and bread and then packed up. Kronk looked around for a squirrel to talk to for information, but there were none around, so they had to make do with the map. Again.

For the first few hours of their journey, they had no trouble. Kronk scouted ahead and saw nothing, although the down-side to that was that he saw no path, either. If they went back the way they came, they might have seen that they had missed the right one and that they were going in the opposite direction. But this was not the case, and they pushed on.

Their first obstacle occurred when Kuzco slipped and tumbled down a ravine. He was fine, and was about to call up to his friends when he realized he had fallen into a jaguar nest. That was horrible all on its own, but the situation was worsened when Kronk clumsily fell while trying to help Kuzco out. Of course, the jaguars woke from their naps, and were very angry, as woken jaguars tend to be. They were saved only by Kronk's natural friendliness towards animals.

"Aw, look at the little fella," he crooned as he tickled a jaguar cub's belly. Kuzco and Pacha, hugging one another tightly with their backs to the cliff wall, exchanged a glance. After Kronk had gotten his fill of playing with the big cats, they moved on, albeit more carefully than before.

Despite their caution, it wasn't long before they found their path crossed by thick thorns. Kronk managed to find a long sturdy stick and held a few brambles out of the way, but they still came out covered in scratches and were disgruntled. After that, they came to a steep waterfall, and rather than taking the journey down the fall, they climbed down the cliff, but not without a few slips. Just when they thought they had gotten past the worst of it, the trio came across a patch of quicksand.

"Just great," Kuzco uttered irritably. "See, this is why I should have come by myself."

"Oh, so you could die out here all along?" Pacha asked sarcastically.

"No, so none of this would ever happen," Kuzco shot back.

"Hey," Kronk said, "maybe if we could reach that vine over their and pull ourselves out of this certain doom." He began to stretch for it, wriggling his fingers. He was only a few centimeters away from grabbing it.

"Well if we hadn't been here, you never would have gotten this far!" Pacha continued.

"Uh, you don't know that!" Kuzco said. "Gah, I knew this was a waste of time. I should have just gone back to the palace or something."

Pacha and Kronk looked at the sad emperor a bit guiltily.

"Don't worry, Kuzco," Pacha offered, putting a hand on Kuzco's shoulder. "We'll get there. We just have to keep moving."

Kuzco sniffled. "What if we're too late?"

"Well, let's not dwell on that," Kronk said with a wink. "What do you say we, uh, get out of this trap and find some paracress?" He held up the vine he had finally managed to grab.

Pacha and Kuzco's faces lit up. Pacha gripped Kronk's free hand, then reached back for Kuzco, who held on tightly. Kronk pulled, muscles bulging, until he was free. Then he released the vine and helped Pacha out, and then Kuzco. Panting, they all exchanged a glanced before giggling in relief.

"Good job, Kronk," Pacha said, patting the young man on the shoulder.

I know what you're thinking again. You think that we don't find the paracress in time to save Malina and Iniabi. But that's where you're wrong! You remember that path that we didn't take before that we should have? Well, it just so happens that we come across it! Yeah, that's right. See, everything always works out for the emperor. Okay, back to the story, sorry to interrupt..

"Hey, look at this!" Kronk said.

"It's the path," Pacha exclaimed. "Come on, we're close, according to the map."

"Woohoo!" Kuzco cheered, following his older buddies. "I knew we were gonna make it!"

The sun was lowering in the horizon when they finally reached a small clearing. Small flowers with huge leaves bloomed everywhere in the clearing, and a thick sweet smell invaded their nostrils.

"We're here," Kuzco said emotionally. "We made it!"

"Okay, grab as much as you can fit in the bags," Pacha said, quickly passing out small brown sacks. The trio went to work, picking both the flower and the leaves and stuffing them into the bags.

"Ready?" Kronk asked, looking to the other two as he tied his off.

Pacha and Kuzco nodded.

"Let's book it," Kronk smirked.

On the map tucked into Kuzco's belt, red arrows marked their journey back to the palace, this time following the path they should have taken before. Once out of the jungle, the three looked at each other fiercely and then continued onwards, making impossibly quick progress. In a matter of moments, they had reached the palace, not bothering to wonder how they got back so fast.

"Where's the peasant healer?" Kuzco yelled breathlessly as he entered. "Fetch her! Bring her to our chambers!"

Several guards scurried off to do the emperor's bidding.

"This way," Kuzco said to Pacha and Kronk. He led them down endless halls until they came to a large doorway that clearly was the entrance to Kuzco's rooms. They went to the back, where Malina and Iniabi were, and burst in.

"Kuzco?" Malina asked. "You scared me! What took you so long to get back?"

"It's okay, I had to go deep into the jungle to get the cure. You'll be fine now, Malina," Kuzco said, hurrying to her side.

She looked at him, then at Pacha and Kronk. They were covered in scratches and mud. "Um, what cure?"

Kuzco took Iniabi from her arms and looked down at him lovingly. "It's okay, Daddy's back now," he crooned.

"Kuzco," Malina said.

"Hm?" He looked at her expectantly.

"What cure?"

"For your sickness," he replied.

"What?" she scoffed. "Iniabi and I had colds, but we're better now. You've been gone for three days looking for a cure for the common cold?"

"Huh?" Pacha scoffed in the background. "Kuzco!"

"What? I didn't know," he replied, looking over his shoulders with raised eyebrows.

Pacha sighed and put his hand on his brow. "You-you-ugh!"

"Well, it's a good thing that they're not dying, right?" Kronk said. "I mean, we did go on a dangerous trek through the jungle which was very risky, but we got back all right. And hey, we have the paracress."

"Um, paracress?" Malina raised an eyebrow.

"The peasant healer is here!" announced a guard, depositing the ancient woman in the center of the room.

"You have the paracress?" she asked.

"Yeah, but we don't need it anymore, thanks," Kuzco said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Of course you don't need it," the woman scoffed. "You never did. It was for me."

"Say what?" Kuzco asked.

"Give it to me," she ordered, and the three men quickly obliged. Iakona opened one and pulled out a leaf, then crumpled it in her palm. "Yes, very nice." She stuffed it into her mouth. "Ahhh, much better," she sighed. "The paracress leaves are excellent for toothaches. I thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be returning."

Once she had left the room, an astonished Pacha burst out laughing. "Well," he said.

"Well," Kuzco repeated thoughtfully. Then his eyes trailed down to the baby in his arms. "Hey, Pacha. Isn't my baby the cutest you've ever seen? Much cuter than any of yours."

Pacha smirked. "Oh, I don't know about that, your highness. Mine are pretty cute."

"Yeah, but mine's cuter."

Malina rolled her eyes and met Kronk's happy gaze, contentedly listening to Pacha and Kuzco's bickering.

A/N: Whoo! I finished it. It took a lot more effort than I thought it would, but I'm glad I wrote it. Got the idea out of my head now. :)

I hope you enjoyed~ Thanks for reading!