Hi everyone! I absolutely adored the fanfic Plus Five to Charisma by GarnettFox and Mr. Chaos. At the same time, I happened to rewatch Kung Fu Panda and I was struck by the similarity between Shifu and Abuela before life (i.e. the movie plots) brought home the lesson of perfection being an illusion. Please feel free to leave reviews and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Encanto, Kung Fu Panda, or the implication of the Party from Plus Five to Charisma which belongs to Mr. Chaos and GarnettFox.

She paced.

And she paced.

And she paced some more.

But for all the pacing she did, for every step she took, she just could not gain the ground she needed.

"Why, Bruno?" She murmured to herself. "Why, Mirabel? Why can't you be happy with our Miracle? Everything is perfect! We are earning our home!"

Alma Madrigal was fretting. Mainly because Mirabel was back. It should have been obvious to everyone that this wayward chit was a threat to the Miracle. From the day she was denied her Gift (and home in Casita) to now, the girl was nothing but trouble. Bringing riffraff like that ogre into their glorious Encanto and filling her family's heads with false visions and distracting them from their duties- she must be la representante del diablo!

Take right now. Alma had walked into the kitchen, fully prepared to inquire how her familia had continued to make her proud that day while enjoying Julieta's wondrous cooking- only to find the room deserted. She suddenly remembered that Bruno was putting on a play (a play! With puppets! What a ridiculous waste of time, especially for a grown man) that would not finish for at least an hour.

So now the self-proclaimed matriarch stalked her kitchen, glaring at the empty chairs as if they had personally offended her.

"We must keep the Miracle strong! Everything is perfect and must stay that way!" She murmured angrily. She kept her voice low despite knowing that Dolores inevitably heard everything and despite her desire to yell some sense into her familia imbécil.

"If only Pedro was here…mi amor, what shall I do?"

(Even though he would probably love some of these changes).

Her voice must have carried despite her wishes as an unwelcomed voice cleared his throat. She turned sharply only to find a diminutive figure in the doorway. Alma twitched.

She had forgotten that amongst the demons Mirabel and Bruno had welcomed into her home was a small talking red-and-white raccoon ("a red panda" Mirabel had insisted cheerily) dressed as a monk in orange and green robes that reminded her of Asia (no Alma, that is just a fantasy- here is the only civilization a voice whispered silkily in her mind).

Apparently, he was the one who guided Bruno with his Gift.

Guided! Alma raged internally. He has completely corrupted my poor Brunito. I should have had Ernesto take Mirabel alone!

"Madam, I couldn't help but overhear your concerns." The figure (Shifu, that was his name- Alma remembered) began gently while twitching his rather large ears, blissfully ignorant of her thoughts. The woman was suddenly incensed that he seemed to be regarding her with something close to pity, as well as another emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on.

When she responded with nothing more than an icy glare, Shifu gave a small sigh and leaned heavily onto the wooden staff he carried.

"Would you care to hear about this staff?" The monk enquired. Alma was taken aback by such an abrupt shift in topic that she could only nod stiffly. Admittedly, she was also a little curious as to what his point might be.

"This staff" Shifu began solemnly, "was created by my master- Oogway, the creator of Kung-Fu. He was, to put it mildly, a very wise tortoise who unearthed many secrets which have helped to harness purity and focus."

Alma shifted impatiently. "Señor, this is all very interesting, but-"

Raising a hand-like paw, Shifu interrupted her (why that little!), "One of which was a better understanding of the concept of perfection."

Alma's rage, which had been slowly building, ground to a sudden halt. What would this creature know of perfection?!

"In my youth, I thought that perfection had already been achieved under the watchful gaze of my master. I thought my duty would be to preserve Kung-Fu, my own valley and home, exactly the way it was. That since these were already perfect, preserving them would be the only way to maintain peace."

Something plucked at Alma's core, tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she hurriedly blinked them away.

Just managing to keep her voice dry and even, she sniffed. "So, what changed? I'm assuming something did change?" Try as she might, she was unable to fully prevent her tone from sliding into something dangerously close to contemptuous sarcasm.

For just a moment, Shifu's eyes narrowed before he regained a neutral expression. But it was long enough for the woman to notice.

"What changed" his voice hardening by the slightest fraction, "was that I realized, no matter how hard you try, change will come in some way or form. And it was your son, Bruno, and another student of mine, came to my home and changed my life- our lives- for the better."

"But I fought the change." He continued, ignoring Alma's skeptic look. "Despite master Oogway's advice to the contrary, I was so convinced that everything was already perfect that I fought with everything I had to maintain the way things were."

Suddenly, the panda sagged. Alma briefly wondered if the ancient staff would be able to keep him upright.

"In my arrogance, I refused to reconsider my stance…and my arrogance nearly led to the destruction of everything and everyone I hold dear. It did, in fact, lead to the destruction of one whom I had called son."

Drawing himself up, he dragged his gaze from where it had fallen to the ground back to the woman before him.

"Señora, I know I am the last person you would like to hear any advice from, but as one who has walked this same path before, I beg you to reconsider your question."

"And just what question is that?" Alma spat, now truly furious (and scared).

"You asked earlier why Bruno wants to fix perfection. But the better question everyone should consider is how. Bruno and Mirabel both understand that change is inevitable, and it has already come to this valley, even before their return."

For just a moment, monk and matriarch regarded each other- cool grey eyes locked onto simmering (fearful) brown.

"From what I can tell, this valley is no longer perfect. At least not for your children. Not even for you" the monk concluded grimly.

Alma could take no more. She exploded, "Of course, it isn't perfect anymore. You and the rest of those demons are endangering our home!" She thundered, uncaring of the fact that Dolore's ears were probably smarting.

Shifu raised his hand again. "I did not come to argue with you. The only thing I ask you to consider is whether you are asking the right questions."

He smiled sadly, "I can tell you from bitter experience that you will only find true inner peace when you start to ask the proper questions."

But as Alma stormed past the white rat to her room and resumed her pacing and silent raging at the rodent's audacity to confront her in her own home, the question continued to haunt her.

How does one fix perfection?

I hope you enjoyed this work! Please check out the other works by Mr. Chaos and GarnettFox and I wish you all a Happy New Year!