It was the third day since the bears had found Zoey, and no one had come looking for her. The bears woke up later than usual, thanks to staying up with her. Grizzly was the first to wake up, and the first thing he did was cover Zoey with the blanket he'd accidentally pulled off of the chairs when he'd sat up and stretched. The next thing he did was wake up Panda and Ice bear. Once his brothers were awake, he eagerly sat down at the table to wait for breakfast, after putting back all the chairs of course. Panda joined him after a while, sluggishly tapping away at his phone.

"So, how was everyone's time with Zoey? Was it great?" Grizzly asked. Panda looked up from his phone.

He shrugged in response. "Eh, it was okay I guess? She finally gave me back my stuffed animal. And after that she just sat in that little fort you made eating chips." Ice bear flipped a pancake in a skillet. Not turning towards his brothers.

"Ice bear taught Zoey how to draw." Ice bear answered. Grizzly jumped slightly in attention.

"Oh! I think I saw that this morning!" Grizzly shouted. "That's what the stack of paper is for, right?" Ice bear nodded in response. Panda looked up from his phone, a bit curious. He set his phone down on the tabletop and looked over at Grizzly.

"Wait, Zoey drew pictures? What'd she draw?" Inquired Panda. Grizzly got out of his chair, accidentally shifting the table a little in his excitement.

"Oh, I'll go get them! Wait right here!" Grizzly exclaimed before running off into the living room, face planting as he tripped in his rush. He leaped up shortly after. "I'm okay! Now back to getting those drawings!" Ice bear watched his older brother for a moment, then strode over with three plates of pancakes for his brothers. He hesitated as he prepared to set them down when Grizzly came in with the drawings.

"Here they are! Oh! And I see breakfast is ready!" Grizzly set down the doodles as he spoke. Ice bear passed around the pancakes as Grizzly took his seat again then sat down himself. Grizzly stuffed his face with his pancakes then spread out the drawings while his brothers ate. Panda looked over the drawings as he took a bite out of his fruit covered pancakes. It wasn't much, only three drawings laid on the table. They were the drawings Zoey had made before she started crying. Panda didn't look impressed, especially since on of the drawings was just two different colored scribbles. However, Grizzly found the drawing of Ice bear amazing.

"Pan-pan, look!" Grizzly gawked as he held up the drawing. Panda squinted at it then looked at his younger brother.

"Huh, it," Panda looked at the drawing again, "kind of looks like you."

Grizzly excitedly grabbed the next drawing. "Aw! She drew a picture of you and her! How cute!"

"Not Ice bear." Ice bear pointed out. Panda and Grizzly paused to stare at their brother. They looked at the drawing again, then back at the drawing of Ice bear.

"What are you talking about? Of course it's you!" Grizzly protested. He held up both drawings now. "See?"

Ice bear shook his head. "Zoey's mom." Panda's and Grizzly's eyes widened in shock as they stared at Zoey's picture.

"How'd you know that?" Panda asked.

"Zoey told Ice bear." He replied. Grizzly looked at his polar bear brother.

"Did she tell you anything else?" He asked. "Does she know where she is?" Panda was now paying close attention to what Ice bear had to say, along with Grizzly. Ice bear just shook his head. Both of the older bears let out sighs.

"Great, now we know why no one's come looking for her." Panda grumbled. Grizzly looked towards the living room area. A concerned expression plastered on his face.

"Poor, Zoey. I wonder how long they've been separated?" Grizzly thought aloud. He turned to his brothers, his face morphing into that of a determined one. "Guys, new plan. We're going to go out and see what we can find about Zoey's missing mother."

Panda blinked in slight surprise, but nodded in agreement and understanding. Ice bear did the same.

Ice bear and Grizzly were preparing to leave. They were going to search around the forest then stop at the Ranger station to inform Tabes of Zoey and her missing mother. Panda was chosen to stay behind to watch Zoey, who was still asleep on the couch. Panda looked unhappy.

"Look it's not that I don't like her, but why do I have to be the one to stay behind?" Panda whined. He was standing by the door and currently gesturing to Zoey on the couch. Grizzly looked at Panda with a small smile.

"Relax, Panda. Zoey's probably going to be here for a while. I think you and her could use a little more bonding time." He answered. Panda sighed and crossed his arms, but saw his brother's point. But I don't want to stay with Zoey. She freaks me out and won't leave my stuff alone. Panda thought to himself. Grizzly waved the middle brother good bye as he walked out of the door.

"Goodbye, little bro! Have fun!" Grizzly called out as he walked out the door. Panda stood in place for a while, frowning. Finally, he sighed and approached the couch. He watched as Zoey fidgeted in her sleep before sitting down and bringing out his phone. His moment of peace was soon interrupted by Zoey bolting awake and letting out a short screech. Panda flinched back in surprise, his eyes round. Zoey sat panting in place, her eyes wide as well. She looked at Panda and crawled over to him. He noticed she was trembling.

"What's wrong, Zoey?" He questioned. "Did you have a nightmare or something?" Zoey blinked at him. Her eyes were still as wide as saucers, and a few tears glistened in her eyes. She gave him a shaky nod then attempted to hug him. Panda was highly against it, but seeing as how shaken she was, he allowed her to cuddly him for a short time. Finally, he gently shoved her aside. She looked up at him in confusion, but gently patted him then slid off the couch. Panda set his phone down, feeling a bit awkward. It started to show when he started wringing his paws. What do I do now? He thought.

That's when Zoey stood up. She had her ears lowered as she started looking around. She crouched down on her front paws and pattered towards the spot where the blanket cave had been. Panda slowly stood up and shuffled after her. Zoey looked upset that it was gone, even more so since Grizzly was too. She moved on to the kitchen. Panda, again, followed after. His expression was a mixture of confusion and worry.

He voiced his thoughts aloud. "Hey, uh, Zoey. What'cha doing?"

Zoey looked back at him as she sat in front of the fridge. Panda looked at the fridge. While hesitant at first, he eventually opened the door for her.

"You, uh, hungry? Is that what you want?" His voice was shaking a little, despite his best efforts to hide it. It was out of uncertainty rather than nervousness though. Zoey leaped to her paws and looked inside. However, she didn't seem to be looking for food, more like someone.

It finally hit Panda. "Oh! Your looking for my brothers! They're not home." Panda explained. The shakiness from early almost completely forgotten. Zoey looked at Panda, tilting her little round brown and white face. Frozen for a while, Panda finally realized she didn't fully understand what he just said. He let out a small sigh. Shutting the refrigerator door, he lead her over to one of the doors.

"They left. They're outside." He tried explaining again. Zoey pointed at the door with a tiny brown paw. Panda thought she finally understood and smiled. "Yes! Yes! Outside!"

Zoey stood up on her hind legs and wobbled over to the door. Placing her paws on the door, she looked up and over her shoulder at Panda. "Outside?" She pounded on the door then looked back at the black and white bear. "Me outside?"

Panda stood still for a while, before placing his paw on his face then thrusting his arms out in frustration. "No, you can't go outside!" Exasperated Panda. He growled a little as he looked up at the ceiling with furrowed brows. This is getting frustrating. Not wanting to deal with her anymore, he went back to the couch and his phone.

Zoey toddled over, not used to traveling on her hind legs quite yet. She pointed up at his phone and grunted. Panda looked irritated as he stood up and wandered off to his room, not taking his eyes off the screen. There was no way she was getting his phone today. This, however, angered Zoey. She growled and dropped to all four paws and jogged over to him. Panda tried ignoring her. Maybe if I don't pay attention to her, she'll leave me alone. A sudden sharp pain shot through his leg as soon as the thought passed. Screaming in pain, he looked down to see Zoey was biting him.

"Ow! Get off! Get off!" He cried, shaking his leg and flailing his arms in both panic and an effort to get her to let go. His eyes were now wide from the shock. She released him and dropped to the floor. Quickly getting up and shaking herself off, she sat down and glared at him with her teeth bared. Panda limped into his bedroom, not even bothering to fully shut the door. Zoey shoved her way in and sat in the door way. The bed creaked a little as Panda sat down, looking over his hurt leg with a worried expression. Fur was sticking up in a few places, but his leg was fine. He still glowered at Zoey.

"Bad, Zoey! We don't bite!" He scolded her. He shook his paw at her in a manner that one would when scolding a pet. Zoey looked guilty for just a second, before spotting his stuffed animals. Her eyes lit up with joy and she giggled and clapped her paws, excitedly pointing at the trove of toys, and bouncing in place. Panda growled as he set down his foot. Clearly irritated by her lack of remorse.

"No! I'm not giving you one of my stuffed animals after you just bit me!" He yelled while scowling. Zoey started growling again, but stopped immediately when Panda stood up and approached her. "No means no! And I'm not changing my mind!" He told her stubbornly, crossing his arms. She seemed surprised at his sudden boldness, and started whimpering, reaching for the toys from her spot on the floor. However, Panda was firm with his decision. "Your not going to change my mind!" He stomped past her, and she quickly pursued, trying to cling to him and pointing at his room while making distressed noises.

Panda continued to ignore her, but her crying was starting to get to him. His anger started to melt away as he looked around for something to satisfy her with. He wandered into the kitchen. Maybe if I give her something to eat she'll stop whining. But what to give her? Zoey had by now resorted to laying face first on the ground, making high pitched whines that were muffled. Opening a cabinet, he pushed aside bags and jars, looking for something for Zoey to snack on. The crinkle of plastic caught her attention, and Zoey looked up from her fit to watch.

Panda's searching paws landed on a halfway emptied bag of pretzels. He pulled them from the cabinet and turned towards Zoey.

"You, uh, want some pretzels?" He offered. Zoey's pouting expression disappeared almost instantly as she greedily reached for the bag of snacks. "I guess I'll take that as a yes." Panda mumbled with a semi satisfied smile as he served the eager cub her pretzels in a bowl. She snatched the bowl away and started happily munching on the salted snacks. Panda crouched down.

"You really like pretzels, don't you, Zoey?" He wondered out loud. Zoey smiled at him with a pretzel sticking out. Kind of grossed out, he gave her a nervous smile. He stood up, pondering something. Zoey watched as she crunched away. After a while, Panda made up his mind and headed towards his room again. Although she was curious, Zoey did not follow him, paying more attention to her snack bowl. After a moment had passed, Panda emerged from the hall with his stuffed animals, albeit very slowly, as if he was still debating on bringing them out as he carried them out. It was too late to change his mind when Zoey let out a gasp. A pretzel fell from her paw and onto the ground and her eyes grew round in excitement.

"Mine!" She gleefully squealed, her baby bear paws outstretched to take the stuffed toys. Panda gently set down his toy animals. He looked a bit uncertain. Maybe this isn't a good idea. Zoey's delighted squeals softened his expression. Then again, she looks really happy.

"Alright. Since I forgive you for biting me earlier, you can play with my stuffed animals." Panda told her. Clapping her paws and abandoning her food, Zoey pounced on the toy pile, grabbing a random toy and hugging it. Panda watched with a small smile.

"Heh, Grizz is right, I guess. You are kind of cute." He mused. Zoey suddenly bit the toy and carried it over to the bowl. Panda panicked slightly. "No wait! Don't do that!" Quickly snatching the toy away, he looked over it to make sure she didn't drool on it. Zoey blinked in surprise before reaching for the stuffed animal again. Instead, Panda gave her a different animal.

"You can't bite them. You'll ruin them." He warned. His brows furrowed from concern. Zoey stared at him for a moment before looking at the toy in her arms. She thrust the animal forward, holding it out for Panda to take. Now he was confused. He took the toy anyway and Zoey grabbed a different toy. She made the motion to put it in her mouth as she watched for his reaction. As soon as she saw his paw come to take the toy away, she pulled it away and shook her head. Panda pulled his paw back, blinking at her in confusion. She passed him the stuffed animal then grabbed a fourth.

With this stuffed toy, she gently stroked it, watching his face. When he didn't react, Zoey smiled and nodded. Panda cracked a smile, seeing she was catching on.

"That's right! Wow, your pretty smart." Panda complimented. Zoey cooed and set the animal down, going back to her food. Panda hugged his stuffed animals as he watched her, not fully realizing what he was doing. He shook his head when he finally noticed and set them down.

"Huh, I guess I really was wrong about you." He murmured as he watched her with a ghost of the smile.

A/N: Sorry for the wait. :P I needed to take a break from writing this story to deal with some other things. Things are getting close to the end now. To be honest... I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I really think I could have done better writing this, especially the Panda/Zoey bonding. Did it feel kind of rushed?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter of Zoey! This story's just a few chapters away from ending but don't worry! I plan to write more stories involving Zoey and the Bears once this story is finished! One of those include a short story that will delve a little deeper into Zoey's history.

Also, kd, I already have an idea on where this story is going. Had it planned out for a year now. But your suggestion is a wonderful idea that I'm definitely going to use for a future story. :)