We Bare Bears: The Truth Or Never Again Chapter 7 Nature Spirit

Panda returned to the Ranger Tabes and the Poppy Rangers who had finished their rock climbing. He would’ve greeted them, but what he just went through with Kale, he’s still thinking about heading back to the cave alone. Kale is walking a few feet behind Panda, he didn’t bother trying to catch up to him, on account of how disappointed he is.

“Hey Panda!” Ranger Tabes called which caused Panda to turn his attention to her. “How was your walk with Kale?”

“Nothing special.” Panda sighed as he walked past her.

While the rangers took notice from the bear’s depressed look, Ranger Tabes felt curious and a bit concerned for him, while Kale walked up to her. “He told me he might head home soon.”

This caused Ranger Tabes to gasp. “What! Why??”

Kale looked at the Poppy Rangers who were confused by Panda's decision of potentially leaving the group. He then whispered into Dana’s ear of Panda’s secret he’s been keeping from his girlfriend, along with how he’s helping him. Once he backed away, Dana thought this whole trip was only for exploring with two adults who were celebrating their relationship and willing to get to know them, while Lucy’s brother and Chloe are part of the Poppy Rangers for today.

And yet she also learned that she barely knows much about Pandas reasons for being with them, unlike Grizz. “Are you sure that’s what he’s feeling right now?” She responded.

Kale nodded as he saw Panda walking past his brothers. “I doubt there’s anything for him to do during the rest of this trip.”

However this gave Dana an idea. “There are other things he can do, let me talk to him. You are in charge of taking the rangers to our next destination.” She takes out her map and gives it to Kale.

Kale may not understand Dana’s plan, but if it’ll somehow make Panda rethink his choice of leaving, he won’t be disappointed. “Sure, I’ll wait for you once I head to the next destination.”

As Dana left Kale to continue the trip with the kids, she follows where Panda is heading. He heads to the trail where they arrived from after finding food and water earlier, it’s the only way for him to head back to his cave, since the boats were still untouched after they reached shore. Tabes tries to catch up to him just when he steps foot on the trail.

“Panda!” She called as the bear turned around.

“If this is about camp activities, I’m not interested.”

“It’s not that.” Tabes walked up to the bear while turning around with Grizz and Ice Bear looking on. She pointed at the group where Kale is taking them to their next location, giving them the message that she has everything under control. As the bears caught up to the group, Dana saw a log lying by the trail. “Is this about Lucy?”

Panda looked up in the sky in annoyance. “Did Kale tell you about this?”

“You came up with this idea.” She replied while sitting on the log. “If Grizz or Ice Bear came to me with this idea, I would have understood the reasoning a little better.”

“Why is everyone but Lucy learning about my secret, and yet won’t give me any peace!?”

“Maybe because you never stand up for yourself?”

Panda sighed. He knew what Tabes was saying was true. He can only imagine how the rest of his day would feel, all by himself in his cave while his brothers spend the rest of the day in the wilderness. He decided to sit by Dana, who’s willing to help.

“Tabes, making a stand for myself is one thing, but on the other hand, I don’t have to do that.”

“Then that’s why you keep holding yourself back. Even though we never work together for activities a lot, I know how different you are compared to your brothers.”

“Yes, because we see you more than Lucy.”

When they took a moment to stop, Panda realized that out of all the friends he hung out, Lucy was the only person he hung out with the least. Even during Fruit Fridays, he barely talked to her, on account of him being too shy and never taking his opportunity when it’s being served to him on a silver platter.

“On second thought...Lucy barely knows me, unlike my brothers.”

“And I can tell she’s never even seen what you have in your room.” Tabes commented which didn’t upset Panda, in fact he blushed in embarrassment.

“I would freak out but...I’ve spent most of my time with my mind, I never frequently face reality.”

Tabes wants to set things straight with the poor bear but on the other hand, she refuses to cross the line, to where it could hurt Panda on the inside. “You need to understand one important thing.” She placed her hand on his shoulder. “You’re an animal and Lucy’s a human. Even if it’s possible to make her feel happy as your...you know what, no one's gonna attempt to take it seriously as a relationship. Animals and humans don’t fit together in different types of relationships.”

Panda looked into his hands and had to face the fact that what Tabes said is true. Unfortunately there was more to it on why he’s not agreeing with it. “You’re right, but the thing is, I adore romance. Everytime I watch anime and a movie, it tears me up to see a couple come together after everything they went through.”

The Ranger closed her eyes, whilst shaking her head about what he said. “Fiction and reality aren’t the same thing when it comes to relationships. I’m not meaning to be hurtful in any way, but I barely watch romantic films, or anime myself. I mostly watch documentaries involving nature and animals.”

“Then you probably don’t know much about my life. I get fiction is a thing in drawing and art, but I never show any of those to Lucy. I barely made a drawing of her to showcase my art to her. You have no idea how much of an artist I’ve become when someone stays in place while I do a drawing of them.”

This actually gave Tabes a smile on her face, knowing Charlie personally ever since they worked together. “I actually do, Charlie showed the painting you made out of him.”

“Yeah, I knew he would show it to you when you two get along long enough, maybe I should’ve known you would find out soon.”

“Hey, that’s what new relationships start off with, unexpected surprises.”

Upon hearing those final words clearly, Panda realized that one of the only things she showed Lucy was the song about her. During the Fall Harvest Dance-Off, it was the closest he ever got to confessing his feelings towards her, but not really understanding what it actually meant at the time.

“Do you really think she’s being nice when it comes to knowing about something as big as this?”

“I’ve only met her today, I don’t know that much about her.”

“Ohh...I guess I don’t really know what she really feels about me as a friend.” This caused him to lower his head in shame. “If she ever finds out about the truth, it won’t be the same to help her with her deliveries.” With another hint of depression, Panda got off the log while leaving Tabes by herself. Even if he decided to stay in the group, he won’t enjoy any of the activities waiting for him. “Can you at least tell me what I can do here?”

Ranger Tabes got off the log and walked up to Panda. “I can put you and Grizz in charge of the Poppy Rangers.”

“And how is that supposed to make me feel better? I don’t even know them that much.”

“Yes you don’t but the thing is, I want you to be in the nature spirit for the rest of this trip.”

“How is teaching five out of seven children gonna put me into the nature spirit?”

Ranger Tabes sighed while being honest to the bear who came up with the whole trip idea. “Because you're the only one I’ve seen who isn’t enjoying it. I understand your feeling depressed and stressed out, but it’s not gonna help you. Besides, I’m gonna need help to set up the next activity so I need help from Ice Bear and Kale.”

Panda remembered only talking to one of the Poppy Rangers when he left the station. He was lucky he didn’t get exposed in front of Lucy, but on the other hand, he knows how to handle the situation with them. Being honest while keeping it cool unlike what he felt in his imagination.

“What about Lucy?” He asked.

“She can come with me. I’ll talk to her about what she feels about you. Trust me, it’s better if she can understand what you're feeling.”

The bear once again took a deep breath while trying to understand what Tabes is trying to do. Even if Kale will take care of everything by the time he leaves, he can only hope that his girlfriend would understand.

“Can you at least not tell her about-”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell her. Just have fun with Grizz, whilst taking care of my rangers.”

“Okay, I’ll stay.”

Ranger Tabes gave Panda a hug, not long until she broke it. “We better hurry, they’re probably there already.” As the two leave the spot where they had that picnic earlier, they head in the direction to where the rest of the group went to.