PPX: Zuma's First Month

Episode sixteen: Memorial Day Revives Thoughts That Stay

It was nighttime on day twenty one of Zuma's life in Adventure Bay, and the titular Chocolate Labrador was in the living room eating dessert on the couch. As he chowed down on the coconut ice cream bowl he made himself, Chase came into the room with the intent to let Zuma know something. "Hey Zuma. I know we just saved you from Nicky, but would you mind if I told you something real quick?"

"So long as you don't fawt on my ice cweam when you're done." Zuma informed Chase, who snickered while nodding his head no. "Then fiwe away Chase dude."

Chase sat down next to Zuma and started to tell him what he wanted to say. "Okay. So, do you know what Memorial Day is?"

"Nope. Not a clue." Zuma informed Chase, who expected that, and what Zuma asked next. "What is it?"

"It's an annual federal holiday about letting people mourn the losses of loved ones who died while protecting the United States." Chase explained, and then he cleared up one other detail that could be confusing to Zuma. "Ryder's parents were in the Military; which I bet could sound confusing, since we live in Canada."

Zuma didn't really care about that detail, being much more interested in Ryder's parents. "Wyder was a Militawy kid?" Chase nodded his head yes, leaving Zuma more intrigued as he asked another question. "Does this mean he goes to Amewica evewy yeaw?"

"Not exactly. Mayor Goodway had a special memorial made for them in the Adventure Bay cemetery." Chase explained, leaving Zuma surprised that a place so happy and cheerful had a location as grim as a cemetery. "Don't be so surprised Zuma. Lots of towns and cities have cemeteries. It's how we give the dead a place to rest."

"Well I know what a cemetewy is." Zuma informed Chase, explaining why it surprised him. "I just didn't expect a place as cheewful as Adventuwe Bay to have something like that."

"Then I guess you just learned about the town's hidden angst." Chase stated while tickling Zuma's tummy and making him laugh. When he stopped, he let Zuma know one of the main reasons he wanted to tell him. "It's a really special day to Ryder. I know I shouldn't have to tell you to be on your best behavior, but it would mean a lot to him if none of us got in trouble tomorrow."

Zuma didn't wanna ruin a day that was special to Ryder, or any of his friends. He just knew he'd feel awful if he did anything to make that happen. "Well... I can't pwomise there won't be anything that goes wrong tomorrow, but I'll do my best to make sure nothing like that happens with me."

"That's all I ask." Chase assured Zuma, rubbing his head before heading off to his room. "Goodnight Zuma. And remember to wash your bowl out when you're done."

"Goodnight Chase. And no pwoblem." Zuma responded, getting back to his ice cream while thinking about how tomorrow would go.

The next day, day twenty two of Zuma's life in Adventure Bay to be exact, Ryder was awoken by his Alarm clock at exactly 8:00 AM. When he sat up and turned it off, he smiled when looking at the calendar. It was in fact, Memorial Day, as we saw with how the days were crossed off on his calendar. He got up and picked up his phone, checking his plans for the day that he would need to do before visiting his parents' memorial. "Okay. Mayor Goodway should have some Poppy flowers to spare."

Ryder went over to the door of his room before looking at a picture of a brave looking man and woman standing together pin the picture. The woman was holding a baby Ryder, and Ryder smiled as he saluted them in the picture before leaving the room. It was clear that he honored his family, even if he didn't get to spend much time with them.

Zuma was sleeping in again, as usual, this time being awoken by Skye coming in and nudging him to make sure he was on time for breakfast. "Wakey wakey Zuma!" Zuma woke up with Skye letting him know that there was food waiting for him. "Come and get your breakfast while it's hot."

Zuma sat up to go an get some breakfast as Skye went into the kitchen, only to then get a text from Rocky. When he read it, the following was said:

'Thanks for helping me with the Nicky situation Zuma. That intervention helped a lot more than I thought.'

Zuma was beyond happy that he was able to help Rocky. He quickly sent a set of texts to reply:

'Honestly, I think I should be thanking you guys for saving my butt yestewday.'

'That said, I hope you know you can talk to me about this stuff now. I don't want you huwting yourself by keeping it in.'

Zuma hoped he wasn't too direct with that last reply. Thankfully, what Rocky texted next quickly confirmed otherwise:

'I'll try my best not to worry you again. It's just that... it can be hard for me to communicate sometimes. Or even show that I'm struggling.'

Zuma got that, having learned of it as another symptom of Rocky's Autism. He smiled again as he sent him one last text to let Rocky know how much he cared:

'I think evewyone can welate to that. I just want you to know you're always safe awound me and the others.'

As Zuma sent that last text, Skye called to him from the kitchen regarding his breakfast. "Hurry up Zuma! You don't want your food to get cold!"

Zuma put his phone away and went over to the kitchen to enjoy some more of Skye's delicious cooking. When he went in, he was pleased to find a plate of blueberry pancakes and bacon on his plate. He happily sat down and thanked Skye for the meal. "Thanks Skye."

After Zuma got started on eating, Skye looked to Chase to see what he knew about how Ryder's day would go. "So Chase. Do you think Ryder's gonna want any of us to come with him this time?"

Chase shrugged after swallowing a bite of his pancakes, not really sure whether or not Ryder would want company there. "I can't say Skye. He could wanna go by himself again." Chase ate some more of his food before pointing out something that could happen if he were to go. "Of course, if I went with him, I'd have to try extra hard to avoid disrespecting an entire field's worth of Military officers."

"That's true." Skye responded, knowing what Chase meant as she took a bite of her food before continuing the discussion. "He could surprise us by inviting one of us to come though."

Zuma had an idea regarding what Chase and Skye were talking about. He hoped it wouldn't come off the wrong way if he asked. "Is this about Wyder's pawents?" Chase nodded his head yes in response, eating some more of his food as Zuma pointed out a positive to Ryder visiting his parents' memorial. "At least one of us gets to see their pawents in a way. I mean, unless you two have families you get to see."

"Chase doesn't, sadly." Skye said with sympathy towards Chase. She then spoke about hers after getting a nod from Chase that showed he was okay with her talking about it. "My parents and sister live in a city away from here, but I see them at least once a month."

Zuma seemed confused about the time gaps between visits. "Why not see them mowe often? Wyder's wich enough to buy Adventuwe Bay twenty times over."

Skye giggled a bit before answering Zuma's question. "I can't just visit them whenever I miss them Zuma. It would affect my Paw Patrol duties, and I would just burden Ryder by making him buy daily or weekly tickets."

"Oh yeah. That makes sense." Zuma admitted, and then he got curious about what exactly this 'memorial day' stuff was like in person. "Have either of you twied asking Wyder if you can come with him?" Chase and Skye flinched before looking at each other with the realization that they never really offered to go with Ryder. Not out of disrespect of course, they just always thought it'd be best if he went by himself.

After breakfast, Ryder was getting ready to head to Mayor Goodway's to get the poppy flowers he needed. As he was heading over to his ATV, Zuma walked over to him to see if he wanted some company this time. "Hey Wyder. Where are you off to?"

"Just heading to Mayor Goodway's place to get something I need." Ryder answered, and then he looked at Zuma as he told him what he was planning to do. "Today's Memorial Day, and every year, I visit my parents grave with the right flowers that symbolize fighting for our country."

"I actually talked about that with Chase and Skye duwing bweakfast." Zuma told Ryder, hoping it wouldn't hurt to know more about what Memorial Day was like. "And Chase told me last night that your pawents were in the militawy."

Ryder's observation of Zuma's movements made it clear to him what Zuma was trying to ask him. "Let me guess. You wanna come with me to my parents grave."

"Kinda, yeah." Zuma admitted, hoping he wasn't coming off as rude by requesting this. "If that's okay with you I mean. I don't know how I'll feel about it since my pawents aren't dead as far as I know, but I've never heawd of Memowial Day before last night, and I wanna know what it's like."

Ryder didn't see the harm in that, even though he'd never had anyone accompany him before. He also felt this would be good for Zuma as a learning experience. "It would be a nice change of pace from the last few years. And any learning experience is a good one." Zuma smiled with Ryder offering him a spot in the side of his ATV. It was a little car big enough for him to ride into that was attached to the vehicle. After he hopped in, he put his seat belt on as Ryder drove off. Zuma didn't know what was gonna happen, but at least he knew he didn't upset Ryder.

Rocky, Richie, and Diane were doing some gardening in the front yard with Diane planting some seeds, and Rocky helping Richie pick some already grown vegetables. As Richie was picking some ripe onions, Rocky pulled on the stem of a carrot to get it out of the dirt. After getting it out, he landed on his rump and laughed before putting the carrot in the basket, along with Richie's onion. Rocky then noticed Ryder and Zuma coming and got excited to see Zuma again. "Zuma and Ryder are coming over!"

Richie knew why Ryder was coming, picking Rocky up as he informed his mother about it. "Hey mom! It's that time of the year again!"

"I already planned for it!" Diane called back while holding a bouquet of poppy seeds made especially for Ryder. These weren't the seeds she was planting; obviously. She just knew he was gonna come over to request some.

Ryder parked in the most convenient spot in front of Mayor Goodway's house with Rocky running over to Zuma after he hopped out and hugging him after the two said hello to everyone. "Zuma!"

Zuma laughed a bit as he wrapped his arms around Rocky, glad to see that he was still his energetic self after what went down yesterday. "Wocky! You look way okay dude." Ryder went to go get the flowers from Richie and Mayor Goodway as Zuma made extra sure Rocky was still okay after what happened the other day. "You suwe you're okay? Nicky isn't still on your mind?"

"Not until you brought him up." Rocky brought up with a smirk, leaving Zuma to chuckle a bit as Rocky then let him know he was doing okay. "I forgot to ask. Did he do anything to you before we came to save you? Or did that cat he teamed up with do anything?"

"Nope. I'm as scaw fwee as can be!" Zuma answered, and then he got a question in mind regarding Rocky's love life. So now that Nicky's out of the way, do you have any plans for your love life wight now?"

Rocky thought about that for a moment, wanting to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything. He didn't have anything on his mind at the moment when it came to romance once he did. "No, I think I'm gonna wait before I try again at a relationship. I moved too fast with Nicky, and that helped me see that I'm not ready for a relationship yet." Zuma could respect that, and Rocky then told him of something else he thought he'd like to know. "For now, I think I'd get the most fun out of my life playing with you."

Zuma was about as happy as Rocky hoped with that one. He took Rocky's paws as he made a suggestion for something they could do. "Maybe we could write our own song together. We could even make it about science or inventing, or maybe playing, or helping others, or whatever comes to our minds."

Rocky loved the sound of that, and while he couldn't do it right now, he was more than happy to do it sometime in the future. "I'll let you know when I'm in the lyricist mood."

Rocky and Zuma fist bumped to show that they were on the same page there before Ryder came back over with the Poppy flowers. "Okay Zuma. I got all the Poppy flowers I need. You ready to head to the cemetery?"

"It's why I came with you." Zuma reminded Ryder, and then he felt it wouldn't hurt to ask Rocky if he'd seen the cemetery before. "Hey Wocky. Have you ever been to a 'cemetwey' before? What's it like?"

"Honestly? Not that bad." Rocky admitted, despite the grim nature of being around a bunch of buried bodies. "You see people grieving their a lot, but it's a lot more peaceful than sad; almost as if they can still talk to their loved ones, even after they've passed on."

Richie heard the conversation and went over to let the others know another part about what cemeteries represented. "It helps that these places were made to give those who die a proper resting ground."

"That's what Wyder told me on the way over here." Zuma revealed, and then he hugged Rocky again before hopping back into Ryder's side car. "See ya latew guys!"

"Thanks for the flowers Diane." Ryder added, and then he headed off with Zuma after the other three said goodbye as well. The next stop on Ryder and Zuma's ride was the Adventure Bay cemetery.

Ryder and Zuma were riding to the cemetery with Ryder noticing Zuma deep in thought about something. Wanting to console him, he put his ATV on auto-drive so he could do so. "Something on your mind Zuma?"

Zuma snapped out of it and looked at Ryder, deciding to go ahead and tell him what he was thinking about. "Sowwy Wyder. I'm just thinking about my pawents wight now. I haven't seen them in yeaws, and I don't know where they could be."

Ryder tried to think of how to answer that question, since he wasn't exactly sure of where Zuma's parents were either. "I don't think I have to ask that you still think about the day they were arrested."

Zuma nodded his head yes, wishing he knew if his parents were still alive out there. I mean, obviously he wouldn't want them being dead, but anything was better than nothing. "I know I don't talk about it that much. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't know what to say, or when to bwing it up. And I don't wanna wuin anyone's day by bwinging it up at the wrong time." Ryder got that, knowing that despite how Zuma was when he first arrived in Adventure Bay, he was still a good pup. "How do you handle it Wyder? Knowing your pawents are dead I mean."

"It can be pretty hard at times." Ryder admitted, showing that despite being the leader of a team of rescue dogs, he was as vulnerable as everyone else. "I didn't have them in my lives for that long. I was about four years old when I lost them."

That was how old Zuma was when his parents were taken from him. After realizing this coincidence, he smiled as he thought of a positive to Ryder's parents' fate. "It must be nice being able to visit them so easily."

Ryder laughed a bit, smiling himself as he thought about that too. Zuma was right about that. It sure was easy having their burial right here in Adventure Bay. "Yeah. It is." Ryder and Zuma smiled at each other, glad that the two of them had this talk. It was one of many moments they would have together that would make them see how good of friends they've become.

Soon after Ryder and Zuma's talk, the two friends arrived at the cemetery to visit Ryder's parents' memorial. Zuma hopped out of the side car and followed Ryder inside, still being curious to see what a cemetery looked like in person. As he walked in with Ryder, he instantly caught sight to all of the graves and tombstones there. Some people were visiting their dead relatives too. Ryder could tell Zuma was new to this, with multiple pieces of evidence from the day. "This is basically what you'll see here all the time. People paying respects to those they love."

Zuma then noticed a grave that shocked him, from someone named Shelly Clark. Her birth and death were only ten years apart, and it said she died in a car crash. Zuma knew it was possible for kids to die already, so he managed to shake his head off of it. It still horrified him to think about though. "This giwl's position... could've been mine."

Ryder knelt down to comfort Zuma, rubbing his head as he assured him that he wouldn't let that happen. "We'll make sure you live a full life Zuma. Just like the rest of us."

Zuma gave a small smile with gratitude, deciding to get back on track regarding the visit to the cemetery. "Thanks Wyder. Now come on. Let's get to your pawents gwave." Ryder nodded in response and walked off with Zuma, who thought some more about the grave he just saw. The last thing he thought he'd find was that of an actual child's resting place. It was a massive wake up call to just how dark the world could get. 'I can't imagine what it's like to die that young. And her pawents. They must have been the saddest they'd ever been at her funewal.'

Ryder and Zuma arrived at Ryder's parents' memorial, where it showed Ryder's parents giving salutes while looking towards those who gazed at them from below. Zuma found their posture to be quite impressive, since he'd never seen real military soldiers before. "Wow."

"I know, right?" Ryder responded, and then he took the Poppy flowers down on the grave while kneeling down. Zuma didn't have to kneel down, so he just sat. Luckily for him, that was what military dogs did too, so it wasn't out of place. Zuma let Ryder say what he had to say, knowing it would be rude to interrupt. "Hi mom. Hi dad. It's been a full year again. The others are still doing great. Chase and Skye have been protecting Adventure Bay the best they can. Richie and Rocky have been a great help. And I even have a new friend right next to me."

Zuma was surprised by the mention of him with Ryder smiling as he introduced him to his parents. "Mom, dad, this is Zuma. He's been living with us for almost a month, and it hasn't always been easy, but it really feels like he's really become a part of the family."

Ryder gestured Zuma to say hello, and the Chocolate Labrador wasn't sure what to say. "Um..." He decided to just salute to them, feeling that would be the most respectful thing to do. "Hello siw and madam. Sowwy for my speech; most of my R's sound weiwd."

"No need to apologize Zuma." Ryder assured Zuma, knowing that his speech impediment wasn't anything to be ashamed of. Zuma smiled as Ryder continued speaking to his parents. "I haven't made a final decision yet, but I think I'm gonna finally start looking for some new members for the Paw Patrol soon. Chase, Skye, and I can only handle so much on our own. It'd be great to have some members to cover more areas." Ryder then wiped a tear from his eye as he expressed one thing he did regret. "I wish you could be here so you could meet my friends."

Ryder then saluted his parents, and Zuma observed Ryder subtly to make sure he followed his movements correctly. "At ease Zuma." Ryder put his hand down, which led to Zuma putting his paw down as well. "As hard as it can get, knowing you're watching over me, makes it that much easier to be the leader I need to be to protect Adventure Bay. And I'll always be grateful for that." Ryder said his final word for his latest visit with his parents then and there. "I love you mom and dad. Until next year."

Ryder and Zuma then headed off with Zuma feeling moved in a way with what Ryder said there. Ryder noticed this and made sure Zuma was feeling alright. "You okay Zuma?"

"I'm fine." Zuma assured Ryder, bringing up what this event actually made him feel. "This just wasn't what I expected. I never met your pawents before, and I didn't think I was gonna feel this much fwom visiting their memowial. Yet, somehow... I stawted to feel your love for your pawents with what you were saying." Ryder was glad that Zuma gained a positive experience from this. He just wondered how this would affect the rest of his day. "So... what do you usually do after you visit your pawents?"

"Believe it or not, the day goes on like normal after this." Ryder admitted, hopping into his ATV as Zuma jumped into the side car. "And I'm guessing your view of that after this is going to be telling Rocky what you learned from it."

"If that's alwight with you." Zuma responded, and Ryder gave Zuma a thumbs up, leaving Zuma excited as he pointed forward. "Then let's wide!" Ryder drove off to Rocky and Richie's place with Zuma being excited to share this experience with Zuma. Ryder wasn't surprised by this one bit. He figured Zuma would wanna do something like this.

Ryder and Zuma were arriving at Rocky and Richie's place again with Ryder parking his ATV before they walked up to the door. When they got out, Zuma ran up to the house in excitement with Ryder following behind him. Zuma even took the time to jump up and ring the doorbell... five times before Ryder stopped him. "That'll do Zuma."

Zuma then waited patiently for Rocky, who answered the door with excitement over seeing Zuma again that day. "Zuma!"

"Wocky!" Zuma exclaimed, and Rocky allowed him and Ryder inside with Zuma letting Rocky know how the Memorial day visit went. "Cemeterwies weally are something. And Wyder's pawents memowial is huge!"

"I bet. They always go all out for war heroes." Rocky informed Zuma, and then he started thinking about what the two of them could do now that he was here. He already knew Ryder was here, so he didn't feel the need to ask him. "So what do you wanna do first?"

As Rocky and Zuma thought about that, Ryder figured Richie was in his room and decided to go and find him. "While you and Rocky take care of that, I'm gonna go find Richie and let him and Diane know we're here."

"Okay Wyder." Zuma responded, and then he saw the giant TV in the living room, which Rocky noticed him looking at instantly. He quickly caught onto what Zuma was thinking before Zuma even started saying it. "Maybe we can see how movies look on your TV? We usually only watch them at the Lookout."

"That could be interesting." Rocky admitted, guiding Zuma to where the movies were kept, which was a short, but long shelf of all different kinds. "As you can see, we have a lot of stuff we need to watch." Rocky ran over to the other side of the shelf to start on the other end and make the process take less time. "Let me know when you find what you wanna watch."

Zuma started looking through the movies with Rocky doing the same, both of them hoping to find a good one. He kept looking for a movie that sounded interesting to him, and after about ten cases, he found a movie called 'We Will Reunite.' For some reason, the movie title spoke to him. He took the movie and got a good look at it, which caught Rocky's attention. He went over to Zuma and started to get worried, as Zuma seemed to get emotional when he looked at the back. When Rocky looked at the back alongside him, he quickly understood why.

The back wrote as such: Milo, a self-conscious fifteen year old boy, looks for his parents after they were taken from him five years ago by a corrupt force.

Rocky had an idea on why this spoke to Zuma, hoping asking about it wouldn't hurt him. "Is this because of... ya know. What happened with your parents?"

Zuma nodded his head yes, elaborating on why he was starting to think about his parents again. "Visiting Wyder's pawents made me stawt thinking about them my own again. I guess I just saw this as... something I could welate to. Is that weird?"

"No, of course not! You have every right to want that." Rocky assured Zuma, looking at the movie cover and feeling that this would be good for him. "I heard good things about this movie too, one of those things being it's message. Maybe watching the movie will help you cope better."

Zuma was glad to see Rocky supporting him and smiled as they went to go put the movie in. "We Will Weunite it is then!" And with that, the two pups put the movie in, ready to have a good, if emotional, time.

Rocky and Zuma were still watching the movie about an hour later, and the act two emotional moment proved to be a heavy one for Zuma. Rocky could tell he was starting to get emotional when he saw him tearing up. He wrapped his arm around him and allowed Zuma to lean on him as he expressed his love for the scene. "I know him so well."

Rocky continued to give Zuma support as Ryder and Richie came down and noticed them watching the movie. When Richie saw the case on the side table, he saw what was happening and picked it up. "Ah, you're finally watching We Will Reunite. How is it?"

"It's beautiful!" Zuma exclaimed, surprising Ryder and Richie, until they got a look at the back. Zuma then smiled, indicating that Milo was getting back up and getting ready to keep moving. "Milo's never lose hope attitude is the gweatest! He's just so pwoactive! That moment of needing to cwy is the lowest he's been in the whole movie!"

Rocky could tell that Zuma was attached to the movie, as made evident by what he said while looking at the TV. "That's one of many likely codes for for 'this movie is amazing.'

"It definitely sounded like it." Ryder responded, and then he got a good look at the movie, which had a moment of Milo looking at a picture of him and his parents. He smiled when he saw this, glad that Zuma was watching something that helped him with being separated from his parents. He looked to Richie, who nodded and allowed Ryder to make the offer that was on their minds. "If you wanna restart the movie after you're done, we're more than happy to watch it with you."

Zuma wiped a tear from his eyes, being grateful for the offer and happily accepting it. "That would be awesome." Rocky and Zuma continued to sit comfortably together on the couch as they kept watching the movie. It was clear that watching We Will Reunite was a good call. Zuma's smile as he watched the movie made that fact all the more evident.

About two hours later, Ryder and Richie were now watching the end of the movie with Rocky and Zuma; and it was the second time in a row for the pups. As expected, Zuma still loved the movie, perhaps loving it even more than he did the first time. The others could tell just by the smile on his face. The movie certainly had a happy ending, and Rocky was more than happy to point it out. "They really knew how to make us smile with that last scene."

"He finally got to be awound his pawents again!" Zuma exclaimed with a slight voice crack. He managed to compose himself well enough to look to Ryder with a question in mind. "Wyder, since you and Wichie also loved the movie, can we pleeeeease get it for the Lookout?"

Ryder and Richie looked to each other as Ryder began his answer, and then back at Zuma as he finished. "Well... if you take good care of the disc."

"I will; I pwomise!" Zuma assured Ryder, knowing that he wouldn't do anything to damage the movie. "I'll even make a place for us to place it in the living room if we don't alweady have one!"

"There's always the bookshelf next to the TV." Richie suggested, and Zuma nodded his head yes, showing that Richie just made it easier for him.

Rocky then brought up something about this event that he felt would lead to a new trend. "I guess another part of Ryder's Memorial Day schedule will be watching this movie."

Ryder thought for a moment about that one, and he took a liking to the idea after he did. "I think you might be right about that Rocky." Rocky smiled in response with Rocky and Zuma sharing said smile as they looked at each other happily.

Zuma hugged Rocky goodbye and hopped into Ryder's side car, and Ryder fist bumped Richie before riding off on his ATV to head back to the Lookout for lunch. On the way back, Zuma started talking to Ryder. "Hey Wyder?" Ryder addressed Zuma, who asked him what was on his mind. "Do you think I'll ever see my pawents again?"

Ryder wasn't entirely sure how he could answer that question. He didn't want to break Zuma down, but he also didn't want to lie to him. He only had one answer he felt would avoid both of those things. "It's hard to say Zuma. Unless we go visit them. And I doubt you wanna go back to your hometown right now."

Zuma had to admit; he did feel his memories would be too painful to go back to right now. "Definitely not. I just stawted thinking about it after I saw your pawents' memowial."

"I get that. I would've started thinking about it too." Ryder admitted, knowing that this situation was still taking a huge toll on Zuma. He still wanted to help him though, and he was glad that Zuma was happy in Adventure Bay. That meant he was making progress at helping him feel for sure that he had a new home now. "Even if you never see them again, just know that you'll always have us. And we're not going anywhere. Especially not without you."

Zuma smiled in response to Ryder's comfort. He knew he could trust him on anything he said. "Thank you Wyder." Ryder smiled with Zuma letting him know that he meant it. "I know I don't say it that often. I usually figuwe you know how I feel just by looking at me. But I mean it. Thank you."

Ryder rubbed Zuma's head after the two of them pulled up in the Lookout driveway and he opened up the garage. "You're welcome Zuma." Zuma hopped out of the side car as Ryder let him know he was free to head on in. "You can go inside and eat if you want. I'm gonna make sure my ATV is parked right."

"Okay. See ya inside." Zuma responded, running inside with Ryder parking his ATV as the Chocolate Labrador was shown running into the house. One whiff of Skye's cooking made him smile even more as he walked into the kitchen. "Mmm. Spicy Chicken Salad."

Zuma was eating lunch with Chase and Skye, who he was telling about what visiting Ryder's parents' memorial was like. "And even though he only saw them thwough the memowial wather than in pewson, it felt weally peaceful. It gave me the idea that they must've been gweat people when they sewved in the awmy. They looked so loyal to the ones they loved; and also fwiendly and bwave."

Chase finished up his portion of lunch before responding to what Zuma described visiting Ryder's parents as. "Yep. That sounds like the kind of people who raised Ryder."

Skye added her own two cents as she took another bite of her food, glad that Zuma got a positive experience out of this. "I'm sure Ryder was happy to have some company this time too Zuma."

"He sure was in a good mood when I agweed to come along." Zuma brought up, glad that his presence benefited Ryder's mood more than hurt it. He then finished up his spicy chicken salad as he brought up what he did with Rocky, Ryder, and Richie right before coming back. "You guys would love We Will Weunite by the way. We watched that twice with Wocky and Wichie while we were over there the second time today, and it's amazing."

"I'm up for a movie night if everyone else is." Chase responded happily. "Just let me know when the movie gets here, and I'll be ready."

Zuma gave Chase a thumbs up right before finishing up the last of his food. He patted his belly as he pointed out something about the meal that he learned about soon before Skye made it. "I can see why this is Wocky's favowite food. Spicy and healthy." Chase and Skye laughed a bit in response with Zuma joining in as the screen faded to black, ending the episode off.