Hello, my fellow Zorro fans! I've been wanting to post this forever, especially after reading all of the fantastic work the rest of you have posted, but I had some kinks I needed to figure out before posting (kind of important things, like a title! :) ). This is based on the New World Zorro series, and is my AU version of it. I loved all the characters, but, romantic that I am, always loved the dynamic between Diego/Zorro and Victoria, so this story will focus largely on them. There will be the inevitable reveal of Zorro's identity, and I will be utilizing some key episodes from the series, but most of them will be altered somewhat to further the storyline. This first chapter will be relatively short, but I hope to have the next chapter up soon. I hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own or have any rights to Zorro or any of the characters from the NW series, and am not writing this story for any profit whatsoever. I just enjoy writing about them!
Toronado's hooves moved in a slow, rhythmic gallop over the damp sod, and Victoria's eyes shifted back hesitantly to the sky as a low rumble of thunder rolled above them. The sweet, fresh scent of the impending rainstorm had grown gradually heavier in the air throughout their ride, and the late afternoon sunlight now fought to show itself behind the thick gray clouds shadowing the sky. Victoria chewed nervously at her lip and straightened herself in the saddle, tightening her arms around the waist of Toronado's black clad master. Zorro carefully surveyed the hills around them, tugging on the reins to slow Toronado's pace. A loud short of breath emanated from the stallion in response, and he gave a small jolt, drawing a light gasp of surprise from Victoria at the unexpected movement. She quickly braced herself, quickly lacing her fingers together around his waist and pressing herself tighter against his back. Victoria felt him go still, his chest expanding slowly under her palms before one gloved hand covered both of hers. His reassuring touch momentarily ebbed her tension, and she shifted her gaze from his broad back to his profile. The strength of him against her felt reassuring and safe, a strength that seemed to flow in a seamless connection between the elegant black stallion beneath them and the man that commanded him.
Victoria's mind suddenly stilled on that thought, and she continued to study his strong profile as his gaze carefully scanned over the misted landscape. Toronado's master had long been a mythical and elusive hero to the people of Los Angeles, and, despite their growing connection in the past few years, had often felt elusive to her as well. Zorro shifted as he maneuvered Toronado around a small hedge at the base of the hill, sending a small shiver coursing through Victoria as the heat from his torso seeped through her clothes and into her skin. Despite Zorro's distance from the people and from her in the past, with him this close to her, he felt neither mythical nor elusive. He felt human and real under her hands, pure flesh and blood, the reality and the myth colliding and magnifying the paradox of power and gentleness she known so fleetingly in his arms before.
Victoria felt her cheeks flush at her thoughts, but resisted the urge to press her cheek to his back as she would have so many times before. Remembrances of what had transpired between them today pricked at her thoughts, drawing her straighter in the saddle. Whatever feelings she held towards this man, past and present, Victoria knew she could discount neither his deception nor his decision to keep her ignorant in his long standing charade. A sharp pang twisted through her stomach. She was no longer the innocent and naive senorita who'd blindly held trust in the man she thought she knew and loved, and he was no longer the perfect and infallible hero she had built him up to be from the first night they'd met. She closed her eyes briefly at the thought, the memories she'd shared with this man seeming to float through her mind as quickly as the now powerful wind from the impending storm above them. The closer they'd become, she'd realized how much she wanted not just Zorro, but the real man behind the mask. And now that she knew them both...
Victoria inhaled deeply, shaking herself lightly against the vague numbness that still lingered from the day's dizzying revelations. How could she reconcile what had happened, what had come to pass between them? Her world felt as if it had been turned upside down, and her eyes and heart opened to a new and surreal truth. It was as if she herself had been wearing a mask, one of an emotional blindness of her own making, one that had been suddenly ripped away to reveal what she had been unable and unwilling to see from the day Zorro had first appeared. Part of her felt exposed and raw in the stark light of this new truth, and wanted to skitter back into the shadows of her ignorance, but the other...
Her eyes moved again to his squared planes of his profile, still half obscured by his mask, and felt her heartbeat quicken, anxious more now than ever to confirm the identity of the man concealed beneath it. He leaned as he maneuvered Toronado to turn, and Victoria moved instinctively with him until he suddenly pulled them to a stop. "There," he said quietly, giving a quick nod to his left. She followed his direction to a dilapidated, darkened cottage just beyond the next hill. The rumble of warning thunder sounded again, and this time a flash of lightning accompanied it, illuminating the clouds overhead. Toronado gave a short, startled cry at the bright flash, but quickly settled as Zorro spurred him forward. The first few drops tapped against Victoria's arms and shoulders, quickly increasing their pace, and she bowed her face against his back as he spurred Toronado into a gallop towards their shelter.
