Disclaimer: I do not own Zorro, nor do I make any money from writing this story. Dialogue and situations used from the episode are property of ZPI, the rest of the story is my property and cannot be printed or used without my permission.
Author's Note: Once again I'm using posting a chapter as an antidepressant. Or maybe an upper. Rough day at work, gonna be another long day tomorrow. I really hope I get some feedback on this one. I know it's not Moonlight, but…gotta write what the muse demands. I will get back to it.
Author's Warning: That being said, I have tried not to be mean before with cut-offs, though I know I've done it unintentionally. This chapter ends without the warm fuzzies I try to instill in my readers. I'm having fun with it, but the story is marked Angst for a reason. You have been warned. My beta said I could post chapter one alone. Blame her.
Author's Note 2: Marla is the most awesome-est beta in the world and I couldn't do it without her.
***evil laugh***
zzz
Victoria looked around the garden. She always enjoyed visiting here. Alejandro loved his flowers, and the garden was magnificent. She held out her arms and spun around, breathing deeply and enjoying being outside on her own. The gunshot wound in her side pulled a bit, but she still took another deep breath and covered the pain with her hand. She glanced down, but couldn't see anything. The dress was new, and she felt beautiful in it. She didn't regret the pain one bit, because this time she'd saved Zorro's life. After a week of being stuck in bed, Diego had let her stretch her legs a bit, and she finally felt normal again.
"Señor Zorro!" she said when he stepped out of the shadows.
Zorro glanced around to make sure his father hadn't come out with her before approaching. "You look lovelier than ever."
Victoria stepped forward, eager to see him. "Thank you, I am feeling much better." She smoothed her hands over the dress, hoping Zorro liked it. She felt a small twinge of guilt. Diego had liked it. He said it had been his mother's, but she knew a new dress when she saw one. She probably shouldn't have accepted it, but she wanted to feel pretty again. She liked seeing the light in Diego's eyes when he saw her wearing it.
She shook those thoughts away. She wanted to look pretty for Zorro, not Diego. She didn't want Zorro to see her sick with fever. She didn't want him to feel guilty.
"You almost died because of me." Zorro held up a hand when she took a step toward him in protest. "I won't put your life at risk anymore."
"What do you mean?" Victoria could barely force the words from her throat.
"I've been thinking," Zorro started. "You should have a husband. Someone like Diego, perhaps."
Victoria's eyes widened, afraid he had read her thoughts. But she shook them away. She wanted Zorro. "Like Diego? I thought...I thought we shared certain feelings." Victoria wrapped her arms around herself, her heart cracking a little.
Zorro cringed when he heard the sadness in her voice. So much for that idea. "We do. More than you'll ever know." More than she could know. However, if he could somehow get her to stop chasing Zorro and look at Diego, he'd have her here with him. Out of danger. And with him.
Before he could continue to plead his case for Diego, Victoria surprised him. Not that he minded, as his hands wrapped around Victoria's waist and his lips softened against hers. She gasped when he tugged at her lip, and Zorro forgot he was supposed to be saying goodbye. His arms held her tighter as he deepened the kiss, stepping into her and pressing her against the flowers on the wall. The scent of jasmine mixed with a scent he knew only as Victoria, and the world was forgotten.
Victoria heard Alejandro calling, and tried to understand his words. Zorro made her forget everything else, and her arms wrapped tighter around his neck as he kissed her again, her body filling with pleasure. Her fingers stroked over his cheek, and she knew he'd let her take the mask off now. Zorro wouldn't kiss her like this and not feel anything.
Suddenly he stepped back from her. Or, he didn't step back as much as Alejandro threw the man against another wall.
"What are you doing?"
Victoria's eyes widened as Alejandro stepped between them, facing down the mighty Zorro as if he were perfectly ready for battle. Her face turned bright red, but she didn't regret kissing him. He couldn't deny his feelings now, and would stop talking about Diego.
"This is a private garden. Victoria is under my protection. You come in here and take advantage of a woman who took a bullet for you?"
"Don Alejandro, it wasn't…"
"Hush, Victoria. Are you alright?" Alejandro turned to face her and Victoria put a hand to her burning cheeks as she saw him check the state of her clothes. "Did he hurt you?"
"Don Alejandro, I would never—"
Alejandro rounded on Zorro. "You would never? She wouldn't have been shot if it weren't for you."
Zorro dropped the hand he'd been reaching with and fell back against the wall. "I know."
"You know? Is that supposed to make it alright? Last time I checked, Victoria wasn't married. Unmarried women don't meet masked men alone in the dark." Alejandro scowled at Victoria, too.
"Don Alejandro, it wasn't like that," Victoria protested, but Alejandro took her arm and held her back when she moved to go to Zorro.
"I came to say goodbye," Zorro muttered.
"Goodbye? Why?" Victoria asked from behind Alejandro's shoulder.
"Because of what Don Alejandro said. I put you in danger."
"So why did I find you kissing her?" Alejandro growled.
Zorro barely shrugged and looked down at his boots, still leaning against the wall.
"I kissed him, Don Alejandro," Victoria admitted, and couldn't meet his eyes when Alejandro turned to her. "He wanted me to marry another. I didn't let him say goodbye. It's my fault."
Alejandro looked between them, confused. "You come to say goodbye to her, tell her to marry someone else, and then kiss her?" Alejandro ran a hand through his hair and wrapped an arm around Victoria, sorry when he saw the sadness in her face. "Who did you want her to marry? It sure didn't look like you were trying to send her away."
Zorro shrugged again, kicking at the dirt. "I wanted her to marry Diego."
"Diego?" Alejandro looked at Victoria, but she shrugged her shoulders and didn't have an explanation. "Why?" He paused, then turned to Victoria. "What's wrong with my son?"
Victoria took a step back and wondered if this night could become any more embarrassing. "Nothing. I like Don Diego very much." She glanced at the man in black. "But I wanted another."
"What if Diego liked you very much, too?" Zorro asked.
"How do you know that?" Alejandro asked with narrowed eyes.
Victoria turned to him in surprise. "Don Alejandro?" Victoria asked.
Alejandro shrugged and ran a hand over his scruffy cheek. "I think he's right."
Victoria shook Alejandro's suspicions off and slipped away from Alejandro so she could confront Zorro. "Why not you? You kissed me back. You said you had feelings for me!"
"Diego has more to offer you."
Alejandro recovered and put himself between them again, taking Victoria's hand and pulling her back toward the house. "That's because my son doesn't run around in a mask ruining a woman's reputation."
"He might."
Alejandro didn't hear and kept walking. "My son respects women. You should learn a thing or two from him."
Victoria was the only one still watching, and Alejandro finally stopped when she planted her feet.
"Diego?" Victoria gasped as she looked at the man in black, his head still bowed, but now he was smoothing out the mask he'd just removed. He glanced up and shrugged at her.
Alejandro had let go of her in shock, so she took a few steps closer to see in the dim light. "Is this some kind of trick? Zorro is done with me so you and he come up with this scheme to have some fun?"
Diego thumped his head on the wall behind him. Why would she believe? He took a breath and whistled, and they heard an answering whinny from far away. A minute later, Toronado came racing into the garden, but the familiar horse and tack didn't get the reaction he'd expected.
Diego frowned at the confused expressions on their faces. "What, you don't recognize my horse?"
"Your horse?" The horseman in Alejandro was distracted by the magnificent stallion, but Victoria crossed her arms and glared, still not convinced.
"Oh come on, it can't be that impossible to believe."
Victoria looked around the garden, her eyes scanning the rooftops and searching for hiding places. "Zorro," she called out to Diego's shock. "Come down here. This isn't funny."
Diego kicked off the wall and tossed the mask to the ground with a scowl. "No, I really don't think it is."
"Diego, what are you doing?" Alejandro asked, eying the familiar outfit with curiosity. "You don't have to go through all this. Lots of women have expressed their interest. Go to Zorro for sword fighting lessons, maybe, but…"
Victoria turned back to face him, furious at Zorro, but confused at Diego's behavior. He looked annoyed that he'd been caught, but figured men like him wouldn't be the type to be embarrassed. He never blinked when he did any of the silly things he did, never let people's opinions shake his confidence. And Alejandro was right. Diego de la Vega was the most eligible bachelor in California. She was hurt that her friend had tried to play with her emotions like this. For what? A laugh? She'd hoped she and Zorro could be married. Diego, though…
She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, the dress suddenly feeling different now that she suspected his motives. What was wrong with her own dresses? "Your father's right. You could have anyone. But I'm not some debutante. I'm not going to dress up in a fancy dress and throw silly parties and tell you how wonderful you are just because I want to be a caballero's wife. I don't. And wearing the clothes doesn't make you Zorro."
Victoria had to force her feet to stay planted, because Diego looked like she'd just slapped him. She instantly regretted her words, but she wanted Zorro. Diego had to understand that. And Zorro must be listening somewhere. "I'm sorry, Don Diego. I'm not the right wife for you." Victoria firmed her lips, but couldn't stand to look at the devastation she saw on Diego's face anymore. "And I'd take that bullet for him again. You hear me, Zorro?" she shouted. The man was out there somewhere, and Diego held his mask. Surely he'd come forward now?
Toronado had satisfied his curiosity with Alejandro and turned back to Diego, who numbly put a hand up to stroke the horse's nose. Toronado knew who he was. He could see realization slowly dawning on Alejandro's face when he saw the temperamental stallion seek him out, but Victoria had said all she had to say. All he needed to hear.
Toronado bumped his chest, eager to be off. Diego walked around to the saddlebag and pulled out a small box. He looked at it for a moment, then tossed it at a stunned Alejandro. He pushed at Toronado till he found his mask in the dirt, and moved to put it in the saddlebag when he had no desire to put the thing back on, even if it wasn't covered in dirt.
He saw his change of clothes in the saddlebag, the white silk of Diego's shirt shining in the moonlight. Tonight he'd thought hard about their future as he'd checked on Victoria's tavern for her. He glanced back at Victoria, told himself she'd be safer if she didn't believe him.
He looked at his father, and felt a little better. Alejandro could put away questions and confusion and disbelief for the moment. His father was putting the pieces together and knew Diego had been about to propose…and instead got trampled.
He pulled out the suit, not caring that the pants dragged in the dirt as he handed the clothes to his father. "Just give me an hour or two, okay? I'll be back." Now, he could change in his own rooms instead of the chilly cave.
"Diego…" Alejandro called, daring to take the reins as Diego mounted. Toronado reared slightly in protest and Alejandro let go, watching as Diego controlled the stallion easily. "I'm proud of you, son."
Diego gathered the reins and turned to leave, catching sight of Victoria, who had finally stopped looking for another Zorro. Toronado danced, sensing Diego's indecision. He watched the tension melt from her arms as they fell to her side, her eyes wide as they cleared. No one rode Toronado but Zorro. She took a tiny step forward, but this time Toronado kicked high. Diego's eyes never left hers, never showed a lack of control as Toronado's legs reached higher than her head while Diego stayed firmly planted in the saddle.
She glanced at Alejandro, saw the clothes balled up under is arm. Victoria forced air into her lungs, somehow formed words. "What's in the box?"
Alejandro opened it, not surprised to find his wife's ring. Diego interrupted him before he could answer. "Don't worry about it. I came to say goodbye. You just said it better than me." Since he'd heard all he needed to hear, he didn't stop when she called after him.
Zzz
Author's Note 3: Going crazy with the author's notes. I have the next chapter written. Marla is making me write more though, so just be patient, it will pay off. Diego and Victoria's motivations are discussed next chapter, so I hope you can bear with me instead of thinking they'd never say that. People can say some pretty harsh things, and I wouldn't have reason to write fan fiction if the characters were perfect.
And of course you're gonna get the warm fuzzies eventually cuz Diego and Victoria always wind up happy in my stories. Just tryin to see if I can make you sad for our beloved couple.
If I sucked you in, please review :)