Affairs of the heart
Disclaimer: This story was written solely for the enjoyment of other Zorro fans and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by Goodman/Rosen Productions, New World Television, Zorro Productions, the estate of Johnston McCulley or anyone else.
Chapter 1
The tavern was nearly empty and Victoria was nowhere in sight. Searching for her, Diego crossed the tavern in the direction of the kitchen where he heard two women laugh. He was about to enter the kitchen when he heard his name mentioned.
"Diego?" he heard Victoria laugh. "Who'd want to marry Diego?"
"He is kind, good looking, rich..." Pilar said. "Who'd ask for more?"
"But he doesn't act like a man. I'd rather take Don Ernesto, he knows at least how to defend himself," Victoria replied.
Diego didn't want to hear any more. Preferring not to be discovered by the women, he headed straight for the tavern door, not even noticing Sergeant Mendoza coming in as he passed through the door.
"Don Diego, is everything alright?" Mendoza called after him, puzzled that Diego didn't even greet him.
Diego mounted Esperanza and rode quickly out of the pueblo. While he urged his horse to run faster he tried to forget Victoria's words, but they kept ringing in his head. "Who'd want to marry Diego?"
He felt deeply hurt and humiliated. Victoria's harsh words confirmed his worst fears - she would never love him as himself.
It was more than he could bear. Something inside him broke and he simply didn't know what to do.
Unconsciously, he had ridden close to the borders of the de la Vega hacienda. Slowing down to a walk, he halted his horse and walked over to the fence surrounding his father's land. Leaning his folded arms over the upper picket, he gazed across the large stretch of land, with the occasional waterhole glistening in the California sun, until his vision became blurred by the tears that started to fall.
On the ride back to the hacienda late in the afternoon, he was in deep thought, knowing he had to make a decision about his life and his relationship with Victoria.
Z Z Z
"Is something wrong, Diego?" Alejandro asked him two days later. "You've hardly said a word for days. Maybe I can help you?"
"No, Father. I'm only thinking about one of my experiments. Nothing you need to worry about," Diego replied, trying to hide his despair from his father. He had made up his mind about Victoria and he was going to tell her tonight.
Z Z Z
Zorro was waiting in the kitchen to talk to Victoria. It was closing time when there was the best chance to be undisturbed during this conversation that he wasn't looking forward to.
"Zorro," Victoria was about to rush into his arms when he stopped her.
"Victoria, we need to talk," he said slowly.
"What is it?" her heart filling with dread as she realized he'd called her Victoria, instead of his usual, affectionate, Querida.
"I can't continue like this. I have come to realize that you will never love me as myself and that's why I have decided to end it. Marry someone else you will be happy with!"
"You are taking back your promise?" Victoria was shocked and her eyes started to fill with tears.
"Yes, and all that goes with it." Zorro said softly, knowing that he couldn't let her keep the ring that might give a clue to his identity. Victoria was stunned as she realized what he meant.
"You want the ring back?", she asked faintly, praying he wouldn't say yes, and hoping she had misunderstood what he'd said.
"I'm sorry, but I must," he said remorsefully.
While she went to fetch the ring, he waited silently in the kitchen, reconsidering his decision. But, he knew he couldn't bear it anymore. He had to let her go. A few minutes later she returned with the ring and dropped it in his hand.
"Zorro, how can you do this when you have never given me the chance to see the man behind the mask?"
"Oh Victoria, I have given you more than enough chances to figure out who I am, but you chose not to see me at all. Look at the many times you fell for an imposter and how you reacted when Don Alejandro came to town as Zorro. No, Victoria it is enough. You are in love with an illusion. You are in love with a man who is dressed in black and not a man in flesh and blood. As soon as I change into my normal clothes you will ignore me and I can't bear that anymore."
"Zorro, please give us a chance, tell me at least why you are suddenly so convinced that I won't love you without the mask!" Victoria grabbed his arm, trying to stop him. He drew her close and kissed her feverishly, knowing it would be the last time. In his kiss Victoria felt his despair and his pain. She tried to hold him but to no avail.
"It is too late, Victoria. We must both go on with our lives now." He released himself from her grip and vanished through the door without looking back, leaving her behind crying.
Z Z Z
After he returned to the cave, he took care of Toronado before he changed and sat down at his desk. From his pocket he retrieved the ring he had gotten back from Victoria and turned it around between his fingers. Thinking of the crushed dreams it symbolized, he dropped his face on the table and began to cry.
In the morning Felipe found him there and woke him with a light touch on his shoulders. Felipe asked what was wrong when he saw Diego's red eyes, but then he saw the ring lying on the desk.
Agitatedly, he began to sign while he pointed at the ring and at Diego, making the sign for Victoria.
"No, Felipe, it wasn't Victoria's decision. I broke up with her and asked her to give me back the ring."
"Why?" he interpreted Felipe's surprised sign.
"Because she'll never love me as myself."
"And no, I don't want to talk about it anymore." Diego rose from his seat to exit the cave and retreat to his room, leaving a concerned Felipe behind.
Z Z Z
The next days not even Don Alejandro saw much of his son. Diego told him that he had some new books that kept him up late, causing him to sleep during the daytime hours. In the meantime Zorro was very busy at night, roaming the countryside in search of bandits. In the morning he was often seen in the plaza delivering them to Mendoza to put them in jail.
The next time Zorro came to town, he didn't even greet Victoria or seek her out any more, making it all too clear that he that he meant all that he had said to her. Her guests saw Victoria crying before she went to the kitchen to escape their curious eyes, but she was soon followed by Don Alejandro.
Angrily, Don Alejandro began to shout at her. "Victoria, what have you done to Zorro?" he asked inquiringly.
"What do you mean by that?" Victoria asked surprised. "I haven't done anything. It was Zorro who split up with me."
"I can't believe that," Don Alejandro stated. "Zorro loves you very much and you must have given him a reason."
"But I haven't done anything, Don Alejandro. Why do you think it was my fault?" Victoria defended herself.
"If you had stayed in the plaza during his fight with the soldiers, you would have noticed that he was more reckless than ever before. It was pure luck that he wasn't shot today. Zorro seemed very desperate today and if he continues like that we will soon lose him. So I'm asking you again, Victoria, what have you done to him that made him so desperate, enough to split up with you and no longer care about his life?"
Shocked, Victoria listened to Don Alejandro's accusation and began to cry, lowering herself on a bench.
"Please, Don Alejandro, believe me. I don't know why Zorro split up with me. He came to the tavern a few nights ago and told me that he was convinced I would never love him without the mask and that we should both go on with our lives. I begged him to tell me why, but he never gave me an explanation. Ever since then, I have done nothing else but try to figure out the reason, but I really don't know what I have done to change his mind about us."
Seeing her obvious distress, Don Alejandro calmed down a bit. "I believe you, Victoria." He sat down on the bench next to her trying to comfort her.
Z Z Z
Throughout the following days, people began to speculate about what Victoria would do since she had obviously broken up with Zorro. Or, they wondered to each other, had he discarded her after having his fun with her.