Zorro needs a break

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.

Author's note:

After reading so many stories with Diego injured or killed I felt the need for some fun and a happy ending. This is more about romance and humor than about fighting. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have fun.

Chapter 1 - Friday

The fight with his father this morning had been more serious than usual. Don Alejandro had wanted Diego to join him in his protest against the newest taxes and the flogging of some peasants. For once Alejandro had not accepted Diego's excuses and Diego could only refuse to accompany him straight away. The disappointment of his father had been more obvious than ever but he could do nothing else if he wanted to sneak away secretly and stop the alcalde as Zorro. Diego felt hurt by his father's remarks and they had hardly spoken with each other for the rest of the day.

Like the evenings before he paid a late visit to Victoria shortly after she closed the tavern. Recently it had become more and more difficult for him to stay away from her. He longed to hold her in his arms and kiss her. It frustrated him that he cold only hold her when he was wearing his mask and that she had a low opinion of Diego. How could he ever win her as Diego when she was in love with a legend?

"Zorro, you have come," Victoria said happily and rushed into his arms. They kissed passionately and his hands moved over her body touching and caressing her bare skin where it was not covered by her blouse or her skirt. Victoria hand opened his black shirt to feel his hot skin underneath.

Finally Zorro managed to break apart.

"Victoria, we have to stop it. You know where it would end otherwise. We can't do that if we're not married. I hold you in too high regard to treat you like that. I don't want to disgrace you."

"Zorro, please I don't want you to stop. We are already waiting so long." She tried to kiss him again, but he held her at arm's length.

"No, Victoria. There is nothing I would love to do more at this moment, but it wouldn't be right and you know it. Please stop tempting me."

"Then how much longer do you want to wait until you fulfill your promise? I don't know how much longer I can stand this waiting," she said angrily.

"I don't want to wait anymore either, but I don't know how to get out of the situation," he retorted, showing his own frustration for the first time.

"I can't marry you as Zorro, because that would make you the perfect bait for me if you get pregnant and I'd soon be hanged. If I marry you as myself, the alcalde would suspect me being Zorro with the same result of getting myself hanged. Besides, you wouldn't marry me if you knew the man behind the mask."

"You said the same thing when you asked me to marry you, but I told you then as I tell you now, the man can never be less to me. How can you believe otherwise? Just give me a chance and show me your face."

"I know what you think of me when I'm not wearing the mask. Without the mask you completely ignore me and I can only hold in my arms if I put on these clothes. I just can't stand it anymore."

"Is it true then that I see you during the day without your mask? That you come to my tavern and I don't recognize you? That can't be. For example your voice. I would definitely recognize your voice."

"No, you wouldn't recognize my voice. Do you think I could hide from you for such a long time making it so easy for you? I'm wearing a different mask that is not as visible as this black piece of cloth."

"You pretend to be someone else when you are not Zorro and you even change your voice? How can you stand that and who is the real you?" Victoria was shocked by his revelations.

"Sometimes I don't know myself anymore with all this acting and pretending, but the real me is more like Zorro than the man I pretend to be without the mask. I'm not sure I can stand this masquerade any longer and somehow I don't want to."

He started pacing the kitchen like a caged tiger, looking for an escape. Victoria watched him stunned.

"I need a break from all that. I need to be myself again for some time."

"What do you want to do?" she asked, anxiously.

"I have to leave Los Angeles for some time and go somewhere else where nobody knows me as Zorro or as..." He stopped his sentence short, before revealing his true name. "I think I know exactly where to go."

For the first time a smile appeared on his face again. He thought of the letter from France he had gotten today. It was a letter from the descendants of the three musketeers he had met during his visit to France two years ago. It included an invitation to the wedding of Athos and Simone, the lovely girl, the three musketeers had instantly fallen in love with. Yes, going back to France would be just what he needed now, he thought to himself.

"You are going to leave Los Angeles? For how long and when will you return? And what about us? Are you just going to leave me? Maybe forever?"

"Victoria, I don't know what to do about us. If I thought that you would love me as myself and not only the legend, I would ask you to come with me on the trip, but I think you never will." He sounded sad.

"Please Zorro, you can't give up after all these years. I think, you owe me a chance getting to know you. I want to meet the man you really are and not the one you pretend to be. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough for you in the recent years, but with all that you told me I'm sure I will recognize you now. Our meetings were always so fleeting that I never had the chance to talk to you. This was the longest talk we had, except for the day you asked me to marry you."

"Forgive me, Victoria, I think you are right. It is not your fault that you never recognized me, because I did everything I could to keep you from discovering me."

He drew her in his arms again and looked her in the eyes. "Victoria, I don't want to lose you. Would you like to travel with me?"

He whispered in her ear. "Will you marry me and join me on my trip as my wife? I will have to leave in a week from now. If you really think you can love me, I will talk to Padre Benitez and arrange our wedding for the night before we leave."

"Marry you in a week and leave Los Angeles?" She looked at him, surprised at his sudden change of heart. "Zorro, I want to marry you. You must not doubt my love for you. I promised to marry the man and not the legend. But for how long will we leave? Will we ever return? What shall I do with my tavern?"

"We will return in a few months. I want our children to grow up here in Los Angeles. And your tavern? Find someone to manage it for the time we are away. When we are back, you can decide what you want to do with it. Keep it or sale it, whatever makes you happy is fine with me," he wiped away her concerns.

"I know I'm asking a lot of you. But do you understand that I need to go? You don't need to decide tonight. If you don't show up for our wedding or are disappointed with my identity, I will understand and not bother you any more. Without you, there will be no Zorro."

"Zorro what can I do to make you believe in my love? Find the man behind the mask after all this years? Is that what you want?"

He didn't answer, but in his eyes she could see his need to be accepted without the mask.

She caressed his cheek with her hand and kissed him tenderly. "I will find you, be sure of that. I will not disappoint you. I only never knew how far you would go to hide yourself." Then she started to cry.

"Shh, Victoria, don't cry for me. It was my choice to become Zorro and it was you who kept me going on. I'll do anything to keep you safe and it is too dangerous for you to know me, but if Zorro is gone, it won't matter anymore. That's why I can tell you before we leave, unless you find out earlier. You are as smart as beautiful and I think I have told you already too much." His grin that was so typical for Zorro had returned and he kissed her tears away.

Victoria was relieved that his mood had lifted and he was no longer as depressed as before. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed again for some time. She didn't want him to go, because she knew how close she had come to losing him.

After he let go of her, he started pacing again, obviously planning and thinking again.

"I think it will be a good idea if you tell everybody that Zorro broke up with you and has already left the area. This way nobody will connect our departure to his. You could tell that you want to visit your brother in Mexico City to seek his comfort after your breakup with Zorro. Can you do that?"

"I can do anything that is necessary for us to be together. Are we going to Mexico City?"

"No, we won't, but it will cover up our absence. I hope you won't mind a long journey and a lot of traveling. I think you will like it."

"Where else are we going? When will you tell me?"

"I'll keep it as a surprise. Think of it as an extended honeymoon." He smiled again. "I have to go now. Otherwise we'll end up again where we started."

After a quick kiss on her cheek he turned around, climbed up to the balcony and left through the window.

"Sometimes you can be so annoying, Zorro," Victoria called after him, but he was already gone and never heard her.

Z Z Z

During the night neither of them slept much. The sudden decision to get married and to leave Los Angeles had been made in the spur of the moment and now they had to think of the consequences. Diego felt that it was the right decision and he looked forward to some time where he could be his whole self again and have Victoria by his side. He worried that she would be disappointed to discover Diego behind the mask and leave him standing at the altar. It would be his greatest nightmare come true and really didn't want to think about it in greater detail. But he had to make plans to make sure that nobody related Diego's vacation to Zorro's absence.

Victoria could spread the news that Zorro had already left town for good and it would give her an excuse to appear heart stricken and transfer her affection from Zorro to Diego during her absence. For a moment he had thought of asking Felipe to make an appearance as Zorro while he was away, but Felipe would never be able to fight the lancers if it came to close battle and Diego didn't want to put him in jeopardy.

After the fight with his father the morning before an extended leave wouldn't be a problem with his father and give both the opportunity to calm down a bit. His father would be very pleased if he returned from his trip with Victoria as his wife.

Victoria lay sleepless in her bed repeating the talk with Zorro in her head over and over. What he had told her still kept her in shock. She couldn't believe the pains he went through to keep his identity hidden. How could he go that far to even change his voice in public and keep up with it for years? Only imagining it made her cry. All the time she had looked for someone remotely like Zorro - tall, blue eyes, athletic figure, impressive personality, master swordsman. But the revelations of the evening showed her that except for physical attributes her assumptions about the man without the mask had been wrong. How could he hide from her if he was a customer of her tavern and who was he? Would she be able to discover him the next week and persuade him that she loved the man and not the legend?