Disclaimer: No copyright infringement meant with story. Characters owned by ZPI, not by me. I only wish to borrow them for a little while. Some scenes and dialogue are from NW Zorro 2 x 5 "He Who Lives by the Sword" by Philip John Taylor. Thanks as well to the marvelous PamZ, and her wonderful transcripts. An invaluable aid to the Muse and the creation of stories.

Summary: When Zorro visits her the night of Thackery's leaving, Victoria is angry. She's angry he had seemingly forgotten his promise to her, when she had asked him about it earlier in the day, when she thought he'd be pardoned.

AN: Thank you for checking out my latest story. Sure love the fact my Muse is finally getting ideas from the episodes. Hopefully she will keep going, it's so much fun. (About time she does, whew!)

Zorro silently breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Thackery ride out of the pueblo. Overall, he was pleased with how everything turned out, even though it did take a little work. Especially protecting his identity. But luckily, no one, especially Thackery and the Alcalde, knew Diego had exceptional fencing skills.

Luckily, everything indeed had turned out. Except Victoria. He could tell she believed his mission was now completed, and they could be finally together. Instead, he had to watch her heart be broken.

His love approached him, with a saucy smile on her lips. As she kept in step with him as they walked along, Victoria asked, "Señor Zorro, do you remember your promise?"

Hiding a secret smile, even though his heart was breaking, Zorro decided to have a little fun with her. To try to take the pain out of what was about to happen. "Promise? I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage, Señorita," he asked with a straight face even though he knew exactly to what she was referring.

Victoria stated brightly, hiding her displeasure, "You said the day you were free would be the day you would remove your mask forever."

Zorro tilted his head down at her, holding up a finger. "Ah. It would also be the day I would declare my love."

"That's true. Well…You have been pardoned."

Zorro turned to watch someone approach from behind them, "Unfortunately, I think the Alcalde has chosen not to honor our agreement." He met his foe's approach with a wry smile on his face.

"Indeed. You didn't let me defeat the Englishman, therefore, you broke our contract," the Alcalde began, with a slimy smile on his face.

Don Alejandro and Felipe had approached the group by this time and took places behind Ramón. Don Alejandro shook his head at the Alcalde's antics. Even though he knew it was useless, he said, "Zorro saved your life, sir…"

Ramón interrupted with disgust, "Rubbish…."

Don Alejandro talked over the Alcalde, "Thackery had a blade to your throat, I believe."

"An essential and shrewd part of my plan. I was merely toying with the individual."

Both Victoria and Don Alejandro verbally expressed their disbelief in the face of the Alcalde's ingratitude.

Even though the Alcalde's behavior and excuses were no surprise to him, Zorro continued with the charade, with a plan of his own. "Remember, Alcalde, the secret is to make your opponent angry."

The Alcalde dropped his nonchalance and bestowed his foe with a confused look. "I don't see what that has to do with it."

Catching him off-guard, Zorro punched the Alcalde in the face, knocking him backward and unconscious into the arms of Alejandro and Felipe. They struggled to keep him upright as Zorro spun around to face Victoria. His cape billowing out behind him, he reached for Victoria's hand and quickly placed a kiss on the back of it with his characteristic gallantry. Not chancing any further delay, especially with the Alcalde being so bloodthirsty, Zorro ran off whistling for Toronado. Jumping onto his back in one fluid motion, Zorro searched for Victoria in the crowd.

His heart breaking at the half-frustrated, half-sorrowful face of his beloved, Zorro called to Victoria, "Please be patient, Señorita."

Not hearing the cheers of the pueblo, Zorro's mind could only think about Victoria's disappointment as he rode out of the square. Vowing to somehow make it up to her, he rode away, losing himself in the ride.

~~Z~~Z~~Z~~

That evening, as she attempted to forgot the day while she performed the evening chores, Victoria became angrier the more she thought of her conversation with Zorro earlier in the afternoon. Was he truly teasing her when he only pretended to forget about his promise? Or had he truly forgotten? If so, were all his feelings a lie? Was he only leading her on? For all she knew. Zorro was a hero to the pueblo but a cad in private.

As she brought in the last of the dirty dishes from the main dining hall, she wasn't surprised to see Zorro standing there. Too angry to begin a conversation, she walked past him with her head high in the air, purposely avoiding all contact with him.

Zorro's eyes followed her as she walked by without a word, a confused look on his handsome face. He asked, "Is something wrong, Victoria? You appear angry with me."

Victoria placed dishes into her basin with a loud clank, added hot water to the soap, and rubbed dishrags together to produce additional suds. Water splashed over the edges of the basin, which she ignored as she began to wash the dishes. "Why would I be angry with you, Zorro?"

"You tell me. I honestly don't know why you'd be angry with me, but you don't look me in the eye. You appear upset over something."

Victoria slammed the rag down into the water, again splashing some water out of the basin. She took a deep breath, then turned upon him. "Were you telling me the truth? When you said you only pretended to forget your promise? Or did you forget the promise and covered it up?"

Zorro looked at Victoria in surprise, then understanding. "Oh, my beloved, couldn't you tell I was teasing you? I did only pretend to forget?" He leaned towards her, intent on caressing her check, but Victoria pulled away from his grasp.

"But…you seemed so serious. I wasn't sure. Zorro, we spend so little time together, how can I know when you're joking?"

"How would I forget such a promise to you? I'd sooner forget how to breathe than break it."

Victoria looked at him, tears in her eyes. "It's just been so long, and I love you so much. I only want us to be together."

"I know, Victoria. It has taken longer than I had expected, to either get rid of the Alcalde or for him to reform. I apologize for ever giving you a reason to doubt me or my love. I love you too. How can I make you certain of it?"

"Unmask for me. Right now."

"Victoria, you know I can't…not until…"

Victoria sighed and looked down at her hands. "Not until your struggle is over. But when will it be over?"

Zorro looked down at his feet, not able to bear looking at her for a moment. "I don't know, Victoria. I wish I did, but I don't."

"Is there any other way we can be together? Why…why can't I marry the real you? Zorro and I can 'break up' and the real you and I can start a romance. Why wouldn't it work, Zorro?" Her eyes became hard and her expression serious. "Or don't you want to marry me?"

Zorro began to pace in front of her. "It's not because I don't want to marry you. I only want to protect you from any danger. If you were married to me, and I was arrested…I'm afraid you'd be arrested as well. Or if someone should discover who I am under the mask, they'd also take revenge on you and my family."

"But I'm already linked to you, Zorro. Married or not, everyone knows we're together. Perhaps I'd be safer if we were married." Grabbing his hand, Victoria said, "The Alcalde would stop harassing me to get to you, no one would link me to you, unless…unless you were unmasked. But only then, Zorro." Searching his eyes, Victoria tried to put all the persuasion she could in her look. "Will you at least consider it? Please…for me, for us?"

Zorro sighed. He didn't know what to think, but she did have a good point. Being married to Diego, she would be safer, in most circumstances. Perhaps she'd spend most of the time at the hacienda, out of the Alcalde's sight. One benefit of their marriage would certainly be the end of the Alcalde using her as bait for him every time he turned around. Well, besides the obvious other benefits, of course.

Giving her a kiss, Zorro pulled away and caressed her cheek. "All right, I will think about it tonight. I should be back tomorrow night with my answer."

~~Z~~Z~~Z~~

Diego thought of Victoria's words all the way back to the hacienda. She did make quite a few good arguments supporting their getting married. He lost himself for a moment in the pleasant thought of making her his…until he realized something. He stopped Toronado and sat in disbelief. How could he forget his number one fear of unmasking in front of her? He knew she loved Zorro, but could she also love Diego? There were those times when she appeared jealous of other women's attention to him, but there were also times when she treated him more like a brother. He just didn't know.

Diego nudged Toronado, who again resumed his canter. Could he deny her marriage, when she had been waiting so patiently? And he really had no idea when his mission would end. But…did he really want to be married and still ride as Zorro? Could that be the reason not to get married until after justice was restored to the pueblo? But he wasn't getting any younger, and he wanted to give his father those grandbabies he was always talking about.

Before he knew it, Toronado had reached the hidden entrance of the cave. He triggered the opening, and they went in. Luckily Zorro had stopped his ruminations so he wouldn't hit his head on the cave. He was happy to see Felipe hadn't waited up for him. Diego had told him he was "only" going to see Victoria, so he wasn't expecting trouble. For once the boy believed him, so didn't stay up for Diego.

As he groomed Toronado and got him bedded down for the night, Diego again tried to explore his own, personal reasons which might exist for him to avoid marrying Victoria. It took some work, separating the fears regarding Zorro from any other reasons which might be interfering with him and Victoria getting married.

The years riding as Zorro had indeed isolated him from others. Yes, he did have Felipe to confide in, and sometimes the boy attempted to override his decisions. However, Felipe didn't really have the power to do so. However, once married, Victoria often would have the right, as per his own personal beliefs how a marriage should operate. The opinion that a woman be totally subservient in a marriage, didn't sit well with Diego. Thus, his attraction to Victoria Escalante, who definitely wouldn't often be subservient to anyone. Even to a husband. Even though it was too short, Diego had seen the partnership his parents had, his father listening to his mother on most, if not all, decisions regarding their lives, livelihood, or even with his own parenting. Diego knew he wanted no less than a marriage like that.

However, as he examined his feelings, Diego realized there was a part of him which was indeed afraid of giving up his independence. He never would have thought so, but he couldn't deny the evidence. He liked being on his own, and deciding his own life. But who didn't? But marriage certainly had its benefits...and not only having Victoria in his bed every night and waking up to her beautiful smile each day. Victoria would be an excellent addition to his life…to the running of the hacienda and the ranch, as well as the suggestions she could make for Zorro and his mission.

Diego rubbed his temples. He decided he'd consider all of this again tomorrow morning, after a decent night's rest. Most likely he will visit Victoria and give her an answer, but…he will decide that tomorrow. He headed for his bedroom and hopefully a restful sleep.

AN: Has there been any stories to really explore why Diego hadn't proposed marriage? Oh yeah, mostly because he was afraid she'd deny Diego. But what if there were other reasons besides that one and worry about endangering Victoria? If you are feeling kind, please let me know what you think of this. Always, always appreciated. Thanks for reading!