The Characters in the following story belong to the creators of Zorro. Enjoy and Happy reading.

Secretly Discovered

Victoria lay in Zorro's arms, and gazed up at the bright stars of the night sky. "Thank you for spending New Year's with me, I know how much of a risk you took to get here, but it really does mean a lot to me to have you all to myself." Victoria said softly as she slowly turned to look at her masked love in the eyes lovingly.

Zorro grinned and pulled her closer to him, "It means a lot to me as well, and I would risk more than you know just to be with you on this special night." He gently kissed her forehead and pulled her even closer until there was just about an inch between them. "I would love very much to spend every night with you, so can I show you just how much I love you." Zorro said quietly.

Victoria looked at him, and the sweet smile that is only for him showed brightly on her face. "I have dreamt of that day for so long, and I hope soon we can, but I know the risk is too high for that to come tonight or anytime in the near future." Victoria replied sadly.

"Someday we will be together night and day without this mask between us." Zorro replied with a slightly sad smile and touched his mask.

"Oh, I do hope it comes very soon, I have had dreams about our future family." Her sad smile softened up into a hopeful smile.

"I hope to grant you that family in the many years to come." He kissed her lips softly and continued. "We have a bright future ahead, and new changes will make life so much easier for the people of Los Angeles. Then you shall have your wish and dream come true. But until then we need to be very careful with our relationship." Zorro kissed her once more softly on the lips, but this kiss meant more was in store than just gazing at the bright stars of the clear night sky. Victoria melted into the kiss, and they made there way up to her private room to finish expressing their deep true love they felt for each other.

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Victoria woke up when the early morning sun peeked through her window. When she reached over to find her masked love next to her, she only found a note and rose on his pillow. She slowly read the note, and smelled the red rose quietly to herself.

Victoria,

"Good morning my love. I wanted to be lying next to you when you awoke, but you know how the Alcalde likes to cause trouble, and I was called away from your side before the sun rose in the sky. Please remember what I said last night, and know that I meant each and every word, and promise that was spoken. I will see you very soon, and understand that I will protect you always and forever.

Your masked Love,

Zorro

She read through the note a few more times as she smelled the rich scent of the red rose that represented his devotion and true love held in his own heart for her. When she noticed the time, she quickly dressed, and went down to prepare for her busy day.

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About midday, her friend Diego came in for lunch. "Happy New Year Victoria." He said with a friendly smile and sat down at his favorite table.

"Happy New Year Diego," She replied as she walked up to his table to take his lunch order. She stopped and was about ask him what he would like for lunch, but their was something different about him today. He was smiling brighter, and he had more pep in his step than usual. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and Diego quickly looked away when he noticed she was studying him closely.

"How was your New Year's?" He asked to break her stare.

"It was wonderful and quiet. I went to bed early, and woke up ready for a fresh year." She replied and continued to stare at him with a curious expression on her face. Diego glanced at the table quickly before looking back up at her. She was still staring at him, and he squirmed in his seat a bit pretending to adjust his chair. She shook her head as if to clear a thought, and asked, "What did you do for New Year's?"

Diego thought for a quick second or two and replied, " I was enjoying a new book I ordered from Spain," He chanced a glance up into her eyes.

"That sounds very interesting, maybe you can tell me about it when I have more time." She shook her head again to shake a suspicious thought. "What would you like for lunch?" She asked, and wrote his order down quickly on her note pad. As she walked back to the kitchen, she glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Diego was watching her with a very familiar grin on his face. He quickly looked away when he noticed she was looking over her shoulder at him.

While preparing his lunch, she made the comparisons between her masked love and her friend Diego. "That's not possible, they are so different, and Zorro is so much more of a romantic. Diego is too busy with his books, and whatever else he does with his time." She told herself as she put lunch plates onto serving trays. She called for her helper to deliver the plates to each table, and she went out the back door to collect her thoughts. When she came back into the dinning area a few minutes later, Diego was gone, and his plate was half empty. She asked her helper about Diego, and she replied, "He left in a hurry after Felipe came in to tell him something quietly and quickly with his sign language."

Just as she was about to thank her helper, she heard a commotion outside. Everyone rushed to the front porch to see what was happening. Victoria pushed her way through the crowd, and was just able to see Zorro and the Alcalde's men in a heated sword fight. When the fight was over and Zorro rode off with out a glance back to the tavern, the crowd went back to their meals. About an hour later Diego returned, "Sorry I had to rush out so quickly, my father needed my help." He said when Victoria put a fresh plate of lunch down in front of him.

"I understand Diego, and I do hope you get to enjoy your lunch before something else pulls you away before cleaning your plate." She smiled, and winked at him before she walked over to help a few more customers. Diego ate his lunch, but a scary thought kept running through his head.

As he rode back to his father's Hacienda, he thought about many things, but mostly of his conversation with Victoria. " I need to be more careful when I am around Victoria. If she has figured out my secret, we could both be in a lot more trouble than even I could handle." He told himself as he rode quickly.

Victoria went to bed that night dreaming about her future family, but this time her love was unmasked, and Diego smiled down at her as she covered up the sleeping baby in the crib. "Your secret is safe with me Diego. I Love You!"