Sacrifices
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
"Zorro, I need to talk to you," Victoria whispered as Zorro kissed her hand after he had made a fool of the alcalde and his soldiers again.
"Victoria, is something wrong?" Zorro looked at her surprised, but she didn't say more. There wasn't time to talk as the alcalde was about to gather the soldiers in a new attempt to capture him. Zorro whistled for Toronado and rode out of the pueblo before the soldiers could try a shot.
Z Z Z
In the evening he quietly slipped into the kitchen to find Victoria waiting for him.
"Zorro, you have come. I wasn't sure you would have time," she said nervously.
"You asked me to come, and here I am! What do you want to talk about?" Concerned, he noticed that Victoria kept a distance between them and hadn't rushed into his arms as she used to.
"I wanted to give you this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her engagement ring. "Please, take it back." She held out the ring to him, and when he opened his gloved hand she dropped it into his palm.
"Why? Why now, Victoria?" Aghast, he looked at her. "Don't you love me anymore?"
"I still love you, Zorro, but I can't bear it anymore. Please, you must understand me." Victoria had tears in her eyes.
"What can't you bear anymore?" Puzzled, he reached for her with his outstretched hand, but she wouldn't come closer.
"The waiting, thinking of you every night... I never know when I will see you again, or if I will see you again," she cried openly now and offered no resistance when he drew her into his arms.
"Querida, mi amor, I know this is hard for you. I should take better care of you. I will try to see you more often."
With her hand she wiped the tears from her face. "No, Zorro," she shook her head, "that won't change anything. You will still be Zorro, and even if you try your best, I will never know if you will be alive the next day or lying dead somewhere, shot by a soldier or bandit. You may not be able to keep your promise to me."
"Querida, you know I'm careful, and I have always returned to you."
Victoria shook her head again. "It's not enough, Zorro. I just can't stand it any longer. Each night I lie awake in my bed, and I think of you. I imagine you roaming the area by night, and I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid one of the bandits will be lucky and shoot you, and I will never see you again. In the morning I wait for news and hope that nothing has happened to you."
"I never knew that you were so concerned about me, Victoria." He softly placed a kiss on her hair. "You don't need to worry so much."
"I can't help it, Zorro, and I know that it will never end. As long as you ride as Zorro I won't stop worrying." She released herself from his embrace and took a step backward. "I can't go on like this, Zorro. Please, try to understand me."
"I understand you, Victoria. What do you want me to do?" Staring at the ring in his hand, he raised his eyes back to her face.
Victoria wiped another tear from her face and shook her head. "There's nothing you can do, Zorro. I cannot ask you to give up Zorro for me and let the poor suffer because of me. And nobody knows if the oppression will ever end and Zorro will no longer be needed."
"Then I can't change your mind?"
"No, Zorro. It's too late. I can't live like this any longer. I want a husband and a family, and I don't want to worry day and night anymore. I realized that you won't be able to give me what I need. As long as there is Zorro, there won't be a future for us."
"I could unmask, and you could marry me. Victoria, please, don't leave me."
"Do you know how long I have been waiting for you to say that? How I have been longing to see your face without the mask?"
Zorro reached behind his head to untie the knot of the mask, but Victoria stopped him. "No, leave it on, Zorro. It won't change a thing. You'd still be Zorro. Keep your precious secret and go."
"Victoria, please. I love you, and I need you."
"If you love me, you'll set me free." She rose on her toes and kissed him on the cheek below the mask. "Goodbye, Zorro."
With tears glittering in his eyes, he drew her into his arms again. Knowing it would be the last time, he kissed her passionately with all the love in his heart. She wanted to break apart, but he deepened the kiss until they were both breathless. Staring at her silently, he tenderly ran his thumb across her cheek. "Goodbye, Victoria." His head bowed, he turned around and vanished through the curtain.
With a heavy heart Victoria heard him ride away, and the soldiers sounding the alarm. It had been the right thing to do, hadn't it? Now she was free again, and she would be happy without Zorro, wouldn't she? Trying to persuade herself of her decision, she continued to work in the kitchen and in the tavern, so she wouldn't have to go to bed where nothing would keep her from thinking and dreaming of a tall, black clad man with blue eyes.
Z Z Z
It was shortly after dawn when she rose up from bed with bleary eyes from lack of sleep to look outside for the commotion that had woken her. Zorro was riding up to the cuartel where Mendoza stared at him sleepily.
"Sergeant Mendoza, I have a gift for you." Zorro pointed at the two horses in his tow that each carried two men riding backwards. The men were tied to the horses and glared angrily at Zorro.
"If you compare the wanted posters with these men, you'll find that there is a reward of 500 pesos for each of them."
"Thank you, Zorro," Mendoza grinned, showing no intention to sound the alarm, instead he ordered his men to lead the horses with the bandits away.
Victoria noticed that Zorro looked tired and had probably not slept either, chasing bandits all night. He was about to leave, but stopped at her sight. She took a step back and shook her head when he urged Toronado closer to her. Understanding the message, he didn't address her as he used to, but turned Toronado around fleeing the pueblo.
"Is something wrong, Señorita?" Mendoza asked her, surprised. "This is the first time Zorro didn't greet you."
"There is nothing more between Zorro and me, Mendoza. We have split up," Victoria explained, trying to sound neutral.
"But why? He loves you very much, and I thought you loved him too?"
"I'll tell you, though it's none of your business, Mendoza. I'm tired of waiting for him. I want a real husband and not a hero who never has time for me!"
"I understand that, Señorita, but still I feel sorry for him. Zorro is my friend, and I want him to be happy."
Z Z Z
"Have you heard, Diego?" Alejandro entered the hacienda, agitated.
"Heard what?" Diego tried to concentrate, but he hadn't slept all night. After the meeting with Victoria he had been dumb with pain, and he had tried to numb it by chasing bandits all night. When he had delivered them in Mendoza's custody, he had hoped to talk with Victoria again to change her mind, but she had made it clear that she no longer wanted to be with him. He had lost her. Tired as he was after spending the night in the saddle, he couldn't find any sleep when he finally returned to bed.
"Victoria has split up with Zorro! It's all over the pueblo. Mendoza was present when they met this morning."
"Did she really? What a surprise, Father. I always thought she loved Zorro so much."
"We all thought that. But Victoria is tired of waiting, and I can understand that. Zorro can never be a good husband."
"Did Victoria say what she wants to do now?" Diego asked with feigned indifference.
"I don't know. She'll probably want to marry sooner or later. Maybe the matchmaker will get another chance. But you'll never know with women. And you should get married too, Diego. You look terrible today. A woman will keep you from reading late and set your mind on other things."
Alejandro grinned, teasingly.
"Father, please." To be nagged about marriage was the last thing he needed now when he had just lost the woman he loved. Marriage was even less probable than ever since the day he had become Zorro. Frustrated, he threw his book on the table, for once not caring if it became damaged or not. "Excuse me, I have some business to attend to."
Surprised at this unusual display of temper, Alejandro watched his son head for his room.
Later in the cave, Felipe was the next one to address the topic.
"You want to know what happened?" Diego sat in his chair behind the desk after he had finished Zorro's journal with the events of the day. Felipe nodded.
"Victoria doesn't want to wait for Zorro any longer. She has realized that Zorro may never be able to fulfill his promise, and she wants to go on with her life."
"What will you do now?" Felipe signed.
"There is nothing I can do, Felipe," Diego suppressed his tears. "I tried to change her mind, but it was in vain. Will you leave me alone please?"
Felipe patted him sympathetically on the shoulder before he left the cave.
Z Z Z
