Disclaimer: Characters owned by ZPI. I just own the original ideas. No copyright infringement meant with story. I only want to play with the characters for a while, because I miss them. A lot.
AN: I apologize for the length of time it took to get this out. This part kinda intimidated me, so I guess the Muse ran away. Sigh. Only way to work through it is to work through it, ha. And….I do apologize for the suddenness of this, but it is the final chapter. Hope you enjoy!
Previously:
The aide stated, "You now will be dismissed. Alcalde Ramone, you will return to the jail cell and wait for our decision."
"Your decision?"
"Regarding both you and Don de la Vega." He paused then continued, "Dismissed."
As he was led away, the Alcalde threw yet another look of disgust at Don Diego as he walked by. Several of the soldiers guided the townspeople out of the tavern, while Victoria guided the Emissary and his aide to her private quarters in the back of the tavern. She hurried back to the main room. She was uncertain as to how the proceedings went. Victoria hurried over to Diego's side and threaded her arm into his, as though she wanted to gather strength from him. Diego looked down at her and smiled. "See, it wasn't so bad."
"You can't be serious, Diego. We don't know what they will decide."
Diego shrugged. "I know. We tried our best, and now all we can do is wait and see."
~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~
After an hour, the Emissary's aide exited the private quarters and found Victoria waiting with the de la Vegas in the dining room. "The Emissary has reached a decision. Ask everyone to reconvene now."
Victoria exchanged glances with Diego, who gave her an encouraging smile, and Don Alejandro, who winked at her. Felipe rose, and signed he would go to the jail and inform the soldiers to bring Ramon back.
After everyone had gathered, Victoria went to the back room and knocked on the door. The Emissary emerged, with his aide following, and regally entered the dining room. A silence settled upon the crowd as the Emissary reclaimed the seat in the front of the room. He looked out at the crowd, cleared his throat, and began.
"I have reviewed the evidence in both cases, the charges against Alcalde Luis Ramon and those against Don Diego de la Vega. I will address each case separately.
"First, the case against Don de la Vega. Even though the evidence looks damning, I find there isn't enough evidence to call for a further investigation." As the Alcalde was about to jump up, the Emissary shot him a glance. "Ramon, remember, you have been warned. Or should I just remove you from the courtroom right now?"
"No, your Honor, I will be quiet."
"I believe your conclusions regarding de la Vega, Ramon, have been influenced by your questionable morals and practices, as well as your personal prejudices against the de la Vegas. You sir, are a disgrace to all government officials. You have taken advantage of your position for your personal good. You allowed your hatred of one man to color your perceptions and observations. For whatever reason, the individual known as Zorro decided yesterday to use de la Vega as a ploy to distract you." The Emissary paused and again raised his hand as Ramon was about to interrupt. "You will have the opportunity to refute my findings in a moment, Ramon. Please allow me to finish, however."
Luis nodded, biting his lower lip, and waited for the Emissary to continue.
"The de la Vegas are a distinguished family, well known for their law-abiding nature, as well as their allegiance to the King. To suggest a member of said family would go against either government or King is preposterous."
"As for the other allegations, such as eye color, height, and the fact that Diego always avoids being in the same place as Zorro, I consider these to be only circumstantial."
"I thought you were going to allow me to speak?" Ramon asked, escaping the hands of his guard and jumped to his feet.
Sighing, the Emissary shook his head. "All right, Senor Ramon, but be warned."
"With all due respect, Your Excellency, I fail to understand how you cannot see Diego de la Vega as Zorro. He's no imposter. I caught him red handed."
"I'm sorry, Senor Ramon, but I have already said why I believe that just because you unmasked him, Diego de la Vega is not the criminal known as Zorro." The Emissary took a moment, gathered the papers in front of him and straightened them. "I will not waste any more time on such preposterous allegations. I hereby dismiss all charges against Don Diego de la Vega."
Chaos erupted in the courtroom as the townspeople leapt up and began to pound each other on the back, or give each other handshakes or hugs. The Emissary's aide waited for a minute then attempted to regain order. The de la Vegas also stood up, and with their help, the room fell into silence once again.
"I understand the enthusiasm, but I request we see no further demonstrations. From anyone." The Emissary glared at the crowd, and many of the individuals nodded as they waited for him to continue.
"Regarding the matter of the man known as Zorro. I have also reviewed all the evidence calling for the arrest of this man. I believe with the removal of Alcalde Ramon, there will no longer be a need for this man Zorro. I thereby drop all charges against him as well, and remove the bounty off of his head."
Pausing, the Emissary allowed his audience to consider what he had said. He then continued. "On the other hand, Ramon, the evidence against you is quite extensive. Thus, you are hereby arrested for crimes against the King, and thus will be brought to Spain to face charges." He quickly looked out amongst the townspeople, and the uproar that threatened to begin quickly died.
"I therefore appoint Don Alejandro de la Vega as the new Alcalde of this pueblo. I trust you are able to begin your office at this time, Don Alejandro?" the Emissary asked the older man.
"Yes, I can. Thank you, Your Excellency. I am honored."
"We shall take our leave at this time, to get to the coast. We will then board the ship to Spain tomorrow. My soldiers will now take Senor Ramon into custody."
Several soldiers approached Ramon, and led him out of the tavern. The Emissary and his aide followed with the rest of his contingency. As soon as the group left, the tavern erupted once more in jubilation.
Victoria leaped to her feet and rushed to Diego. As he hugged her Diego whispered, "It truly is over."
Breaking the embrace Victoria leaned back to look into Diego's eyes. "Yes, it is. In your father, this pueblo will finally have the honest Alcalde it deserves."
Mendoza approached the de la Vegas in an unusually timid fashion. Don Diego noticed him and grabbed him into the circle, bestowing upon him a hug. "I wish to thank you again, Mendoza, for your assistance in my rescue. We couldn't have done it without you."
A slight blush appeared, coloring Mendoza's face an uncharacteristic pink color. "It was nothing, Don Diego. It was the least I could do, for all you have done for us. I should have known, I should have seen."
"But then you would've been torn between your responsibility to your position and your friendship with my son," Don Alejandro said. "And besides, Mendoza, neither Victoria nor I knew or guessed either."
"I for one am so happy there's no longer any need for deception," Victoria said. She caught the fleeting expression crossing Diego's face and her heart fell. "What is it, Diego?"
"There is still the matter of possible enemies of Zorro mistakenly coming after me."
"No, Don Diego, I have already been checking with others, and we will all stand behind you. You are not Zorro; the Emissary said so." Mendoza said, adding a wink. "And anyone who says differently will certainly have many of us to contend with, as well as your father."
"Mendoza, did you make a joke?" Don Alejandro asked.
Mendoza had a moment of indecision, but was relieved to see a smile cross Don Alejandro's face. "But you're correct, Mendoza. No one will separate the de la Vegas," Don Alejandro said, gathering his son in a one-arm hug.
~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~Z~~
In the days following the trial and departure of the former Alcalde, the townspeople struggled in the new norm of their interactions with one Don Diego de la Vega. Not only did they have to learn to process their feelings about knowing he was the masked hero, they also couldn't believe the change that was slowly taking place in front of them. It didn't happen immediately, but Diego slowly changed into a mixture of Don Diego the mild-mannered young man they had known for years and the masked hero. As such, it did take some getting used to.
As a group, however, the pueblo was very happy to see the romance between Señorita Victoria and Don Diego finally exist in front of their eyes. Many had suspected they both had hidden feelings of attraction for each other, but neither acted on it. Zorro was always in between them.
Diego woke up each morning, unable to believe he no longer had to hide who he truly was. As such, he also had to figure out exactly who he was, after hiding much of his personality for years. And Victoria? She also had to not become unnerved whenever she witnessed parts of Zorro appearing through Diego. But how lucky could one woman be? Instead of having to decide which man she loved, she ended up with one man with aspects of both.
Diego and Victoria became accustomed to their new norm. Victoria threw herself into the planning of their wedding. Don Alejandro happily assisted her with contacting all of their relatives, and they appropriately set the date of the wedding to be in two months, so everyone could arrive for the blessed event. Diego attempted to dissuade his father, wanting desperately to marry his beloved as soon as possible. However, his father won the argument with the guilt of making him wait "so" long for this wedding, so that all the relatives needed to be there.
And even though no one would admit it, the wait was certainly worth it….the event was indeed the "event of the century". One which the pueblo continued to talk about for some time afterwards. As well as the legendary romance of Zorro and his senorita.
AN: Well, I'm not writing a wedding for this particular story. I got three other open stories I will have the opportunity to do so, ha. This story certainly took a few turns and twists I didn't expect, but that's what characters do to you. Maybe someday I will be able to find the box with the original draft of at least the first chapter of this story I wrote "almost 20 years ago"….and then I could see what I had planned. Or at least what I did after Diego was jailed (I can't remember what I had written after that point, back then. I do remember dragging him through the desert, though Ha.) Anyhoo thank you all for all your support, and glad you enjoyed the ride. Hope to see you again…I want to get writing on more stories…because Diego and Victoria deserve it!
