A/N - Since everyone has been so nice, I'm posting 2 chapters together.

Chapter 10

de Soto sat in his office staring despondently at the official correspondence from the Viceroy in Mexico City; what he had feared had finally come true. Mexico had declared independence from Spain and was now claiming all of California for their new republic and he had been ordered to leave Los Angeles and return to Spain by the end of the month or risk being arrested as a foreign agent. He had no choice but to obey and yet it grated on his pride to be thrown out in such a fashion, especially when he was no closer to capturing or killing his enemy.

Now he had just under a month to complete his task that he had been sent to do but he had no idea of how to do that; every scheme, every trap he had set over the last two years had failed, although he had come close on a number of occasions but his nemesis always escaped. He didn't want to admit it but he felt beaten by the masked man; the years in the dusty pueblo had taken its toll on him both mentally and physically. He only wanted two things; to capture Zorro and see him hang and to return home to Madrid.

He heard a ruckus outside and he rose to his feet and opened his door and saw the woman from the tavern calling out.

"What is going on Senorita?" he said as he stepped out.

Pilar turned and faced him. "One of the patrons didn't pay for his meal and now he's stealing from the mission poor box." she said in an agitated manner.

de Soto frowned. "Stealing from the poor box, how low can a man go?" he muttered to himself. "Mendoza!" he called out as he quickly strode in the direction of the mission while Mendoza scrambled behind him.

There was a short lived fight with the stranger before he was quickly arrested and as he was escorted to the cuartel cells, de Soto stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Mendoza, are the gallows still functioning?" he asked.

Mendoza nodded. "Yes Alcalde." he replied but then he stared at his leader. "Surely you don't mean to...hang him?" he said anxiously; he hated that part of his duty.

de Soto nodded curtly. "He is a thief, Sergeant and he has to pay for his crime." he replied. "He will hang in one hour." he said as he stepped into his office and closed the door behind him.

Don Alejandro arrived home from getting supplies from the pueblo and as he opened the front door, he heard gentle laughter and wrong notes being played on the grand piano. He walked quietly to the doorway and stood watching his son give his daughter-in-law another lesson with a smile on his face.

"You're getting better Victoria." he said as he came further inside. "In no time at all, you'll be outplaying Diego." he complimented.

They both turned around to face him. "Thank you father but I don't know about that, he's too good." she replied with a smile. "But I do love playing."

Diego noticed that there was something bothering his father. "Was there any trouble getting the supplies father?"

Don Alejandro sighed. "There was some trouble at the tavern..." he paused and held up his hand. "Pilar is alright Victoria, in fact she actually helped to stop a thief from robbing the poor box. Apparently the thief had not paid for his meal and when she went to find him, she saw him trying to open the mission box and she rushed over to ther cuartel to get the lancers and for once they actually did their job and arrested the poor man."

Victoria shook her head. "It's a sad day when someone has to steal from the poor box." she said.

"Indeed it is. What is the Alcalde going to do with him?" Diego asked, wondering if Zorro would have to ride out to save this man from the extreme punishment that de Soto usually handed out to such minor crimes.

Don Alejandro's anger rose. "He's going to hang the poor wretch in under an hour, can you believe it." he said heatedly.

Diego shook his head. "I'll believe it, de Soto is the type of man who would hang his own grandmother." he replied. He knew that he could not allow this man to hang and he wondered how he was going to get to the cave with his wife in the same room unless he went the long way around, through the cave entrance.

"Why would he hang a man for such a minor thing, there couldn't have been more than a few centavos in the box." Victoria said with a frown.

Don Alejandro gazed at his son. "There's only one reason." he said quietly.

Diego held his father's eyes and it seemed that the older man was trying to tell him something. "Zorro." he uttered.

Don Alejandro nodded. "Yes."

Victoria watched the almost silent exchange between father and son and wondered at it. "It's a trap for him." she said, unable to keep the worry from her voice.

Diego frowned at hearing her concern for his other self. "I'm sure that Zorro can take care of himself." he said resentfully before he could stop himself.

She bristled at his tone. "Yes, he can take care of himself." she replied stiffly.

Don Alejandro didn't want them to argue, not now when things were changing between them. "Yes, well Zorro will do what he has to, including saving this stranger from the gallows. Now I also picked up the mail while I was in the pueblo, there was only one letter and it's for you my dear." he said as he reached into his jacket and pulled out the envelope and handed it over to her.

"Gracias, oh it's from Ramon." she said with a warm smile on her face.

"Why don't you read it out in the garden, it's a lovely afternoon." Don Alejandro suggested.

She nodded. "Yes, I think I will." she replied with an annoyed look at her husband before she turned and left the room.

Don Alejandro turned to his son. "Try not to let her feelings for Zorro upset you Diego."

Diego sighed and shook his head. "It's hard father." he admitted.

The older man placed his hand on Diego's shoulder in support. "Are you still certain that it's wise not to tell her how you feel?" he asked carefully.

Diego nodded. "Yes, I still believe it's the right thing to do." he replied.

Don Alejandro shook his head. "You're stronger than I am. I couldn't do it. Now, I have some paperwork to do and I'm sure that you will find something to occupy yourself." he said with some amusement in his voice before he gave Diego's shoulder a quick squeeze and let the room.

Diego watched his father leave with a frown on his face; what had his father meant by that, he wondered before he turned and moved towards the fireplace and pressed the hidden latch. As he stepped through the passageway, he realised that his father had made it easy for him to enter the cave by suggesting Victoria read her letter in the garden, while he himself went to his private rooms to do paperwork when it wasn't really necessary for him to do so; he often did the paperwork in the library.

He shook his head as he changed into Zorro's black clothes; he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by his father's strange behaviour, he needed his full attention on the task at hand.

de Soto was cleaning his pistol in his office when he heard a swish behind him; a sound that he had become used to over the years. "Welcome Zorro, what can I do for you?" he asked as he looked up to face his nemesis.

Zorro was instantly on high alert; the more polite de Soto was, the more dangerous he was. "Buenos dias Alcalde." he replied with a large grin as he bowed his head. "I think you know what I want."

de Soto shook his head. "The man was caught in the act of stealing and not even you can condone that. He must be punished."

"That's true Alcalde but hanging a man for taking only a few centavos is rather excessive even for you." Zorro replied easily.

de Soto was careful to keep his hands visible. "What do you suggest then?"

Zorro's eyebrows rose under his mask, he was surprised by the other man's tactics; just what was he up to. "I have spoken with Father Benitez and he is very forgiving of the stranger and in fact the good padre is willing to give him a job at the mission, so that he doesn't have to resort to stealing."

de Soto snorted. "A man steals from the church poor box and the priest offers him a job! What on earth is this world coming to?" he paused as he gazed at the man before him. "So Zorro, did the priest tell you to forgive de la Vega for stealing your woman?" he sneered. "Did she get tired of you and bedded the first man she came across? Not that I would call de la Vega a man, perhaps she just wanted his money."

Zorro tightened his grip on his sword hilt and narrowed his eyes. "Don't speak of Doña Victoria in such terms, de Soto." he replied coldly.

de Soto grinned wickedly; threatening the wench always made the bandit angry. "Truth hurts doesn't it Zorro? Or perhaps she is still your woman, eh. Still having her while her weakling husband's back is turned." he leered, hoping to get a reaction from the man standing in front of him.

Zorro saw a haze of red and black before his eyes at the terrible insult and he whipped out his sword at the same time as de Soto raised a pistol that he had been hiding on his lap. "I assure you, Zorro, this pistol is loaded." he said triumphantly as he cocked the pistol. "What do you say is faster, a bullet to your heart or your sword at my throat? MENDOZA." he yelled.

Zorro forced his fury away and put all his attention on the pistol that was directed at him. It wasn't the first time that de Soto had drawn on him but this time the pistol had not been tampered with. "Shall we test your theory de Soto?" he said cockily.

de Soto chuckled. "I've always liked your style, Zorro." he replied as Mendoza entered the office.

"Yes, Alcalde...Zorro! What are you doing here?" he said as he saw the bandit.

"He is under arrest, Sergeant. Take him to the cells." de Soto ordered, feeling very pleased with himself. "I think we'll hang him first." He would leave within a month and he would return to Madrid, a hero.

Zorro knew that de Soto was feeling very proud of himself and in doing so, he had forgotten to tell Mendoza to disarm him. "Pride goes before a fall." he said as whipped around, shoved the good sergeant out of the way just as de Soto fired the pistol, missing both men by inches.

"Damn." de Soto muttered in disgust; he had missed again and before he could pick up the pistol he had been cleaning, he found the edge of Zorro's blade against his throat.

"Don't even bother with the pistol, de Soto, you could not get it loaded in time." Zorro said quietly. "Now I want you to punish this man according to his crime. He can spend the night in the cells and then you will release him into the care of Father Benitez. If I discover that you have executed him, then you will be the next one to swing on the gallows. Do I make myself clear Alcalde." he said with cold fury as he pushed the blade further against his skin but not enough to pierce it.

de Soto swallowed hard as he stared into Zorro's cold eyes. "Very well Zorro." he replied softly.

"I'm sorry Alcalde, I don't think Mendoza heard you." Zorro said as he pushed once more.

de Soto frowned. "Do as he says, Sergeant, keep the stranger in the cells for the night and then hand him over to the priest in the morning."

Mendoza felt a sense of relief that he didn't have to execute a man for stealing only a handful of centavos. "Yes, Alcalde." he replied.

Zorro grinned. "Excellent Alcalde." he said as he removed his sword from the other man's throat and then he punched him hard on the chin and knocked him out. "That's for what you said about Victoria." he fumed as he then proceeded to slash a very large Z on both sides of his pristine jacket. Then he turned to face Mendoza who held up his hands.

"Please Zorro, no more Z's. I don't have any more uniforms left." he pleaded.

Zorro took pity on the good Sergeant and smiled. "Just make sure that the stranger goes to the padre in the morning."

Mendoza nodded eagerly. "Of course Zorro, I will personally see to it myself."

"Good, good. Adios Sergeant." he said before he rushed out the door and let out a shrill whistle and seconds later Toronado trotted up to his master who then leapt into the saddle and galloped away.

After dinner that evening, where they had discussed amongst other things, Zorro's latest action against de Soto and the good padre's solution with no temper outbursts from either Victoria or Diego; in fact the two of them had been taking great pains not to cause offence and were actually teasing each other across the table.

And their friendly banter continued when they moved from the sala to the library where Don Alejandro was playing a game of chess with Felipe while Diego sat reading a new book that he had recently received and Victoria was teaching herself how to cross stitch; it had been something that her mother had once taught her as a young girl but the demands of running a tavern were to great to take it up, until now. She was practising on a small but old table cloth and she was pleased by her progress as she slowly stitched a somewhat uneven border around the cloth.

They were chatting about school days and romance. "So Victoria, did you have a crush on anyone at school?" Don Alejandro asked after he sacrificed one of his pawns to the greater good of the game.

"Well, as a matter of fact I did." she replied as she threaded the needle with some more thread and from the corner of her eye, she saw Diego move slightly in his chair by the fireplace.

She glanced at Don Alejandro who winked at her. "So, are you going to tell us who had captured your heart?" he asked casually as he turned his gaze back to the chess board.

"Well, you wouldn't believe it, if I told you." she replied with a knowing smile tugging on her lips.

Don Alejandro lowered his voice a little but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "You can tell me. Surely it wasn't...?" he stopped as he looked up in time to see Diego shift again on his seat.

Felipe grinned as he made his move on the chessboard; he knew that they were both teasing Diego and he was enjoying every minute of it; it wasn't often that he saw him squirm.

Diego had been reading his book in relative peace but as he finished a chapter, he overheard his father asking Victoria if she ever had a crush on someone and as much as he wanted to continue reading, he found that he couldn't; he wanted to know the answer himself.

"Well, he was really handsome, tall and he was a little older then me. It was Diego..." Victoria paused as she saw Diego sat straighter in his chair, then continued with a large grin on her face. "Montera."

Diego huffed as he fell into the trap they had both set for him. "Montera, that popinjay, you can't be serious!" he muttered.

Both Don Alejandro and Victoria chuckled while Felipe grinned.

"If you don't mind, I am trying to read." Diego said in annoyance.

"Oh Diego, my son, that will teach you for eavesdropping." Don Alejandro chuckled as he shook his head.

"Just for that, you have to tell us if you had a crush on someone when you were younger." Victoria said.

Diego sighed again; he had been waiting to read this book for some time and it looked like he was going to have to wait even longer. "Well there was one girl I did like." he said as he remembered a certain raven haired girl who had stolen his heart all those years ago and had never given it back.

"Who was she?" she asked curiously.

Diego grinned as shook his head and picked up his book once more. "I don't think I will tell you."

"What, you have too." she demanded.

Diego shook his head again. "No."

She frowned as she realised that he wasn't going to tell her and she turned to her father-in-law. "Father, please make your son tell us." she pleaded.

Don Alejandro hid his smile. "I haven't been able to make my son do anything since he came back from Madrid." He replied with a gleam in his eyes. Their gentle banter warmed his heart. He was pleased by the light flirtation that had been creeping into their conversations and he couldn't help but notice that Victoria's feelings towards his son was changing; that she was starting to fall in love with him. His son had been right not to tell her about his feelings at the time of their marriage; she needed the time to grieve Zorro, as it were and now it seems that she was responding to him.

Victoria huffed, then turned back to her smiling husband. "Tell us Diego or..."

"Or what?" He replied; enjoying himself now that the tables were turned.

"Or I'll...I'll...You will have to pay for your next meal at the tavern." she said, unable to think of anything else to threaten him with.

Diego laughed. "I believe I have some coins on me right now." he replied as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a couple of coins and placed it on the small table beside him.

"Oh why you..." she huffed again and went back to her sewing, while father and son exchanged an amused glance over her bent head.