Chapter 10

Diego did not catch up with Victoria until he reached the tavern and luckily for him it was siesta; he didn't want an audience for what he wanted to say. He guided Esperanza to the rear of the building and knocked on the kitchen door.

He didn't hear anything and was about to knock again when she called out. "Tavern's closed."

"Victoria, it's me, Diego. Please let me in, I want to apologise to you." He replied.

There was a moment of silence before he heard the bolt pulled back and the door opened. "Come in Diego." She gave him a small smile; she was over her sudden fit of anger and she regretted yelling at him.

He saw her smile and it gave him some hope as he stepped hesitantly into her domain, unsure of himself once more.

She held back a sigh. "Oh Diego, do come inside and stop hovering in the doorway." She gently admonished him.

He had the good grace to be embarrassed and followed her through the curtains and into the main taproom where he watched her put away a tray of clean glasses under the bar.

There was a moment of awkwardness before he broke the silence. "Victoria, I'm sorry about my behaviour earlier. I guess I wasn't expecting you to know..."

She gave a delicate snort. "You guess!" she said, not letting him get away with yelling at her.

He sighed softly. "Okay, okay, I was NOT expecting this at all." he replied as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I had worked myself up to expect your anger, shock, hurt, distrust and everything else in between but not that, not your knowing. You were right; it was my place to tell you, not yours. Please forgive me Victoria." He said sincerely.

Her heart melted at his heartfelt apology; she knew she couldn't stay angry at him for long. "Of course you're forgiven Diego, as long as you forgive me too. I never really thought about how you would react and well, when you got angry, I guess my own temper rose. You know I can't always control it." she admitted as she smiled warmly at him.

He smiled. "Yes, I know about your temper." he paused as he considered her. "How did you find out?" he asked curiously.

"Do you remember when you went away to France for a holiday?" she asked him as she crossed over to the nearest table and sat down on a bench.

He frowned slightly as he sat opposite her. "But that was two, almost three years ago. You've known for that long?" he asked in disbelief.

She nodded with a small smile. "Yes, it was from that time." She confirmed. "I had some suspicions before then but I knew for sure when you went away."

"But how? What was it about my holiday that made you discover it?" he was highly curious now that his shock had worn off.

Victoria chuckled softly. "Diego, you were away for three months or so and in that time I didn't see Zorro at all. Although several people swore they saw him riding Toronado in the distance, he never came to see me privately in the tavern, nor did I see him in or around the pueblo. At first I was hurt because I thought he was ignoring me for some strange reason but I knew that Zorro wouldn't hurt me, not intentionally anyway. So I started to think why he wouldn't come and I finally realised that he wasn't visiting me because it WASN'T Zorro who was seen riding around. And if it wasn't Zorro then who was it? And more importantly where was Zorro? Where had he gone? And that lead me to you, Diego de la Vega, who had gone away to France at the same time that Zorro stopped coming to see me." She gazed at him intently. "I assume that it was Felipe who was riding Toronado while you were away."

Diego's eyes widened in surprise as he listened to the way she had discovered his secret; she had worked it all out, including the role that Felipe played. "Yes, it was Felipe. He was riding Toronado to exercise him and to make sure that people saw Zorro. The only thing I couldn't work out was you, I mean Zorro couldn't just tell you that he was going away, not at the same time as I was..."

She snorted. "Yes that would have been too obvious but I worked it out anyway."

He nodded with a wry smile. "I should have known that you would and I'm rather pleased and proud that you did. But I'm curious about one thing, as Zorro wasn't seen around the pueblo, how were you able to keep the secret? Surely people would have asked you where he was?"

She felt a slight flush rise over her cheeks as she nodded. "That's true, they were asking me questions and once I knew the truth, I had to do something to stop people from guessing. I had thought of telling them that I had broken up with Zorro but I couldn't because you weren't here to discuss it and it would have caused confusion when you came home. The only other thing I could think of was to...pretend...that Zorro visited me from time to time."

He choked. "What? You pretended...that...that...Zorro..." he stuttered in disbelief. "But how?"

Victoria's blush deepened. "Well.. I would go and pick some wildflowers during siesta, perhaps once or twice a week, and then I would put them on the bar or somewhere that everyone could see. I mean a man usually brings flowers when he comes to court his lady, doesn't he? And besides, many people have seen Zorro give me flowers before, so if they thought that they were from him, I wasn't going to tell them differently." she grinned. "I even thought of carving little z's around the cuartel but I was worried that someone might catch me."

Diego stared at her and then he roared with laughter as he reached out and held her hands in his. "Madre de dios, I would never have thought of doing that, you really are a match for the fox."

She was pleased that he understood. "There was also another reason why I knew, was when you or rather Zorro spoke French not long after you returned from France."

He sat up straight. "Zorro spoke French? When? What?" he asked confused.

"Do you remember when I stood for election as Alcalde..?" she paused as he nodded. "Well, it was market day and the lancers couldn't pay as they had not been paid and they were using paper credits..." she paused again.

Diego nodded. "I remember that day but I don't recall speaking French. What did I say?" he asked.

"You, Zorro, gave one of the merchants a coin and said Monsieur instead of Senor." she replied.

Both Diego's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "Did I really?" he asked, he didn't remember saying it.

Victoria grinned. "I almost died of shock there and then. I'm glad that no-one else noticed otherwise they would wonder how Zorro could speak a language that many others don't."

He chuckled as he shook his head. "And as everyone knew that I had recently returned from France, they might have connected me to Zorro."

She nodded. "Thank goodness they didn't."

For a moment they sat in silence, each with their thoughts when suddenly Diego pulled his hand away and stood up.

Victoria frowned at his sudden movement. "What's wrong?" she asked as she watched him move over to the empty fire place. "Diego?"

He was silent for a moment before he turned to face her with a frown on his face. "If you knew that I was Zorro, then why did you almost marry Juan Ortiz?" he asked with confusion in his voice.

Victoria felt a rush of guilt surge through her. "That was a mistake." She said quietly.

But Diego didn't accept that. "Whether it was a mistake or not isn't the issue. Why did you go ahead with it, knowing that I was Zorro, knowing how I felt about you, about how we both felt?"

She dropped her gaze to the floor; she could tell that he was becoming angry once more. "I...I...I don't really know." She rose and paced around the room as she tried to understand why she had done it. "I...I felt pushed into it." she finally said.

His frown deepened. "Pushed, by whom? By Juan, did he force himself on you?" he asked with some hostility in his voice.

She stopped her pacing and gave a small sigh. "Not in the way you mean. It's just he and others persuaded me that...that...Zorro..." she stopped and bit her lower lip.

"What about Zorro? Who were these others that made you go against your own feelings?" he asked as he tried to control his anger; it wasn't the time to have another argument.

Victoria sighed. "Well first it was Doña Maria..."

Diego snorted. "That interfering woman. I remember that she was pestering you to marry."

She nodded. "I knew that some day I would marry and have children but it wasn't until Pedro's and Benita's wedding, that I realised just how much I longed for a family of my own but the padre told me that I shouldn't look at you, Zorro, for a husband, he said that being Zorro was a special calling and that you wouldn't have the time to be a husband and father..."

Diego frowned at that comment but didn't interrupt her.

"...and then Doña Maria started bringing those men in. And then Juan asked me to marry him, he offered security..." she paused as she twisted the material of her skirt in agitation. "Oh Diego, I don't really know why I accepted Juan's proposal when I knew you were Zorro. I had no time to think, everyone was telling me to get married. Perhaps I was worried that we would never get together and I knew deep in my heart that it was wrong and I didn't realise that until the very end and I almost ruined everything." she said as hot tears of regret burned her eyes.

Diego's anger faded away and he pulled her into his strong arms. "It's alright querida. In some ways, it was my fault as well. I took you for granted, believing that you would always be there for me. I never really stopped and thought what this was doing to you." He held her close.

For a moment they simply held each other, taking and giving comfort from the other.

He gave a soft sigh of regret. "I wish that I had told you long ago." he said as he planted a soft kiss to her hair.

Victoria smiled to herself as she rested her head against his broad chest. "Well, in a way you did, you kept dropping hints to me. I think you wanted me to find out."

He gave a soft chuckle. "Yes I did. The most obvious one was the day after we spent the night in the old windmill and I misquoted the poem to you.

She pulled back to look at him. "You know, I was very startled when you, Zorro misquoted that line. I couldn't believe just how open you were about it and I couldn't stop staring as you rode away. I knew then that you were becoming very serious about us, about wanting us to be together."

Diego nodded. "The years were passing and I wanted it to end." he paused as he remembered something she had said. "You mentioned earlier that you had dropped hints to me?"

Victoria smiled warmly. "That's right, you weren't the only one that wanted it to end. It was also that night in the windmill when I asked you if there was anything you wanted more than anything else..."

He sighed and shook his head. "I knew it was a perfect opportunity to tell you but what else?" he asked curiously.

"When you proposed to me. Why do you think I tried so hard to persuade you to remove your mask? I couldn't come out and tell you that I knew, I wanted you to do it. So I pushed you as much as I dared and if those bandits hadn't been there..."

"I would have removed my mask for you." he confirmed softly.

She smiled warmly. "I know. And then later in the tavern when you were asking me about why I looked so happy and I asked you if you could keep a secret and you said that you could..."

Diego nodded again. "And you replied that you could keep a secret yourself..." he stopped as he realised what she had been trying to tell him that day. "You meant that you could keep secrets, my secret?" he replied in a startled voice. How could he have been so blind to what she had said? He usually watched her like a hawk, looking for signs that she might come to love the real man but somehow he missed something that was right under his very nose. He held back a sigh and focused his thoughts back on his lady.

She nodded. "That's right, I wanted to let you know that I can keep secrets too. And then there was the time when Zafira and her husband had fled and I asked you about the other woman you loved and that I told you that you should tell this other woman how you feel" she said.

This time Diego sighed aloud as he leant his forehead against hers. "Another lost opportunity." he whispered remorsefully. "If I had only realised what you really meant, I would have told you there and then."

Victoria nodded once more. "I know you would have. And then there was that time..."

He put his fingers to her lips to stop her. "I think my ego has been bruised enough Victoria." he teased as he gently caressed her face. "We've both missed the opportunities when it was presented." He sighed as he ran his fingers through her dark hair. "I'm sorry that you had to pretend to me and our friends all this time. It could not have been easy for you."

She moved her hand upwards and gently smoothed out his moustache. "I won't deny that it wasn't easy and as time went on, I almost began to believe what I was pretending was actually true and then I would forget that you were Zorro until I remember it afterwards. But that's all in the past now. All that matters is the here and now." She replied softly as her fingers moved up into his hair and gently pulled him down for their first kiss without the mask. It was a somewhat hesitant, almost shy kiss but oh so sweet and tender.

"I've always wondered how it would feel to kiss you without the mask." He whispered against her soft lips and felt her smile.

"Was it too much of a hindrance?" she asked as she let her fingers wander through his fine dark hair.

"You have no idea." He replied with a warm smile as he planted a soft kiss to her nose.

"Perhaps we should try again to see if you like it better without the mask." She suggested with a gleam in her eyes.

He chuckled. "Perhaps we should." He whispered before they kissed again; a little longer than the first one.

Victoria pulled back. "So how was that?" She smiled at him.

Diego saw her brown eyes blaze with love; a love for him and only him. He schooled his face into a thoughtful expression. "Well...like any good experiment, you have to keep trying until you find the answer."

She was about to retort that she wasn't one of his experiments when his warm lips descended on hers and claimed them in a deep and passionate kiss. She was swept away by his love, his passion but it was all too brief as he broke the embrace.

"Better?" she breathed.

"Much." He replied as he held her tight.

She pressed herself against him. "I think we would try again just to be sure." she suggested.

He couldn't stop the low moan from escaping his lips at the feel of her soft curves pressed against him as though she had been made just for him. He recaptured her sweet lips in a deep and hungry kiss that left her in no doubt of his desires for her. She was so caught up in his passion, his desires that she couldn't do anything except to hang onto him as her own growing needs threatened to override her common sense. Diego had already lost his mind to his needs as he plundered her sweet mouth, exploring at will, tasting, giving into the consuming need to have her.

They came up for air, both breathing heavily as they leant their foreheads together in an effort to control their raging emotions.

"I have no guests Diego." She whispered.

He closed his eyes and did not even pretend not to understand her. "Oh querida, there's nothing more than I would love to do, than to take you upstairs but we can't." he said as he pulled away from her.

"Why not? I mean you want me just as much as I want you." She longed to be with the man she loved in all ways, regardless of society's expectations.

He reached out and caressed her face. "I know that but even though Zorro is no more, there is always the risk of discovery before I could court you properly and not to mention the very real possibility of you having a child..."

She frowned slightly at she picked up on his words. "What do you mean that Zorro is no more?" she asked.

He sighed. "On the day Gilberto died, I promised my father that I would not ride again as Zorro and I agreed with him. It's the right time to start afresh, to begin our life together, to marry and to have children. I can't and won't do that while still riding as Zorro." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "If truth be told, I'm tired of it Victoria. I just want my life back. I hope you can understand that."

Victoria swallowed back her tears; he had given up so much of his life to help the citizens of Los Angeles. "I understand, I really do but how? Is Zorro just going to fade away? And what about the Alcalde?"

Diego smiled at her questions. "Zorro will just fade away and the people have to rely on themselves for a change. And as for the Alcalde, haven't you noticed that he has changed since that day?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Only that he seems to stay in his office more."

He nodded. "From what I've heard and seen, he has changed Victoria. It has changed us all." He added quietly.

She frowned. "But what if it's only a temporary? What if he goes back to his old ways? What then?"

He sighed. "We will just have to think of something else. Zorro is gone forever."