Chapter 12

The doctor accompanied them to the hacienda and took care of his patients. He ordered Alejandro to rest and sleep, administering a sleeping potion, watching over him while Diego took a bath to get rid of the soot and dirt. Afterward he bandaged Diego's arm.

Diego's clothes had been ruined by the fire, but except for the gash on his arm and some missing hair at the side of his head, he was unharmed.

Victoria gently embraced him in the library where she had been waiting for him. "Diego, it was so terrible today. When I thought you were dead, I realized that all our fights were so petty compared to the possibility of losing you. I love you, and I can't live without you."

"I love you too, Victoria. I'm sorry about lying to you. I want nothing more than to live with you at my side." Diego enclosed her in a tight embrace, not wanting to let her go.

"I want that too, Diego," She rose to her toes to kiss him and Diego responded passionately, his emotions still in turmoil after the events of the afternoon.

"I think it's good that we are already married," he whispered when they drew apart to catch their breath again.

"I agree," she smiled happily. When Diego bent down to kiss her again, she untangled herself from his arms and pulled him to the couch, motioning for him to sit down beside her."Tell me first what happened today. We both know that it wasn't Zorro who died. Who was it and how did your office catch fire?"

"Do you remember Ricardo Quintana?" Diego asked.

"Yes, he came to Los Angeles with his lover Myatana who pretended to be a medium who spoke with the dead. They were arrested when you revealed their cheating and he later came back to kill everyone who he deemed responsible for the death of Myantana in prison." Victoria trembled. "We would all be dead if you hadn't been able to extinguish the bomb's fuse just before it was about to explode and kill us all."

"Apparently, Ricardo was able to escape from prison and he came back again. This time I was his sole focus. I thwarted his schemes twice, and all he cared about was killing me," Diego explained.

"When I went into my office, he had hidden in the wardrobe and waited until I had closed the front door behind me to spring out of the closet and confront me. Then he told me he had planned my death by setting the office on fire and lighted a torch. Before I came, he had already soaked everything in oil to make sure it would burn easily. I tried to argue with him, but he was mad. He didn't care that he'd die too if he ignited the fire. I wanted to catch the burning torch before he dropped it, but I was too late. The moment it touched the floor, everything went up in flames. There was no escape," Diego remembered in horror.

"It was terrible to see the office burning when I knew you were inside," Victoria said, as she squeezed his hand. "Was it was Ricardo we saw burning?" Victoria asked.

"Yes. When he prepared my office with the oil, he must have been careless and spilled some of it over himself. He started to burn at once with everything around me. I tried to help him, but nothing could be done," Diego explained.

"What did you do?"

"I tried to escape, but the flames engulfed me. I heard Toronado who was still behind the office from the morning when I came into to town as Zorro. I tried to call him, but like all animals he's afraid of fire. Instead of coming for me through the fire, he drove with full force against the water trough that was attached to the back wall. The trough broke through the brittle burning wall and the water extinguished the fire momentarily, so I could jump out through the opening," Diego said.

"I can't believe you were able to escape this," Victoria said, shocked. "You'd be dead if it hadn't been for Toronado."

"Yes, I still don't know how Toronado managed to overthrow the trough," Diego wondered. "I think he somehow managed to get the other horses to join him in the effort. I didn't know what else to do but to call for him, hoping that he could come to me and help me."

"Toronado is a marvelous horse," Victoria agreed. "But I don't understand why Toronado was still in the pueblo."

"I didn't have time to return to the hacienda and change or I would have been late for lunch with Mendoza. So I changed in my office and planned to ride back to the cave as Zorro after lunch. Toronado likes being in the pueblo and I had the trough installed at the back of my office, so he could drink there without being seen when Zorro went to the pueblo," he explained. "Come," Diego stood up and pulled her with him. "I haven't thanked him yet and I need to check on him."

Holding Victoria's hand, he opened the door to the cave and led her through the fireplace. Inside the cave Felipe was busy taking care of Toronado. Felipe turned around when they heard them enter. Signing quickly, he asked Diego about any injuries from the fire.

"I'm all right," Diego acquiesced Felipe, giving him a short account on the events. "I wanted to check on Toronado after he had saved me." Diego stroked Toronado's neck and handed him a treat. The stallion thanked him by nuzzling Diego's head.

"Is this your hideout?" Victoria stopped at the top of the stairs to look around while Diego headed for Toronado who was munching his hay that Felipe had stacked for him.

"Yes, this is where I do my experiments and store Zorro's things. Have a look, but don't touch anything please. When I was developing my time-delayed bombs, Felipe activated one accidentally by lifting it despite my order not to touch it. Fortunately, nothing happened except for a loud explosion. Now he heeds my orders not to touch anything."

Felipe made a face at Diego's recounting as he didn't like to be reminded of his mistake.

Diego checked Toronado's chest for injuries from the impact with the trough and Felipe explained that Toronado's gear was damaged by the impact, but Toronado only suffered from a bruise, because the gear had prevented Toronado from getting a major cut. Felipe had treated Toronado but hadn't been able to figure out how this had happened, but it made sense now after Diego had told him about the trough. Finished with his work in the cave, Felipe left them alone, signing that he would check on Diego's father.

After Felipe had left, Diego walked over to Victoria who had wandered around in the cave and explored its contents, taking care not to touch anything as Diego had warned her.

"Satisfied with your curiosity?" Diego asked, embracing her from behind.

"It will be a long time until you will be finished with your explanations," she smiled, turning around in his arms. "But now I have a lifetime to ask them."

"A lifetime?" Diego grinned. "No more plans for an annulment?"

"How can I ask for an annulment if my husband is dead? You told Mendoza that Zorro died today. Would you mind consoling me in my grief over the loss of Zorro?" she suggested.

"I think I don't mind at all," he smiled, taking her hint. "We can now marry again officially and have a big party."

"I don't care for a big party. I want to be your wife openly as soon as possible."

"I don't think anyone will be surprised after you threw yourself into my arms today on the plaza."

"Then we don't have too much to explain," Victoria said. "You don't like explanations, do you?"

"Only when it's necessary," Diego admitted. "I'll talk with the padre tomorrow and explain to him who is going to get buried in Zorro's grave," he promised, "and I don't want to waste any more time either. Life is too short for that."

"You need to rest and recover after you breathed in so much smoke," Victoria said, noticing his strained expression as he rubbed his temples.

"I have a headache from the smoke," he admitted, "but I don't want to be alone now. It was so terrible when I was trapped in the fire." Diego drew her in his arms, holding her tight as he remembered the moment he thought he would die.

"And I won't forget the moment when I thought I saw you die," Victoria shuddered in his arms. "I need to touch you to know that you're alive."

"I'm tired but I don't know if I can sleep with these images on my mind," Diego said.

"If I stay with you, will you rest as the doctor recommended? He left you a potion against the headache and it should help you to sleep too."

Diego nodded in agreement. "I think we can try that." Taking her hand, he led her out of the cave.

Z~Z~Z

Diego was already in bed when Victoria entered his room after she had checked on his father first. "Your father is still sleeping and he's recovering as the doctor predicted," Victoria assured Diego on his inquiry. "There's no need for you to worry at the moment and Felipe will check on him too."

Victoria wanted to sit down on a chair near Diego's bedside, but Diego had other plans. "Just let me hold you for a while," he said as he pulled her onto the covers of the bed and into his arms.

"I don't know if I can sleep right now," Victoria said, but she put her head on his chest. Listening to his heartbeat calmed her down, making her sleepy, and they both fell asleep soon.

When Diego woke up again, Victoria was no longer beside him, but then he felt her hand in his. Looking up, he saw her sitting in the chair beside his bed.

"I couldn't sleep any longer," Victoria explained, as she smiled at him.

"What time is it and how long have you been sitting there?" Diego inquired.

"It's about dinner time and I have been sitting here for some time while you were sleeping."

"What did you do all this time?" Diego asked.

"Watching you sleep," Victoria smiled.

"Didn't you get bored?"

"I won't get bored watching you sleep for the rest of my life, because it means that you're alive and beside me," Victoria said, bending down to kiss him.

Diego put his arm around her, pulling her closer. "Will you stay with me after dinner? I'm feeling much better now after this rest."

"I'll stay with you after dinner and as long as you want me," Victoria whispered.

"Then we'll start the rest of our lives after dinner," Diego grinned, kissing her passionately.


A/N: Except for a short epilogue which I'll try to put up the next days, this story is finished. I want to thank all my readers and reviewers, especially my beta reader who is facing the storm in Florida now. I hope everyone from there stays safe and does not lose power so we can stay in contact.
My beta suggested some changes to this chapter, as she believed Diego needed some rest after the fire, so I added the final scene which is unbetaed.
I have the next story already in progress and betaed. I will start posting it after this one is complete. I haven't forgotten Lost Hope either, but I still need to write the final chapter which is next on my list.