Disclaimer: I am merely playing with the characters. I certainly have no claim on anything but my own ideas. This story takes place after the episode "Blind Man's Bluff" written by Philip John Taylor.

Summary: Diego and De Soto have a little chat about the horse tax.

Author's Notes: Just a tag to the episode really, but on the plus side I updated quickly. So perhaps I can be forgiven for its brevity. And as this is set right after the episode, I'll just say that events pretty much followed the storyline without any significant changes.

Looking a Taxed Horse in the Mouth

(After Blind Man's Bluff)

Diego was waiting in De Soto's office when he finally returned after having been retrieved by his men. He looked tired and aggravated, which is how Diego felt. What would it take to teach the man to stop trying to tax the people for his own bad decisions? But then De Soto had always tended to this particular kind of stupidity, and a cycle of behavior that guaranteed that Zorro would have to intervene over and over for the foreseeable future. De Soto would make some kind of egregious error (like believing an escaped prisoner who claimed to be a prison guard after an escaped prisoner). Then he'd panic about the possible repercussions on his career and do something rash to try to capture Zorro, which despite Diego's desire to ignore it, did require action. Why could the man never learn from his mistakes?

Regardless of De Soto's shortcomings, Diego was doing his best to break from the cycle as he had come to realize that he was just as prone to reacting first as Zorro rather than trying other methods first, and that's why he was sitting in De Soto's office rather than sitting in the tavern spending time with his future wife. He was determined to remind the alcalde of another more important threat to his career if he kept on with this thoughtless taxation.

"De la Vega," De Soto said, crossly as he sat at his desk, "I don't have time for foolishness right now. I've got more charges to lay on Zorro."

So Mendoza's reasoning didn't get through, Diego thought. Well, time for the reminder. "I won't keep you long. I am here on behalf of the newspaper, wanting to hear your story about the 1000 pesos donated to the orphans after the sale of Mariposa negated the horse tax."

"What?" De Soto exclaimed.

"Oh, yes, we were told that the 5000 pesos were all that were needed and that you'd decreed that any excess should go to the orphans because of their need and your sympathy for the poorest citizens," Diego said with an utterly straight face.

"This is..." De Soto sputtered.

However, Diego wasn't going to let him continue. "Most generous of you," he interrupted. "And I'll be sure to send the information of this to my friend Ernesto Moraga. I'm sure you remember him and his particular connection to the governor's office."

De Soto turned pale. "Oh, yes. About tax laws and procedures, I think," he said.

"Something like that. And of course, uncovering fraud, embezzlement, illegal tax collection, misappropriation of funds, that kind of thing," Diego said, almost dismissively, as if it wouldn't be of great concern to De Soto. "He's always interested in knowing what happens in Los Angeles, and you know he's due to pass through here again in time for my wedding. He's always a man who likes mixing business and pleasure. I'm sure he'll be glad to speak with you again as well."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure," De Soto mumbled, still looking pale.

Diego decided that he'd done the best he could for the moment. It was best to let De Soto stew over those thoughts for a while, and besides while he had recovered from the effects of the poisoned water, he was still feeling a bit weak and thus was not really in the best frame of mind to continue sparring with the man.

"I'll leave you to your business, alcalde," Diego said with false brightness as he stood up and headed for the door. "But I must say that you look more like you could use a night's rest instead."

De Soto merely glared at him, and Diego made his escape across to the tavern. It was definitely a more cheery atmosphere, as Señor Calvillo had brought out his guitar and was singing an old folk song with the accompaniment of some of the other tavern patrons. Everyone including the lancers seemed happy that the horse tax would no longer be collected. Diego really hoped De Soto had the wisdom to drop this. Pilar told Diego that Victoria was out back in the garden, and he slipped through the kitchen to see her.

Victoria was turning the lever on the rotating planter. He was glad to see that it still seemed to be holding together though it had only been a couple of weeks, and that it was indeed easy for Victoria to turn. That had been the challenge as he hadn't precisely calculated the weight of the growing plants in the pots, and he wanted a smooth motion. When Victoria finished she turned and smiled at him questioningly.

"Oh, don't mind me," Diego said, echoing her words from another day. "I do love to watch you..."

"Work?" she said.

"Well, that among other things," Diego said, approaching. "I simply love to watch you in general."

"So I recall," Victoria replied. "But I hope that is not all you like."

"Certainly not, but it's always been the safest option," he said, giving her a brief kiss.

"Is your head still bothering you?" she asked.

"A very little," Diego said. "I'm sure it will be gone tomorrow."

"How did your talk with our alcalde go?" she asked.

"As well as can be expected. I'm almost sure he will properly absorb the veiled threats and let the whole matter of Mariposa go."

"Good," Victoria said, as she wrapped her arms around him and leaned into a hug.

"Yes, it is," Diego said, not referring to the alcalde at all. Victoria was a comfort. He kissed the top of her head. "Tomorrow, Felipe and I have to ride out to take care of some... business, but I thought it would be nice if you came over for dinner. If you came early enough, I'm sure we could find something interesting to... talk about."

Victoria looked up at him with a smile. "It's true that we never seem to run out of... conversation. Yes, I would like to come for dinner, and there's no reason why I can't stay since I have Señor Calvillo to watch the tavern."

Diego's smile widened. "No, there's no reason why you couldn't."

"Luisa's been wanting me to come for more fittings. She's wanting to start on the wedding dress now that we've got the material."

"Oh," Diego said, though he'd been uninterested in Victoria's expanding wardrobe except for seeing her wearing the finished products; this was one dress he was eager about.

"Yes, she says it's not something to leave to the last minute," Victoria said. She tilted her head to look at him. "Something else is bothering you."

Diego sighed and looked around. They were alone but still... "I can't help but think I should have brought this up before Zorro decided to leap into action," he said quietly. "This is something we should have protested publicly, and yet there was Zorro jumping in to deal with a problem that could better have been handled otherwise. A problem that was in fact a trap to catch him."

He walked over to sit on top of the back wall, still casting looks around. Victoria came to stand next to him.

"And you think he should have been clever enough not to fall for it," Victoria said.

"Or at least patient enough to wait and give others a chance to try something first. After all, this wasn't a matter of life or death. There was no need to leap into things."

"But he's made it enough of a habit that people tend to wait for him before acting and..."

"Then he can't stand the hesitation... I think he's only managed to hold off a couple of times and those were odd little messes," Diego said. "But I do think that we need to learn how to handle problems on our own, don't you?"

"Yes, I think that we need to find a way to let Zorro go, so that the people can find strength on their own," Victoria said, looking up at him.

Diego sighed. It was hard to let go of his reliance on a mask. "I suppose the man can't continue being everything to everybody," he said.

"No," Victoria replied. She looked to see if anyone was nearby. Though she was content they were alone, she leaned in close and whispered, "I'd rather have you be everything to me."

The End

Next Up: Another in-between story as I wanted to get this one up quickly and the next deals with the arrival of Diego's aunt and uncle before we move on to "Siege", and I'm still working on a plot other than "they arrive, meet people, the end."

End Notes: This one's short because I really just wanted to deal with De Soto's taxing situation about the horses, as I'm not sure that he really would just drop things just because Mendoza said Zorro paid the horse tax by selling the horse De Soto bought to catch him. I think he'd need a reminder of what pursuing the matter could cost him.

I am trying to get things going faster so we can get to the end of the season faster, as I have a major upheaval coming in the middle of the summer that will really cut into any writing time. For those who are curious, there's only "Siege," "The Word," and "Balancing the Books" left to finish season 3, and they'll appear in that order. There should also be only the next in between story left to break things up, and I'm hoping my writing speed will pick up.

As always, all feedback is welcome, and as I'm barreling towards the wedding, I welcome any requests, suggestions, or pointing out of plot holes, though I can make no promises as to how they'll be resolved.