A few weeks after the two Isabels gave birth, Miguel Azuela was assigned to organize a training program for the Mexican soldiers from the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz and had to leave the Capital for a couple of months, to travel to the city of Oaxaca, where the training was to be held. He left his family with a heavy heart, after making Diego promise to look after his wife and newly-born baby boy, and made his way south, accompanied by ten of his loyal men. Relying on his skills and everything he had learned from his friend in the years spent chasing criminals together, he managed to do such a swell job organizing a rigorous instruction program that the Mexican President, a General himself before being elected to the office, decided to go on an official visit and witness his achievements.

News of Miguel's death arrived on a Sunday afternoon, in late July of 1825. As per the note received, the Commander had died while protecting the President's stagecoach on its way to Oaxaca, after having met with the official convoy some sixty miles north of the city.

Diego hurried to his friend's house, when a servant informed him, and found Isabel Azuela crying in the arms of her best friend. He read and re-read, at least ten times, the message regretfully announcing the young widow of her husband's tragic demise, before he finally sat down in a chair, immersed in thought.

"I want him back!" Isabel Azuela stated. "They can't just bury him there!"

"It says they didn't manage to recover the body, Isabel." Diego stated in a mechanic voice. "He fell down a ravine and the waters carried him away."

"My son will never know his father!" Isabel sobbed, clenching her fits, holding on to her friend for dear life. "What will become of us without him?"

"You will never be alone, Isa!" Bel told her. "We will take care of you! We will always be there for you, my darling!" She added, looking at Diego, expecting him to say something that might assure his friend's widow that he would fulfill the promise made to her husband.

Diego, however, was too lost in his own mind to notice Bel's pleading glance. "I have to go!" He stated, getting up and exiting the room, making his way towards his house.

Since he didn't have classes that afternoon, the house was almost empty, his servants having made themselves scarce, knowing he needed some privacy. Grateful for the silence, he paced the courtyard doing nothing but think. When, and hour later, Felipe got home, he stopped and looked at the younger man with one of the saddest expressions he had ever worn.

"Miguel was killed north of Oaxaca, Felipe. Isabel just received an official note a couple of hours ago." He told the younger man whose eyes widened, tears threatening to fall from them. "He fell into a river and they weren't able to recover the body. It is a four or five days ride south. I will leave tomorrow."

"I am coming with you." Felipe stated and, turning on his feet, went to the Azuelas' house to offer his condolences to Isabel, who was surprised to hear about Diego's decision, but grateful for it.

The de la Rondas took her and the baby home with them and constantly assured her that Diego would return with Miguel's body and she would be able to bury her husband properly, so that their son would, at least, be able to visit his father's tomb. They knew that the chances for their words to come true were minimal, considering the time passed between Miguel's death and their friend's eventual arrival at the place where he had lost his life. However, they had also learned enough about him to believe that, if there was a body to be found, Diego would find it.

ZZZ

Diego used that Sunday afternoon to instruct his household about what needed to be done in his absence and to send notes to his students, informing them that he would be away at least a couple of weeks, for which reason the fencing classes would be suspended until his return.

Taking with them food and comfortable clothes for several days, as well as some blankets, medical supplies, and their weapons, the two Sánchez left early on Monday morning. Just as they exited the house, they were, however, surprised to find six of Diego's students waiting, on their horses, right outside their home.

"We heard about Comandante Azuela." Francisco de Ribera, informed them. "We would like to join you in searching for him, Master."

Diego and Felipe stared at each other, unused to having more company and unsure if to accept the younger men's offer to come with.

"The trip may be dangerous, senores, and I am not sure how you could help. We will be searching for a dead man's body and I don't want you risking your lives for an endeavor I have decided to undertake in memory of my friend." Diego stated.

"You've trained us to deal with dangerous situations and we don't intend to sit on the sidelines our entire lives. We respectfully ask for you to allow us to come with and we'll do our best to prove useful." Another one of his students replied.

Father and son exchanged another glance and the former finally approved, reasoning that, if the young men felt the need to prove themselves, it was better for them to do it in his presence, while he could help them, should it be necessary. The fact that they were not younger than he had been when he had donned the mask of Zorro also factored into his decision to accept their offer.

"We might not find accommodation, so you need blankets to sleep on and enough food for the road." He stated.

"We already have everything we need." Another student, Luis de Castro, told him.

"In that case, senores, I believe the road to Oaxaca is that way." Diego indicated south, and gently pushed Tornado into a canter, closely followed by Felipe's Pinto and the white and brown horses of their unexpected companions.

Diego and Felipe set the rhythm for their march south and, even though none of the students were accustomed to riding for so long and with such limited breaks, they did their best to keep up, in the hope they would make their instructor proud.

They spent the first night in the stables of a monastery and the second on the floor of a farmers' house after father and son had given the man a hand tending to his injured donkey. The third night, they spent in a tavern on the way, glad to finally be able to wash and have a better accommodation, although they had to share rooms, since there were only three available.

On the fourth day, Felipe's Pinto lost one of his shoes and they needed to slow down the rhythm until the next pueblo, where they could find a blacksmith. The only one there, though, a man in his sixties, was ill at the time and his wife informed them that he could not attend them. Unwilling to give up, Diego took some time to convince her to let him use her husband's forge to make the shoe himself, and the elderly woman accepted after he also offered her twenty pesos for her trouble.

His students stood there, watching as he was making the horseshoe, unable to comprehend how a caballero knew what to do.

"He used to make them for Tornado." Felipe told them, at noticing the wonder on their faces.

"Is it true, Master?" Luis dared ask, sensing the reason why their instructor had needed to learn such a trade. "You were Zorro?"

Diego sighed, pondering on how to answer his question. Since he had arrived in Mexico City he had made no attempt to hide his past, leaving people to draw their own conclusions, never confirming or denying when somebody would ask if he was Zorro, and only having ever admitted the truth to the Fuentes. "What do you know about Zorro, Luis?" He eventually asked.

"Everybody knows about the legendary Fox of the Night!" The young man answered.

"And what does everybody know?" Diego questioned. Not hearing any answered he continued. "Does everyone know he was just a man, just as flawed as anyone else? Does everybody know he would have never survived for so long, had it not been for his two faithful partners – a young man and a stallion – who risked their lives to save his whenever he was in dire need of saving? Does everybody know the price that mask came with? I am a real man, Luis, not a legend." He answered. "Perhaps, since we will probably need to spend the night here, you should take the opportunity and teach these young men how to train their horses." He then told his son, hoping to get rid of his audience, since he was not in the mood to answer more questions about Zorro.

Felipe agreed and took the puzzled young men to a nearby field where he started to explain some of his father's training techniques and signs, using Tornado to demonstrate. About two hours later, they returned to the forge and found Diego making more horseshoes for some locals, who had already formed a line, glad to finally have somebody willing to help with their mounts.

"I think this might take some more time." Diego stated with a grin as Felipe and his students smiled back and, tying their horses to a post, decided to lend a hand, taking the opportunity to also learn something new from their Master.

With their help, the job was done much sooner than he had previously thought and, after collecting the normal price for the horseshoes, Diego returned to the blacksmith's house to leave the money with his wife. The woman stared at him and at the money, taking it with some reluctance, then gratefully invited Diego in for a coffee. He politely accepted and entered the small house, where her husband was lying in a bed with a bad fever. Intrigued by the symptoms he was displaying, Diego went to check on the man. While the blacksmith's wife was making the coffee titillated with the strange caballero's behavior, Diego excused himself and left the house only to return half an hour later with a cloth filled with willow tree bark, which he then used to make an infusion and instructed the now-completely-baffled woman on how to administer it to her husband. An hour later, just before nightfall, he returned to his party and they made camp in a meadow outside the pueblo, taking turns at keeping guard.

The next morning, Diego woke up at five, as usual, for his training, allowing the student keeping watch to go to sleep for a few more hours.

Two hours later, while Diego was still training, the Alcalde and two of his soldiers woke everyone up as they arrived at the meadow.

"We are just travelers from the Capital, senor." Diego stated, prepared to defend his men at noticing the determined look on the Alcalde's face, which reminded him of De Soto's usual stare. "We pose no danger for you and your men."

"I didn't assume you did! It is just that the blacksmith's wife told us one of you was a doctor, since he tended to her husband yesterday." The Alcalde answered, his grimace changing from severe to hopeful.

"I believe she was talking about me. But I am no doctor, although I do, indeed, have some medical knowledge." Diego replied.

"I see…We don't have a doctor at the moment and one of my men was shot yesterday evening. Can you help, senor...?"

"Sánchez. Diego Sánchez."

"I will pay for your services, Senor Sánchez."

"My son and I might be able to help, but you don't need to pay us anything." Diego stated, intrigued with the turn of events. "Just lead us to your man!" He added, glancing towards Felipe to come with.

While the students gathered the blankets and prepared the horses so they could leave as soon as possible, Diego and Felipe, went to the garrison to tend to the injured soldier. The wound had affected his leg, destroying part of his muscle, and the two caballeros had to inform him and the Alcalde that he might never recover its full use, thus being left with a limp for the rest of his life. When he finished extracting the bullet, Diego left Felipe to suture the wound and went to get some more tree bark, leaving it to the soldiers with instructions on how to process and administer it.

By the time they had finished, it was already almost noon and the Alcalde insisted for them to, at least, have lunch in the canteen, seeing how they helped the pueblo without asking for anything in return. Having neglected to eat since the previous afternoon, Diego decided to accept the invitation and the eight followed the Alcalde inside the cuartel and into the large room where the soldiers shared their meals.

"Do you know how the blacksmith is doing?" Diego asked the Alcalde as he was enjoying a plate of tamales.

"His wife told me he is already much better thanks to your infusion, senor. I must say, we were very lucky you and your men came by. Had I met you yesterday, I would have also offered you to spend the night in the garrison."

"You are very kind, Alcalde. Perhaps we will take you up on your offer on our way back." Diego stated.

"Where are you heading, if I may ask?"

"We are going south, towards Oaxaca. A friend of mine was killed about a week ago and we are going to try and recover the body, so we might take him home to his wife."

"A friend of yours? You don't mean Comandante Azuela, by any chance, do you?"

Diego stared at the man.

"I do, as a matter of fact." He answered.

"He had come by here some weeks ago. He seemed like a good man." The Alcalde stated.

"He was, indeed, senor. We were all saddened by his passing."

"I understand the attack happened some ten miles northwest of Asunción Nochixtlán. If there is a body to be found, it is there you might want to start. One of my men could accompany you if you wish. From the information I have, he was chasing some bandits when he died and the place where he fell is not on the main road, so you could do with a guide. However, I am sure his men did their best to find him. I wouldn't trust you will succeed where they failed, especially after all this time."

"We would appreciate any help, Alcalde! I know the chances may be low, but I owe him to try." Diego answered.

"Sergeant Zapata!" The Alcalde called. "These men are trying to find the body of Comandante Azuela. Do you know the ravine where they said he fell?"

"I do, Alcalde." The man answered. "I will accompany them if you wish."

"Si! Please do that! And take another two men with you to make sure they are safe."

Diego's students couldn't suppress a chuckle at hearing of the Alcalde's preoccupation with their safety.

"We appreciate your concern, senor." Diego uttered. "But we can take care of ourselves. There's no need for you to send any of your men to guard us."

"Trust me, senor. You'll need all the protection you can get. The bandits who attacked the presidential stagecoach have not yet been captured and they might still be in those hills."

Diego accepted reluctantly, realizing it would not be easy to change the man's mind, and the party left the pueblo at noon, making their way south.

ZZZ

"It is around here that he fell, Senor Sánchez!" The Sergeant informed Diego as they arrived at the ravine. "I can't tell you exactly where, though."

Not more than five minutes later, as they were studying the ravine for any traces of the place a man might have fallen from his horse and into the river below, they heard two gunshots and turned to see twelve bandits surrounding them. The men asked them to dismount, intended on getting rid of them in order to take possession of their belongings. They all did as requested and took a few steps away from the horses, as indicated by the bandits.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Diego asked their leader as the soldiers stood there bewildered.

"We are quite sure, senor!" The bandits' leader replied with a smug look.

"You do realize the odds are pretty uneven, I hope."

"Of course they are! There are more of us and our swords are at your throats!"

"I am afraid you have misunderstood. You are the ones who are at a disadvantage." Diego stated as he continued studying the man and signaling to Tornado to take position behind the bandits.

"And how do you figure that?" The leader asked, laughing.

"Well…Firstly, only three of you are armed with guns and two have already fired them, thus two of the pistols are empty." As he stated that, he observed as the leader and one of the other bandits lowered their guns and drew their swords instead. Now there was only one of them still carrying a gun and Diego signaled to Tornado to head for that man. "Secondly, in order to overcome us, you need to be better swordsmen than us, which I very much doubt; not to mention, faster!" As he said that, Diego caught the wrist of the leader and, moving away from his sword, pressured it upwards, making the man scream in pain as he lost his weapon. Tornado kicked the bandit holding the last loaded pistol, who hit the ground hard, breaking his right hand, as the gun flew into the ravine. Felipe and his students followed Diego's example and took some steps back, getting away from the bandits' swords for long enough to draw their own sabers. Each of them engaged a different man, just as Diego knocked out the leader and drew his whip to disarm the bandits who were preparing to run the soldiers through. A few minutes later, four of his students were still fighting, the other two and Felipe having disarmed their opponent and tied them up with the help of the still-baffled soldiers.

"Hold your hand higher, Senor Francisco!" Diego instructed while watching the fight, prepared to intervene if any of his students was in real trouble. "And remember the first lesson!" As he said that, Francisco, remembering what the mentioned lesson was all about, took a step back and rapidly retrieved a rock from the ground, which he threw at his adversary. The bandit, preoccupied with avoiding the rock, lost his balance and left himself open to an attack. Diego's student advanced on him and stopped his sword inches from his neck, forcing the man to surrender moments before his remaining comrades were also defeated by the other students.

"Very good, senores!" Diego encouraged them. "As you can see, fighting for one's life is quite different from fighting in a fencing competition, but I must say, you all did a brilliant job!"

The six students smiled glad to have made their instructor proud.

When the men were all tied up, Diego decided to question them about the location where Miguel had fallen down the ravine, hoping they might help with the search. After they initially refused to say anything, he managed to trick them into indicating him the place by insulting their pride and stating that, considering how easily he and his students managed to overtake them, they surely were not the ones responsible for the Commander's demise.

Armed with the newly-obtained information, Diego asked the soldiers to take the thugs to the nearest garrison, underlining that, clearly, they could look after themselves and needed no protection, after all. The Sergeant and his men did as he asked and left, still in disarray, dragging the bandits tied up to their horses towards Asunción Nochixtlán.

Meanwhile, Diego studied the place indicated by the thugs and climbed down the ravine, leaving his men to wait for him up the hill. Once he arrived at the riverbank, he managed to find some pieces of cloth and some dried blood, as it became clear that Miguel had, indeed, fallen into the river which had, undoubtedly, carried away his body. Returning to get Tornado, he divided the younger men into four groups, asking Felipe and one of the students to search one of the riverbanks while he and Luis searched the other. The four men remaining were to follow them from up the ravine. Diego hoped that, by doing so, they could cover more ground and have a better chance to spot clues not as easily visible from the riverbanks.

Divided as such, they followed the river for about five miles, until Francisco spotted what resembled an abandoned camp. Studying it, Diego noticed traces indicating that a body had been recovered from the river and carried towards the camp so, after gathering together the young men, they all followed the traces of what looked like an indigenous nomadic tribe.

Several miles away from the river and into the forest, with the nightfall upon them and finding themselves in an area where they were secluded, at a certain distance from any inhabited place, Diego had to eventually decide to make camp, due to continue the search in the morning. Just after midnight, however, he was awoken by some strange noises coming from the forest surrounding them. They sounded like birdsongs, yet Diego realized they were made by humans since most species of birds would sleep at night. He thus woke up the rest of the young men and asked them to prepare themselves for what he was certain to be an ambush. Seconds later, though, he felt something biting his neck and fell on the cold ground unconscious, soon to be followed by the rest of his men.

ZZZ

When they woke up, it was already morning and they found themselves tied up and surrounded by around twenty almost-naked men, as well as by several women and children, all watching them with curiosity.

"Why you after us?" The tribe leader asked them in Spanish when he saw they had regained consciousness.

"We mean you no harm. We are looking for a friend." Diego stated.

"Friend?" The man seemed confused with the word.

"Amigo. White man. Dead." Diego tried to explain "He had fallen into the river. We want to bury him following our customs."

"No dead white man here." The tribe chief stated after taking some time to make sense of his words. "White man we have alive."

"Alive?" Felipe asked as his father suddenly seemed at a loss for words.

The chief nodded.

"May we see him?" Diego asked, hopeful it was Miguel they had found.

At a sign from their chief, two of the native men helped Diego up and indicated for him to follow them towards a nearby hut. The improvised shelter was filled with a strangely-smelling smoke and it was only occupied by two people: a ticitl - or medicine man - and his patient, who proved to be, indeed, the man Diego was searching for.

"Miguel!" Diego exclaimed, kneeling by his friend's side. The Commander opened his eyes to look at him but he was still weak from his ordeal, so he was unable to answer. The ticitl looked at him with some concern at seeing the white man inspecting his patient's wound. Miguel had been shot in the abdomen, but the bullet had clearly missed his internal organs since the man was still alive more than a week after receiving the bullet which was still lodged inside him. Diego, already baffled to find his friend alive, was even more amazed to realize that the medicine man had, somehow, managed to stop the hemorrhage and to prevent any infection from settling in.

"I need to take out the bullet!" He told the ticitl. The man just stared at him and the caballero realized he couldn't understand him, so he got out of the hut and informed the tribe leader of what he needed to do. Since Miguel was a white man, not one of their own, the chief agreed to allow for the surgery and instructed his men to let Diego take the items he needed from Tornado's saddlebags. Seeing the tall white man's concern for his friend and witnessing his medical abilities, the chief eventually also allowed for his companions to be freed, permitting them to spend the night with the tribe.

The next morning, however, Miguel's injury was becoming infected and Diego had no idea where to find the plants he needed to help him in that part of the Mexican tropical forest. As he was considering his actions, the ticitl brought some roots and grounded them into a paste over which he poured water and forced Miguel to drink. He did the same some hours later and just before nightfall and, by the following day, Diego noticed that the infection was subsiding, his friend already beginning to feel better and remain conscious for several minutes at a time.

It took the Commander six more days to become well enough to ride to the closest pueblo, a time during which, after having obtained the tribe chief's agreement for them to stay, in exchange for their help with hunting and fruit-gathering, Diego tried to learn as much as he could from the ticitl. When he left, the man also offered him some of the roots he had used to help Miguel fight the infection, as well as the plant's seeds, which were, in fact, a type of wild beans the tribe usually also ate as part of its normal diet.

ZZZ

"What is it?" Enrique asked his wife, as she finished reading a message Diego had sent by military courier, seeing the joy illuminating her face.

"He found him! He found Miguel!" Isabel answered.

"His body, you mean…" Enrique corrected her.

"No! Miguel. Alive!" She stated, her eyes in tears, as she stood up to run and give the good news to her friend.

ZZZ

Miguel Azuela returned to Mexico City two weeks later, together with Diego and the other young men, after overseeing the last week of the training program, while still recuperating in preparation for his trip home. In recognition of his services, and for having risked his life to save the President, Miguel was promoted to Colonel and given command of the Presidential Guards. As a result of his latest adventure, Diego reluctantly saw his fame increased, his son and students also sharing in it as they all became frequent guests at the receptions organized by the Mexican President.