It was already two in the morning when, unable to sleep, Don Alejandro got out of bed and headed for the kitchen to fix himself a late snack.
Victoria heard the noise from her room and followed him downstairs in her nightshirt, over which she had rapidly wrapped her red robe, bumping into the old don as he was exiting the kitchen, a glass of water in one hand and a plate of enchiladas in the other.
"Victoria!" He exclaimed. "Did I wake you up? I'm afraid I got hungry and couldn't sleep." The old don then proceeded to explain his reason for stealing food from her kitchen at that time of night.
"It's alright, Don Alejandro!" She replied with a smile. "You needn't worry about it. I couldn't really sleep, either… In fact, do you mind if I join you? I can make us some tea."
"I would love the company, my dear." He accepted her offer and headed to the taproom, where he took a seat at one of the tables near the kitchen, lightening a few of the candles in the room.
A few minutes later, Victoria joined him, bringing a tray with two cups of tea and a couple of enchiladas for herself.
"So…" Don Alejandro asked "how did you enjoy the party this evening?"
"It was rather fun, wasn't it?" She answered. "I was only sorry that Felipe couldn't make it."
"Yes. I am sorry, as well, but I hope he'll be feeling better for Christmas lunch."
"I hope he will, Don Alejandro." She uttered, then a few moments of silence fell over them as neither one thought of any other topic of conversation.
"Do you think we might be waking up Don Diego?" She asked when the silence felt uncomfortable, unaware that they had already awakened the tall caballero.
"I doubt it. He can sleep through anything!" Don Alejandro answered with a grin.
"You know… It was because of him that I started organizing these parties on Christmas Eve."
"Because of Diego?"
"He suggested them. Don't you remember? I was… fourteen at the time. It was the year before he went to Spain. Just after my mother was…" Victoria couldn't finish as the memories of that awful day in which her mother had been executed came back in full force. "My father and my brothers left just before Christmas, and I remember he found me crying when he came to town and saw the tavern closed. He came up with the idea of the party so that I wouldn't spend Christmas Eve all by myself. We brought the food Maria had cooked for you and, while you and your men..."
"I remember!" Don Alejandro told her as the memory suddenly returned. "I rarely saw Diego so excited! He made me promise to do what he wanted before telling me his plan, and then he went to tell all our friends that the night's celebration was moving to the tavern. You know… back then, I remember suspecting that my son had a little crush on you…"
"Don Diego? I doubt that! I was much too young for him at the time. But he's always been a great friend. When Mother died, I remember thinking he was the only one to actually understand what I was going through, since he had also lost his mother when he was about my age. Then, when my father and my brothers left, you and Diego slowly slipped into their roles. I don't know what would have happened to me had it not been for the two of you!"
"I'm sure you would have been just fine even without us, Victoria. I don't think I've ever met a more capable women than you, my dear. But I do wonder what would have happened to all of us had it not been for Zorro. Do you remember when he first appeared?"
"I believe that was when he got you and me out of jail!"
"Yes. Just about eight months after Luis Ramon took over as Alcalde. They were hard times… I thought we were going to lose this pueblo to that man's greed and thirst for power. When he tried to hang me… I really thought I would never see another day. I don't believe I had ever been so grateful towards another man in my entire life, as I was when Zorro saved me and my men."
"I know how you feel! I think I fell in love with him that first night when he got us out of jail. But this waiting, Don Alejandro… Sometimes I fear it might never end!"
"I just hope your waiting will not be in vain, Victoria! He lives a dangerous life, your masked man. He might be a hero but he is still only human. Took a bullet for me, as you well know, just two months ago. We were both lucky that time and I confess that I had never met another man as strong and resourceful as him. But it was still luck… One bullet it's all it takes to…"
"Don't even say that!" Victoria begged. "If anything would happen to him I… I really don't know what I would do, Don Alejandro!"
"I'm sorry Victoria!" The don replied. "I didn't mean to upset you. Zorro is a man who surely knows how to take care of himself!"
"He certainly does!" She confirmed giving up on the dread that was, moments earlier, threatening to take over her heart. "And he's far more able than the Alcalde and all his lancers!"
"That's true, my dear. You know… There are days when I certainly wish Diego was more like Zorro."
"Don Diego? More like Zorro?"
"In that he might be less frustrating." Don Alejandro explained. "That son of mine has a good head on his shoulders and a kind heart… oh, and he can fight if he wants to! But does he? No! He prefers spending his time on his experiments and that newspaper, and ignoring most of his duties towards this pueblo."
"I think you are being too harsh on him, Don Alejandro. You know… Zorro has, ever since he arrived, been the one doing the fighting. When no one else is able to make the Alcalde see reason, or when something is wrong and needs to be put right… or when people are in danger and nobody else can help them, it's Zorro to always swoop in and save the day.
"But then it's always you and Diego who eventually convince the Alcalde to better his ways, to find solutions for those affected, and help the people rebuild their lives. If I wasn't certain that neither you nor your son knows who Zorro is, I'd think the three of you make quite a team!" Victoria joked, and Don Alejandro rewarded her with a wide smile.
"Sometimes I wish I knew who he was, Victoria! I'd do my best to help him, although, in all fairness, he seems to be doing more than well enough on his own. On the other hand, I'd rather you Diego and Felipe don't find out his true identity… at least, not before he's finally able to safely unmask. That secret of his is too dangerous for anyone to know."
Victoria smiled pensively and emptied her tea cup.
"No…Don't get me wrong, Victoria!" Don Alejandro then returned to his previous affirmation. "I wasn't saying that I wished for Diego to be Zorro. I'd be bursting with pride if he was… but God knows I'd also be worried sick. No… I'm quite happy with him being a man of peace, rather than a man of action, even if it took me a long time to realize it.
"A few months back… when Gilberto was about to shoot him… I promised God I would never in my life say another hurtful thing to my boy if He'd just let him live. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost him that awful day, nor do I know how I would have lived with myself. I called Diego a coward once, you know? He's no coward, though, not my son. He just doesn't want to fight if there's even the smallest chance to avoid it. But he will fight if he has to. He saved my life when Gilberto… Did I ever tell you? He was magnificent, Victoria! For a moment… For a moment I did wonder… and realized how relieved I was that it is not my son risking his life every time Zorro needs to make an appearance.
"But I wished he'd be more… more like me, I guess. I'd wish he'd get angry from time to time! He never gets angry! Did you see that? Sometimes I look at him and wonder if he truly is my son. And then I look at Zorro… He's so fearless, so sure of himself, so..."
"Dashing, heroic, wonderful?" Victoria took it upon herself to fill in the blanks and the don smiled at her words.
"Yes… I'd wish Diego was, at least, a little like that. Maybe then he'd also get to know the passion and devotion of a good woman, such as you, my dear."
Victoria lowered her eyes, unable to understand the sudden wave of jealousy which overcame her the moment Don Alejandro even mentioned the idea of another woman loving Diego. She knew the caballero who was her best friend had his own past. That there had been at least a woman in his life before, a woman he would have married, had fate not intervened.
On the other hand, she also knew he was secretly in love with another woman and suspected it might even be her, considering how much time he spent in her company, and how he was always ready to defend her, should the need arise. She was also in love with another man, Zorro, so that also fit with what he had confessed to her. That simple idea made her feel quite flattered. The knowledge that he, too, was waiting for someone - whether it truly was her or not - somehow also made her own waiting easier.
But, on the other hand, she knew it was wrong of her to wish for Diego to always be there for her, since he, too, deserved to be happy with a woman he loved. Since she had already given her heart to Zorro, that woman couldn't possibly be her, unless… But that was not even an option. Her hero was never to be mortally injured or defeated. He'd always prevail and one day they'd be together, just as he had promised her.
Then why was she feeling jealous of Diego? Maybe because she knew that he could, at any point, any day, decide to stop waiting and get married? He was the most renowned bachelor in the territory but that didn't mean he didn't have his own passions and yearnings, like any other man. Passions he had awoken in a beautiful woman once, a woman like Zafira who, after so many years, was still in love with him. He was also rich, which, all by itself, made him attractive to most young ladies in California, and not only. Worse, still, he was quite handsome, Victoria found herself thinking, unable to do anything about the decision of her skin to turn pinkish at remembering having stared at Diego's mostly naked body when they happened to have the same idea of going swimming that hot October afternoon. Ever since then, the taverness had found it harder and harder to avoid flashing back to that day almost every time she saw the man she proclaimed to be her best friend. Sometimes she even caught herself wondering if Zorro looked at all like him under the mask… and his shirt… and finding that she wished he did.
Of course, if Diego was Zorro, that would make things so much easier, she considered, then inwardly laughed at the thought. Impossible! She told herself.
"Perhaps one day he will…" She answered after a long pause during which she tried to order her multitude of scrambled thoughts. "Diego is a very good and very attractive man. He might be… well… Diego… but he will surely make a great husband to a very lucky woman someday."
As she said that and the don smiled, grateful for her words as he couldn't help but imagine how perfect a couple his son and the taverness would make, she stood up and placed the two empty cups and plates on a tray.
"We should go to sleep Don Alejandro!" She suggested. "We don't want Diego to wake up before us in the morning!"
"Perhaps he should, for once!" The don joked back and, after she refused his help to wash the dishes and to put away the remaining food, he took his good night and went back to his room where, some five minutes later, he was fast asleep.
Victoria finished in the kitchen, then remained there a little while longer, sitting at her worktable, trying to deal with her own emotions and the sudden attraction she realized to be feeling towards the De la Vega heir.
In that time, after his father had returned to his room, Diego, who, no longer able to sleep either, had shamelessly eavesdropped on their entire conversation, slipped into Victoria's bedchamber and left her a present, then carefully returned to his room and went to sleep.
Victoria saw the package and the familiar handwriting on the note when she finally decided to get some rest and, for a few moments, she wondered if she hadn't perhaps missed seeing it before. She was certain that she hadn't, though. It was not that easy to miss seeing something on your own pillow, after all.
Yet, it was pouring outside and there was no boot imprint, nor any water drips on the floor. No sign of him having been there, except for the package and the letter. And how could he have gotten there with all that rain?
Knowing that the man she loved was much more resourceful than anyone gave him credit for – and he was credited with a lot of resourcefulness as it was, anyway – Victoria decided he had been probably gallant enough to wipe the mess he had made off her floor and…. closed ?... window. Rather puzzled but not even considering the truth as a better explanation, she took the letter, smiling at his words, then picked up his gift. Opening it, she found a blue Opal pendant. After putting it on and admiring it in the mirror, she placed it on her nightstand, closed the drapes which allowed for the outside light to enter her room, then got into her bed, blew off her only candle and lay admiring the florescent light of her one-of-a-kind jewel until she eventually fell asleep with a wide grin on her face.