AN: This story continues the adventures started in the first part, under the same premise about trying to provide explanations for the gaps in the TV show, to give it some historical accuracy, and establish a logical timeline. Readers are encouraged to send me their views and own questions which I will do my best to address in this story.

Also, please note that, in most cases, when history and canon don't fit, I will go with canon.

As always, my gratitude goes to La Cuidadora for correcting this, and a special 'Thank you!' to Clickgeniera for the historical info and guidance which proved useful in writing this.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters and make no money from my stories, but I do own the idea for this story, and I do not agree with it being copied anywhere else. Since this story has a special status, OCs can be used and so can the main ideas in it, but only in the way they were intended here.

I will try to keep up with publishing a new chapter every Saturday but can't promise anything because it is really up to my muse. Your reviews might encourage it.

Enjoy!

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Felipe was about six years old when Diego left for Spain. In the nine months which had passed since the young De la Vega found him on that battlefield on which the life he had known before suddenly ended, the boy had grown to think of Don Alejandro and his son as his new family. They were kind to him and he felt safe at their hacienda.

Diego's announcement that he was to leave for several years had, thus, worried him for obvious reasons. The boy had spent the last week before the young man's departure asking over and over again why he had to go, and Diego had to patiently explain to him each time, and promise he'd write every month, and teach him everything he'd learn in Madrid upon his return, from science to fencing.

Diego wasn't much of a swordsman at the time, even if he did play with Felipe, fighting with wooden swords, both of them pretending that they knew what they were doing.

The true concern the caballero had regarding his young ward referred to the impact his departure might have on him. He knew Felipe's handicaps were, most probably, a result of the trauma he had suffered or of some loud explosion. Doctor Hernandez, who had examined him after his arrival, also concluded that there was no physical impediment that would cause him not to hear, but there was no way to know for certain if he had ever spoken. It was mainly why Diego was willing to do anything he could to calm Felipe down and assure him he'd return soon, so that his departure wouldn't hinder the boy's progress and chances to recover.

After having extracted all those promises from his protector, on the 7th of May of 1807, Felipe watched Diego leave in the coach due to take him to the port, from where he was to embark on a long voyage to a mystic far-away realm called Spain.

Don Alejandro had kept a hand on his shoulder as he was waving his son goodbye, then guided his young ward back inside where he had hidden a pie he had asked Maria to make for him. Felipe and Don Alejandro ate some pie on the terrace as the caballero tried to cheer up the child. When they finished, the don gently took the boy's hand and guided him towards the stables. A new foal, the first one that year, had been born that previous night and, for some reason, at seeing it was a pinto, the only one in his stables, Don Alejandro decided he would make a good first horse for his ward. The boy immediately fell in love with him.

"He's yours if you want him." Don Alejandro told Felipe.

The child stared at him with wide eyes. "Mine?" He signed in disbelief.

"Yes, Felipe. He's all yours. But you will have to take good care of him. Make sure his stable is clean, that he has enough food and water after his mother stops feeding him, train him… It will be hard work. But I know you can do it, and I will help you. He will outgrow you, but both Diego and I were already able to ride at your age, and it's high time you, too, learned." He answered with a grin as he lowered himself to look the boy in the eyes. "By the time Diego returns, you will be able to show him that you've become just as good a horseman as he is."

Felipe nodded with a smile and threw his hands around his neck, embracing him strongly. The don carefully hugged him back, then spent about ten more minutes with Felipe at the stables, before taking him back to the hacienda.

ZZZ

It wasn't the easiest thing for Diego to get used to life onboard the ship. He had rather comfortable accommodations, even if he sometimes bumped his head at entering the cabin he had been assigned. Only two other travelers from California were onboard, both having embarked in Monterey, before the ship returned to San Pedro.

The journey was due to be quite long, composed of four stages: from San Pedro to Acapulco, he'd go by boat, then, from there, by stage was the safest way to travel, having to cross the entire New Spain from one ocean to another, to arrive to the port of Veracruz. From there, another ship would take him to the Port of Cadiz, in southern Spain. There, once more, he needed to take the stage in order to get to Madrid. Per total, the trip was due to last anywhere from four to five months, or even longer, depending on the winds, ship schedule, and the condition of the roads.

Diego was, however, optimistic, and so were his fellow travelers: a sickly young man his age, heading for Barcelona, and an older caballero, who was to only accompany them to Puebla, from where he was headed for Mexico City.

As the other young man spent most of his time in his cabin, unwilling to socialize, and the older man was conceited and rather unpleasantly stubborn in expressing his narrow-minded views, Diego started opting for the company of the captain and the sailors. The men were, for the most part, rather uneducated and ill-mannered, but the tall caballero was certain they had more useful things to teach him than his fellow passengers. And, intrigued by his curiosity, they did.

When first Diego declared his interest in learning all he could about how to navigate a ship, they mostly laughed at him, then decided to amuse themselves. So, the first thing they did was to urge him to change into a comfortable pair of trousers and an older shirt. After he did as asked, they informed him that, if he wanted to learn how to sail, he needed to prove himself worthy by climbing up to the crow's nest. Diego was not the first don to have expressed a willingness to learn. Yet the several others before him had never dared climb up the main mast while the ship was sailing the waves, ending up humiliated by their own cowardice. The sailors and their captain, thus, expected he'd do the same.

The caballero, though, surprised them and easily agreed. After determining what path he should take, he started climbing, only stopping at reaching his destination.

From that day on, the sailors were not respectful to him because of the fact that he was a don, but because he had earned their admiration. Therefore, since he had kept his end of the bargain, proving himself worthy, they taught him everything they knew, from making good knots and getting down from the crow's nest using only a rope, to how to maintain balance on the high wooden logs as the ship rose and fell with the waves.

Diego enjoyed learning to sail as much as he enjoyed learning mostly anything else, and made fast progress. When they no longer had anything left to teach him about sailing, the crew decided to teach him whatever else they knew. That was how one of the others referred to as 'Cuchillo', decided to teach him how to handle the knife which had given him his nickname, both in combat and in defense. 'El Boracho' taught Diego how to hold his drinks, a skill the caballero wouldn't have expected to find in a man nicknamed 'The Drunk'. Finally, several of the others, unable to offer much in terms of new skills, decided to impart their knowledge of women, a chapter in which, by the time they reached Acapulco, Diego was a true expert, even if only when it came to theory.

Taking his goodbye from the captain and his crew, the tall caballero and the other two passengers sent their already-prepared letters to their families to inform them of their arrival in the southern port, then headed for the coach due to take them to Puebla. The roads were not in the best condition and the horses had some difficulties with part of the terrain, but, after less than two weeks, they reached the already-mentioned town.

Diego gave a silent praise to God when the older don took his goodbye and departed for Mexico City, glad to have finally escaped his endless tirades about the ways in which the poor people were inferior to the rich, and how the dons should not mingle with them. His other companion, the sickly Don Sabino, did the same, at his turn irritated with the older caballero.

As they continued their journey by themselves, only occasionally joined by other travelers and only for a small portion of the way, the other man started opening up and, eventually, after much hesitation, told Diego all about his rather strange disease. Recognizing the symptoms from the time spent learning from the Indians as a disease of the stomach they normally treated with teas made from some wild flowers, the De la Vega heir asked the driver to stop the coach as soon as he noticed some in a field they passed by one day. Getting out, he rapidly collected as many as he could carry. Then, as their journey restarted, chose a book he could afford to sacrifice and placed the flowers between its leafs so that they'd dry out as quickly as possible, then made sure to leave the book in one of his smaller trunks, which were placed on top of the carriage, thus, in the sun, the entire day. About the same time they arrived to Veracruz, the flowers were ready to be used for the tea, and, two weeks into their voyage, his companion was already doing much better thanks to it.

ZZZ

In the meantime, in Los Angeles, Don Alejandro was struggling to teach Felipe how to read and write, certain that the boy would have a far easier life if he'd be able to do so. It was certainly a more difficult task than that of teaching his son, since Diego had mostly learned by himself and he could hear and speak. Felipe could do neither, even if he was extremely intelligent.

Moreover, even with his mind occupied by the foal he was already doing his best to take care of, the boy missed Diego and had a hard time focusing on his classes.

Victoria also missed the tall caballero. In her heart, she had promised to wait for him, even if she had never said that in as many words. She knew he understood, and she had every intention of keeping that promise. So, she focused all her energy on the tavern, paying more attention and learning all she could so that she could help her parents and distract herself from daydreaming about Diego.

Slowly, a few months after the De la Vega heir embarked for Spain, the life of his loved ones entered a new routine. Victoria was becoming a dedicated taverness, learning so quickly that, soon enough, her parents started trusting her to run the establishment whenever they went to the port to buy provisions; Don Alejandro had to relearn to be patient and find new ways to get Felipe interested in learning; and the boy became more and more attached to the older don, while he was impatiently waiting for Diego to return, as promised.

ZZZ

The ship Diego and his new friend had embarked on in the New Spain's eastern port was called "La Reina Isabel" and, besides them, there were eighteen other passengers onboard: three brothers who claimed to be working for a commercial company, two married dons with their wives and children, four servants who were tending to the families, a young couple and an older woman who was hired as their dueña during their voyage to Spain, where they intended to get married. With more young people onboard, the two caballeros soon found themselves in good company, especially since most of them were their age or just a few years older.

One day, as everyone was enjoying some fresh air on the deck after siesta, out of a sudden, the sky became dark as the sun hid behind the black clouds which rapidly spread across the horizon. Some thunderbolts followed as they all looked at the sky. Minutes later the waves started growing bigger as the rain and the wind came. The captain urged all his passenger to return to their cabins and remain there until the tempest would have passed. They did as said, except for Diego who, after thinking for a few minutes, decided to change into the clothes he had used while learning how to sail on the other ship, then go help the crew.

"Get inside, Don Diego!" The captain yelled at him as soon as he saw the caballero coming on the deck.

"I can help!" He shouted back.

"If a wave washes you away, there might be nothing my men and I could do to save you! On this weather, we can barely see ahead!" The man replied.

Diego agreed that he was, most probably, right, the moment a wave washed the entire deck, causing him to fall and slip several feet as the ship tilted to the port side, then got hurt due to some barrels which fell and impacted him.

"Get inside, Don Diego!" The captain ordered him again.

Diego hesitated a few more moments as he picked himself off the deck, than did as he was told, realizing that having the basic knowledge of sailing mattered little in a situation where experience was the most important of all assets.

So, deciding he'd be hindering rather than helping, he considered different ways to be useful, and headed towards Sabino's quarters to make sure his friend was alright.

He wasn't. When Diego got there, the man had already thrown up the entire contents of his stomach and was going through a horrendous episode of seasickness. And, as the door to the cabin across the hallway fell open, he could clearly see his friend wasn't the only one to suffer.

One of the two families was in that cabin, its members holding onto each other and to the stable pieces of furniture there, as most of their things swung from one side of the room to the other and back.

Another wave hit and the ship tilted again to one side. This time, the large trunk which hadn't thus far moved with the rest of the items fell and trapped the young mother between it and the wooden cabin wall. Water started pouring inside, and soon it was almost a foot deep across the entire deck.

"Help! Please help me!" The husband called his fellow passengers as he vainly tried to move the trunk out of the way.

Forgetting all about the seasickness, Sabino was the first one to mobilize and Diego followed him, both getting small bruises and cuts on their way there as they involuntarily impacted with the doorframe, the walls and some pieces of furniture.

As they reached the trapped woman, the ship tilted again and the trunk pressed further, threatening to squash her. The men did their best not to add their weight to it as they lost even the semblance of balance they still had. The woman screamed louder and the two small children started yelling for their mother. Their father was oscillating between calming his sons and leaving them to help his wife.

"Stay with them. We'll help your wife!"Sabino confidently stated, then looked at Diego.

The caballero, realizing there was no way to pull the heavy trunk, managed to get to the woman behind it, and squeezed himself to sit next to her, pushing the trunk with his legs.

"Pull her out as soon as there's enough space!" He urged his friend.

The ship tilted again and Diego finally found a good moment to move the trunk. Pushing with all his strength, he managed to free the young mother. Sabino helped her to her feet, then caught her in his arms when she could not stand, dragging her to her husband. Meanwhile, the tall caballero was now doing his best to help himself up before becoming the trunk's next victim. As the ship tilted to the starboard, he took advantage of the few seconds during which the pressure on him diminished to stand up. Then, for lack of another solution, grabbed onto a ceiling beam and pulled himself up with all his strength before the trunk finally slid to impact with the wooden wall, barely missing his legs.

The beam was slippery and Diego fell right on top of the trunk as a new wave threw more water inside the ship, adding to his growing collection of bruises in the process.

Several of the other passengers, alarmed by what was now some two feet of water across all decks, were exiting their cabins, prepared to head for the boats, certain that the ship was sinking.

"Go back to your cabins!" Diego heard the captain tell the other man whose family accompanied him on the trip.

"I won't let my child sink with this ship!" The man yelled back stubbornly, heading towards one of the boats.

The tall caballero and his friend exchanged a glance, then followed them to the deck, mainly out of curiosity.

"If the ship sinks, what chances do you think the boats have against these waves? Go back!" The captain again ordered.

The man refused and signed for his wife to follow him with their child. She did, but the following wave hit the deck and, as she was holding her daughter at the moment, she had no way to hold on to anything else. Thus, the poor woman was washed away, her daughter with her. After a few seconds of pure despair, as the man thought his family lost to him forever, they heard her screaming for help, and saw that she had managed to hold onto one of the side ropes used for the sails.

At that point, both Diego and Sabino exited onto the deck and headed straight in the direction from whence the cry came from, following her desperate husband. The man reached his wife just as she was about to slip, but his hold was weakening by the second. The couple's struggle would have ended as a new wave impacted the ship, had it not been for Diego and Sabino who both reached and grabbed the woman's forearm at the same time, just as her husband's grip failed and she was about to fall. The child, however, who was dangling from her mother's other hand, had nobody to grab her.

Noticing the urgency of the situation, Diego looked around and, as the husband once again grabbed his wife's hand, this time, in a far stronger grip, the caballero let go of her and found a rope. Tying it around his waist and securing it to the closest mast, he climbed down the side of the ship as fast as he could, reaching the girl just as she was about to fall, catching her with his legs. The child grabbed onto him and held tight as he pulled her up and the other men reached to get them back onboard.

Diego fell exhausted on the deck and remained there, in the rain, for a few minutes as some of the sailors were helping the traumatized family inside.

"Are you alright?" His friend asked.

He raised his head and nodded, then reached for Sabino's extended hand and got up, heading for the lower deck.

The storm lasted throughout the night and almost the entire next day, but the ship survived, and so did everyone onboard.