Sunbathing
Diego watched Victoria sunbathing in the setting sun on a bench at the hacienda with her eyes closed and her face turned to the sun. She had come early to the dinner invitation, but neither his father nor he had been ready to join her. While his father was getting dressed, Zorro had been busy with an urgent matter, and he had only returned a few minutes ago. Now he wished he hadn't changed back already, or else he could have stolen another kiss from his beloved. Then he noticed the fresh handkerchief in his pocket, and a smile appeared on his face. He'd have his kiss anyway.
Silently, he snuck behind her bench with the folded handkerchief in his hands. Before Victoria noticed him, he had blindfolded her from behind. When she started to struggle and tried to remove the cloth, he calmed her.
"Shh, mi Amor," he said in his natural voice that he only used as Zorro or when he was alone with Felipe. "Don't be afraid. It's me."
"Zorro! Why are you here?" Victoria stopped struggling immediately, smiling instead. "Why the blindfold?"
"Do I need a reason to meet you?" He sat down on the bench beside her and took her into his arms to kiss her.
Victoria happily returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, but instead of his mask, she felt his hair between her fingers. "I understand the need for the blindfold while you're not wearing your mask," she whispered between kisses as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"I must go." Reluctantly, he withdrew from her, but it was already too late.
"Diego? Where are you?" he heard his father calling, entering the patio. "What is going on here?" he asked when he saw them arm in arm on the bench.
Knowing he could no longer keep the secret from Victoria, he quickly removed the blindfold and slipped it back into his pocket before his father noticed it. Victoria stared at him, too surprised to say something.
"I asked Victoria if she wanted to marry me, and she said yes." Diego rose from the bench, offering his hand to Victoria. She took it, but the daggers she threw him with her eyes told him he would have to answer a lot of questions later.
"Yes, I did," Victoria agreed as they faced his father with joined hands.
Diego smiled happily at her. She had accepted him, and they would figure out something about how to get married, but now he wanted to have dinner with his fiancée and his father.