Supper did little to calm Diego's nerves. If anything, the pit in his stomach grew worse. It was not a feeling the young de la Vega was used to having. As Zorro, he had been in many tough scrapes and close calls. Fights on horseback. A duel over the rooftops of the cuartel. How many times had he had to pull a quick change in order to preserve his identity? Gracias a Dios for Bernardo. He thought of Rosarita. Of AnnaMaria Verdugo. His own father. Why can't you be more like Zorro? How many times had he wanted to shout it from the rooftops that he was Zorro?

His fingers drifted over the ivory keys of his father's piano. He hadn't played it since the day he'd returned from Spain. All of those times, he thought, I had never been too worried about someone discovering my identity. Was it difficult to play the part? Of course.

He remembered his frustrated question to his father, that day in Monterey. Well, does it mean that much to you that I remain Zorro? He had been ready to give it up, to take off the mask, and ride into the sunset with AnnaMaria Verdugo. He had never been more certain of anything in his life.

So why is this time so different?

Because that time, his mind reminded him, it was by your choice. In a city where no one knew you. This is here, it is home, in front of friends and family you have been lying to for almost two years.

He hit a wrong key in the song and grimaced. He heard his father give a huff behind him. "Is my playing bothering you, Father?" he asked wryly.

"Frankly, yes." Alejandro reached forward and gently pulled Diego backward on the bench. Diego took his fingers off the keys, waiting for his father to continue. "You should be more concerned with the problem of fighting a duel. Or rather, not fighting one!"

Diego looked back over his shoulder. "I am concerned!" he fired back. "I just…I don't know what to do!"

Bernardo flicked his index finger in three quick slashes. Diego shook his head. "No. Not until someone gives me one good reason why Zorro should get mixed up in this?"

"Because you cannot fight this man as yourself!" Alejandro told him.

Diego got up slowly from the piano bench, and looked his father in the eye. "I seem to recall you making that choice for me once already," he reminded him. "This decision is mine."

"And so what is your decision, then?" Alejandro countered. He watched Diego's mouth open as if to counter…and then his son looked away. "Exactamente," Alejandro said.

A knock on the door interrupted the argument, and Alejandro jerked his head toward the door. "See who that is, Bernardo."

Bernardo hesitated. A part of him wanted to come to Diego's aid. He had been there the very first day Diego had decided to become Zorro…had seen the initial conflict in his eyes as he told Bernardo to throw his trophies overboard, creating his new identity he knew would be a disappointment to his father.

He could see how conflicted his friend was…and he knew his father did too. Neither man knew what to do, and both had a solution…it was just that the solution was not going to work, in either case.

"Bernardo," Alejandro repeated.

He made his way to the front door and opened it. Standing there was Senor Avila's second, Senor Pineda. Before Bernardo could do his usual pantomime of being unable to speak or hear, Pineda said, "Be good enough to tell Don Diego de la Vega that Senor Pineda is here to arrange the time and place of the duel."

"I heard you," Diego said as he came to the door. "Please. You have a message for me, senor?"

"Senor Avila will meet you in the patio garden at the tavern at twelve noon tomorrow," Pineda said.

Diego nodded. "You may tell Senor Avila that I will be there. My father will act as my second." He moved to close the door, but Pineda held a hand out, stopping him. Diego eyed him.

"There is just one other little matter," Pineda said. He glanced around, as if someone were listening to the conversation. "I do not wish to alarm you, Don Diego, but my friend Senor Avila is truly a great swordsman. He has killed many men."

Tell me something I don't already know, Diego thought.

"But," Pineda continued, "he is not particularly interested in killing you."

Diego gave a short laugh. "What a coincidence. I'm not particularly interested in being killed…if there is a way to avoid it."

"Oh, there is," Pineda assured him, leaning forward as if to reveal some great secret. Diego had a feeling he already knew what that secret was. His father came to join them at the door. "You are rich," Pineda said. "Senor Avila is poor. You would not even miss the few thousand pesos it would take to satisfy his honor."

And there it is. Diego's suspicions were confirmed. He looked at his father with a slight nod, saw in his eyes that Alejandro had been thinking along the same lines. The two de la Vega men looked at Senor Pineda. "May we show you to the gate, senor?" Diego said. It was not a question. He grabbed Pineda by one arm, his father took the other, and the two of them dragged Pineda across the patio and tossed him bodily out the front gate. Pineda landed hard in the dirt outside, and Bernardo closed the door behind him.

Diego looked at his father, and the two of them burst into laughter. Even Bernardo was smiling. Diego clapped his friend on the back. "You liked that, eh?" he said, and Bernardo nodded emphatically. Diego grinned, and turned to his father. "You are right, Father," he said. "I cannot fight him as Diego de la Vega. However, I think the threat of blackmail still requires that Senor Avila be taught a lesson. I do not wish him to extort any other men in Los Angeles."

Bernardo made a swishing sound, tracing a Z in the air. Diego nodded. "Yes, Bernardo. It is now a job for Zorro."

Alejandro looked relieved. "Good luck, my son," he told Diego. "You'll be handling that this evening, I assume?"

"I am," Diego said. "And then we shall see if Senor Avila still wants another fight tomorrow at noon." He looked at Alejandro. "Thank you, Father," he said.

Alejandro pulled him into a hug, then took his leave. Diego smiled, shook his head. "Get Tornado ready for me," he told Bernardo, "and then take yourself off to bed."

Bernardo gave Diego's arm a friendly squeeze and made his way inside. For the first time all day, Diego felt the pit in his stomach lessen. He turned to go up the outside stairs and make his way to his room when he heard the sounds of horses outside the gates. A moment later, he heard Sergeant Garcia-what on Earth is he doing out here at this late hour-tell Reyes, "You remain here with the horses."

Diego opened the gate before Garcia could knock. "It's you again Sergeant," he said in genuine surprise.

"Si, Don Diego," Garcia replied. "Could I have a few words, please?" he pleaded.

"Well, sergeant, I'm in a hurry to be off to bed, I have a duel to fight in the morning," Diego reminded him. "If you'd be brief?" he requested. "What's troubling you?" He could see it in Garcia's eyes, hear it in his tone, that something was amiss.

"Ah, well,' Garcia began, "it is my horse that is troubling me, Don Diego," he explained. "We were on our way back from a patrol, and I think he may have stumbled or picked up a stone. Your hacienda was the closest. Would….would you be kind enough to take a look at him?"

Diego shrugged. "All right." Something didn't quite feel right, but perhaps he was only imagining it. He followed Garcia outside to where Garcia's horse stood. Reyes was nearby, watching the two of them. "Sergeant, which leg is it?" Diego asked, kneeling down next to the horse. The animal snorted and gave a swish of his tail.

"This one," Garcia said, giving a shake of his own left leg. Diego raised an eyebrow. "I am sorry, I mean, this one," he stuttered, pointing to the horse's front left leg. Diego took the animal's leg in his hands, gently requesting the horse raise his hoof. He ran his hands along the leg, feeling for breaks or swelling. Odd. "Sergeant, I don't-"

He felt a burst of pain explode at the base of his neck and pitched forward, but never remembered hitting the ground.

Bernardo awoke the next morning early and made his way to Diego's room. Diego slept late the mornings after he went out at night as Zorro, but with the 'duel' imminent, Bernardo wanted to be sure his friend was up and ready. He knocked quietly on the door, and opened it.

Diego's bed was completely made. There was no sign it had been slept in. Frowning, Bernardo pushed the secret panel near the fireplace that opened the passageway into the secret tunnels built into the house. Diego's cape and hat he wore as Zorro were still on their hooks, his sword lying untouched in its scabbard.

Something is not right. Hurriedly, Bernardo took the secret passage stairs two at a time, dashing through the passageways until he came to the cave that Diego had converted into a makeshift stable for Tornado.

Tornado was not saddled, and his food trough was empty. The horse whinnied impatiently. Bernardo fed him, his hands shaking, and ran a hand over Tornado's black coat. It is as if Diego never left last night, Bernardo thought. But he is not in the hacienda…and he is not here. What happened?

For once in his life, Bernardo was grateful that Alejandro knew Diego's secret, because he had no idea how to handle this turn of events on his own. Bernardo changed direction once back inside the house, using the corridor that opened out from the cabinet to the sala. Alejandro was already awake, his jacket draped over the back of a chair as he read a book. The old man started when Bernardo grabbed his shoulder and began signing emphatically.

"Now now, not so fast," Alejandro told him. He wasn't as proficient in Bernardo and Diego's secret language, so used to going through Diego for every translation, having only recently learned Bernardo could in fact, hear every word spoken to him and had since the day they'd been introduced. "What has upset you?"

Bernardo swallowed, took a breath. He mimed riding a horse, and pointed back at the secret passage. "Tornado," Alejandro said. Bernardo nodded quickly, pointing again. "He's in the cave."

Bernardo nodded. Then, he made a Z in the air. "Zorro," Alejandro knew that one.

Hands flew through the air. The Z again, then a gesture up in the vicinity of Diego's room, then Bernardo looking all around, ending with a shrug. Alejandro's eyes widened. "Zorro did not come home?"

Bernardo moved his hands as if to say he was sort of on the right track. He imitated throwing a cape over his shoulder, drawing a sword, and thrusting it. "Zorro's cape and sword," Alejandro guessed. Bernardo nodded, and pointed to the passageway. "They are in the secret room?" Bernardo grabbed his arms and nodded. Alejandro could see the panic in his eyes, and that spoke volumes. If Tornado, and all of his things are here, he never left last night as Zorro! Where is he? "Get the carriage," he ordered Bernardo, standing sharply. He reached for her jacket and the two men dashed out the door.