Chapter 2

Alejandro didn't see his son until two days later. And he had to hear from Felipe that Diego had returned. Now, Alejandro stood over his son as he lay in bed staring unemotionally up at the ceiling.

"Do you plan to tell me what is going on?"

"What would be the point?" Diego answered flatly.

Alejandro rolled his eyes and decided not to beat around the proverbial bush. "Diego, what did you do to upset Victoria? Why did she slap you? And where have you been for the last two days?"

Diego hesitated for a moment and then answered, "I kept a secret from her."

Alejandro's eyes narrowed. "What secret?" His mind worked frantically to try and figure out what kind of secret Diego could possibly keep from Victoria that would anger her so fiercely. The only thing he could think of was that it had something to do with Zorro.

"It doesn't matter anymore."

The pain and despondency in his son's voice worried Alejandro and he pulled a chair from the wall and settled into it. His son had not behaved this way since his mother died. "Diego."

"Father, I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk about it."

"People are saying Victoria had a fight with Zorro." Alejandro offered just to see his son's reaction. "No one can remember ever seeing her so sad – and angry."

"She may as well have."

But Alejandro missed the comment for what it was and continued, "but she didn't have a fight with him, did she? She had a fight with you."

"So it would seem."

Alejandro stared down at his son, a thought suddenly coming to him. "Do you know his identity? Did she find out you knew and kept it from her?"

Diego's lips twisted into a frown. "Something like that."

Alejandro leaned forward, exhaling deeply. "Why would you keep such a thing from her?"

"Because she would have been in danger if she knew."

"She loves that man, Diego! What would you do if you were in her shoes?"

"Do more than slap me."

Alejandro shook his head. "Did you tell her then? Does she know now?"

"Yes."

"And she's still upset with you?"

"Perhaps she couldn't love the man behind the mask."

Diego's voice was devoid of all emotion, which concerned Alejandro greatly. It was very clear Diego had not slept well, probably not at all since his confrontation with Victoria two days prior. But why such a confrontation would bother his son so much confused Alejandro. Unless his son knew something about Zorro that Victoria didn't.

"That would be – unfortunate," Alejandro said sadly. "Victoria has loved him for such a long time –"

"Father, please. I would rather not discuss this further."

Alejandro's eyes narrowed in irritation. "Listen Diego, as hurt as she may be right now over your keeping this secret, you need to apologize to her. Show her she can trust you."

"She will never trust me again."

"How do you know that, son? She's upset over the loss of a man she loved very much. When she sees that you are –"

"– someone she can never, or will ever, love. No, there is nothing left between us but anger." Diego finished and rolled onto his side so his father would not see the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

"What?" Alejandro stared at his son's back, confused. "Diego, I don't understand. Something is not as it appears here. What is going on?"

"It's not something you can fix as easily as you could a scraped knee when I was a boy."

Alejandro was confused. Diego was acting as if – His eyes widened as he stared at his son's back. No. It couldn't be. "Diego –"

"Father, please. Just go."

"I will go. After you tell me who he is." Alejandro stubbornly crossed his arms, his heart beating frantically.

"Don't you think he would have told you if he thought it would be safe to do so?"

Alejandro wasn't sure if he were more excited or worried by that response. But he decided to press on. If things were as he now suspected, he could completely understand Diego's despondency. "If he has a family, they would be in the same danger knowing as not knowing."

"That's not true."

"How so?" Alejandro resumed his seat and leaned back to hear his son's explanation.

"Knowing would put Zorro himself in danger. Do you honestly think they could refrain from staring at him, worrying about him, saying or doing something that would draw suspicion, where there normally would have been none?"

Alejandro tilted his head, considering this. "Perhaps. But would it be fair to them to find him suddenly gone one day, not knowing why? Caught, captured, hung, shot, or worse."

"I couldn't risk it."

Alejandro closed his eyes and sighed deeply. There it was. Such a simple revelation. But it held such incredible meaning and answered every single question about his son's and Victoria's behavior over the last two days.

Alejandro stood slowly and walked to the other side of the bed. His heart broke when he noticed the drying tears on his son's cheeks. His son hadn't cried since he was a boy. He immediately drew Diego into his arms and embraced him tightly. "Oh, Diego. I wish you'd told me."

It took a moment for Diego to return the embrace, and when he did there was no stopping the sobs the wracked the broad shoulders. "I've always feared that she could not love the man behind the mask. I guess I was right."

Alejandro stroked the dark head just as he had when Diego was a boy. "And that is the true reason you've never told her?"

"One of many."

"Did you stop to consider that this revelation came as quite a shock for Victoria? That, perhaps, she said and did things that she will regret later?"

"I know her well, father. I've watched her for a long time. I've loved her for a long time." Diego sighed shakily. "She will never forgive me and she will never love me."

Alejandro closed his eyes and steeled himself for what he was about to advise. "If you truly believe that, then let her go and find someone else to love, my son."

Diego took a shaky breath. "I don't know if I can do that, father. I've loved Victoria so deeply and for so long, I'm not sure I could find another to love – even if I wanted to."

Alejandro nodded, understanding his son's pain. He, too, had lost a woman he had loved fiercely. But he didn't believe that all hope was lost for his son. Not yet. Victoria was a sensible woman and he truly believed she would eventually come to realize how much Diego did truly mean to her. He only hoped she would realize this in time to save his son from erecting an impenetrable barrier around his emotions. "Then don't give up, son."

Nearly a week went by before Diego was able to bring himself to ride into town. His father had been as supportive as he could, and had made excuses to anyone who asked about Diego. But it was Diego who needed to face his fears and confront Victoria. She'd had a week. It was time to speak to her.

He'd heard reports from town. Victoria wasn't her usual cheerful self. Bandits, without Zorro to capture them, were more successful than usual in their attempts to rob the citizens.

Whisperings began that Victoria and Zorro had ended their romance, and that he had moved elsewhere, leaving the pueblo to the oppressive government that worked against the people more than it worked for them.

As Diego tied Esperanza to the hitching post, he hoped that Victoria would consent to taking a ride with him, so they could speak in private. Diego barely heard the alcalde as he rode out of town at the head of his lancers, muttering loudly about catching some bandits who had robbed the stage a day before.

Pilar shot him a curious look when he walked into the tavern and a few caballeros nudged him as he walked toward the curtain separating the kitchen from the dining room.

"You may want to reconsider going in there, Diego!"

"Sí, she's been in a horrible mood. That fight with Zorro must have been a bad one."

Diego sighed. "Well, perhaps I should –"

Just as he spoke, Victoria came through the curtain, carrying two trays. Her usual smile was gone, and in its place was a pale form of the vibrant woman Victoria used to be. When she caught sight of Diego, she looked away. She quickly deposited the trays in front of her customers and disappeared behind the curtain again.

One of the caballeros laughed. "She's been giving everyone that look for days. I would suggest you just leave her alone. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that temper."

Diego waited a few minutes and then caught Pilar's attention when he didn't notice Victoria return from the kitchen.

"Victoria went out for a little while," Pilar answered when Diego asked where Victoria had gone. "She didn't say when she'd be back."

Diego's heart sank. So she was still angry with him. Diego sighed, placed a coin on the table for his drink and slipped out of the tavern, leaving the caballeros laughing and gossiping over Victoria's mood.

He decided to take the long route home. A more seldom used road that veered to the west before heading north once again. It would give him more time to think, to try to figure out what to do with his life now that Victoria was lost to him. The last week of solitude had provided no answers.

Esperanza walked slowly, and Diego barely directed her along the road, lost as he was in thoughts of where he had gone wrong. What he had done to deserve so much heartache. Creating Zorro was supposed to help the people of the pueblo, and he had done so, for years, delaying a normal life with the woman he loved. But now that woman didn't want him and his drive to continue riding as Zorro was gone – vanished in the wake of Victoria's rejection.

He didn't even seem to care that more bandits were causing trouble for the pueblo in the last week. De Soto and the lancers had been so busy with them they hadn't even had time to berate Victoria over her argument with Zorro.

Diego didn't even want to try to figure out why everyone thought it was Zorro with whom she'd fought, when it was he who had been kicked out of the tavern by a hysterical Victoria that day.

Esperanza snorted and Diego shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was a rider up ahead and he wanted to at least be polite. Squinting into the sun, Diego's heart thudded sharply in his chest when he realized that rider was Victoria.

He considered wheeling Esperanza around and taking another way home, but he quickly realized he was being a fool. He'd gone to town today hoping to get a few minutes alone with her, and now that that opportunity had rather unexpectedly presented itself, he was ready to slink away like a coward.

Diego growled at himself and pressed his heels into Esperanza's side. She trotted forward at an even, practiced gait. He slowed the mare once she pulled alongside Victoria's.

One look at him and Victoria dug her legs into her mare's sides, urging her into a trot. She did not want to see Diego or talk to him. The pain of his betrayal was too fresh.

Diego took off after her and after a moment he'd caught up. He leaned over and gripped the reins, forcing Victoria's mare to come to a stop. "Please, Victoria. I just want to talk to you for a few minutes. I want to explain –"

"There is nothing you can say that I want to hear, Diego de la Vega!" Victoria exclaimed, staring at him with angry eyes.

"Whether you want to hear it or not, I must say it." Diego's voice had changed. No longer was he the meek, timid scholar, whose calming voice Victoria had become so use to hearing every day.

No, this was the controlling, demanding tone that Zorro used when confronting his enemies. Victoria suppressed a shiver – of excitement or annoyance, she wasn't quite sure.

"Then say your peace and leave me alone," Victoria said, the slightly hysterical edge to her voice receding just a bit.

She didn't want to hear what he had to say.

"I'm sorry, Victoria. For everything. I never meant to hurt you. I've only ever wanted to protect you –"

"By lying to me? Every day for five years?"

"I felt I needed to protect you, my father, everyone I love."

Victoria stared at him. "Your father doesn't know?"

"He does now."

Victoria looked away, resisting the urge to gallop away from him. She didn't want to hear his explanations. She couldn't see past the hurt and betrayal she felt at his lies.

"Victoria, I love you. Please believe me."

The pleading tone in his voice nearly broke her steely resolve. But instead, she turned to him, her eyes hard, "And what about the people? Do you want to protect them too?" Victoria's tone was accusatory as she stared at him.

"That is why Zorro was created," Diego said softly.

"Then where have you been for the last week? Bandits have run rampant through the pueblo, robbing poor farmers, stealing and destroying crops!"

Diego lowered his head. He knew these things had been happening, but in his depression, he didn't want to get involved, not anymore. The costume reminded him too much of clandestine meetings with the woman he loved and kisses stolen under the cover of darkness.

She was waiting for an answer, and Diego finally looked up at her, and gave her one she was not expecting.

"It is because of you that I fight so hard, hoping that when the oppression of our people is ended, we can build a life together. Everything that I do has been for you, for us. I –"

"So we have a fight and you abandon this alter ego you've created because you're - upset? You let others suffer because of your own twisted view of how the world should work, because of your great sacrifice for the pueblo!" She was too angry, too upset, to even consider that she should take some measure of responsibility as well.

Her words bit into his heart, tearing what was left of it into tiny shreds of its former self.

"You're no better than the alcalde! Manipulating lives to get your way!"

"You can't believe that," was all Diego's stunned mind could think to say.

"The only difference between the two of you is that you play with emotions rather than purse strings!"

Victoria's venomous retort stunned Diego silent and he could only watch dumbly as she dug her heels into her mare's sides and galloped away from him.

Victoria's heart was racing. She hadn't meant for such hurtful words to come flying from her lips, but they had come unbidden, wrenched from her by a deep, aching, pain that she didn't know how to fight.

Remembering the horrified look in Diego's eyes caused Victoria to slow her mare to a trot and she briefly considered turning around and going back to him, to apologize for her hateful words. But anger stayed her hands and she continued trotting away from him.

Diego stared after her, his heart hurting with a pain he would not wish on his worst enemy. He'd allowed himself a small measure of hope that he would be able to break through the barrier she had constructed around her emotions. But it was clear to him now that there was no hope. She was lost to him now.

He briefly considered going after her, to make her listen to him, make her understand. And during the split second it took him to make that final decision, he saw mounted men appear out of the shadows.

Diego paused, instinctively sensing that their purpose wasn't innocent. He didn't think they had seen him, and waited a moment to see if they would ride off. Then he saw one of them reach for Victoria, heard her shout of alarm.

"No!" Diego hissed. Even as he dug his heels into Esperanza's sides, Victoria was roughly pulled from the saddle. In a split-second, Diego was racing after them.

He could hear her scream his name and his protective instincts kicked in. He overtook the bandits quickly and launched himself off Esperanza and onto one bandit, knocking him to the ground with a hard thud.

The bandit holding Victoria wrapped one hand over her mouth and one around her waist. When she wouldn't stop struggling, he slapped her roughly across the cheek. "Silencio, woman!"

He backed away with her when he noticed Diego land a well-placed punch, knocking his comrade out instantly.

Diego pushed himself to his feet and glared at the bandit holding Victoria. "Let her go, Señor. Now." His tone left no room for argument and he could see Victoria staring at him wide-eyed over the bandit's hand.

"I think not, caballero!" the bandit answered with a smirk.

Victoria continued to struggle and Diego took another step forward. He stopped as he heard pistols and muskets cock behind him. As he turned to get a better look at how many men stood behind, the butt of a musket collided with the side of his head.

Victoria screamed as Diego crumpled to the ground unconscious.

TBC

In the first version of this chapter, I forgot to answer everyone's responses to the first chapter! Obviously, you can tell it's been a while since I posted! Laugh

Trollie – Things get far worse for them before they get better. Yes, I'm evil. Thank you for continuing to tell me so. Smithcrafter's story 'A Father's Love' is turning out to be FAR more evil than mine….go review and tell her that she's being evil too.. :)

Smithcrafter – Original beginnings are so hard to come by! I'm glad you think this story had one! And I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

WolfDaughter – wagon load of problems . . . oh yes. But at least I don't drag anything out. This isn't a very long story :) I seem incapable of writing them at the moment.

FishDk – Thanks for the review. Hope you like this next chapter.

Madamaq – You're right :)

Beverly – Thanks for the comments. Hope you still think the same after reading this next chapter.

Aurelia30 – I really do love writing about her temper. We haven't seen the last of it :)