Disclaimer: My story was inspired by the NWZ TV series as well as my childhood daydreams. Any names involved in this story came from the imagination of a child except for the main characters from the TV show.

"¡Que dia!" Diego reflected out loud as he returned to his secret cave after a long hot day of chasing and capturing a rogue group of banditos. He originally had been attempting to ride Toronado as Zorro to surprise his beloved Victoria and steal a few fleeting moments with her before Alcalde De Soto spotted him and perhaps enjoy a quick lunch. Instead he heard screams and gunfire which interrupted his daydream of how he hoped his plans would go halfway to his desired destination.

Several scrawny men covered in tattered clothing had been shouting with pistols drawn for the cash box to be thrown down. After besting the men with his sword and whip they turned tail and attempted to flee on their horses. As he had chased after them on his ever faithful horse through the dust-choked air under the blazing full heat of the sun he could see that the rough riding was getting to the men. He had pretended to have stopped following them with a vengeance and quietly continued to follow them unseen while hidden behind the trees and vegetation. The overconfident banditos who had assumed they had gotten away from him had suddenly stopped beside a flowing stream and began to dismount from their horses. He had watched while still unseen and hidden as they began to greedily drink the water.

Suddenly the men had begun to shout at each other in confusion. "My eyes, what has happened to my eyes," the leader began to wail. "I can't see!" exclaimed another in the group of banditos. They had begun to hold their heads and pace in circles as confusion had overtaken their minds. "The water must have poisoned them," he had said to himself. He remembered how he had lost his eye sight once before while attempting to evade De Soto when they had both become poisoned by the tainted water.

He had quietly lowered himself to the ground and motioned for Toronado to stay where he was. As discreetly as he could, he had made his way towards the distracted group of men who had no idea that the masked man in black was on the verge of taking them down. Diego had smiled to himself as he explored their belongings while working his magic to keep their horses quiet. He had found several ropes of various lengths among their belongings along with a few other useful objects and had used their unfortunate blindness and confusion to aid himself with tying them up and securing them on their horses.

"Fortunately for you all the blindness will eventually fade away as the water has temporarily blinded you when you were poisoned," he had informed them. The men of course had groaned and continued to shout various insults at him. "Zorro, you will pay for this as soon as my sight returns!" The leader had shouted at him. He wasted no time and had continued to lead the men and their horses towards the pueblo after he had branded each one with his famous Z as a reminder that he was the one who had caught them. Upon reaching the pueblo he had seen his adversary De Soto standing by the stagecoach he had come across earlier.

"There is the man who is responsible for attempting to steal from you," De Soto had been informing the passengers who had been traveling on the almost ill-fated stagecoach. "I beg to differ," Victoria had stepped into view as she interrupted him before he could finish his accusatory speech against Zorro. "Apparently Zorro has apprehended the real thieves once again," she had added for good measure as De Soto's face had turned a shade of crimson in frustration as he was once again proved to be wrong.

Diego had taken advantage of the distraction Victoria had created as she had interrupted the accusatory speech to ride to a secluded spot, but not before catching his father's eye as he quietly began to sneak away. He wished that his father knew that he was the one behind the mask. His father thought of him as a coward, and that he should strive to be more like Zorro. If only his father knew that he was exactly like Zorro, because he was indeed Zorro.

After he had dismounted and stealthily snuck into Victoria's kitchen and hid in a corner. He had felt his heart swell with pride as he had watched her enter the kitchen. "Mi hermosa Victoria, estoy aquí," (My beautiful Victoria, I am here.) he had spoken from his hiding place as he startled her. "Zorro, oh you gave me such a fright!" Victoria had exclaimed as she spun around and lightly slapped his arm. He had drawn her into his arms and began to passionately kiss her as he had been in his earlier abandoned daydream. Diego had broken off the kiss even though he had wished to continue kissing her. "I had intended to be able to spend more time with you my love, but I must be off since our friend the alcalde will be searching for me," he had whispered before kissing her hand. With a flash of his black cape he had abandoned the kitchen quickly as he had begun to hear multiple boots stomping through the tavern.

Yes, he had definitely had a long day already. Thankfully the air in his cave felt cool and Toronado was safely relaxing after having been brushed well and given an afternoon treat. Felipe was admiring his latest scientific work. He had become more of a father of the boy, who was now closer to becoming a man. Rescuing Felipe when he was a scared young boy was one of his best decisions.

Diego walked across the cave to join Felipe and explain what was happening with the chemicals he had been experimenting with recently. He began to explain the scientific procedure and answer Felipe's questions. With the unexpected plans of the day he had not yet eaten lunch. He needed to change from Zorro's outfit and back into his regular clothes.

Diego pulled out his pocket watch with the fine carving of a bird and floral scenery on the case to check the time. As he looked at the Arabic numerals on the white porcelain dial, Felipe began to sneeze. Not once, but three times. With the third sneeze Felipe sneezed so hard that he accidentally knocked over the glass beaker with his elbow. The bubbling chemicals spilled all over Diego's pocket watch.

"I'm so sorry," Felipe becan to sign. "It's all right, no harm done," Diego responded as he began to wipe the pocket watch off with his cape. He had heard Toronado becoming upset and walked over to comfort him as the incident had spooked his resting companion. Suddenly he began to feel dizzy and held on to Toronado's neck for support as he tried to steady himself. "The chemicals must have caused a bad reaction," he shouted in Felipe's direction. As his vision focused for a moment he saw Felipe's eyes growing wide as a terrifying expression was beginning to appear on his face. "What is happening?" Felipe signed just as Diego's vision had begun to fade again.

Diego could only see blackness as he felt as if his body was being pulled into multiple directions. He could hear what sounded like thunder as his heartbeat was pounding in his ears. He continued to cling to Toronado as he felt like he was falling into a bottomless pit. His thoughts were of Victoria as mental visions of the children and grandchildren he had planned to raise with her flew through his mind. With a thud he felt himself land on solid ground. He opened his eyes and noticed he was surrounded by large brilliant and full trees complimented by emerald green grass with a large path snaking through it as black as his cape. The buildings looked nothing like any buildings that he had seen before. Diego noticed that he was still clinging to Toronado. He released his hold on his faithful horse and picked his hat up off of the ground where it had fallen. "Where are we, my boy?" Diego questioned aloud. "We are definitely not at the hacienda," he told his horse.