Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, mean no copyright infringements, make no money and only write for fun, but the ideas are mine and I do not agree to anyone copying them or the story.

AN: Valentine's Day Challenge Story no.2, complying with the following requirements:

1. Acceptable genres: Romance; Romance/Adventure; Romance/Humor; Romance/ Suspense.(it's a bit like nort-northest i.e. romance-romance/suspense)

2. Victoria cooks - stirring a pot and cutting onions to add to the sauce is cooking, right?

3. Don Alejandro bumps his head - be happy I'm not into maiming!

4. Felipe runs interference - mainly by being useless

5. The Alcalde has his plan thwarted; - by nobody being aware that it had succeeded… the usefulness of being vague with the requirements of the challenge :P

6. Mendoza rides on Tornado – without a saddle even!

7. Diego or Zorro is shirtless (at some point, not necessarily during the entire story… but… who would object to that, really?:P) – Not only shirtless…

8. Includes an unexpected spin on the already 'classic' kiss reveal – well, the 'classic kiss reveal' is when Victoria recognizes Diego is Zorro by kissing Diego. That's not exactly how this story goes, but a kiss is involved.

9. Must be published in full by February 14th, 2021 – It's just 3 chapters, of course it will be published in time.

10. Max. 3 chapters. Word count doesn't matter – :D

11. Must have a happy ending. – you'll have to read it to see if it complies to this one!

Now you know what to expect. Or do you?

A big 'Thank you!' to La Cuidadora for her corrections and input.

Enjoy!

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"Faster Esperanza!" Diego shouted.

The poor animal could barely hear him, but was already running at full speed, anyway. Victoria held on to the saddle horn with all her strength. A bullet flew just inches away. The horse tried, but couldn't run any faster.

"The chasm! Diego!" The taverness cried as they neared what seemed the end of their road.

Up ahead, some two hundred feet away was a deep ravine. The river had dug its way into the rocks for millennia. The wind and the scorching sun did the rest, eroding the rocks further. Had they had any consciousness or memory, they would have probably forgotten by then that they had once been united. Before the river, the wind and the sun.

"You need to make the jump! It's the only way!" The caballero told her.

"What do you mean, I need to make the jump?"

"Esperanza won't make it with the both of us on her back. Jump the ravine and keep riding!" He replied, giving the baffled Victoria the harness.

Seconds later, Victoria heard a muffled noise behind her just moments before the mare, who didn't even realize her master was no longer on her back, made one last effort and aimed for the other side.

To Victoria it all seemed to happen in slow motion. She dared look down as the horse was flying towards safety. The river seemed miles away. Next thing she knew she felt the impact of the solid ground as the mare's hoofs touched it again. Her back right leg, however, slipped, and, for a few moments, as Esperanza was struggling to find enough support to climb up, the young woman on her back feared they survived the jump only to fall just as they reached the other side.

Fighting for her life, the golden mare pushed up with all her strength and soon her hoofs were on firm ground, and she was ready to continue galloping. There was something missing, though. Victoria turned her around and watched in horror as Diego rose with some difficulty to his feet near the edge of the cliffs, only to be hit by a bullet that propelled him back, causing him to fall down the ravine. He didn't make one sound as he fell into the raging waters beneath.

Their pursuers stopped and watched him fall, then pointed their guns towards the woman on the other side of the chasm.

Victoria didn't want to leave. She needed to know if Diego was still alive. But the bullets which flew by some seconds later frightened the mare, and the horse made the decision in her stead. Taking advantage of Victoria's weak grip on her reins, Esperanza jerked herself free and headed home while her one remaining rider was doing her best to stay in the saddle.

ZZZ

Victoria arrived at the De la Vega hacienda just as De Soto and his men were exiting the house after having spent a few hours there, searching the hacienda, once more, in their quest to find Zorro's hideout.

"You!" She shouted as she dismounted and headed for the Alcalde, hitting him as she reached him, causing him to fall on his back as his men hurried to stop her. "You will pay for this!" The taverness yelled at him as the lancers were trying to drag her away from their commander.

"Victoria! Calm down! What happened?" Don Alejandro asked, looking inquisitively both at her and at his son's horse.

"They shot him! They shot Diego… Diego is dead because of him!" She uttered, tears falling down her cheeks as she looked towards Don Alejandro.

"My son?!" The don squeaked, the shock causing him to cover his mouth with his right hand.

"Don Diego is dead?" Mendoza asked.

"They were about to catch up with us at the ravine! He sacrificed himself so that Esperanza could make the jump and save me! Those men shot him, and he fell down into the river." She recounted as everyone stared at her in disbelief. "You set those men on me! Zorro warned me about them! He saw them come out of your office and you pointed at me! This is your fault! You did this!" She continued shouting at the Alcalde.

"I… I didn't mean for this to happen, Señorita!" He answered as he picked himself up. "I only told them that you might know… I… only planned for them to use whatever information you'd be able to give them in order to get Zorro! But I had no idea they'd try to kill you and Don Diego. I did not plan on that. I swear... Don Alejandro… I…"

"We need to form a search party. Now! If there's any chance that my son is alive, we need to find him as soon as possible! That is the first thing we need to do!" The don uttered as he recovered from the shock.

"Yes! Yes, of course! My men and I are at your disposal." De Soto uttered, troubled by the taverness' accusations and the fate he had unwillingly brought upon his former schoolmate. He never liked Diego, but he did not mean for something like that to happen to him. All he wanted was to get rid of Zorro so that he'd finally be able to bring Los Angeles to heel.

"Victoria, can you take us to where he fell?" The old caballero inquired, silently praying to find his only son still alive.

ZZZ

Four days soon passed. The tavern was still full of clients, but Pilar had to take care of it all by herself since Victoria had not returned there since that fateful day when she and the young don had been pursued by the bounty hunters. Who knew what her fate would have been, had Diego not sensed the danger as he saw the men coming towards them? He had her climb from her wagon to sit in front of him on his horse, then galloped away, heading straight for the ravine. A ravine he knew to be there, just as he knew their combined weight was too much for his mare. He had decided to sacrifice himself the moment he helped her on his horse, Victoria realized as memories of that day kept running through her mind, and he had done so without the slightest hesitation.

He could have died. The mere fact that they had found him alive just five hundred feet downstream was nothing short of a miracle. Those men could have searched for him and put another bullet through him, just to make sure he was dead, but, all they really wanted was to abduct or kill Victoria so that Zorro would come after them and, they hoped, fall into their trap. Thus, like the fools they were, after shooting the caballero, they headed back to the pueblo, hoping for another chance to get her. The lancers did not give it to them.

"Victoria!" Pilar uttered as she entered the tavern through the kitchen door that morning. "I didn't expect to see you today. How's Don Diego?"

"Nothing has changed." She replied, a sad expression on her face. "The wounds are healing, but he's unresponsive… Just lying there… It's hard to see him like that. I just needed a break!"

"You look tired. How long has it been since you've last slept?" The good woman inquired.

"I don't know… I dozed off in a chair by his bed at one point, but I don't remember when that was exactly."

"You should go to your room and take a nap. I can wake you up in a few hours…" Pilar suggested with a kind smile.

"No… I can't sleep. I need to work. I need to do something to stop feeling so useless!" Victoria replied.

Pilar nodded and went to pour her a cup of coffee. "You can stir the stew if you want. See if there's any spice I should add more of, perhaps. I'll make some lemonade." She uttered as she offered her employer the cup.

The taverness looked gratefully at her and took a sip of the black liquid, then headed for the fire where the day's main lunch course was cooking.

"De Soto ordered those bounty hunters executed," Pilar told Victoria. "They carried out the sentence this morning, although, for a few moments, I thought they'd be stoned to death before reaching the gallows. People are quite furious about what happened to Don Diego."

"As they should be! He's a good man and he certainly didn't deserve this!" Victoria replied as she was chopping some onions to add to the stew, then suddenly raised her head as she heard De Soto's voice in the taproom. Certain it was him, she let the knife fall from her hand and threw the curtains open before stomping up to face the Alcalde directly. "Get out!" She ordered him. "Get out of my tavern and never step foot in here again!"

"Señorita…" He uttered, trying to appease her.

"You have nothing to say to me! You should have shared the gallows with those men! It's your fault! You put them up to it! Diego is lying unconscious, close to death, because of you! If you come back here, I'll… I'll make sure you are fully covered in enchilada sauce before I throw you out myself! Am I clear?"

"I understand you are upset, Señorita, but you must be reasonable. I did not mean for anything to happen to Don Diego, and I made sure justice has prevailed by executing those responsible for his misfortune." He answered.

"Misfortune?" She yelled, ready to jump at his neck.

"You heard the Señorita, Alcalde!" One of the dons present there stood up. "She doesn't want you here. And frankly, neither do we. Isn't that right, my friends?" He asked, addressing his companions, all of whom agreed and were joined by others in the tavern.

"Leave!" A farmer insisted as he also stood up and was followed by the people with whom he was sharing his table.

De Soto nodded spitefully, and turned around to exit, heading for his office.

ZZZ

A few more days went by and Diego had still not awoken. Feeding him was almost impossible. All he could have were liquids, varying from juices to soups and teas, and even those his caregivers were barely able to spoon-feed him. Yet Victoria wasn't complaining, but gave thanks every day because, despite it all, he was still alive and his body seemed to be healing.

"Why don't you read to him?" Don Alejandro asked her one afternoon as Victoria was sitting by his son's bed glancing between him and a book she was holding.

"Do you think he will hear me?" She wondered.

"I think he might… At least, it will do him good to hear your voice."

She agreed with a smile, liking the idea.

Thus, for the next weeks, since her friend stubbornly refused to open his eyes or give any sign that he was not lost to the world, the taverness read to him novels and plays by Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Fernando de Rojas, Shakespeare, Racine, Molière and Madame de La Fayette, commenting on each of them as she finished the story, imagining what he would say in return, and answering or contradicting him out loud whenever there was no one else in the room with her.

ZZZ

Victoria had never felt so grateful and indebted, both at the same time, towards another person as she felt towards Diego. Not even towards Zorro, whom she hadn't seen since the night before the 'misfortune', as De Soto put it. The Alcalde had not given him any reason to, and, after what had almost happened to Victoria, he probably didn't dare to, or so she rationalized the masked man's absence.

Pilar was thus left in charge of the tavern, and new helpers were hired to replace Victoria, who had all but moved to the hacienda where Don Alejandro had kindly offered her the guest room she normally used when she stayed there overnight, and they slowly found their own routine.

Almost every morning, Diego's graying father, his young adopted son, and the woman who was, unknowingly, his secret fiancée took breakfast at a table they had installed in the caballero's quarters, so that they'd be close to him, hoping that, if he'd hear their voices, he might find his way back to them.

When they finished, Felipe would remain to help exercise his father's muscles, as the old caballero would go see to the estate, and Victoria spent some time cooking with Maria.

Initially, that time away from Diego's bedside had been her catharsis, the only way for her to channel her frustrations, fears, and ire into doing something useful, before returning to him and to the feeling of helplessness at seeing him in that state. As the weeks passed, however, her feelings also changed.

Reading to him helped her feel useful since the two other men did not allow her to do more for Diego than help drink his meals and keep vigil on him. True, he was her friend, not her husband, so any other task, even if she wouldn't have shied away from it, would have been quite indecent for her to perform. But part of her regretted not being allowed to do more, nonetheless.

Around 10 a.m., Victoria would bring Diego a freshly-squeezed orange juice, which she, with a lot of patience and Felipe's help, got him to swallow. After that was done, she would sit in a big armchair by his bedside, and start reading out loud. Sometimes Felipe stayed, but most days he'd just disappear somewhere, to only re-emerge at lunchtime.

The midday meal she usually only shared with Diego's adopted son, since Don Alejandro was mostly gone at that time of day.

In the afternoon she'd read some more, while Felipe also read his own book. He was a slow reader, Victoria considered, since he barely turned the page every once in a while, and took ages to read a book. Of course, she had no idea that the young man was only pretending to read as he was, instead, listening to her do that for his adoptive father.

Dinner they also had together in Diego's room, Don Alejandro normally joining Felipe and the taverness. Then they'd play some chess or card games, constantly keeping an eye on the sleeping man, and even addressing him on occasion, as if he could interact with the three of them.

The nights they'd usually share, each alternatively keeping vigil for part of the night, and sleep the rest of it. That was, however, Victoria's favorite time to stay with Diego. She didn't read to him, just stayed there and looked at him in the dim light of the lamp they kept by his bedside.

The young woman didn't know when exactly it had happened: when she had become so fascinated with just looking at him. But she knew she could spend hours doing it, studying every inch of his face, combing his hair with her hand, remembering every one of their interactions, every one of his smiles, and letting all the things she never understood about her friend flow to the forefront of her mind, never trying to answer the puzzle he had always been to her.