Later that evening, as De Soto was drinking a glass of wine in his office, smiling at the sheer brilliance of his plan, Zorro literally dropped by for a visit.

The Alcalde's first instinct was to reach for his gun, but rapidly remembered that he was playing a part, and abandoned that thought. His move was not lost on the masked man, who couldn't fully suppress a smile, but pretended to not have noticed it.

"I hope I am not disturbing you, Alcalde!" He said.

"Señor Zorro!" The white-haired man exclaimed seemingly glad to see him. "Where did you come from?"

"I always did prefer the roof entrance. There are no lancers there to shoot at me."

"Oh, right… Mendoza did mention something about that. Quite impressive. Gracefully jumping from roof to roof like a cat… No wonder I never caught you!" De Soto replied and filled-up a glass of wine, offering it to his nemesis.

"Let me guess… Poisonous?" Zorro asked as he glanced at the wine.

"No, of course not!" De Soto replied as he poured the red liquid into his own glass as a sign of good faith, then refilled the glass he offered the masked man. "Please, take a seat, Señor. I assume you are here about the pardon, so let me assure you I only have the most honorable intentions with it."

"Really? Hm…" Zorro replied as they both took a sip from their glasses. "Château Lafite … 1815?" He asked after tasting the wine.

"1814." De Soto corrected, rather impressed. "I never rea… I never would have suspected you were a connoisseur."

"Yes, ah… I'm not here to talk about wine. I am here to see that pardon, Alcalde." He replied, faking to have unwillingly revealed something about himself he hadn't wanted revealed.

In truth, Zorro only knew what wine De Soto had served him because, a couple of hours earlier, after taking the bullets out of De Soto's gun, he had inspected all the bottles in the white-haired man's collection, remembering what they were, based on the inscription on the bottle, then waited on the roof beams for long enough to see which one he poured into the decanter.

The Alcalde headed for his safe and took out the already-written pardon, offering it to his nemesis, allowing him to study it.

Satisfied that the document was genuine, Zorro returned it, drank the rest of the wine pretending to truly savor it, took his goodbye and made his way out the front door, whistling for Tornado.

ZZZ

"I had thought you were on my side, Ignacio!" Diego admonished the following day as he sat at his former schoolmate's table.

"What's that supposed to mean? I mean… of course, I am, Diego… What would cause you to doubt that?" De Soto replied.

"This amnesty. I know you have lost your memory, but, even so, you must have noticed already that I like Victoria. I'm quite sure everyone here has noticed… except for her, of course. So, tell me, what chance do you think I have to get her to marry me if you pardon Zorro? All he has to do is snap his fingers, and she's his for the taking!" The caballero told him.

"You mean… You love the Señorita?" The Alcalde inquired, barely containing his astonishment at that revelation.

"Of course, I do! Why else would I come eat here every day when we have a perfectly good cook at the hacienda? But please do not say that so loud! I'd be embarrassed if she'd find out like that."

"I'm sorry… I never knew that… I mean, my men never told me that…"

"They are probably clueless. Your men are good men, but not the brightest bunch, you know?" Diego answered. "Look... I never said anything because I owe Zorro for saving my father… several times. And he saved me when I was abducted by pirates, you knew that? Not to mention all the times he saved Victoria. But, to be fair, I was hoping things would continue as they always have until she'd get tired of waiting, and I could convince her to marry me instead. We're already good friends and, were it not for Zorro, I truly believe she might consider me an acceptable choice for a husband. But now you went and spoiled everything with that pardon of yours!"

"So you don't want me to give him the pardon? I… I had thought your family was… I mean, my men told me you and your father are some of his biggest supporters."

"Ignacio, all my father does is comparing me to the man and find me wanting. I'll never be good enough for him, no matter what I do, because I'll never be half the man Zorro is. You know, when I caught those thugs some days ago… you wouldn't remember, I guess, but I caught two bandits who attacked me and Victoria. It was merely luck, to be fair, and I almost fainted at finding out how dangerous they actually were, but still… It was I, not Zorro, who caught them! And even Victoria thought I was impressive that day! Anyway, I went home to tell Father about that and he gave me an hour-long preach about how I should never try to imitate Zorro since I might get myself killed. He was right, of course, but it was quite irritating to hear him say that.

"As for Victoria, that outlaw is her favorite subject of conversation! If I didn't pretend to support him, she'd never speak to me again." He answered, then whispered: "In conclusion, no, I don't want you to give him the pardon. In fact, I am ready to give you the 7,000 pesos in reward money I am due for the bandits I have mentioned earlier, just so that you never pardon him." He whispered.

"Are you trying to… to bribe me, Diego?" The Alcalde uttered in disbelief.

"Just take it as... compensation for a favor I am asking you to do me, and which should remain between us!" He replied. "Think about it, Ignacio! What if he won't unmask anyway? Or what if he finds a way to do it and still not do it? The man is full of tricks. You never know what you get when you deal with him, so you'd be better off just taking my offer!"

"I'm sorry, Diego…" De Soto said after taking a few minutes, considering the money and Diego's words, and deciding to stay true to his objective, "but I have already announced the pardon, and I have a commitment to honor."

"I see… I see you've really changed! There's nothing I can do or say to make you reconsider, then?"

"I'm afraid not…"

"In that case, I hope we won't be both regretting your decision tomorrow!" As he said that, the caballero stood up with a sigh, and, after giving De Soto a disapproving look, he left the tavern, only allowing himself a wicked smile as he reached The Guardian's office.

The Alcalde remained pensive for a few minutes, wondering if the caballero knew something he didn't.

"Is there anything else I may get for you, Alcalde?" Victoria asked with a smile as she suddenly materialized next to him.

In reality she had been going around the tavern and was just two tables away when Diego left, talking with some of her patrons before getting to the table where De Soto was sitting, but he was too lost in thought to notice her.

"Oh… Si, Señorita. A bottle of Madeira, please! And another glass." He asked.

She nodded and did as asked.

"Do please join me, Señorita Escalante!" He invited her as she returned. "I'm sure the other patrons won't miss you for a few minutes, and I'd be honored by your company."

Victoria seemed taken by surprise by his invitation, but agreed after looking around the tavern and noticing service was not required at that time.

"Tell me, Señorita, is it true you intend to marry Zorro if he accepts my offer of amnesty?"

"Of course, I will! I have long since promised to marry him, and I have every intention of doing so. And I bet he'll accept your offer. He'd be silly not to, and Zorro is not silly! Yes, I bet I'll finally find out who he truly is tomorrow; and, when I do, I'll marry him and he'll marry me!"

"But what if he doesn't take my offer? What if he doesn't truly unmask? I understand he is a tricky fellow... What if midday tomorrow comes and goes, and we still won't know who he is?"

"That's not going to happen! I'm sure of it!" She answered convincingly. "He wouldn't do that to me! I'm sick and tired of waiting, and he very well knows it! If he doesn't marry me tomorrow... or at least sets the date, I... I'll be done with him!"

"Would you… agree to a bet, in that case?" He wondered innocently, not realizing how that idea had made its way into his mind.

"A bet?" She asked as if she had never before heard the word in her life and had no idea what it meant.

"Yes. Let's say I bet we will not find out his true identity tomorrow. If I am wrong, I will not only give Zorro the full pardon, but also the reward money for his own capture, so you might both start a new life together." He decided, fully convinced that Zorro would donate the money for the tax fund, or do something equally generously stupid with it, and it would soon be back in his safe, should he lose that bet.

"That sounds good so far. You should give him that money, since nobody ever succeeded in capturing him!" Victoria answered.

"Yes… However, if you are wrong… you will still marry tomorrow… but you'll be marrying... Diego."

"Diego? And what makes you think Diego would agree to marry me… or anyone else?" She wondered.

"Let's say I have it on good authority he'd not object to marrying you… and we both know all his father wants is to see him wedded… to any woman. So he'd certainly not oppose your union." De Soto replied, in his mind calculating that, should she accept the bet, he would still win even if Zorro would, once again, find a way to avoid his trap. Should he not unmask, he'd force the taverness to respect her promise and marry the caballero, whom he now had no doubt would marry her in an instant, thus taking away from his nemesis the woman he loved.

Victoria inwardly smiled at realizing he was not even aware that he was giving himself up. Nor was he aware that he was falling straight into Diego's trap.

"So? What do you say, Señorita?"

"Very well, Alcalde! You have a deal. But only because I am fully convinced that you will lose, and I already know exactly what to do with that money!" She replied.

ZZZ

"Are you ready, Señores?" Zorro asked a day later and the men he was addressing nodded.

"We are, Señor Zorro. And honored to be of service!" One of them replied, looking at the others for confirmation. They nodded and everyone, Zorro included, mounted their brown horses, which looked almost identical, and headed for the pueblo, as several other riders joined them on the way.

ZZZ

About five minutes before midday, as per the time established in the poster announcing the pardon, De Soto climbed on the back of a wagon his men had installed as a makeshift platform in front of the bank. Hundreds of Los Angelinos had, by then, already filled the plaza, eager to find out if their masked hero would accept the Alcalde's offer of amnesty and, if he would, finally get to know who he truly was.

Don Alejandro and Victoria were both watching from the tavern's terrace as Felipe was carefully positioned at one of the upstairs windows, muskets and gas bombs at hand, waiting to intervene should anything go wrong with his father's plan.

"Good people of Los Angeles," De Soto started.

"It is my great privilege to preside over this ceremony, dedicated to a man who has, for many years already, helped our community from behind a mask, ensuring that justice would always prevail in Los Angeles.

"I admit, I am still rather disturbed by my men's accounts about the numerous times when I have, in the past, been misguided enough to consider Zorro an outlaw and acted accordingly. But I have now understood, good people, the error of my ways. I, thus, hope this day and my offer to pardon him will make up for all the grief I might have caused him, and you, dear Los Angelinos.

"As per the terms of the amnesty, he is due to arrive in the pueblo and take off his mask at 12 o'clock sharply, so, let's all hope he'll make it!"

Only seconds after he finished, as his timepiece indicated midday, some twenty men, all masked, dressed in black and riding brown horses made their way into the plaza as everyone stared inquisitively. None of them was riding Tornado or wore Zorro's Toledo-steel sword, even though they were all armed with similarly-looking simple-hilt swords. Their outfits were all identical, as were the boots, the pants and the sashes around their waists. Only their hats varied, but just slightly. Truth be told, it was quite impossible for anyone to tell which was their original black-clad outlaw.

"What is this?" De Soto asked somewhat impatiently.

"We are here to agree to you terms, Alcalde!" One of the men replied.

"You asked for Zorro to unmask as a condition for his pardon." Another stated.

"One of us is the true Zorro." A third one continued. "We can all attest to that."

"And when we unmask, so will he." Another assured their audience.

"But, truth be told," a fifth man continued,

"not even we know who is the real Zorro among us." A sixth uttered.

"All we know," A seventh stated.

"…is that he is here," An eighth one continued.

"since we saw him change horses, and send Tornado back home." A ninth replied as they all took off their masks.

"Now be so kind as to hand the pardon over to Señorita Victoria, Alcalde!" Another man stated as De Soto rapidly studied all their faces and rested his eyes on the face of his former schoolmate.

"De la Vega? You, too, are in league with that arch criminal?" De Soto inquired almost unable to believe his eyes.

"Criminal? I thought you just said he was a hero!" Victoria stated from the tavern's terrace, smiling at the caballeros and farmers who had agreed to help the man she loved. "But you were only faking to have changed, weren't you? And like fools, we all believed you!" She said with ire, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh, please, Señorita! You don't really believe that a hit to my head made me blind to what that lover of yours truly is!" De Soto replied as murmurs took over the plaza. "But I have to say, I never expected this of you, Diego!" He then addressed the caballero dressed in Zorro's cloths.

"I am very proud of you for doing this, Diego!" Victoria also addressed her friend, looking defiantly at the Alcalde.

"I already told you I'm indebted to the man, Ignacio… Ah… Plus, I'm just about as tall as he is, so I might as well be Zorro." The caballero then said, even if his tone seemed hesitant, as he glanced at Victoria. Some people in the plaza, including Don Alejandro, started laughing at that affirmation and De Soto smiled, convinced he could see right through him. "In fact, truth is you can't prove I'm not!" Diego didn't let the others discourage him.

"Please, De la Vega! My horse could prove you're not him." De Soto chuckled, then looked attentively at each man, realizing that one of them was truly the masked legend. They were all about as tall as him, black-haired and had similar mustaches, even if, in several cases, he was certain their facial hair wasn't real, which only made the Alcalde even more suspicious of those men with fake mustaches. Most importantly, they were all on his list of suspects for potentially being Zorro. All except Diego, of course, whom he had long since crossed off the list. "But, I have to hand it to you, Zorro, whoever you truly are," he informed them, raising his voice, "you once again managed to avoid my trap. Very well, Señor! I promised a pardon if you unmasked, and you did, so I'm a man of my word. Señorita Escalante, here is the full pardon I have promised. Guard it well. I'm sure one of these men will come to claim it soon enough." And when he does, my men and I will be waiting… at the De la Vega hacienda. He silently added, unable to contain a smile.

"I most certainly will." She answered, taking the document.

"Well, Alcalde, at least we can all agree you did the right thing for once!" Don Alejandro stated as most of the people in the plaza were cheering. "Señores, I may not know to which one of you we owe our gratitude, but do allow me to express it the only way I can, by inviting you all to the tavern for lunch and drinks!"

The Alcalde looked at the old don with some ire as the black-clad men dismounted and headed for the tavern, then, still hoping he might turn things around, he followed them all inside the establishment and sat at the De la Vegas' table, while Victoria and Pilar busied themselves serving their black-clad patrons, the taverness making sure to flirt a little with each and every one of them except Diego, who seemed quite frustrated by her behavior. Felipe also made his way there a couple of minutes later, and sat next to his father.

"I do have to hand it to you, Ignacio, I actually believed you had lost your memory." Diego stated as their food came.

"Of course, you did, Diego! You are so gullible! You really should spend less time with your books and more time learning about the real world." Victoria admonished at hearing him.

"What's with her?" He wondered.

The black-clad men ate, drank and laughed together, then, as siesta approached, one-by-one, they made their way towards their houses, in the end leaving only De Soto, the De la Vegas, Victoria and Pilar in the tavern.

"Wouldn't you like some wine, Diego?" Victoria asked as she poured some for everyone else, and Don Alejandro and Felipe took theirs to the terrace.

"No, thank you. I never did develop a taste for it. To me all wine tastes like sour water." He admitted somewhat embarrassed. "I'd rather eat the grapes than drink it."

De Soto smiled and decided it was time for him to make his move. He'd get the last laugh after all!

He had considered getting to the bet earlier, but feared his nemesis would, once again, find some way to outsmart him and get the taverness out of the bet while also avoiding, once more, to reveal his true identity. Diego had been right in that one never knew what to expect when one dealt with Zorro, and, thinking about their conversation, De Soto even realized the caballero had tried to warn him about what would happen. Thinking back, to other instances when he had tried to warn him, he considered that he really should listen to Diego in the future, since he seemed to have a good understanding of what the masked menace was capable.

"Ah… Señorita… Is this what you're wearing to the ceremony?" De Soto suddenly asked.

"What ceremony?" Diego wondered, as he innocently poured himself another glass of orange juice.

Victoria also eyed him inquisitively.

"Why, your wedding, of course! Remember our bet, Señorita?" The Alcalde asked with a sly smile.

"What bet?" The caballero again wondered. "What wedding?" He then asked somewhat panicked, glancing between Victoria and De Soto.

"I bet her that, if she doesn't find out who Zorro truly is today and marry him, she'll marry you, instead." The Alcalde replied, taking a sip of his wine. "I even took the chance to talk to Padre Benitez. The ceremony is set for 3:30, so you don't have much time if you need to change." He continued as he glanced to his pocket watch to see that it was already 3:10 in the afternoon.

"You what?" Diego asked surprised. "And Victoria accepted?"

"I… I didn't think he'd win… I just thought… You can't just force Diego to marry me, no matter what I agreed to!" She continued.

De Soto looked at the caballero, who seemed to hesitate on what to do.

"Oh, but that's the good part. I wouldn't even be forcing him, since he wants nothing better than to marry you, isn't that right, Diego?"

"Ignacio! What I said, I said in confidence!" He whispered back, glancing rather embarrassed at Victoria.

"What? You want to marry me?" Victoria asked him wide-eyed as Pilar came out of the kitchen at overhearing their conversation.

"Sure he does!" De Soto answered in his place. "Come! We need to get to the church soon, or the padre will be displeased!" He stated, not for a second even wondering why had Padre Benitez agreed to perform the ceremony under such circumstaces.

Victoria stared at Diego with a perfectly surprised face.

"You are not considering not fulfilling your assumed commitment, are you, Señorita? Because I did have every intention of giving you that reward money had things turned out differently." The Alcalde admonished.

"No… I… You'd marry me, Diego? Even knowing that my heart belongs to Zorro?"

"Victoria… I've been in love with you for years now… I know this is rather shocking for you, and I am not exactly romantic and brave as Zorro is... But my feelings are genuine, and I would be honored to marry you, even knowing that part of your heart will always belong to him. Let's face it! He'll never be able to publicly admit to who he truly is, despite whatever promises he might have made you! So, if you'll have me, I'd certainly have you." The caballero finally replied.

"He is right, Victoria! After all, how long are you going to wait for Zorro? Till you'll be too old to have children? Time is running out, you know?" Pilar encouraged her, truly convinced that the caballero would be a good option for her employer, able to provide her a life she, herself, could only dream of. "And you and Don Diego are good friends. That must count for something!"

"Exactly! Thank you, Pilar!" Diego agreed with a smile, glad the young woman was unknowingly helping him putting his plan into practice. "Victoria, we're friends and we respect each other, even if you don't harbor the same feelings for me as I do for you. Perhaps, in time, you might also learn to see me as more than just a friend… And in the meanwhile, there are enough rooms at the hacienda. You can just choose whichever you like. I wouldn't assume you'd share mine right away, of course."

"Dear God, De la Vega! Could you be more of a weakling?" De Soto asked. "So, Señorita, is this what you are getting married in?"

"No… I'll go change." She said and headed upstairs, pensively glancing back twice at Diego as she did so. Pilar smiled at the young don and followed Victoria, eager to help her change and hoping to borrow one of her dresses in order to act as her Maid of Honor.

"The woman is in love with your perfect opposite, Diego! Just start acting a little like him, and she'll be at your feet in no time!" The Alcalde counselled when they were left alone in the taproom.

Diego inwardly smiled at considering that acting more like Zorro was exactly what he also planned on doing.

"I can't just pretend to be a different man, Ignacio…" He replied.

"Just put some effort into it. You were a half-decent actor in university, if I remember correctly. Try acting!"

"Acting? What do you want me to do? Act every day of my life? Let's be serious. You might have been able to pull it off for several days, but I've never been that good! Perhaps if you could give me some lessons..." The caballero answered.

"I'll see if I can find the time. In the meanwhile, I know exactly how you may repay my contribution to your future... happyness..."

ZZZ

"We should start a theater company!" Don Alejandro concluded on their way home, after De Soto insisted on acting as Diego's Best Man at his wedding to Victoria, then returned to his office wearing a wide smile on his lips, certain to have just inflicted a deadly blow on his nemesis. "You must admit Son, both Victoria and I have been magnificent today. And you and Felipe already have years of practice. We'd have people standing in line for tickets to our productions!"

Victoria chuckled happily. "Do you think the Alcalde will ever realize what he just did?" She asked, addressing her husband.

"Let's allow him the impression that he has won this time." Diego replied with a mischievous grin. "Who knows? He might finally behave if he starts believing Zorro would take his revenge on him. And he will make sure to let De Soto think that. After all, Ignacio did force the woman he loves to marry the one man who couldn't possibly be him."

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AN: Hope you liked this story and let me know what you thought of it. It really only takes less than a minute to write a review, while it took me a whole weekend to write these 22 pages in Word :P and feedback is the only way for writers to improve.

PS: This is the second of the 3 stories I have written in response to my own Valentine Day's Challenge, since a certain other author's critiques and distrust in the possibility of integrating all the requirements in a way which would work seemed to make my muse decide to prove her wrong.

The other two stories are 'A Sleeping Fox' - which is Romance (with a bit of suspense mixed in it) and will be the next to be published – and 'A Fox by any other name…' – which is Romance/Adventure/Suspense, and, although it was the first one I wrote, I love the most, so I will only publish last.