Diego was right about the prisoners. After listening to the confessions of their leaders and realizing it was Zorro himself who had led the battle against them, then did his best to help save the injured, even the gravely wounded ones decided to turn against the men who had incited the riot.
Thus, the Governor, who came to Los Angeles with only twenty-five men, left a few days later with an army of almost a hundred soldiers and all the information he needed to warn Mexico City and the commanders of the garrison and the presidios. In fact lancers had already been dispatched to that purpose as soon as they managed to compile a list of the other soldiers who had taken the side of the Deputy Governor.
No military support from the Capital was required, though, as the minds of both Diego and Emmanuel Dos Santos, who managed a very fast recovery, together with the contingent of men now at his disposal, proved more than enough for him to retake control of the territory.
Fernando de la Cruz, who had been behind the entire plot, was tried and sentenced to death after being found guilty of a multitude of crimes. The sentence was never carried out, however, as he was found dead in his cell the morning of the execution, the cause for his death never fully understood, though Doctor Hernandez, who had examined him, suspected it was suicide by poisoning.
ZZZ
A month and a half after the wedding, just as Diego and Victoria were getting accustomed to their married life and increased family, Captain Dos Santos returned to Los Angeles together with his twenty men, bringing Diego an official appointment as Deputy Governor of Las Californias and the papers assigning him and his men to his guard.
Three years later, as the Governor moved on to a ministerial position in Mexico City, Diego was name in his stead, becoming the only Californian Governor to ever rule from Los Angeles.
ZZZ
Victoria left the tavern to Ramon when she married and he agreed to Diego's suggestion to give half of it to Sergeant Mendoza after he retired a year later, finally getting the life he was meant for, happily serving wine at the bar.
The new Doñas De la Vega still helped with the cooking as often as they could, as, with their husbands spending most of their days in town, they wanted to be as close to them as possible, so, for almost two years, until Victoria became pregnant, some of the changes brought-about by that fateful day of July went mostly unnoticed.
True, the people were much happier and prosperous, ruled by a fair Alcalde and their own unmasked hero, the pueblo was growing, every month new settlers finding a reason to remain in Los Angeles, and crime in the territory was mostly kept under control and limited to small offences. That was because, no longer overtaxed and impoverished, the people preferred to settle down and make honest lives for themselves in the pueblo.
ZZZ
Felipe left for Mexico City, just a few weeks after Diego and Victoria were married, to study law. It only took him two years to complete his studies since his father had already made sure he possessed extensive knowledge in the field before he even got to university. While one of the most popular young bachelors in the Mexican capital – for rather obvious reasons – he never did like living there and was eager to return to his pueblo.
During his long career as a magistrate, Felipe was elected Alcalde of Los Angeles three times (for one-year mandates), eventually following in his father's footsteps towards governorship.
He was also involved in the negotiations for Alta California to join the United States, being entrusted to ensure his people would not become second-class citizens in their own country.
He married twice in his life. First to Kinona, his first love, when he was 25, a marriage which was very happy, but only lasted for three years as his young bride died quite suddenly from an aneurysm, both Diego and Jessie being powerless to help her.
Five years later, after a long mourning, and sure to have given up on love, Felipe met a beautiful young widow, called Amelia and, a year later they married. Felipe adopted Amelia's four-year-old deaf son, Miguel, and, during their many years together, the pair was also blessed with three daughters and seven grandchildren, both living to meet eight of their fourteen great grandchildren.
Diego and Victoria's only natural children, a twin boy and girl, were born three years after they got married, the same week as Ignacio and Jessie's firstborn, Clara, a girl who was the perfect copy of her mother and who, to her father's despair, eventually ended up marrying Diego's son, Alejandro, the spitting image of his own father.
Alejandro shared, however, more than the good looks with Diego, since he grew up to become a brilliant inventor, and just as good a fighter.
Marisol grew up adoring her "Papi" and, encouraged by Diego, became a doctor, spending her entire life in Los Angeles with the De la Vegas and the family she eventually made for herself.
As for Victoria and Diego's daughter, Elena, she grew up to be one of the most beautiful women in California, kind and gentle, but just as brave as her father and as feisty as her mother. It took her a long time to find a husband, though, since, following her mother's advice, she decided not to settle for less than a man who truly deserved her, and, eventually became a famous writer and an abolitionist.
Don Alejandro and Doña Maria had a long and happy marriage, enjoying their lives and each other as their family grew around them, and always finding refuge in their small cottage which had been their wedding gift when they needed a break from the noise in the hacienda and the busy lives they led.
When the hacienda De la Vega became too small for all of them, Diego enlarged it, so that each family would have its own separate space and privacy. The one thing he never changed was the library. The cave remained a De la Vega secret, only to be shared when the descendants became of age.
He also made sure Tornado had many of his own descendants, the finest horses in Alta California.
As for Zorro, his adventures did not end, as Jessie had thought, when Diego removed the mask.
No longer an outlaw, he still rode when the pueblo was attacked and the bells of the Church called for his help.
At first, with Diego Governor, it was Felipe to take on the mantle and help his adoptive father and the lancers. Then, Alejandro followed in his father's and his older brother's footsteps. Sometimes, even Elena put on the mask, since she was just as smart, agile and as good a fighter as the De la Vega men.
The truth about Zorro's identity, while it had been, for the first years after Diego's reveal, one of the main topics of discussion in all circles of life, in the Americas and in Europe, eventually faded away. Decades later, only the true Los Angelinos remained aware that the mask would hide a De la Vega, and it was a secret they kept only for themselves, certain that Zorro would always ride out to defend them.