Ignacio felt like a fish out of water. The situation was strange to say the least.
He was, as that precise moment, sitting at the same table at which he had once sat with that pirate, Big Jim Jarrett and only a couple of times after that. He carefully looked at every person around him wondering what all the joy was about. It was just dinner. Food was… fine. The De la Vega cook was, however, not even as good as the taverness, certainly not as good as his mother.
Despite having come to appreciate the tall caballero who had saved his wife's life, he had also done his best to keep Jessie away from Diego, at least on social occasions. After all, they were spending quite enough time together at the medical office, and he was still occasionally having nightmares about her leaving him for his former schoolmate. Truth be told, Ignacio de Soto continued having troubles understanding why Jessie had chosen him instead of the tall, younger, more handsome, and richer man who was her best friend. But, perhaps, Diego being Jessie's best friend had played in Ignacio's favor, he considered. Or, maybe, he was simply not interested in women for, if he was, why hadn't he tried to court any of the two young, beautiful women sitting at the table that very moment?
"What do you think, Ignacio? " Jessie woke him up from his reverie.
The room fell suddenly silent, everyone awaiting his answer, apparently, and he had not even paid attention to the subject discussed.
"I believe you are right, mi preciosa!' He replied instinctively, after almost seven months of marriage having learned that agreeing with his wife was always his best bet.
"You agree that Zorro is a hero, and should be decorated instead of only pardoned? Is this a miracle?" Jessie questioned as everyone looked puzzled at them both.
De Soto's face turned white at realizing the statement with which he had just agreed.
"Ah... Well… I… " He was at a loss for words since he knew he'd look foolish if he contradicted himself, and had no intention of looking foolish in front of his wife, his mother, the De la Vegas, Victoria Escalante and Sergeant Mendoza. On the other hand, he couldn't just let them think he agreed with that nonsensical affirmation.
"See? I told you he wasn't listening to a word we said!" Jessie interrupted his blabbering.
"What?" He asked.
"We were discussing the news on the Mexican Governor. I was saying I hope he'll be different than our former Governor." Don Alejandro told him.
"Oh… Yes… I certainly agree with that, Don Alejandro." De Soto replied. "I would have probably killed that man, had I been here on his last visit."
"What? Why?" Doña Maria asked, baffled by her son's attitude.
"Let's not dwell into sad memories." Diego encouraged everyone. "I, for one, prefer not to remember that visit at all."
"You're right, Diego!" His father agreed. "We were lucky that time and that evil man is, fortunately, gone. Perhaps a change of subject would be more appropriate."
A few moments of silence ensued as everyone tried to find a topic of conversation.
"Diego, how about you play something for us on the piano?" Victoria asked.
"That is a splendid idea!" Jessie agreed. "I've never had the chance to listen to you play, but Victoria always said you were very good!"
"You also play the piano, Don Diego?" Doña Maria asked, increasingly impressed by the young caballero.
"He plays the piano, the violin, he paints, he writes poetry, not to mention he is also the pueblo's unofficial lawyer, engineer, architect, official journalist, and, of course, doctor. If he was also Zorro, he'd be the perfect man!" Jessie mentioned with a laugh.
"I'm very far from perfect, I assure you." Diego replied with a smile.
"And I'd know if he was Zorro!" Victoria assured her friends with a chuckle.
Ignacio, his father and Mendoza all grinned dismissively at the idea of the tall caballero being the pueblo's masked outlaw, and followed the others to the living room, where Diego proceeded to play Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Jessie later joined him as they played together a sonata for four hands.
"You were both wonderful!" Doña Maria exclaimed, applauding enthusiastically and waking Mendoza up as he was already close to snoring.
"Yes! Especially you, my dear!" De Soto approved, bowing to kiss his wife on the cheek and almost dragging her away from Diego who did his best to hide a smile at noticing he was jealous.
The discussions were prolonged for a few more hours, before the guests left. Diego bested De Soto in a game of chess, then Felipe did the same to him, making the former Alcalde frown at the thought that the younger man was certainly a better player than he was; Victoria and Jessie talked about a wide range of subjects with Mendoza, but mainly about food; and Don Alejandro took Doña Maria for a walk in the gardens, with the excuse of showing her the azaleas he'd been cultivating for several years already, and only returned with her about an hour later, just as their absence was beginning to be noticed.
ZZZ
A few weeks later, Diego, Felipe and Jessie were taking their lunch together at the tavern, the latter instructing her colleague and his assistant on what needed be done that afternoon, when Ignacio also came in and sat at their table.
"Is my mother here?" He asked after kissing his wife, barely greeting the caballeros.
"She was here in the morning, but left a couple of hours ago." Victoria replied instead of Jessie, having overheard the question when coming to take his order.
"A plate of arroz con pollo, Señorita." He ordered. "Did my mother say where she went?"
"No, she just said she'd be gone for about an hour or so." The taverness answered him. "Oh… Here she is!" She proceeded to inform him as she smiled at Doña Maria who entered the tavern, her right arm linked with Don Alejandro's.
"Diego, Ignacio, how good that you are both here! We have an announcement to make!" Don Alejandro said instead of a greeting as they neared the table, a broad smile on his face.
Diego noticed it was the first time his father had ever called De Soto by his given name. He also noticed the way Don Alejandro was holding Ignacio's mother's arm.
Just like Jessie, he had difficulties in understanding how could such a gentle woman be De Soto's mother. He had grown to like Doña Maria as she had been treating him like a son, and she was always kind and generous with everybody. But the excited expression on the two parents' faces meant something he had never imagined, so he held his breath, bracing himself for what was to come next.
"Maria has just accepted my marriage proposal!" Don Alejandro said, causing Ignacio de Soto to spit out the juice he had just drank, Diego to sink in his chair imagining spending the holidays with Ignacio de Soto for the rest of his life, Felipe to wonder how his father must be feeling at the thought of being related to someone like De Soto, and Jessie to burst out laughing.
"Are you sure about this, Father?" Diego inquired.
"You think my mother is not good enough for your father, De la Vega?" Ignacio asked bitterly, unsure as to why since, as already mentioned, although he was considering Diego his friend (his only friend), he was also living in constant fear that one day his wife would wake up, decide she was wrong to marry him and run straight into the man's arms. Finding more reasons for her and Diego to spend time together clearly would not be beneficial to stopping that scenario from happening, he realized just after the words had already left his mouth.
"No! I mean, of course she is, Ignacio." Diego replied, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. "Your mother is a good and gentle woman, whom I appreciate with all my heart." He added as he glanced lovingly towards Doña Maria. "I am just surprised at hearing the news."
"I believe what your sons are trying to say, Don Alejandro, Doña Maria," Jessie decided to step in at seeing the confused looks into their eyes, "is 'Congratulations!'"
"Yes, of course!" Diego uttered, getting up and heading towards the pair. "Congratulations!" he repeated as he hugged each one as Felipe followed his example.
"Yes, Congratulations!" Ignacio repeated, firmly attached to his chair.
"We will be married within a month. I have already talked to Padre Benitez!" Don Alejandro informed them.
"So soon?" Diego asked.
"A month is not that soon, Diego! And, at our age, son, time is a resource that is becoming rather scarce, don't you think?" Doña Maria replied with a kind, big smile on her face.
"Come, my dear, let's give the news to our friends!" Don Alejandro decided, pointing his wife-to-be towards a table occupied by several dons and two of their wives.
"So..." Jessie concluded as they left to talk with some of the other dons there "...you two will be brothers in a month. My father always said God has a strange sense of humor!"
"Right. Brothers..." Diego repeated, less than enthusiastic by the idea, raising his eyebrows in resignation. He did want Don Alejandro to be happy and it did look as if he had finally found the right woman to brighten his life. He also liked Doña Maria very much. It just disturbed him that the woman was also Ignacio de Soto's mother.
ZZZ
The next morning, while Diego was tending to some of his father's flowers in the courtyard while he was away, riding with Doña Maria, a bull escaped his enclosure. The frightened animal entered the yard and noticed the red flowers Diego was working one. Bowing his head and breathing noisily through its nostrils, he decided to attack the caballero who, at that very moment, had his back turned to the animal and was completely lost in thoughts.
Felipe just arrived at the hacienda when he noticed the bull about to attack his father, but he was too far away and had no chance to reach Diego in time to save his life.
As the bull charged, Felipe gathered all his strength and yelled "Fa… Father!" His first word in over three years.
Hearing him, Diego turned and was able to get out of the animal's way at the last moment, as the bull wreaked havoc on his father's flowers.
A few moments later, two vaqueros also arrived and, between the four of them, they were able to calm the animal down and take him back to his corral.
As it was all over and just Diego and Felipe were left in the courtyard, the tall caballero turned towards his son.
"Say it again!" He asked. "Say 'Father'!"
"Father!" Felipe answered hoarsely with tears in his eyes. "Father! Father! Father!" He repeated, his voice getting better with each repeat of the word as Diego embraced him.
"Do you understand what this means, Felipe?" He asked after a few minutes.
The younger man, not yet used to talking, just stared at him with wide eyes.
"It means you can finally go to university and become a lawyer, as you've wanted for so many years already!" He replied.
*You* Felipe signaled then remembered he was able to speak "still… need me!" He said, shaking his head in disapproval to his father's idea.
"I'm not saying you should leave next week." Diego told him. "Nor that you should go to Spain. I think Mexico City would be better, considering that Mexico is now independent and the laws are being written in the new capital." Felipe still watched him hesitantly. "It's just about a month's journey away, and you'll be able to come home for every summer holiday. You'll also have the chance to travel, just as you've always wanted." Diego tried to convince him. "Felipe, you can't put your entire life on hold to help me in my fight. Plus, Zorro is hardly needed these days. You have to think about yourself, follow your own dream, your own path, instead of being stuck on mine. I will certainly miss you, but I am your father now, and I need to think about what's best for you!"
"I go… only if you stop being Zorro before I leave." The younger man eventually answered.
Diego nodded understandingly. He knew Felipe worried about him, even if he did his best not to show it. "Well… First things first." He decided. "We need to focus on the admission. I have already written to the university last October to inquire about the requirements and the exams you need to take."
"You have?" The younger man wondered.
"I always knew it was just a matter of time until you'd speak again, and I wanted to be prepared. I had sent similar letters to the universities of Madrid and Mexico City for the past three years now, since that day you first talked. As I said, I already have all the information, but we need to hurry since the deadline by which we have to send the documents and papers requested is in a couple of weeks. I'd say your voice returned just in time!"
Felipe grinned and nodded.
"Thank God for that bull!" Diego uttered as they headed towards the hacienda.
ZZZ
Don Alejandro and Doña Maria married in May 1822 and celebrated with a party at the De la Vega Hacienda. The wedding party was meant only as a small social event. But the new Alcalde of Los Angeles was a popular man, and so they ended up with almost a hundred guests, none of Don Alejandro's friends and relatives willing to miss it.
"Who would have said, Don Diego," Mendoza wondered while munching a tamale, "that your father would, one day, marry Don Ignacio's mother?"
The caballero was watching, at that moment, Marisol playing with his cousin Rafael's youngest daughter while her parents were having a slight argument in the back of the garden.
"Yes... I assure you, Sergeant, the irony of the situation doesn't escape me." Diego answered with a half-resigned, half-amused facial expression.
"Doña Maria is a very good woman, Diego!" Victoria, who had grown to see the older woman as a second mother, tried to assure him. "I am certain she will make Don Alejandro very happy!"
"I do hope so, Victoria." He replied. "Although, I must confess, being in any way related to Ignacio..."
"Papi, dance me?" Marisol interrupted as she ran to Diego, her new friend's oldest sister deciding she shouldn't play with an orphaned child.
"Of course, my princess! Climb up!" Diego replied, taking her into his arms and starting to spin her around.
"She is right, Victoria." Ramon stated as the tall caballero took the little girl a few meters away, mixing among the pairs already dancing. "Diego would certainly make a good father for our niece."
"So will Zorro!" She replied. "He is so wonderful with children, Ramon!"
"I am sure he is, Victoria, and I'm sure he'll make a great father…" Ramon mentioned. "But…you know, Señorita Escalante," he added, "somehow, I always thought you would, one day, become a De la Vega."
"My former helper, Paula, told me the same thing when she left for Monterey." Victoria confessed. "Diego is quite handsome, and he has always been the best of friends, but, unless he is Zorro, I don't see how that will ever happen!"
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AN: The Paula Victoria mentions in this story is a character appearing in my pre-end-of-series story 'The Hound', a detective who knows Zorro's true identity. She is also a main character of the story 'The Fox and the Hound', which is the fourth story of the series this one is also a part of.
Hope you enjoyed and review if you did! The next/last story of the series is 'The Man Behind the Mask'.
While the plotline of this story will partly be kept for 'Of Men and Legends', the ending of that story will diverge from the plotline in 'The Man Behind the Mask', if for no other reason, even just because I don't mind alternative endings, and I don't see why not take the opportunity to imagine a new one.