AN: Warning: This chapter is PG 13 since it includes sexual content but nothing too explicit.

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Felipe had tried to do as Diego had asked. He really tried, just as he tried to prevent himself from feeling jealous and upset with his adoptive father.

Mya, despite being his age – or so he had thought back then - only had eyes for Diego, who was at least twelve years his elder. He understood that there was a certain charisma his father was emanating, even when he was pretending to be the studious half of the man he was. Felipe himself had felt its pull, and he had, from a very young age, known he'd trust and protect Diego unconditionally, going as far as to sacrifice himself for him, should that be necessary.

Yet he couldn't help the way he was feeling towards the green-eyed woman, nor the wish that she would stop paying so much attention to his father, and start paying more attention to him.

Certain they were meant for each other, in his head, Felipe had many times reproached her, telling her how she proved to be no different than any other young woman of the pueblo. True, it was not Diego they were infatuated with, but Zorro, their dashing, brave, invincible hero. Still, the young man knew they were both the same man, his father, so it made no difference in his mind. That was why he and Mya had many times imagined-quarreled, and each time Felipe had forgiven her.

The reality was, however, that the woman, while stirring up all sorts of feelings, passions and fantasies within Felipe, also frightened him, for a reason he could not understand.

So, as Diego had made him promise, the youngest De la Vega kept his distance from the beautiful widow lying naked next to the stream.

That lasted until the goat showed up.

He saw it coming from behind some bushes, heading straight for the blanket covering Mya, then proceeding in munching on it. So, forgetting his father's request to stay away, Felipe rapidly hid his muskets, and ran towards the young woman, doing his best to chase away the intruder.

The goat eyed him defiantly, continued munching until he got close, then, for a few moments, it seemed to him that the animal was considering whether to confront him or run away. It did the sensible thing, and headed full speed in the opposite direction than the one from whence Felipe was coming.

Relieved, the young man, who had followed the goat for some fifty feet to make sure it wouldn't return, came back to check on Mya. He arrived just as she regained her consciousness, thus suddenly finding himself targeted with an intense stare by the woman.

"Where's Diego?" She asked him, holding the blanket firmly on top of her naked body and looking around them.

*He returned to the pueblo to get help when you were hit on the head!* Felipe signaled, but she had no idea what those signs meant.

"Never mind!" She replied, then eyed him curiously. "Why are you here?"

Felipe signaled that he had followed Diego. That, she somehow understood.

"Why?" She asked, then her eyes grew wide. "You were jealous, weren't you? Your father… the way he opposed my advances… I've only seen that in men who were very much in love with someone else. Is that it? I know you're adopted, and not his real son…but I never suspected you were lovers…" The look of horror she saw on the young man's face replied for him. "I'm sorry…" She rapidly regretted her words. "I didn't mean to offend you or your father… but… who is it then? All Diego does is come to the tavern and the only…the taverness… He's in love with Victoria, isn't he?"

Felipe just stared at her wide-eyed, the horror, clear on his face just moments earlier, turning into a mixture of guilt and anguish which the green-eyed woman took as a confirmation.

"So… the most eligible bachelor in Los Angeles is in love with the woman Zorro broke up with!"

The young man was now afraid that, at the speed with which she was making the connections, she might soon conclude that his father and Zorro were one and the same. Then what was he to do?

"But you… I wasn't wrong about you! You were jealous, weren't you? You were jealous… of your father. You like me, don't you, Felipe?" She surprised him by concluding, instead.

He looked guilty and couldn't think of a reply, even less signal one.

Mya took a few moments to think. She never had any inhibition when it came to intimacy. That had never been part of her upbringing, so it was not part of her character. There was a time when she had taken several lovers at the same time. But times had slowly changed and religion had taught people that satisfying one's desires went against God. She never felt that way. In fact, she believed that the reasons why that change had occurred were mainly related to the need to prevent the spread of disease and of out-of-wedlock pregnancies. None of those issues concerned her, though.

She was disappointed that her plan for Diego had failed. Mya hadn't been with a man in a while, and had been fantasizing about being with him for a while already. But there was Felipe. Silent, sweet Felipe, who was smitten with her.

He's quite handsome! The woman thought, taking a good look at him for the first time since she had met him. He was several inches shorter than his father, yet taller than her, nonetheless. Well-built, but rather thin, his brown hair was a longer than most men wore it, yet suited him perfectly. He was not really the type she was attracted to, always having had a preference for very tall and muscular men, which emanated a sense of danger, even without them knowing it; men like his father. But she did like him, nonetheless.

At that moment, Mya wondered why was it that she had never truly noticed him before.

As a (presumed) deaf-mute, Felipe had a certain talent for disappearing into the background, so not many paid him due attention, despite him being the adopted son of a very wealthy caballero. She hadn't paid him much attention, either, thus far, at least not as a woman. Yet, he was of her kind, and, should their paths ever cross again, experience had taught her that a former lover was much less eager to claim her head than a man she had resisted. Not that he would have had a chance to win against her. Still…

"Are you a virgin, Felipe?" She found herself asking with a devious smile, as she noted his reaction at her stare.

The young man nodded, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and panic.

"Then I shall sacrifice a virgin today!" She declared, taking the blanket off of her, and revealing her perfect body in all its splendor.

The young man could do nothing but take in the view, completely fascinated.

Diego had made sure to teach him all he knew about fighting, science, art, history, medicine, foreign languages and politics. Yet he had taught him nothing about making love to a woman. It was not a proper subject to discuss with one's adopted son, and even less appropriate to discuss with a servant, which was what Felipe had been in the De la Vega household until just the previous year.

Mya thought she had never seen a more innocent young man in her entire (and very long) life.

"Come here!" The green-eyed woman encouraged him seductively, lifting her right hand, and offering it to him.

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"Then what happened?" Joe asked when Felipe stopped for a few moments.

The Immortal remembered how, at the moment she had made the invitation, he had found breathing almost impossibly hard and a strange, painful knot suddenly appeared in his gut.

He had kneeled next to her, offering his hand, as requested, and she took it to her round breasts. "There's no one around, and you have my permission to touch me anyway you want," she had told him, and he no longer had any chance to resist.

Mya had helped him undress, all the while looking straight into his eyes, then kissed his chest and suckled on his nipples as she slowly pushed him to lie down on his back. Moments later, she saddled him, lowering her face to give him a slow and intense kiss, pushing her tongue into his mouth and letting it dance freely with his.

As she moved on top of him, he soon felt lost in her and in the new feelings she was awakening deep inside his body. When he climaxed for the first time, unaware of what was happening to him, he had been quite convinced that he was about to burst into flames, or transform into fireworks, just like the ones his father had used years earlier to fool the Alcalde and his men into thinking that an army was attacking them.

The two-hundred-year-old young man smiled as he remembered that, when it was all over and she was resting her head on his chest, the first thing going through his mind was that he could not understand how Diego had mustered the willpower to get away when that amazing woman was willing to give him such pleasure. He also remembered how grateful he had been to his father for having done so.

"Don't bother telling me. By that grin on your face, I can deduce it myself! And I don't need the details." Joe interrupted his train of thoughts.

Felipe smiled at him. "I had my share of first times that day. Among others, the first time I ever saw disappointment in my father's eyes when he looked at me!"

"He saw the two of you?"

"Fortunately, not. I doubt we would have ever been able to look into each other's eyes again, if he had. But it was not hard for him to realize it a little later, just by glancing at me…"

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It was wrong, Felipe knew that much, just as he knew that Diego would be disappointed in him. His father had taught him to never take advantage of a woman, and had just given him an example to follow by refusing Mya's advances.

But that was different. Diego loved Victoria, and Felipe was very convinced that he loved Mya. Not to mention that it had been her idea all along. Plus, the younger man was quite certain that he neither wanted, nor would ever want anybody else but her. So how could making love with the woman of his dreams be wrong when he was committed to love her forever?

"I enjoyed that!" Mya confessed, as she lay on top of him, one hand playing with his chest hair as she was lovingly gazing into his caramel eyes. "I think I might like to keep you… as long as I am in Los Angeles, at least." She continued, and Felipe looked, again, at her with some puzzlement. She couldn't understand, even if he'd try to gesture, that he wanted her to stay with him forever. Just then, she gave him another passionate kiss, and he thought that she had read his mind, already wondering what would Diego think if he was to marry before him. "Now, tell me when you're ready, and I will teach you some more." She continued, and Felipe felt ready soon enough.

Another full hour they spent deeply immersed in Felipe's sexual education, and he had never worn a wider and dummer grin than he had on when his father and the doctor met up with them on their way to the pueblo.

Diego eyed him and understood, at once, just like the doctor also understood, what they had been up to since he had left for Los Angeles.

That was when Felipe saw disappointment and a little anger creeping its way onto his father's face. Diego, however, had a tight rein on his feelings, so they soon subsided, and he did his best to pretend he had understood nothing.

Ever the caballero, he first asked Mya if her head was fine and if she was feeling alright, then apologized, explaining that he had gone to get help.

"Don't worry! I'm feeling much better. Thank you for your concern!" She replied, dismissively.

They spent the return journey in embarrassing silence, both younger men avoiding eye contact. In order to do that, Diego was glancing at the scenery around them, watching the birds, the trees, the rocks, the padre who, for about ten minutes, he had believed was following them.

When they neared the hacienda*, Diego asked Felipe to go home, promising a long conversation was to follow at a later time. The old doctor decided to take advantage of the fact that he was in the area and visit a patient with a chronic condition, leaving Diego and Mya alone as they rode the last mile into Los Angeles.

"I'm sorry, Diego. I had no idea you have feelings for Victoria. I wouldn't have made any advances on you if I'd known." She surprised him by uttering, as soon as they were alone.

"Ah… What makes you think that..." He questioned.

"The look on Felipe's face when I came to that conclusion confirmed as much. Look… I know men, and no man would refuse taking advantage of the situation I put you in, unless there was someone else. She's a beautiful, independent woman, but I doubt that she knows how you feel about her. And I guess her ill-conceived romance with Zorro put you off of courting her?"

He didn't answer, neither confirming, nor denying her supposition.

"Felipe…" He eventually asked.

"He's a wonderful young man. You taught him well."

"Not well enough, it seems." He chided himself. "Mya… I can tell that something has happened between you and my son. I had asked him to stay away from you, and I would bet my life that he would have never even considered forcing himself on you…"

"He didn't. What happened between us, happened because we both wanted it to happen. I am no man's victim, Diego!" She assured him. "Did you know he was jealous of you?"

"Felipe?" He exclaimed and asked, at the same time, judging by the outraged intonation of his voice.

"Yes. Felipe. I think he fancies himself in love with me. And that didn't just happen today. He's always accompanied you when you were coming to see me, but, frankly, I was probably too absorbed in the idea of you fancying me to notice him. I must be losing my touch. I used to be so good at knowing exactly what men felt about me: love, lust, hate, fear…"

"Why would men hate or fear you?"

"Why wouldn't they?" She asked playfully, although there was a hint of both pride and regret in her voice. "I wasn't always the person I am today. I used to be cruel once. I did many mistakes I now regret. Things I would do differently if I could. But I can take nothing back. Life has taught me at least as much."

"You are so young to be talking like that!" He remarked.

"Only on the outside. Inside… inside, I am very old. And very knowledgeable." She confessed, then noticed that he had become pensive, and reasoned he was probably preoccupied about his son. "Don't worry about Felipe, Diego! He might be infatuated, but he'll get over it soon enough. Love never lasts too long with men, from my experience. Your gender is too obsessed with conquering. Women, enemies, new territories… it makes no difference, really, as long as it makes you feel like a victor. And when that feeling goes away, you move on. To the next woman. To the next conquest." Mya stated melancholily. "But, then, I am hardly the one to talk!" She added, as if reproaching herself for sins he believed her too young to have committed.

"Not all men are like that!" Diego replied, some uncertainty in his voice, as he questioned whether his own behavior was not simply the confirmation of her words.

Zorro was a conqueror. Of Alcaldes, lancers, bandits, and people's hearts. He thought himself in love with Victoria, but he was also obsessed with conquering her. He had done so as Zorro. Now he wanted to attempt it, again, as Diego. A moment of panic ensued as he wondered whether he'd truly still love her after that battle for her heart was to be completed.

"I'll talk to him." Diego felt the need to tell Mya. "No De la Vega will behave like that and avoid his responsibilities." He stated, wondering at which De la Vega he was actually referring to: his son or himself. "Felipe will marry you!" and I will marry Victoria! His mind silently added.

"Marry me?" She chuckled. "I don't want to get married, Diego, and I will allow no man to force me to do so! Not again! Certainly not, if I can prevent it! Look, I lo… like your son. He is sweet, and kind, and I can't remember the last time I've ever met anyone like him. But it was just lovemaking. Nothing more. There will never be anything more between us! I'm not looking for a husband, nor am I looking to settle down. I will be out of this pueblo as soon as I get what I came for, and you'll never see me again!"

"What? But… He's compromised you… your honor… He might have… You might be carrying his child!" Diego stuttered, feeling both flabbergasted and infuriated by the woman.

She chuckled in reply. "I cannot conceive children, Diego, so don't warry about that! As for my honor… I assure you that my honor was never between my legs, but in my heart. And I had to learn the true meaning of the word before even having any, in the first place..."

"I've never heard a woman talk like you, Mya!" The tall caballero confessed. "Certainly not one so young…"

"As I told you already, I only look young. In reality… In reality, I'm ancient! At least, that's how I feel." She smiled, pretending she was just making a joke. Diego saw the pretense, and wondered about her words, but, at that point, he didn't have enough information to understand their meaning.

"So… Felipe… That's all he is to you? Someone to keep you entertained until you capture Zorro?" He asked a few minutes later, as they were nearing the pueblo.

"I don't believe I'd put it exactly like that. But… in a way… yes." She admitted.

Diego was silent for a few moments, pondering what to do next. "In that case, I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to see my son anymore."

"He's 22!" She exclaimed. "He doesn't need your permission!"

"Yet, I am his father and, considering your intentions towards him, it is my duty to protect him, and his reputation…"

"What's with you and this issue about reputation! A man's reputation is not ruined by having more women! Certainly not, if he's unmarried and without attachments. It's increased! Is the woman's reputation which suffers, but, in my case, as I have pointed out, things are different than for most women. As I have already demonstrated, I'm no weakling, unable to stand my ground! I'm any man's equal." She pointed out. Or, rather, superior, her mind added. "As for Felipe… he might learn a thing or two, and that will make the woman he'll, eventually, decide to marry, a very happy lady. You wouldn't stand in the way of that, would you?"

"You don't understand! I have educated him a certain way. I can't allow… such behavior. It is unbecoming of a caballero, undignified and wrong!"

"Wrong? Diego… you truly puzzle me! You support a bandit who perpetuates violence, yet believe lovemaking without consequences to be wrong!"

"I support all those who fight for justice!" He declared, suddenly remembering the woman was set on bringing about his own demise. "And nothing is without consequences! Lovemaking is not a sport, Mya! If what you said is true and this continues, think of what it might do to Felipe when, one day, you'll just decide to leave him! He's my son. My duty is to defend him. Even from you, if it comes to that." Diego uttered, barely controlling the threatening tone in his voice. By that point, his mind was playing, on repeat, an image of a heartbroken Felipe, and a heartbroken Felipe resembled much too closely to the deaf and mute boy he had once stumbled upon, on a battlefield littered with bodies.

"Fine!" She reluctantly agreed. "I won't get near him again. I'll even give him the news myself, to spare you that discussion." Mya promised, and, at Diego's scolding look she added "I'll be gentle!"

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Hacienda = en. estate (in this context- mansion)