AN: This story is an account of the events in the last 11 episodes of the series + what happened after the end of the show, from De Soto's perspective, assuming he was actually serious in his courtship for Victoria. Based on my drabble 'Reasons'.
My thanks to my wonderful beta reader, La Cuidadora, for all her help.
Disclaimer: I do not own the NWZ characters and make no money from this story. However, I did write it, so its full or partial reproduction is forbidden without my express consent.
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Ignacio de Soto was restless that night. His head on the pillow, raw meat covering his swollen left eye, and all he could think about was how the next day Senorita Escalante will not allow him to take her into his arms again and kiss her sweet lips.
That past week had been the most beautiful in Ignacio's entire life. He had danced with her, stared into her lovely eyes, kissed her and her soft neck, even made wedding plans for the two of them, went on that picnic with her – which would have been perfect had that clueless Diego not intruded.
The young don's presence, and insistence to stay with them ruined that perfect occasion to be alone with the beautiful taverness. Why in the world did he think they had any interest in listening to him talk biology. Like they cared about the classification of fruits. And what is an accessory fruit, anyway? Also, why does Diego knows that and insists on sharing such useless information?
By the time they returned to the pueblo, his head was hurting like hell and the caballero was still talking!
Considering that experience, he then had the brilliant idea to talk Victoria into closing the tavern so that they could have a night alone. Not even that insufferable De la Vega could disturb them if the tavern's doors were bolted. Ignacio had made sure they were.
For the first part it had been a perfect evening and he had come so close to making her his. But, of course, Zorro had to get involved, as he usually did, even if it was none of his business, and the night was ruined, just like his romance with Victoria.
Trying to finally get some sleep, he stirred and turned on his left side and the meat fell from his eye. He took it and put it right back, wondering why had Zorro been so considerate as to leave it for him. A few moments later he threw it away, realizing it was, most probably, poisoned. A trick by his nemesis to take revenge on him for having tried to seduce and marry a woman the outlaw had claimed for himself long before Ignacio even arrived in Los Angeles. So unfair!
Jumping out of the bed, he hurried to get some water and soap, and thoroughly cleaned the left part of his face, then decided to do the same for his right, since it felt wrong to have only half of his face clean.
He was afraid to close an eye for the remainder of the night, just in case the poison - which had probably already penetrated his skin and was inside his body - would kill him while he was asleep. Barely able to keep his eyes open, he went to his office and devised no less than six traps to finally capture Zorro.
They all failed within the next couple of weeks. In fact, they failed so miserably that, drawing the line, he counted three jackets, two vests, one pair of pants and one pair of boots destroyed, a black eye and a dislocated knee. All offenses due to be added to the list of crimes committed by the black-clad thug who insisted on leaving his mark on Ignacio's clothes and loved to punch him. The knee was the result of a fall from his own horse, but, since it happened while pursuing Zorro, it was also his fault!
With the doctor away, Ignacio was, at least, grateful Diego was able to put the knee back without causing him unnecessary pain. Sometimes the caballero was not absolutely useless.
ZZZ
Since the Senorita was no longer paying him any attention – playing hard to get, no doubt – he realized she just wanted him to put more effort into courting her. So he did.
At first, he asked for courting advice. He asked Mendoza, Sepulveda and, eventually, Diego. Their advice was totally nonsense and Ignacio made a purpose of ignoring it. Instead, he bought a book instructing men how to seduce women.
The author was certainly a fan of Machiavelli, considering the references to his works included in the book, thus in a perfect position to instruct others. Ignacio read it all in one night and started putting it into practice the following day.
Thus, he made it a custom to have dinner at the tavern every night and make sure to always point out to the taverness the failures in her cooking. She cared about that and the author of his book assured his readers that attacking something the women they were courting cared about would not only inform them that they were paying close attention to their hobbies, but also make them crave for their approval.
One night, he was explaining to the taverness how her meal was failing to raise up to the expected quality, when something terrifying happened. Mendoza came through the door and informed him that the sons of Minister Carbajal were dead. In his jurisdiction! The idiot also mentioned that evil spirits were, most probably, responsible. Absurd, of course! De Soto decided.
Victoria's idea about the Plague being the possible cause of the brothers' death, however, was even worse because was more believable. For a few seconds Ignacio did believe it. He thus considered whether to take the chance and the only remaining week they all probably would still get to live and beg her to marry him, swearing he would be her slave for the rest of his life (or, well, for the week), hers to do with as she wanted, if only she said yes.
Diego interrupted that train of thought, daring to point out Victoria was wrong.
Ignacio tried to contradict him at first, part of him hoping Victoria had been right and he might, at least, get one week by her side. He then remembered that he didn't want to die. He also remembered Diego had interrupted his picnic with Victoria the week they were courting. Dios, how he despised the weakling!
Any number of things, Diego had said, could be behind the deaths. What in the world was he to do with such an answer?
The following day, when he found out what the brothers' mission in Los Angeles was, he came up with a brilliant idea to prove Zorro was behind their deaths. That would, at least, convince Minister Carbajal that the outlaw was no folk hero.
He, thus, went to the farmhouse where they had died, and marked the place with a Z. Then, just as he was about to leave, he saw Zorro was also coming, most probably, to erase all traces of his involvement. What luck! Ignacio thought, giving thanks to God. He pointed his gun at his nemesis, fired, and… missed. Damn!
He then engaged the black-clad menace in a duel, but that bandit cheated and had his horse knock him unconscious, probably afraid to fight him. Ignacio realized he shouldn't have told the brigand he had taken private lessons with Pedro Diamante.
Eventually, that masked outlaw kidnapped Mendoza and took the garrison's entire supply of gunpowder, then used the poor Sergeant as a human shield and ordered him to blow up a shallow ravine. Then he proceeded in commending De Soto for his leadership, emphasizing how that absurd action made the region safer for future colonists. He still had trouble understanding what exactly had happened but, at least, the people in the King's office understood perfectly because they granted him a well-deserved medal.
Upon receiving it, he organized a party, which was a great opportunity to show it off and gain some much needed admiration from the woman he fancied himself in love with. He also expected to dance with her at least a few times. Unfortunately, he had decided for a lunchtime fiesta and nobody was in the mood for dance, Victoria least of all. Even worse, that useless tall caballero was in attendance and she spent all her free time with him.
He had felt offended at first, until he realized what she was doing: she was using De la Vega to make him jealous! As if Zorro wasn't enough!
That afternoon he returned to his office with a large smile on his lips and sent Mendoza to arrest the taverness. Ignacio instructed the Sergeant to say it was because of her support for Zorro again, but he knew she knew it was just so he could have her all for himself, at least for a little while. Again, his plan was thwarted when the De la Vegas arrived and forced him to free her. Those caballeros always insisted in meddling with his love life for no good reason!
ZZZ
The next couple of weeks, De Soto had been attending the annual meeting with the Governor in Monterey. All the time while he was there he only thought of her. Even the women he frequented at the town's only bordello he made sure looked like her.
When he returned, he found out that the masked outlaw had meanwhile thrown his beloved out of a moving wagon, causing her to sprain her ankle. For some reason she still defended him. Women truly are blind, irrational creatures! He concluded, swearing, once more, to put an end to that fiend.
ZZZ
Only a few days later Zorro decided to taunt his men. While that was going on, it fell on three farmers to save Victoria from an attack. Since no one was able to pinpoint the individual who had thrown the punch leading that awful individual who had dared made a move on his preciosa to fall from the second floor and die, Ignacio was about to inform them he was, thus, going to keep the 3,000 pesos reward money for the dead man. Unfortunately, somehow the De la Vegas had found out about the incident and that obnoxious Diego came up with the stupid, yet perfectly legal and, unfortunately, reasonable idea for him to give 1,000 pesos to each one of the farmers.
So, of course, he came up with a new plan to get even more money and keep it all. But then Zorro made sure to undermine that plan. Were he not such a spineless coward, I would swear Diego is in league with that criminal! He told himself as the climbed into bed that night.
ZZZ
Finally it had happened! He had caught Zorro. Surprisingly, the masked fiend ended up being Don Alejandro de la Vega, former soldier, land-owner, father of one spineless son, magician able to be in two places at the same time, and an all-round pain in the neck. One he was, finally, about to cure.
Victoria had fainted when her 'hero' was unmasked. No wonder! Ignacio had always seen the masked menace as he truly was, and had absolutely no shock at the reveal, having suspected the old caballero all along. However, the rest of the pueblo, the taverness included, having idolized Zorro to the point to which they assigned him qualities he never possessed, had quite the shock. Surely they expected some sort of Hercules to be hiding under the mask, not… Don Quijote.
One thing he had to give to the man: he was a true master of deceit. Not even his own son had ever even suspected he was Zorro. In fact, Diego was still in denial when he begged Ignacio not to go on with the execution. But no argument he could make would persuade Ignacio to give up the opportunity to get rid of the one man who had always stood in his way.
The morning the don was to hang was beautiful. The sun was bright, yet it wasn't too hot, the birds were singing, the latrines were clean, his men followed his orders to perfection, and everything was right with the world.
Then everything went wrong. He had anticipated that the people would try to stop the execution and took all the appropriate measures for them not to. Yet, that brainless mob somehow managed to break through to the garrison's internal courtyard, just as the sentence was about to be carried out. Fortunately, apparently they only wanted to see the hanging, since they did nothing to save the don, just stood there and stared. When Victoria also came in to witness the end of the outlaw, more radiant than ever, he gave the order for the lever to be pulled.
He did not, however, foresee that it had all been a trick by the true Zorro, certainly aimed at making him look bad in front of his beloved and the pueblo's citizens. Again the foe had punched him and attacked his lancers, prevented the execution, and rode away with the unconscious Don Alejandro.
Realizing Ignacio was still licking the wounds that particular day had caused to his ego, Victoria did the only thing she could do for him: she made it her purpose to ask people not to mention that episode again, convincing everyone that it might embarrass the old don.
ZZZ
Victoria seemed distracted lately, so it occurred to Ignacio that he needed to do something in order to attract her attention. Complaining about the spices in the food no longer worked, since she started to answer back that, if he didn't like the food, he shouldn't order it. Probably that masked menace had instructed her what to say. That strategy clearly had to be changed.
Thus, for a few days already, De Soto started ordering a certain food and, when it arrived, complaining that the taverness had mistaken his order. That, at least, achieved the purpose of making her more aware of him being there, craving her attention. Unfortunately, she was constantly mad at him, and quite ungrateful with his efforts to make her feel better by distracting her from whatever was bothering her.
Eventually, he managed to find out it was all because of a sick child which wasn't even hers to begin with, thus certainly not her responsibility. Sergio was, however, a great way to capture Zorro and, had his condition not been so contagious he would have been that fiend's downfall. Of course, that level of contagion proved to be a bluff, just like Ignacio had known from the beginning, but his idiot Sergeant allowed himself to be duped anyway.
A week later, he found the boy perfectly safe and miraculously cured. The masked demon was probably some sort of wizard, as well, apparently, since only dark magic would have saved the sick child at that point. That or he had asked Diego' for his help. But the caballero was too much of a coward to ever risk consorting with an outlaw, which was the only reason why Ignacio didn't even consider arresting him.
When he tried to interrogate Sergio, he realized the boy was under some sort of spell which compelled him to resist his Alcalde's request to tell him where the arch criminal's cave was. Then the outlaw illegally broke into the garrison's prison, and again attacked him and Mendoza, kidnapping Sergio as he ran away.
The good news was that, at least, Victoria was no longer distracted and was finally smiling again. The bad news was that she was more in love with Zorro than ever before. The even worse news was that Ignacio had gotten another bruise on his jaw, which hurt especially badly when he yelled 'LAAAANNNNCEEEERRRRS!'
ZZZ
The world had suddenly turned upside down. Now Victoria thought Diego was brave. What an absurd notion!
Ignacio had not been in town when it had happened, but he was certain that the laughable accounts of that coward facing a bull with only a broomstick were nothing more than a testimony to the raging imagination of some very bored people in Los Angeles.
A few days after his return someone had the audacity to steal the garrison's best horses. The best De la Vega horses had also been stolen so, of course, he had to endure, once more, their negging by agreeng to old one's help with the search. Diego had a broken leg and, since he was useless anyway, he did the sensible thing for once and stayed home.
Ignacio spent half a day searching for the horse thieves. When he finally found the one man who was, no doubt, behind the thefts, a certain Jose Macias, the old De la Vega and Victoria challenged his decision to arrest the man. He had, no doubt, neglected her for too long.
Understanding her decision to bail the thief out for what it truly was – a motive to spend some time with him – Ignacio pretended to lose count of the money she advanced for the man's bail several times. Unfortunately, that obnoxious Don Alejandro had decided to accompany her for absolutely no reason, and refused to understand all the hints he was giving him that he needed to leave. No wonder Diego was also unable to get it in his head that he wasn't welcome when he intruded on that picnic, since he had no one to teach him how to spot a clue!
That day De Soto almost revisited the idea that the old De la Vega could be Zorro, considering how he insisted on following Victoria everywhere.
Ignacio was certain to have been vindicated when, the following day, not only the horses were stolen again, but the entire Macias family had vanished.
He formed a search party and spent the day riding around the territory in search of the thieves as his men ran behind his horse. Don Alejandro also insisted on coming and had proven himself as useless as his son had always been, at insisting they make the long way to San Bernardino, even if De Soto knew for certain that the thief had not gone that way and his instinct was never wrong. He only gave in because the old don wouldn't stop nagging.
When they returned, empty-handed, he realized that, once more, Zorro had made a fool of him by helping Victoria capture the real bandits. Victoria! How dare he put her in such danger? What kind of man does that to the woman he says he loves? And what kind of man makes a woman think she might be better than a man/Alcalde at doing his job, for that matter? That foe was not only betraying his country but, worse even, he was betrying his own gender!
ZZZ
A few weeks later, when news arrived that a Royal Emissary was to come to Los Angeles, Ignacio had been glad about the approaching visit, certain he could use it to advance his career by proving to the man what a good Alcalde he was. Unfortunately, the Emissary turned out to be a power-obsessed, vengeful, neurotic slime, and the masked menace ended up saving De Soto's life. Again!
At least Victoria showed her true feelings for him when she protested the execution, almost getting herself killed by doing so. Poor thing had buried her face in Don Alejandro's chest when the time was near, unable to watch him die.
When the Emissary had first been believed dead he had thrown a party - at evening this time - eager to tell his beloved how grateful he was for her defense of him. Instead, that spineless fool made sure to dance with her the entire evening, and prevented any attempt by Ignacio to have a private dialogue with her. He ended up dancing with some of the other senoritas, just to make her jealous.
Why was it that the De la Vegas were always so determined to prevent him from having a fulfilled love life?
ZZZ
Ignacio only realized how much he truly treasured his life the day he was about to face a firing squad. Risendo was brought back from the dead like the true demon he was, and Ignacio decided he cared more about saving his skin than about either the Senorita or his Sergeant, which he abandoned to boil in oil like a chicken empanada – or, at least, that was what everybody assumed would happen when he ran away towards the De la Vega hacienda, in the hope to save himself.
The old don had recently acquired a new horse which was said to be one of the fastest in the territory, second only to Zorro's Tornado.
It was then when it happened: he was given a second chance.
Hearing the voices coming from the courtyard, he crept near the fence to see Emissary Risendo point a gun at Diego. It was a perfect moment to kill that scum, and become a hero to both the De la Vegas and Victoria. Not to mention, a perfect opportunity to keep his body bullet free.
He had fired and his aim was perfect. For a split second he wondered how come he was able to make that shot yet had never before been able to even injure his nemesis.
Ignacio had been partly right about how the attitude towards him would change, since the scum turned to be also a De la Vega and Diego's twin brother.
His conversation with Padre Benitez after the shooting finally made him realize that nothing he ever did in Los Angeles was ever or might ever be 'the right thing'. Despite the gratitude the dons had showed him, and the smile he received from Victoria, he was simply not the kind of man who could, even for once, do right by everyone who mattered.
Giving up, he decided there were only two things left for him to do. The first was to give Zorro a pardon, so that he might finally marry Victoria and make the woman they both loved happy. That way, at least, she no longer had to divide her love between two men.
The idea came to him because of a certain conversation he once had with the young De la Vega when he had the absurd notion of asking the most renowned bachelor in Los Angeles for courting advices. The caballero had told him that, if a man truly loved a woman, he would do anything in his power to see her happy, even if that meant giving up any chance of ever being with her. At the time it seemed preposterous and Ignacio ignored such advice, deciding it was, most probably, because of such a distorted view of love that Diego was still unmarried and had no prospects of ever finding a bride. For some reason, though, after the Emissary's visit and all that came with it, that notion no longer seemed absurd.
So, Ignacio sat at his desk and, after noticing it was dusty, he cleaned it thoroughly. Then he wrote a full pardon for the brigand.
The second thing he did was to write his resignation. If Victoria was to marry that fiend, he wanted to be as far away as possible from Los Angeles when that happened, perhaps tending to his broken heart in a bordello in the Caribbean where none of the appetizing ladies reminded him of her.
He didn't however, count on the following consequences brought about by his two actions:
1. As per a new order by the King, every leaving Alcalde needed to wait until his replacement was to arrive from Spain. That was to take, at least, half a year! Had he known that, he would have postponed granting Zorro that full pardon.
2. When the masked fiend unmasked he proved to be none other than the De la Vega heir. That shocked most of the people of the pueblo, none more than Don Alejandro, who almost fainted that time, and Victoria, who pretended, however, to be ecstatic. Of course, Ignacio saw right through her, but respected the fact that she was an honorable woman and did not have the heart to reject Zorro, even if he proved to be Diego.
3. The caballero insisted he'd attend their wedding. Ignacio was unable to refused even if he did his best to come up with perfectly good reasons, such as "I am washing my hair that day".
4. The next thing he didn't count on was that Victoria had a second cousin who was her spitting image, only three years older and much more interested in him than Victoria had ever been.
That was how De Soto ended up spending his entire life in California, related to the man he had, for years tried to capture and hang, never to return to Madrid again, and quite happy about how things had turned out.
The End