Don Alejandro prolonged his stay in San Jose for a few more days, until he managed to convince Victoria to accompany him back to Los Angeles. All it really took, though, was the right argument, for she agreed as soon as he pointed out that, if Zorro left because of her departure, her return might mean his, as well, and they could finally be together.

Travelling with two newborn babies and three new mares was not easy, however, so the 360 miles journey took them almost two weeks to complete. Since Victoria did not have a place to stay in the pueblo, Don Alejandro convinced her to occupy one of the rooms at the hacienda, assuring her that the baby screams she feared would bother everyone would, in fact, be a welcome change for the hacienda and its inhabitants. He even joked that, perhaps, they might wake Diego up.

During the long trip Victoria avoided asking the old don about his comatose son, but made sure to find out all that his vaqueros knew about her friend's condition. She dreaded seeing him, however, fearing he was but a shadow of the man he had once been.

She had stood by his side for a little over two months. The days after he was shot had been the hardest, everyone expecting him to die at any moment. Those first days she did little more than cry and blame herself for her friend's predicament. It may have not been she who had fired the gun, but it was she who had chased the drunkard away that morning, without even considering that the man, in his inebriated state, might decide to harm her.

Victoria had not seen Diego come in, since her head was high in the clouds that day. All she could think about was Zorro and the night they had just spent together. He had wanted to tell her who he was, but she decided he should only do that when he was good and ready to do so. Yet here she was, almost a year later, mother of his children, but still ignorant about the true identity of the man who had fathered them.

She did know the identity of the man who had saved her life, though. From what others had told her, Diego had barely entered the tavern when the drunkard returned, pointing a gun in her direction. She was serving customers at a table near the bar, but her back was turned towards him. The man pressed the trigger and her friend saved her life at the price of his own. True, his heart was, perhaps, still beating, and the doctor had managed to find a way to keep feeding him. But from every other viewpoint, he was gone.

ZZZ

The stagecoach from Monterey passed them some forty miles south of Mission San Buenaventura. Don Alejandro tried, at that point, to convince Victoria to make the rest of the journey by stagecoach since there were two free places and it was a more comfortable travel option than her wagon, but the young woman stubbornly refused to leave his side.

"Is that the stagecoach?" Don Alejandro asked his men.

"We'll go check, Patron! You should stay here with the Senorita in case there's trouble." Bernardo decided, and made his way towards it, accompanied by the other vaquero who had remained with them.

The men first checked it was not a trap and, at not seeing any bandits nearby, they carefully checked the stagecoach and headed back to where they had left their employer.

"It's empty, Patron. But it's the same one we saw yesterday, and it doesn't appear to have been damaged." They related upon their return. "The horses are gone and so are the passengers, the driver, and the luggage it was transporting."

Don Alejandor nodded and, sending Bernardo ahead and leaving Pedro, his other man, to follow some fifty feet behind them, he decided they should continue their journey. Just as he and Victoria reached the coach and stopped for a better inspection, three Mexican soldiers also arrived, dragging four horses behind them.

"Buenas tardes!" Don Alejandro greeted them a little suspiciously. "Do you know what happened here?"

"The stagecoach was attacked, Senor." Their leader, a short, black-haired, olive-skinned corporal informed them. "The Alcalde sent us to take it to Los Angeles."

"You are from the Los Angeles garrison?" Pablo asked, having approached the haciendado fearing he might be in danger from the soldiers.

"We are, Senor!" The Corporal replied as his men were harnessing the horses. "I am Corporal Arenas. My men and I have been sent to reinforce the garrison, but we'll be leaving for Monterey soon. The lancers in Los Angeles have all decided to pledge their allegiance to the Mexican Empire, so they will not need us for much longer. Certainly not with the new Alcalde!"

"There's a new Alcalde? Who?" Don Alejandro questioned just as several explosions were heard few hundred feet north of where they were.

"That must be them!" The Corporal told his men. "Santos, take the stagecoach to the place the Alcalde instructed. Gustavo and I will go see if we are needed in freeing the prisoners."

"Si, Corporal!" The man answered and soon disappeared in a cloud of dust.

"Senores, Senora, you should be on your way, but be careful. There are still a few bandits in the area, although they are hesitant to attack since they had found out that the new Alcalde used to be Zorro. Should you encounter them, just make sure to stay alive, and we will help if you need us." With those parting words, the two soldiers left Don Alejandro, Victoria and the vaqueros, heading straight in the direction from where the explosions were heard.

"Zorro is the new Alcalde?" Victoria wondered, looking hopeful towards her elderly companion.

"If that is so, we couldn't have returned at a better time. But, right now, we should be on our way!" Don Alejandro decided, signaling his men to start moving.

They reached the hacienda without any further incident. The vaqueros headed for the stables with the horses, while Don Alejandro helped Victoria climb down off the covered wagon which had carried her and the children to their destination. To Don Alejandro's surprise, there was nobody there to welcome them, so he helped Victoria take the babies to the library, and went to find Maria, his housekeeper.

A few minutes later she heard more horses in the courtyard. Just as she headed towards the door to see who it was, Diego walked in. He looked just as she remembered him before the shootout and they both froze in place, just staring at each other, tears forming in their eyes.

"Victoria?" He asked hesitantly.

"Diego!" She exclaimed as she rushed into his open arms, and started sobbing against his chest.

"You're back. When Felipe told me you were gone, I was afraid I'd never see you again, mi amor!" He told her.

Victoria opened her eyes and jerked her head to look at him when she heard the endearment. She wanted to question him, but the words did not come. So she just stood there, looking dumbfounded into his eyes.

Diego was utterly happy to see her and already lacked the practice to pretend as he had for so many years. From his perspective, everybody already knew the truth about him, so he assumed she did, as well.

Alejandrito started crying at that precise moment, and Victoria had to let go of him and return to her babies. Diego followed flabbergasted and stared at her as she took the boy to her left breast, turning away from him in order to feed the infant.

"Can you try to calm Isabel?" She asked over her shoulder when the girl stared protesting having been waken up in such a noisy way. "All you have to do is rock her in your arms, and she'll stop crying in a bit."

Diego moved to the armchair in which the woman he loved had left her baby girl, and picked her up. The baby stopped crying instantly.

"We are parents?" Diego asked, looking intently into his daughter's familiar blue eyes.

"Parents?" Victoria questioned the use of the plural, turning around and back again in embarrassment at Diego seeing her naked breast.

"We did make love… the night before I was shot…" He replied.

Victoria's heart rate accelerated and her breathing became harder, but the surprise she felt at his words was too great for her to be able to form an answer. Diego? Dios! He's… Was all she could think of as everything fell into place, and she finally understood why had Zorro not visited her, nor had he been seen in the pueblo.

"Zorro?" She just managed to ask, in a whisper, as she again turned towards him.

Diego looked at her and nodded. "You didn't know? It's not why you've returned?"

"No." She said among sobs. "I… Your father found me… convinced me to return…"

"Diego?" Don Alejandro stated rather than asked, open-mouthed.

"Father!" The tall caballero exclaimed as his parent tried to embrace him but found it difficult due to the baby in his son's arms.

"How? When?" The old don inquired.

"I woke up a few days after you left. Felipe sent a messenger to Monterey to inform you, but the man didn't find you. A day before he got back the other vaqueros arrived with news that you would be delayed a couple of weeks. I am so happy to see you, Father!"

"I am happy to see you, as well, Diego! So happy! You have no idea how desperate I was at the thought that I would never again talk to my only son!" Don Alejandro's tears started falling, and Isabel started crying at that moment, re-claiming Diego's attention.

"It's alright, my darling!" He said in a soothing tone, trying to calm her down. "You are home now." As he said that, he raised his head to look at Victoria. The young woman had covered herself with a shawl and when her eyes met Diego's she just nodded in a mixture of sobs and laughter which caused Don Alejandro to wonder what he had missed.

"Excuse me, Alcalde," Corporal Arenas called from the entrance to the hacienda. Diego turned towards him. "Lieutenant Mendoza asked me to ask you if you'd like to take the statement from the passengers and the bandits yourself."

"No, Corporal." Diego replied. "Tell the Lieutenant I trust him to do it."

"Si, Alcalde!" The man uttered as he stepped out, wondering about what he had just intruded on.

"Alcalde?" Don Alejandro asked his son.

"We had free elections about two weeks ago, just after the Mexican troops arrived. I was barely able to ride a horse at the time, but the people insisted that I accept the office." Diego explained.

"Wait… We met the Corporal on our way here. He said the new Alcalde was Zorro!" Don Alejandro exclaimed, still just as puzzled.

"Father… I was Zorro." The tall caballero uttered with a smile as his father stared at him wide-eyed.

Don Alejandro felt his legs give out under him and leaned against a nearby wall, looking around the room, then returning his attention on his son. "Wait… But… Are you saying that… that the twins are my grandchildren?"

Both Diego and Victoria couldn't avoid a chuckle at that conclusion as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Yes. I believe that is exactly what I am saying!" Diego agreed with his father. "And I'd like nothing better than to finally marry their mother, if she'll have me!"

"I believe I had already answered that question years ago." Victoria answered. "I just had no idea it was you to whom I made that promise."

"And now that you know?"

"I want to marry you even more! Oh, God, Diego! I'm so glad it's you! Almost as glad as I am to see that you've recovered."

"I'll send Felipe to ask the padre to marry us, right away, in that case…"

"If you find him!" Don Alejandro remarked.

"I think I know exactly where he is." Diego grinned. "Felipe! Could you come up here?" He called, loud enough for the younger man to hear him in the cave.

A few moments later, Felipe emerged through the hidden door in the fireplace.

"How did he…?" Don Alejandro wondered.

"Felipe has been able to hear since he was twelve. We kept it a secret so that he could help me in my mission as Zorro." Diego informed his father.

"I see. Any other surprises you have for me, Son?"

"There's a secret cave behind that fireplace and Felipe can also talk. Just a few words so far, but he is getting better at it." Diego mentioned, and Felipe grinned at his grandfather and at Victoria.

"That's wonderful, Felipe!" She exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Happy you home!" Felipe uttered in a faint voice.

Don Alejandro took him into his arms, and squeezed him until he felt he couldn't breathe. "Just one more question, Son," he then added, letting go of his grandson and turning towards the tall caballero. "Is all this real, or is it a dream?"

Diego smiled and, handing his daughter to his adopted son, hugged his father as the old don started crying in earnest. "Both, I suppose." He answered.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

AN: Dear readers, hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. And yes, I drew some inspiration for it from one of my personal favs (i.e. Sacrifice), just in case you were wondering .

Once more, I owe my thanks to La Cuidadora for correcting the text and offering her input on the narative.