January 23rd, 1821/ day 5
The first ray of sun hit his face like a punch. Diego woke up instantly, wondering where he was, and how he had gotten there. He had very clear recollections of a day that insisted on repeating itself, and always ending up in death and destruction.
He stared at the ceiling, thankful for being alive, and wondering for a brief time how it all still went wrong. Diego didn't want to die, but if that was the price for his loved ones to live and be safe, he was willing to pay it. Still, he was glad to be alive. If he really was alive, and everything was real, and he hadn't just lost his mind.
He remained in his bed a few minutes pondering on all he knew and did not know about the attacks. The one on the tavern was easily preventable. He considered that, in order to prevent further havoc, perhaps he should just kill the thugs. But that wasn't him. He remembered the emptiness he had felt after taking his full revenge when they had killed Felipe, and he knew he could not endure becoming a murderer, not even a murdered of murderers.
It took him three tries to make sure no-one would die in the tavern heist, and had not yet been able to prevent the escape and the attack on the hacienda. There were ways, he knew. His father had vaqueros whom he could ask to stand guard in order to protect the house. But that was not a good option. The men could easily fall victim to the bandits' bullets, so that would have meant nothing more than trading one life for another.
He was good at saving people. Zorro was his calling, his destiny. But somehow, he was failing. What was he missing? There had been ten men attacking the hacienda the first time. Eight men in prison and two trying to get them out the second time. Plus someone blowing up the armory. That added up to eleven. But the two attempting to have the men escape were knocked out before they managed to break them out, which means there was someone else as well. At least 12 then. Perhaps more. How many more? Diego frowned as he realized he needed to change tactics.
Diego rose from the bed, and headed for the cave. He took a few minutes writing a message to inform Felipe as to his whereabouts, and changed into his black clothes.
Twenty minutes later, Zorro entered the tavern's kitchen, sure to find Victoria alone at that time of day, preparing breakfast.
"Zorro!" She exclaimed at seeing him, and rushed into his arms, her mouth reaching for his lips.
"No time for pleasure, mi amor." He said after a soft kiss. "Victoria, I need you to close the tavern before noon and head to the De la Vega Hacienda. You will be safe there, but you will not be safe if you remain here. Send Pilar home, and make sure to lock all the doors, then saddle your horse and leave the pueblo."
"But...I don't understand. Why do I need to leave?"
"Because some very bad men will be coming here." He explained, leaving her with more questions than answers. "It is the only way to protect you and save the lives of others who might be caught in the crossfire. I know you don't understand, and I cannot explain more right now. Please just trust me, it will make sense in time."
As soon as she nodded her agreement, Zorro kissed her hand, left the same way he came in, then headed towards the Alcalde's office.
Once there, he entered De Soto's bedroom through the roof window, surprising the man still asleep, although it was almost 7:30 in the morning and he knew Ignacio de Soto was a morning person. He considered taking out his sword and pointing it at Ignacio's throat, eventually deciding against it.
"Good morning, Alcalde". He greeted, standing tall by his bed, hands crossed over his chest.
"Good morning, Zorro!" De Soto answered with a yawn, as he adjusted his sleeping position. "ZORRO!" He then suddenly exclaimed, jumping out of his bed at realizing his archenemy was really standing next to him.
Good I decided against pointing the sword. Zorro thought. It would have gone right through his neck...
"I am not here to threaten you, Alcalde. I am just here to talk." He assure him
"If you are here to talk about your surrender, I am all ears, otherwise..." Ignacio replied as he reached for his sword but was rapidly stopped by Zorro's.
"Stay calm, Alcalde. You need to listen to me, and I will have your undivided attention." He underlined, a menacing tone in his voice.
"What do you want?" The Alcalde decided to ask.
"Around 2:30 pm, a group of eight men will enter the pueblo. They will be heavily armed, and they will not hesitate to kill civilians and lancers alike."
"How do you know that?" Asked De Soto
"I know everything, remember?" Came the masked man's confident reply. "Even if you capture them, they still have more accomplices. At least three or four. Around 10:30 pm, those accomplices will try to break them out of jail and will blow up the armory. If the men escape, they will head north, towards the De la Vega Hacienda. But you must stop them from escaping, or many of your men will pay the price. You must stop the attacks."
"If what you are saying is true, why aren't you doing anything about this, Zorro? Do you believe I am so stupid as to fall for one of your traps?"
"No Alcalde." Zorro tried to assure him. "It is no trap. I have no hidden agenda. These are bad men, and I cannot stop them. If I could, I would. This time, however, I need you and your men to do your jobs. You must place the lancers carefully around the plaza at 2 pm and you must make sure this building is secured this evening. I will not be interfering, Alcalde. You and your men are on your own!"
As he said these last words, he uttered an "Adios!" and made his way out through the main door, just before De Soto had the time to shout for the lancers. From there, he made his way out of the pueblo, and towards the hacienda. For once, Zorro was firmly decided not to interfere, bracing himself for a possible reveal of his double identity to his father and the woman he loved, in case De Soto was unable or unwilling to heed his warning.
Arriving at the cave a little before 10 am, he changed his clothes and made his plan for the rest of the day. A little while later, he greeted his father, who was in his office, convinced Diego had been asleep till that hour. After a short interaction with the old don, he asked Maria for his breakfast in the library, where he dedicated the next two hours to continuing reading one of the new books he had bought, or, at least try to, since his thoughts were constantly lost in the traumatizing memories of the previous times he had lived through that day.
A little after 12:00, Victoria arrived and joined him and his father in the library till the lunch was ready. She told them why she was there, that Zorro had asked her to come, and they were more than happy to play the gracious hosts. After all, they both perceived Victoria as a member of the family.
The day passed much like the previous ones, Diego insisting for Victoria to stay, make up some story about having bought some pieces of clothing for his former fiancée and ending up easily winning all the chess games of the evening, as if anticipating the moves made by his two opponents. He did insist for everyone to remain in the library until eleven, despite their protests, just to make sure they would be safe.
As it had happened on the previous nights, the bandits attacked the hacienda, this time, lancers following them closely. At hearing the gunshots outside, Diego rushed everyone into the cave and blocked the entrance, waiting for the soldiers to do their duty, and refusing all interference.
"What is this, Diego?" Asked Don Alejandro at reaching the main room, wondering about all he was seeing.
"It is Zorro's cave!" Victoria exclaimed. "Why is Zorro's cave behind your fireplace?"
"Because I am Zorro, Victoria" Diego informed her using the same tone of voice he normally only used when wearing the mask.
"You, Diego?" Don Alejandro asked. "No...no...that's impossible! I saw Zorro many times… I saw Zorro fight. And you don't fight! ! I would have known if it was my own son behind that mask!" He disagreed with the evidence before him. "You...you fought Gilberto and won! He said… you said he believed you to be Zorro. Dios, you are Zorro!" Don Alejandro finally came to terms with everything, just as gunfire could be heard from inside the hacienda.
"Trust me, Father," Diego replied. "There are days when I certainly wish it wasn't me. But there are also days when I get someone out of trouble, save a life maybe, catch some criminals, or just stop one of the Alcalde's plots, and those days make the idea of having a price on my head worthwhile."
"Aren't you going to do something about those bandits?" Victoria inquired, staring at Diego, still wondering how to feel about finally knowing the identity of the man she loved.
"Not this time, Victoria. This time, I will leave the work to the men paid to do it." He answered calmly. "So?" He asked her. "Still convinced you can love the man of flesh and blood?"
"I...I did not expect it to be you, Diego. But I guess it makes sense. All those clever traps and devices, your height...Dios, now that I really look at you, I don't understand how was I ever fooled by a mask... And you wonder if I can love you? I must have made it so difficult for you to love me! Because… I know what I said, Diego, how I have always compared my friend with the man I loved, and always found him wanting. If I only knew...I would have never said any of those things!"
"Don't worry about it, Victoria! Yes, I wear a black mask, but there is more to a mask than a piece of cloth. My true mask is the man you saw in your tavern every day. The man who did everything to avoid you realizing he loves you with all his heart. The man renowned for his… clumsiness and cowardice. The man who ran away at any sign of trouble. He may not be all fake, but he is still the true mask. That is why I never minded you loving Zorro, since I am more like Zorro than like the Diego I have shown the world since my return from Spain."
"Why have you never told us?" Don Alejandro wondered, still under shock by the revelation, prompting his son's eyes to leave the face of the woman he loved, and turn towards him.
"Because it was safer." He answered. "Safer for the two of you, and safer for me and Felipe. I was putting on an act, Father, and you reacted to it as I needed you to react, in a way that would not give our esteemed Alcaldes any suspicion as to my second identity." Turning back towards the young tavern owner, his eyes lingered a little more on hers. "I don't believe you answered, though, Victoria. Can you love me? The real me? The aggregate of Zorro and Diego, who spent so much time deceiving you and everyone else? Do you still want to marry me?"
"You asked Victoria to marry you, Diego?" Don Alejandro asked.
"I did, Father. There's no one else I would even consider marrying but her." He confessed, and Victoria's face brightened as she took a few steps towards him.
"I once told you, you must never doubt my love." Victoria answered. "I am in love with Zorro for he is passionate and brave and can do no wrong in my eyes. And I love Diego because, despite his clumsiness, he is good, compassionate and has always stood up for me. Because he has always been my rock, my friend, my family. I have often imagined Zorro's face, and many times I found myself hoping it would resemble Diego's, but I never even dared hope that Zorro was my Diego." She took a break after she said that, as if trying to take in her own words. "There is not a shred of doubt in me that I want nothing more from this life than to be your wife." She added, her voice trembling but sure, her eyes filling with tears.
"And I wish for nothing more than to be your husband, Senorita Escalante." He assured her with a huge smile, as he headed towards her and, cupping her right cheek with his hand, kissed her more passionately than he had ever kissed her before.
Don Alejandro thought for a moment whether to do anything to put an end to his son's sudden display of passion for the young lady he considered as a daughter. It seemed strange to him. But, then, he remembered that his son was Zorro and there was nothing strange about the love shared by Victoria and their masked hero. They have been waiting long enough to be together. I'll give them a minute. Perhaps that will get me my grandchildren a little bit sooner. He thought with the same mischievous smile Zorro had so often wore when defeating the Alcalde.
Leaving the two young people to show their love for each other, his attention was drawn to Felipe, who was petting the neck of a certain black stallion, and his fantasies about grandchildren were soon replaced by fantasies about the beautiful offspring that horse might produce.
"You already have one of his offspring, Father." Diego told him when he was finally able to take his eyes off Victoria, and found himself amused at the interest the old don was showing for Tornado.
"He does?" Don Alejandro asked, him main taking an inventory of his horses. "Luna! The young mare! I always thought she looked a lot like Zorro's horse! I could never understand it!"
"Indeed. And from what I saw so far, Luna is quite a challenger for her father." Diego confirmed with a smile, as he directed towards Don Alejandro, his hand intertwined with Victoria's.
"Is that why you have always convinced me to refuse every offer to sell her?" Don Alejandro inquired.
"It is one of the reasons." Diego conceded. "I also thought she would make a nice wedding present for Victoria". He continued.
"But she is two years old already! Since when exactly have you been planning wedding you are talking about, Diego?" His father asked, turning towards the pair.
"She accepted to marry me a year ago." Diego answered, resting, again his eyes on Victoria's face. "But the truth is I have been planning our wedding for much longer than that. Three years ago, when Luis Ramone died at the Devils Fortress, I thought I might finally have the chance to stop ridding out as Zorro. The chance to be with the woman I loved, to have a family, without endangering anyone's life with my actions. It's why I decided to allow for Luna's procreation, which was quite risky considering I was justifiably convinced that any of his foals might bear a strong resemblance with Tornado. We were lucky De Soto never stopped to consider the reasons for that resemblance when he saw the mare, last year."
ZZZ
The noise from the guns had long since faded when they finally realized it was safe to return to the hacienda. They found most of the rooms to be in a rather pitiful state. The piano and much of the furniture had been destroyed, there were bullet holes in the walls, and blood on the floor, but they were all alive and uninjured. Just as they were making their way towards their rooms, examining the damage, De Soto entered and, just like them, stopped in his tracks.
"Where have you come from?" He asked, noticing that Diego's hand was firmly holding Victoria's, in what was, by no means, a friendly manner.
"We hid when we heard the gunshots." Diego replied.
"Hid? Where? We checked the entire house twice." De Soto questioned.
"We were not in the house. We left through the back door, and made our way to an abandoned farmhouse nearby". Diego informed him, as his father was contemplating the easiness with which his son was able to come up with untrue answers to the Alcalde's interrogatory. "But that is not important, Ignacio! Do you know who were the men who attacked us, and why they did it? Were there any casualties?"
"Oh...Right." De Soto answered, not very convinced by Diego's replies, since his men were still surrounding the hacienda, but deciding to drop the subject for the time being. "Twelve bandits worth over 10.000 pesos in reward money." He answered. "Unfortunately, two of my men, including Sergeant Mendoza are dead because of them. I will make it my mission to see them all hanged for that, in the morning." He added, then greeted and made his way out. Felipe followed him to lock the door.
Diego bowed his head, his face filled with sorrow.
"Mendoza" He uttered. "I forgot about Mendoza."
"It is not your fault, son!" Don Alejandro encouraged him. "You cannot save everybody, and we needed you here!"
Diego just looked towards him and smiled, a forced, sad smile. Then he put his arm around Victoria's shoulder and, followed by his father and Felipe, walked her to her bedroom. Not wanting to intrude on them, Felipe made sure to disappear fast from sight, and Don Alejandro soon followed his grandson's example, bidding them goodnight and entering his quarters.
"Are you alright, Diego?" Victoria asked as they were embracing outside her room.
"No, I am not." He confessed, as she buried her face in his chest.
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" She asked him.
"Stay with me? I would want nothing better than for you to stay with me. Tonight and every night from now on... But I am not sure..."
"Then I will stay with you." She decided. "Just let me change into my nightgown, and I will be right back."
"Victoria!" He tried to protest, although he really needed to feel her in his arms. "We are not married yet. That would not be proper."
"But we are engaged to be married, Diego!" She assured him. "And I see nothing wrong with a fiancée consoling her future husband when he needs her. We will just have to be careful in the morning not to be seen." She added with a smile.
Not waiting for his reply, Victoria hurried into her room and returned in her nightgown, wearing a blanket around her shoulders. Diego made sure they were not being overheard and led her to his room. Once there, he took another blanket and, allowing Victoria to choose her side of the bed, he made sure to cover her up, put the other blanket in between them, and climbed on the empty side of the bed, using his blanket to cover himself. He then took her in his arms and they fell asleep like that, her head resting on his chest.