January 23rd, 1821/ Day 1418
The first ray of sun hit his face like a punch. Diego woke up instantly, got off his bed, put on a blue suit, and headed to his desk where he started writing. When he finished, he placed three letters in three different envelopes, marking them as Father, Victoria, and Ignacio. He took the envelopes with him, made his way to the kitchen to ask Maria for his breakfast to be served in the patio, then entered the library where he picked up the volume of Prometheus Unbound before going for breakfast. He calmly finished his meal and his coffee, patiently waiting for his father and his son to join him.
By the time Don Alejandro came, he was holding his book opened pretending to be reading, yet calculating his moves.
"Good morning, Diego!" His father greeted, still surprised to see his son up so early in the morning, despite it being a scene that tended to repeat itself for over three weeks.
"Good morning, Father!" Diego replied. "Do you, by any chance, know if Felipe is up, yet?"
"Felipe? Yes, I saw him heading towards the library. What is it with you two and your fascination for that room, Diego? If I didn't know better, I could swear the boy is actually your son!"
"He is my son, Father. I have adopted him." Diego reminded Don Alejandro, trying to switch the topic of the conversation away from the room where the access to the cave was located.
"It is not what I meant, Diego, but I do see your point. After all, you did raise the young man." Don Alejandro agreed.
"We both did, Father!" Diego replied and, noticing Felipe entering the courtyard, he poured him a cup of coffee. "Good morning, Felipe! Did you sleep well?" He asked.
Felipe signaled that he had had a nightmare, but he was ready for a new day.
"Is that one of your new books, Diego?" His father decided to let curiosity get the best of him.
"Yes" He answered. "Prometheus Unbound, by Shelly. It makes for an interesting read."
"It certainly has an interesting title." Don Alejandro remarked. "I saw you bought over 30 new books on your visit to the port yesterday. I must say, I was actually expecting you to stay up reading them for at least one month, but I am certainly glad to see you decided to do your reading in the morning."
"You never know, Father. I might just return to my old habits one of these days." Diego replied with a grin.
As Don Alejandro and Felipe were eating their breakfasts, the conversation lingered for a while on the topic of books, then re-focused on issues regarding work at the ranch. Around 9 a.m., when Don Alejandro stood up, due to head for his office, decided to catch up with some of the accounting, Diego handed him an envelope, and asked him to wait half an hour before reading it. His father watched him curiously but, eventually, accepted, and promised to wait before reading it. Diego and Felipe then directed themselves towards Los Angeles, informing Don Alejandro that he would be working for The Guardian.
They entered the tavern to find Victoria still serving breakfast to her devoted patrons, among which the Alcalde and Sergent Mendoza.
"Buenos dias, Senores!" She greeted them as they neared the bar.
"Good morning, Victoria!" Diego replied with a big smile, unable to completely disguise the love radiating from his eyes. "I hope you have prepared a lot of lemonade this morning, since it's already almost unbearably hot out there!"
"Pilar is just preparing a new jar, Diego." She answered. "Nice and fresh for my favorite customers!"
"I thought I was your favorite customer, Senorita Escalante." Sergeant Mendoza uttered from a table near the door, which he was sharing with the Alcalde.
"You certainly are my most faithful customer, Sergeant!" She replied with a charming smile. "Don Alejandro is not coming, Diego?" She asked, turning towards her favorite customer.
"No. He is catching up with some bookkeeping this morning." He replied, silently greeting the Alcalde and Mendoza, and heading with Felipe for a table next to theirs.
"You know, Don Diego," De Soto opened the conversation, just as Victoria brought the jar of fresh lemonade and two glasses "I always found that the best morning drink for true men is a nice glass of Port. Don't you agree, Sergeant?"
"Port is very nice, mi Alcalde!" Mendoza answered, more than happy to be consulted, and feeling certain he had the correct answer.
"To each his own, Alcalde!" Diego answered, unwilling to set himself up for another derogatory remark from his former colleague.
"That is true." Accepted De Soto. "After all, men do come in all shapes and sizes. You know, Diego, I am sure some fencing lessons from Sergeant Mendoza might go a long way to getting you started in the right direction and, since I am feeling rather generous, I might even throw in some lessons with myself. I understand you would be highly outclassed, but I will do my best to go easy on you! What do you say?"
"Oh, I appreciate the offer, Ignacio." Diego replied."The truth is I had no idea you were a master swordsman, since Zorro seems to always have so little trouble defeating you!"
"I try to be generous and you insist on spoiling my day by mentioning that... that... arch being, Diego!" De Soto replied, frustrated his plan of humiliating Diego had backfired. "Come on, Sergeant! We have work to do! Unlike others, we cannot afford to waste our time when there is an entire pueblo counting on us to defend it!"
"Before I bid you a good day, Ignacio, I have prepared something for you." Diego said while standing up and giving his former colleague a sealed envelope. "Read it after you arrive in your office, Alcalde." Diego asked. "You might find it interesting."
ZZZ
"What is this, Diego?" Victoria asked, rushing out of the kitchen, a paper in her hands.
"Exactly what it says!" He answered. "Please send Pilar home and close the tavern for now. My father, the Alcalde, and Mendoza will be returning soon, and we all need to have a private discussion."
"A private discussion?" She asked, nervously considering the men eating breakfast, while Felipe's face was turning white. "Wh..Wh...What kind of private discussion, Diego? And why close the tavern?"
"I will explain everything soon, Victoria. Just trust me, and please do as I asked." He replied on a tone indicative of an order rather than a request.
Victoria looked at him, her face betraying confusion and more than a little annoyance, then took another look at the paper in her hand. Turning towards Pilar, she simply sent her home without explanation, then headed for the other people sat in the tavern and asked them to do the same, offering to renounce the payment for their meals and drinks. A couple of minutes after the three of them were left alone, the relative silence of the tavern was interrupted by De Soto, furiously entering, Mendoza on his heels.
"What is this, De la Vega?" Ignacio asked, handing him a paper similar to the one Victoria was holding.
"I will explain in a few minutes. As soon as my father also gets here. Meanwhile, why don't you take a seat?" He replied before calmly taking a sip of his lemonade.
For a few minutes they all stared at each other in disbelief, all waiting for Diego's explanations. Don Alejandro entered the tavern visibly shaken, not long after the Alcalde, and paused at noticing the tavern was empty except for them. Diego got up and invited his father to take his seat, then headed for the tavern's front door and locked it, doing the same with the one in the back. Returning to the main hall, where everybody was awaiting, he leaned with his back to the bar and considered his words for a moment.
"Well?" De Soto asked as his patience was coming to an end.
"You never wait, do you, Ignacio?" Diego began, but continued without giving the Alcalde the time to answer. "Those papers you are holding are just meant to prove that what I am about to tell you is the truth. Because the explanation for them will seem... strange. However, unless you are willing to believe I have supernatural powers and see into the future, I am sure they will, at least, give you the suspicion that what I'll be telling you is true."
"What are you saying, Son? Why are we here? What is the meaning of this?" Don Alejandro inquired, reflecting the others' own thoughts.
"I was able to write those papers in the morning because we had already had the conversations you see on them. Many times. And the reason for that, the reason why you don't remember, is that this day, 23rd of January1821 keeps repeating itself. It is some form of loop and we are all trapped with no tomorrow in sight. This day has restarted over a thousand times. I, myself have long since lost track. You don't remember, but I do, which is why I was able to predict everything each of you said before you said it. But, predict is not the right word, is it? Remembered. I remembered our conversations because we had them enough times for me to know them by heart. That is also the reason why I asked you here."
"Nonsense! You are wasting my day, Don Diego!" De Soto informed him.
"Nonsense! You are wasting my day, Don Diego!" Diego uttered the words at the same time as the Alcalde, making him shut up as Mendoza was looking at them open-mouthed. "Yes...you have also said that the other times we did this, Ignacio." He added. "You have always been the most difficult one to convince. More stubborn than my father!"
"I...I don't understand, Diego." Victoria decided to make her presence felt. "Why do you remember and not us?"
"I asked myself that many times. I think I have finally found the right answer to that question, but I cannot share it until you are convinced that what I say is true, which you are not… yet." He continued his explanations. "So let's consider this 'phase one'. What will happen next is that Victoria will reopen the tavern and we will all go about our own business, but we will meet in front of the Mission at 2:20 pm for 'phase two'. Ignacio, just to make sure you will listen, I apparently need to tell you that last Christmas you saw your sister make you a cookie – whatever that means. You said that will at least intrigue you enough to keep listening."
De Soto, who was about to retort that he is not going to put up with this nonsense any longer suddenly became even paler than he usually was, starting to look more like a ghost than a man. He stood up, glanced at Diego and silently exited the tavern.
Diego had to answer his father's questions for a while longer, but only ended up giving him half-answers, too puzzling for the old don to understand.
Later, as previously decided, they all met in front of the Mission, then followed Diego towards the bell tower. Once there, he asked them to gag and tie each-other explaining that was the only way to prevent them from doing something stupid, and informed them that 8 bandits were going to enter the pueblo in a few minutes, headed for the tavern. As they watched the men, hidden in such a way that they could not be seen, De Soto wondered if perhaps De la Vega had paid them to do what he wanted them to do, but continued listening to him, intrigued non-the-less as to the reasons for his strange behavior.
"They will soon rob the tavern." Diego restarted telling them, putting his hand on Victoria's shoulder to calm her down. "They have already done that many times." He told her. "There's no point in changing anything right now. Just watch. They will make their way out with four prisoners, Dona Emilia, Pilar, Don Fernandez, and Senor Machego. Four of the lancers will try to stop them and two of them will be shot by the bandits – Serrano and Montez. Galvez will shoot the fifth bandit coming out of the tavern through the heart. While he will fall to the ground, his pistol will discharge and accidentally kill Dona Emilia. The rest of the hostages, they will take with them, and shoot right beneath the wooden board welcoming people to Los Angeles, discarding the bodies right there." He ended, holding tighter to Victoria who was panicking. "Please, Victoria! I know this will be painful, but it is the only way to make you all believe me. Tomorrow they will all be alright again. Pilar will be alive and you will forget this has ever happened! I promise."
Hidden there, they witnessed the scenes Diego had described. When it was all over, both amazed and grief-struck, they descended the stairs and found themselves back into the plaza where people were fussing over the bodies.
"Alcalde, I believe you have to attend to your dead men right now." Diego instructed. "Victoria, please close the tavern again. We will all meet there in one hour to discuss more."
One hour later, the five of them were sitting in the tavern, in complete silence, waiting for Diego to make an appearance.
"Everybody is here! Perfect!" He said at entering and locking the doors.
"Is this when you give us an explanation, Diego? How in the world is all this possible?" His father asked, but found himself at a loss of words.
"I will tell you everything I know but, before that, I would appreciate it, Ignacio, if you and Mendoza would kindly hand me your swords."
"Why?" Ignacio asked suspiciously.
"Because, as I said, I have been through this conversation before, and I don't intend to repeat my mistakes." Diego declared. The two men eventually agreed to give him their sabers, which he placed behind the bar.
"The first time this happened, about 15 people died, Victoria, myself and the Sergeant included." He started telling them. "The second time the day repeated itself, I lost Felipe. The third time it was you, Father, and Ignacio was also shot in his bed. For a few days I was convinced it was just a dream, a warning, so that I could find a way to save everyone. Don't ask it now, Father!" He said, turning towards Don Alejandro who had to swallow his question. "I will answer it later, anyway. Just have a little patience! Coming back to my story, as I was saying, every time I tried to make things better, one of us always ended up dead, until I finally succeeded in preventing all casualties. I thought that way it would all end, but the day started again and, as it did, I eventually decided to give up fixing it. I thought it was not, perhaps, for me to change anything. I have meanwhile learned that I was wrong to give up, just as I was wrong in assuming I needed to save you. As it turns out, this is not about you and is not about me. Or, perhaps, it is about me.. about all of us… in a way." He took a break letting his story sink in. "It took me some time to get to the root cause of this issue, and it would have taken me longer were it not for Sergeant Mendoza's help."
"My help, Don Diego? How did I help you?" The Sergeant asked.
"It was you and your men who discovered the remains of an Indian village situated some 30 miles from Los Angeles, towards San Bernardino. All its people had been slaughtered on the morning of February 23rd. Today. I only found them because you did your duty well, Mendoza."
"So, you believe it is that slaughter that needs be prevented, Diego?" Don Alejandro inquired, more and more fascinated with the story.
"I am convinced of that." Diego answered.
"What was the Sergeant doing there?" De Soto questioned. "I don't usually send my men on patrol that far away."
"They were there because we had made a deal, Ignacio."
"What deal? What can you have possibly offered me, De la Vega, to convince me to send my men on such a patrol?"
"A name. Zorro's, to be more precise."
"Zorro's name? You want me to believe you know who Zorro is?"
"I do. I always have." He answered as Felipe was watching his father in terror.
"You do, Diego?" Victoria asked him incredulously.
"Well, well. So you finally admit to being in league with that criminal!" De Soto uttered.
"In league? No. Not exactly."
"Then how could you possibly know?" Ignacio inquired.
"Because I am Zorro." Diego simply replied. "That, I believe, it's also the answer to your question, Father. You wanted to ask earlier 'Why me?'. Apparently, whatever force made all this possible, wants for me to help stop the massacre."
"I...I did...but you can't be Zorro, Diego!" Don Alejandro rejected his son's statement as everyone was staring at Diego, unable to decide if to believe him or not.
"My patience is really running low." Diego admitted as he took a deep breath. "I have confessed to being Zorro to everyone in this room at least 100 times by now. That not mentioning the times you each figure it out by yourselves when you discovered the cave, or when I was dying after one of the shootouts. I could quote by memory every one of the conversations I had with each of you. For example I could remind you, Ignacio, about what I have told you the morning after you first arrived in Los Angeles. Let me see if I remember the words right… 'You have a great deal to learn about me and the people of this pueblo. Treat them fairly and openly, and there's nothing they won't do for you. But if you treat them with cruelly, they'll repay you with defiance. And I'll ride out…'"
Ignacio interrupted that phrase by launching upon Diego, decided to strangle his archenemy. Anticipating the attack, the caballero made a gracious 360 degrees turn, stepping out of De Soto's way, and leaving him to stumble, crashing on the bar. He then reached for the Alcalde's sword and pointed it at his former colleague's neck.
"Madre de Dios!" Mendoza and Victoria uttered at the same time at seeing Diego's reaction.
"As I told you, Ignacio, we have already been through this." Diego reminded him. "Now, please, be so kind as to return to your seat. We have not finished our conversation."
"You really are Zorro, Don Diego!" The Sergeant exclaimed.
Diego nodded and made Ignacio sit back at the table.
"I will hang you for this!" De Soto warned him.
"You already have" Diego answered. "Strangely enough, I had to beg you to do it. It was during the time I thought I was supposed to die to avoid this day from repeating itself. I came into your office one day, dressed as Zorro, and took off the mask giving myself up. What I found rather disconcerting was your unexpected reluctance to keep your promise when you found out it was me to have thwarted your plans for all these years."
Ignacio turned from defiance to disappointment, partly because he regretted not remembering seeing Zorro hang, and partly because he realized he did not want to see Diego hang.
"That can't be true!" Don Alejandro protested. "I would have never allowed it!"
"It was a rather private hanging. In the cuartel's patio. Ignacio agreed with me that making the event public was not necessary."
"You...you actually remember...dying, Don Diego?" Mendoza wondered.
"I do, Sergeant. I remember being hanged, shot, stabbed, poisoned and drowned. I died tens of times, and I remember them all."
The room fell silent for a while.
"How do you know that by saving those Indians you can fix time, Diego? And how can we help?" Victoria interrupted that silence.
"When I first went there, the evening Sergeant Mendoza told me about the massacre, I found the only other person able to remember that this day is repeating itself. An old woman who...let's say she enlightened me as to what I need to do. Since then, I have witnessed the attack several times. You see, when the bandits first came here, I had thought there were only 8 of them, the same number we have just witnessed attacking the tavern. Then they blew up the armory, and I came to realize there were 12 of them. After first visiting the village I had thought their true number must have been around 20, but then I saw it all happen. There are 28 men, all heavily armed, all with a complete disregard for human life. The reason I had no idea how many they were from the start was that they had split after the attack, and some headed for San Bernardino instead of Los Angeles. Those Indians never stood a chance, and neither do I. Not by myself!" He admitted. "So you are all here because I need your help in coming up with a plan to save those people."
"You actually want me to help the mighty Zorro catch some criminals? I would rather put you behind bars. You may be right, and I might not be so inclined to seeing you hang, Diego, but I have nothing against turning you in, to the authorities in Monterrey, and cashing the reward for your capture. I am sure the Governor will have no issue with making a spectacle out of your execution and I will be able to leave this place and return to Spain..." De Soto answered defiantly.
"'Where the world shall be your oyster.' Yes, you said that the last time we had this meeting, as well. However, you must realize, Ignacio, that once the day is restarting, even if you do put me in your jail, I'll still wake up in my bed, and you'll still have no idea who Zorro is." Diego pointed out.
"If we had this meeting before, that means..." Don Alejandro uttered.
"It means that our previous attempts failed, Father! But I didn't include all of you before, so maybe, this time, we can come up with something better." Diego explained.
"Will you give yourself up when this is over?" De Soto asked.
"No. Zorro is still needed and I have already died enough times." Diego answered.
"So I have absolutely no reason to help." Ignacio concluded, standing up to leave.
"Maybe I will go back to Victoria's plan in that case." Diego considered.
"My plan, Diego?"
"Yes, Victoria. You had once suggested making Ignacio resign and name my father in his place, considering he is more reasonable to deal with and has no quarrel with Zorro. You thought the loop was a result of God running out of patience with De Soto's actions. I actually put that plan into practice, but it didn't work out exactly as expected. It was a good day, don't get me wrong, but it started again anyway."
"Quarrel with Zorro! The only quarrel I might have with you, Diego, is for keeping this secret from me all these years! Why did you never tell me? This is not how I would have wanted to find out!"
"As I said, this is not the first time you found out and, to be fair, you were always terrible at keeping it a secret. Every time I told you, you made sure that at least one more person found out by the end of the day. Furthermore, you did once confess to me that you would prefer not knowing."
"You're Zorro and not even your father knew?" De Soto asked incredulously, and Diego shook his head as a response.
"Alright. I guess I can help this once. But, if you have no intention of surrendering to me, I at least want something in return." De Soto stated.
"The reward money for my capture?" Diego asked. "I already promised you a few times that I will find a way for you to get the money… or their equivalent in some form. Maybe I will convince Father to give you some of our vineyards. This assuming you actually come up with something useful."
"Never!" Uttered Don Alejandro. "He has been trying to kill my only son for years!"
"True. But you won't remember that, Father, and we both know I can be quite persuasive when I want to. Not to mention you warmed up to the Alcalde since he saved my life, last year. So, yes, I will find a way but I will also need to find the right occasion. I don't want you to suspect why I would suddenly decide to give you a small fortune."
"You will?" De Soto could hardly believe it.
"You have my word and I will keep it, even if you'll have forgotten this conversation." Diego assured him.
"Alright, then." De Soto finally accepted with some enthusiasm. "So why don't you start by telling us just how miserably have you failed so far?"
"Always the perfect diplomat, aren't you, Ignacio?" Diego's question was rhetorical. "I have, so far, tried to prevent the attack three times. Once by using explosives, which did a lot to startle the horses, but less to prevent the massacre. And my death, for that matter. The second time, I convinced you, Ignacio, and the lancers to intervene, but you couldn't stop yourself from shooting me in the back, and eventually got everybody killed, including yourself and your men. The third time I only asked for my father's help, and we rode there with 12 of our vaqueros and a lot of explosives, but they overwhelmed us anyway and the result was the same."
Felipe signaled something.
"You think we should not wait for the bandits to get there? We should attack them before, when they don't expect us?" Diego translated.
"That is a good idea, Felipe!" Don Alejandro confirmed.
"It is, but the problem remains that the attack takes place at nine in the morning. We barely have the time to gather the men and ride there." Diego explained and Felipe lost all his enthusiasm.
"If there are less than 30 of them, and the lancers were to combine forces with the vaqueros, you might stand a chance." Victoria pointed out.
"I thought about that, as well. Ignacio here remains the main challenge." Diego emphasized.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Retorted De Soto
"It means you want to shoot my son in the back!" Don Alejandro yelled, and Ignacio frowned at him.
"He's a two-faced criminal!" He muttered.
"What if the Alcalde doesn't go?" Suggested Mendoza. "Make the Alcalde give me and my men the orders to follow you, and knock him out or something."
"Are you begging to be court-martialed, Sergeant?" De Soto inquired.
"No… The Sergeant has a good idea! If the Alcalde is not there, he cannot shoot you, Diego!" Don Alejandro concluded.
"Fine… You can knock me out as long as you don't do it with one of your punches, if at all possible!" De Soto almost begged.
"It is. But it will be less fun for me." Diego grinned at De Soto's new frown. "Alright, Alcalde. I promise to use ether."
"I will probably add that to your list of crimes, if I remember the incident." Ignacio assure him.
"Let's hope you will." Diego replied. "Yes, it might work. 34 men stand a good chance against 28, even if they are not as willing to kill in cold blood. But I am not sure that is enough, and I would rather prevent all casualties on our side."
Felipe signaled something again.
"No, I can't use ether against them, Felipe. It's not like I can ask them politely to pause the attack and smell a cloth." Diego answered his son, and Victoria found herself chuckling at imagining the scene.
"How about that nasty crying gas of yours? Can't you use that?" De Soto suggested.
"That is, in fact, a good idea, Alcalde! I guess you truly want those vineyards. Yes, I do believe you may be on to something!" Diego answered pensively, the spark in his eyes indicating to Felipe that his father was already finalizing a plan in his head.
"On to what, Diego?" Don Alejandro demanded to know.
"The crying gas might prevent them from a clear attack. Yes, I think it might work. I could find a way to combine my crying gas bombs with my time-delay explosive devices, and make sure they go off right before those criminals get near the tribe. It might slow them down enough for us to rapidly gain the upper hand, and they will be unable to make clear shots. I just hope the wind will blow in the right direction. That is one factor I never considered."
"Let's hope it does! In that case, I believe we have a plan, son!" Don Alejandro emphasized proudly.
"I believe we do." He agreed. "Just one more problem: last time, I had to tell you I was Zorro to convince you to help me. How do I enlist your support without revealing to you that piece of information, Father?"
"I don't suppose ether would help in my case, would it, Diego?"
"I'd prefer you conscious. You are a very good shot."
"Have you tried to enlist my support as Diego or as Zorro?"
"As Diego."
"Then try to do it as Zorro!"
"Won't you find it strange for Zorro to wake you up at 6 a.m.?"
"Probably. But Zorro took a bullet for me, and I do owe him one. Oh, my God, you took a bullet for me, Diego!"
"Let's not dwell on that, shall we? You did a good job at removing it. I believe we are all set then. Zorro will pay you two a visit in the morning!" Diego said glancing at his father and at De Soto.
"Yes. Well...I believe I will escort you to jail now!" Ignacio informed him.
"Why? What would be the point, Alcalde?" Diego questioned and De Soto tried to think for a while but, unable to decide on a good reason, just stood up, gave the tall caballero a disapproving look and, recovering his sword, headed for his quarters, closely followed by Mendoza.
"Maybe it is time for us to leave, as well!" Don Alejandro suggested as the time was almost 7 pm.
"No! I...I think I need to talk to you, Diego!" Victoria told him.
Diego went to her, caressed her cheek, and bent to whisper something in her ear, then turned towards his father and Felipe, indicating that he was ready to return home. Once at the hacienda, he went to the cave, followed by Felipe and his father, who, as many times before, spent a good deal of time admiring Tornado. Meanwhile, Diego worked on finding a proper way to combine his two experiments, so that he would take less time redoing that in the morning. After dinner, when Don Alejandro and Felipe retired for the evening, Diego returned to the cave, dressed as Zorro, and returned to Los Angeles where he slipped into Victoria's room, waiting for her to close the tavern for the night.
"Zo...Diego?" She asked at noticing him there, while putting the candle she was holding on her nightstand.
He grinned and took off his hat and his mask. Victoria came to him smiling, caressed his cheek and his hair, then gave him a passionate kiss, dragging him with her towards the bed.
"What are you doing, Victoria?" Diego asked her when he was finally able to pull away from her embrace.
"I will forget about it tomorrow, won't I? But you will remember! You will remember and, even if I won't always be nice to you in the future, even if I'll sometimes hurt you with my words, you will still know I love you with all my being. You will know that there is nothing I won't do for you, Diego, and you will forgive me." She answered.
"I already know that, my love. I am only here because, if the plan succeeds, it might take me a while before I can be with you again. I just wanted to feel you falling asleep in my arms one more time." He told her.
"One more time?"
"Si, Victoria. Perhaps I will tell you about that someday." He answered.
"All those times you lived through this day, Diego, have you ever made love to me?"
"I did. Most of those days. But I also married you first!" He confessed.
"So I am your wife already, aren't I? And, as your wife, I believe I have some duties to my husband…"
This was his time to chuckle.
"You do have a point, there." He answered and considered his actions. "Perhaps I'll give in to temptation just this one time. After all, I am only human!"