Author's Notes: The penultimate chapter. For those wanting answers, you'll get some here, and the rest in the final chapter. Also, thanks to Ghetto Outlaw for his help in winding this story up.

Chapter 4

Out of SPACE— out of TIME

The longer he remained silent, the more worried Victoria became. "Zorro, what's wrong? Where's Diego? Has something happened to him? How did you get here?" The texture of his cape felt wrong, but she knew this was Zorro holding her. He always came when least expected.

"Victoria," he finally said, slowly and softly, "I need you to remain calm and blink your eyes several times."

"Why?" she asked, the worry growing into panic.

He let go of her, and she could tell he was bending over for some reason.

"Please..." he said.

Victoria closed and open her eyes several times. "What is that supposed to do?" she asked. "We need to get out of here, some place where we can see."

"You can't see any light?" Zorro asked.

Victoria could feel a flicker of warmth almost like a flame, but that couldn't be it.

"Of course not, there's nothing to see," she said. "Zorro, what is going on? Where's Diego? If something has happened to him, please tell me," she pleaded with a sharp edge of desperation.

Taking one of her hands in his ungloved (ungloved? Why wasn't he wearing his gloves?) hand, Zorro said, "Victoria, I brought a candle down with me. I'm holding it in my hand. There is a light in here. Right here. You should be able to see it."

Staggering back against the wall, Victoria stared into the darkness with horror. "No, no, no, no," she said. "That can't be true! That can't just happen! None of this can be happening! What's going on?"

"I don't know," he said. "I wish I did. But I'm sure whatever has happened to you is just temporary. We just need to figure out what has caused it. Can you tell me anything about what happened?"

"I don't know what happened!" Victoria shouted. "I went into that room, and the candle went out and I was in the dark and I was trying to find something to relight the candle but couldn't. Then I tripped and fell, and I guess I was unconscious for a while, though it didn't feel like it, but I don't know how long. Anyway I tried to get out but the door was shut and locked, and it shouldn't have been because there was a big stone holding it in place when I went in. None of this makes any sense."

Zorro put one hand on her shoulder. "I know. I know, but we will figure it out and get out of here. I promise you," he said. "Now, we need to go back and see what is in that room that might have caused it."

"Are you crazy?" Victoria exclaimed. "What if what happened to me happens to you? What would we do then? Could Diego even find us? And where is he? Have you seen him? Is there something you aren't telling me?" Please God, let Diego be all right.

What could Diego do that Zorro cannot? Mortal men will always fail you.

"Don't worry about Diego right now," he finally said. "We shouldn't wait to investigate." He took her arm to lead her back, but she pulled back.

"What about the door?" she asked. "It was propped open and yet I got locked in. What if that happens again?"

She could hear Zorro moving around and the scraping of what must be the block.

"I'm putting this across the doorway," he said. "That should hold it." She heard some odd noises that sounded like metal scraping on wood. "Even if the door shuts, it won't be able to lock itself again."

She felt his hand on her arm. "Let's check this room out and see what we can find out."

Reluctantly, Victoria let him lead her back though all she wanted to do was run back upstairs and get out of this house.

Once they were inside the room, Zorro left her near the wall and she heard him moving taking careful steps as he moved things around. She wondered what he was doing. Finally he returned to her.

"Can you see anything now?" he asked.

Nothing. There was nothing. She shook her head leaning back against the wall. What wouldn't she give for Diego's knowledge of medicine right now.

After a long moment, Zorro said, "All right, can you tell me what exactly happened when you came in here?"

Victoria concentrated on remembering. "Not much. I walked in and looked around briefly before the light went out. I was at the dressing table so I checked it to see if there was anything I could use to relight the candle."

She heard Zorro moving and heard sounds of something being moved.

"Did you open any of the boxes?" he asked.

"Yes, there was a music box and one with powder," Victoria said. "Somehow I got some in my face as I closed it. Could... could that be the reason I can't see? Only..." She had seen something after that, hadn't she? "No, that was only a dream, so it doesn't count." She hadn't realized she'd said the last aloud until Zorro responded.

"Dream?" he asked sharply. "What dream?"

"When I fell unconscious," she said. "Only it didn't seem like a dream at all. There was someone here..."

"Lu—Vincente Ramone?" Zorro broke in.

Ramone? Why would Zorro think he was here? Is that what led him to the hacienda? "No," she said, slowly, "it was an old woman who reminded me of my abuela. That's what she told me to call her. There was light then. Well, apparently light. We had a talk... and then I suddenly woke up back on the floor in the dark. So could that powder have done it?"

"I can't be sure," he said.

Was it her imagination or was it getting colder? "What are we going to do?" Victoria asked as she shivered. "And we have to find Diego. Where is he?"

Zorro was silent for so long that she wondered if something terrible had happened to Diego, and he knew about it. Then she heard a cough and something dropped across the room. And the sound of wind came to her ears. And though she could see nothing else, a series of luminescent lines scrawled themselves across her vision along with symbols that might have been words but she could not recognize the lettering. Before she could tell Zorro what she was seeing, he grabbed hold of her arm and started pulling her away.

"We have to get out of here!" He shouted.

No. The time is now.

Victoria could hear the scraping of rock ahead of them and then Zorro let go of her with a suddenness that left her reeling back against the wall. As she tried to orient herself, she felt something reach out and drag her back. It was nothing truly tangible, almost as if she was struggling through water without getting wet, and then it was as if she hit an opposing current and stopped, feet not quite touching the ground. She was being pulled in two different directions at once, and the fact that she could see the glowing symbols and nothing else made this all the more terrifying.

Have faith.

"Zorro!" she screamed.

She heard running and then something that looked like a wall of blue flame appeared in front of her, yet she could feel no heat and saw nothing else.

Zorro shouted her name but it sounded slightly muffled.

"What's going on, Zorro?"

"I don't know! There's some kind of fire separating us."

As it should be. Hear me. Now is the time for you to make a choice, Victoria Escalante.

She heard that— really heard it. That not quite a voice that had been at the edges of her consciousness ever since they had entered that fog. She wondered if Zorro could hear it too.

"What choice?" she asked.

On who will leave this place and who will remain. There has to be a sacrifice or no one escapes.

"Why does she have to choose?" Zorro asked. "If someone must stay then let it be me."

So he could hear it as well, that made things easier in one sense, though her choice was obvious. "No, Zorro," she told him, "the world needs you too much."

Diego.

Diego? How could she forget about him? She hoped he was safe. Zorro would get him out of there.

"Victoria, you have sacrificed yourself for me once. I will not let that happen again," she heard Zorro say. "If you won't let Zorro sacrifice himself, will you not let Diego?"

Always the hero. Even when you're not.

Diego?" Victoria asked horrified. "How can you suggest such a thing? No, he may not be the hero you are, but he is a good man, and the world needs men like him too."

"I'm not a hero," Zorro said, sounding despondent. "A hero doesn't hide from the people he loves. He lets the woman he loves know who he really is. He doesn't live a lie…like a coward."

"Zorro, please," Victoria's voice was soft. "You're not a coward. I've long wished with all my heart that you would share your secret, but I understand why you keep it. I understand why it's so important."

"Not as important as you," Zorro insisted. "Victoria, I have always been afraid that you could never love the man under the mask, and now I have to hope that's true. Listen to me," he sounded resolved. "Listen to my voice. I need you to truly listen." He took a very deep breath. "Zorro is Diego, and Diego is Zorro. I've always been the man in the mask. You don't need to make a sacrifice, not for me. I'm not who you think I am…I never have been."

"Diego?" Victoria blinked her eyes rapidly as the room came into focus and she saw him on the other side of the flame wall. Really truly saw him. Man and hero. Friend and lover. Terrified for her and not himself.

"You can see the truth now, can't you?" Diego asked.

"Yes," she replied. "I've been blind in more ways than one. But you still have my heart no matter who you are. I won't let you take my place here. If we can't both escape then let it be you."

"No, not this time! I won't let it end this way!" he exclaimed, thrusting a candlestick at the flames, clearly trying to find some weakness.

Release them. The secret has been sacrificed.

It's not enough. Never enough. They don't have the right to be free, not while I languish here.

You asked for this hell. They never did. Your power is fading. You're going to let them go. You can't stop it now.

Victoria's feet hit the ground and she felt the forces holding her shifting, the one pulling her back was weakening. Was there a chance for escape? There was a sudden warmth in her pocket and she remembered the bunch of flowers and herbs she'd been handed at the inn. She looked at the flames. Would that work?

Yes. Use them and run, little sister. Time is almost out.

Without further hesitation, Victoria threw the bunch into the wall of flame. It hissed and burned and the wall disappeared and at the same moment, whatever was holding Victoria let her go. She ran to Diego who grabbed her hand and started running back towards the door which was now open. The cape he had been wearing caught on the door as they ran through, and in a flash he unfastened it so they could continue running up the stairs. The house shook as they ran out the wide open front door and toward the stable.

Diego, still holding on to Victoria, turned the moment it was in sight. Without slowing, he looked around frantically.

"What is it, Diego?"

"The horses are gone!" he shouted.

Victoria said nothing as she tried running faster towards the gates. She had no idea how much time was left, but in her bones, she knew that they had to get beyond those gates to be safe.

A great wind was now stirring up the courtyard, dragging the fog back towards the hacienda. If Diego had not been holding on to her arm, she was afraid she might have been dragged back into that house. As it was they barely avoided being hit by the rusted gates before they squeezed through.

No sooner had they made it beyond the gates than there was a sudden rumbling behind them. Still running, Victoria turned her head to see the hacienda had disappeared.

She almost ran into Diego who had stopped and was looking back as well. The remains of the fog were still being sucked inward to where the house had once been, forming vaguely human shapes that swirled and danced before disappearing one by one. One last one that appeared to have a distinctly feminine shape seemed to wave at them before it vanished leaving an empty landscape.

"Did you see..." Diego's voice trailed off.

She nodded. "I saw it. I…I don't…" she looked at Diego, "What happened? What was that?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I believe there was some kind of conflict that we got trapped in, but what it was, and why we had to do what we did to escape, I have no idea." He squared himself on her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? How is your sight?"

Victoria looked up at Diego. "It's fine." She smiled and put a hand on Diego's face. "In fact, I've never seen so clearly in my life."

Diego put his hand on hers. "So…you're…you're not disappointed? Angry? Feeling betrayed?" he asked.

Victoria shook her head. "Maybe I should feel angry," she said, "but I can't. Not right now. Actually, I feel relieved."

"About what?" he asked.

Her smile widened a bit. "That I've had feelings for only one man instead of two."

He looked down at her in confusion, and she couldn't blame him. Not after the way she had ignored and dismissed Diego so often. It had confused her too, those little flashes of feeling that she pushed away, yet she always turned to him when Zorro was absent. She had laughed at him and then been jealous of him. But there had always been something there. Something she had blinded herself to. She almost laughed at the irony of how she had to lose her sight in order to see it.

"You have always been there for me," she said. "With a mask, without a mask, when it mattered, I could always depend on you. And though I don't like it, I understand why you felt you couldn't tell me... or your father. I know you were trying to keep us safe."

Diego shook his head. "There was that, but it doesn't change the fact that I was a coward. I never expected…I never wanted to be Zorro for so long. It was supposed to just be a short disguise, but then..."

"You were trapped by everyone's expectations," Victoria said.

"That's a good way of putting it," Diego said.

"For what it's worth, I don't regret knowing the truth. Though I'm not sure what knowing is going to do," Victoria said.

"We do have a lot to talk about," Diego said.

"Like how Zorro and I are going to have a dramatic break up, and you will be my shoulder to cry on so that no one will be surprised when our relationship changes again."

"Something like that," Diego said with a wry smile. He took a look back from where they had run. Nothing remained, not even the fog.

"Where do we go now?"

"Well," Diego started as he looked about in an effort to get his bearings, "let's start by getting away from here."

For what seemed like a long time, they walked in silence until it was broken by the rumble of distant thunder. Victoria looked in that direction and was surprised by what she saw. "Diego, is that the windmill you were trying to find?" she asked, pointing to a barely visible structure.

He laughed. "Yes, it certainly looks like it. We might as well go and get a little rest before starting the walk back to Los Angeles. The very, very long walk."

"At least we'll be together," Victoria said as she took hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Diego smiled warmly as he squeezed her hand back. "Together," he said airily, "I like the way that sounds." There was another rumble of thunder. "But not the way that sounds. Come on, we better hurry before this gets worse."

Sporadic drops of rain pelted the two, causing them to quicken their pace as they sought to get under some shelter before the heavens opened fully. They soon found themselves at the door. Diego pushed but it barely gave way. "It seems no one has been here in a long time," Diego said as he continued driving his shoulder into the door which yielded a bit more with each successive attempt.

"Diego!" Victoria exclaimed. "Look!" From around the back side of the windmill sauntered Esperanza and Dulcinea.

"Now this is a pleasant surprise," Diego said, "I'll admit that I wasn't looking forward to walking all the way back home."

"I'm just glad they're okay. I was worried we'd never see them again."

Esperanza approached Diego, bumped her head into his shoulder, and snorted loudly several times.

"Oh, is she okay?" Victoria asked.

"Yes," Diego replied as he took her bridle in one hand and gently rubbed her side with the other. He looked back in the direction from which they had just come. "I think she's just trying to say that she told me so."

~to be continued~

End Notes:

I got half way through writing the final confrontation scene in this chapter before I realized I was writing from the wrong POV, since I really needed it to be Victoria rather than Diego reacting and figuring at least one critical thing out. And that required the beginning of the chapter to be rewritten as well as I didn't want to do a mid scene head hop. Which was all the more complicated since for the majority of this Victoria couldn't see anything.

They were always meant to find the windmill in the end. But initially they rode the horses away from the hacienda. However, that just made the post escape conversation a bit awkward, so the horses were smart enough to get away on their own sometime before Diego and Victoria escaped.

And I really could use some commentary to know if this works, and what questions are left to be answered (there are already some done in the epilogue, but there's still time to refine it). And if it all makes sense, as the back story of the haunting changed several times as I was working on this, and I'm not sure if everything ended up in line in the end.

Back on Friday for one more chapter and the a little more clarification of what was going on.