Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the characters or ideas/references that may lead to whomever owns Zorro. The plot and anything else unrecognizable is mine.
The last three months… they were not a time Elena cared to think about, but it seemed she had no choice as her and Alejandro made the long trek back to the signing. She had not wanted the divorce and that was why she had sent the lawyer, if she had to face Alejandro personally she would have broken down. It had seemed safest to avoid contact at all with Alejandro but when he first appeared at the wine tasting she realized there was no way to escape him any longer. She had no choice but to confront him and try to get rid of him, if she didn't, she knew that the Pinkertons would reveal Zorro's true identity to the rest of the world. But then Alejandro had gotten drunk… the things he said to her had hurt, she wondered if they were how he really felt. It had been torture, trying to get him to leave all the while wanting so desperately to leave with him. Then she did the only thing she knew would successfully get rid of him and hopefully keep him safe… even if she never saw him ever again, that would be better than having to watch his enemies destroy him. She wasn't sure if slapping him had hurt her more or her Alejandro, but either way that was the only way she could think of to keep him safe and get him to leave… not to mention the fact that what he was saying was breaking her heart. She had told him the truth when she said if he didn't know her better than he didn't ever truly know her. If only he hadn't been drunk…
And then he couldn't leave well enough alone and simply disappear, no he had to show up the next day in market. He never played polo in his life, and yet he accepted Armond's challenge foolishly. The first time he fell to the ground Elena thought she would run to him and break her cover right there. But she held tight… probably due to the tequila. The second time when he managed to tie Armond she knew she had to do something because if he won she would never be rid of him and watching him lose Zorro would destroy her just as much as it would destroy him, without Zorro, the Alejandro she knew and loved would die without her and Joaquin to keep him above water. She took special measures to make sure he would lose. And then the reason they had fought to begin with got in the way again, just as she was about to tell him everything. When she said, 'we were never meant to be together,' she had been talking to Alejandro but she was sure now that she had been talking about Armond, even if neither of them took it that way at the time. She should have known she could not fool her ex-husband though, after ten years he knew her better than anyone else. And she knew he saw through her even before he said he knew she did not love Armond.
And then he would still be in the way when she was trying to get information at Armond's that night. She suspected he was spying on her, but now she knew he was simply gleaning his own information. And then Armond had shown up before she had been able to find out just what he knew. Her attitude must have seemed a little strange to Armond, what with kissing him and then saying maybe, but if it kept Alejandro safe… she had no problem with showing her ex-husband that she was independent either way.
And then she saw him again the following night, though it had only been less than twelve hours ago now that she thought about it. She had been glad to see him then, it had been nice to fight by his side once again. It was arrogant of her to say she forgave him but she wasn't about to tell him how much she regretted the last three months. Besides, he was being pig headed and it was true, if he had kept his mask on to begin with she never would have ended up his wife… well… that was probably untrue. Since she fell for Zorro the moment their eyes met on her early morning ride so many years ago, and she fell for Don Alejandro before their first dance together not long after. She was hopeless, that was the conclusion she came to. And the pearls were true, she liked pearls… and his ignorance simply reinforced her theory that he did not think. And again, talking about the pearls reminded her of Armond, and that line, 'we were never meant to be together,' she knew then she was talking about Armond. And she suspected that Alejandro knew as well. The feel of his lips on hers again was unlike anything she had ever known. She didn't realize how much she missed the taste of him until he was there and she was there and there was nothing separating them. When they finally broke apart she had meant it literally that he would follow her… he took it to mean forever, and she knew he would. There was no way she would ever escape his clutches again, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. And then their time of spying together was over, she could honestly say it was too short. And when she graced his lips with her own she did not want to let him go, she wanted desperately to remain right there with him… or to go find Joaquin and run away. But she couldn't, that was why she kissed Zorro one last time before leaving… at least she knew she had left the man she loved with a piece of her. And if she were to die tonight at least she would die knowing that Alejandro was still hers and she would forever be his. She hoped she had conveyed that through their short time together those last few minutes.
A/N: Again, if you find it in your time to review, please do! Especially after you finish the story, thank you for the time you have already taken to read this little bit!