Ok, I'll make this quick not to keep you guys waiting. As you all know, spring break is coming up and my teachers are loading me up with MASSIVE Extra work and it keeping me away from you guys but I won't allow it. I'm going to try and give you guy 2 new chapters on my others stories before I go on my trip, I'm going on a tour of the college I'll be going in August, my parents are driving me LOCA with this trip but it'll be worth it, I hope, so wish me luck ;)

Ok, this is for you guys! LUV YA! ;D

9. Mi Santa Diabla

(Night-time)

The cold breeze of the night was hitting against her skin. The ocean water splashed against her face as her horse ran down the shore, heading to La Caverna De Los Espirituds. Julieta barges into El Zorro's home, searching every room in the mansion. She was boiling in anger, a real fury that wanted revenge and was capable of getting it. She was like a vampire with a thirst of blood on her victims. She blends in the shadows as she tried not to even breathe or she'll get discovered. She soon hears a door opening and stays silent.

"So, that's it for hoy (today), Benny?" she heard El Zorro's voice, making her angry

"Si, I'll just take these horses back to the stables and see you mañana, primo"

"Remember, tell mi mama I won't be in time for la cena (dinner) but I'll try to make it back before midnight"

"Ok, Adios, Gnomeo"

"Adios, Benvolio"

Once Benny left the cave thru a secret passageway, Gnoméo sat down on his desk as he looked thru some documents and maps of the country where they were labelled with his lands, Los Rojillo's lands and a little piece of land named "La Dorada". He always thought those lands were haunted but there was something about them that made him wonder in a questionable way. Suddenly, as he wrote something down, a shadow passed by the corner of his eye. It caught his full attention, getting him to grab his sword and gun just in case he needed to shoot.

"Who's there?!" he yelled, furious.

No answer.

Concerned there was somebody in his cave, Gnoméo silently walks to his desk and loads up his gun with bullets. Once full, he slowly walks toward the source of the noise. He holds his gun up high to stay alert. He looks back the boxes and finds nothing. He could have sworn he thought he heard something from behind here. But puts his gun away in his pocket but takes out again when he sees a shadow running on the other side. Gnoméo starts shooting at the shadow but it kept running at full speed as the gun shots missing it and damaging anything that was in the way. Gnoméo soon ran out of bullets and the intruder was still in his cave. He runs to the desk to load up his gun with more bullets but somebody beats him to it as he was being held back and threatens with a knife under his neck.

"Stay where you are, traidor" Julieta whisper in his ear with an evil tone, putting her knife closer to his throat as Gnoméo stays still.

"I should have known it was you" he growls at her, still being under her possession.

"Your shooting is good but not as good as mine, Zorrito" she threats with an evil tone.

"My shooting not be good but I know how to catch my prey!" he yells.

In an unexpected move, Gnoméo pushes her back, making her hit the wall. She groans by the pain of the hard stone wall but before she can react, El Zorro pins her to the wall, putting his sword under her check. "What is the meaning of this?" he growls, smirking.

"I do recall we have unfinished business to take care off. The one that involves me killing you" she pushes him off her, pulling out her sword and getting in fight position. Gnoméo held his sword up as they slowly walk in circle, waiting for the other to fight back. It was Gnoméo who fought first and Juliet blocks him, starting a deadly sword fight. Juliet pushes him back unto the wall, making him off guard. This gave her a chance to slash his shoulder, leaving him bleeding mark and it gave her pleasure.

"That's what you get for messing with me!" she smirks, evilly.

"How dare you come into my home like if you own this town...?" but she cut him off.

She slaps him in the face with a nasty glare "DESGRACIADO! How could you do this to me?!" she screams in his face.

Gnoméo stays silent for a moment but then grabs his whip and pulls Julieta extremely close to him. "What are you talking about?!" he asks, holding his cheek.

"I trusted you. I should have killed you when I had the chance!" she yells, struggling to break free of his grip but he held her tighter in his embrace.

"We already talked about this, if you could, you would have done it long ago. So, tell me, what are you doing in my home?"

"You were the one who wanted me dead. You set mi ranchera on fire!"

"I don't know what you're talking about. So, I'm going to ask you to leave my home, Doña Barbara"

"Is this because I stole the deed? It seems pretty clear that the town doesn't know what kind of hero they have under that insignificant mascara"

"Y Tú? You are worst than me. You are capable of going against anybody to get what you want"

"I am who I am! And nobody is going to change that! Not even you!" she growls, getting closer to him

he points his gun at her "Stay still or I will shoot"

"Go ahead. What are you waiting for? You have me right here so shoot already, cobarde (coward)!"

"I have no idea what you came here for"

"You gave the order to kill me. And because of you, mi ranchera has fire ashes and my employees nearly got killed"

"I'm sorry to hear that but it wasn't me"

"DON'T TRY TO TRICK ME! Leon gave you up"

"You think you can fool me with that pretty little face and that gorgeous body?"

"Qué? What did you say?"

Without holding it back any longer, Gnoméo grabs Julieta by her shoulder and pull her into a kiss. Julieta soon snaps and pulls away and slaps him in the face. Even though, she liked it and wanted to kiss him again, she had to stayed focuse on her mission.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She screamed, putting her gun at him.

"I know you´re furious..."

"Only by A LOT!" she yelled, putting her sword under his chin.

"But couldn't control myself any longer. You provoke me by doing unspeakable things"

"NEVER do that again or I will have no choice..."

"To what?! To kill me? You and I perfectly know you won't do that because deep down inside you feel that same way for me"

"AND THAT IS ODIO!"

"No, not odio. Amor"

"Amor? Don't be ridiculous, Zorro"

"You're not made of stone, Julieta.

"If it wasn't for that mysterious hombre, I would be muerta!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"I was the one who save you from el fuego last night"

"Qué? Tu? That can't be? Why would you do that?"

"Si, I saved you from the fire last night" he admited

"You're insane!"

"Why? Because you can't admit your feeling toward me? Because you think this is about being the best thief in San Verona? I am not one of your enemies, Julieta!"

"I told you to never mention my real nombre!" she raise her hand to slap him but he grabs her wrist to prevent her slap.

"Don't you dare touch me, Barbara" he whispers in an angry tone

"Let go of me!" she demanded, struggling until he pushes her away.

"I want you out! This is where I draw the line! I thought you were one of these block of ice that no matter how much pride they had in them, they had a heart. But I guess I was wrong, you'll always be one of those heartless patronesses that care nothing but money and what they want. I never wanted to see you again in mi vida. And to think I was this close of giving up everything for you. But if war you want, war you shall get. Nice knowing you, Doña Barbara"

"Don't even dream of treating me like basura, Gnoméo Celeste!"

"I don't have to. You made it very clear to me and from now on, I will stay out of your way, Julieta Rojillo"

With his finally word, Julieta grabs her weapons and rides back home on her horse. Those last words really hurt her as they continue to ring thru her mind like flashbacks, making her cry. She tried to stay strong to not lose her image of Doña Barbara when the truth was; she was suffering in secret because of him. She didn't know how long she can keep this act any longer?

(Night-time, Rojillo's Palace)

Julieta walks around her garden in her puffy dress as she daydreams about her 2nd encounter with her masked thief. She couldn't get him out of her head. She felt so strange inside, it was a feeling she never experienced before. Maybe because it was an emotion she has forbidden herself to ever feel ever. She thought if she feels love or anything that involves it, it could weaken her from being the strong and feisty woman she is and recognized as. But El Zorro was locked in her mind but mostly in my heart. I knew he was a criminal, a sneaky thief. And he was has stolen my heart. And I may be an outlaw too, maybe worst than him. Oh I don't know, I'm not sure if there's even a future for us. Besides being outlaws, we're the children of the most powerful Don & Doña in España (Spain) which means we can't be together.

She makes it back to her room, resting herself n the edge of her balcony as she stares at the stars and eternal space, still thinking of him. "Oh, Gnoméo, I don't know how but somehow, you made it into mi Corazon. And I feel you're going to be in there for siempre (forever). You have slowly won me over with your charms and heroic cools. You're all the oxygen I need; you literally take my breath away. And I want to know where you are right now and if you're thinking of me? But why should he? He must not want anything to do with me after the way I treated him like dirt. How can I be so estúpida (girl stupid)?! He´s a good guy, who does that same thing I do, help and protect the town. After all these years of thinking he was my enemigo. I realize I was WAY wrong, now I know he's the love of my life. Why was it to hard for me to admit it? Maybe because I had this image of being this tough and hard core Doña Barbara character. What was happening to me? I'm letting Doña Barbara take over my life and what I love. I gotta stop her from taking over my life before I regret to and turn into her, permanently.

"Oh, I want you to tell me that you love me. That I'm everything you always dreamed off. I don't want you to let me go because you got me in your possession" she asks herself if she was saying it to him. Soon, Nanette comes in to make my room with my nightgown folded.

"Your nightgown is ready for you, mi niña" She said walking to the bed where a depressed Juliet laid stood on her balcony with a confused glare. "My, you don't look so good".

"(Sighs) I'm far from good" she lies, drying her tears and sitting on her bed. "Oh Nanette I don't know what to do?"

"What's the trouble, rojita? (little red)" she asks, worried.

"El Zorro's the trouble!" she admits, frustrated.

"Him again? All you can talk about Is Zorro this and Zorro that day and night now. If I didn't know better I'd say you are in love with him"

"RIDICULO! Juliet Isabel Redbrick aka Doña Barbra loves no one! I swore to myself that I will never open up that chapter in mi vida! Amor means trouble and it could lead to my death or worst"

"Julietita, Chiquita, I know you and everything about you and I know when you're lying to me"

"Are you asking me to pull a sword on you?" Julieta pulls out a sword from her trunk and playfully points it at Nanette but she wasn't afraid, on the contrary, it convinced her even more.

"Don't pull that feisty Barbara persona on me, you know as plain as day it's the truth" she says, slowly pushing the sword away.

Realizing she was correct Julieta slowly put her sword down and sat on her bed and started crying. "Oh Nanette what do I do?" she cried with her face on the pillow.

"Since when do you let emotions get in your way? You're Dona Barbara for crying out loud, the baddest girl in the entire town. Start acting like it! You've never weaken before"

"That's the problema! I've never weaken, so why now?! I only get weak on my knees and get off guard when I'm around him"

"Maybe he's bewitched you. Have you be practicing again and accidentally cast something on him?"

"No, I haven't and this clearly isn't one of my spells. All I know is that I can't get him out of mi cabeza"

"Or your Corazon either, I see. If you let him get to you, I believe this will be the end of Doña Barbara and everything you fought for all these años"

Then Julieta gets the slightest of enthusiasm in her. "You're right I'm going soft with these feelings of love. I'm made of hard stone and no one puts me down without feeling my wrath!" she cracks knuckles with an evil smirk.

"Now who are you exactly?" Nanette asks

"Doña Barbara. La reina of San Verona" Julieta stated, proudly

"And are you going to let some guy stand in your way are you?"

"NUNCA!" she screamed, denying her true feelings

"Good, now go out there and let him have it!"

"Wait qué? What do you mean by that?" she asks, confused even though she knew what she meant.

"You want El Zorro off your mind, the only way to do that is to End him, once and for all" she hands Julieta her gun, making her even more nervous.

"That might be a challenge" Julieta says, setting the gun down

"Since when do challenges concern you?" Nanette asks, eyeing the child.

"Since it started to interfere with those I love" Julieta sat on her bed wiping a tear away.

"I thought you hated Zorro?"

"It's complicated! Believe me, I have tried so many times to kill him but I just couldn´t do it. Por favor, tell me what I should do?" she begged, desperately.

"Well the way I see it you might as well just tell him the truth"

"I can't I don't want to love him! He's my rival and I hate him!"

"I thought you loved him. And knowing you, you almost have no mercy on anybody but if you do have on him, it means you either need him alive for something you need or you love him"

"That's insane you can't love and hate him at the same time you have to be one or the other

"I hate him as my rival but I love him as my Lover, I don't know which I think of him more, I'm deeply filled with hate and passionate love for him *Sigh* Does that make any sense?"

"Not really!"

Juliet gets angry and the throws a vase at the window so it shatters during a tantrum J "I HATE THESE FEELING AND YET I LOVE ZORRO BECAUSE I HATE HIM...WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!" Julieta screamed in anger.

Nanette grabs Julieta by her shoulders to calm her down. "Julieta, listen to me and listen well...YOU... ARE... IN... LOVE!"

"I don't want to be in love!" Julieta grabs a sharp dagger and throws it to the wall

"Want or not you're in it, Get use to it!" Nanette finishes, leaving the room and the poor confused Julieta in her angry thoughts.

Julieta's POV

I can't be with him. I can't love him. Why am I fighting myself? I'm strong and feeling never gotten in my way of getting what I want. But he was my only distraction and weakness, if anything happens to him, I would stand it. I don't care if anybody finds out my secret identity, if I have to give of my role of Doña Barbara for his safety, I would. OH MY GOD! Did I just say that? What is wrong with me?! I'm talking about giving up everything my mother and I build up all these years just to have an affair with El Zorro. I must be really in love because I'm saying stupid things! I can't give up being Doña Barbara but I also can't control these sick feelings. I have to do something about this. I know I can't kill him, I wish I had the strength to do it but I JUST CAN'T!

Not able to fight this feeling anymore, I run down to the stables and ride of on my horse. I was wearing a simple shirt, jacket and pants with a jacket with my hair down as I felt it fly with the cool breeze of the wind. As I rode off into the night, I thought of what I'm doing. I swore that the stars shine brighter tonight and I wasn't sure why, maybe because I was going back to his home without having the intention to kill him again.

(In La Caverna De Los Espirituds)

Julieta soon reaches the cave and start searching every part of the cave for El Zorro. She searched the study, the training area, and even the small library it had but no avail. Not even his horse was there in his stables. Where could he be? She wonders. Maybe this was a sign that she didn't have to tell him the truth after all; it gave her relief but disappointment. She was about to leave when she came across his desk, filled with papers and documents. Suddenly, she sees a small painting under the papers. She gasps at the painting! It was a portrait of her with every detail possible. It shocked her a lot but it made her smile lovingly, thinking that maybe his love for her was bigger than she thought. She then sets down the masterpiece back and also found a poem next to the painting, it was for her too! It was a beautiful and descriptive poema(poem) with beautiful handwriting. It was titled "Mi Santa Diabla" (My Angelic She-Devil). As she read it, she heard Gnomeo's voice in her read, reading along with her...

-Gnomeo's Voice in her mind.

"She's a devil but at the same time an angel in my point of view. She's a saint to the town, she helps and protects them. But has this hard core attitude if she doesn't get what she wants. She's a mystery that drives me insane. And she never forgives a betrayal. She the owner of a calmness that melts my heart, it's really contagious on me. It's like she cast a magic spell or witchcraft. Well, I have heard she knows witchcraft but I do never believe it and I'm not going to start now. She thinks when I mess with her it's a just a guessing game. But she always understands me but never leaves her guard down. All she knows if she does, everything collapses around her. She's the owner of a past that darker than her hair but eye s are bright are Esmeraldas. She always finds a way of leaving me off guard, even without saying a word, because that's how she is. I'm not sure if she's una diabla or una santa, she everything that I love and has stolen mi Corazon. She calculates every step she takes, making a mystery that breaks my heart, without mercy."

After reading the most beautiful poema in her life, Julieta's once cold dark heart started growing with pure love, fighting any spark of hate she had in it for years. Tears of joy came out her eyes as she looked down at it. She slowly puts the poem against her chest, feeling her heart pounding at a very fast pace. Now she knew how much Gnoméo loves her, her feelings for him were now stronger than any hate or rivalry she had for him, she still couldn't believe she fell in love with him.

"Who's there? I'm armed, so I advise you to come out!" she heard his threading voice behind her but it didn't scare her; on the contrary, it gave her joy.

Gnoméo sees a shadow creeping through the hallways and he follows it. He pulls out his sword, getting in his fighting stand as he walks into his master bedroom. He walks in as he looks around to try to find what the strange shadow that walks in here was. But he finds nothing. He was about to put away his sword away until he feels somebody standing behind him.

"Julieta. What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you I never wanted to see you again?!" he asks, slightly aggressive.

"Yo... I needed to talk to you" she mutter, nervous

Gnoméo stays silent until he sees her holding the poem he did for her in her right hand. "I see you found mi poema. What do you want from me, Julieta? What's it bad enough that you denied everything that I feel for you?" he asks, slightly angry.

For the first in her life, Julieta got nervous to talk to him. She dried off her tears as she slowly walked toward him. "I... um... I came to tell you something"

"Wait, are you armed?" he asks, knowing the obvious answer. Seeing that he doesn't trust her, Julieta takes out her gun and her knives from her belts and sets down on the ground, showing that she comes in peace but he still was convinced this was a trap.

"Mira, Julieta. If you came here to fight or steal something from me, I advise you to go before..."

"Gnoméo..." she cuts him off in a serious tone. "Just hear me out and I'll go"

"Look, I understand if you want to save your ranchera but messing with me isn't going to keep you out of la carcel (jail)"

"No, you don't understand"

"What?"

"Look, I'll probably shoot myself after this but as much I hate to admit it, you were right"

"Huh? Right about what?"

"That I am a selfish, I was blinded by my own odio and I never appreciated tu amor like you deserve. But I don't want to pretend anymore, Gnoméo. I want to tell you something I never imagined saying to anybody" she's finally a few inches away from him as she rubs her shoulder, trying to find the right words. "I wanted to tell you that you filled my oscuro heart with amor and by that Te amo, Gnoméo" she says serious and it shocks him.

"What did just say to me, Julieta?" he couldn't believe that The Doña Barbara, la patrona of San Verona was telling him she loves him.

"That I love you, Gnoméo, mas que mi vida" (more than my life)

"Are you serious?" he asks, still cautious.

"I swear by mi vida that I'm not lying. I know that I was horrible to you but I was blinded by my pride & hard core to see you were more than mi rival. You were only trying to give your amor y protection. But you have to understand that I'm not used to trusting people that facil and it takes me a lot to believe in their word when they tell me the truth"

"I understand, but I don't care your pasado (past), what matters to me is our presente (present) y future(future), juntos (together)" he takes her hand and kisses it, getting a small smile out of her.

"I have passed so many years in miseria and in hell, all wrapped up in mi odio and anger trying to survive as another person. I was even starting to believe I will turn into my character of Doña Barbara"

"But you never did. Your love is bigger than your hate"

"I am willing to take the risk to give you the chance you deserve for you tu love me as I love you back the same way. But there is something I have to ask you"

"What's that?"

"Tiempo (time). I need you to give me time, Gnoméo. I have been in the dark for far too long and I need you to give me time to understand what amor but I can see it won't be hard or too long as long as I'm with you because this noche (night) is just the beginning. It nearly killed me but believe me when I say that I really do love you, mi Zorro"

He smiles. "I'll give you all the time you need, mi rosa. (rose) I just wanted those exact words come out of your boca (mouth), admitting that you love me"

"I know that each day, I'll fall more in love with you until la eternidad (eternity)

He pulls her closer to him, wrapping their arms around eachother. "Te amó, mi diabla, you know that right?" he whispers.

"Si y I don't even care you call me your diabla, on the contrary, I like it" she smiles, making him chuckle, putting his hand on her check as he stare into her verde (green) eyes. She gets really nervous, trying to back away from him but keeps starring into his azul eyes as he gets even closer to her face.

"Qué... what are you doing?" she whispers, heavenly, keeping her eyes close.

"Shh... nothing out of the normal" he leans closer; about to touch her lips with his own until she stops him. "Qué? What's wrong?"

"My mind keeps telling me to stay away from you as possible, Gnoméo. But my heart and my body are begging me to be with you"

"What's the use of this darkness and being alone with you if I can't have you like I want you?" he strokes her cheek, lovingly.

"Gnoméo, I can't take it anymore. I let my hard ego get the best of my emotions of you. But I can't stand to act like I want to kill you when the truth is I want to be with you, to be in your arms forever"

"Can you imagine how I feel when I see you and knowing I can never have you, Julieta? I prefer for you to kill me than keep letting this love for you kill me inside"

"Kiss me" she whispers, closing her eyes

"But if I kiss you... there's no turning back" he whispers

"Just do it before I regret it" she pleads in a whisper.

Gnoméo places his hand on her cheek as she holds it her hand. Julieta stays frozen, without saying a single word, only her breathing was heard by him. As they kiss with amor and passion, Gnomeo drops his sword to the ground, wrapping now his both hands around her waist.

"You are the most bella (beautiful) woman I have ever seen in my life" he whispers through their kiss "Are you sure about this?" he asks, concern.

"Gnoméo, I can't back down and I won't" she pleads, wanting to kiss him again.

"Julieta, I have waited so long for this, to have you in between mis brazos (arms) like this"

"I can't take it anymore, Gnoméo (kiss) Yo té amo. I love you. I want to be yours (kiss)"

With his single touch as his fingers outlined the curves of her body, Julieta felt a chill go down her spine

"Gnoméo..."

"Qué?"

"Té amo (kiss) té amo (kiss)"

"Julieta, this time I won't be able to leave you"

"I love you (kiss) Té amo, Gnoméo (kiss) I don't care if I'm a fugitive. Maybe I am but I'm a fugitive of your amor, Gnoméo"

"You're mine, Julieta. I will make you mine at any cost"

"I want you to tell me that you love me. That I'm everything you dreamed off. Please don't let me go because you've captured me"

"I won't. You're now mi prisionera (girl prisoner), Julieta. Té amo"

Gnoméo kisses her hard on her soft rojo lips as it started to get a little violent but passionately as he cleared up his desk and lays her down on it, kissing her lips and her neck. She felt a fire burning inside of her every time he kissed her skin, her neck and her lips. Even the temperature inside the cave was getting hot but they were so busy to notice. Julieta just still couldn't believe she was finally alone with him and they weren't fighting or threatening to kill eachother. This amor thing was new to her but she promised to take it one easy step at a time.

Julieta's POV

For the first time in my life, I was truly happy and in the best way, not my usual evil way. Nobody would expect me to those these kinds of crazy things, and less with an outlaw like him. But I guess things were making sense from now on. I just hope I wasn't making the mistake in being in love. What I've heard is that love weakens you and once you go in, there is no coming out of it. But I'm willing to take the chance for him and to have at least one moment of happiness in mi vida, even if it was in secret, away from my wars & mi padre's crimes. He has opened my eyes into seeing a new way to look at our world, without wickedness and misery. We continue to get lost in eachother bodies as if night was never going to become dawn and we didn't mind as long as we were together, in eachother's arms and corazones (hearts).

Well, there you have it, she finally admitted the truth and will not able to kill him again, or will she? Ok, enough of these romantic parts, I promise next chapter will have MORE drama, action and a whole new evil side of Julieta you've never seen before. I'm not saying anything until I finish it and post it very soon, it will be AWESOME I can promise you that! ;)

Well, I have to go and do my chores before mi mama yells at me. And I have to bake a cake for mi papa's birthday this Friday, he's turning 40. (Yes, I bake cakes, cookies but my specialty is cinnamon buns, who wants one?) ;D

PS. Thanks for the help when I needed it, JBABE! TE QUIERO! ;)

See you guys soon! LUV YA ALL! XOXO

-MICKEY* ;D