Author's Note: And I cannot post any story without thanking my Facebook group and my reviewers. I love all of you. I'm happy to be a part of such a great community.

zzz

Diego tried to see in the pitch black night. Why did he have to love such a headstrong woman? She wasn't where she should be. Had she stopped so she could cry? Or had she hit a rock and had an accident? Was she lying somewhere hurt?

Diego stroked Toronado's neck to calm the horse, who sensed his agitation. "Shhh, boy. Do you hear anything?" If he called out to her, would she hear? Would she even respond? Toronado reared as Diego sent him wrong messages in his own frustration, but Diego barely noticed. He tried to think of all the hazards near the road which connected his hacienda to the main road, and from the road to the pueblo. So far to travel alone in the dark…upset.

Because of him.

Diego urged Toronado back along the path to check all the places he knew could prove a problem if someone wasn't watching…or wasn't able to see because she was crying. It was several minutes before he heard something and turned Toronado toward the sound. When he found the empty wagon with the broken wheel, his heart squeezed to a stop and he called out to her.

"Victoria!"

Toronado decided he wanted to go one direction, and Diego gave him the lead. He was right. She hadn't responded to his call. "Victoria?"

"Go home, Don Diego."

Diego sighed in relief, then in frustration. Back to titles.

"Not a chance. Are you alright?"

A spark lit the dark and Diego realized what the noises had been as he watched Victoria touch kindling to a fire. He smiled, proud of her.

"Leave me alone. You wanted me to leave you alone, do me the same favor."

Her voice broke at the end, and guilt ripped through him. He urged Toronado close to the fire and slipped to the ground, but Victoria didn't look up as she stoked the fire higher and rubbed her arms as if she were cold.

"I'm sorry." He took a step toward her, but Victoria jumped to her feet and scurried away.

"You're not. Now I know the truth." Victoria covered her mouth as another sob escaped. "I'm sorry I was in your way. It won't happen again."

She wrapped her arms around herself as she continued to cry. She'd managed to get control of herself when she hit the rock and realized how stupid she was being, just like Diego had said. She'd built the fire with her shaky hands, but it was too soon to see him. She had to make him leave before she fell apart completely.

"Victoria, I almost lost you. You almost died. Because of me!"

Victoria continued to back away from him until Toronado decided to help Diego out. Victoria bumped into the hot stallion at her back and leaned against him, turning to wrap her arms around the familiar horse. Alejandro always let her visit his prize-winning horses. He knew how much she loved them, he never made her feel like she was intruding. Toronado was the most beautiful horse she'd ever seen, and he stood still and let her cry.

The stallion made it even more real. Toronado rescued Zorro so many times. Diego was her masked hero, and her best friend put his life at risk to keep her safe. She'd put him in danger. She'd begun to think that he cared, that maybe they had a future. Zorro came to visit her and she wasn't alone anymore. Now she was, and she'd lost her best friend at the same time.

She tensed when she felt his hands on her shoulders. "Mi amor, please don't cry. I'm sorry."

She hated to cry. She rounded on him and pounded her fist on the solid wall of his chest. "Don't call me that," she cried. Her hand hurt, but not as much as he'd hurt her tonight. She hit him again and Diego took a step back in surprise, making her even more angry that she couldn't hurt him as much as he could hurt her. "You don't get to call me that. You told me to stay away from you." She flattened her palms on his chest and pushed as hard as she could. "Leave me alone."

Diego wrapped his arms around her tightly, her arms caught between them, still struggling as he pinned her. He rubbed her back gently as she cried, her tears hurting him more than her fists.

Victoria didn't have many tears left. She felt wrung dry, and she didn't have the energy to fight anymore. She stopped fighting him and let him hold her while she gathered what strength she had left. She didn't understand why he was here. If he didn't want her, why he was soothing her with such soft words?

She gasped and pushed against him when she finally was able to listen, wiping her eyes so she could look up at him to see the truth of his words. "What did you say?"

Diego sighed, hoping his father wasn't right. He would fix this. "I said I love you. And I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you."

Victoria stepped back, holding his eyes only a second before turning away. She put out a hand and smoothed it down Toronado's flank. "No saddle."

Diego blinked at the change in her mood. He walked over to his faithful stallion and rubbed a hand down his nose. "I was in a hurry."

Victoria crossed her arms and leaned her back against the huge animal, staring at the fire she'd made. She wiped at her eyes again, praying for the tears to finally stop. Zorro had been faceless. She had always known things might go wrong, or that there was a chance she might not like the man behind the mask…a man she didn't know. He couldn't hurt her. She never expected Diego to hurt her. It came out of nowhere and she felt shredded.

Victoria shivered and walked around the fire to take her seat again.

"May I sit down?"

Victoria took a long time to answer, but she didn't think he'd listen if she denied him. She nodded her head but didn't look up at him.

Diego sat down on the other side of the fire, stretching out his legs. He glanced at his left leg, which probably matched his father's. The sash he'd worn which had caught fire had simply been left on the floor of the cave. He didn't have his saddlebag, had no water. He briefly wondered what his father was doing. He moved his leg further from the fire, but decided to ask anyway. "Do you have any water?"

Victoria's brow furrowed, but she reached behind her and tossed him a canteen. He smiled, proud of her.

"I guess I'm supposed to thank you for telling me to always be prepared."

She didn't look very thankful. Diego wondered if he'd get any sympathy if he showed her his leg. His calf was probably barely pink, but maybe she'd be nicer to him if he whined a little.

Diego remembered her violent outburst and decided against it. She'd probably smell blood and go in for the kill. Maybe he should design something to put the fire out quickly in case he had another emergency.

She glanced over when she heard the ripping of fabric and saw him pour out a good portion of her water. "I didn't realize you were going to waste my water. Give it back, I have a long night." Diego stared in surprise at her outstretched hand.

"I wasn't wasting it. My leg hurts because I was burned chasing after you."

Victoria couldn't see his leg, but stamped down feelings of sympathy or curiosity as she took her canteen back. "I didn't ask you to. Go home. Don't blame me for this, too."

"I thought maybe we could talk before we went home."

"We? I'm not going back with you. I'm off the De la Vega land. I'm on the main road. Someone will see me tomorrow and give me a ride."

Diego watched her through the campfire, unsure how to get through to her. "Why did you come to see me tonight, Victoria?"

Victoria crossed her arms, and considered ignoring him. "It's not every day you find out Zorro's identity. I wanted to hear it from you."

"Is that really why you came?"

Victoria rubbed her arms, even though she wasn't really cold.

"Victoria?"

Victoria rolled her eyes as her fingers clenched on her arms. "Because I was worried about you. I didn't know I was the root of all your problems, or I would have stayed away!"

"You are not the root of all my problems." Diego watched her stare into the fire and sighed. "Do you remember what I said?"

"Quite clearly, thank you."

This wasn't going well at all, Diego thought. "You came because I lost a friend. Sir Edmund is dead because of me."

Slowly, Victoria's grip on her arms loosened. "You did all you could. It's not your fault."

"Isn't it? Two men attacked us. I let one of them get away. Sir Edmund told me if I didn't kill the stranger, the stranger would kill him." Diego winced as he moved his leg further away from the fire. It was tightening up. Maybe he needed to go check on his father. "Sir Edmund was right."

This time when he glanced up, Victoria was watching. "I got Sir Edmund killed. I couldn't bear it if you were killed as well."

"Everything that happens is not your fault."

"What happened tonight is. I am sorry." Diego glanced at the water, and nodded his thanks when Victoria handed him the canteen. "You're better off far away from me. I was trying to send you away." Diego upended the canteen, sad when not much water was left.

"So I left. If that was what you wanted, why did you come after me?" Victoria tried not to hope.

"Because I love you. My father said you tended to get in trouble before Zorro came along." He grinned when she narrowed her eyes. "I thought maybe you'd stay out of trouble if you were my wife." He relaxed a little at her poleaxed expression. "My father was going to come after you, but he was burned as well. Will you please come back with me? I need to check on him. And we should talk."

Victoria looked around in the dark. She didn't want to spend the night out here. She glanced at her broken wheel. "We can't fix the cart tonight."

"Toronado has carried two before."

Victoria met his eyes over the flames and a shiver stole through her. "If you're caught on Toronado…"

"So let's hurry." Diego groaned as he stood and held a hand out to her. "Care for a ride, my'lady?"

Victoria took his hand to stand, but then pushed him away. "Don't think you're forgiven so easily."

Diego stepped closer so he could take her hand again, and bent to place a lingering kiss on the back of her hand. "I'll work on it. I've never been in love before."

Victoria's hand trembled after he finally released it, and she knew she was blushing all over. She wasn't making him work very hard. She had to remember he was in trouble.

"That's no excuse." Tears came to her eyes as she remembered those things he'd said…remembered the danger he faced.

Now Diego's hand came up to cradle her face, his finger lifted her chin so he could look at her. "I'm sorry. You scared me."

Victoria's mind was in turmoil. His eyes were so gentle now, his hand so warm and comforting. "Your father is hurt?"

Diego rolled his eyes. "Victoria, come with me because you want to spend the evening with me, not because you're worried about my father."

Victoria stared at their joined hands. "You really have feelings for me?"

"I love you." Diego pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "And as soon as you agree, we can be married."

"But…"

Diego stroked her cheek with his thumb, his fingers threading into her hair. "But what?"

Victoria took his hand away from her face and stepped back. "Two years and I never knew who you were. You never said anything."

Diego shook his head. "I didn't feel I had the right. If the alcalde finds out who I am, it will be bad. If he can prove you're in league with Zorro, it won't bode well for you, either. Even now…the next time something bad happens, will you come running to Diego for help? That will get us killed."

Victoria wrapped her arms around herself, starting to see why he kept himself apart. But still, she shook her head. "You have to give me something other than secrets and apologies."

Diego stepped forward again and took her hands, kissed each one. "I will. I promise." Diego stepped back and squeezed her hands. "Let's go home."

"You can take me home to the tavern."

Diego shook his head. "I need to check on my father. I can't ride Toronado into town." He blew out a deep breath. "And we need to talk."

Victoria nodded, and they went about gathering her belongings and putting the fire out. "You'll have to ride behind me. Hold on, and we'll go slow."

Victoria frowned at the massive animal. She'd never ridden astride without a saddle. "Why can't I ride in front?"

Diego chuckled darkly and shook his head as he mounted and walked the horse over to a rock where she could climb on behind him.

"Because if you ride in front, I can't promise to keep my hands to myself."

Zzz

Author's Note: So for now this is it. I like the ending. I'm not promising there will never be another chapter. For now this gives my readers something to enjoy while they wait patiently for more Simple Beginning, and hopefully will restore some confidence if I get some reviews and have a good weekend. I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday! And if you enjoyed this little story, please leave a review.