AN: Dear readers, I apologize for the delay in posting this chapter. My only excuse is that it took me a while to get it right.

Enjoy!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The drought was followed by two full weeks of rain, and many of the crops which had survived the dry months fell prey to the waters.

The De la Vegas were among the few fortunate ones, as, their lands being far enough from the river, their surviving crops remained mostly unaffected. Small farmers, however, were far less lucky, several having to watch as the floods took away even the little they had.

Victoria did her part by offering some of those most affected to stay at her tavern until they'd be able to return to their homes.

Don Alejandro and several of his friends did the same for their own tenants and, after the floods had passed and the affected enclosures were repaired, he, Diego and several of their vaqueros spent days repairing the affected enclosures.

During all that time, the Alcalde was rather subdued again. He had not yet come up with a new plan to capture Zorro, the bad weather was making him somewhat lethargic, and he was mostly glad nobody expected him to help anyone. In fact, he barely even left the garrison, unwilling to get soaked at crossing the plaza and preferring to send Mendoza (who, in turn, sent Gomez) to the tavern to get his meals.

As soon as the weather improved, though, about the same time the Sergeant fell ill with fever due to a full night spent standing guard in the rain, he kept his promise and wrote to his peer in San Diego, whom he knew to have already employed a geologist's aid to find water during the drought.

ZZZ

Lisandro Gerena was in his 50s and had spent over two decades working in the colonies. He had, however, never before been to Los Angeles.

His first impression of the pueblo wasn't the best. The people seemed poorer than in other parts of the Empire he had visited, San Diego included, dons and peasants mingled with no respect for social classes, and the unwritten rules governing them, and the lancers seemed lazy and more interested in wine than protecting the pueblo. The only view he found to his liking was the view of the bar, behind which one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, was dusting some bottles of wine.

He was just heading towards her when a voice resounded behind him.

"Señor Gerena!" He heard and turned to see a still-young man with light-brown hair and a strange smile on his lips following him into the tavern. "Alcalde Luis Ramone!" The new arrival introduced himself, offering the man his hand.

Lisandro shook it but didn't smile. Mainly because he was unused to smiling, but also because he instinctively disliked the man, so he didn't feel like making the effort.

"Alcalde!" He greeted him. "As you can see, I'm here, but I fear that I can only stay for a week. Just before leaving San Diego I received a letter from José… I mean, the Governor, instructing me to head for the northern territories to assist with finding the right place to build a new Mission. I must be there by the 9th of August." The man informed him unceremoniously. "I am counting on you and your men to make my work here easier…"

"Of course! We are at your disposal!" Luis Ramone answered in his usual pompous tone, hoping to make a good impression on the man who seemed to be on a first-name basis with the Governor. "Señorita!" He then called Victoria. "A room for Señor Gerena. My second-in-command is ill at the time, but Corporals Gomez and Reyes, as well as Private Sanchez, are at your command and will accompany you whenever you wish to start." He added, thus introducing the lancers who were trailing him.

Lisandro nodded, glanced around the taproom, frowned, and headed upstairs, following Victoria while the Alcalde signaled for his men to carry the newcomer's luggage.

The next five days, Señor Gerena spent travelling around the territory, accompanied by the lancers Ramone put at his service, and who were mostly of use by carrying the Geologist's equipment. During the evenings, the Alcalde made sure to always invite him to dinner, doing his best to make a good impression on the man in the hope that he'd further give positive reports of him to the Governor.

Diego, learning of the man's presence in the pueblo took the chance to introduce himself, but the Alcalde made sure to monopolize Señor Gerena and to prevent others, Diego included, from having any significant conversation with him.

The morning of the day of his departure, after spending the entire previous day writing his report, Lisandro entered the Alcalde's office with what he considered to be excellent news. He exited just half an hour before the coach for Monterey departed, so he spent the remainder of his time in the pueblo packing, then said goodbye to his beautiful hostess and Luis Ramone upon leaving for the Californian capital.

The official watched the coach head away, then returned to his office, where he remained to study the geology report, a wicked grin on his face. That smile soon disappeared as he remembered there was a masked man roaming Los Angeles, stopping him from putting his plans into action.

"Zorro!" He muttered. "I first need to get rid of him. But how? Everyone in this pueblo supports him against me!" As he said that, a new idea crossed his mind. "Yet, should that support falter, should the people turn against him…" He did not continue out loud as the images in his brain, those of a masked man being at the receiving end of stones thrown by the very people he had taken upon himself to protect, were impossible to adequately put into words.

ZZZ

There were a few pieces to be put in place first, if Ramone's plan was to succeed, but that was, in his view, just a matter of finding the right people.

First among them was a professional swordsman, one whose skill with the blade could rival the masked menace himself.

He found him by accident, as an acquaintance of his from Santa Barbara mentioned in one of his letters that a professional swordsman was in town, fighting for money and challenging everyone who might accept. For a few moments, Luis Ramone was even inclined to consider the man's suggestion that the swordsman might be Zorro himself, then remembered that the masked rider had just delivered some thieves to the garrison, which made it impossible for him to be the man in Santa Barbara.

Instead, seeing how Mendoza had recovered, he left him in charge of the pueblo and rode there himself.

The man was called Ignacio Castillo**, and he was, indeed, just as good as Ramone had been told. After offering him a deal, the next step was finding or making the clothes.

Reluctant for more than one reason to use the tailor in Los Angeles, the Alcalde and his new ally headed for Santa Paula. Once there, Ramone was amazed at the quality of the man's services, and never even stopped to wonder why the shirt and pants the man made for Señor Castillo were perfect matches to those used by the real masked rider. Neither did the man volunteer any information.

The hat was also bought in Santa Paula, and the conchos chosen and added to it using Diego's portrait of Zorro.

The next step was to procure a sword matching the one used by Zorro.

Since ordering one from Spain was out of the question, considering it would have taken about a year to receive it, Luis Ramone paid the blacksmith of the Mission in San Fernando to come with Señor Castillo – who pretended to be a tinker – to Los Angeles, in order to see the sword for himself and replicate it.

Once there, Luis Ramone had little trouble coming up with a plan to draw out the black-clad rider. The arrival of two Yankees, who were passing through on their way to San Diego, and that of a trapper, who had brought his pelts to sell in the pueblo, provided just the right ingredients.

He stole the pelts himself, unwilling to include his lancers in his plan, then, after the Americans were gone, blamed the deed on a poor vendor who had witnessed the theft, accusing him of having sold them to the Yankees.

Ramone's plan worked like clockwork. At least for the first part, because, although he should have, he didn't exactly anticipate how that new encounter would end for him.

Zorro appeared and forced him to release his prisoner, fought him and several of the lancers, then, after making Ramone trip and fall, he decided to give him a lesson by marking his pants with a Z right on the bottom, successfully making him look like a fool. Then, just as soon as he had appeared, he was gone and only the people's laughter remained.

Luis Ramone felt a strange mixture of humiliation and triumph after that incident. Humiliation because he was, again, defeated. Triumph because the blacksmith, having carefully observed Zorro's sword during their fight, promised him an identical one, and delivered on his promise.

All that was left after that, was to put his plan into practice.

ZZZ

In the meantime, after almost two weeks spent helping with repairs, Diego spent the following weeks mostly indoors, doing his best to distract his mind from wandering towards Victoria. He did so by playing the piano, reading, painting and dedicating himself to his experiments.

The days passed peacefully and Zorro only needed to ride the one time he helped the vendor the Alcalde used to draw him out. The idea even occurred to him that the official purposefully avoided having to deal with him, which, in a way, was true considering that Ramone was mostly biding his time until he'd be able to give his arch nemesis the final blow.

ZZZ

About three weeks after Lisandro Gerena left the pueblo, Ramone started holding daily gatherings in the plaza, first to inform his citizens about his latest initiatives, then, slowly, turning the subject of conversation towards the expenditures he needed to make due to Zorro's interventions, from buying new ammunition, to new uniforms for his men. He tried to justify thus the money used in other ways than to better the people's lives, and blamed the masked man for causing such waste of public funds.

Then, as soon as the last piece of his plan was in place, Luis Ramone decided the time had come to convince those holding most influence in the pueblo: the dons. He, thus, invited the caballeros to attend a meeting dedicated to discussing the main problems facing the pueblo, one which soon derailed the conversation towards the subject of Zorro.

*Don Alejandro, the one attending that meeting in his position of head of the De la Vega household, started getting suspicious that Luis Ramone was plotting something as soon as those ramblings became the main topic of their gathering. And, with that suspicion, came the idea that a new ill-conceived plan was afoot.

He was just confessing that to Diego the following morning when Felipe came to inform them that there was trouble at the nearby Indian camp and the two dons hurried there to find the place destroyed and Z's carved into the remaining tents.

After going to the village to witness the destruction first-hand, Diego and Don Alejandro spent some time helping the people affected, then headed to town. The tall caballero reasoned that, perhaps, there he might find some useful information about the man who the Indians mistook for Zorro, while his father was eager to discuss the subject with his friends.

They arrived at the tavern just as Victoria was heading out, trying to take advantage of the market day, and the tall caballero offered to walk with her, an offer she gladly accepted.

"Seems your friend, Zorro, has taken up a new line of work." Diego mentioned, doing his best to seem casual.

"Do you truly believe that?" Victoria asked.

"Why not? People are capable of great change, you know." The caballero insisted, trying to see how true was her faith in his masked persona.

"Perhaps. But Zorro is no leaf in the wind." She retorted.

"Let's hope not. Still… Human beings can be so interesting, particularly strangers, I find." He said, doing his best to guide the conversation towards what truly interested him.

"Strangers?" Victoria wondered, somewhat confused.

"Yes. They fascinate me." Diego confirmed. "You haven't seen any unusual travelers lately at the tavern, have you?"

"Our only new guest is a novitiate on his way to the northern Missions. Oh… and that old tinker over there." She added, pointing towards a white-haired man with just as white a mustache, who was, at that very moment, engaged in a negotiation over the price of his products.

Diego looked at him carefully for a few moments, before his attention was caught by the Alcalde.

The man was making sure to inform everyone there about the attack on the Indians in a bid to vilify the masked rider.

He had barely even finished his rhetoric when Mendoza and his men showed up with a tale about being ambushed and almost killed by the same Zorro during a routine patrol, just about an hour before the Indians were attacked.

By early afternoon, the number of misdeeds committed by Zorro had multiplied to include several acts against the dons, scaring their cattle away and causing destructions to their enclosures.

As soon as he saw the Sergeant coming out of the Alcalde's office, Diego invited Mendoza to lunch, hoping to find out more about the man impersonating him.

The lancer was just in the middle of recounting his misadventure when Victoria's newest guest, an old tinker, caused her to spill some pudding, then stepped right in it as he was climbing up to his room, losing a small piece of copper ore while doing so.

The tall caballero, who hurried to help Victoria, warned the man and he returned to grab it just before Diego had the chance to pick it up.

"The Alcalde's piece was bigger." Mendoza mentioned in passing when his friend returned to the table, only realizing his blunder when he asked if that was copper ore.*

The good man didn't like his commander's new plan to take the Indian's land, but he knew quite well that he should have kept his mouth shut or he might be in serious trouble. He, thus, spent the rest of his lunch doing his best to distract Diego by telling him everything he remembered – and even some parts which he added for entertainment purposes – about how Zorro ambushed them, leaving them stranded, prey to mountain lions, bandits and any other danger lurking in the area until one of the men managed to free himself and helped the others.

The caballero listened, certain that the pieces of copper ore in possession of the Alcalde and the tinker were somehow connected to the impostor Zorro.

Just as the Sergeant was finishing his lunch, shouts were heard from the plaza, and everyone hurried to see what was going on.

*It was the first time Diego was able to see him and assess his fighting skills. The impostor was dressed exactly like him. Every piece of clothing, even the sword, were just like his. Despite a slight difference in height nobody but him seemed to notice, the masked man bore a perfect resemblance to the true Zorro.

As the fake Zorro made his exit, disappearing from the cuartel's roof, the people finally accepted the Alcalde's rhetoric and started shouting against Zorro. It was heartbreaking for Diego to see those he was fighting for turning against him because of an impostor, in the span of a day going from being his most avid supporters to demanding his demise.*

"You don't seem yourself today, Son!" Don Alejandro noticed as they were riding home that afternoon.

"It's nothing, Father." He answered, instinctively dismissing his parent's worry.

"You can't lie to me, Diego! I know you better than anyone." Don Alejandro retorted. "It's this entire issue with Zorro, isn't it? I wouldn't blame you if you found it suspicious that, just as the Alcalde has redoubled his efforts to turn us against Zorro, the man himself also seems to change. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it."

"Indeed. It's like he has suddenly become an entirely different person." Diego answered with a frown.

"What did you say?" The older man inquired.

"Oh… Nothing, Father. I was just agreeing with you. It is strange that Zorro seems to have changed overnight. One might even think he is trying to prove the Alcalde right." The tall caballero answered.

Don Alejandro glanced at him somewhat suspiciously and nodded.

Their conversation ended there as they spent the rest of the ride to the hacienda in silence.

Diego was mostly baffled by how much the impostor looked like him. The clothes, the cape, the mask… even the sword were all just like the ones he used when riding as Zorro. There was no tall black stallion to help him disappear, but the man seemed able to do so at will, anyway.

Had he not been quite aware that the man was not the real defender of Los Angeles, he might have even shared everyone else's opinion, for the deception was perfect. That realization didn't make the people's reaction less hurtful, though.

After arriving at the hacienda, Diego took advantage of the fact that his father had gone to talk to his vaqueros and headed straight towards the cave. Felipe was already there, cleaning Tornado's stables and Diego spent the next half hour recounting for him the events in the pueblo while painting some pieces of glass.

Having remembered the incident in Victoria's tavern, fairly convinced the tinker who was the young woman's guest was in cahoots with the Alcalde, he had been modifying his spyglass by adding a colored lens to it and was painting a second one.

*"Whoever he is, he certainly has a knack for appearing and disappearing at will." He replied when Felipe inquired who Diego thought the impostor was.

Dismissing the boy's suggestion that the other Zorro was using magic, Diego handed him the spyglass, asking him to look through it.

The young man took it and put it to his eye, using it to look towards Diego.

"The glass removes certain colors from our vision, but makes others more visible with less light." He explained to the boy, seeing his baffled expression. "It's all a question of knowing how the world works." Diego went on to explain.

Given the fact that he now needed to prove himself to the people again and uncover the entire plot, Diego put on his black clothes and mask, then headed towards the pueblo.

He easily found the impostor's tracks, leading him to the Alcalde's office. Getting inside through the roof window, he started going through Luis Ramone's files, easily discovering the geology report mentioning the presence of a large copper deposit in the lands of the tribe which had just been attacked that morning.

"No wonder Zorro destroyed the Indians' camp." He uttered, just to himself, as he heard a noise outside the door.

Reacting fast, he first hid, then climbed to stand on a beam in the corner of the office. From there, he could witness the old tinker taking off his fake moustache and wig, transforming into a young man, or, better said, the man behind the impostor Zorro's mask.

Within the next few minutes, all of Diego's suspicions proved true, and he was also made aware of what the Alcalde next had in store: a swordsmanship demonstration during 'Zorro's' next visit.*

"Well," the masked man thought, a grin on his face, "the Alcalde can't defeat me, so he believes he will become a hero in the eyes of the people by defeating my impersonator in an arranged duel. Very well, Alcalde! But I believe you'll find your ego might just lead to your downfall."

Making his way out of the office the same as he entered, he returned to the hacienda, then asked Felipe to spend the following day in the pueblo, keeping an eye on Luis Ramone and the fake tinker.

The boy returned in the afternoon, with news that the Indian leaders of the same tribe which had been attacked the previous day had just arrived at the tavern, having been summoned for a meeting by the Alcalde.

"There's no moment to lose, in that case!" Diego replied as the two of them made their way through the sliding panel.

ZZZ

*Don Alejandro was already at the tavern when the tribe leaders, the Alcalde and his lancers arrived. Together with Victoria, who had agreed to share a glass of wine with him, he listened to the official inform the Indians that their land was to be confiscated due to its strategic value.

When a young man opposed him, then refused to be silenced, he ordered his arrest. Victoria feared he might give orders for him to be hung when the impostor Zorro showed up, just as he and Luis Ramone had already agreed. Without a word, he challenged the Alcalde, and the man seemed to have overnight improved his swordsmanship in the eyes of those present there as the black-clad man was soon retreating. To everyone's surprise, Luis Ramone won the duel, forcing 'Zorro' to run away just moments after the real masked outlaw arrived at the tavern.

"Your tailor has excellent taste, Señor!" The true Zorro told the impostor as the man made his way in the kitchen, just moments before knocking him out with one of Victoria's frying pans. Then, just as the Alcalde was enjoying Mendoza's undisguised appreciation for his swordsmanship, he came through the curtains and challenged the official to a real duel. As expected, the fight didn't last long, and Luis Ramon was again easily defeated as Zorro demanded for the Indians to be given the right to profit from their own land.

As he finished fighting the official and knocked down the two lancers who immediately came to their commander's defense and, just as easily, pretended to pass out, mainly because they didn't much want to fight him and they knew it was the best way to avoid it, while keeping most of their pride and uniforms intact. When no other combatant was left – for neither Luis Ramone, nor Mendoza seemed in any way inclined to fight him only to risk a painful fall into unconsciousness – the impostor Zorro also exited the kitchen, prepared to challenge the real one.

The two masked men enjoyed the ensuing duel, as the chance to meet such a worthy adversary was quite rare for either of them. When he started realizing he was facing a better opponent, though, Castillo – the impostor dressed as the pueblo's defender – tried to run away, but Zorro stopped him, forcing the man to continue their fight. In the excitement of the duel, however, the real Zorro lost sight of the Alcalde, and was taken by surprise when, after hesitating for a rather long time between the two black-clad men fighting, the official fired his pistol, instantly killing his adversary.

For a few seconds, as he used his acrobatic skills to perform a jump to the second floor, the man behind the mask wondered if Luis Ramone had meant to shoot his impersonator or his aim was just as abysmal as his skill with the sword. Soon, however, he realized everyone there had been fooled by the man's act, the Alcalde included.

Luis Ramon's certainty he had killed the true Zorro, however, stemmed not just from his inability to distinguish between the two, but from his conviction that Castillo, who was a professional, award-winning swordsman, was certainly better than his adversary.

Thus, as the people in the tavern were unmasking the impersonator, the true masked rider rode out of town on Tornado, stopping at the gate to salute the pueblo, just as Victoria, already convinced, like everyone else, that the man who had been shot was an impostor, hurried towards the door to see him ride away.*

Realizing he was not being followed, he slowed Tornado down as they were nearing the cave, taking his time to ponder on his own foolishness. He could have easily been killed that day. He was alive mainly by chance. A split-second decision by the Alcalde to shoot the other man instead. Had he aimed for him, he would have been the one dead, as not even Ramone would have missed from that distance.

Chiding himself for his stupidity, he was in a rather bad mood when he got back, feeling also rather guilty towards his father and Victoria, whom he didn't want to find out the truth about him only after his death.

Felipe was waiting for him to arrive, hoping for a good story in exchange for his patience and Diego didn't have the heart to let him down. And, as he was recounting the events in town for him, the caballero also realized he couldn't let things end as they did.

So, later that evening, after having spent a couple of hours listening to his father's account of the events, he decided he needed to make sure he and Luis Ramone had a private conversation.

Diego, thus, put on the mask again and headed for Los Angeles.

Finding his way to the roof window of the Alcalde's office without being noticed, he first took a minute to look inside. From where he was, he could see Luis Ramone at his desk, a glass of wine in his hand, brooding over a perfectly good plan he, himself, managed to accidentally ruin.

The masked man smiled and rapidly lowered himself into the office, gracefully landing a few stapes from the official's desk.

"Buenas noches, Alcalde!" He greeted as he rapidly covered the remaining distance, sword drawn and pointed at Luis Ramone.

The official barely had time to open his mouth before Zorro's sword was pressing against his neck. "Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you, Alcalde!" He uttered as he saw Luis Ramone's initial intention to call the lancers. "One wrong move and my sword won't miss!" He threatened.

"What do you want?" The official asked.

"I want to offer you this warning." He answered. "I avoid taking lives, Alcalde, but don't be mistaken about me! You proved today more than willing to take my life, and you would have happily taken it, had you not been so utterly confused by the man you hired to impersonate me. So, seeing how I am certain you would kill me first chance you'd get, I want you to understand that I can do the same, anytime I want. You are alive right now because I decide for you to live. But have another man disguise himself as me, and you won't even see me coming! Am I making myself clear?" He inquired.

Luis Ramone nodded, a terrified look on his face.

"Good! And now that we understand each other, I'll be taking these!" He continued, reaching for the black hat, cape and the sword so similar to his which were still in the Alcalde's possession – all that was left of the impostor Zorro's possessions, seeing how Castillo had been hastily buried in the same clothes in which he had died.

The official frowned, resigned and still rather worried about his own chances for survival as long as the black-clad man was in his office.

After leaving a large Z which ran across the Alcalde's chest, destroying his pristine coat as well as his vest and the shirt underneath it, Zorro exited calmly, mounted Tornado and guided him out of the pueblo, then doubled-back, leaving the two lancers who had been sent to pursue him continue on their way, and headed for the tavern.

From the upper window in the kitchen, he watched Victoria go about cleaning the establishment, then climbed down when he noticed her exiting.

"Good evening, Señorita!" He uttered as she returned with the last glasses which needed to be washed.

She beamed at seeing him. "Zorro! What are you doing here?" She asked, delighted to look into his eyes.

"I just needed to have a… discussion with the Alcalde, and I couldn't leave before thanking you." He replied.

"Thanking me? For what?" The taverness inquired with wide-opened eyes.

"I heard you were amongst the very few in the pueblo whose trust in me didn't falter, despite the actions of my impersonator." He answered.

"I knew you were innocent!" She uttered with a reassuring smile. "And you certainly proved it."

Zorro tilted his head, then took her hand to kiss it. "I am a very lucky man to have gained your trust, Señorita," he told her sincerely, "and I shall do my best to always prove worthy of it." After a few more moments they spent lost in each other's eyes, he let go of Victoria's hand. "I must go now. Adios!"

As he uttered that, he climbed back towards the upper window and, with a last glance, he was gone.

Victoria stood there watching even after he was gone, wondering why her heart was beating so much faster every time she caught even a glance of him. The only other man who had ever had that effect on her was, or, at least, had once been Diego de la Vega. But the thought that he and Zorro could be the same person, while it had crossed her mind, was utterly impossible, as he, himself, had proved several times already.

ZZZ

*A few days later, as the tall caballero, having offered to help the Indian tribe with mining the copper ore on its land, was finishing his measurements, Victoria, his father and several other Los Angelinos arrived at the settlement bringing blankets and clothes for the people there. Although it was not much that the people had to offer, it was a gift from their hearts through which they hoped to help those poorer than them rebuild their homes and bring them some joy.

Mendoza also showed up with a message from the Alcalde informing the Indians that he'd be glad to advise them if needed, but Diego took the chance to assure him they already had all the help they needed, then proceeded to make certain they would not be taxed for the product of their labor and the resources of the land they had owned* since long before the Spanish ever set foot in California.

"See, Diego?" Victoria uttered as soon as the two of them had a few moments alone. "I told you Zorro was no leaf in the wind!"

"Indeed. I guess you know him well." He answered, slightly amused.

"I don't even know his name. But I do know what's in my heart… and in his."

"And what does your heart tell you about our masked friend?"

"That I should always have faith in him." She answered with a grin, and Diego smiled back at her, promising himself to do his best to reward that faith.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

* The dialogue and summaries marked were extracted from the episode "Double Entendre" written by Robert McCullough.

** The show only gives the impostor Zorro's surname – Castillo. His first name I decided myself as somewhat of a nod to the stuntman responsible for some of the best scenes in the show - Ignacio Carreño.