Victoria was melancholy. For what seemed like the 1000th time, Zorro had come to the pueblo that day, freed several people the alcalde had unjustly arrested, spent some time humiliating the garrison and their "fearless" leader, then greeted her and fled town without any more words.

Sure, she was grateful to him for his actions, and she surely admired his courage. Yet she was also becoming annoyed with the kind of attention he was giving her. Not that she didn't like his attention. But, on the one hand, her time with him consisted of no more than a few stolen moments each week, during which he'd kiss her hand, smile in her direction, or compliment her, rarely granting her more than a few seconds of his time.

On the other hand, since Zorro had started his particular brand of courting, the men in Los Angeles had started to completely avoid her. Thus, if before Zorro had made his first appearance most young men paid her compliments and tried their hands at courting her, since he had singled her out, it almost seemed like she had become invisible to every member of the opposite sex.

True, she wanted to be with Zorro. There was no other man in the pueblo so brave, so daring, so clever, and as wonderful as the already-legendary fox. Yet she was still a young woman with no true commitment to their masked protector. And she was starting to miss the days when it seemed like most young men in the pueblo were under her spell.

Having turned 20 the past summer, and seeing how most of her friends were already married and mothers, Victoria was also starting to fear that she was losing her charms, and, unless Zorro or some other acceptable man made her an offer soon, she might just become an old maid.

Glancing around her tavern at the people there, her eyes fell, once again, on Don Diego de la Vega, and her mind started wondering, for the 1000th time, what her life would be like should she end up marrying the young caballero. During the week spent at the hacienda helping with Don Alejandro when he had been injured Victoria had gotten a taste of what living there was like. She also witnessed how devoted a son Diego was, and easily concluded that he'd be just as devoted a husband. In fact, considering how kind and thoughtful he always was, she had no doubt that he would make a very good husband, one who would respect and care for her. In addition to that, there was also the insignificant fact that, at passing by Diego's room one morning, just as he was changing his shirt - with the door half-open - she had caught a glance of him shirtless. That image had managed to plague her dreams for quite some time after that. It still was on some particularly lonely nights, causing her to be certain that she still felt very much attracted to the young don, despite her efforts to regard him only as a friend.

In light of all that, there was no doubt in her mind that she could fall in love with Diego. In fact, she had already been in love with him, or so she had fancied herself for most of her life.

Could she make him fall in love with her? Could he feel for her that all-consuming passion she had read about in the novels she had borrowed from the De la Vega library? Victoria couldn't know that.

Diego didn't seem particularly passionate about anything. True, he'd sometimes get lost in his books and, at times, it seemed to her that there was much more to the young caballero than what he let others see. But there was also some sort of pragmatism in his character that just didn't seem to indicate any complicated feelings boiling under the surface. He just wasn't that kind of man.

However, that mysterious, deep-rooted need for the other, the feeling of two hearts matching their rhythm, synchronized by the magic of one kiss, passion: true, undeniable, and all-consuming passion – that was what Victoria wanted above all else. In her mind, the man she'd marry would be unable to stay away from her for even one minute, so consumed by her very being that he'd spend all his time by her side, her master and slave at the same time, unwilling to ever part with her.

Sighing, she poured some tequila for a vaquero, then started dusting her wine bottles.

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow evening?" she suddenly heard Diego ask her. The caballero was staring at her from the other side of the bar, clearly waiting for her answer, though she hadn't heard or noticed him getting there.

A flicker of hope brightened her face. "Just to serve my customers, like every evening," she said.

"Could you ask Alicia to replace you?"

"Ah… Of course. But why?"

"I was hoping you might like to have dinner at the hacienda."

She stared at him for a few moments, then smiled seductively. "That would be lovely, Diego!"

"Excellent!" The tall caballero uttered. "I will send our carriage for you at 7."

She nodded her agreement and watched him return to the table he shared with his father and Felipe.

Victoria had a smile on her face for the rest of the evening. The following morning, she woke up, got dressed, and sang to herself during all the time it took her to prepare breakfast for the people staying overnight. The siesta she spent cooking enough food for Alicia to be able to provide their patrons with a decent dinner, then prepared a bath for herself. After washing herself, she spent over an hour drying and arranging her hair, then put on a blouse she knew most men found particularly appealing, matched it with a red skirt, color-matching shoes, and a pair of red earrings a former suitor had once gifted her. For the final touch, she dabbed on some perfume she had bought in the market a few months earlier to use on special occasions.

Taking her white shawl, at 7 p.m. she headed for the De la Vega carriage waiting for her in front of the tavern.

ZZZ

"Victoria! Welcome, my dear!" the master of the hacienda greeted as he helped her descend upon her arrival. "Please, come in!" the man continued as his son offered his hand.

"You look very lovely tonight, Victoria," Diego said.

"Thank you, Diego! Don Alejandro!" the young woman answered, flustered and unable to decide to whom to direct her attention.

The first part of the evening was quite lovely. Diego had behaved beyond reproach, escorting her to the table, helping her with her chair, and even driving the conversation toward issues she cared about. His behavior that first hour even helped confirm Victoria's suspicion that he might be a good match for her. Not to mention he was by no means indifferent to her charms, even though, strangely enough, he did his best to make it seem he was. But a woman always knows…

Then, just as dessert was being served, Felipe rushed into the dining room and started signing something only Diego seemed to understand.

"Excuse me," the caballero said, standing up, "for a few days now, I've been asking Felipe to verify some traps I have set to catch a certain type of lizard I don't believe to have been recorded thus far. Apparently, my efforts have just been successful. I will, however, need to retrieve it right away, or I risk having it found and eaten by one of its predators."

"What? Diego, we have a guest!" his father said in disbelief.

"I'm sure Victoria understands." The young don uttered, but hardly even looked in her direction as he hurried to leave.

Don Alejandro took a deep, disappointed breath. "I'm sorry… But you know how he gets…" he told the young woman.

"I guess I do…" she answered, visibly dumbfounded. Apparently, a lizard was more important to Diego than she was…

The evening was not completely lost, though she would have preferred a walk in the moonlight with Diego to an hour spent being taught by Don Alejandro how to play chess. At least, Maria's dessert was absolutely delicious.

Eventually, seeing how the tall caballero was in no hurry to return, Victoria asked for the carriage to take her home, refusing Don Alejandro's invitation to spend the night there.

She arrived at the tavern about an hour before midnight, to find the taproom still full.

"What's going on?" she asked Alicia, who was barely managing to serve all the customers calling for her.

"Zorro!" the young woman answered. "The alcalde tried to have two men whipped for being unable to pay his taxes, and he came to save them."

"He did? I missed him?"

"You most certainly did! Though, I don't believe he even looked for you this time. I think he was in a hurry." Alicia told her.

Victoria sighed and, putting on an apron, started taking orders and bringing meals and drinks for her customers.

ZZZ

The following day was rather slow. No overnight guests to cook for, and even Mendoza seemed to have chosen to have breakfast at the garrison's canteen, for the taproom was completely empty.

Victoria was just arranging her glasses when she heard Diego's voice.

"Buenos días, Victoria," he greeted as he neared the bar. "I wanted to apologize for leaving like that last evening. Unfortunately, by the time I managed to return, you had just left."

She was still too upset to accept his apologies but had no intention of giving him the satisfaction of knowing she had any feelings for him. Because she obviously didn't, nor could she fall for a man who'd prioritize rescuing a lizard over spending time with her. Besides, she loved Zorro. "You have nothing to apologize for, Don Diego. I rather enjoy your father's company." Victoria answered bitterly.

"No hard feelings, then?"

"Of course, not! It was a lovely meal, Diego. Why would I be upset about anything?" She asked, staring him in the eyes defiantly.

He smiled, clueless, then nodded politely and headed for the terrace. Victoria felt a deep-rooted need to strangle him yet decided it wasn't worth it.

ZZZ

It was a couple of days later – just as Louis Ramone had left for Santa Barbara on what one could only assume was a shopping trip – when the San Pedro coach brought a new customer. He was tall, good-looking, polite, and very French.

The moment he saw Victoria a smile appeared on his face, and he didn't hesitate a moment in nearing her. "Señorita," he uttered, speaking with a very seductive accent, "my name is Henri Fouchard and I am a traveling magician. I will be staying in your lovely pueblo for a few days, and I was wondering with who I should speak to arrange a show to be held here, in this charming tavern?"

"That would be me, Señor Fouchard. My name is Victoria Escalante."

"And a beautiful name it is. Well, Señorita, I would appreciate a room with full board, and, as I already mentioned, your help in organizing a show… for tomorrow night, perhaps? My magic demonstrations do tend to attract quite a large audience…"

"It is a shame I have no empty room," she said.

"A shame, indeed," he answered. "Wouldn't it be possible to arrange for one to become available? I am willing to pay twice the usual rate."

"Twice? But that would be 10 pesos per night, including breakfast," Victoria uttered in surprise.

"Only 10? I have misspoken, in that case. 15 pesos per night would be a fairer rate." He said, taking out the money for three nights and putting it on the bar.

Victoria stared at him, then at the money.

"I insist on paying no less." He informed her. "Even your smallest room will do as long as I'll have the pleasure of seeing you each day while I am here."

Victoria blushed at his words. More than a year had passed since someone other than Zorro had seemed so taken with her.

"You said you are a magician?" she inquired while deciding if to take the money.

"That is correct."

"Are you any good?"

"I will let you be the judge of that," he answered and, with a flourish of his hand, produced a beautiful red rose, which he offered her. "For you, Señorita, though its beauty pales before yours," he said.

She accepted it with a smile and took it to her nose to smell it. "Please, take a seat, Señor Fouchard! I'll have your room ready in a few minutes." she said a moment later, taking the money. While fully aware that there was no free room in her tavern, she was also unwilling to turn the young man away for more than one reason. On the one hand, the businesswoman in her said she was making a pretty good deal. On the other, she liked the man's attention and, truth be told, a little part of her, hoped he might serve to make Diego jealous.

Asking for Alicia's help, she hurriedly emptied her own room, moving her few possessions to a very small one downstairs – which she sometimes used in similar situations – while her helper changed the bed sheets.

"If you'll follow me, I will lead you to your room," she told the young man a few minutes later when she returned downstairs.

He smiled at her and did as she had asked, a lancer behind him, carrying his trunk. Victoria noticed the coins he gave the man – 5 pesos – just as she was turning to leave. Half as much as the lancer made in a week. The newcomer surely was generous, she easily concluded.

"Señorita," the Frenchman uttered as she had already descended a couple of stairs, "would you do me the honor of dining with me tonight?"

"Ah…" she hesitated, being taken by surprise, "perhaps. If I'm not too busy," she eventually said, unwilling to have that stranger think she was one of those women who'd fall for a man at the smallest hint of interest on his part. But she did like that he was interested, and spent a rather enjoying evening with the man, who did his best to win her admiration by thoroughly recounting his travels to her.

As she prepared to clean up and close the tavern, he parted with her by kissing her hand, and she remained there, in the taproom, for a few moments, dreamily watching him climb the stairs.

ZZZ

With so few opportunities for entertainment in Los Angeles, most of those able to afford frequenting Victoria's Tavern, including the De la Vegas, attended Fouchard's magic show. The young woman had to admit, like all those present there, that the show was very entertaining, and she particularly enjoyed assisting the newcomer in bringing a dead dove back to life.

*"Your assistance is appreciated, Señorita, as well as your beauty," the man said at the end of the show, taking her hand again to kiss it. *

Her admiration for the Frenchman only grew as, the following day, besides complimenting and offering her to travel the world with him, he spent much of his time helping Los Angelinos, asking for nothing in return for his services. And Victoria wasn't alone in her fascination with the man. In fact, even Mendoza took the opportunity to get some advice from him and try to convince him to stay for a few more days.

To the young woman's disappointment, that evening, her new guest asked for dinner in his room instead of inviting her to dine with him again.

Most of the garrison left for San Pedro just around lunchtime, so Victoria thought it prudent not to reopen after siesta, since there was hardly anyone to intervene should there be an attack. She, thus, used her free time to put her pantry in order and cook for the people staying overnight. At 9 p.m., as per his request, she took Fouchard his dinner, leaving it in his room when finding the man asleep.

ZZZ

The next morning, Victoria woke to the news that the gold shipment the lancers had gone to accompany to Los Angeles had been stolen the previous night after they were attacked by fireballs.

A little while later, she found Diego at the Frenchman's door. The young don asked her if she had seen him the previous evening and, just to make him jealous, she said that they had taken a walk in the moonlight. When he asked about the time of said walk, she told him it was none of his business, enjoying seeing his reaction. To her surprise, though, the young caballero was only interested in finding out why the Frenchman had missed a meeting with him, so, a little disappointed to see her brilliant plan fail, she told him that her guest had been sleeping in his room. Only a little later did she realize that she had contradicted herself, but easily pushed away the thought, certain that the tall caballero had not even noticed her mistake.

Fouchard returned around 9:30 and, after arranging for a strong lancer to bring down his trunk, he paid the man, and invited Victoria to have a drink with him while waiting for the San Diego coach. *She accepted, and he spent the rest of the morning telling her about his wife – who had died a few years back – and trying to convince her to leave with him. He was so eager to convince her that, after promising to give her anything she wanted, he even declared that he loved her.*

She appreciated his words – and his eagerness – but how could she believe them when they hardly knew each other? Besides, there was Zorro… or Diego. Victoria wasn't very sure at that point who she actually loved: the masked bandit she hardly saw for a few minutes every week, yet admired with all her heart, or the young don she had given her heart to when she was but a child, yet who had hardly seemed interested in her since his return to California. She did know, though, that Fouchard was not the one she was meant for.

*When she made it clear that she had no intention of leaving, the Frenchman completely changed, as if transforming into another person in front of her very eyes.

"When I love someone," he said, "I expect that love to be returned. I will not leave without you!"

"Well, I'm sorry! You have no choice!" Victoria uttered at that.

"Then, I'm afraid, neither do you!" he threatened, and she was taken by surprise at feeling the tip of his sword pressed against her belly. "Love is a game in which I never surrender the prize!"*

The young woman didn't know what exactly he expected to achieve with that, for she had no intention of leaving Los Angeles. Certainly not with him! Still, she needed to wait for the right time to get away from him and call for help. *When Don Alejandro showed up, though, afraid for both herself and the elderly caballero, she followed Fouchard's lead, nodding when he announced that she had agreed to leave with him.

Zorro "dropped in" just moments later, and the next few minutes would forever leave her wondering about some of the events taking place then.

After making sure she was released, the masked man accused Fouchard of having been the one to rob the gold shipment, and fought him while describing exactly how he had done it – at which point Victoria realized she had been used provide him with an alibi – then led him upstairs, towards the doors leading to the balcony. Once there, he allowed himself to be disarmed – or that was what the young woman later reasoned had happened – and lifted his hands up, as in surrender.

"Enjoy your last moment of life!" Fouchard told Zorro, preparing to impale him with his sword.

"Oh, I assure you, it shall be magical," the masked man replied.

Victoria was not able to see, from where she was, what exactly had happened next, but, just as she was convinced that might be the end of Zorro, a thick smoke appeared out of nowhere, enveloping him and hiding him from sight. Fouchard attacked him, entering the smoke, and both men vanished for a few seconds. When they reappeared, the Frenchman was tied up and gagged, Zorro spinning him towards the stairs before pushing him down to stop before Mendoza's feet.

The Z-marked cape Victoria found in his trunk was the final proof needed for the Sergeant to hurriedly arrest him, thus getting his wish of having Fouchard spend more time in Los Angeles – though not exactly how he had imagined that might happen.*

Kind as always, after the Frenchman was taken to jail, Don Alejandro remained a while to console Victoria, and she appreciated the opportunity to talk to the man she saw as a surrogate father. So, for about an hour, she recounted to him all that had happened between Foucault and her.

"He said that, after his wife had died, he had forsaken love until he met me…" Victoria uttered at one point with a mixture of sadness and indignation, just as Felipe came into the tavern, looking around.

"He had a way with words…" The caballero declared, then smiled at Alicia, who was just about to place a glass of cold water in front of him.

The young woman spilled half of it on his suit when Felipe accidentally bumped into her, and the boy, sorrowful for what he had done, offered to help the caballero dry his jacket.

"It's alright, Felipe! It's just water." The elderly don smiled at him as he allowed the boy to help dry it. "In this heat, it will evaporate in a few minutes."

Felipe nodded and eventually let go, signed that he'd see Don Alejandro at the hacienda, and hurriedly exited. Victoria watched him leave, wondering why he had come in the first place, then concluded that he was probably searching for Diego, as the good shadow he was to the tall caballero.

"I don't know why he made so much fuss over some spilled water," Don Alejandro uttered a moment later. "But, returning to the subject we were discussing, truth is, Victoria, we were all fascinated with Fouchard. Except for my son, perhaps. For some reason, I don't believe he ever liked this Frenchman very much."

*Victoria sighed. "I feel like such a fool for believing his lies!" She told Don Alejandro.

"Oh, you mustn't blame yourself!" The caballero told her, just as his son entered the room.

"What an exciting afternoon!" Diego remarked, nearing their table. "I just overheard Sergeant Mendoza telling of Fouchard's capture."

"I can't believe I let myself to be taken in by him in the beginning. It's just that he was…He was…hmmm"

"Charming? Handsome?" Diego suggested.

Victoria almost glared at him, though she was, in fact, upset with herself. "Yes."

"They're the worst kind. Well, I have something to cheer you up. What if I told you I can pull a rabbit out of my hat?" Diego asked, proceeding to produce a magician's hat Victoria hadn't before noticed he had brought with him.

"I wouldn't believe you." She said defiantly.

"Ahh..." He remarked, then completely failed to produce the promised rabbit, seeming disappointed to have failed. "Ha… Well, it worked at home, I swear."

"Yes, I… I think we should be going…" Don Alejandro said as he stood up, hoping to spare his son more embarrassment.

"Yes…" Victoria uttered, realizing that she also needed to return to work as she stood up to say goodbye to her friends.

Then something magical did happen: the elderly don suddenly stopped in his tracks and started searching his jacket, soon pulling out a white baby rabbit. After staring at it for a moment, he offered it Victoria with a dumbfounded face. The small animal, so cute and fluffy, not only cheered her up but made her completely forget about Foucault... Or Fouchard. Whatever his name was. At least for awhile.*

Later that day, wondering how Diego had managed to pull it off, she realized that, like every good magician, he had had an assistant. "I wonder if Zorro also has one." She told the rabbit as she placed it in a wooden box filled with hay. The animal stared at her with its red eyes for a few seconds, then started munching, seeming completely disinterested in the subject. Victoria shrugged her shoulders and, taking the candle with her, she placed it on her bedside table, changed into her nightgown, and sat on her bed before extinguishing the light and laying back, happy to have reclaimed her room.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

AN: Well, some things in this episode of the TV show never did seem quite right to me, so I tried, as always, to fill in the gaps. How did you enjoy my take on it? If you liked it, maybe I'll do Mendoza's or Ramone's take on an episode at one point. Or Don Alejandro's… Or Felipe's… We'll see :P

Meanwhile, the dialogue and parts marked with "*" are from the episode "The Magician" written by Greg Klein and Ted Alben.

Do leave a review if you enjoyed this. I usually write faster when getting more of them. I guess there's some kind of direct link between the number of reviews I get and the time it takes me to write a new chapter, a phenomenon which might deserve more research… :P