Diego couldn't wait to change out of Zorro's disguise as he arrived at the entrance of the secret cave disheveled and drenched with sweat, but he couldn't seem to get the entrance to open. The pressure plate that made the cave open wasn't responding. He was stuck just outside of the cave and was wondering if it would even matter how he was dressed now that his father knew his secret.

"¡Que mas puede salir mal!" he thought to himself.

Suddenly Felipe appeared behind him, having come from the other side of the hacienda.

"The rope came apart," Felipe frantically signed.

His to-do list would have to be completed even sooner once he was able to get into the cave to fix it. Toronado neighed loudly as he showed his frustration with being on the opposite side of the cave instead of entering it as they usually would have. His horse would have to remain hidden until he could manually open the cave.

Felipe made a sour expression as he signed, "Company is here."

Diego, still disguised as Zorro, and Felipe entered the hacienda as quietly as possible after leaving Toronado to graze by the entrance of the cave. He spotted Victoria and Don Luis in the library. Felipe created a diversion as Diego snuck past them to clean himself and change his clothing. He was covered in the conductor's blood as well as ashes and blackness from rolling across the fire pit. He hoped that he hadn't been seen by his father's guests. It would be hard to explain why Zorro was sneaking through Don Alejandro's house.

After the diversion was successful Felipe began to help him to prepare a bath. The quiet young lad was quick on his feet and resourceful. He quickly snuck buckets of water to fill the tub through the servants entrance away from the eyes of his father and their guests without drawing attention from their household staff. Felipe excused himself from the room to give Diego some privacy. He quickly stripped himself of his clothing and settled into the bath. Diego closed his eyes and leaned his head back while attempting to relax.

Just as soon as he had thought that it was safe to relax he heard a gasp. He opened his eyes and saw Victoria spying on him from the opening where the door hadn't been completely closed. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten to take his mask off before stepping into the bath in his haste to submerge himself in the soothing water. Victoria slowly walked into the room.

"I thought that I saw my Zorro sneaking past me." she said with a precocious smile.

She was brazen and self confident as she came to stand behind him. He knew that it wasn't a good idea for her to be in the same room with him when he was not wearing clothing. If someone was nearby and caught them together in such an intimate moment it would ruin their reputations.

"Victoria what are you doing?'' Diego asked her as he fought the feeling of arousal from the situation.

"I thought I would find out if Zorro was a guest of Don Alejandro and Don Diego, or if it was my imagination, Victoria replied with a sultry tone in her voice.

She leaned down over Diego and began to slowly kiss him with her face upside down over his as her hair made contact with the water surrounding him. He breathed in deeply as she took the bar of soap from his hand and began to wash his back, his shoulders and then continued with washing his arms. He should have been stopping her, but it felt absolutely amazing. Victoria then began to wash his muscular abs which were showing above the water, then moving up to his broad chest, and then further on up to his neck. What she was doing was completely wrong, but it felt so right. He felt her beginning to remove his mask. She had him cornered. This must have been her plan all along. She was going to find out his identity while he was naked and vulnerable.

Diego didn't stop her as he knew that it was inevitable. He had been planning for so long to tell her that he was Zorro, but couldn't find the right time. Victoria removed the mask from his face and allowed it to be discarded onto the floor.

With a soft gasp she whispered, "Diego?"

Diego grasped her hands and answered, "Yes, mi amor, it is me, Diego de la Vega."

She didn't seem to mind what she had just found out. Instead of reacting badly to the fact that he was the man behind the mask, she suddenly placed her lips upon his and kissed him. Lord have mercy her kiss practically set him on fire. His body threatened to start shaking as deeply as she had kissed him. He felt as if at any moment that hot steam would start coming out of his ears. He began to run his hands through her hair as he continued to eagerly kiss her. His heart was racing. It was taking everything for him to not pull her into the tub with him.

After regaining his senses and knowing that he had risen to the occasion, he found himself saying, "Mi querida, we must stop and compose ourselves.

Victoria sighed and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time as she said, "I have waited so long to find out who you are, and have let my emotions completely overtake me."

"My relief from you knowing has left me feeling much the same," Diego replied as he lifted her hand to kiss it.

"Victoria, would you mind handing the dry linen to me?" he asked.

As she turned to grab it from where Felipe had hung it he washed his hair. He cupped his hands in the water catching just enough to remove the soap and remaining grime.

"Here…" she replied as she passed the lavender scented linen to him.

Victoria proceeded to turn around and face the opposite way. Diego carefully pulled himself up out of the tub and began to dry himself off as modestly as he could with Victoria in the room with him. He caught her attempting to peek at him over her shoulder as he was drying himself off.

"This could become an interesting new problem," he thought to himself.

He had found that he was rather enjoying the situation even though he should be appalled by her behavior. He quickly put on the clothing that Felipe had left behind for him.

When he was fully clothed Victoria turned to face him, and once again they fell into a tight embrace. He found himself in a deep and longing kiss with her as he felt her hands begin to play with his hair. They held each other very tightly, and he felt as if he were going to melt when she placed her head against his chest. She had accepted him for who he was and not just as Zorro. Victoria said absolutely nothing as she clung to him.

He kissed her one last time and broke the silence by saying, "We need to go and join everyone else before someone catches us."

Victoria made herself presentable while Diego checked himself for any noticeable signs of what had been going on between them. After checking just beyond the door for any signs of someone nearby and finding none, Diego kissed her one last time before they quietly headed towards the library.

Diego found his father sitting in a chair reading as he entered the room with Victoria. Felipe was sitting in a chair across from his father patiently waiting for him. They were pretending to be coming back into the house from a stroll outside.

"Ah, Victoria, you are still here…" his father mused as he saw them both enter the room.

His father upon noticing his wet hair and clean appearance looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He had been filthy when his father had last seen him dressed as Zorro. He hoped that his father was thinking that he had arrived and taken his bath alone. Diego prepared for the questions that he knew were to come.

"How long have you known that my son is Zorro?" his father asked Victoria.

The dreaded questions had begun.

"I just found out that Diego is Zorro," Victoria answered him as she wrapped her arm around Diego's back in support of him.

"So did I," his father replied with a smile.

Victoria hadn't turned on him, there was a smile on his father's face, so perhaps they would be supportive of him after all now that his secret was out.

"I am definitely upset that he chose to keep his identity a secret from me, but I can only imagine that it hurt him to have had to keep his secret on his own," she responded to his father's latest revelation.

His heart swelled with pride as Victoria seemed to be understanding of his actions and his decision to hide Zorro's identity from her.

"I have found myself in shock and slightly disappointed that my son couldn't have come to me and trusted me with his secret," his father informed Victoria with a side glance towards Diego.

"However, I understand that he was trying to protect us by trying to be strong on his own, which makes me a very proud father," his father added.

His father was proud of him! Diego couldn't believe his ears. His father turned to look at Felipe.

The young boy quietly looked at Diego and signed, "!Ayudame!"

"As for you Felipe, shame on you for having known this the whole time and not telling me," his father scolded him.

"But Don Alejandro, Felipe can't hear," Victoria quickly responded.

His father laughed and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.

"I have had my suspicions that Felipe has heard things that I as well as others have said,'' his father informed Victoria.

Felipe nodded while appearing to look guilty.

"I thank you for looking after my son and helping to keep him safe," his father once again had addressed his comment to Felipe.

Diego saw that his father had suddenly noticed the ring on Victoria's hand. He wasn't sure how his father had only recognized his mother's ring at that moment. If he had remembered what it looked like before, surely he would have spoiled his secret to Victoria before he had been ready to tell her who he was.

"Did this happen today?" his father quizzed them both.

He hoped his father wouldn't be upset with him for not discussing his much earlier proposal to Victoria.

"No father, I proposed quite a while ago when she was injured," Diego responded honestly.

His father startled him when he abruptly stood up. Victoria flinched and grabbed on to his arm to steady herself. Diego braced himself for the worst, but hoped that his father would accept his decision.

"You've given her your mother's ring, and now I must officially welcome Victoria into our family!" Don Alejandro announced with excitement.

"Victoria, you've always felt like a daughter to me," he added as he walked over to embrace her.

Victoria returned the fatherly hug. He let out a sigh of relief. Felipe was making kissing faces from across the room. Diego chose to ignore him. He began to feel relieved that the transition to having everything out in the open had gone so well.

"Thank you Don Alejandro," Victoria said as she began to tear up.

"This calls for a celebration!" his father suddenly shouted before asking Victoria to stay for the evening meal.

Diego and Victoria remained deep in conversation as his father made arrangements for a festive meal. Felipe had chosen a book about a mystery while waiting. He continued to peek over the top of the pages at them. Victoria laughed loudly as Felipe pretended to give them disgusted looks when she would catch him looking. Diego found himself mesmerized by the sudden affection from her as she no longer treated him as a close friend. Their time in the library passed too quickly before they were called to come to the dining room by his father.

It was a joyous occasion full of reminiscing about the fun times when Diego and Victoria had been growing up. Instead of the anger and sadness that he had expected to receive from them, he had received love and forgiveness. Diego was relieved that his secret was out in the open with them. After finishing the meal, his father stood up before them and proposed a toast.

"To my son, never forget that I love you, and I hope that you believe in yourself as much as I believe in you," Don Alejandro's voice rang out.

Diego lifted his wine glass in acknowledgement of the toast. Victoria and Felipe watched the sweet scene unfolding between the father and son. It was undeniable how much Don Alejandro loved his son.

"When life knocks you down, this old man will always have your backs," he continued his toast to Diego and Victoria.

His father excused himself from the table and retired to the library for the evening. Felipe, who had also finished with his meal, signed to excuse himself from the table as well. Diego found himself alone in the dining room with Victoria.

"Stay with me tonight," he cheekily teased Victoria.

"Diego, are you proposing something indecent to me?" Victoria asked him.

Diego, while being more serious, responded, "Mi amor, I would enjoy holding you in my arms all night, and I promise to behave myself.

"Yes Diego, I would love that so much, because we have never been able to be together for long," she quickly answered him.

"Well, you know what I mean," she added.

She had indeed spent plenty of time with him as his partial self, but not as whole self. Now that she knew who he was she was trying to put together her experiences with both of his personalities. For Diego, she was finally seeing his true personality.

Diego stood up and held out his hand to Victoria. She grasped his hand and stood up beside him. He quietly helped Victoria to sneak past Felipe and his father to the fireplace. She definitely seemed amused even though he hadn't yet explained why he had brought her to that spot.

"Stay here," he whispered to her as she gave him a confused look.

Diego quietly walked over to Felipe and tapped him on his shoulder. Victoria patiently watched as she waited for an explanation. Felipe looked up at him from the book he was reading.

"Do not disturb," Diego signed to him so that his father wouldn't hear what was being said.

Felipe looked at Victoria and smiled a knowing smile as he signed, "See you in the morning."

Victoria watched in surprise as the fireplace opened into his secret cave. When Diego had closed the opening he saw the recognition in her eyes.

"So this is where you proposed to me?" she asked him, even though she already knew the answer.

Diego quickly replied, "Yes, but I have to take care of a friend of mine before we can continue our discussion," he abruptly informed her.

Victoria seemed to become upset with his latest statement until she realized that Toronado was not in the cave with them.

"Where is he?" she asked in concern.

"I need to repair the rope that opens the cave entrance," he answered.

Victoria's eyes went wide as she excitedly asked, "Do you mean that he has been waiting outside all of this time?!"

Diego nodded his head.

"Toronado has been patiently waiting for me to bring him in and is most likely enjoying the freedom of being outdoors," Diego reassured her.

Together Diego and Victoria worked together to replace the broken rope. With the new rope in place, Diego opened the cave entrance. He let out a shrill whistle. Toronado came galloping into the cave ready for a grooming session. Diego closed the entrance as Victoria began to brush Toronado. He found a second brush and began to help with the grooming. It was an oddly sensual activity as they were working together to care for his secret horse. With the raw honesty and the lack of secrets between them their emotions were heightened, and even the least romantic tasks seemed romantic. After they had gotten Toronado settled in the cave, Diego found several blankets and spread them out on the floor.

"I've been waiting for so long for you to finally know my secret," he admitted.

Victoria reached out to clasp his hand. The fantasy of being with Zorro had become a reality without the disguise.

"It is our secret now, and I promise to always stand by you." she reassured him.

He could see the passion shining in her eyes that was finally meant for him. He couldn't ever seem to get enough time with her and for the remainder of the night she would only be focused on him.

"I've never felt this way about anyone else," Diego admitted to her.

"I feel the same way about you Diego," Victoria admitted in return.

"I will find a way to marry you, I swear," he assured her.

He drew her closer to him and boldly kissed her before she could reply to him. She seemed to melt as she leaned against him. She had said his given name. It sent shivers through him.

Diego gestured towards the blankets and Victoria quietly nodded her head. She giggled as they worked their way onto the blankets in-between more of Diego's delicious kisses. He assured her that his father did not know about the secret entrance yet, and Felipe would not be disturbing them.

When they were out of breath from kissing, Diego asked her, "How are we going to go forward with our relationship?"

He had been worried about how to best keep her safe and continue on as Zorro. He didn't want to give her up now that he'd finally won her love as himself. The pueblo needed Zorro. Zorro needed Victoria.

"I love you with my heart and soul," Victoria reassured him.

Victoria hugged up to him even tighter as she answered, "For now we'll pretend that I don't know who Zorro is when you are disguised, and that you and I are only friends with everyone who doesn't know." With a sigh of relief he pulled her body closer to him.

"Good answer," he replied as he began to nibble on her earlobe with a sense of urgency.

Victoria giggled from Diego's hot breath tickling her sensitive ear. He couldn't get enough of the way she responded as he continued to kiss and nibble his way down from her ear, further down along the curve of her arched neck and on down to the hollow area of her collar bone. He felt like he was about to lose control. Whether or not they were able to manage to sleep during the night, they were finally spending some much needed time together. It was without a doubt the best night of his life. He greatly liked the fact that he was Victoria's secret.