Diego had found himself having trouble staying asleep in his own bed without Victoria by his side. Attempting to force his eyelids to stay shut did not help him to drift into slumber. The unforgiving darkness of the night was doing absolutely nothing to help his racing thoughts. He decided that his time would be better spent on something more productive than agonizing about everything that was keeping him from Victoria, the one person who he wanted to be with more than anything at the moment.

He sighed as he made his way out of the bed that he should have been sleeping in. Rather than walking around for the rest of the night in his bed clothing, Diego made the decision to change into his day clothing. He didn't bother with taming his hair after all of the tossing and turning that he had been doing. No one would be awake or much less care at this time of the night.

As quietly as he could, he walked from his bedroom towards the fireplace. His cave would be the best place for him to spend the rest of the night. He could be as loud there as he needed to be without waking up the rest of his family from their much needed slumber. Diego stepped through the fireplace and into his cave with intentions of keeping himself too busy to care about the sleep that he knew he should be getting. He had a very special project that needed to be completed.

Diego was a man who preferred to keep his hands occupied. He knew exactly what he needed to be working on, which was the labor of love which still needed to be assembled. Almost a full week after the recovery of the items from the stagecoach robbery, Don Luis had presented to him, as Zorro of course, a sectional cone music box that had been found shattered and destroyed. It had been found during the further exploration of the items which had been thrown around at the site where the stagecoach had been sieged. The honorable man had given the music box to him as a thank you gift which he could hopefully restore and give to Victoria.

He had crafted a strong and beautiful wooden box with ornate carvings of roses along the front of the box as well as her name. There would be no mistaking who this custom made music box belonged to. It only needed just a few more adjustments to be able to have the solid steel teeth on the cylinder strike the right spots needed to create the music that would soon come from it. Diego carefully balanced the cylinder in the box and checked the alignment of the mechanical system. Everything looked as it should. He slid the first lever on the left side of the music box to the right and a joyful melody began to play. The music box restoration seemed to have been successful. He slid the second lever on the opposite side of the music box to the left as a second song began to play.

Forgetting his frustration with his lack of an ability to sleep, he was extremely proud of his accomplishment with the fully functioning music box. He could only imagine that Victoria would be pleased with his gift to her. His fox-like instincts quickly alerted him that something in the cave had suddenly changed. Diego couldn't quite make sense of the uneasy feeling that had come over him or why Toronado had suddenly begun to appear to be agitated. The sudden sound of glass shaking filled his ears as he felt the ground beneath his feet begin to vibrate and shake so hard that he had to focus on his balance. He could see that the liquid in the test tubes had begun to slosh around.

It could only mean one thing! He was standing in the middle of his cave during an earthquake while the rest of his family was upstairs and unaware in their beds. Diego focused on his balance as he felt the cave become still once again. Upon an initial examination of the area surrounding him he could see various bits of parchment haphazardly covering the floor of the cave along with bits of broken glass, and a small flame growing from where his lantern had fallen to the floor. He quickly stomped out the flames as he appreciated being fully dressed and wearing boots during the dead of the night.

Toronado snorted loudly, showing his displeasure in having just gone through the unpleasant experience of the cave shaking.

"Are you alright my friend," Diego asked the agitated horse.

Toronado shook his head and pranced in place.

"Easy there," he reassured Toronado as he examined him from his ears all the way to his hooves.

The black stallion seemed to be physically fine. He seemed to be miffed about having been in a situation where he was not in complete control. Now that he was certain that his faithful companion was uninjured physically, Diego needed to make sure that everyone else was safe and unharmed.

He quickly sprinted to the cave opening at the fireplace and stepped through only to see that everything looked fine except for several random items that had fallen to the floor. He caught a glimpse of the mantel clock that had shifted slightly and noticed that it was just after four in the morning. The beautiful clock with the octangular shaped top and the running horses on the inlaid marquetry panel had been shifted along the mantle, but had not fallen off. He carefully placed the clock back into its normal position. Thankfully the damage in the library had also been minimal.

Diego did not have to look very far to ensure that his father was safe. His father had already entered the library with Felipe hot on his heels.

"Are you alright son?" his father called out to him.

"I am unscathed," he reassured his father as Felipe sighed in relief.

His father continued to assess the library and made mental notes of each fractured glass object that littered the floor.

"The staff all seem to be uninjured although a bit shaken up," his father informed him.

"What do we do now?" Felipe signed to them.

After a brief pause, Diego and his father simultaneously answered, "We need to get to the pueblo and offer our help."

They laughed together even though their laughter was a bit strained.

"I will go and prepare the horses," his father offered.

Diego ran his hand through his hair and thought about the best course of action that he could take in order to go and check on Victoria and help everyone who might not have been as fortunate. Zorro would probably not be the best person to help during the current situation as DeSoto would most likely try to make the current situation all about himself and his selfish quest to capture his alter ego. He would be most beneficial going as himself and allowing Toronado to graze outdoors so that he would be safe in the event of an after shock.

"I'm going to get Toronado out of the cave in preparation of a possible aftershock before we head to the pueblo," Diego excused himself and stepped back through the fireplace.

"We will meet you at the outdoor entrance," his father called to him. Diego prepared to close the secret entrance.

"By the way, which horse would you prefer for me to prepare for you?" his father asked as the entrance began to close.

"Bring Fenix with you," he answered just before the entrance had sealed shut.

He paused by his clothing for when he needed to become Zorro, and once again decided that he should definitely make an appearance as himself.

He guided Toronado out of the cave and informed the horse, "I need to go and offer my services in the pueblo, but I shall not be riding as Zorro."

Toronado seemed to have understood as he happily began to graze just beyond the entrance of the cave. His horse knew how to remain hidden and wouldn't allow anyone who might be passing by to spot him outside of the cave.

The sound of hooves alerted him to his father and Felipe approaching. His father had led Fenix to him as Felipe waited with the wagon in an open area. His father and Felipe would take the wagon towards the pueblo and look for signs that someone might need help on the way while he intended on heading straight for the tavern to check on Victoria. Once he knew that she was unharmed he would be free to lend a hand where it was needed. He would be with her in no time as Fenix was very similar in speed to Toronado.

"Walk on," he urged the horse as he carefully steered through the path where rocks had fallen during the earthquake.

Clearing out the pathway to the cave would be another task on his to do list. As if by instinct, Fenix charged ahead and began running at top speed as soon as they had reached an open and clear area. The horse sensed the urgency in him to quickly reach the love of his life and find the answers that he was desperately seeking under the pale moonlight.