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Conquering Fear	By : emmarae3579 Category: S through Z > Zorro Views: 2149 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Zorro, and do not make any money from writing this story.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
Author’s Note: All ratings identical.
Zzz
When Diego and Victoria finally emerged from the cave, Diego thought it proved his bad luck when Alejandro was walking by and caught them. How many times had he been able to sneak back into his room while Alejandro was looking for him? He knew his father and Felipe would want the story, so he figured now was as good a time as ever. Maybe he shouldn’t have been as dismissive of Felipe earlier, but he thought the idea of adoption would make the boy forgive him. Victoria had been happy when Diego told her about his plans, and fine with sharing their trip to Santa Barbara with Felipe to make it official.
“Where’s Felipe?”
Alejandro shrugged. “He was here earlier. He got bored, though, and rode in to the pueblo.”
Diego swallowed his disappointment, but he knew he had to work on his patience. He settled into the couch, told his tired wife to stretch out her legs. He was captivated when she did as he suggested, stretching her legs out on the couch and putting her head in his lap. She was relaxing here, getting used to being close to him. He forgot about his father as he stroked her hair and Victoria closed her eyes.
“Maybe I should let you sleep,” Alejandro suggested as he moved to stand from his chair.
Victoria opened her eyes and looked at her new father-in-law. “No, I’m listening. Diego only told me part of it. I just…” Victoria stuttered to a stop, blushing furiously and closing her eyes again. She stretched out because her legs were sore. She worked for a living, was on her feet all the time. Her husband, however, liked to bend her in ways she’d never bent before. She peeked up at Diego who trailed his fingers over her face with a wicked grin and she closed her eyes tight again. “So tell us what happened.”
“There were some men guarding a mine being worked by slave labor. I broke it up and came home.” Diego relaxed into the back of the couch, leaning closer to Victoria so he could hold more of her in his arms.
Victoria scoffed. “You can do better than that. All these years nobody knew anything about Zorro. Now you have to tell the whole story.”
Diego didn’t mind. She wanted to hear about his day. He’d waited all this time to share with her and his father, and this was his chance. He made sure to tell about the guard who gave up just because he showed up, and amplified the stupidity of the other guards and how much help he had. Victoria smiled, as if she knew he was editing the story to make her feel better.
“So how did you know about the mine? I guess Felipe told you, but how did he find out?” his father asked.
“Felipe hears lots of things. He overheard the alcalde talking to another man, probably one of the guards. I don’t know much about the alcalde’s involvement, because the alcalde noticed Felipe before he could find out more. He heard enough, though.”
Victoria tensed. “Did you see the alcalde when you brought them to jail?”
Diego’s hand paused only briefly in stroking her hair. “I didn’t go to the pueblo. I let the men take the guards to jail.”
“Including the one who shot you?” Alejandro asked. “Seems you would want to make sure he was locked up.”
“That one got away. He was on the other side of the canyon, I couldn’t get to him.” Victoria caught Diego’s hand and opened her eyes to see Diego shrug. “I wanted to come home. I’ll find him later. Like I said, he just got lucky.”
Victoria sat up quickly, looking between Diego and Alejandro. “What’s wrong? I showed you…I’m barely injured.”
“But you said the alcalde was involved,” Victoria said.
Diego sighed and missed her warmth against his side as she sat up straighter. “The alcalde is usually involved. I didn’t see a reason to confront him today. I had other things to do. He’ll still be there tomorrow.” He grinned at her. “Or next week.”
Victoria swatted his hand away when he tried to wrap an arm around her. “How on earth have you not been discovered in four years?”
Diego frowned. “Victoria, I took care of it. The good guys are free and the bad guys are in jail. This is our wedding day. Everything else can wait.”
“So it is my fault. All this time you were right,” Victoria whispered. Victoria didn’t know if she wanted to cry or hit him as Diego began to protest, obviously not seeing anything wrong. “You said it would be dangerous for you to be with me, but I didn’t understand. I’m distracting you.”
“Victoria, you always distracted me. That’s not a bad thing. You gave me something to fight for.” Diego rubbed at the tension in her neck. “Today I let someone else take over. Zorro doesn’t always escort prisoners to jail. Nothing is different.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? The alcalde is involved. You said he saw Felipe—your servant—nearby when he was talking to someone about it. Now Zorro magically shows up and sends everyone to jail.”
“Victoria, everyone thinks Felipe is deaf. They wouldn’t have known he heard their plans.”
“How else would Zorro have shown up so quickly? And what about the man the alcalde was talking to? Did he know Felipe is deaf? Maybe he thinks Felipe ratted him out to Zorro. Or the alcalde suspects Felipe read his lips or something and told Zorro.”
“Felipe went to town,” Alejandro added after a long silence.
Diego’s body finally stilled, giving up on his fascination with Victoria’s hair. “I’ll be right back.”
Diego ducked into the cave and Alejandro stood to follow, but stayed with Victoria. True to his word, Diego was back in less than a minute. He handed Alejandro a sword and scabbard. “This sword won’t be recognized as Zorro’s, but it’s the proper weight for me. You wear it in case I need it. We’re going to the pueblo. Now.”
Victoria stood, too, but Diego took her arms. He started shaking his head but Victoria shrugged his arms away. “There’s no way I’m staying here, so don’t bother.”
“Victoria—“
“We’re just a happily married couple going to town to get some of my things. If there’s trouble, I promise I’ll stay out of the way.” Victoria reached up to stroke his face. “I’m sure everything is fine, but I’m not staying here.”
Diego stared at her a long time, but conceded that he’d fallen in love with an opinionated, independent woman. He would expect nothing less. “You promise. In the cart, or in the tavern…somewhere safe if I have to fight.”
Victoria bit her lip, but nodded. “I promise.”
Diego sighed and kissed her forehead, then held her hand as all three De La Vegas left the hacienda.
Zzz
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Conquering Fear