Epilogue

After they wedding ceremony was over, Diego and Victoria used the moment of quiet before the guests arrived at the hacienda for a walk in the garden.

"Diego," Victoria said, "there is something I must tell you."

Diego looked at her expectantly.

"You know that night when Hernando wanted to have his way with me," she said hesitantly, "something happened. He restrained me by the arms and I didn't know what to do. I needed to

make a decision. I could give in to him or I could resist him. It would have been easy to give in, just to stop the beating and I nearly did.

And then suddenly everything was different. It was like a vision. In one moment I had been in my room and in the next I was standing at the bar of my tavern. But the tavern was not like it had been before. There were women who were entertaining the men and I was one of them. It was a nightmare. And then there was you. You were very angry and you grabbed me by my arms and forced me to look at the mirror behind the bar. "Look what you have become," you said. "Look at yourself. You promised you'd wait for him."

"Wait for whom?" I asked. "Wait for Zorro." I didn't know who you were talking about and I saw the desperation in your eyes.

The next moment I was back in my room and I knew I had to fight. Somehow I knew what would happen if I didn't and that look in your eyes hurt me more than anything Gonzalez could ever do to me. It was more than I could bear. I freed myself and then I started to run from that nightmare. Everything had been so real and there even was Mendoza, but he no longer wore his uniform."

Before she could continue, Diego interrupted her. He had turned white when she had described the scene at the bar. He was staring at her, his eyes unfocused as if he was seeing everything in front of him.

"Mendoza was dressed in a beggar's rags and he was hungry because he hadn't eaten in days. And you wore a white blouse that was pulled very low down one of your shoulders. And my father was dead and Felipe was in Devil's Fortress."

Victoria stared at him in shock. "How can you know that? It was so real, but it was a dream, wasn't it?"

"No, Victoria, I don't think it was a dream. It was what could have happened if we made the wrong decision. I have been through that nightmare before and it still haunts me. I have been there, years ago and it helped me to go on as Zorro when I had doubts and was questioning the reason for him."

It showed me what my life would be if I hadn't decided to become Zorro."

He recounted her what had happened that Christmas eve some years ago.

"And it showed me what I would become and gave me the power to resist Gonzalez," Victoria added. "At that moment I knew I couldn't live without you."

"Neither can I, Victoria and nothing will ever come between us again. I'll do everything in my power for that."

Happily he kissed her and hugged her close, the memory of that nightmare engraved on their minds. They needed to feel each other to know what was real and that they escaped this possibility if only barely. For what they had endured made them value their wedding even more. The future would not always be easy, but life could never be better for them than when they were together.