Author's Note: Here is another short story that I have been just itching to write. I know others have started at the end of the series finale just as the scene freezes after Don Alejandro asks his son about what Gilberto Risendo was going to say before he was shot. But this is my version.

I am too impatient to use a Beta reader, so I apologize upfront for any typos, grammatical errors, overuse of a word (I'm famous for that), etc. Although, I am continually improving upon my stories once publishing them; so if you re-read it at a later time, you may find it much improved.

This story started out as a short story, and I guess it still is, but it ended up being 45 pages long. So I separated it into seven chapters plus and an epilogue.

Disclaimer: Zorro belongs to A&E, Goodman/Rosen Productions, New World Television, Zorro Productions, and the estate of Johnston McCulley; and I am in no way seeking financial gain for this story. It is being written solely for my enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of my readers.

Quotes from the "The Discovery" were borrowed from the transcript posted at Pam's Zorro Fanfiction page found at:

www.

mppoland

.com

/zorro

.html

Additional Disclaimer: I'm trying to write different story ideas than other fanfiction authors have written, but I have read so many different New World Zorro fanfictions that it's possible some of my ideas may be a spinoff of some of those ideas. So if anything sounds familiar at all, that author, of course, gets full credit for coming up with that idea first. Or it may just be a matter of great minds think alike…you never know. ;)

I hope you enjoy!

Zorro: The Search

Chapter 1

Following the shocking revelation of Gilberto Risendo's true parentage and untimely death at the de la Vega hacienda, Don Alejandro and Sergeant Mendoza had grim looks on their faces as they approached the Los Angeles plaza in a wagon carrying the body of the recently discovered son of Alejandro and Elena Felicidad de la Vega. Alcalde De Soto was riding alongside them, having the decency to show regret on his face. And to everyone's surprise Don Diego was following close behind riding Dulcinea, Don Alejandro's infamous temperamental mare, with Felipe by his side riding his Pinto.

Victoria looked out from the porch of her taverna just as they pulled up in front of the cuartel. She noticed that Inez Risendo was also seated in the back of the wagon next to what was obviously a sheet covered body.

"Whoa!" De Soto commanded as Inez Risendo stepped down from the wagon. The alcalde looked over at one of Risendo's men who had come up to his horse. "Corporal, I am now reassuming full command of this pueblo. You and your men shall leave here at first light tomorrow." He looked pointedly at the man. "You understand what I'm saying?"

The soldier nodded. "Si, mi Alcalde."

De Soto then pointed to the body in the back of the wagon. "Take the body away, please. Private, take it away!"

As the wagon started to move away, Don Alejandro turned to confront the former mid-wife. "You stole my son and filled him with hatred. I can forgive him, but you, Senora." He paused. "Never." Inez Risendo turned and walked away without appearing to be affected by his words as Don Alejandro shook his head in disbelief.

Sergeant Mendoza then stepped forward. "Gracias a Dios." He made the sign of the cross. "It's over."

The alcalde dismounted his horse. "Sergeant!" He shouted, causing Mendoza to look at him. "Report to me in my office. We have much work to do."

Mendoza saluted and clicked his heels together. "Si, mi Alcalde." He complied and then turned. He put on his hat as he walked past Don Alejandro.

De Soto looked at Don Alejandro with sadness. "Don Alejandro." He addressed the caballero, causing him to look up at him.

"Hmm?" Don Alejandro replied, while seemingly distracted.

"I had no idea he was your son." De Soto confessed with great remorse.

Alejandro sighed. "None of us did." He paused as he became thoughtful and looked over at Diego. "But you also saved a son of mine. And that I will never forget."

"Nor I." Diego added with sad appreciation.

De Soto nodded with a heavy heart. "Well. . . If you'll excuse me, I have a compelling need to see Padre Benitez." Don Alejandro nodded in reply as De Soto turned, walking with reflection to the church.

Victoria approached Diego, Felipe, and Don Alejandro, looking at them all with great compassion. "I heard what happened." She stated as she looked sadly over at Don Alejandro. "I'm so sorry."

"It's hard to gain a son and then lose him all in the same hour." Alejandro replied sorrowfully.

"Gilberto was suckled on vengeance. I wish I had known him as a brother and not as an enemy." Diego told Victoria with a voice full of regret.

Victoria looked at Diego. "Perhaps if he would had a different life, you could have been proud of him instead, Diego."

Diego and his father nodded but then Diego got a strange look on his face as he gathered the courage to tell them all something that had been weighing on his heart for a very long time. "There is something I have been meaning to tell you all for quite some time." He began as Victoria gazed at him with confusion. "Now would seem an appropriate moment." He continued as he then glanced over at Felipe. "Felipe, with your permission." Felipe looked at him worriedly in response. "I. . . I. . . am . . .going to adopt Felipe. He's to be a member of our family." He finally blurted out to Felipe's relief and happiness.

Victoria laughed happily as Don Alejandro smiled broadly at both his son and future grandson. "This is wonderful news." Don Alejandro exclaimed as he hugged Felipe, who was grinning ear to ear. "This is wonderful news." He repeated again as he let go of Felipe. "I now have two sons. The de la Vegas will never be divided. Never."

Felipe let out a sigh of relief as Victoria continued to giggle with glee. Diego exhaled and smiled as his father gave him a strange look, causing Diego to cringe, knowing what may be coming next.

"Diego, there's something that's been gnawing inside of me." Don Alejandro declared as he eyed his son with suspicion.

"Father, there is something I've been meaning to tell you for quite some time." Diego admitted as he turned to the rest of their audience. "Felipe, Victoria, if you will excuse us for a moment." He asked as he held out his hand towards his father to lead him away.

Victoria walked over to stand next to Felipe, who looked nervous. Victoria glanced over at him with bewilderment while Felipe waved his hands then shrugged.

Diego reached his right hand around to put it on his father's right shoulder as they made their way towards the tavern. "Do you remember when Gilberto was just about to shoot you, he said he was not only going to kill you, he was going to kill. . ." Alejandro began and then stopped, abruptly turning to face his son. "Then he never finished. What do you suppose he was going to say?"

Diego gulped and looked around the busy plaza as his father watched his son with anticipation, waiting for an answer. "Father…" Diego paused as he started to have second thoughts about telling him his secret out here in the open. "Perhaps, we should go to The Guardian office to discuss this."

Alejandro, suspecting that what his son was going to tell him was meant to be kept a secret, acquiesced. "Very well, son. After you." He told him as Diego and he started walking in that general direction.

Felipe just smiled and shrugged his shoulders again as Victoria shook her head and decided to go back into the tavern, with Felipe not far behind her.

When father and son reached The Guardian's office, Diego opened the door and both men went inside, shutting the door behind them. "Now what is it that you need to tell me, Diego?" Alejandro finally asked now that they were alone.

Diego got a guilty look on his face. "You…uh…may want to sit down, Father." Diego suggested as he began pacing the room.

"I'm fine right where I am, Diego." Alejandro insisted as he looked at his son with determination. "I need to know…where did you learn to fence like that?" He shook his head in disbelief. "I have never seen you fight with such fierceness nor skill. You were magnificent! Why would you hide such a gift from me?!"

Diego, who looked at this point like a little boy being scolded by his father, stopped his pacing as his father stared at him. "Well…you did arrange for me to have sabre lessons with Sir Edmund Kendell." He paused. "I learned a lot more from him than I led you to believe."

"Obviously." Alejandro stated as he put his hands on his hips. "Now I understand why Sir Edmund thought you both could have easily overpowered the soldiers when he arrived here."

Diego nodded. "Yes, but I asked him to keep my skills with a blade a secret."

"But why, son?" Alejandro insisted on knowing. "Why would you want to hide that from everyone…me especially?!"

"Because….I'm Zorro." Diego answered him sheepishly.

Alejandro's jaw dropped as he stared at his son with awe. "What?!"

"I am Zorro, Father. That is what Gilberto was going to say before he was shot." Diego explained. "He figured it out."

Alejandro pointed to the blood on Diego's sleeve. "And that wound on your right arm?"

Diego looked down at his right arm and then back up at his father. "A gunshot wound…from when I rescued Toronado from the cuartel."

Alejandro shook his head again with amazement as he ran his right hand through his salt and pepper hair. "I think you're right. I need to sit down." He told his son as he sat down in a nearby chair. "Does Victoria know?"

Diego shook his head and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "No, she doesn't. And it has to stay that way until Zorro's fight is over."

Alejandro, still in a state of shock over his son's revelation, gazed up at him. "Diego, you mean to tell me that you have been courting Victoria all this time; and she doesn't even know that it's you who is courting her?"

"No, she doesn't know." Diego admitted with shame.

"Do you think that is really fair to her?" Alejandro asked his son. "To our family? It could be years before you can safely reveal yourself as Zorro publically or it could never happen. I want grandchildren before I'm too old to appreciate them…or dead." He paused. "And I'm sure Victoria wants to have children before she is too old to have them also."

"But it's too dangerous for her to know, Father. Just for the same reason I haven't told you all these years." Diego sighed as he ran his right hand through his black hair. "If my identity is ever discovered while I still have a price on my head, you and Victoria could both hang right next to me as conspirators."

"What difference does it make? That could happen now….because the alcalde would never believe that I didn't know…nor Victoria." Alejandro tried to convince his son. "Listen to me." He started as he rose to his feet. "Do you love Victoria?"

"Yes, of course, I do." Diego declared.

"Then do the right thing, son. Marry her." Alejandro pleaded with him. "I'll back you up. We can figure out a way to make it happen."

"But if she marries me, the alcalde will suspect me of being Zorro." Diego told his father of his fears. "And…I'm not so sure that Victoria would love me if she knew Zorro was me."

"What makes you think that?" Alejandro asked with confusion. "Is that what you're truly afraid of? Rejection?"

Diego looked at his father pointedly. "Partially…yes."

Alejandro laughed before becoming serious again. "Diego, if you don't tell that poor girl that you love her and want to marry her, then you are a coward and don't deserve her."

"What?" Diego retorted with hurt in his eyes. "I will always be a coward in your eyes no matter what I do."

Alejandro was taken aback by Diego's retort and then sighed with a look of guilt on his face. "You are no coward, my son. I'm sorry…for calling you one in the past. I didn't know…that you were Zorro. You never told me, so how could I know."

"But you're calling me a coward now." Diego pointed out.

"No." His father defended himself. "I am just saying….that if you don't profess your love to that lady, you are a coward." He paused as he observed his son's reaction to his words. "How can the legendary Zorro who laughs in the face of danger and successfully humiliates the alcalde and his garrison be afraid of the reaction of the woman he loves? Hmm?"

"That's different." Diego replied adamantly. "If Victoria rejects me, then what else is there? She is the only woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. She doesn't even give me, Don Diego, the time of day. She is in love with the legend….with Zorro."

"But you are Zorro, son. I don't see the problem." Alejandro pointed out.

Diego looked at his father exasperated. "You don't see the problem? Victoria wants the dashing hero. I am not that hero all the time. I am still the scholar that everyone knows me as. I do love to read, write poetry, write and play music, and conduct scientific experiments. And that's another thing." He continued. "My experiments are NOT pointless! For your information, I use them all the time in my fight against injustice."

Alejandro put both his hands up in defense. "All right. So, I agree, knowing that, your experiments are not pointless." He put down his hands and sighed while shaking his head. "So you are afraid that she won't love you because you are not 'Mr. Excitement' all the time?"

"Yes!" Diego exclaimed.

"Then you don't really know her, son." Alejandro said as he cupped his hands in front of him. "You are Victoria's best friend. She knows you are a kind, compassionate, and generous man. She respects you more than you realize."

"Respect and love are two different things, Father." Diego said in defense of his argument. "She doesn't love me like that." He sighed as he turned away from his father. "I'm more like a brother to her."

"But have you shown her any more than brotherly-like affection since you returned from Spain?" Alejandro asked to his son's back. "Have you shown her ALL of your personality?" He paused in thought as he remembered something. "You know…there was a time I heard some gossip going around Los Angeles that she was actually becoming jealous of any woman who paid attention to you." He sighed. "I think she loves you, but she is just too blind to see it through her love for Zorro."

"You think so?" Diego asked as he abruptly turned to his father again with hope in his eyes and voice.

"Yes, I think so." Alejandro replied. "You just need to give her a chance to see the real you. Tell her the truth about who you really are and let her make up her own mind."

"But what if she still wants to remain just my friend after I do give her that chance?" Diego asked. "I don't think I could bear it."

"Diego, your mother was not only my wife and my lover, but she was also my best friend." Alejandro tried to assure his son. "Friendship between husband and wife is what gives a marriage a strong, solid foundation. Passionate love doesn't always sustain a marriage. You obviously have both with Victoria."

"You really think I should tell her?" Diego asked with trepidation.

"Yes, I do. And I think you should tell her now…today." Alejandro insisted. "I'm going over to the tavern right now and inviting her to dinner." He put his hands on his hips then pointed at his son with determination. "And you are going to tell her…tonight." He emphasized by pointing to the floor and then he paused. "If you don't tell her, I will."

"Father! You wouldn't!" Diego retorted.

"I will!" Alejandro insisted. "Grandbabies, Diego. I want grandbabies." He pleaded.

Diego sighed heavily and then couldn't help but laugh. "Very well." He agreed in defeat and then smiled. "Invite her to dinner…and I will tell her tonight."

Alejandro returned Diego's smile and reached over to pat his son on his uninjured arm. "Good. Very good." He then became serious as he observed Diego clutching his injured arm again. "Do you want Dr. Hernandez to look at that, son?"

Diego shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous."

"Surely Dr. Hernandez has assisted with some of your injuries before and didn't suspect the truth, did he?" Alejandro asked with curiosity.

Diego nodded. "Yes, he has in the past…treated me as Diego." He became sheepish. "But I usually had to come up with a plausible explanation for the injury that wouldn't connect me to Zorro."

"Hmm. Well, we could always say that you were accidently shot trying to stop cattle rustlers…or something like that." Alejandro suggested.

"Perhaps. But I'm sure Felipe can help me with my injury. He usually does." Diego admitted.

"So Felipe knows you are Zorro? But you didn't see fit to tell me?" Alejandro asked with a bit of agitation in his voice.

"Yes…and there is more…but that's not my secret to tell." Diego confessed.

Alejandro gave him a puzzled look. "There's more than you being Zorro and Felipe knowing about it?"

Diego just laughed as he patted his father with his left hand. "Yes, there is more."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Alejandro asked with astonishment.

"Well, I do still have to show you Zorro's cave." Diego disclosed.

"I certainly will want to see that." Alejandro replied. "And I want to be introduced to the fine animal you've been riding around on."

Diego laughed. "I know what you're thinking; and, yes, I will let you breed him with your mares, discreetly, of course."

"Of course. That's what I was hoping you'd say." Alejandro replied with a twinkle in his eye. He rubbed his hands together. "Now, I have a certain senorita to invite to dinner at our hacienda tonight." He told his son with a sly look as he proceeded to open the door.

Diego followed his father outside and stopped to shut the door. He paused as he watched his father cross the plaza toward the taverna with a concerned look on his face. "Victoria, mi querida, I do hope you won't be too disappointed."