Author's note: So...I finally got to work on this one, as once promised. (I also keep my promises!:))

As some of you might know, the action for the story is set after the end of the series, following some of the ones I have previously published (i.e. A Close Call, A Carol for De Soto and GroundFox Day in that order) but they are all summarized in the prologue, which is a short reminder of the events so far.

The character The Hound/El Sabueso is also from another of my stories, titled after the mentioned character, and the action in that one, happening sometime before the episode My Word is My Bond, is also summarized below, so that the readers are all caught up.

Finally, just to mention the action in this one starts a few days after the end of GroundFox Day, just before the end of January 1821, and, in my stories, Diego had been Zorro since 1812.

PS: Not exactly a reveal story, although some more people do find out who Zorro is...

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas in the story and some of the characters which are not in the TV series it is based on. It is not for profit, just for fun and the entertainment of other fans.

Enjoy and leave a comment – they help me advance the story and it's always nice to have the readers'opinion on it.

Prologue

A couple of months before Gilberto Risendo stormed into Los Angeles with his Royal Guardsmen, the people of the small pueblo had only one question on their mind: will the great detective El Sabueso/The Hound find the identity of their masked hero? They knew that, if his true identity was to be revealed, there was nothing to save Zorro from the gallows, especially since the lies reported by both De Soto and his predecessor about the man had sparked a lot of concerns, both in Monterey and in Madrid. For this reason, any pardon for him would have had to be offered by the Governor and not even the local alcalde had the power to prevent his execution. Not that De Soto would have been, in any way, inclined to prevent it, since he had many times expressed his desire to put the noose around the man's neck with his own hands.

Under these circumstances, there had been a lot of concern and speculation when Don Armando arrived, at the invitation of Alcalde de Soto to uncover the true identity of Zorro. A few days after his arrival, the first reveal came: their masked man was certainly a caballero. This deduction was based on a piece of information Sergeant Mendoza slipped out, giving Don Armando reasons to believe the masked man was part of a very small elite. So, De Soto had gathered all the caballeros young enough to be Zorro and kept them in prison for almost an entire day, 'packed up like sardines', as Don Alejandro de la Vega put it when protesting his own son's arrest. De Soto was convinced that Zorro was among the 26 men in his prison and had made it a point to visit them to gloat, wondering which of those men was his nemesis. Then, suddenly, the tables turned against him: while Diego de la Vega was being interrogated in the tavern, Zorro made an appearance: first he circled the pueblo from a distance then, as everybody came to the plaza to witness his newest antics, he asked the alcalde, more subtly than usually, to release the caballeros, also setting out colored fireworks as he made his escape. Disappointment is not a big enough word to describe De Soto's feelings at realizing the masked outlaw was not in his grasp and that he had to set free the men he had in jail and, of course, the De la Vega, who, at that particular moment, was watching, like everyone else, Zorro making his escape on Tornado.

The biggest shock, however, for both the people of the pueblo and for the alcalde, came the next day, when Don Armando informed everyone that he was not really the El Sabueso but an employee of the famous detective. He also read a message from The Hound underlining that, although fully aware of the true identity of Zorro, his deeds, both while wearing the mask and while assuming his normal identity, did not point towards criminal behavior. For this reason, the detective refused to reveal the man's true name.

Stating that the detective had already left, Don Armando left the Alcalde convinced that he had lied and was just trying to find a way to get out of an embarrassing situation. The only one who did eventually found out the true identity of The Hound was the one man the detective was hunting: Diego de la Vega. To the young caballero's surprise, not only had he been, indeed, discovered but also the detective was a young woman, called Paula, who had, for almost a month, been working for Victoria as her helper. He was grateful for her decision to keep his secret when she boarded the stagecoach for Monterey one morning, a week after Don Armando's departure, and he hoped that she would keep true to said decision.

Diego, however, barely had the time to ponder about the issues raised by the fact that another person had discovered Zorro's true identity when Gilberto Risendo came to town. Soon, Diego's thoughts and worries turned to anger and resentment towards this ruthless new enemy. After saving De Soto's life, loosing and recovering the De la Vega Hacienda, falling into two of Risendo's traps, which left him with a wounded right arm and almost ended his life, the last straw was returning home and finding his new enemy on the verge of killing his father. At that point, Diego forwent all his precautions and launched into a duel, a duel that ended with two reveals – one of his secret identity and the other of his adversary's true parentage – but also with Gilberto's death, at the hands of Ignacio De Soto.

As they made their way towards the pueblo that day, the man behind the mask was prepared to tell both Victoria and his father that he was Zorro, but changed his mind at the last moment, just before confessing, choosing, instead, to announce his decision to formally adopt Felipe. Fully aware, that his father had seen his fight that afternoon, he did, however, reconsidered his decision and confessed Don Alejandro that his long-lost twin brother believed him to be Zorro.

The conversation that ensued, nevertheless, ended up in a completely different way than he had expected. In fact, not only was Don Alejandro unwilling to believe such a statement but, while complimenting his son for his newly-found skills with the sword, he categorically dismissed the idea as another nonsense cooked up by the young man who had been taken from him at birth. Diego realized soon enough from his father's rambling that, either he had either played his role to such perfection that, despite overwhelming evidence, the older man was unable to see the similarities pointing towards his double identity, or, more plausible to him, his father simply refused to accept such a premise, decided upon putting Zorro on a pedestal no mortal men, least of all his son, could reach. With that in mind and clear as to Don Alejandro's increased concearn with his vulnerability as a result of having almost seen him killed, Diego decided that continuing to conceal the truth was, for the moment, the best way of action. So he joined his father in laughing at the thought of him being the masked legend but made a point in having the old don promise to never again talk about the duel, claiming he was feeling guilty for coming so close to murdering his own brother.

It was October of 1820 when all this came to pass and the events of that day had cast out from Diego's mind the memory of a young detective who knew his secret. Zorro disappeared for a while since Diego was trying to recover the full use of his right arm, and returned only to disappear again when a bullet immobilized this left shoulder for another couple of weeks. Christmas soon followed, then New Year's Eve and life in the pueblo returned to normal: Zorro was out catching bandits and giving the occasional lesson in leadership to De Soto, when he was misbehaving, Diego was getting used to being a real father to Felipe, Victoria continued her romance with the masked outlaw, dreaming of the day when they would marry, Don Alejandro became even more preoccupied with the idea of having grandchildren, thus nagging Diego on the subject as often as he could, and Felipe was beginning to study law under his new father's guidance.

The Alcalde, however, was going through a subtle but strange transformation. He did not face much in terms of consequences for having shot the Royal Emissary, mainly considering that word of the incident would only reach Madrid some 3 months later, with another 3 or 4 due before receiving any reaction from the Crown, but also due to the De la Vega's accounts of the events as sent to the Governor. After having saved his life, De Soto also took a rather protective approach to Diego, whom, while still immensely enjoyed mocking, he was intuitively starting to see as a friend. His attitude towards Zorro had also changed, alas to a limited extent. He still wanted to catch the masked outlaw, but he was no longer so eager to see him hang and was merely intended on catching him as a means of returning to Madrid with some prospects for advancement in his career, even considering, from time-to-time the idea of advocating for a...partial...pardon for his nemesis. Furthermore, while his men were under strict orders to pursue him, he was no longer spending all his time laying out traps for him or arresting Victoria Escalante every few weeks, just to lure him out.

After the remarkable events happening in January – which only Diego and an old Indian woman truly remembered – De Soto's behavior changed even more drastically. For a couple of days after an attack on a nearby Indian camp, he hardly left his office and refused to talk with anyone other than Sergeant Mendoza and Padre Benites. He returned to his normal behavior gradually, but was more cautious in his deals with the people of Los Angeles, feeling somehow supervised by some higher powers.

Another change had occurred, however. Unknown to Diego and Felipe, there was now one more person who suspected the real identity of Zorro: Doctor Hernandez.