THE FINAL BATTLE

Disclaimer – I don't own the rights, Zorro Productions Inc does - I just like to play with the characters.

Plot – Will the arrival of a stranger to Los Angeles mean the death of Zorro?

Chapter 1

Victoria was settling into bed and was about to extinguish her candle, when she heard a soft tap on her window, startling her for a moment. Then she threw back the covers with delight, there was only one person who ever knocked on her first floor window. She quickly threw the lovely wrap, which had been the de la Vega's Christmas gift to her, around her shoulders, parted the curtains and opened the window.

"Zorro." she whispered happily, as he slipped into her room.

"Querida." his voice was soft and low as he drew her into his strong arms.

Victoria sighed in pleasure as they held each other, enjoying the warmth of their embrace.

Zorro planted a soft kiss to her hair and pulled back slightly to gaze lovingly into her eyes. Victoria's heart pounded by the look of love shining from his blue eyes, her lips parted invitingly and he needed no second invitation to taste those sweet lips of hers. He leant down and gently pressed his lips against hers in a soft, tender caress.

Victoria shivered at the wonderful feeling of his warm lips on hers, which sent a hot thrill shooting through her body. But before the kiss could deepen, Zorro pulled back. He grinned when he saw the disappointment reflected on his lady's face and quickly brushed his lips against hers once more, before he reached behind him and pulled out a small parcel that he had hidden under his cape.

"Merry Christmas Victoria." he smiled warmly.

"Oh Zorro, you didn't have to." she couldn't hide her pleasure at receiving a gift from the man she loved.

"I wanted to querida. Open it." He was surprised to see, that instead of opening his gift, she twirled around and pulled a small gift from the drawer in her dresser.

"Merry Christmas to you too Zorro." she handed the gift to him.

"Oh Victoria, there's no need to give me a gift. Your love is enough." his voice deep with emotions as he took the gift from her hands.

She grinned. "But I wanted to." repeating his words back to him.

He chuckled. "Thank you. You first."

Victoria carefully removed the wrapping and found a small box. She opened the lid. "Oh my." she exclaimed, her voice barely a whisper as she pulled out a small cameo brooch. "It's beautiful. Was it your mother's too?"

Zorro shook his head. "No, I had this ordered especially for you from Spain." He took a step forward. "It can be worn as a brooch or as a pendant on a chain."

She turned the cameo over and saw the clasp that allowed it to be worn either way. She looked up at Zorro, her eyes brimming with tears. "Oh Zorro, thank you, it's wonderful." She hugged him tight.

"You're very welcome querida." he planted a kiss to the top of her head.

She pulled back slightly. "Can I wear it now?" she wanted to know. She couldn't wear his ring until such time they could be together but she wanted to wear this.

Zorro smiled warmly. "Of course, wear it anytime."

Victoria moved out of his loving embrace and crossed back to her dresser and pulled out a silver chain that had belonged to her mother and tried to attach the cameo to it.

Zorro saw that she was having trouble, removed his gloves and moved over to her. "Here, let me show you." He took the cameo and the chain and showed her how to attach it. He stepped behind her, slipped the chain around her neck, and clasped it together. They gazed at their reflection in the mirror, their love showing in their eyes.

"It's beautiful Zorro." she whispered as she looked down and held the cameo carefully in her hand.

"It doesn't compare to your beauty." his voice deep with his love.

Victoria blushed deeply. "Your turn Zorro."

Zorro planted another kiss to her head before he turned back to pick up his gift from the bed where he had placed it.

"I hope you like it." she said a little nervously. She had never had given him a gift before, not knowing when his birthday was.

"I'm sure I will querida." he smiled warmly as he unwrapped his gift. "Dios." his voice trembled with shock. To his great astonishment, he found an exquisite silver belt buckle. He saw the excellent workmanship, knew that the silver was a good grade, definitely not imitation and realised it was an expensive piece. "Oh Victoria, it's beautiful but it's too much."

Victoria was thrilled by his obvious delight of the present and was pleased that she had decided to buy the piece. It had taken her many months to save the money, but she knew it was the perfect gift for him.

Zorro pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "Thank you querida." he said warmly.

She breathed in his scent, clean and fresh, masculine. She loved the feel of his strong arms around her, it always made her feel safe. "Would you place it on now?" her words were muffled but he heard her request.

He smiled as he gently removed himself from her warm soft body. "It would be an honour."

She watched as he removed his sword belt and laid it on her bed. He paused, a little embarrassed, then unbuckled his belt that held up his trousers. He was glad that his trousers were tight enough around his waist without falling down.

Victoria grinned as she realised he was somewhat embarrassed so she turned away to give him some privacy. Zorro chuckled at her reaction as he pulled his belt from his trousers and slid off his own buckle, before he replaced it with her gift.

She had closed the drawer of her dresser and turned back to watch Zorro slide her buckle onto his belt. "If it's too big or small, I can get it fixed for you." she said.

Zorro shook his head. "No, its fine querida, it fits perfectly." He held out his belt for her inspection.

She took it and noticed that it was indeed a perfect fit. She smiled warmly as she handed it back to him. "I'm glad it fits."

Zorro caressed her face gently with his fingers as he gazed lovingly into her soft brown eyes. His hand moved through her hair to the back of her neck and pulled her close. He lightly brushed his lips against hers in a gentle tender kiss.

But Victoria wanted more then a light kiss, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened their kiss. Her lips caressed his before her tongue darted out to touch the corner of his mouth. He moaned as he pulled her even tighter against him as he parted his lips and their tongues slowly entwined, his belt dropped to the floor, forgotten, as he wrapped his arms around her. Victoria shivered in delight as he tore his lips from hers and laid a trail of hot burning kisses along her neck and throat. Her fingers played with his hair that showed under his mask and she melted into his strong broad chest, feeling overwhelmed by his passion.

He couldn't get enough of her and reclaimed her lips in a scorching kiss, their tongues danced seductively together. As his hands slowly ran down her back, the realisation that Victoria was wearing nothing under her nightshirt hit him like a hammer. This knowledge made his body react instantly and there was no way of hiding it from Victoria, who shuddered slightly as she felt his growing hardness pressing against her, which sent a surge of burning need through her body.

Zorro finally came to his senses and he reluctantly pulled back from her warm, enticing softness. He could very easily give in to their desires and make her his own. But he couldn't, he wouldn't, not without his ring on her finger officially. They gazed at each other, their breathing uneven, their love and desire reflected in their eyes.

"I...I'm sorry...I must go..." He picked up his belt and replaced it on his trousers.

Victoria didn't want him to go, not yet. "Stay awhile." she whispered.

He chuckled throatily. "I don't think that would be wise querida."

She blushed but pressed on. "We rarely see each other Zorro..."

He finished buckling his belt, moved closer to her, and took her hand in his. "I know but..."

She interrupted. "But it's Christmas, it's a time for family and friends."

Zorro hesitated, he wanted to spend more time with the woman he loved but the temptation was too great.

Victoria saw him pause and smiled. "You can sit on my chair and I'll stay over here. Please Zorro."

His heart melted at her plea and knew he would do anything for her, well almost. Except for the one thing she wanted above all else, to know the man under the mask. He gave a small sigh and nodded. Victoria smiled warmly as he pulled out her chair and sat down as she settled onto her bed. She was happy that he had decided to stay, even for a short time. She watched with wonder at the emotions flicker across his eyes. She wished she knew what he was thinking about.

Zorro was in turmoil, his strong feelings for her came to the surface, all his love, his desires and the wish that she would love the man under the mask and not the legend. As he gazed at Victoria sitting on her bed, he found that he no longer put off marrying her. He wanted to marry and have children, he wasn't getting any younger and neither was Victoria.

"So, what does Zorro do for Christmas?" Victoria asked as she sat on her bed, pulled the wrap closer around her shoulders, wanting to know more about the man she loved.

"Do?" Zorro smiled. "What does one normally do on Christmas?" he asked back.

"Well, one usually gets together with family and friends. Do you have a family?" she smiled sweetly.

He chucked. "My, aren't you curious tonight?"

She snorted delicately. "You really do have an annoying habit of answering a question, with a question."

This time Zorro laughed. "I didn't know that I annoy you."

Victoria was getting frustrated with his delaying tactic. "Zorro, sometimes you make me mad."

He saw her annoyance and leant forward in the chair. "I'm sorry querida, I don't mean to be, but I must protect my family from any..."

"So you DO have a family." Victoria jumped at his unintentional admission.

Zorro sighed and gazed intently into her eyes, he would tell her this much at least. "Yes querida, I do have a family."

It was then that Victoria understood a little more about this man. Not only was he protecting her, but also protecting his own family from danger. "They don't know about you, do they?" she asked kindly.

Zorro shook his head. "No, they don't."

"That must be hard on you" her voice full of compassion.

He shrugged. "It's a small price to pay for their safety."

"Just like me." she said softly.

"Si, I protect you as much as I protect them."

They sat in companionable silence for a moment before Zorro let a long sigh. "Victoria, I can't go on like this anymore." his voice reflecting a sadness.

"Zorro, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

He abruptly stood up and paced the room. "This mask has trapped me, trapped us and I can't seem to find a way out."

Victoria heard the anguish in his voice as he continued. "It's a trap of my own making, it's been five years now and there doesn't seem to be an end to the fight, no end to the injustice of the alcalde."

He knelt in front of her. "I love you Victoria and I want us to be married, to have children but...but I don't know what to do."

Victoria felt tears welling in her eyes at his heartfelt admission and gently caressed his face. "I love you too Zorro. Isn't there any way we can be together..." She paused, she knew that this was a sensitive subject with him. "You know I would never tell anyone who you are Zorro, if you remove..."

Zorro gently placed his fingers against her lips. "I know you wouldn't querida but if you knew who I am, would you be able to hide your feelings towards me whenever you saw me."

"I don't know." she admitted before continuing. "But you were going to show me that day in your cave Zorro. You WERE going to remove your mask then, why is this any different now?"

Zorro sat back on his heels and sighed, not wanting to go into the details.

When he didn't answer, she pressed on. "Zorro, please tell me what happened that day, why did you change your mind?" she pleaded.

He stood and crossed the room to the window. "I couldn't, your life was in danger from those men."

Victoria rose from the bed and touched his arm. "What was it Zorro?"

He sighed and turned to face her. He shook his head. "Just something they said."

Victoria grabbed his arm when she realised that he wasn't going to elaborate any further. "Zorro, I have a right to know why you changed your mind. You asked me to marry you, you asked me to understand your fears, but how can I understand it, if you don't talk to me." she said heatedly.

He heard her anger and felt his own irritation rise. "Alright, you want to know why." he said heatedly. "I'll tell you why. Those men were going to wait at the tavern for you. They were going to hurt you in order to find out where my hiding place was." He held her shoulders firmly. "I could not, would not allow that."

Victoria shivered at the thought of what those men may have done if they had caught her but any woman would have had the same fear with or without being involved with Zorro. She reached up and held his face in both her hands, something she had never done before. "Zorro, don't you understand, they would have hurt me regardless of whether I knew your hiding place or not."

He was confused. "What?"

"It's true. Knowing your identity doesn't mean more danger for me. I am ALREADY in danger because of my feelings for you, which I've made no secret about. The alcalde has used me numerous times to get to you but you have always managed to set things right." Victoria paused, waiting for her words to sink in. She too was tired of running around in secret, she wanted to marry the man she loved.

"Zorro, I love you. I love the man under the mask, whoever he is. I want us to marry and to have children before I am too old to have them."

Zorro's mind was in a whirl. Was what she said true, that the danger to her of knowing was the same as not knowing? She was in danger just be being involved with him, would her knowing change that? He took her hands from his face and gave each palm a gentle kiss. He was fighting five years of fear and it wasn't easy. "But...could you hide your feelings for the man under the mask? Would you be able to hide your love, every time you saw me? Even one glance could mean the death of both of us."

Victoria was trembling, as she held her breath. She realised that he was again considering unmasking to her. She had to hold back her feelings of elation as she had been disappointed before. "I am not sure if I could hide my feelings." she admitted once more. "But I could learn to do it. You have had five years to practice. I am assuming that I do know you, the real you?" she asked.

He hesitated and then nodded. "Si, you do."

She wanted to think about the possibilities but trying to convince Zorro that it was safe to reveal his identity was more important at the moment. "And I assume that you 'hide' your feelings towards me?"

Zorro's hesitation was longer than before but again he nodded. "Si, I haven't shown my love for you but sometimes..." He stopped.

She felt sure that he was about to let slip a rather large clue about his identity and didn't miss the chance. "But sometimes…?"

Zorro grinned and shook his head, he knew he had almost made a mistake. "It doesn't matter querida."

It was Victoria's turn to grin, it wasn't easy to catch him out. Then she sighed as she placed her hands on his broad chest. "If you can't tell me, then how can we be together?"

Zorro sighed. "I don't know. I have thought about it for so long but I can never seem to find the right solution. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well...I do but I don't know if it would work." she paused, she was about to snuggle into his strong arms, then blushed slightly as she remembered that she was only wearing a nightshirt and stepped back. Desire wasn't what they needed at the moment.

Zorro chuckled as he realised what she was about to do, and was grateful that she moved away. He didn't think he would be able to resist her charms again.

"I have a couple of ideas. First, that you would unmask like you would have that day in the cave and I would try to hide my feelings for you in public."

Zorro shook his head. "We've just talked about that one."

Victoria smiled as she continued. "Next, you could start to court me as yourself without telling me first."

He sighed. "I had thought of that but it would be the same as unmasking for you. The moment I start, you and everyone else would know and then we would be back to square one."

Victoria paced around the room thinking hard. "Well, what if we have a public fight and break up. Then you would be able to court me without being suspicious."

Zorro thought about it. "That could be a possibility, but it would take time, I would have to be sure there were no suspicions, to convince everyone that the break up is true. Then to start a courtship but it could take a year or so before we could marry."

"Oh Zorro, that's too long. I don't want to wait another year before we can be together."

"Neither do I querida."

Victoria looked up at Zorro. "We could always marry right now, there's nothing to stop us and we are both of age." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You are of age, aren't you?"

Zorro chuckled. "Si, I'm not much older than you querida." Again he gave her another clue and saw her eyes widen in surprise. He could see her thinking and needed to get back to their topic. "As much as I would like that, there have been too many secrets already. I don't think I could cope with a secret marriage. And what would happen when you become pregnant. The alcalde would rightly assume the child is mine and would do anything to you and our child, in order to bring me in."

Victoria shivered at the thought of their child being used in such a manner. Zorro was right, the Alcalde would do anything to capture him. "What else can we do?" she asked, her heart breaking.

"I...there was one idea like yours but..."

She gazed at him. "Yes?"

Zorro took a deep breath. "Well, it would be only as a last resort. We could leave Los Angeles altogether."

Victoria gasped. "You mean run away...where would we go? What about the tavern? and...the people they still need you." she was shocked at this idea.

"Querida, if there was no other way that we can be together, then yes, I would leave here and take you with me. You could sell the tavern or give it to one of your brothers." He paused then continued, "Perhaps the people need to learn to fight their own battles for a change."

Victoria was shocked at his words and his tone, she never thought she would ever hear that from Zorro. He sounded exhausted, almost melancholic. "You...but..." she couldn't finish as she sat heavily on her bed.

Zorro knew he had shocked her. He had shocked himself. He had finally put into words the feelings that he had been having lately. He was tired of it all, the mask, the secrets, the lies to his father and Victoria, fighting a seemingly unending battle with the alcalde. He sat beside Victoria on the bed and held her hand. "Victoria, I know I have shocked you but after five years, I find myself wanting to end the battle. All I want is a normal life with the woman I love."

Victoria felt her heart break at the sadness in his voice. He had taken on the responsibility of protecting the people onto his broad shoulders without question, without hesitation. And in doing so, he had given up the chance of a normal life. He had borne the burdens too long and she drew Zorro into an embrace to comfort him, to ease some of those burdens.

"Shhh Zorro, we will find a way to be together and there will be an end to the battle." she whispered as held him tight, without regard to her state of undress.

Zorro sank into her embrace, drawing on her love. She sustained him, if it wasn't for Victoria, he wouldn't be fighting at all. She was his life. She was everything. He held on tight.

Victoria loved this man so much. "Stay."

Zorro pulled back from her enticing embrace. "If I stay Victoria, it will mean one thing." he said softly.

She blushed furiously, she hadn't realised that she had spoken aloud.

"And as much as I want to make love to you, I have to think of the consequences."

Victoria looked away from his kind blue eyes, shining with his love. "But...but I may not have a child." she blushed even more, a little shocked at herself, that she was considering what her upbringing forbade them to do outside of marriage.

He tenderly kissed her forehead. "That's true, but I won't be able to stop at this one time. And then it would only be a matter of time until you do have a child."

"Oh Zorro, we are back to the beginning again. How can we ever be together?"

He gently wiped away her tears that were starting to flow. "I don't know querida but I do know this. We will be together, all we need is a plan." He gently brushed his lips against hers. "I love you Victoria." he whispered as he stood up and buckled his sword belt on.

Victoria stood up as well. "I love you too Zorro."

He drew her into his arms and slowly, tenderly kissed her lips, before he climbed out of her window.