ZORRO'S CLOTHES

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

Plot - Slightly different ending to the episode. "Like Father, Like Son." Where Don Alejandro had gone into the pueblo dressed as Zorro.

I'm still working on my large story but I just re-watched the series over the weekend and although this episode was fun, every man and his dog should have asked the question - where did Don Alejandro get those clothes from, especially Victoria. I just had to write it down.

One shot story.

Now that all the excitement of Zorro's rescue of Don Alejandro from the gallows, where he was about to be executed as the masked bandit, was over, Victoria returned to the mundane chores of running her tavern. She had washed some bedsheets early that morning and she went to check if they were dry. She stepped out of the back door of the building and crossed over to where the linen was hanging from a number of clotheslines and was pleased that they were indeed dry. As she carefully began to remove the sheets, her mind drifted on how and where Don Alejandro could have found Zorro's belongings.

And it was Zorro's clothing, that much she knew. She had seen it up close too many times not to recognise it. There was no mistaking the high quality fabric and the style which showed that the outfit had been made by a skilled tailor. The clothing didn't fit the older man properly; the shirt and pants looked like it had been made for a taller man; it had been tight in places where it shouldn't be and loose in others. Then there was Zorro's famous sombrero and sword; these items were not something that Zorro would just leave laying around for anyone to pick up.

Just where did Don Alejandro get these things from?

She knew that Don Alejandro was a firm supporter of Zorro and perhaps he or someone in his household helps Zorro in some way. Perhaps one of the servants even washes Zorro's clothes for him, after all his shirt and trousers were always clean every time she saw him. So someone must do it and maybe that was where Don Alejandro got them from; he found them hanging from the clothesline at the back of the hacienda. She giggled even as she felt a hot flush rise over her face at the image of an undressed Zorro wrapped only in his cape and handing over his clothing to Don Alejandro for washing. Or perhaps he did it himself by using the de la Vega's wash tub. She didn't recall seeing anything in the cave where he could do his laundry, so it must be done elsewhere.

She shook her head, none of it made any sense to her.

Unless...Unless...

Victoria stopped what she was doing as an image of Diego came floating into her mind. "No...No it couldn't be, could it?" she muttered to herself. She shook her head and folded the linen and placed it into her basket. But the image wouldn't go away.

Diego WAS taller than his father, the clothes would probably fit him, she thought. Once she put Diego into Zorro's clothes, everything else seemed to fit as well. His strange disappearances and then sudden re-appearances after Zorro had come and gone. She giggled again. He must be very fast and very adept at changing his clothes; considering how tight the current fashion of caballero trousers were. Just how many times had he had to change clothing between Diego and Zorro over the years? Hundreds, thousands? She shook her head and wondered if he actually kept extra clothing, of both types, in the newspaper office, to save time.

"Madre de dios. Could it be true?" she muttered as her heart beat faster and she felt a strange fluttering of excitement grow in her stomach as she uncovered the truth for herself. "Well, it certainly would explain where Don Alejandro got the clothes from." she said as she folded the last of the bedsheets and placed it into the basket. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn't deny it. There was no other way that the older man could have gotten those clothes, except from his son.

"Diego must be Zorro." she muttered once more as a shiver of excitement raced through her body at the thought of her best friend as Zorro. A couple of times over the years, she had suspected him of being her masked bandit but something he would say or do, would dispel her suspicions but now she realised that he had done that on purpose, to distract her from guessing the truth.

The real question that she should be asking herself was, why would she want to suspect that Diego was Zorro, she mused to herself. Well, he was her closest friend and had been for many years and she did like him. She snorted to herself. "You more than like him." she chastised herself. In fact, she knew that she was attracted to him; always had been but she had ignored it for so long because of her devotion to Zorro, that her feelings for Diego had been buried deep inside her.

But now those feelings were coming forward again and she could no longer deny it. She was in love with Diego, not because he was Zorro but because he was her best friend, someone who was always there for her, to listen to her worries about the tavern or was just content to be in her company. She felt her body shake at the realisation of her love and hot tears ran down her face as she realised just how badly she had treated her friend, of how she had mocked him over the years for his lack of bravery. He was the bravest man she had even known; not for the heroics deeds that he had done but because of what he had to suffer at the hands of everyone, of their sneers and mockery. He seemed to accept it but surely the words must have hurt him, even just a little.

"I must go to him. I must make him see that I do care for him, that I love him." She said softly as she wiped away her tears before she picked up the basket and carried it back inside the tavern. "Pilar, I'm going over to the de la Vegas. I want to see how Don Alejandro is."

Pilar nodded. "Sure Victoria, give him our regards." she smiled.

"I will."

Victoria reached the de la Vega hacienda in no time at all and as she knocked on the front door, she tried to control her nerves with not much success. She didn't know what to say to Diego or even how to say it but she would just go with the conversation.

It was Diego himself who opened the door and when she saw him standing there, she knew she was right, he is Zorro.

Diego's face lit up when he saw who it was. "Victoria, this is a surprise."

She smiled. "I just wanted to see how your father is, after all the excitement of this morning."

He smiled. "That's very kind of you to ask after him. He's resting at the moment but Zorro left him here none the worse for wear. But you know Victoria, I think my father will be a bit embarrassed by all of this. Perhaps we should spread the word throughout the pueblo to put all this behind us and not mention it again. I think he'd appreciate it." and so would I, he added silently to himself.

She chuckled. "Of course. I'll let the people know." she paused to gather her courage. "Diego, can we talk?"

Diego was immediately concerned by her tone. "Of course we can, there's nothing wrong is there? Is everything okay at the tavern?"

Her love for him grew at his obvious concern for her. "No nothing's wrong at the tavern, I just want to speak with you, perhaps we can go to the garden." she suggested, trying to keep her nervousness from showing.

He was curious by what she wanted to say, he could see that there was a strange excitement or nervousness about her. "Of course." he replied as he moved further outside and shut the door behind him and led her around the side of the hacienda to the garden. "Okay, so what's all the mystery about, that you needed to speak with me out here."

Victoria giggled somewhat nervously at his choice of words; mystery indeed. "I don't know how to say it."

Diego cocked his head to one side. "Well, I usually find it helps to start at the beginning."

She shook her head. "That will take to long."

He raised an eyebrow, she wasn't known for procrastinating over anything that she had to say, usually she just said it. "The other thing I find helpful, is to just say it."

This time she snorted; like that was ever his strong point. She took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll just say then. Diego, just where did your father get Zorro's clothes from?"

Diego stared at her in disbelief. He had been hoping and praying that no-one would ask him that particular question which was why he wanted the word spread about wanting to put it all behind them but he should have expected it from Victoria. He didn't know what to say. "I really couldn't say Victoria." he finally said.

She sighed. "Stop it Diego, just stop it. Tell me the truth, are you Zorro?" she asked softly as she held his gaze.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from her intense gaze, in fact he didn't want to, not any more. He always avoided her gaze in the past for fear that she would see his love for her but he didn't want to hide away from her any more, he wanted her to know his love. But then those fears came racing back to him. Fears of her safety, fears of her rejection. As he gazed into her brown eyes, he didn't see rejection but hope and could it be love as well? He didn't want to dwell too much on that, in case she did reject him.

Victoria saw the conflict in his eyes, the same conflict that he had admitted to her in the cave when he had proposed to her; he doubted her love for the real man. She knew it was for her to show him of her love.

She took a step forward. "I know that you are afraid Diego, afraid that I don't love you, that I could only love the legend." she said quietly, sincerely as she took another step closer to him. "It may have been true in the beginning, after all a masked man riding a half wild stallion into our little pueblo to fight against injustice and to save lives, created a rather romantic picture to a nineteen year old girl who never had time for romance."

Diego swallowed hard as he listened to her words, words that were slowly destroying his fears.

Victoria took one more step forward and gently placed her hand on his chest, felt his pounding heart under her hand. "I'm no longer that same nineteen year old girl that I was five years ago. I've grown up and so did my love for the man. And that man is my best friend and even if you are not him, I still want you because I love you. So Diego de la Vega, are you Zorro?" she asked once more.

His fear of her rejection completely disappeared as he reached out with his hand and gently caressed her face and he made the final commitment to the woman he loved. 'Yes, Victoria, I am Zorro." he whispered hoarsely as he lowered his head and claimed her lips in a soft tentative kiss.

She sighed with pleasure and was about to put her arms around him when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"What...what is going on?" Don Alejandro was confused at the sight of his son kissing Victoria. He swayed slightly as he put his hand to his head.

Diego immediately left Victoria and went to his father's side. "Father, you should be resting, you know what Doctor Hernandez said."

Don Alejandro shook his head, he wasn't going to be distracted by his son. "What are you doing kissing Zorro's lady...?" he stopped and stared at them both before he turned his confused gazed to his son. "I had a dream... but it wasn't a dream, was it?"

Victoria crossed over to them. "What was it about Don Alejandro?" she asked.

The confusion cleared and Don Alejandro locked eyes with his son. "That I was Zorro and I rode into the pueblo dressed in black and that I swung from the chandelier in the tavern" he paused as he rubbed his head. "There was a fight and I was put into prison. Was it true? Did that it actually happened? And where exactly, did I get Zorro's clothes from?"

Diego sighed as he exchanged a quick glance with his lady; was he going to be asked this question by everyone? "Let's all go inside father and I'll explain everything."

Don Alejandro nodded. "Yes, you will be explaining everything, my son and I mean EVERYTHING."

The end.

Hope you have enjoyed this light hearted one :)