I do not own the rights to Zorro or any of the characters. All rights belong to the creators of Zorro. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only. I would like to thank my wonderful cousin, Alisha, for reading, correcting, and making suggestions to improve this and my other stories. Love you Cuz.

A Boy and His Hero

Chapter 1: Rescue and Meeting His Hero

Zorro was out tracking a gang of banditos that robbed a stagecoach earlier that morning. It was now around noon and he was tired and hungry. "Maybe I need to follow the trail back to where I found the stage-coach." Zorro thought to himself.

He turned around, and began to follow the main trail back toward the stagecoach that still lay on its side in a cluster of trees. As he came nearer to the fallen stagecoach, he noticed movement to the left of the cluster of trees he was heading toward. As he got closer he heard a small child crying for his mama. Zorro quickly rode in the direction of the child, and what he discovered was heart breaking. The little boy was trying to wake his mother up by shaking her shoulder and crying out, "Mama please wake up." Tears were sliding down his face and his eyes were red and puffy. Zorro jumped down off of Toronado and carefully approached the boy and his mother.

"I am here to help you," Zorro gave the boy a kind and gentle look.

"Can you help my mama? She is hurt and will not wake up," the young boy looked at Zorro with trust and began to settle down a little.

"Yes, I can help her, but you need to tell me what happened so I can get you both too safely and make sure she can be moved without further injury." Zorro was now at the boy's side and checking the unconscious woman for a pulse.

The boy nodded and said, "Anything to save my Mama."

Zorro made mental notes about the woman's condition, "She has a weak pulse, no cuts or bruising on her head, and she is not responding to voices."

"I need to get her to the Doctor. Can you please help me move her over so I can get her onto my horse," Zorro asked the young boy. The boy nodded and helped Zorro move his mother out of the trees. Zorro carefully climbed up onto Toronado's back while holding the unconscious woman around the waist and supporting her head against his chest. Once he was able to put the woman in a sitting position in front of him, he leaned over and pulled the young boy up to sit behind him.

"Hold on tight." Zorro told the young boy as he clicked his tongue to let Toronado know it was time to go. The boy wrapped his arms around Zorro's waist and locked his hands tightly together.

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They came into the pueblo, and quickly headed to the Doctor's office. Zorro helped the boy down and then climbed down carefully himself so he would not drop the boy's mother.

The doctor opened the door quickly and helped Zorro lay the women on a nearby bed in the office.

As the doctor looked over the boy's mother, Zorro took the boy over to a corner of the office to ask him some questions.

"What is your name little one?" Zorro asked the boy in a calm tone.

"My name is Pablo. Is my Mama going to be alright?" The boy looked worried and scared.

"The doctor will take good care of her, don't worry, she will be just fine." Zorro patted Pablo on the shoulder.

"My name is Zorro, and if you need anything, you can ask me or some friends of mine for help." Zorro gave Pablo a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder.

"Doctor, I need to get young Pablo something to eat and drink. I will have Victoria keep an eye on him while you tend to his mother." Zorro told the doctor as he stood up.

"I will keep you updated on how she is doing." The doctor winked at Zorro and returned his attention to his patient.

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Zorro lead Toronado to the back of the tavern and knocked on the back door.

Victoria was preparing the vegetables for dinner service. She went to the door when she heard someone knocking, and peeked out. She was surprised to see her masked love at this time of day.

"Zorro, what happened," Victoria asked when she noticed the worried look on his handsome face.

"I need your help Senorita," he gave her a hopeful smile.

"Get in here before someone sees you, I will make sure Pilar is busy so we can talk." Victoria held the door open for him and was taken by surprise when she saw a young boy with Zorro, "who is this young man?" She smiled at Pablo.

"His name is Pablo, and his mother is injured. I took her to the doctor and young Pablo here is hungry and thirsty." Zorro said as he looked around the kitchen nervously. He knew that Victoria would be reopening soon, and lancers would soon be on the other side of the curtain dividing the kitchen and the dining room. "I would also like to ask you if you could keep an eye on him until we can find out where he came from and if he has family close by to watch him till his mother is strong enough to care for him." Zorro gave her a hopeful smile.

"Sure, I will be happy to help, and yes he can stay with me until his mother is strong enough to care for him. He can help me with a few small chores around here." She smiled at Pablo then gave Zorro a questioning look.

"I will explain more tonight when I bring those banditos in that robbed that stagecoach earlier this morning. Have you heard about the gentleman they found near the fallen stagecoach?" Zorro asked as he helped Pablo sit down and handed him a glass of juice.

"No, I haven't heard much about how he is doing, but the doctor did say that his injuries were not that serious and he would recover quickly." Victoria replied to Zorro's question as she put a plate of food down in front of her young quest.

Pablo looked up when he heard what they were talking about, "How is my Papa, and can I please go see him when I am finished eating?" Pablo asked between bites of rice and beans.

Zorro and Victoria looked at each other, and realized that Pablo could help catch who robbed the stagecoach earlier that morning.

Zorro pulled a stool over to where Pablo was sitting and patted him gently on the arm. "Yes, Victoria can take you over to see both your father and mother, but first I need to ask you what happened this morning." Zorro gave him a friendly smile.

"Alright, but I really want to see them." Tears began to run down Pablo's cheeks as he started to tell Zorro and Victoria about the robbery.

"We were on our way to see my Aunt, who is sick and needs some help around her house. My Mama and Papa said we would be at her farm soon, and then four mean men attacked our stagecoach. They threw the driver off onto the ground and jumped onto the horses and pulled them to a stop. After they stopped the horses, they came over to the coach door, and pulled my parents out and threw them down into the dirt. I yelled at the banditos to leave my parents alone, but they threw me into the dirt next to my Mama. My Papa tried to fight the men so my Mama and I could get away. We ran into the trees to hide. My Mama and I were close to a large pile of rocks and my Mama fell down and hit her head. When she would not wake up, I got so scared. That is when I saw the banditos run away and my Papa was not around. I thought they took him. I stayed hidden and watched a few lancers ride by, but I was too scared to leave my Mama alone. When Zorro rode up to help, I felt safe. I knew I could trust him. He is very well known and talked about where I live. We know he is a good man and hero, not the outlaw that your alcalde thinks he is." Pablo looked at both of them and had to calm down. The emotions of reliving the scary events of the robbery made him upset and he began to shake with fear.

"You are safe here, no one is going to hurt you, and your parents will be just fine." Victoria went over to give his shoulders a gentle squeeze.

Zorro watched her calm Pablo down and a rush of emotion ran through his body. He pictured her with their children; she was so good with children.

Victoria noticed him watching her and smiled, "are you alright? Is something bothering you?" A look of concern crossed her face. She knew something was bothering him when she saw his body shiver and the lost look in his eyes was not right.

"I am fine, but I really need to go before I am seen here with you. Thank you for watching Pablo for me." Zorro opened the back door and started to leave. Pablo jumped down off the stool and ran over to Zorro and hugged him. "Thank you for helping my Mama," Pablo looked up at Zorro, "Will I see you again?"

"Yes, and I will take you for a ride on Toronado, but first I need to catch those men that hurt your parents. I will send a friend of mine to see you soon. His name is Diego, you can trust him, and he can take you riding anytime you want to go." Zorro knelt down and gave Pablo a gentle hug. Zorro noticed the smile on Victoria's face and stood up. He reached for her hand and placed a kiss on her soft skin. "Thank you for watching Pablo." Zorro turned and left quickly.