It is one of the best, saddest and most touching stories I have ever read, not only in fanfiction…

To start with, I liked your stories so much that I watched the version of Zorro you write about – all 52 episodes:), even if I usually I do not watch anime. Well, being honest it was the first anime I ever watched:) It was because your stories added so much depth to this adaptation. I was watching it, in some way, ‘through your eyes’.

After seeing it, I was interested what might have happened to Gabriel… and in this story you provided me with the saddest possible conclusion. I liked his character. As the matter of fact, I am always drawn to villains… and somewhere deep inside I wished him more luck, even with Lolita…

The whole idea of one of the heroes returning after many years with unfinished scores, just to see that there is no one he could settle them with, is brilliant. I loved that there was… no confrontation, no conclusion, no comfort… He didn’t learn who Zorro was, he didn’t even talked with anyone who would recognize him. Perfect. There was nothing but disappointment.

My favorite part is when Gabriel was imagining Lolita loving him. Even if she is the woman he loves... his love is so possessive, egoistic even… “She would spend her life adoring him” – how much it says about his character!

It is also a perfect touch as she says “when you had a change of heart and started doing good deeds…” As it is his dream, it is a slight, subconscious indication that he regrets the path he has chosen in life.

I also admired the moment of his surprise, when he heard that Zorro no longer rides in San Tasco. He lived by the hatred so long and was sure that his enemy feels the same… and is going to wait for him… And Diego didn’t even think about him from many years. So, Gabriel simply wasted his life. Lost it.

You know – this story is so sad, that it is even hard to comment. I only hope that in “The right turn of the road” you will paint a better fate for him…

Since I’m enjoying “The Right Turn of the Road” so much, I had to seek out more of your Kaiketsu Zorro stories. :-) Even though I have never watched the series, you bring the characters to life and create such wonderful scenarios to put them in. For me, they are very much in the spirit of Johnston McCulley’s original story.

Gabriel truly suffered a fate worse than death, didn’t he? As much as he may have deserved such punishment, especially since he so openly admitted to himself that he would have abused a prisoner in the same manner he was abused, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

I couldn’t even begin to imagine the torture of being given a twenty-five year sentence, where there is a glimmer of hope of being free again, but in reality knowing I’d likely die in a year or two. The constant inhumane battering of Gabriel’s body was excruciating. You did a magnificent job of capturing the brutality of his confinement.

I liked how his hatred for Zorro kept him going initially, until time extinguished the hatred. It was a twisted bit of irony that the man who led to his downfall was the same man who motivated him to stay alive. It really went to show how stubborn Gabriel was, and how his heart was consumed with darkness.

I also felt bad for him when he dreamed of Lolita. It was an interesting look into his ego that losing her almost seemed worse than the hell he was living. And then after all that time, Gabriel travels so far to see his beautiful Lolita married to Diego. What a stab in the heart that must have been!

Diego was adorable in this story. I love his kind, gentle nature and the way he approached the stranger at the site of the old army headquarters. The conversation between the two men was delightful. I loved the way Diego came to realize who the broken man was, and returned to the spot to find Gabriel had vanished. Yet another bit of irony for Gabriel; he wanted so much to find Zorro, and unknowing to him, he was face to face with the man!

The way the story flowed between the past and present was remarkably well done. I’m not usually a fan of stories going back and forth, but it worked beautifully here and was easy to follow. Thank you for such a wonderful read! :-)

"A Long Way for Nothing"-No title suits the fic better than this.

The way the town changed was written really well and finally everyone earned his happy ending. Well, everyone except Gabriel. Now I get a clearer picture of this former lieutenant having no redeeming qualities whatsoever, as you have mentioned before. Sure, he was aware of how the way the soldiers treated him just mirrored his behavior before, but unlike most men in his situation, he carried on without even a drop of remorse or regret for that. Well, Gabriel is not my favorite character and he totally deserved the worst yet at the same time I feel sorry for the guy; he just threw away twenty-five years of his existence for nothing, no matter how excruciating they had been, so that's got to hurt. A lot. In real life, this kind of stuff happens to many people; it's wrong to cling to revenge fantasies yet they can't help it, not to mention they derive strength from such thoughts.

I wonder how Gabriel could think of revenge (beyond surviving his living hell) when he clearly had nothing to his advantage anymore that he could use to execute his plans (if there were any). His body was broken, he was past his prime, and he had no more power or even connections. I guess he was hoping he could regain the latter but too bad for him.

Towards the end of the fic, the sheer irony of it all was that after all those hellish years of waiting he came back to search for Zorro, ended up conversing with Diego instead, and all the while still without any idea that both guys are just one. If he ever gets to find out sometime after this encounter that Diego and Zorro indeed are the same person, this must be the ultimate punch in the gut for him.

"Is he dead?" he asked.

"Who knows? Some say that he's immortal and that he'll be back if there is ever again injustice in this land," Diego said. - I have the feeling a grown-up Little Zorro will be taking over this role since the men and women in the town most likely are part of his generation.

You know, there are quite many ideas for a sequel or a companion fic. It was unknown what happened to Bernard/o, Maria, Alicia and the rest. But it's good that the rest of the town lead peaceful lives. And at the very least, Diego and Lolita got married, and Gonzales got promoted.

Overall this fic was enjoyable to read. Keep up the good work!

Next time you dare to say anything you write sucks, I'm going to smack you. And I can smack pretty hard when I want to, so watch out :P

Seriously, I loved this! You keep saying it's pointless, but I really think it's a great look into Gabriel's possible future after the end of the series - and man, it certainly isn't the future he expected. It was almost painful trying to think of him as an older, broken man, and I truly felt sorry for him as I began reading this - but I still thought that hey, he had deserved it. Then I read the following bit, and man, wasn't the punishment too hard even for someone like him!

Really, hard labour turned out to be a such hell that maybe dying would truly have been better for him - but he's such a great actor, and when he used his acting skills to save his life he ended up making things even worse for himself. How ironic that he was the one to be damaged by his own lies for once!

Also, alternating scenes of the present and the past was simply a great idea. Had it been in chronological order, the scenes probably wouldn't have felt quite as effective as they are. This way, instead, we get a great contrast between Gabriel as he is now and the man he used to be when he was arrested before we begin seeing how the years and hardship start breaking him. His anger on this first flashback is simply delightful, just as much as the pain and fatigue he's forced to endure. I felt sorry for him, but you know just how much I love seeing my favourite characters in pain XD Also, how he thought he would kill Zorro's horse got a chuckle out of me despite the situation XD

Ouch, the appearance of Diego and Lolita's family was simply painful to read. While a really nice and light-hearted moment, it's such a contrast to Gabriel's misery that it made me wince. I cannot even imagine how witnessing that happy scene must have torn him apart - witnessing the woman he loved, or thought he loved, married and with children while he's a broken man must have been just horrible.

I simply loved Gabriel's dream! Since the very same moment I began reading it I knew it had to be a dream, and while it was a nice change seeing him getting some relief at least in his sleep, even though I knew waking up would be painful. And then it turned out to be better than I expected since things turned out bad even in his dreams. The poor guy XD How he saw Lolita kissing pretty much all the men who had brought to his downfall before he saw her kissing the man who had actually gotten her was a great moment. Also, the part in which he felt sudden pain and realized someone ran a sword through him was another powerful moment.

His awakening and then his musing were delightful to read. The poor guy - now that he thinks of Lolita, things are getting even worse for him: if he could dream his revenge to keep himself going, that is something that to him is simply lost forever to him.

When Gabriel realized there was simply nothing left of the army headquarters I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. That place really had been the only place he could still relate to, and now it feels like he really has nothing left.

One thing I want to mention is that I really love it how you still had him being himself. No matter how much suffering he went through, he's still a selfish and overall unpleasant person; how he feels no regret for the people he hurt and damaged but only for the mistakes that caused him harm shows that pretty well, and how in the next scene he snaps at the guard that had taken pity on him rather than being grateful is just perfect to show that.

How his anger and desire of revenge slowly dies down was another painful moment, because it really was the only thing that kept him thinking of a life outside the prison.

The conversation between Diego and Gabriel was another great moment because we get to see that even though after all those years Gabriel couldn't actually feel the hatred he once felt for him, he still didn't like him. How he didn't want to say his name and his near panic at the thought Diego could recognize him and see just in what state he had been reduced was simply perfect - he's such a proud man, the thought must be dreadful to him. How he thought he couldn't bear to sit in the carriage with Lolita was another great touch.

The first line of the scene was simply perfect at stating what there is left of Gabriel's life - just nothing. I think this point was somehow emphasized by how you never used his name in the scenes set in the present, just in the flashbacks. It was another nice touch.

The final scene, with Diego finally realizing who the man was, is just perfect. A part of me nearly wished Diego would go after him, but I knew it was better this way - because really, what could they ever say to each other anyway? The last nice moment between Diego and Lolita somehow underlined the contrast between their lives and Gabriel's - perfect.

...in case it wasn't obvious to everyone and their mom, I loved this XD You should stop being so critical with your own work. You kept saying this is pointless, but it was actually very fitting: Gabriel's existence IS pointless now, and thus pointlessness is kind of the point (er...twisted reasoning, but it does mean something if you look carefully and squint XD) of the story.

Aww, how could you even suggest this fic is bad? :D It was such a great introspective piece that delved into Gabriel's mind and left me with a rather melancholic feeling.

First of all, there's the matter of his age and decadence. For someone who was such a proud, handsome man, this feels like a quite a blow. I can't help but feel sorry for him, even though, at the same time, I feel he deserves it.

I find quite ironic that the sentence he served was actually harsher than the death sentence he was supposed to have received, and which was changed because the judge took pity on him. Honestly, I think it'd have been more merciful to give him the death sentence. As Gabriel himself said, the sentence he got was just like death sentence, expect with the bonus of torture. I mean, ouch! D:

By the way, even while I felt a little sorry for Gabriel, I couldn't help but be amused when he swore vengeance even on Zorro's horse. XD Speaking of which, is that horse particularly bright in the anime series? I remember it was a very intelligent in the Disney version, and I was quite fond of it.

I'm glad you included that scene in which Diego goes to talk to Gabriel. When Diego first appeared in the fic with his family, I wondered how he'd have reacted if he had seen and recognised Gabriel. I got my answer later on, though it's too bad that Diego was too slow to recognise him. XD I was also curious to know how Gabriel would have reacted to realising who Zorro was.

Incidentally, the scene in which Diego is with his family was really bittersweet. On the one hand, it was heart-warming to see such a happy, perfect family; on the other hand, it only highlighted Gabriel's misery, loneliness, and regrets, and once again I found myself feeling sorry for him.

Lastly, I really like the way you arranged this story, regularly alternating between the present and the past. It worked really well and it wasn't confusing at all. Actually, I thought it helped the story flow better. And the ending... Gabriel didn't die, but I feel as though he did, right then. It was the most melancholic part of the fic. One might have found the brief exchange between Diego and Lolita as light-hearted, but it felt really ominous and sober to me, deep down. I really liked it, and now I look forward to more fics for this series even more. :D